Two Fools With A Camera

The Two Fools’ Wilhelmina Brown Fashion Show video.

The Two Fools were invited to shoot the launch of the Austin office of the Wilhelmina Brown talent agency.

The Fools have been busy at SXSW this past week. Hit the Facebook Fan Page (on the right) to see our latest pictures and video from the event. We have more in the works as well – we’re tired as hell but have lots to show for it!

Not much to say here yet, but here are some images from the shoot the Two Fools did on Saturday. All footage shot with the Canon 7D, mostly the 16-35 f/2.8L, and a single light indoors (no lighting outdoors). My comments and impressions about the experience a bit later.

I took my son to the Renaissance Festival near Houston a couple of weekends ago and took my new Canon 7D DSLR with me. I decided to upgrade to the 7D from the Rebel XT partially because my wife and I had been discussing getting into a more capable still camera. However, the big “close the deal” issue was the 7D’s capability to shoot full 1080p HD video similar to the Canon 5D Mark II, but at a little more than half the cost. I’m not alone in this area – there are a lot of filmmakers out there using DSLRs for video capture including professional-level work. Now I understand why.

Here’s my first video shot at the Ren Festival entirely with the 7D, edited with FCP 6 and graded with Magic Bullet.

I’m thrilled with the images that came off that camera – especially given that I was shooting with non-pro lenses: the Canon 50mm f/1.8 and the Canon 17-85mm f/4.0-5.6.

Everything I read about the 7D from guys that know way more about shooting with DSLRs than I do said that the 7D is a killer, and they were absolutely right. Granted, it’s not meant as a replacement for my PMW-EX1 – a dedicated video camera at that level cannot be replaced by a multi-function still/video camera for a variety of reasons – but for what the 7D is good at, it’s REALLY good at. Plus, the biggest hurdle for me to shoot video is the availability of a camera that I’ll actually take with me – and the 7D is much smaller and lighter than the EX1 – and that alone gets me far down that road. I’ll actually grab the 7D bag and take it with me to many places that the EX1 just wouldn’t make it.

Looking forward to a lot more fun stuff coming off this camera in the future.

This isn’t the narrative stuff we usually post and talk about here, but it’s something we worked on recently for a friend of ours that wanted some video for his website. I’m posting it here because I’m proud of what we did and I think it’s a great example of what you can do with entry-level professional gear and the time to do it right.

Here’s the link to the full video:

More information about the production after the jump…

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I’m sitting in a coffee shop listening to the audio from the documentary Lubbock Lights while I’m writing this post. I’ve watched the film already but I’m now listening to it again because the story of legendary musicians from Lubbock continues to fascinate me and I’m really digging the music. Amy Maner produced and directed this award winning documentary and with credits in films like Stop Loss, Spy Kids, Miss Congeniality, Shorts and so much more over the years, she is an accomplished veteran in the film industry.

Amy and I are both from Lubbock, Texas but we haven’t seen each other in years. We recently met at Blue Dhalia, a small cafe in East Austin, to catch up and discuss film (given our busy schedules, this was no small feat). She was already sitting in the restaurant by the front window when I walked in. She’s dressed comfortably in a grey t-shirt and is tapping away on her iPhone. As I approached her, she turned around and I was amazed about how little she had changed. She’s pretty with gentle eyes, a warm smile, and a very kind presence. I remembered how Amy always had a way of focusing on you and making you feel comfortable. She hadn’t changed in all these years.

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Francis Ford Coppola once said “Some audiences love to sit there and see all the names in the credits.  Are they looking for a relative?”.  I found this humorous, primarily for the visual it brought to mind of people struggling to see the credits as others are standing up and rushing out of the theater.  The reality is that the credits, in my mind, represent a lot more.  Yes, they recognize the people who make films what they are, but more than that, the credits should help film lovers appreciate all of the work that goes into film.  This work, if done well, is the work that ironically causes many of these people to become invisible.

As many of you know, despite our comical name (Two Fools With a Camera), we take film making seriously.  As we continue our journey, we recognize it is important to not just learn the “tricks of the trade” but to understand the trade itself.  Sure, this requires training and experience but we believe it is also important to draw from the community of people who have been there, are there, people who continue to hone their craft for the enjoyment of film-lovers everywhere, the people in the credits.  To this end, we are interviewing a variety of people in the industry who serve in different roles and capacities and we want to share what we learn with you.

Why are we sharing this with you?  The answer is two-fold.  First, we hope that your appreciation for the art, the craft, the industry and the people involved in filmmaking will continue to grow and second, we want to share with you our own personal growth in this area.

First up, an interview with Ingo Neuhaus…

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A few weeks ago my wife, son, and I traveled to Kansas to visit my family.  Kansas might not be a place most city-folk would think of visiting for vacation, but it does have its charm.  With Texas heat right now between 103 and 105 degrees (although my car said 112 today – certainly that included the heat index?), Kansas temperatures in the 80′s were a wonderful relief.  Plus, getting across town in 10 minutes is an amazing things – I didn’t miss the traffic.

This post isn’t about Kansas, though, it’s about color-correction (yes, again)…

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“Good morning Mr. Wilson, how are you today?”.  Mr. Wilson is my next door neighbor… retired military.  He’s the only one I know that has a weird routine like me.  As I leave for work, he’s always outside with his cup of coffee, picking up his newspaper.  You can set your watch to this guy.  Mr. Wilson is the first of many familiar parts of my day…day in, day out…the sights and sounds of the city as I drive into work, the street cleaners attempting to wash away the grime from the night before, the grey buildings that define the texture of the city, the hustle and bustle of people in their drab business attire hastily rushing to work as they do every day. 

Today, something is different, something catches my eye, something unfamiliar, a striking woman in a pretty summer dress with a tattoo of what looks like a serpent snaking down from her neck into her dress.. she’s standing there, as still as still can be as the crowd weaves past her in a fluid choreography of colorless sights and droning sounds. She’s looking straight at me…whoa.. who is that girl?  [car behind me honks] The girl is gone.  I gotta get to work.

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I have several basic ideas of what gives a movie/film/video project more “production value” – and I always enjoy finding those things that are low-cost (whether that cost is monetary or time, or best – both) that I can use to increase the production value of any project of which I’m a part.  These things include all parts of the filmmaking process from pre-production, production (filming), and through post-production.  They include things like audio, lighting, basic editing concepts, etc.  hmm… Perhaps I should write them down sometime.

Anyway, one of those big things that adds tons of production value is color.

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