Is it winter?

We need some snow or something?

Maybe if I bring back a little Xmas then Mother Nature will get the hint??  Here is a live performance video I made of the Big Money Band back in December.

The Big Money Band had another great show at the Old Bowie Town Grille and got to belt out some Christmas Classics...... Big Money style!

Bride Jess

Bride Jess, originally uploaded by D.Clow - Maryland.

It's been done, many times, but I wanted to give the bride a nice effect for her 16x24.

Behind the Scenes

I'm not a fan of the series but I thought this look behind the curtain was interesting.

3x3

This is the second short I chose to breakdown for my film class.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1654725/

David Clow

FLM 160

Artist Examples

3x3

by Nuno Rocha

0:10 - establishing shot of a basketball hoop in a gymnasium

shot tracks slightly until title

0:23 - tracking long shot of security guard in uniform shooting hoops

0:30 - medium full shot of guard dribbling

0:31 - medium close shot, head on, of the guard shooting

0:33 - insert shot of basket being made

this is a good little series of shot showing a man shooting hoops more interestingly than just one long uncut scene

0:36 - medium full, two shot of guard and janitor

0:39 - cut to medium close of janitor almost feels like a zoom

0:41 - over the shoulder shot from behind the janitor to the guard

guard displays some machismo

0:43 - offset two shot of the characters

guard's stance is more powerful, dominate

0:46 - return to the over shoulder shot from earlier

guard is mocking

0:49 - medium full of the janitor

0:55 - tracking tilt shot of guard entering his office

1:00 - objective shot of guard poring coffee, monitors in background

1:05 - medium close of the guard, almost a over the shoulder shot from the monitors

1:10 - subjective monitor shot as the guard is viewing it transitions to 

1:12 - tracking full shot of janitor in gym

1:15 - insert shot of dust broom hitting ball

1:19 - over the shoulder objective shot, guard and monitors

1:25 - tilting shot, going from an closeup of the ball to a tilt up the body to the face of the janitor

1:31 - this is the first down angle shot of the guard

he loses some of his authority in the story

1:35 - POV shot via the monitor

1:46 - back to the over the shoulder of the guard and the monitors

1:48 - close shot of guard

1:54 - tracking slow motion shot of janitor driving to the basket

very intense

intercut with slow motion close shot of the guard observing

2:12 - high angle shot of the janitor as he is outraged at the basket's refusal of his shot, with some camera down tilt

2:18 - wide close of the guard at his station

2:21 - insert shot of his waste paper goal going in the basket

2:25 - are repeat of the monitor POV of the janitor

2:30 - insert shot of the camera controls

2:31 - insert shot of the camera responding to the controls

2:33 - over the shoulder shot of the guard watching the monitors

2:37 - medium close to full close of the janitor measuring the basket

2:41 - insert shot of basket being measured

2:42 - long shot establishing him in the gymnasium on top of the ladder

2:46 - tracking shot of janitor measuring the floor

this is an exact reverse of the previous tracking shot driving to the basket

2:57 - eye level shot as the janitor eyes up the cones

3:00 - detail insert of checking the ball air pressure

3:05 - a quick interplay of the previous shots we have scene, via the monitor, close up of the controls, etc

3:11 - close up of the janitor writing a formula

3:15 - medium close to full close shot of the janitor figuring

a continuing melody of the previous three shots

3:32 - a return to the guard station, guard laughing at all this effort - full close

3:34 - long establishing shot of the feat about to be attempted

3:49 - full close of the shock and awe of the guard

3:56 - a repeat of the POV via the monitors, but this time the audience is watching the monitors alone

4:35 - finally the reveal begins with an insert shot of some professional basketball shoes

4:46 - a return to the monitor POV as the janitor walks into a full shot

4:51 - medium close shot of the guard as realization dawns

4:52 - medium shot of the janitor now revealed to be a pro ball player, waving to the security cameras that he obviously had been aware of the entire time

I feel that Nuno Rocha did an excellent job of allowing the characters to interact with each other even if geographically separated via the security cameras and monitors.  The ball players reverses the power of the voyeur by knowing of the cameras and only allowing them to transmit the message or idea he wants them to.  The editing played up the use of the camera/monitors so that they became a part of the story in which during the reveal become so more apparent.  The tempo of cuts was good without to much flash.  They utilized a minimum of special effects, the slow motion charge, as needed to build intensity and drama.  The action was usually tight on the characters, we were right on top of them, except when it was necessary to pull back to give us a setting for the action.

Mighty Antlers

As an assignment of my film editing class I needed to breakdown the shot selection from a scene or short piece.  I chose to do mine on "Mighty Antlers".

By: Sune Reinhardt, Mikael Ilnæs, Michael L. Fonsholt, Jouko Keskitalo

To me the film did an excellent job of transporting us from reality to an alternative experience.  The alternative experience occurred between the moment of impact until the driver's regaining of consciousness.  The violence of the impact, the damage done to the driver as he hurls through the windshield, and the destruction to the deer and car are transformed in the crash-addled mind of the driver.

He is transported to an alternative reality, in which crash is transformed, morphing the experience and time.  The normal occurrence of wrecking into a deer, the images normally seen in such an experience are enhanced.  The damage and pain of the impact for the driver, flying through the windshield, into the road, and sliding to a stop are mixed into the fantasy experience of man and machine versus nature.  The prominent images he sees are likewise translated.  The prominence of the antlers, which would be the last looming thing he saw before impact, the musculature of he deer as he saw it's body ripple while attempting to dodge the car, the spindly thinness of it legs, all of these are imported into his vision.  

He grapples with the antlers that fought back when he assaulted the deer with the car, the legs that crash through the windshield become the thin but painfully powerful striking arms that cause him so much pain.

At the end the buzzing sound of his rattled head indicate an end of his out-of-body and other worldly experience and a return to a reality that while not as fantastical is just as violent.

Shot breakdown:

0:10 - establishing shot of wrecked car in forest, into a crane shot up above the forest

places the film in a vast and wild wilderness

0:25 - bird's-eye view of the car, panning as it drives down the road

car is insignificant in the larger woods

0:28 - objective shot, low angle of the front of the car driving

the angle with the aggressive sound positions the car as a thing of power

0:31 - Wide close-up, low angle of the driver

following the low angle of the car, the low angle of the driver shows he shares the car's power

0:35 - insert shot of car interior

this shot establishes information about the driver, construction worker, smoker, dirt and tough guy demeanor, coffee is probably black

0:40 - full close of driver

we see his eye blink heavily, he is tired

0:43 - objective shot of car

car is speeding down the road

0:40 - back to full close of the driver

0:48 - insert shot of spilled coffee

0:52 - medium shot of driver, side  profile

driver is distracted by radio

0:55 - medium close-up, eye level of the driver

driver notices deer in the road, smiles

1:00 - slight zolly shot of the car between the deer's antlers

1:02 - insert of driver shifting and driving aggressively

1:03 - more zolly of the car between the antlers

ratchets up the intensity

1:06 - bird's-eye zooms in from the sky to the coming impact between car and deer

anticipation builds to point of impact

1:09 - extreme close-up of driver's eyes

there has been a color shift, eyes, forehead, facial lines are very intense, then a look of bewilderment (no impact)

1:12 - insert shot of rear view mirror

shows no impact, no deer, no body

1:15 - over the shoulder shot

establishes driver in car, still in control, road clear

1:17 - full close-up through window of driver

color shift is still in effect, windows are dirty (blood?)

1:22 - wide close-up, shows driver and antlered man in car

blue color shift is present, we now understand that blue color shift is a sign of altered reality or a shift from normalcy

1:26 - another low angle shot of the car

the car is still shown in a position of power, blue color shift is in effect, and now night has fallen quite suddenly, the trees in the background are leaf and lifeless, spooky and foreboding

1:30 - full close-up of demonic antlered figure

features are otherworldly, sharp, powerful, sinister

1:34 - extreme close-up of driver's eyes

bewilderment then surprise

1:36 - panning handheld shot, with some canting of driver in car interior

ahhh, things are about to get weird!

1:44 - eye level shot of driver on the ground

1:47 - low angle shot of antlered figure back to eye level shot of driver

quick cuts speed up the action, low angle shot of deer demon show his power as the eye level driver gets hit, we the audience are also being subjected to this demon and experiencing the hit with the driver

1:50 - medium two shot of the characters

the opening salvo of the fight is punctuated my non-diegetic sound, bells, train horns, etc highlighting the strength of the punches being landed

1:56 - extreme low angle shot of deer man

the attacker is shown as VERY powerful

1:59 - canted angle two shot

the subjects poses are mirrored, on their hands, heads to the ground, but the demon is still in a position of power while the driver is in a weaker pose

2:02 - extreme close-up of deer man's face

evil grin

2:03 - high angle two shot, switching to a low angle two shot

both of these place the deer figure as clearly dominate over the cowering driver

2:12 - extreme close-up of the driver's face being punched

we are tight on the action, able to witness the power of the punch, enhanced by sound and slow motion, we feel the power of the hit with the driver

2:15 - low angle shots of the demon beating and dragging the driver

the demon is powerful, and in control

2:18 - bird's-eye shot of the demon looming over the prone driver

demon is dominant

2:25 - a reverse over the shoulder shot

first showing the musculature and power of the demon, then a focus change to highlight the driver rising from the ground

2:28 - extreme close-up of driver's face

quick cuts of this action show the reclamation of power by the driver

2:32 - another low angle two shot

but in this one the driver is on equal footing with the deer, what the deer man has in height the driver balances in body weight and mass

2:38 - canting angles, handheld two shot

the shake and jerk of the camera along with the framing of this fight lend to the action and otherworldliness of the encounter

2:45 - over the shoulder, high angled two shot

the deer is in power again as he is choking out the driver

2:49 - bird's-eye fighting

whenever the driver is fighting back or is on equal footing we have either bird's-eye vantage point or eye level shot of the driver

2:56 - low angle power shot of standing deer man over prone driver

2:59 - eye level  shot of driver on ground

sound could be ringing of drivers ears, or of his brain

3:01 - extremely canted shot of deer man

something isn't right here, could it be the mental state of the driver because of the beat-down or the otherworldliness of the encounter?

3:07 - zoom shot of the deer man running to the car followed by zoom shot to the drivers face

3:10 - objective shot of the deer running into the car

3:23 - zoom out to bird's-eye view to very extreme bird's-eye long shot

fade to black