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Friday, 27 March 2009

As a video editing company, we are constantly asked by our customers what is the "best" camcorder to buy.  This is a difficult question to answer.  You can spend well over $2000 on a fancy hi-def camera or you can spend less than $120 on a flip camcorder.  Note, there are different models of the Flip.  For this post we're going to check out the Flip 'Mino' Camcorder by Pure Digital.  Our initial impression is the Flip gets an A+ for usability, and as long as you don't want cinematic quality, the Flip is a winner.  Here's why:

It's small

Remember when cell phones were so big they fit in a bag?  You probably didn't carry them around much back then.  The same goes for camcorders. Anything that doesn't easily fit in your pocket means you will probably leave the device at home instead of having it on hand to capture those special moments.  The flip camera is small and very lightweight.  Here is a picture of the flip next to a business card.

It's easy

Look at the above picture.  See the red record button?  That's it.  You hit the power button and then you hit the record button.  There is storage for up to 60 minutes of video on the built-in memory.  One drawback of the simplicity is that there is no optical zoom.  For me, though, I'd much rather have a camera that fits in my pocket.  Remember, zoom equals bigger lens which equals size.

Quality

For it's price and size, the quality is excellent.  Of course, if you want true hollywood quality, skip the Flip.  If you want to record family memories, though, the Flip is for you.  Here's a sample of Bettina's recent trip to Plymouth Plantation.

 

 

As a business, I love asking customers and resellers about their experience with Pixability.  You can view footage I shot here.  If the flip wasn't in my pocket, I would have never been able to get this footage on the fly.  This is the real key to the flip.

Editing

Whether you want Pixability to edit your footage or you choose to edit it yourself, the flip is a perfect choice for a few reasons.  First, it plugs right into your computer's USB port-- no cables, no fuss.  Second, because the flip marks the scenes every time you hit the record button, your footage is already "cut up" into clips.  This makes editing easy.  Third, if you decide to use a video editing service, you can simply upload the scenes you want edited.  It doesn't get much easier then this.  If you have a flip, please add your experiences to the comments.  Happy filiming.  --Josh

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Posted by
Tuesday, 17 March 2009

1. What do you do at Pixability?

I am the operations and sales manager. It's my job to develop new business within the organization. I also make sure that processes are in place so Pixability maintains a very high level of quality.

2. What's your favorite family memory?

When I was young, my dad would throw our family into the station wagon and take us across the country. Of all the beautiful places we visited, my favorite memory is of my mother making sandwiches at the rest areas. Delicious.

3. You've been in the video industry for 20 years. What's the biggest video blooper you've ever seen?

One of my videographers accidentally kept his camera rolling when he went to the bathroom. On the raw footage was a full clip of him relieving himself. Fortunately, it did not make the final cut.

4. What do you do for fun?

I write screenplays and articles for fun. I love to take what's in my head and dump it on to the page.

5. I heard you made a movie, what is the title? Did it win an Academy Award?

The title is "Divine Intervention." It is a hokey horror/comedy flick. I was brought in to "put out the fire" that arose during production. You can only give me credit for fixing not creating it. We are still awaiting an Academy Award nomination.

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Posted by Bettina Hein
Sunday, 01 February 2009

Are you a member of a club or church group and want to record all the fun moments you share in the group? Take your camcorder on the next field trip or outing with your group - with the right shots you will be able to capture all the fun for those that participated and those that weren't able to come along. If you follow these short tips you'll create a lasting memory that everyone can enjoy:

1. All aboard

Memorable videography is less about outstanding technique than it is about storytelling. Take 3 minutes to think about what kind of story you want to capture. If you're going on a road trip, start the story with some initial shots of your church, club house or school. Show the bus pulling into the parking lot and everyone boarding the bus or the train. Take some close-ups of all the bags piled up.

2. Road movie style   

While the train/bus/plane is moving, take some shots of the landscape zipping by. Try to choose a stretch of rail or road that is not too bumpy to take this footage. Also capture the atmosphere inside the bus or plane. Are your members singing along to a guitar, playing games or just sleeping? All of those moments captured will be excellent ways to convey the mood of your story. 

3. Final destination

When you get to your destination, make sure you're one of the first people off of the bus. Record everyone getting off and filing into your camp/hotel/lodgings. On this blog, I'm always preaching about getting those "establishing shots" since amateur videographers so often miss them. It makes our job as editors much harder. Therefore, remember to take video of the surroundings of your lodgings and good, stable shoots of the hotel/camp itself. Always count backwards from 5 at each shot so that you have enough footage to edit into.

4. Moderation and selection

While your trip is in full swing, don't over-do the video. You should be having some fun yourself, too. Let's say you're going to a museum with the entire group. Just film 20 to 30 seconds of stable footage of the outside of the museum, get a shot of the exhibit poster (or snap a still digital photo of it and edit it in later) and (if permitted) film 2 minutes of your group viewing the most interesting parts of the exhibit. If you're camping or having lots of evening events: be careful with taking too many low-light shots. They often disappoint if you're not careful with your settings. Try to use a mini-tripod or monopod to make those shots work.

5. Remains of the day

Stories have beginnings, middles and endings - and so does your group outing. Remember to film everyone packing up, the bus coming home or just the sunset at the end of the day. It helps the viewer and rounds out the story if at the end you can bring closure to your movie.

6. Bonus tip: Edit it NOW

Ok, now you have complied all of this footage. Do me a favor: don't let it just sit there. Video is only worthwhile if you share it with others. So whip out iMovie or Adobe Premiere Elements or whatever you use and edit it. Choose some lively (royalty-free) music and create your movie. If this is too much work, collect $10 from everyone on the trip and let us edit it :-).  

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Posted by Bettina Hein
Sunday, 28 December 2008

In December 2003, I called my grandfather Karl to tell him: "Opa, I'll be home for Christmas soon and when I'm there, we'll make a movie with you as the star." On December 19, 2003 my beloved grandfather passed away before I could get home. And I don't have a single video memory of him which makes me incredibly sad to this day.

I resolved to do it differently with my grandmother Maria. My husband and I took the time to interview her on video twice about her life. When she passed away this last October we were able to to quickly edit a memorial video for her funeral. People laughed and cried seeing her on video one last time.

From my own experience, I've come up with these 5 simple steps to help YOU record your family's history in less than an hour. Do it before it is too late.

 

1. Just Do It: 0 minutes

Every day counts - I don't mean to panic you but as my story above shows, a few days can make a big difference. Don't wait until you have the perfect camera, the perfect lighting, the perfect mood. Just start. If you're at Grandma's now and won't be back for 6 months, ask a neighbor for their video camera or buy an inexpensive Flip camcorder at your local electronics store. Trust me on this one: just do it. Tomorrow could be too late.

 

2. Prepare the interview: 5 minutes

Take a blank sheet of paper and (just) copy the following time line bullet points onto it while leaving some space between each point:

  • birth (birth date, birthplace, names of parents, grandparents and siblings)
  • childhood (schools, places lived, sports, memorable trips and events)
  • education (high school, college, apprenticeship etc.)
  • service (military service if applicable, rank, function, where stationed)
  • marriage (how they met their spouse, courtship, wedding)
  • family (births of children, places lived, places of worship, family trips)
  • career (first job, promotions, companies, achievements)
  • hobbies (crafts, sports, travel, art etc)
After you've copied down these points add in some family events or stories that you've always been curious about. What was Grandpa's first car? Where exactly did he serve in Korea? Did Uncle Alfred really join the circus when he was young?

 

3. Gather old photos and memorabilia: 10 minutes

Grab those photo albums or boxes of unsorted photos your interviewee has stashed away. Ask them to put the albums in order and start with the earliest one first. I know there are hundreds of photos in there, so ask your interviewee to talk about the most important ones. What is most important? Most probably photos with a lot of people on it or plainly those the feel they need to talk about most.

 

4. Set up the shoot: 5 minutes

If you can, shoot your interview in daylight. Pick a table close to a window. Have your family member sit facing towards the window. In addition, turn on the light in the room. Set the camera on a small tripod or on a stack of books. Make sure your family member is not too close and he/she is in focus. Record your subject for a couple of seconds - then check if you like the background, the lighting etc.

 

5. Tape the interview: 40 minutes or longer

Start your interview by asking your interviewee to state their full name, date and place of birth to warm them up. Then follow the time line you set up in step 2. As you cover each of the steps in their life, ask them to show you a couple of photos that belong to that time period. Let your family talk about a photo first, then, before progressing to the next photo, take the camcorder and film that photo with a steady hand (use both hands for stabilization).

Also: don't interrupt your interviewee to ask questions. Wait 1-2 seconds after they finish a sentence to then pose your next question. This makes it MUCH easier to edit the material afterwards.

Bonus tip: 6. Don't over-do it

Your (most likely) elderly family members are usually thrilled to tell their story but don't over do it in the first interview. Your subjects will tire out relatively quickly. Do a first 40 minute interview and then continue the next day. If you only have one day, consider breaking your interview into 2 to 3 sessions with a least an hour's break in between.

Do you have any tips to add? I'd love to hear how you've captured your family story and what you've learned. Just add a comment below.

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Posted by Bettina Hein
Thursday, 11 December 2008

On Tuesday night, the Pixability team was in full action for its biggest public appearance yet. DJ, Randy, Josh, Dale and I packed up almost all of the monitors at the office to build a video wall for our booth. We got to present at the Web Innovators Forum in Cambridge, MA in front of 700 people as one of the selected start-up companies.

We had tons of people show up at our booth - there was a lot of interest for our product. It seems that - in a recession - people like the idea of a company actually asks for money for its product :-).

We also saw some other cool companies there - not related to video, but interesting nonetheless: for example Local Motors (crowd-sourced car design with local manufacturing) or Tripchill (mobile travel assistant).

 

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