Secret Dimension Films

Technicolor CineStyle - Before and After

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 07:57:00 +0000

I've been getting a lot of messages in the last few days from people asking me about the 'Technicolor CineStyle' Picture Style (profile) that was used for this video, what it does and why should they use it. The experts in video always said to shoot video in a "flat" setting, so you would have more room to work with later on. The reason for this is because our video camcorders and Digital SLRs (that shoot video) like to use in-camera sharpness, contrast and brightness to create what it feels is the best image. This is great if you don't plan on grading your footage later, but for those of us who want to manipulate the footage later, shooting flat will give us more room to work with. It's almost like the equivalent of shooting 'raw' when you take still shots with a digital SLR camera. You could use your own custom "flat" settings, but why bother, when Technicolor have taken all the guess work out of it?

OK, so enough talk.. I thought why not just show a you guys a video that displays the before and after shots together, in order to get a better idea - check it out below.

As you can see from the video, I could have added all sorts of grading and manipulated the video even more, but I just wanted to demonstrate what could be done by applying only the "S-Curve" that Technocolor recommends and nothing else. Simply doing that just made the colours so much more vibrant, kept all of the depth, preserved detail and made the images just 'pop' out of the screen

You can read more about Technicolor CineStyle here:
http://www.technicolor.com/en/hi/cinema/filmmaking/digital-printer-lights/cinestyle

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II - UNBOXING & sample shots

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 21:23:00 +0000

My canon 50mm f/1.8 II lens arrived today. This little beauty is also known as the "Nifty Fifty" by some people. It's affordable, but produces some beautiful shots. This I am told, would be a nice camera to start with and learn how to "frame" my shots, as it has no zoom function.

After carrying out much research on which 50mm lens to buy, I went for this over the 1.4, which for me would have been HUGE overkill.. not to mention, it's three times the cost of the 1.8 I got. I think this will be more than adequate, especially as I am just a beginner with SLR cameras.

Check out the unboxing video below. I noticed that with this camera, it is not so forgiving if you don't take the time to properly focus. This is something I will need to train myself to do, coming from the typical point-and shoot cameras I've always used.

* Unfortunately, this is yet another boring video made just for the hardcore fans and my photographer friends out there.

I will shoot some video with it over the weekend.. this should be fun!

You can read more about the lens here and also check out some impartial customer reviews on Amazon etc.:
http://www.canon.co.uk/For_Home/Product_Finder/Cameras/EF_Lenses/Standard_and_Medium_Telephoto/EF_50mm_f1.8_II/

Day 2: The Lake - a Canon EOS 550D / Rebel T2i film

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 03:59:00 +0000

Sunday was an amazingly HOT day in London and surprisingly, it didn’t rain every 10 minutes either (this happens after we get some sun over here), so I used that as an excuse to go the park and get some random shots of the lake, trees and nature etc.

What I learned today, which I did not during the previous day of shooting, was how to manually change the aperture, shutter speed and ISO on the camera. I’m not an expert by any means, but I think the video came out rather nice.

Here it comes - the obligatory “Nature Video” that every videographer / photographer just has to make. I’m no different from any of those guy either, but there are no close ups of flowers in this video (for now)!

Day 1: Shooting with my Canon EOS 550D / Rebel T2i

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Sat, 25 Jun 2011 04:45:00 +0000

I told myself to wait until the weekend to play with the new camera, but who am I kidding, would you wait if you got this during the week? So I took my new baby with me to work and shot some random stuff at the train station, at the office and at Leadenhall Market in London, which has some nice architecture.

My Canon EOS 550D (Rebel T2i) & unboxing video

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 03:31:00 +0000

I’ve been eying up this camera for over a year and came to the realisation that with the release of the Canon 60D and 600D, the 550D (T2i) has become cheaper than ever (including a £30 cashback summer offer from Canon UK).

The wait it finally over.. Enough web searching and dreaming and talking about getting it. I took the plunge and ordered my camera with the 18-55mm Lens kit. Now I plan on learning to make movies using the Canon DSLR. BIG things coming!

Here is the authentic unboxing video of my camera – not one of those unboxing videos where the person has already opened the box and peeped inside (what’s the fun in that?!) lol.

NOTE: This video is very boring, so only watch it if you consider yourself the most hardcore DSLR fan or somebody looking to buy this camera. I am not experienced with unboxing videos, so didn’t know what else to say, sorry!

DSLR Video and why it's important!

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 09:14:00 +0000

OK, so I admit I'm late to the party!

These were all shot on Canon DSLR's. Check them out and get your creative juices flowing!!!

Short review and low-light test (Canon EOS 550D/T2i) --- WATCH FROM 7:39

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq688Hh3_lI

Cardboard Warfare (Rebel T2i)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hE-ZmwATS8E

Location scout (Canon EOS 550D/t2i)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fqn6mWuqwE0

DSLR Actionfilm (Canon 550D/Rebel t2i/7D)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66MWzGlv3fQ

Flower Warfare - Psychedelic Action Scene (Canon 7D)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=031Dshcnso4

Gareth Edwards.. My hero!

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:01:00 +0000

Chances are that you haven't heard of this man, but if you're into filmmaking or special effects, you should know about him. He has inspired me more than any other filmmaker in recent time.

Making films is no longer exclusivity for the wealthy and you can now make an entire feature length movie, packed full of special effects with prosumer level equipment (HD camcorder, lens adapter etc) and a PC with Adobe Premier and After Effects. YES, I said PC.. not A Mac with Final Cut Pro or an Avid setup.

Note: I'm not bashing Mac's, but what I'm trying to highlight is that they are not needed to get the job done (Mac Pro would be nice if you can afford it).

This has all been possible due to working with digital rather than film. It's cheaper and a lot faster than in years past. Working with film is very expensive and requires a lot of extra skill and required training, which is not easy to come by.

A few years back, Gareth directed and did all the visual effects for a BBC docudrama "Attila The Hun" and from the looks of the show, you would think it cost millions of dollars and years to shoot - looking more like something out of Lord of The Rings than something made on a tiny TV budget. Gareth did all the visual effects in his bedroom.

Check out the videos below for Attila The Hun:

Atilla The Hun - Visual Effects breakdown:

Fast forward a couple of years and he now has his Sci-Fi feature lengh movie coming to cinemas, called 'Monsters'. Once again, he directed this and created all the visual effects by himself.

"Monsters" - Trailer:

The making of 'Monsters':

Behind the Scenes:

Why am I going all fanboy on this? Well, its because Gareth Edwards is living his dream, which happens to be a dream a lot of us share. The difference is that he's actually getting out there and doing it by himself. He didn't wait for Hollywood to come calling or wait to get his big break. Instead, he just learnt the skills that usually cost studios a lot of money (video editing. compositing, visual effects etc.) and went out and did it himself - thereby becoming a one man production team!

Director and cast interview:

Monsters Q&A with Gareth Edwards

Tough Day At The Office (short film)

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 22:51:00 +0000

An office worker just can't take it any more when a "meaningless" error message drives him over the edge! With all original sound design and music by me!

Tech Info: Shot on my Sanyo HD camcorder with just the room lighting. Funnily enough, we shot the whole thing in less than 5 minutes and he got it all down on the first take. He's a natural.. I shall use him again for the next film(s).

The effects (gunshot and blood) were done in After Effects CS4, following the amazing tutorials of Andrew Kramer (the man's a genius). Stock footage was used from Video Copilot's "Action Movie Essentials 2" - get it.. it's amazing and dirt cheap! I can't believe I spent 6 hours on an effects shot that was literally 1 second long.. it was a great learning experience and well worth it!

Double Rainbows and Colour/ Color correction

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:20:00 +0000

The other day, I went outside... and I saw this!!!

A lot of people have asked me if I did anything to the video to make it look red/ golden.. and the truth is that I didn't do anything. The sky was really that red.

So I thought, what it would look like if I colour corrected it, to look more "real".. the video below is the result:

Tech Info: Video was edited and colour corrected in Sony Vegas Pro, using only curves - reducing red and increasing blue slightly.

Times Square at Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 23:22:00 +0000

Some footage I captured, when I was in New York City a while back:

Old School Animations - Made on my Amiga 500

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Sat, 09 May 2009 11:01:00 +0000

Back when I was about 12 or 13 (sometime in the 90's), I got my first ever computer - A commodore Amiga 500. I would literally spend every hour of the day drawing and painstakingly animating frame-by-frame in Deluxe Paint 3. I honestly don't know how I even had the patience for it.

I thought I'd share some of my classic animations.

I call this one "The Dare Devil". The joke being that the dude tried to jump over the fire and was successful, but then met his peril in a bloody fashion any way. haha!

Next, we have "Car Race" which is simply two cars racing:

"Access All Data" was my attempt at making one of those cyber-punk computer graphics you always see in sci-fi movies - cheesy to the max!

"Nick's Fireball" was some fan art for that classic 90's Amiga Beat 'em up Body Blows.

Surprisingly, my Amiga 500 computer refuses to lay down and die, and I simply don't have the heart to get rid of it. Every other year now when I'm feeling nostalgic, I connect it all up and play those Amiga classics!

Something I'm working on: "Super Andres"

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Wed, 06 May 2009 22:10:00 +0000

The creation of a comic book super [anti]hero.. we'll call him "Super Andres" for now, LOL!

Step 1.. rough sketch.

Step 2.. import to Flash and ink and color - availible in 2 wonderful flavors!

I tried messing about with the thickness of the outline as well as the blur. I'm still not sure which ones looks better.

I thought I's also try him out in red:

How about a new face?

I'm not finished yet, as I still have to animate him in Adobe Flash and then we'll see Super Andres in action.

Evolution of Animation

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Wed, 06 May 2009 10:05:00 +0000

My very first animation, drawn in MS Paint and animated in Power Point, before being ported over manually to Macromedia Flash.. before Adobe acquired them. Ah, memories.

Next came the now classic Nabeel's House Party. Getting better, but not quite there yet.

I tried animating South Park style, but only because it was easy. This was the first and last time I used this style, as I wanted to create my own original style.

That brings us up to date to where I am now - trying to go for that high concept comic book look.

Some 3D Art

noreply@blogger.com (Amer) — Mon, 04 May 2009 19:04:00 +0000

Here is a soldier I modeled and rendered using NewTek LightWave 3D. For the longest time, I struggled on his face. I'm not 100% happy with the final result, but it was definitely a good exercise. I used the Unreal Shader to Cel Shade/ Toon Shade him to make him appear hand drawn.

Here are some videos of the soldier in action. Rigged to MotionBuilder and going crazy!