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Portable Movie Making, by Tom Riddle, June, 2007
(This is the the part of my home page that gets the most hits.)

In late 2005, I was in Maluku, Indonesia where I filmed interviews with these
children. Afterwards, they asked if they could pose for a picture.

Background

In November of 1999, unbeknownst to most of the world, a major technological breakthrough occurred: Sony quietly released a portable computer that YOU COULD EDIT MOVIES ON. A few months before that, Hewlett-Packard had released a portable CD burner and Sony began making video cameras with a built-in "Firewire" port that could be linked directly to a computer without having to pass through an office full of translation devices. Mankind thus reached the new millennium with the potential for putting a functioning movie-production studio into a backpack.

My story:

I have bought into this technology, big time. And I keep spending—the problem is that the technology keeps changing. For years I owned and loved the Sony DSR-PD150P. Then Sony made a smaller version that I liked even more the DSR-PX10, left. It had the same professional sound and video capability as the PD150, but it was about half the size.

Then in early 2005 Sony set the digital world on fire with the release of the high definition Sony HVR-Z1U. I liked it, but never thought about buy it. The camera was just too big for a videographer to carry unaided into the field. But then, Sony heard my prayers and released the HVR-A1E, on the right below. This little guy not only did high definition, which most of the world is still not ready for, it also was even smaller than the PX10. Besides high definition, the camera also does outstanding conventional PAL movies. I think that it takes better movies than the PD150.

 

To capture audio, I use as my boom the legendary Seinheiser ME 66. For years I used as my lavaliere the Sony ECM44B. The only problem with it was the cable. To remedy that I bought the Sennheiser 500 G2 wireless mic. The transmitter is the size of a pack of cigarettes. You fasten it on the belt of whoever you're interviewing. The receiver mounts on the cammera. It is amazing. I interviewed a blacksmith as he was working--you can hear him very clearly while his hammering is way in the background.

I edit on the PC using Adobe Premiere Pro 2. I once taught Final Cut on the MAC. I was amazed at how similar it was to Premiere Pro. I don't claim that Adobe makes the best movie editing software, but I would say that the race is neck-to-neck with Final Cut. Some people who know both programs prefer Premiere Pro; others Final Cut. Most professionals who can afford it, would prefer to use an Avid, a computer designed solely for digital movie editing.

If you want to learn movie making, it's a little bit like learning to write. You need to stop thinking about it and actually do it. Classes don't hurt either. For a few weeks every year for five years, I attended classes at San Francisco's Bay Area Video Coalition. The school is dedicated to teaching hands-on digital movie making and apparently they have had some success—the walls of the hallways of BVAC are lined with movie posters advertising the movies of former students. Two of my fellow students had graduate degrees in cinematography, but felt they had missed something in their more academic classes. Studying there was a very good experience.

In years past, one problem that I never was able to solve with movies on CD was that many people who received them had never viewed movies on their computers before. These days, however, with movies on DVD, that problem is solved. Viewers can now pop the DVD movies into their TV or computer DVD player and the movies will simply play. Well, almost. Keep reading.

The world basically uses, not counting HDTV, two TV standards: PAL and NTSC. The United States, Japan and a few other countries use the NTSC (720 by 480 pixels) standard; the rest of the world uses PAL (720 by 576 pixels). So, because my camera is PAL, my DVD's won't play in American TV-top DVD players. Unless, however, I first change my movies into the NTSC format using Adobe After Effects, the industry standard. After I do that, you can't tell which standard I make my movies in.

High definition is the wave of the future. But it's not quite here yet.

After all of this, my equipment can still fit into my backpack for production anywhere.

I spent the best years of my youth working in the Lao, Vietnamese, and Cambodian refugee camps of Thailand. This would have been the perfect technology to use in teaching English or documenting camp life. Now I believe that this is what non-governmental organizations or designers of educational projects need to help get their message across. Making and editing movies in the field, on site, will, I believe, forever change the way we communicate. Video tapes were bulky and you couldn't search through them instantly. DVDs are incredibly portable, and instantly searchable. DVDs are also a bit like going to the movies in Bangkok: thanks to the subtitles, when you watch them, the ability to read and understand English is an option.

If you or your organization is interested in learning more about this technology, e-mail me at Tomriddle@att.net.

FAQ, Frequently Asked Questions

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What's the big deal about your cameras?

Picture and sound quality. Both cameras have color depth that consumer cameras generally do not. Additionally, these cameras do amazingly well in low light. The picture on the right is a still from a movie that I made by the light of the cigarette lighter. The picture has not been enhanced.

Additionally, both the my movie cameras accept professional quality microphones with XLR connectors.
People always want to know how much my cameras cost. Let me put it this way: in San Francisco a similar camera can be rented for $150 a day.

What’s the advantage of what you do over a conventional video camera and tape?

Editing and portability. With a conventional video camera it was clumsy at best to change scenes, add music, add subtitles, do a voice-over, add transitions, etc. With nonlinear digital editing, which has only been possible on the PC since March 1998 when Adobe released Premiere 5.0, the editing possibilities are virtually endless. I use Premiere Pro 2.

Because this is a digital media, and not an analog media like conventional videotapes, nothing is lost when copying. So digitally, the original media can be copied again and again.

How many minutes of video can be put on a CD?

VCD and DVD movies are made in variations of the MPG format. Both formats allow about 60 minutes of movies per disk. If I make a computer CD (which cannot be played on a VCD or DVD player), I can put movies, reports, pictures, and even music all on one CD. If the client wants it that way, I can put an HTML index so that the CD or DVD is as easy to use as any home page. DVD disks can hold an hour of high-quality picture and sound.

Can you make VCDs?

Yes! In Asia VCD players have become the rage because they are so inexpensive and reliable. VCD movies are simply repackaged MPGs, so making them is not technically difficult at all. A VCD is a regular with CD with a movie on it. The resolution is about half of what you'll get on a DVD.

Can you make DVD disks and movies?

Yes. Earlier on this page I've written more on DVDs.

With DVD movies, one simply pops them into the drive and they play. CD movies and VCD movies are often a bit harder to get going. I can put menus and sub-menus on DVDs.

We want to make DVDs for Asia and the US?

No problem. Asia uses the PAL standard, which means a picture that is 480 by 576 pixels big and 25 frames per second. The US uses the NTSC standard where the picture is 480 by 520 pixels big and 29 frames per second. I shoot in the Asia PAL format. Using Adobe After Effects, I can seamlessly convert my movies so that they look like they were shot in the American standard, NTSC.

Can you make auto-start CDs?

Yes. They start and take the user to a menu. These will work on any PC, but not on a Mac.

I don’t like to install strange programs on my computer.

You don’t need to install any software to run the CDs I make. I write all of my programs in very simple HTML and produce my movies using the standard MPG formats (VCD and DVD are variations of the MPG standard). Any Windows 95 or higher computer with an Internet browser can play the CDs I produce; DVDs need a special DVD player. Viruses can not live in simple HTML code or in MPG, JPG, or GIF files, so there is absolutely no danger of spreading viruses. Naturally, if a client so desires, MS Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, which must always be checked for viruses, can also be put onto CD.

We’ve taken a lot of movies with our video camera; can you put them on CD or DVD?

Yes. If they can be output as a digital or analog PAL signal, then they can be captured with my equipment and moved, with or without editing, to CD. I can easily move clips from any video tape, VCD or CD to another CD or to DVD.

Is this documentary film making?

It can be. I have the equipment, the training, and the experience to document most anything. An employee for a United Nations told me that my system had a unique appeal: usually documentaries are usually produced by teams of people. I am a team of one.

I can also, quickly and efficiently, produce clips for the Internet, PowerPoint, or to augment a CD of pictures.

Can you do animation?

Yes. Using Adobe After Effects I can do all kinds of tricks. If you look in my "movies" section, you can see Lorna, the only woman ever to dance live on a Bangkok Sky Train platform. She comes "live" from Adobe After Effects.