Here's a Post

My wife just yelled at me for not posting more often, so here's a post. This weekend our tree went up. We are in the process of putting up Christmas decorations. I finally bought a wireless router. I have now posted. :)

Another Video

Last night I had the chance to shoot my first video using our new Sony HVR-Z5U camera. I'll post the video when it's done.

Several of my camera operators here at Crossroads have asked me to explain depth of field. Here are a couple of examples of using depth of field to convey a different meaning. Notice that one shows the camera in focus and the other shows the people in focus.



Not the best shots but you get the idea.

An Untechnical Day

I have been living with only 1 vehicle for a couple of years now. I gave my old van to my daughter when her car broke down a few years ago. My wife worked a mile from home and I work about 3 1/2 miles from home. This seemed to work out fine for us until the last 6 months or so.

My wife was laid off from her job last January and has started a cleaning business. Now she needs the car everyday. This means she drops me at work and does her thing, then picks me up when I'm done. Sometimes I have to take her home, then come back to finish my day.

Today, I got a new vehicle. It's got over 172,000 miles on it, has some rust and needs a little bit of work. But the price was right and now I'm my own man again. My wife is happy. My daughter is happy. I'm happy. I spent the morning picking up the vehicle, getting the title changed over, getting plates and adding insurance. The rest of my day has been spent going over the vehicle and getting to know her. I don't get much time to do fun things like this very often so I'm relishing the moments.

My daughter turns 15 1/2 in a couple weeks which means she will be getting her permit. I might not be happy very long.

Another Thought...

This is what the timeline looked like for the Adopt-A-Child video. We ended up using version 1.

By the way, just to give you an idea of the time for putting this together:

Set up for interview: 45 minutes
Shooting time: 45 minutes
B-roll shooting time: 20 minutes
Look for royalty free music: 50 minutes
Stare at blank computer screen: 15 minutes (on and off)
Actual editing time: 3 hours

Total time: Almost 6 hours

There isn't much on this timeline for a project that I spent so much time on. Mostly because I was trying to use the same footage and try to come up with 2 different concepts.

Here is the timeline for wedding video I did last summer. I spent about 12 hours editing this one. By the way, if you are looking for a wedding videographer, don't call me. No one wants to pay what a wedding videographer is really worth and I don't really have the time anyhow. Unless you want to pay me a whole lot of money. Then, I might do it...

Clearing My Head

After the intense time and energy I put into finishing up the Holy Land Tour DVD, I had the chance to enjoy 2 days off. But then I got to come back to my normal hectic, overworked, fantastic job of being the only tech guy on staff.

This week included ordering new cameras and accessories, sending in for repair the sound cards from our board, ordering replacement lamps for projectors and overseeing the inventory and maintenance of 16 projectors throughout our building. In addition, I had to take some time off to take a sick granddaughter to the doctor. Its amazing how easily I can get behind when I'm pulled away for unexpected events. My wife said maybe I need to do some time management but when I had another tech guy on staff with me it wasn't near the issue it is now!

In addition I shot and edited the promo for Adopt-A-Child. The concept I started with and shot was not what I was told to put together after I had already begun editing. I attempted to put together the new concept but wasn't able to do based on what I had shot already. So I went with my original concept and prayed that it worked they way the ministry directors wanted.

So here I am leaving on Friday night after 6pm for date with my wife. But I was distracted since I was still thinking about the video. What can I do better? Maybe I should use different transitions. Maybe I should look for more music. Maybe I should push harder to get the video concepts before I shoot anything!

By the time I got home, I was tired and mentally drained. My wife and I talked about relieving stress. So the decision was made to get out and start walking again. We used to put a couple miles daily but got out of the habit. Saturday morning we headed for the bike trail. We walked. We talked. We listened to our iPods. We laughed and played as we walked. An hour later we were headed back home to get cleaned up and head over to a friend's for brunch before I headed into work.

That walk was the best thing I could have done. I was totally away from my work environment. The exercise was good. The time alone with my wife was great. The time walking in a natural environment was fantastic. I had a chance to spend some time with the Lord and see His wonderful works. That hour refreshed me more than a good night's sleep. We've already made plans to keep walking. And keep clearing my head.

Adopt A Child version 2

Just a few seconds shorter with some lively music.,,

Adopt A Child

It's time for Crossroads' 5th annual Adopt A Child program to kick off. Here is a first draft of a video promo we might be using in our services...