Mike Wilkinson is an award-winning video director with his company Wilkinson Visual, currently based out of Lexington, Kentucky. Mike has been working in production for over 10 years as a shooter, editor, and producer. His passion lies in outdoor adventures, documentary filmmaking, photography, and locally-sourced food and beer.
Boasting a CRI of 90, bi-color options, and an output 1600 lux at 4ft, this Indiegogo campaign for an LED light takes a look at technology that's not old, but not exactly new either. Read on to find out what makes this LED light unique from others on the market today.
What happens when two filmmakers get together, fill a suitcase with camera gear and hop on a plane? In the case of Preston Kanak and Brent Foster, a great work of digital cinema. With only a rough idea of what they wanted, much was left to chance as these two spent 8 days in Havana, Cuba. Read on for the final film and some insight from the creators.
While in Macedonia shooting video and stills for the company Petzl, photographer Keith Ladzinski was capturing aerial footage in the village of Prilep with a DJI Phantom II. The unexpected happened and the quadcopter got stuck on a church steeple in the middle of a shot. How they got the Phantom back was even more of a spectacle. Check out the first few minutes of this video to see footage of both the crash and the climb to get it back.
As a writer for Fstoppers I hear about a lot of personal projects. This past weekend, my attention was grabbed when I read about how Denver-based photographer Dylan Burr undertook a project to create wet plate collodion photographs. It wasn't his image making process that stood out to me though- it was his subject matter. Read on to see the images Dylan created, but also hear how he is hoping to impact the community through his efforts.
No stranger to putting cameras in dangerous places, filmmaker and explorer Sam Cossman recently published a video that reveals a heart-pounding perspective into a firey abyss– the active volcano of Vanuatu. Not all gear survived the conditions, but the footage proves that it was worth it.
I'm not much for gambling, but I've always said that if I spent some time in Las Vegas that I would check out a show by Cirque Du Soleil. This short film absolutely confirms the kind of creativity and magical displays that I've longed to see in person.
Jay P. Morgan and the Slanted Lens have a new video out, this time showing how they are combining a video clip with a motion time-lapse for a music video project. It's a great watch if you've ever wondered how to approach getting this effect, or are still learning the craft of time-lapse shooting.
One key to longevity in filmmaking or photography is to have regular clients that you enjoy working with. What’s even better is when you have enough work coming in from those top clients, so that you can actually pick and choose the projects you take on, and even go as far as to expand your business or pass work off to qualified associates for a modest finders fee. It takes a long time to get there, but being savvy about building a client base can help tremendously.
Best or worst idea ever? April Fools Joke? While this might be the perfect zombie slaying device ever created, a Finnish video production company decided to have some fun with their multi-rotor UAV and the results are awesome.
I know that I’m preaching to the choir when I say that personal projects, free from the constraints of commercial clients dictating production details, are an important outlet for creativity and staying sharp on your skills. Photographer Ray Demski just dropped his latest passion project, "Fireball," combining parkour, football (soccer), and beatboxing.
The sequel to the BBC-produced nature documentary series, "Planet Earth II," released a few clips into the wild recently to promote its U.S. release in January. You may have noticed one of these scenes making the rounds on social media in the last few days, which was a masterfully edited clip that features snakes chasing an iguana. If you were curious how they filmed some of this material, there are a few behind-the-scenes clips out that show how it was done.
A few weeks ago I shared some insight on using shotgun microphones for documentary style interview productions. This week, I’ve got a companion video that explores techniques for using lavalier mics, the standard go-to mic for most interview scenarios.
In this detailed series of articles and videos from Matt Porwoll at AbelCine called "Behind the Lens", viewers will get a chance to compare specs and review footage captured using a number of popular zoom lenses. From the nearly $30,000 Fujinon Cabrio 19-90mm to a modest Canon 17-55mm, find out what Matt discovers about each of the lenses he reviews. This is the first video in the series, that covers the Fujinon MK 18-55mm Zoom.
Always looking to try something different with his aerial videos, Vietnam-based Filmmaker Rufus Blackwell recently shared with me his latest project. His techniques combine motion control through planned waypoint missions, and then manipulating the footage in a visual effects software to mirror the ground in an almost "Inception"-like effect.