NYC XL1S shooter- (redtail hawk project)
 

Hello everyone,

I'm working on a project that will eventually be showcased by the NYC Parks Dept & Urban Park Rangers showcasing the red-tail hawk.
I have documented a population of very successful redtails in a small local park in the Bronx- and have created a short 6 minute "action-footage" video. I'd say the video is about 90% complete but needs a little polishing (anyone in NYC wanna help?- i'd be glad to meet up and work the video a bit)..the video was mostly shot with an XL1S. This project is purely voluntary and is non-paying- i'm doing it for the enjoyment of producing the project and showcasing my photography and videography. Media and press coverage has been promised for the "Hawk Fest" where my video will be played....(alot of footage consists of the hawk capturing live prey and flying off- then consumption!!)

..i'm looking for some polishing by anyone who might lend a hand....if anyone feels they can help in polishing some footage (DV) of these redtail hawks- drop me a note- i'd welcome the opportunity to work with a knowledgeable person. Of course any help would be listed in the closing credits and would be acknowledged in any media or press coverage.

My editing setup consists of a Mac G4 running Final Cut Pro and Commotion.
Email stevenyc1@aol.com

PS- If anyone cares to join me in capturing more footage of these redtail hawks- I'd be more than willing to go to the park where these hawks are constantly hunting....great action almost guranteed!

Steve, this is fascinating and I'd love to see a copy when it's finished. We have a lot of redtail hawks here in Texas. Out here in the country they're easy to spot over the fields near the highway, usually hovering about fifty or seventy feet up or so, looking for lunch. Amazing birds. Please keep me advised about the status of your documentary,

Chris,

send me an email and i'll send you a DV tape of what I've got....maybe you'll have ideas on spicing it up a bit.

stevenyc1@aol.com

Kudos on this forum and the XL Watchdog- it was extremley important in the purchasing of the XL1S for me....your work doesn't go unnoticed or unappreciated.
Thanks.

NYC - I invite other Canon DV filmmakers to share experience and ideas
 

Hi everyone,
I am an eager filmfan who recently have decided to live out my dream of becomming a filmmaker. I guess it runs in the family after all as my sister is a film director in Denmark and is working on her second feature film. I have a commercial background and want to pursue more of a producer role than actually a director role. But in order to get into the business I thought that it was best to get some gear, take some film classes at NYU and just start producing some stuff myself and take it from there.

I have used this forum a lot to decide what to buy and what not to buy. My plan is to buy a Apple G4 Dual 1GHz with a 17'' Studio Display, Final Cut Pro 3, a Canon XL1s PAL kit, a tripod and a decent microphone. What I am not so sure about yet is if I should go with the manual or the automatic lens. I posted a thread in the "Lens forum", and got some nice response, but I am not really convinced yet.

My plan is to buy the Apple G4 this month (March 2002) since Apple has a screensaver discount, and the camera in April. Hopefully by then Canon USA can offer the PAL version, otherwise I will just have to go and buy it in Denmark.


Anyway, I have a lot of ideas for short films, feature films and documentaries. But what I don't have is experience.

Therefore I have a proposition to every Canon DV filmmaker:

Let's get together with other film enthusiasts here in New York City. I have a great loft downtown where we could meet.

My ideas are:
- Share practical experiences
- Share information about which stuff works best and how
- How other film makers have dealt with the same problems we
currenly are facing.
- Ideas for screenplays, feature films, documentaries
- If someone knows ressourcefull people e.g. actors/actresses,
producers, co-writers, sound people, editing people etc.
- How to market and sell your film and documentaries
- We could have guest from the industry to come (It would be
great to get Steven Soderbergh to come but he may be too VIP,
but via my sister I am sure we could attract the famous danish
director: Thomas Vinterberg who shot his award-winning
feature "The Celebration" on a Sony DV to tell about his
experiences in DV film making)

In other words to build a network.

I saw that Canon has a members club, and maybe this would overlap it. But this would be more local and NGO-like.

If you think it sounds interesting, drop me an e-mail to thomas_y_b@hotmail.com.

PS. Thanks to you Chris Hurd for this awesome site!!

Best regards,
Thomas B. Petesen

Thomas,

I like it when someone learns to swim by diving in the deep end. That's the way legends are born.

I just wanted to add my two cents about one of the items on your list, the monitor. I know it's more expensive, but the Cinema display is really great for DV. It gives you a lot of working room with FCP. I've been using one for over a year now, and when I go work on another computer with a smaller screen I can't imagine how I ever got by without it.

IMHO, I'd see if your Apple Dealer has FCP set up on two different machines, one with the 17" display and one with the Cinema display and compare them before buying.

Good luck!

Let get together
 

Hi Steve,
I am just interested in your experiences using the same set-up that I am going to buy in the very near future. I also live in NYC and have posted an invitation for other filmmakers to meet in NYC for sharing information, experiences, ideas etc.
Please check my introduction.

Best regards,
Thomas Berg Petersen

Thomas I've sent you an email and would definitely be willing to join a user's group of XL users (or any cam as long as DV)...I would of course prefer to keep the group Mac based because of the various differences when using PC based desktop editing equipment- but i'd go with whatever the group's majority is....

....if anyone is interested in checking out my small 15 minute "Redtail Hawk's of NYC" project- send me your mailing address and i'd be glad to send a video off in the mail.....


have fun- you only live once!

If you guys do form such a group, let me know and I'll post the details etc. on the Network page at www.dvinfo.net

NYC DV user group
 

Thanks Chris,
I have already received some e-mails. And we are trying to get things started. I will keep you posted.
PS. I am really enjoying my new book by Robert Rodriguez: Rebel Without A Crew.
Keep up the good work!

I would have loved to be able to work on your project, but I live in western Canada. I am also very interested in bringing wildlife to video and am a new XL1s owner. It will be several weeks before our Red Tails return for theIr spring nesting and I hope to capture video of them then. Good luck on your project!

Speaking of "Rebel Without A Crew," who's got my copy now? Adrian, are you bogarting it? I think Chris is next in line to get it.

No, I have it and need to send it to Guy in Houston.

Steve,

What type of lens(es) are you using to capture the red-tail hawk shots?

Z-

..just using the stock lens....I have found like others, that it's sharpness/focus tends to be either spot on or just plain off....I'm not too impressed with it's sharpness and to be honest have wondered if i made a mistake in purchasing it- perhaps the PD150 would have been better suited to my wishes....the nicest thing about the XL1S is it's "presence"...it has that "Pro" look that other camcorders just don't seem to have- the fact that it has interchangeable lenses was a big plus for me......now if i can actually get out and buy some lenses then it would make sense...I hear the 16X Manual lens is razor sharp- anyone in NYC wanna lend me theirs? (just kidding)

have fun..

I find the irony of this posting quite humorous. I live in California on a camp owned by Young Life. During the school months, the camp functions as an out door education camp. And if your wondering what any of this has to do with videos of redtailed hawks, I'll tell you. On the premisis, we have a center affiliated with the out door education that's main project is a Peregrine falcon breeding program.
The camp owns a XL1 as well as a GL1 for the puposes of filming the Young Life summer camps. I would be interested in recieving a copy of your film, so I could show it to the Raptor Center Director and purhaps create a sequal for the peregrines that are flown in our area.

Thanks a bunch,
Dennis
YL_wdlf_guy@hotmail.com

send me an offlist email and i'll send you a QT version (.mov file) of the project in it's current state on cd-rom.....let me know how you like it (or dislike- i can take it)

stevenyc1@aol.com

(be sure to include mailing address)

anyone else wanting a copy send me the same info and i'll mail out a cd-rom

video posted online
 

Hello everyone,

I've put up a tiny clip that will be in the finished project- it's the latest clip I've shot........let me know if the clips plays well for you guys. If so- i'll create a simple webpage featuring some really nice footage....

http://members.aol.com/stevenyc1/chick.mov

That clip looks very good at this end, Steve. (Although its rather a sad clip.)

sad.............
 

if you think that's sad- wait til you see the rat's head being ripped off- then swallowed whole!

(your cd is being sent soon)

Where in the heck does a red tail hawk from the Bronx find a chick for dinner? I lived in Manhattan for awhile...and don't seem to recall any poultry farms while I was there. ;)

licensed falconers frequently use quail or chicks in supplement to catches a hawk may take during the hunting season- taking a cue from them i set out a chick for a juvenile redtail to take- from the looks of it- the hawk was very inexperienced and hopefully i've helped make his/her life a tad bit easier---nature will have to take it's run from here on in for that hawk- but i'm crossing my fingers he/she survives...that was my 1st video from that bird.

Steve,

The clips plays well here. Although it was a bit too much
compressed and too low resolution for my taste. I'd like
to see the clips with at least twice that resolution and
less compression artifacting....

Otherwise great to see footage!

Hi Steve,

As a staunch wildlife protector and hopefully new documentarian, it's always interesting to read/hear about other people involved and what they're doing. From one of your earlier posts you seemed to be genuinely concerned for the well-being of the hawk, but, and please correct me if I'm wrong, I hope the practice of "setting up" a shot/sequence with live bait was not the intention. We should document only. OK, I'm off my soap box.

Hi Gang.
 

What's up everybody. I'm Dylan, and I'm an independent filmmaker who recently moved to NYC (stop me if you've heard THIS one before). I've set up shop in Brooklyn, and I'm getting ready to do my first short film with the XL-1S. I've graduated from Hi-8 and single chip DV, so you know I'm excited. I write, but my passion is for directing and shooting. I've worked on a few short films, as well as a documentary, and am anxious to build the resume.

I started a company called Broken Machine Films. The goal is to be not so much a film company but more of an art collective- a place where young filmmakers who are starting out can get hold of equipment and resources to make their films, use our website to advertise, all while keeping all rights to the work they created.

You can check out our website at www.brokenmachinefilms.com -anyway, these boards are very informative, and I'm hoping as my experience with the XL1 increases I can possibly contribute something. Thanks again guys, and enjoy.

Welcome Dylan
 

Brokenmachine Films looks like an interesting initiative; a sort of incubator for indie filmmakers. Keep us posted on your progress.

Meanwhile welcome to the community. I'm sure you'll find plenty of support for your work here. Congratulations on "graduating" from Hi-8!

Howzit Dylan,

Good luck with your endevours, we look forward to hearing more.

Sounds like you and Bobby from Digital Drive In are on the same wavelength. Good to see someone chipping in to help get others started.

Welcome aboard, hope you find this place useful

Dylan,

Welcome aboard! It sounds like you have your heart in the right
place! Good luck with your endeavers!

Finally got my XL1S PAL!!
 

Hi everyone,
I just wanted to let you know that I finally got my camera. It is awesome and I am shooting as much as I possibly can. The learning curve isn't as steep as I thought. But I still have a long way to go. I need to buy a few things like a carry-on bag, tripod and a monitor but I have decided that I will get the NLE system later.

Very soon I will post a date for the first Canon DV experience sharing meeting here in New York City.

Thomas

Well make sure you let me know! I am shooting an episodic starting on the 19th, my very first- SCARY TIMES!!! lol.

I'm in the city a lot so count me in next time you want to get a group together. Maybe we could all meet up at DV EXPO East?

I'll meet you guys for DV Expo East!

If you have your heart set on a Mac, then you should get the extra wide flat panel that they have. When it comes to screen space, menus will fill them up, and cover your workspace. Either that, or get a two monitor set up. Trust me on this... it makes life much better.
Keith

VideoMaker Expo
 

Sorry I can't make it to NYC for DV Expo East -- but might maybe perhaps get north for the Videomaker thing in Jersey in July...

see:
http://www.videomakerexpo.com/expoeast/expo.cfm

d.i.

Hi everyone. I hope to be able to get to both DV expo east and Video Maker.
I am a “ham” radio operator and we provide backup emergency communications for the state of VA. The reason i even mention this is that I have not been given the dates in july for the nuclear power plant emergency drill. Once i have those dates i can make firm plans

All the best and hope to see you all soon. Jim

If I got the money to travel over there, I'll be be glad to join you guys.

* * NEW TO THE SCENE * *
 

This is an absolutely excellent site!

My name is Derrick Begin, living in NYC, and currently handling all aspects of launching a feature to be shot on the XL1S. The script is currently being revised, vision clearified, characters rounded, etc. with locations on the coast of Maine and New York City.

As I am new to working behind the camera as opposed to infront, check out my website for more details (http://www.dpbegin.com). I have been learning by experimentation, reference books, websites, and doing.

The tools I use are:

CANON XL1S
SOUND - Looking a Sennheiser Directional Shotgun
ADOBE PREMIERE 6.0/Accessed AVID XPRESS DV 3.0
DELL OPTIPLEX 1.7MHz
LIGHTING - Yet to be determined

This is the beginning of the learning and work. I appreciate any comments, tips, and feedback. As I am not performing under a strick time frame, I am collecting details and pieces.

Anything, advice, or even your two bits would be greatly appreciated. Send them on over... As I move through the process I will have questions...

My background, other than the DV, is acting, moo-la coming from that source and consulting.

I look forward to talking with you.

Thanks for the support.

Cheers!

Fellow New Yorker
 

Derrick,

welcome to the board.
I myself use the XL1S in a personal manner- shooting things of interest then making them into personal movies or videos using Final Cut pro 3 and a DVD burner. My hawk video (DVD) was selected by the NYC Parks Dept. in showcasing red-tail hawks living within city parks....


If you ever need a hand or need a second camera angle from an XL- let me know- I'd love to help out in creating a movie- just for the sheer experience of it...

again, welcome.

* * THANKS * *
 

Steve,

Excellent! Touching base... I checked out your Red-Tailed Hawk DV, beautiful work. The detail is superb.

Congratulations on being selected!

I will definately be in touch regarding the feature and other productions. Ditto regarding if you need a hand with your work, I'm on.

Thanks for the warm welcome and keep me posted on your endeavors.

Cheers!

Derrick

* * COUNT ME IN * *
 

Thomas,

Better a wee bit late than never... (Just introduced myself to the community.)

I read your posting and would definately like to be included in the loop. I live in NYC, own an XL1S, and want to connect.

Lets get it done!

Keep me informed of your edeavors.

Cheers!

Derrick