New equipment awaits our first Cinema degree seekers

The new updated college catalog references the new AFA in Cinema (though it does state “pending” until we get final approval through state accredidation).  With the launch of this new degree, we are also putting some new resources into supporting it, which means some new equipment has been added.

Though we love our RED Epic camera, we also now have a Sony FS7 camera (with lens) for the class to gain exposure (bad pun) on a second cinema camera.

Sony is one of the companies I like and trust almost as well as RED.  In addition, when I took a class of film students on a trip to DC Camera rental house in Fairfax less than two years ago, one of the items we previewed was the FS7 and the students really wanted one – so, I listened.

Speaking of what the students want, I have also heard a lot of chatter about more movement in their productions so we added some nice dolly track and centipede wheels to our already impressive Matthews Round D Round dolly (for that uneven ground), as well as, we now have a Ronin-M gimbal for some fluid and smooth movement (just please don’t overdo it).

And for use with the Ronin-M, we also added a Canon C100 (mark ii) and two new zoom lenses.

Again, we want you to have the best experience possible as a film student at NOVA Woodbridge.

Let us know if you have any questions.

cstallings@nvcc.edu or babrown@nvcc.edu

“Down” Music Video Official Release Day

Unfortunately, we had to wait to show this video because the song was not officially released until today but here is the music video for the song “Down” by Ohio’s own Cameron Pierson.  She is signed to local record label Potomac Records and I think our students would agree that it was a delight to work with her and Lyrion Neely on the making of this video.

We wish nothing but success for both of them.

Filming Time

Cameron.Still001

The students in PHT 131 (Video II) have been very busy lately with their end of the semester film shoots.  They wrapped the shoot for their narrative piece (a short film based on a script from a London screenplay artist) two weeks ago and that has entered post production.  In addition, this past weekend, they shot a music video for artist Cameron Pierson of Ohio, who is signed to a label with our local Potomac Records (see location still above).

See her Facebook page here:

https://www.facebook.com/cameronpiersonlive/

Then, the class filmed yesterday with the assistance of the Video I class (PHT 130) for a commercial for Hometowne Auto & Tire:

https://www.facebook.com/hometowneautorepair/?fref=ts

We will soon post all three videos to this blog site once all post production has been completed.  We will also post more stills from the shoots but here are some pictures from the set of the music video for “Down,” by Cameron Pierson with special guest Lyrion Neely.

[Pictures courtesy of Jason Pierson]

Photo Apr 09, 10 20 15 PM

Photo Apr 09, 4 33 46 PMPhoto Apr 09, 5 23 39 PMPhoto Apr 09, 9 25 05 PMPhoto Apr 09, 4 57 00 PMPhoto Apr 09, 3 07 49 PMPhoto Apr 09, 3 58 10 PMPhoto Apr 09, 2 12 48 PMPhoto Apr 09, 3 57 07 PMPhoto Apr 09, 11 19 40 PMPhoto Apr 09, 7 55 06 PMPhoto Apr 09, 8 15 48 PMPhoto Apr 09, 4 36 17 PMPhoto Apr 09, 9 27 30 PMPhoto Apr 09, 10 31 14 PMPhoto Apr 09, 7 52 51 PMPhoto Apr 09, 4 43 04 PMPhoto Apr 09, 11 03 02 PMPhoto Apr 09, 10 19 59 PM

Woodbridge Film Program Visits Woodbridge High School

Woodbridge High Visit

 

 

WHS Visit

05/05/15

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jonathan Balsamo (pictured above) and Chris Stallings had the pleasure of visiting students at Woodbridge High School and discussing some aspects of the film program at the Woodbridge campus of NOVA.

You can see the RED Epic camera pictured here in the photo.  Students can learn to work on this cinema camera.

For a sampling of some of the classes offered here on campus, please refer to the “About” section of this blog site.  In addition, please feel free to contact Chris Stallings (cstallings@nvcc.edu) with any further questions about what is offered.

NOVA Woodbridge Film Program 2014 Promo Video

Here is our promotional video from September’s film shoot.

We tried to give it a Film Noir feeling and actually added grain to the final grading and converted it to black and white to stay with the era.

(Watch it in HD if the settings do not default to it)

Spring class registration starts next week, so I hope potential students will be interested in our classes here at Woodbridge.

 

Behind the Scenes Stills

As we work on the post production of our latest promotional video for NOVA Woodbridge, I wish to share some stills from student Megan Robertson.

You get a chance to see our two wonderful actors, Shea Davies and Rick Kain, as they prepare for their roles and, then, make the parts come alive.  They were both sensational in their talent but, also, both very professional.

You will also see our wonderful makeup artist, Tiffany Roop, of TDR Artistry as she preps our actors.

I would also like to thank Sabrina Chandler of Center Stage LLC in Occoquan, Virginia, for working with us on the wardrobe.  She is an excellent resource for those in the area in need of wardrobe.

Most of all, in these photos you will see a collaboration of students and faculty members working together to make art.  You can also see the set construction of the detective’s office, including the light reflecting his name through the glass of the door.  And the fake windows were used as our main lighting source, with the exception of a mood setting practical lamp on the table of his desk.

Some of the photos show the set while the house lights are on and others give more of an idea of the richness (though simplicity) of the lighting design.

Enjoy a look behind the scenes while you wait for the final product to come alive in post production.

Free advertising

Free advertising

Rick Kain as the PI

Rick Kain as the PI

Rick1

Rick2

Shea preps her hat

Shea preps her hat

Tiffany makes the femme fetale come alive

Tiffany makes the femme fetale come alive

Studying lines

Studying lines

Rick on set

Rick on set

Detective3

Shea takes her mark

Shea takes her mark

Actors rehearse

Actors rehearse

One view of the set

One view of the set

second view of the set

second view of the set

Students work behind the set

Students work behind the set

FishEye2

wardrobe adjustment

wardrobe adjustment

Our detective discusses his character

Our detective discusses his character

The detective enters his office

The detective enters his office

Getting the floor image to work

Getting the floor image to work

Paige hard at work

Paige hard at work

Still at it

Still at it

Reviewing the shot

Reviewing the shot

Kelly and Jonathan share a laugh on set

Kelly and Jonathan share a laugh on set

Jonathan planning the shot

Jonathan planning the shot

Getting the lighting correct

Getting the lighting correct

Fish eye view of Demetrius hard at work

Fish eye view of Demetrius hard at work

Still at it

Still at it

Chris explains the shot

Chris explains the shot

Jonathan and Demetrius  plan the next set up

Jonathan and Demetrius plan the next set up

Coaching the actors

Coaching the actors

ChrisCoach1

ChrisCoach

Shea enters the scene

Shea enters the scene

Chris watches on (the bald head is the give away)

Chris watches on (the bald head is the give away)

ChrisCoach6

Actors1

Getting it right

Getting it right

Discussing the best way

Discussing the best way

Aaron doing audio

Aaron doing audio

AaronAudio2

Prepping audio for the next shot

Prepping audio for the next shot

Actors3

Actors4

Actors2

NOVA Woodbridge Film

NOVA Woodbridge Film

 

 

Promo Teaser

NOVAPromoStill

We finished the interior shoot of our 2014 promotional video for the NOVA Woodbridge Film Program.

We will be showing more stills in the future and, of course, we will premiere the finished promotional video upon its completion from post-production but, in the meanwhile, please enjoy this still taken by film student Aaron Kimmel.

You can get a good idea of the set (a 1940s film noir private investigator’s office) from this overhead shot.  Please notice the set construction, including false walls, false windows, and even the fake image of the name plate from the detective’s door, shining on the floor of his office.

I would also like to thank these people for their assistance on Monday’s shoot, as well as, the exterior shoot as well:

Kelly Cochran

Bryan Brown

Erin Devine

Demetrius Oatis

Jonathan Balsamo

Meghan Olney

Paige Fischer

Aaron Kimmel

*I will thank our actors and non-NOVA support staff in the next post.

First test shot from RED Epic camera

As I mentioned in our previous post, we have a new camera that will impact our future video production courses here at Woodbridge.

For those that have not had an opportunity to work extensively with professional cameras, I just wanted to put up a teaser to get an idea of what this camera can do…at a minimum.

Just to make sure everything is working, I put everything together, slapped on a  lens (Zeiss ZF.2 21mm) and recorded for about one minute.

Nothing glamorous.  I did not set up the shot, just simply recorded what was near me.

Then, I did nothing in post-production except to white balance the still image I took form the RAW video.

Here is the result:

 

 

A001_C001_0627F1

I should also state that the still I took was a TIFF, which is a format that is not friendly to this blog site, so I had to convert it to JPG instead.  Then, because it was shot at 5K, I had to reduce the image size by 75% because of the file size.

So, above you will see a non-staged (no added lights, simply done under the fluorescents of the room), still taken from video that is converted to a worse picture format in JPG and the file size constricted by three-fourths and the image is still interesting to note the quality.

If the image is large enough on your computer, you can notice the scratches on top of the book case.  You can see the texture of the wall behind it.  You can notice the dust residue at the base of the paper holder (the small slotted blackish grey things between the stapler and tape dispenser).  You can notice the teeth of the tape dispenser shining through the extended tape at the end of the roll.  But I think the most telling part of this image is in the details of what is in focus: the pencil sharpener.

You can actually see the reflection of the hole punch in the base of the pencil sharpener, adding a highlight to the shine of the name of the sharpener.  Also, and this is something very important I share with my students, you can see the detail in the “blacks.”  The head of the pencil sharpener (round rotating disc with six different pencil size options) is the same dark black color as the supply cabinet in the background, yet they do not merge into a blob of darkness; rather you can see the entire shape of the pencil sharpener against this background, giving each black and shadowy area its own depth of “color.”

Now, just imagine what you can do with this professional equipment if you actually take the time to plan your shot and make sure you are using it to its fullest.

Hopefully, we will publish test shots we do in the near future and, also, look out for a promotional video we will be doing in the coming months.

EDIT: I just published this post and the picture looks even worse now that I have published it.  I guess the Site has to compress the file even more in the process, so I apologize if a lot of the quality I have mentioned has been lost.

However, if you ever wish to stop by room 328 here on campus and talk about film and look at the original image, I would be more than happy to show you.