V-Week

This week is all or nothing, good or bad, victory or defeat week. A lot has piled up and I need to get it all done, with studying for finals somewhere in between. Quickly, Raw image processing is hard yet yields very good images; editing will resume after my History paper is completed; I am wired on caffeine right now. Sorry for the short post, but I got stuff to do. The documentary will be completed to a presentable degree on Thursday morning. Wish me luck!

~Greg Z~

Stress ensues

As the title suggests, today was a bit stressful. I left school @ 7am to get to Infinity by 8:15. Luckily, my sister wasn't there yet so I picked up a breakfast sandwich at Wawa...mmmmmmm! So after my sister finally showed up (traffic issues), I shot everybody in their natural habitat. And I was surprised to see that they indeed looked more natural than in the video. I guess it is more stressful when some guy has a giant camera in your face, rather than a little one. Anyway, I am excited to process these pictures. Stick here for more updates.

~Greg Z~

Drastic times...

I have edited a large portion of the short and things are looking up. However, my successful procedural rotoscoping experiment proved to be too stylized for such a piece. It looks cool, and I might use that technique for something in the future. But right now, I need more footage. The only other option in front of me is covering cuts with still photography. I will borrow my friend's Canon Rebel XT and drive out to Infinity next Monday. I have about 50 shots planned and will probably take 150 pictures, or fill up the memory card...which ever comes first. I will also shoot Raw to gain some knowledge in Raw image processing. So indeed drastic times call for drastic measures. Stay tuned.

~Greg Z~

Please wait...your call is important to us.

As foretold, my classes are not giving me time to continue the project. But I have good news; my MTV internship is over! Now I have Mondays and Thursdays back! As per request of Phil and Chris, I presented my mid-term work finally. Some praise was issued, along with criticism. This week, I will continue to work on it and show it again to Phil and Chris. I ran into a problem when editing. I have a lot of footage, but not enough of what I need. The one challenge ahead of me is to figure out a way to cover cuts with existing footage. Perhaps I will try a little rotoscoping...

~Greg Z~

Yet another weekly update

I have captured all of the footage and as I feared before, it is a lot. It looks really good though and I am excited to start editing. I think the three challenges that lie ahead of me are creation of a coherent and slick graphic scheme, manufacture of tight and engaging music, and completion of the project in time. I really wish that my other classes would let up on me just so I can get a good and solid start on this. Oh, well. I guess I will become a nocturnal creature once again. Cheers!

Slow and steady wins the race...right?

I have captured 2 1/2 hours of footage so far. I should have captured more but I have underestimated the amount of space that HDV footage takes up. My external hard drive is almost filled. I think I will move the project to a lab computer so I do not run out of space. Also the Power Mac G5s process HDV footage a wee bit better than my Powerbook G4. Don't you agree? Anyway I should be capturing more footage (hopefully the remainder) this week. Stay tuned...

~Greg Z~

Holding Pattern

Since last week I have done nothing with the footage. My other classes have been taking up my time so I couldn't capture any footage. Also, because I shot in HDV, I need a Sony HDV camera to capture the video. So I need to rent a camera before I get any footage. Once I do, I hope to capture the footage and start editing immediately. There is not much time left in the semester. I am looking forward to the finished product, as should you...

~Greg Z~