Yesterday I reviewed several HD cameras with a specific regard to shooting wedding videos in HD. Thinking about it again, I’m not sure it’s such a good idea… here’s why:
HDV has native support for 16:9 and naturally wedding videographers would want to utilize that. This might lead to the problem once you transfer to SD for those relatives that still don’t have Blu-Ray. I’ll call it:
Dude-where’s-my-Dad-syndrome
The syndrom is most pronounced when guests tend to line up in a way that’s very horizontal (see ancient photo on the right).
I’ve put question marks where all the missing relatives will be… once you transfer your work to SD.
There are two “solution” that are equally unacceptable: use a pan-and-scan transfer or put your picture in a letterbox (black bars above and below).
Fortunately, you won’t have to consider these post-production options, if you’ve done some pre-planning. On shots where the guests have lined horizontally, you can do a pan making sure you got everyone (at 4:3). If you’d like to avoid pans (amateur look), you might do two shots: one at 16:9 and one at 4:3. The 4:3 might be a pan. When you later edit the video, you’ll be able to create a 16:9 and a 4:3 version.
Just for the record, the question mark on the left (see arrow) is her Royal Majesty, the Queen (UK!). If you could go back in time, and you were invited to the wedding, and you had an HDV camera, and you’ve read this post, you might have done a shot that includes the Queen. Voila.
Later, when doing the sound track, you might put Sex Pistols singing “… God save the Queen, she ain’t no human being…” Gotta love punk rock.
If you have any questions or comments about wedding videograhy and HD, post them below!
Hey:
I just bought a digital camera a JVC GR-D250 U 25. Can anyone tell me what this camera can and cannot do?
For one thing I was told that I had to plug it in at first to charge the battery is that correct.
I cannot do that yet because I am living in a homeless shelter and I do not want any one to know that I have a camera I have it hidden in my locker, if you can help and if you know anyone who can give me free rent in exchange for?
let me know. I am on SSI I get 810 per month but I want to use that money to make films. can you help, here is my resume.I ma also trying to start a publishing company to publish my two books of poetry which will also have a low budget filmmking department, here is spmething about that and my resume as well as both synopsis for my feature length screenplays and a poem from my new book : Different Tunes about Iraq and the rest of the third world.
NEW LIGHT PUBLISHING AND ENTERPRIZES
OUTLINE MISSION STATEMENT
I am a poet, screenwriter and aspiring filmmaker with
28 years experience iun show business mostly as an
actor, screenwriter and playwright. I have two books
of poetry, ready for publishing, My brother is also a
poet with a book already published in Beirut Lebanon
by Dar Alfarabi one of the largest publishing houses
in the middle east.My brother’s book is written in
Arabic and I am will be having him translate it to
English and republished in The US for the
international market , His poetry is world class and
deserves that kind of exposure.
My two books are both written in English. I had a
publishing contract on the first one : “ The Ghost of
Lebanon” with Hawaii Loa publications in Maui HI back
in 2001 but it fell through.
My new book of poetry: “ Different Tunes about Iraq
and the rest of the Third world” is almost done. I
will be needing an editor for this one since English
is my second language and as good as I am I still need
some help with punctuation, grammar and other
problems.
I also have an novelist friend of mine back in
Honolulu HI and he write a gut wrenching novel about a
boy lost in the streets of New York, I promised him
that I will publish it as well.
So to begin with I have 4 books ready for publishing
which will form the nucleus of my fledgling company :
New Light publishing and other enterprises.
My idea for this publishing company is an E-commerce
idea where I will not be publishing any paper books.
It will be done all on the internet where I and the
rest of the authors/poets who become my clients will
submit their work online.
My dream some day is to publish works form all corners
of the globe. In addition to American writers and
poets, It will be so exciting for me to publish works
from India, Russia , China and South Africa , and
Nigeria, Brazil and Argentina , Mexico and Uruguay,
and the rest of the world.
My dream and concept of this company is to be a beacon
of free expression for third world writers and poets
to voice their pain and suffering, and the deprivation
of their citizens on my company’s web site, and make a
living at their God given talents.
I will publish them and pay them a fair portion of the
profits from their books thus rewarding them
monetarily as well as helping them reach the apex of
recognition in the world literary circles.
I will also be publishing children’s books, comics
magazines, women’s magazines, as well as mens’
magazines and how to books. I will be publishing
international music as well as providing a venue and a
forum for rising bands that communicate certain
sociological message, like the U2 and Bono’s
charitable work..
One of the reasons why my company’s title includes :
“ and enterprises” is that one of those enterprises
will include a short and low budget film production
company, I already bought a small digital camera which
I will be starting with as far as my personal
filmmaking endeavor. I will also continue to take film
classes at De Anza college meanwhile.
I realize that I have a lot of barriers to overcome
the first is finding housing. I am currently living in
a homeless shelter, and the only income I have to work
with is my disability payment form social security. On
the 20th of this month December 2005 I filed the
fictitious business name statement of my company: New
light Publishing And Enterprizes, with the homeless
shelter as a business address.
I know this does not make sense to some but I decided
that I cannot wait any longer. I must get going. This
is part of my overall plan to start a home business. I
plan to make my home my office as well therefore
saving overhead expenses and cutting commuting time
everyday to work. I have also gone on hundreds of
venture capital websites and emailed my resume as well
as my concept and synopsis of both of my full feature
length screenplays and a sample of my poetry.
To begin with I am looking for 100.000 dollars which I
will use to rent a condominium which will also be my
office, then I will be buying a computer outfitted
with the necessary hardware for film editing and film
making as well as purchase the software necessary for
publishing.
My filmmaker friend in Chicago already gave me the
software necessary for script writing as well as
playwriting in addition to film editing, special
effects and other programs as well.
I had left a nice comfortable section 8 apartment in
Chicago to come back to San Jose to finish what I
started at De Anza college, but I finally decided that
the only way I am going to get some where is to start
my own company and do what I want to do according to
the vision that I see for the company.
I may consider a partnership with some one who may
offer me substantial support, and it does not have to
be money although that helps, it could be their
expertise in publishing, or it could be simply some
real estate space to get going. I may structure this
company as a limited liability company. I have even
considered sole proprietorship, and I am still mulling
over other possibilities, but I will not make a final
decision unless I have consulted thoroughly with
various experts at the Entrepreneur center in
different specialties including start up assistance,
business plan writing, financing capital, among other
specialties.
here is my resume and the synopsis of both my
screenplays as well as a sample of my poetry.
NAZEM KAMEL ELMASRI (NED MASRI)
546 west Julian Street
San jose CA 95110
(408) 271-0820
nedmasri@hotmail.com
AFTRA honorable withdrawal card # 177176, Actor’s
Equity card # A3315(expired)
FILM :
Ø Currently attempting to produce, direct and
play a role in my own screenplay ”Code named blue
Cedar”, a spy fantasy thriller.
Ø Producer’s assistant for untitled feature, an
all star cast film staring Robert Mitchum, David
Caradine and others, directed by Bobby Davis,
production shut down due to loss of funding.
Ø The Thespian, screenwriter, producer, director
and lead actor of experimental 35 minutes synchronized
sound super 8 film.
Ø Attempted to start other film companies with
Louise Hammet( line producer, the dating game),
Michael Conrad, and other Hollywood personalities.
Ø Lead role in a 2004 16mm student film at the
art institute downtown Chicago.
THEATER:
Lyricist/playright of new musical in the style of the
Gilbert and Sullivan works.
Ø Aug –2000 Titus Andronicus Roman citizen,
tribune, Hilo Community Players Hilo HI Directed By
Cathy McPherson.
Ø Jan –7-97 Guest artist at the annual
celebration of the international theater institute at
the home of the Cypriot minister of culture in Nicosia
Cyprus.
Ø Sep-Dec94 The Tiger turned pink (children’s
theater) Hunter, written , produced and directed by
Angela Randazo
Ø Jun-Sep 94 Night in Casablanca
Ugarte Port Royal productions Long Beach CA Directed
by : Baron Mosely.
Ø Mar-Jul- 93 Oasis in Manhattan
Khalifa(Understudy) The Venture theater Burbank CA
Directed by and staring the late Vic Tayback
Ø Nov 86-Aug 92 A small obscure theater company
that is no longer there” The Royal Hollywood
Shakespeare Company”, produced and directed and
staring Sir Gregory Lansing. I played the following
roles:
Ø Richard III Act 1 Scene 1,
oration to his army, the nightmare scene.
Ø Hamlet To be or not
to be…and Ghost
Ø Henry V Chorus
Ø Julius Caesar
Soothsayer,Casca, Decius, Mettelus Cimber, Lucius,
Cinna the poet.
Ø Macbeth Act 1 scene 1
3 witches, and the dagger scene.
Ø Othello Act 1 Scene
1 Iago
Ø Caligula Tribune,
Pretorian guard.
Ø Mar85-Aug 86 The Magnolia Playhouse North
Hollywood CA Produced , written and directed by Steve
Oakley.
Ø Hostages in the terrorist zone,(musical) Ahmed
the terrorist
Ø Freud Freud
Ø Other small supporting roles.
BEAUTY CONTESTS:
Ø Judged Miss Philippines LA CA at the Hollywood
Palladium.
Ø Helped select wardrobe for Miss Philippines
Honolulu Hawaii.
RADIO:
Ø Volunteer Receptionist and later on the air
announcer for small radio station in Hilo Hawaii.
TALENT CONTESTS:
Ø Master of Ceremony , Produce and host of talent
contests in coffee houses in LA CA, Kelwat Metn
Lebanon, Nicosia Cyprus, Zipolite Oaxaca Mexico.
MUSIC:
Ø I had a one man show which I performed in
coffee houses in LA between 1986 and 1998, and
currently still trying to produce a world tour. I sing
Arabic classics and pop as well as show tunes (Frank
Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr ) and French pop.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE:
Ø Assisted in small acting school in Hollywood CA
run by Michael Conrad a 50s B movies actor.
Ø Taught English to Zapotec Indians in Poerto
Angel Oaxaca Mexico.
Ø Taught Shakespearean acting to fellow actors in
small theater company.
Ø Occasional Arabic tutor.
HOSPITALITY EXPERIENCE:
SKILLS: Fluent in Arabic, French, Spanish
and English, computer
literate, management experience.
EXPERIENCE :
10/03-12/03 Emile’s French Restaurant San Jose CA
Busperson
08/02-12/02 Café O lei La Haina Maui Pacific fusion
cuisine
Busperson
11/88- 10/98 Pizza guy Studio City CA
Assistant manager
(except when I was overseas)
06/95-09/95 Rayan Hotel Kelwat Metn Lebanon
Assistant manager
09/95-04/96 Club 92 Nicosia Cyprus
Assistant manager
11/90 –02/95 Shambala Zipolite Oaxaca Mexico
Assistant manager
06/94- 11/94 Ramada Inn Albany NY
Driver/Security
10/86-12/87 Casablanca Hollywood CA
Mediterranean Food Chef
Other cooking experience includes Macdonald’s
, Jack In The Box,
Farrel’s Ice Cream, The Salt Shaker, in addition other
ethnic, American,
and Italian cuisine.
I have also been involved in numerous
attempts to develop resorts in
different states as well as overseas.
EDUCATION :
Ø De Anza College Cupertino CA
Screenwriting class, acting for the camera
class.
Ø Nov 94 American college of business Studio
City CA
Grad hotel and restaurant management
Certificate.
Ø May 83- Feb 85 US Air Force Aircraft
maintenance scheduling Specialist.
Ø Feb79-Aug80 Pasadena city college CA
Theater arts major(dropped out)
Ø Sep 75-Nov 76 Evangelical school Zahle Bekaa
Lebanon
English and Arabic Literature major, also
performed in various school plays
and poetry recitations in Arabic, English and
French.
Ø 65-74 Various school plays and poetry
recitations in English Arabic and French.
SPECIAL ABILITIES:
Ø Fluent in Arabic, French, Spanish and English.
Accents, and dialects.
NOTE:
Ø I am also trying to publish a book of poetry
about the civil wars in Lebanon, Afghanistan, and
Bosnia. Back in 1999, I had a contract on it with
Hawaii Loa Publishing in Maui, it fell through. To see
a sample of my poetry go to Poetry.com and enter last
name : ELMASRI and first name : NAZEM.
AGENT AT LARGE , SCREEPLAY SYNOPSIS
B Basil nick named Ben is an Arab American singer
with a dying career. Finally his boss fires him. He is
approached by a CIA recruiter who studied his
personnel records as a US special forces member. his
mission is to kill a wealthy industrialist who is
suspected of supplying terrorists with nuclear
weapons, the trouble is that Ben does not want to have
anything to do anymore with any kind of intrigue.
After refusing the mission adamantly, and
realizing that his marriage is falling apart he takes
his last paycheck and buys a one way ticket to Paris
France. Upon arrival he has a nice dinner with lots of
wine and jumps in the Seine attemting to commit
suicide. His attempt is a failure and he is rescued
wet cold and miserable and taken to the largest mental
state mental hospital in Paris where he falls in love
with Laochi a Vietnamese beauty, who is so uninhibited
that she shows him a hole in the fence in the back
where she takes him skinny dipping in the woods. Ben
assures the penniless Laochi that he will help her
return to Vietnam to take care of her ailing father
and little brother. meanwhile lochi is released and is
accepted in a catholic convent where she waits for Ben
to fulfil his promise.
Upon release from the hospital he is
refered to an Islamic charity agency where he quickly
befriends the owner a wealthy eccentric Egyptian who
promises to become his mentor and show him how to live
a happy life. However, Basil(Ben) is adamant about
going to see an an Algerian acqaintance who works at
the docks in Marseille who will help . However he
finds out that the Algerian is an Al-Qaeda operative
who is intending to blow up a jewish synagogue in
Marseille an attempt which is foiled when Ben reports
him to the police. Ben then returns to Paris to the
eccentric Egyptian who gives him two airfares to
Saigon.
As Ben and Laochi are about to board the
plane, the persistant CIA recruiter appears and
kidnaps them, taking them to where the wealthy
industrialist is having a dinner and ordering him to
shoot the industrialist, however ben shoots the
recruiter and his henchmen leaving them dying in pools
of blood. ben them seeks refuge in a small Paris
mosque where he seeks advice from the Imam who panics
and tells him to turn himself in to the police. ben
does that and is promptly arrested.
a court date is set and the trial of the
century begins which stirrs the debate about
immigration reform and foreign nationals commiting
crimes on French soil, with both the prosecuting
attorney and the defense making passionate speeches
outlining their POVs.
At last Laochi and Ben are acquitted and
freed and they are flown to saigon where the
Vietnamese government gives them 10 acres of land in
the highlands to build a resort. on top of that the US
embassy contacts Ben about a reward for killing two
most wanted fugitives for killing an FBI agent and
posing as CIA agents.
The couple are then flown to Washington DC
to be honored at a formal dinner at the White House
for over coming their mental illness and achieving so
much. the film ends with the couple sitting at the
balcony of their resort in the Vietnamese highlands
with children playing at their feet.
SCREENPLAY SYNOPSIS
My second screenplay titled: “Code named Blue Cedar”
is a spy thriller; it is a character driven plot. The
main character Mohammed is an ex-marine who is a never
do well kind of guy neither financially nor
emotionally.
Over opening credits we see an old man beckoning
3-year-old Mohammed to come towards him. They are in
an apple orchard in the spring, the trees are in white
bloom, and the ground is covered with green grass
strewn with multicolored wild flowers, as Mohammed
drinks fresh water from a spring, lifted up by his
grandpa’s cupped hands.
Two years later we see Mohammed standing by the Beirut
Damascus highway watching an endless column of Syrian
tanks entering Lebanon upon the request of the
Lebanese government to establish law and order.That
year like all the young men of his midteenage years
Mohamed was drafted into the militias and after 15
days of training he is sent to fight in Beirut in the
bitterly contested hotel district until he is captured
and taken to an underground interrogation center where
he is beaten , tortured and almost killed, before the
Lebanese army overran the underground bunker killing
his captors and freeing him.
Upon return to his home in the relative safety of the
mount Lebanon county, his mother barely believing that
he is still alive sells her jewelry to buy him a plane
ticket to come to live with his brother in southern CA
USA, where two days after arrival he starts attending
high school and graduating in June of that year. He
then enters a trade school and becomes a machinist but
six years later he takes off to Mexico to live and
work on a resort near the Guatemalan boarder, the
place becomes his home the next 5 winters, Mohammed
returns to LA the rest of the year where he lives with
different Arab American families and works in their
small businesses.
In 1992 Mohammed is 32 years old he has his first
unexplainable catatonic spell. He is admitted in a
mental hospital and when he wakes up from a deep coma.
He becomes very violent and has to be subdued and
injected with a myriad of psychiatric drugs.
He is finally released after seven months in a state
mental hospital, but he is penniless and ashamed to go
back to his family, so he takes off and becomes a
drifter riding cargo trains all over the US.
For the next 11 years he is in and out of mental
hospitals, and homeless shelters nationwide, until he
finally gets fed up with institutional living and
recalling with sadness and melancholy the times when
he had jobs with friends and family and a cozy living
arrangement with them, those were happy times when he
was care free. Finally he makes up his mind that he is
going to go back to live with an Arab American family
whenever he gets his first opportunity.
So he returns to southern California and is accepted
at the salvation army, where he gets is accepted into
a long term treatment program for alcohol addiction
and mental illness. On his day off he visits the area
around Pasadena citiy college where he frequents the
coffee houses in the area and chats with young patrons
who remind him of his lost youth.
Then his opportunity comes one day when he meets a
young Saudi student at an internet cafe in that area,
who befriends him after hearing his life story and
vows to help him, eventually he moves in with the
Saudi student and his four other roommates.
However Mohammed gets an unsettling feeling from a
mysterious Latino young man named Louie who doesn’t
say much, but spends a lot of time with Mustafa the
head of the household. Mustafa is a middle aged Yemeni
who exhibits leadership and mystery, who seemed not to
object to Mohammed moving in.
However,Mustafa has an aura about him of extreme
seriousness and depth. Seldom has he smiled and even
when he does, he does it in such a way as if he is
mocking his own spirit.
The combination of the last two characters, keeps
Mohammed on the edge and he makes up his mind to flee
again. However that never comes to fruition, for he
has been stung by the scorpion of Middle Eastern
intrigue.
Mohammed’s roommates continue to joke and irritate him
with their nosy inquisitive interrogation that he had
even fantasized about becoming a CIA agent, he had
gone to the library and read books about different
intelligence agencies world wide, even while his
roommates were playing cards he had gone on the CIA
website and applied for a job as an agent.
Now it is April 2003 America had just invaded Iraq.,
and in retaliation Al-Qaeda had set off a car bomb
downtown San Francisco killing 64 people and wounding
248 and as the terrorists were trying to escape to
Mexico there was a huge shootout at the border
checkpoint at Nogales Arizona 4 boarder patrol agents
lay dead and 9 are wounded in addition to 23 innocent
migrant workers killed and 197 wounded.
Mohammed had no idea that his worst fears had become a
reality, the people whom he is sharing an apartment
with, are the Al-Qaeda cell responsible for those
acts, he had never suspected it since they are so kind
and they had helped him get a job at an Arab American
club, and even got him a singing gig over there.
Mustafa the leader of the cell had finally decided
that Mohammed already had seen and knows too much,
therefore he had to be eliminated, but that doesn’t
work out because after Mustafa lured Mohammed into an
abandoned building downtown LA under the pretense of
showing him the next location for his next half owned
club, Mustafa had drawn the gun prematurely and
Mohamed had overpowered and killed him.
Mohamed was now is in limbo, he cannot go back to his
apartment because Mustafa’s attack was the proof
beyond the shadow of any doubt that his roommates were
Al-Qaeda operatives, so he took the money and all of
Mustafa’s belongings from his body, and drove the car
away eastward staying in motels in the California
desert, until a Motel clerk recognized him after
seeing his picture on America’s most wanted, and
called the police.
As part of a plea bargain the FBI asked him
to co-operate with the CIA since he is so
knowledgeable about al the warring factions in Lebanon
and sent him back there after training in Langley VA
to track a terrorist by the nom de guerre of Abu Saad.
However Mohammed was promptly arrested by
the Lebanese internal security forces. The arrest
happened after Tom, Mohamed’s trainer in VA and
contact in Lebanon is killed in a drive by shooting
while having coffee in a side walk café in the
fashionable Hamra Street.
After a lengthy trial, Mohammed is sentenced
to die by a firing squad, because the best Lebanese
defense attorney could not argue successfully against
the prosecutor who based his argument on the nation’s
constitution and its laws regarding high treason.
Even the fact that the American Ambassador
was given his turn to plead on Mohammed’s behalf since
he is a US citizen, all that was in vain since
Mohammed had dual citizenship.
At last the CIA, with help from the
Ambassador and Mohammed’s uncle the chief of police in
Beirut, hatched a plan, as the hooded Mohammed is lead
to his death, suddenly the lights in the prison
hallway, went out and Mohammed was switched by another
prisoner who is led to his death by a firing squad.
In the prison basement Mohammed is stashed
in a coffin that was draped with the American flag,
and driven out to the airport where he is flown out to
Dover Air force base.
The movie ends with a fantasy scene where
Mohammed dies in car bomb on his way to the airport
and his car becomes a space ship with Arab, American,
French, and British, angels who exchange sarcastic
remarks about the evils of colonialism in the region,
and when the space ship finally lands in heaven,
Mohammed does not like being in heaven because it is a
prison guarded by US Marines who order him to stand in
line, and when he asks what the line is for, he finds
out that it is to be electrocuted, so he escapes and
runs down the white heavenly hallway until a heavenly
earthquake cracks the floor, and Mohammed falls
through it landing on Waikiki beach.
Assyria recount your past glories
And the development of of civilization: animal
domestication, agriculture, pottery, controllable fire
(kilns), smelting,
Just to name but a few.
Assyria, let us sing about your rich corn fields,
Arbel let us go back
Between 4500 and 2400 B.C.,
When the great armies
marched Up and down the valley of blood
They chanted in unisen
songs and eulogies
Of their fallen heroes.
Since the dawn of time
And the first complex societies appearrance
Since man&nb sp;gathered in cities,
And learned to write
Since that time Assyria
We salute you.
Since the prosperity
and progress quickly spread
to all of ancient Mesopotamia,
Since the first golden age
Since 2400 BC and till 612 BC
And since the prosperity of Assyrian history
And Sargon of Akkad
And the fall of Nineveh
I stayed on the edges
of the my nerves
Waiting for a response
To my letters
and inquiries
And since this year
and the year before
I prayed that there will still&n bsp;be someone
In this world
that will wish us
to stay in harmony
and since the psalms of David
and since our enemies gathered
We have prayed in supplication
and God answered
and our foes were vanquished.
Today we prevail
against racists extremist ideology
Today we pray in our churches
And that our brides will wed
peacefully
And that there will be singing and dancing
in our streets.
Hi Ned,
This is one LOOOONG comment
I’ve never used a JVC GR-D250. I googled it and it seems it’s a nice little camera. It has a 25x zoom and offers a degree of manual control over shutter speeds.
On the down side, you have to rely on your built-in mic. It’s worthwhile to get a separate sound recording unit with a better mic.
Shooting movies with such a small camera will be a challenge because of camera shake and the relatively low quality of the image sensor. However, you should look for a way to take advantage of what you have. You can make your first short be a gritty, in-your-face flick.
Best of luck!
In response to your article; “Dude, Where’s my Dad”, I would like to remind you that if you have shot in 16:9 and you are delivering in 4:3 you would not likely crop your image. If you notice when watching HD productions on NTSC TV, most are letterboxed to fit the full image within the 4:3 box that is in the majority of American homes. You might not have noticed it because it has been the norm since films starteed showing on TV. Your client won’t notice it either.
That is what I would suggest doing. Shoot 16:9 HD, letterbox and compress to fit 4:3 for DVD delivery. In the future even Grandma will have a widescreen HD ready TV and then you can sell them the HD version which you have already got in storage on let’s say a dual layer data DVD or 2.
L