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Which Cheap On-Camera Video LED Light is Best?

01.5.11 @ 11:21AM Tags : led, lighting, review, shootout

On-camera lighting is mostly used for ENG/documentary filming, but in a pinch it can be used to subtlety add to a dramatic scene. Especially in tracking shots, you’ll often see a grip walking a Kino-Flo alongside the camera, to keep a consistent light in the talent’s eyes. Of course, that’s not really “on-camera” lighting; while cheap LED lights that mount to a camera’s hot shoe are not going to offer the same quality, for news gathering and other uses they can certainly be handy. Thanks to Frank Glencairn, we now have a shootout between five different LED options, four of which are in the sub-$100 range. More »

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Does 'The Tillman Story' Tell the Full Story?

08.25.10 @ 12:30PM Tags : afghanistan, documentary, iraq, pattillman, review, thetillmanstory

To me, it’s one of the most important American stories to come out of the post-9/11 war on terrorism. It’s currently playing in New York and Los Angeles, and will be opening wide September 3rd. It’s a fascinating, tragic, true story that you simply couldn’t write — and it’s well-told by director Amir Bar-Lev (My Could Could Paint That). I’m talking about the first feature-length documentary on Pat Tillman, who famously gave up a multimillion-dollar NFL contract to join the military, only to be killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire (not, as was initially reported, by Taliban soldiers). But after watching the film, I couldn’t help but wonder: does The Tillman Story bury the lede? More »

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What video/filmmaking/DSLR equipment would you like to see reviewed?

06.26.10 @ 5:10PM Tags : feedback, meta, review

Thanks to my guide on DSLR cinematography I have the opportunity to get my hands on some filmmaking equipment for review purposes. This is also possible because I’m moving into an apartment July 1, which will be the first time in nine months that I’ll have steady access to my 5D (not to mention a physical address to receive things in the mail). In light of this, I started wondering, “what gear would people like to see reviewed?” And then I realized I should just ask you! So please leave a comment with any gear you’re wondering about. This could be a category of tools (e.g., tripods, viewfinders, steadicams) or a specific item (e.g., Zacuto Z-Finder, Genus Matte Box, Shoot35 Follow Focus). Let me know and I’ll do my best to get ahold of it and let you know if it’s worth your hard-earned dollars!

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MacHeist nanoBundle2 Review

03.5.10 @ 2:20PM Tags : app, mac, macheist, review, software

MacHeist is a website that sells a lot of Mac applications in a bundle for less than the normal price of one of the individual apps. In the case of the currently running “nanoBundle2″ promotion, it’s seven applications that would retail for $266, on sale together for a total of $19.95. These aren’t trial versions or crippled licenses; they are the full monty.

How can MacHeist do this? Well, the involved app developers get a lot less money for their app, but they’re getting less money from a lot more people. Plus they gain a larger userbase and get broad exposure from the promotion. The current bundle contains a number of handy-looking creative applications and is live until March 9th, so I thought I’d review the software contained therein from the perspective of a writer/designer/filmmaker/blogger. To get your money’s worth you’ve really only gotta find one of the seven applications useful; is the nanoBundle2 worth a Jackson? More »