Learning some about box modeling a female head. Very neat 3D modeling technique. (box modeling as apposed to poly/vertex modeling.)
Wishing to film, wanting to, and desiring.
And thinking. Thinking about how I will get my desires, my wishes to film, to actually happen. We’ll, I have an idea, and I need to keep thinking some more.
God bless
-B
To many people this post’s header may sound like an excellent title for the next stellar MMORPG, but sadly to disappoint you, it actually refers to my days ahead.
After talking to a very wise person I have come to the realization that in order to reach my dreams I must first conquer them.
“How?” you ask “How can one possibly conquer his dreams? Don’t you just contemplate about what you want to do, think about it long enough, and wish with your fingers crossed and go out pick up your dreams?”
No, you conquer them. It’s a war.
You must not conquer them with eager wishes, but with a dedicated strategy. Decide what your dream really is, and then pursue it with the mind of conquest.
The following conversation maps out the process I will take this fictional character through to discover what he really wants to do (and how to go about it.)
“I want to make films”
oh really? Alright, what kind of films do you want to make?
“Powerful films, masterfully crafted and moving to the heart”
Good, sounds real good. So, what’s your first film idea?
“What?”
What is your first film? Don’t tell me you don’t know what your film is going to be about.
“Well…”
Alright, there’s your first problem.
“OK, fine, it’s about a man looking for his son who ran away ten years ago. This man was a drunkard, but now he remembers his son, his only son, who he once held as dear as his life. But when he lost his job to drinking, and his wife to a mistress, he forgot his son, and his son determined to forget his father. This story tells of how his father awoke, and how he searches to his uttermost to find his son, and dies in his efforts.”
Sounds good. So, got a camera?
“No”
Actors? Actresses? Filming location, schedule, crew?
“Uh, no”
What about a budget?
“For what?”
(Sigh, this guy needs a shrink) for your equipment and other expenses.
“Well, I thought about it, but I want to do it without using any money”
Good luck
“No, really -“
No money at all?
“Yeah”
Alright, OK. That’s fine, but you will most likely need some money to fund for your “wonderful” camera, et cetera.
“Well, I can just borrow someones camera”
No, get your own.
“OK… why?”
Because it’s like borrowing your friend’s piano – you need to practice on your own, not be parasitic on someone else’s hard earnings. You need to share, yes, but if you are going to pursue filmmaking, you should get your own camera.
“Well, alright…so once I get my new shiny camera I’ll be all set?”
No.
“Well, I have my eagerness to film, and a camera to do it – I’m all set!”
No, no, no, no. What about getting everyone at the same place to film? A script? Storyboards? actors, actresses? Hello?!
“Hey, come’on man, that’s the scary part. I’ll figure that out when I come to it”
Good luck
“Thanks”
I could continue this rather boring conversation for a long time. But I’d rather not. It’s getting late and I need to get to my point. No matter the size or length of your production, YOU NEED TO PLAN AHEAD, for the good and the bad, the best and the worst.
Without a plan, you’ll never win the war.
May you conquer your dreams.
-B
In the throes of today and mystery of tomorrow, I labor to engineer the beginning of a new day.
I am sorry for my neglect of posting, I have been busy, as the previous sentence implies. I hope to pursue filming soon – but there are a few obligations and requirements I need to get done first – an unfinished project, something due soon, et cetera.
So, I am sorry, and I am looking forward to the days ahead (and wishing they be bright,) but as each day passes life seems to run along the river to a watershed – and who knows what happens then.
But I wish you all the best, and hope to spend some days in the near future filming our infinite dreams!
Most respectfully,
-B
P.S. And as for the title of this post – well, I’ll let you figure that one out.
I am endeavoring to learn some of Blender’s (blender.org) VSE (Video Sequence Editor) and node compositing editor.
With the VSE you can arrange video clips and do effects, such as achieving a fade out to black (using three strips – video, gamma cross and color generator.)
Using VSE as a simple video editor may be very useful, and as it develops hopefully it will overrun such commercial monster products as Adobe Premiere Pro. One advantage over Premiere Pro 1.0 that I have found is that Blender’s VSE accepts an .avi compression that I use, whereas Premiere Pro 1.0 doesn’t. Besides that, Blender is completely free and open source, and is an alternative to Windows Movie Maker. WMM can be very useful for shrinking file sizes and doing some simple editing (and you can do text effects and transitions,) but Blender’s VSE seems less dumbing.
And now about the greenscreening:
With the node compositing I am endeavoring to make a successful chroma keying – taking out a certain color, like bluescreening, also known as split screen – but it is proving quite a bit harder than I hoped. It seems (as is perfectly logical) that to have an effective keying I need very clear, pure colors to key out. Otherwise you get grays when it looks blue and your footage becomes very spotty.
Hopefully I will get some good results soon. Here’s a screenshot of my first work with chroma keying – overlaying a video on an image – not so great, but I’m learning.
Old machinery (video) on old machinery (image)
Also, doing further testing this evening, this chroma keying business may be much more difficult than I had hoped. Looking online for professional options, I found these two sites: (the first site recommended the second site.)
DIY (Do It Yourself – Bluescreens, Greenscreens, Backdrops and Background stands) Highly recommended to check out – you can find out about how to make your own greenscreen the cheap way. (not fool proof.
EEFX (green/blue screen backgrounds and backdrops(?)) Great for seeing professional quality equipement, seeing the prices, and learning about what makes their cloth special.
Hope you enjoy – looking forward to filming soon! Praise God!
-B
Minosa Films 