EDITING TEST, TAKE 2

Low-tech.

FIRST DAY OF SHOOTING

Last week I took a long walk around my neighborhood in search of interesting shooting locations and found tons of potential spots. There are plenty of empty parking lots, vast public green space (note to self: watch out for dog poop, spring is near), creepy alleys, etc. What I enjoy most about this area is that it is anonymous, there are no billboards, no advertisements, very little traffic, not too many passersby at this time of year and the buildings are nameless... It could be anywhere, it could have a different meaning for different individuals. And it is meaningful to me. I decided on a very large 'terrain vague' by the Canal, close to Guy St.

Today I went for a first try at shooting with a wireless camera and reciever, a miniDV deck and a tripod. 

Soon enough, I realized that winter and electronics don't mix. After only a few minutes, the camera's battery cable broke. I switched to the other camera (the infra red one, I believe), but after another few minutes, the batteries died one after the other.

I still managed to capture precious images and, more importantly, to try my ingenious 'cardboard and duct tape' rotating mechanism. And it works just fine. I have decided not to go with the constant rotation but with 8x45˚ separate shots. After speaking with a techie friend, I came to the conclusion that synchronizing 8 channels would be pretty much impossible. And I do want 8 channels so it's a decent compromise. 

I am also very satisfied with the look of the footage that I shot. I posted some snapshots I took from my TV on my other blog. I will post some clips soon. Over the next few weeks (probably during the spring break) I will go for more tests and hopefully it will be a little warmer outside. And sunny, because I like the blue sky contrasting with the white snow. For some reason I had always envisioned it in black and white, but I'm loving the wireless camera's warm/cold color contrast.

To be continued.

EDITING TEST (CONT'D)

I tried pasting all 8 channels together, making multiple and have them move in the opposite direction asfrom the movement, to cancel the rotation, but couldn't find the exact speed and got lost in the process. 

Click on the image to see it full size.

The transitions (black lines) between the different channels were visible, too, so it didn't look too good. I will have to try again later.

EDITING TEST (CONT'D)

Having the same image (ie. framing) in the same channel all the time worked in theory, but is just not possible in practice. I would need to use multiple cameras, and still then I would have to modify the footage in postproduction to keep it stable. 

As an alternative, still using the same footage, I selected really short clips (1 frame), which I slowed down (2%) and mixed together (22-24 frames cross fade), using only the frames with the reoccurring image (approx. every 1.5 second).

For some reason I couldn't upload the video with Blogger, so I uploaded it here. It looks bad and weird, but it's a useful illustration for something that's really hard to explain with words. 

EDITING TEST

With all 360 degrees represented (imagine first and last channels linked). But that's not what I'm after.

FIRST CAMERA TESTS

Crappy camera test. Works well.

Infrared camera test. Works fine, but the camera angle should be parallel with the ground to insure continuity.

EDITING TECHNIQUE

Click on the image to see it full size.

This is how it would work with a still subject and a moving (rotating) camera.

I need to find the formula to match the speed of the rotating camera with the number of frames to offset each channel.

If the offsetting matches the rotation speed perfectly, each channel will show the same 'frame' (geographically speaking) and if the spacing between the monitors is right, it will give the illusion of a 'stable', continuous, 360 degrees environment.

CAMERA TESTS

I tried the wireless security camera kit I borrowed from the video depot.

Camera > (wireless) > Reciever > (RCA cable) > VCR > (RCA cable) > Monitor

Both cameras worked fine, one gave a clearer image than the other, but I will have to try with different lighting. I will also need to try it outdoors, with either a portable mini DV deck or mini DV camera. But I did like the texture and 'life' VHS brought to the party.

I will upload short video excerpts soon and play around with them.

ROTATING PLATFORM TESTS

I tried placing the camera on my turntable, but it spins too fast. Slowing it down 'by hand' is not constant enough.