The turbo mini jib

Whenever I have a day off, I always feel a little shitty if I don't 'achieve' something. Doesn't have to be major, I just need to know that I did something with my time.

I started work on this thing quite a while back. I got the instructions off of Indy Mogul. It was mostly a measure of getting my hands on the materials I needed, which depended on me having the money left at the end of the week. Which of course, rarely happened. But last week, I had a spare couple of bucks, so I finally picked up the last of what I needed. So here it is. My Turbo Mini Jib.
Essentially what it is is a small camera crane. Hopefully it will enable me to do some slightly trickier shots. I took it for a quick test run this afternoon, the footage of which is below. It's a little shaky, cause the whole set up is rickety as hell. It's designed to be adhered to the top of a tripod, but I think mine is a little too lightweight for it. I've also gotta find a way to counter weight the end, cause it's a battle to operate.

But I have to admit, I'm quite proud of it. It turned out well, and wasn't as hard as I thought. I just hope all the other stuff I'm building turns out as well.

Production Photos and Poster

Well, I've managed to complete a first edit of The Lot. I was worried that I didn't capture what I needed or wanted for the final product, but I managed to make it work. Got to admit, I'm quite proud of the final result. I think it works quite well. I had a quick preview showing with Dr Gonzo, who enjoyed it, commenting though that it took a little bit to get warmed up. I have to admit, that was something I was thinking as well, so I'm trying to fix that up at the mo. I still need to fix up the sound and colour correct it before I call it finished. I was thinking about adding some music, but I really don't think it needs it.

So, to keep you interested, here are a few production photos we took, along with a poster I whipped up. I have to admit, I get a hell of a kick out of making up posters for my films. I might post a few of the others I've done up hear at a later date.

Enjoy.

The Lot 2

I should really start going to bed earlier.

Well, we finally managed to get something shot. Because my beautiful, sexy, creative and talented girlfriend was busy this weekend - and no, I'm not in trouble. She really is all those things - Tony and I went out and finally - FINALLY! - got something shot. Shooting down at a vacant lot a few blocks away from my house, we managed to get everything we needed for the short I spoke about in my last post. I sat down to try and edit, but wound up having infinite problems between my computer, my camera and my editing software. So I have no idea how it looks just yet. Tony once again gave it his all, sacrificing his shirt to the staining properties of fake blood. I once again found out how much it terrifies me to film out in public. My hands were shaking quite badly towards the end there. We had a few curios on lookers, with the token "Hey, what are you guys doing?" question from one of the bolder ones. I'm going to have to come up with a better answer for that than just "messing around, killing time". Getting an audience always throws me off. This, I have no reasoning behind. I guess it's just one of those things you eventually need to get used to.

I'll have a few photos up here soon, and will eventually embed the final flick once it's all done. Mac willing, that is.