If you are a fan of iphone photo apps, huge CGI production movies, and sexy girls fighting with mystical powers then you will probably love this behind the scenes video. The Demon Cam is an iphone app that allows you to turn your face into a demon zombie.
If you are planning a behind the scenes video for our 2011 photo contest, you probably also need to setup an interesting interview segment to explain the details of your photoshoot. Most photographers spend a lot of money on their flash equipment but often don't have much in the way of constant lights.
It's really exciting that every new DSLR now takes amazing, cinema quality HD video. One of the main reason it looks so different from video cameras of the past is the super shallow depth of field that large sensor sizes produce. It looks really cool BUT you will have to learn to manually focus the camera just like they have to do with movie cameras.
Stop motion videos are becoming increasingly more popular as digital cameras and software make them easier to create. Dave Wallace decided to make things quite a bit harder when he shot 2335 images, had them printed out, and then shot them a second time in picture frames on the wall. It took hours of work but the finished product is well worth the time. Check it out below.
One of the unfortunate problems with running a website is you are inevitably going to send traffic to a misdirected URL or even worse a page that flat out doesn't exist. You are probably used to seeing pages that look something like this. Well the guys over at Nosh.me came up with a funny little way to track down their own 404 pages and fix the issue or flat out take them down.
Being a child of 80s and having lived through all of the video game consoles, I really got a kick out of this evolution of games video. Figuring out a clever way to film a scene can be daunting at the least but building an entire video around a single frame can be even tougher.
Have you ever wondered how DSLR cameras match up when compared to film and high end HD video cameras? Last year, Zacuto brought together some of the biggest names in the movie industry to see how well the first round of video capable DSLRs compared to the industry's standard film and HD video cameras in The Great Camera Shoot Out of 2010.
Working and operating a Steadicam is tough work. The most ridiculously awesome steadicam shot ever probably proved that without a shadow of a doubt, but we have even more proof! The following video follows steadicam superhero Niclas Närwall as he captures shot after shot on the set of Let's Dance.
There is no doubt that the RED's Epic video camera produces some of the most crisp and surreal footage you are likely to see at a reasonably "budget" price point. Up until now, the only lenses you could use with the Epic had to have the PL lens mount found on cine lenses.
Now I'm not exactly sure what the "largest stop motion animation" actually means but there is no doubt this video is pretty spectacular. You may remember Aardman Productions from our post on the world's smallest stop motion video which is equally as mind blowing. This time they decided to use the beach as their canvas and film the entire animation on a Nokia N8 cell phone.
For most people, their first attraction to a camera probably occurred during a vacation or a traveling trip. If you've ever had to sit through someone else's photo album of a trip, you know how excruciating and boring it can become. Well Rick Mereki and his friends Tim and Andrew decided to make a fun video documentary that proved to be anything but boring and mundane.
This video has been making its rounds today through the blogosphere and for good reason. Photographer Josh Maready thought it might be interesting to view New York City from the eyes of his skateboard's back wheels by mounting a GoPro video camera dangerously close to the ground. The result is pretty interesting and extremely creative.
The guys from StillMotion have been featured on Fstoppers a few times for their incredible wedding videography. What many people don't know is that most of the really complicated looking shots that they get were filmed with a Manfrotto 561 Monopod. Sometimes the most expensive option isn't always the best.
This video is totally relevant this week after Ken's post "If A Monkey Takes A Photo, Who Owns The Rights". It's really interested to see this Silverback play with this video camera from 2 angles. The most shocking part of the whole thing was that he actually throws it back after he's done!
Believe it or not, the video below was taken with a cell phone. Stu Kennedy from kakepipe.com created a really cool timplase video using his Samsung Galaxy S2 cellphone. After filming the video it was edited using Vegas 10 and the tilt shift look was added using After Effects. This video looks better than what a pretty expensive video camera could have shot 5 years ago...
We have posted a lot of timelapse videos on Fstoppers but very few of them are very informative. In the video below Jay P Morgan takes us through the setup of a quick timelapse video. Jay does a great job of combining a timelapse created from stills and standard video shot at 24fps.
Laptop makers Lenovo have released a new series of laptops that they claim can startup in less than 10 seconds. The new ThinkPad T420s and IdeaPad Y570 are using a new technology called Rapidboot which they claim makes their computers boot up faster than any other computer on the market.
Visual Masterpiece is back with another BTSV of their latest wedding video and once again, it's top notch. Not only are these guys amazingly good videographers, but they also know how to make an informative video. It appears that the most used piece of gear was the Cinevate Atlas 10. I own and love the Atlas 10 but since I like traveling light, I prefer the new Atlas FLT.
Just like the story of Vivian Maiers, every now and then a discovery is made that not only brings a smile to your face but also sends a chill down your spine. Such is the story of the famous 1906 black and white film A Trip Down Market Street.
The guys over at Stillmotion video have come up with a rather interesting way to film point of view video. Instead of mounting something small like a GoPro to a helmet, Stillmotion decided to use a Canon T2i. The camera was upside down directly in front of several football players' eyes as they trained in the 2011 NFL combine.
German motion graphics studio Sehsucht recently created a fantastic promo video for o2 Think Big. Unlike most commercials today, these guys decided to do almost everything by hand. Check out the finished product below and then the BTSV below that. I bet you will be pretty surprised by what is "real" and what isn't.
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If you went to see a movie over the weekend, chances are you went to see the new Michael Bay movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon. You may not be a big fan of Michael Bay and his over use of (and often reused) CGI effects, but you have to admit the creative artists responsible for carrying out Mr. Bay's vision are pretty remarkable.
Patrick and I were just in Chicago a few weeks ago filming an upcoming FS Original and when we asked the locals what we needed to do, everyone suggested the architectural boat tour. Riding a boat through the center of a huge city was a really cool experience and if you ever visit, I would suggest you also check it out.
Happy 4th of July weekend if you are living in the United States. Jeremiah Warren just sent me a pretty remarkable and quite psychedelic video he made using a camera I have never heard of before now. Jeremiah mounted the tiny HD Micro Car Key Camera from ebay to different fireworks for a rather unique perspective.
This video has been passed around the internet a good bit in the last week but for those of you who have not seen it, enjoy. It really goes to show you just how small and light GoPros really are.
When Patrick and I started Fstoppers.com we needed someone to create the Fstoppers animation for the beginning of each of our videos. We had over 30 animators create mock ups for us and only 1 of them created quality work. That one agency was Swell.tv.
Everyone loves a good timelapse video, and Benjamin Sichert has a great one here. Ben filmed this at the NA Otto & Cie factory in Germany which was the first plant to produce 4 stroke combustion engines back in the 1870s. As you can clearly see in the video, this was entirely filmed on a Canon 5D Mark II (video sequences), a Nikon D90 (photo sequences), and the automated Pocket Slider.
We have posted a lot of great time lapse videos here on Fstoppers but nothing quite like this. A standard time lapse by Stephane Guisard and Jose Francisco Salgado has been edited to show the earth moving and the stars remaining still (what is actually happening).
With Apple's Final Cut Pro X just starting to hit the streets, stories about how unusable the video editing software has become are popping up everywhere. Recently even Conan O'brien took a stab at the software editing program when his production team created this funny skit showing some of the new features found in FCPX.
Just stumbled upon another great video by OliviaTech which showcases a pretty high quality jib. That in itself isn't very exciting until you realize that this thing only costs $125! If you know anything about the cost of jibs, you know how good of a deal this is. Head over to eBay and buy one at this incredible price... mine is due to show up in a few days.
Vincent Laforet recently released a new short titled "Epic #308" because this was the first test footage taken with his new Red Epic camera with the serial number of 308. The footage was shot in California, from Big Sur, to Ft Bragg back through Mono Lake and Death Valley. Head over to Vincent's blog for the full gear list.
If you like gadgets as much as me then you will probably find this really interesting, and probably a little scary as well. The guys over at Mikrokopter put a "FollowMe" transmitter on a wakeboarder's head and the chopper automatically follows and films him around the lake. The chopper was at a very high (and safe) altitude but I can see these getting a lot closer as the technology improves.
Okay this video has no real educational value at all but I really enjoyed it. Larry Chen and Joe Ayala, two drifting photographers and videographers for Tandem of Die, recently were stuck overnight at the Dallas Fort-Worth Airport.
Have you ever wondered how to make your own breakaway glass? It's surprisingly simple and in the video below Jay P Morgan walks us through the process step by step. Jay is also currently giving away 2 bottles from Alfonso's to one of his Twitter followers so make sure you are in the running!
Many of you may know what a polarizer does in theory, but you may have never seen a side by side comparison like this. The video below from OliviaTech does a great job of showing examples of this filter in use. If you shoot outside, or reflective subjects, a polarizer like this one is a must have.
This week we have Lindsey Lohan's last photo shoot before hitting up her mug shots. This shoot has some huge light modifiers and a photographer with a unique portfolio. We also have a fashion shoot with a berry farm as the backdrop.
I just ran across an incredible ad by Nike called "Nike Chosen." The concept was to grab the best surfers, snowboarders, skaters, motocross, and BMX riders and film them doing their thing at night. The BTS footage is not as informative as I would like but if you pay attention to the details, there is a lot to be learned.
Terje Sørgjerd has created a few timelapse videos that we have featured on FS but this may be the best.
When I saw this commercial I assumed that it was all CGI. Surprisingly, most of the footage was shot on film and then the bugs were added later. I have absolutely no understanding of motion graphics but I still enjoy watching how it was done.
Monte Isom had one of the most populars videos on Fstoppers back in February. Well he is back with a fun stop motion video for NYC comedian Colin Kane. Monte filmed this entire video on the Nikon D3s with just a few Litepanel 1x1 bicolor constant lights. The final video was made with 14,000 still images to create the final 90 second promo.
Kickstarter is a fun website that allows inventors to demo their prototypes in an effort to raise funding for an actual product. The company Kogeto creates 360 degree pano devices, and recently they tackled making a fun accessory for the greatest fashion photography camera: the iPhone.
Jay P Morgan is most known for his photography but he is also a director. In the video below Jay shows us the technical side of shooting a quick comedy short. Many of the same techniques for video also apply to stills. Check out the finished product below the BTSV.
When deciding to buy tripods, ball heads, lightstands, and umbrella brackets, I quickly learned that it's worth it's weight in gold to buy the best there is out there, and the best is usually made by Manfrotto.
In the video below writer Ransom Riggs gives us an artistic tour of the Salton Sea in California. With a tripod, 5DmII, Steadicam Merlin, 24mm, and 100mm, Riggs creates a powerful look at a deserted town in desert of California.
Everyone claims that they know how to shoot subjects on pure white but many of them still struggle with the background light washing out their subject. In the video below, Olivia Speranza shows us how she created the look for a video but the same techniques apply to flash as well. The key is to light the background as evenly as possible and expose it so that it is just barely pure white.
Last year we showed you some of the first footage of a new 360 camera made by Yellowbird. Well now Mitsubishi is using that technology in their campaign Test Drive The World's Most Dangerous Road. The Yungas Road is found in South America connecting the Bolivian cities of La Paz and Coroico.
Bruton Stroube Studios sets up a beautiful breakfast only to throw it into the air and film it in super slow motion. It's obvious that a lot of planning went into such a simple concept but it was worth all of the effort. Check out the BTS first and then the finished product below that.
Another week has passed which means Freddie Wong has posted yet another great action video. This guy is a machine when it comes to producing interesting action videos consistently which is probably why he has one of the most viewed channels on youtube. In his newest action sequence, Freddie is determined to capture 50 seconds of mind blowing violence in one single take.
Don't you dread viewing your friend's and family's vacation pictures and videos? Even when I go on vacation I take so many bad pictures and videos that I don't even want to go back and view them again. What if we spent a little more time on our next vacation and shot pictures and stills with a particular project in mind?
Lighting with a ring flash is a common technique among fashion and beauty photographers, yet it is often one of the most misunderstood and abused lighting setups among novice photographers. Simply using a single on axis light is hardly ever appealing but when coupled with other lights the ringflash look can become very flashy and dynamic.