Dachau
 

What a difference HD down-convert makes to video quality! I uploaded two videos recently one captured with the HD dow-covert set to on and one set to off so the capture is HD. Same subject though the HD version had a bit better editing since I had to start from scratch.

This video was shot in April of 2007. I edited it for my daughter's class whiie they were studying WWII. Part of the video I shot using the Bleach Bypass preset. I think it gives an interesting look to the footage. This was shot in 24F. I didn't have a tripod with me.

Down-converted version: http://vimeo.com/741447

HD version: http://vimeo.com/751524

HUGE difference in the down convert. Good reminder to me.

I thought your shots were pretty good. A little shakiness, but for hand held, very solid. I don't know about the music choices for your edit. Probably because it was such a dark and grave subject that the music gave off a jovial feel, sometimes even giving a sense of awe and grandeur... but that's just my impression. Perhaps it might have been centered around the youths' learning and experience, but even then... it was almost uncomfortable to me.

Anyhow, just my two cents...

Music
 

Nicholas, I understand your point about the music selection. I considered a number of ideas and decided on this theme from the Italian film "Life is Beautiful" that takes place in a concentration camp. The piece celebrates life in that we should cherish it no matter the conditions in which we live. Many stories have been told of people surviving in these camps because they found a reason to live. Maybe I hoped those at Dachau found a reason to live. If you consider the simple craftsmanship of the desk, the lockers, tables and even the Maintenance Building, you have to think they were made by people who held onto some hope of survival--people who have given up all hope of living couldn't have created such beautiful things.

I guess I could have used a fugue with organs or strings but that would have been really depressing. The music keeps the viewer from slipping into darkness while viewing these images. The best solution would be to pay someone to write music specifically for the piece-or better yet find a budding composer to help out and use this as a demo reel. Anyone interested?

And thank you for the compliment. I know some of the shots are shaky, but I tried my best to hold steady. Often I don't have a lot of time to plan every shot. This is run and gun video work.

Great point Steve. From that perspective, I can understand. Like I said, it was only my opinion... which I understand that as a filmmaker, it's impossible (as well as irrelevant) to predict the preconceptions that each individual audience member has about the subject presented. I only know about the holocaust from books and films (Night and Fog)... so to me, it is so dark, that I forget about the story that involves survival and hope.

Another lesson I got from this post.

Anyhow, thanks for posting!

it looks good, but I see alot of strobing effect on the pans. I too tend to see a
lot of this in my 24f motion. What I find works for me is playing with the shutter.

That down-convert looks awful, what did you use to do it? It should look WAY better than that.

:)
 

I agree. It's iMovie down-converted in camera then captured in SD on the Mac. Maybe I should try capturing in HD from the camera down-convert?
I recently switched to Mac and now have a full edition of Vegas 7 sitting idle. Just don't have the funds for FCP, or even Express. I keep thinking one of these days I will partition the HD and get Vegas going on a Windows partition. Guess that time is coming.