Thanks for all the comments. As for the sped-up slow footage, the key thing was having a camcorder that shot at a longer shutter speed. The one I used was Canon's original Optura, which could shoot with 1/8 of a sec shutter speed. It created a blur just perfect enough for that kind of action.

http://classic.mountainzone.com/gear...ics/optura.jpg

cool man. wonder if you had an even slower shutter

Nope, the slowest on that model was 1/8th of a sec. The Optura Pi, the model that replaced it, wouldn't even go down to 1/15th of a sec, which blew my mind. The only other model that Canon released at that time which would go that slow was the XL1.

Having spent some time working in a camera/video store had it's rewards. ;-)

no i am sorry i did not clarify. i just meant slower shutter on any camera.
really man i loved the effects of the whole thing. i would really like to see some of your most recent work. if that was 4 years ago like me i have come a long way from that long ago as i suspect you have too.

Kent, being a Tool fan myself really lets me appreciate your motivation for making this video. I think you did an excellent job of transferring the emotion that James Maynard Keenan does in the song through your own interpretation. This video has the feel of many of Tool's videos, so I really enjoyed it.

Too bad you couldn't finish it. I would also like to see some of your recent work, because despite some of the comments, I thought this was very well done considering the circumstance.

Also, what editor did you use?

The editor used is a long-since discontinued program called EditDV from Digital Origin. Completely Quicktime based. D.O. was bought out by Media100 in, I think, 2000. This program is what kept me from upgrading from WinME to WinXP Pro. It wasn't compatible with anything newer than ME. I've since found Vegas and I haven't looked back. It'll be a little while before I have anything new. I just recently acquired a new camcorder, which also has progressive scan like the Optura. I also still have my Optura, but it doesn't record well. However, a 4-pin to 4-pin firewire cable would enable me to connect the two camcorders and be able use that same slow shutter speed on the old camcorder, but record to the new camcorder. Kind of a pain, but if I have to, I can do it.
In any case, I don't have a project to work on. I've got some basic ideas, but nothing solid as of yet.

That video kicked ***, to be perfectly blunt. Seriously, you did an excellent job with the in-camera effects. I would also like to say that you and the girl did an excellent job 'acting', which is often half the battle in getting good footage.

It did have some elements that highlighted it as a 'home video production', but it certainly didn't ruin the video for me. I might have to watch it again to figure out what those 'highlights' were, partly just for my own good so I can avoid that myself in the future.

One question. How did you shoot the close-up shot of the eyeball with the iris opening? That was a very well done shot, and I would love to know how you pulled it off. Thanks!

That was actually done in post. I took a picture of the girl's eye, then in Photoshop I used the pinch tool to dilate her pupil frame-by-frame. Then I just inserted the frames in order on the timeline and rendered as an avi.

Ah, well, very nicely done.