Glidecam & 5D Mark II Setup

Just purchased a Glidecam 4000 and Vest/Arm for supporting it. Not bad at $1100, so I'm now setting up, balancing, and ready to test. For that, this video has proven extremely useful:

View on ExposureRoom

Neurosonics Live - Holographic Performance

Neurosonics Live from Chris Cairns on Vimeo.

Short Film News

So, after a several-year hiatus from being involved in any indie film productions (I used to act in them, and I used to spend time writing scripts and trying to direct some things, as well), I've decided to give it another go. The first time I tried to make a movie, I was a young 20-something whippersnapper with a lot of gusto but not much wisdom. I was unemployed, but had a $10,000 severance check, and was going out of my mind stir-crazy with boredom and lack of productivity. So I decided to plunge headlong into a feature-length production. I wrote a script, and I did that part right. I purchased the equipment, which I also did right (sort of); but I didn't set anything else up the right way. I didn't have a proper casting call, I tried to use the communal house I lived in as the setting (bad idea, although my whole horror script was inspired by the house and location in foggy Pacifica, California), and I used my friends as the cast/crew... also a bad idea. Another bad idea: dressing up in velvet hooded cloaks and carrying tiki torches and skull staffs up a hillside in the middle of the night right next to a highway... only a few weeks after 9/11. People freaked, I suddenly saw flashlights in my shot, and the next thing I know I had a cop's gun pointed at my face. Good times.

Needless to say, the project was a failure, though I did get a lot of experience and I got a few nice scenes out of it... but nothing worthy of showing anyone.

This time, I intend to do it right. I plan on making a short film (maybe 15 minutes long) with a minimal cast (3-4 parts) in local locations. It will include some CGI effects (3D animation composited into the real-life footage) so that might prove to be a challenge, but my goal for this is to quality, not quantity, so I'm going to take my time and due diligence and plenty of planning. And I'm going to go into this knowing right off the bat that it will be a money pit (though I hope no more than $5000.)

Here is the status so far:

Script: Almost finished

Location scouting: Needs to occur

Filming permit: Not obtained, which will also require purchasing liability insurance

Equipment Ready to Use

• Camera (Canon 5D Mark II, which shoots 1080p HD)
• Sennheiser shotgun microphone (great mic)
• Boom pole (if I can find it)
• High-End HD editing computer (most people would say this would have to be a MacPro, but they are idiots; I purchased a PC with all of the exact same parts as a top-model MacPro, but for 1/3 of the price. My computer is essentially a MacPro without the Apple logo, but it cost $1000 instead of $2800)
• 3D Studio Max (for CG)
• SonicFire Pro for scoring (plus multiple royalty-free libraries from SmartSound)

Equipment Still Needed

• Glidecam (steadicam-type stabilizer)
• Small boom jib/crane for camera
• Already-made 3D models to splice and recombine as necessary for my film

A Christmas Toy: Thingamakit

Despite my previous misadventures in DIY electronics projects, I asked for another electronic-music kit to build myself a toy... and Santa brought it for Christmas!

It is called the "Thingamakit" by Bleep Labs. It's actually discontinued, but the new Thingamagoop 2 is not as cool-looking, only has one LED, and has some good new features, but they are not ones that I would use. Plus it's more expensive. So this was a no-brainer.

I have yet to start working on the beast, due to a plethora of projects, but I have my fingers crossed that it will be a lot of fun. Right now it's just a lot of... pieces.

I'm not too worried about the soldering and such (much less ambitious than the Theremax was), and it's nice that it includes the case, all parts, and even a variety of stickers to decorate it with. But here are the parts that bother me:

1) Every picture and video I have seen of it includes one green and one blue LEDacle (these are the little tentacle-antennae thing that shine the light into its "eyes"); however, my kit came with an orange one and a red one. What's up with that? I'm actually going to write to them and see if I can get blue and green, because red and orange are not nearly as cute and are not my style.

2) The case is just a metallic stomp-box type enclosure. I will have to measure and drill holes straight into this metal box. That is more than a little nerve-wracking.