Mike Wilkinson

Oscar-winning writer Andrew Stanton, who’s credit list includes WALL-E, Toy Story, and Finding Nemo among others, was featured in a recent TEDTalks Video sharing his insights onto storytelling, and what it takes to make them compelling enough to captivate an audience. There is a ton of great information here, and it really does go to show that content is king… You can have the biggest camera and tons of talent, but if your story is lame, no one will watch your stuff! Language in the video is NSFW.

Hot on the heels of NAB 2012, Sony's Europe website posted the NEX-FS700E Camcorder. The hitlist of features include a Super35mm CMOS Sensor, 4K RAW output with a future upgrade, up to 240fps @ 1080p, built-in ND filters, and 50/60Hz switching. Pricing is still unannounced, but EOSHD's sources tell them it will only be $8,000! Hit the jump for actual product images and a detailed feature list.

Shown at Sundance this year, the project called Bear 71 is unique spin on a documentary concept. Using an interactive graphical interface, the user can explore Canada's Bow Valley, and click on points of interest like wolves and bears. It's also a linear story being told through a warm, inviting voiceover, while video clips that move the story forward narrative are interspersed. The user fills in the gaps by exploring the valley and viewing images which give a glimpse into the hidden world of the wild.

Canon Explorer of Light Tyler Stableford is making it into yet another post on Fstoppers. This time, he was out on a shoot testing the capabilities of the new Canon 1DX DSLR and the 600 EX RT (currently available for pre-order) by shooting some action shots of alpinist Steve House working with some ice climbing gear. In this video, Tyler shows us how he is using the Speedlite to get the look he wants, while having some fun with the new 1DX.

Adventure Photographer and Filmmaker Corey Rich prides himself on being an avid outdoor enthusiast as well as a world class visual artist. Featured recently on a project that put the new Nikon D4 through it’s paces on the Project “Why”, Corey has posted this new video that documents a team of 6 adventurers traveling to Northern Alaska to summit an amazing mountain range.

DSLR guru Phillip Bloom recently worked on a short scifi film that used the new Canon C300 as it’s primary camera. While the short film isn’t finished yet, this behind-the-scenes video has been released for everyone to see. While it’s quite long, it’s a unique inside look at how the director worked with the crew and what it was like to be on set.

Randy Gregg has started a Kickstarter campaign to fund the development of a digital camera that is built to look just like a hunting rifle. It's completely non-lethal, and pulling the trigger will store your images, complete with crosshair overlay, onto an SD card. For hunters and law enforcement this might be useful, but something tells me I won't see this in a lineup next to a bunch of DSLRs when shooting public events. Hit the jump for some renders of the product and Randy's Kickstarter.

You may recall that Rob Ashe and his fellow post gurus who work on the Conan O'Brien Show publicly bashed Final Cut X a while back. They've returned with a new video, proclaiming their love for Adobe Premiere, or as Rob refers to it, Final Cut Pro 8. Final Cut X has had several updates since it's initial release, but is it still lacking? Have you made the switch? Are you cutting home movies in 4K?

With NAB just around the corner, the rumor mill has started to spin with regards to what Canon is planning on announcing near the start of the annual video conference held in Las Vegas. Contenders include a 4K DSLR style camera, new cinema lenses similar to those released back in November, or something completely different.

Doing video or photo projects for fun and experimenting can lead to some really unique images, and this video by Marc Donahue and Sean M. Williams is a perfect example. While having some fun with a DP Stage Zero Dolly and Canon 5D, they used several different timelapse and stop-motion techniques to achieve a really slick movement and feel to this video.

Architectural Photographer Chris Luker creates thoughtful images of buildings and locations, and really digs deep to communicate the details and context of the place. In a very thoughtful and informative video, Chris describes his thoughts and process for trying to translate the “language of architecture.” There’s some really deep thoughts here, Jack Handey would be proud.

How do you set up a 150 foot rope swing and not die? YouTube user Devin Graham went with a group of rock climbers to a huge rock arch in Utah, and put together a fun video showing everyone having a great time cheating death. The making of video shows how a glidecam was used to get smooth shots across rocks where a single misstep would have ended in “splat instant death.”

Shooting the guy who’s shooting another guy who is acting like he is shooting an athlete. Should we go one level deeper? Canon Explorer of Light Tyler Stableford was featured by Canon in a commercial called “The Craftsman” for their EOS Digital products. Director Sng Tong Beng puts Tyler in an interesting role reversal for this project.

This fantastic mini-doc explores the history behind intellectual property, ideas, creativity, and the laws that have been put in to place to control them. If you enjoyed Noam Galai’s Stolen Scream doc, you’ll get a kick out of the commentary provided in this video by Kirby Ferguson. What do you think? Is creativity derivative?

It takes more than a nice a camera and an amazing landscape to make stunning images. Vimeo user Dana Saint traveled with his girlfriend for 5 weeks and didn’t just capture great footage, but he also wrote a wonderful voiceover to go with it. It starts a bit slow but picks up in the last few minutes, with shots going by so fast I had to re-watch it several times over again.

By now most of you have probably seen OK Go's music video for "Needing/Getting", either during the Superbowl or from the millions of people who circulated it across the web right after. They just released the first in a series of behind the scenes videos that show how they made this awesome ad, check it out!

From their YouTube page description:

The Canon C300 can utilize a Gamma Curve called Canon Log to increase it’s usable dynamic range to a remarkable 12 stops (explained in detail here). Kevin Ritchie spent a day at the Eastern State Penitentiary in Philly just testing it out, and I think the results are a great real world example of the power of the C300/Log Gamma combination. Shots look clean at 6400 ISO!

Photographer Lewis Carlyle at Sun Gallery Photography has been exploring some amazing landscapes and sharing their beauty in his series American Photographic. This video explores Garden of the Gods in Colorado, including info on the challenges of shooting there, as well as a history lesson. What landscape destinations are on your list to visit?

We’ve featured slow motion videos before, and this one is right up there with the best in terms of it’s motion rendering. Shooting with a $500 Canon 550D/T2i, Sacha Powell put together this powerful video using Twixtor to slow down some of his shots. It really goes to show that you don’t need the most expensive gear to make amazing visuals.

Great music can take a video edit to the next level, but music that doesn’t fit, or is cheesy stock-quality can make even the most awesome video seem like something your uncle put together after a few beers. I’ve compiled a list of some of my favorite places to get FREE music for low/no-budget video projects, as well as some pay sites.

There’s something to be said for painstakingly creating an entire scene by hand, out of nothing but paper. The thing you say is WOW! British production company Blink, with direction by Joseph Mann, worked with a team of paper artists to create elements for this Peugeot ad.

Photographer Tim Mantoani has been working on a 5-year project called “Behind Photographs”, where he has been capturing the artists that were responsible for some of the iconic images that have shaped our culture. In this video he talks about his process a bit more, and shows the rare 20x24 Polaroid camera he used.

The filmmakers at Louder Than 11 shot this documentary in Yosemite Valley and have made it freely available for anyone. While most of this visually-rich film shows bouldering, it’s all about the stories of the climbers, including the filmmakers themselves, who talk about balancing their passions for climbing and filmmaking.

French outdoorsman Sebastien Montaz-Rosset likes to play in the mountains. He discovered a second passion while there, which was shooting photos and videos. Sebastien has made some amazing pieces, especially for not having any formal training. These videos show his unique approach to getting some creative shots for his adventure films.

Why does a group of creative artists take their gear on a 230 mile, 25 day backpacking trip? The Muir Project is why. This team not only creates masterful images in remote places, but they're able to endure rough terrain and heavy packs. Hiking for 25 days with a 75lb pack is crazy, but the images are certainly worth it.

The custom firmware developers over at Magic Lantern recently released a new version of their firmware for the Canon 550D, 60D, 500D and 50D which adds an HDR function to video recording. A release for the 5Dm2 is in the works, but only out for beta testing at the moment.

The new Nikon D4 has some amazing capabilities on paper, and by now most people have seen the amazing video by Corey Rich. The video below demonstrates many of the D4's new video features, including using an iPhone or iPad to control the camera, clean HDMI out onto an external recorder, and selecting the crop modes.

Hey there everyone, my name is Mike, and I’m one of the new Fstoppers crew. Today I’m bringing you up to speed on some audio gear you might find useful for your video shoots.