For just a little over three hundred dollars you can get the ePhoto Camcorder Steady Shoulder Rig with Follow Focus for DSLR Video Cameras. Other comparable rigs run anywhere from five hundred to a thousand dollars. Other rigs do typically include a weight on the back of the shoulder rest but the ePhoto rig does have straps where you can put your own weight, a 2.5 pound five dollar weight from Wal-Mart works great. Now it is possible to just get the Rig for one hundred seventy dollars but at some point if you want follow focus and you will buying them together saves you roughly forty dollars. After experiencing follow focus its almost impossible to think of life without it, a simple piece of rubber wraps around and locks on the focal ring of your DSLR. Then you attach a knob to your rig that interlocks with the ridges one your focal ring, this makes the knob act as a handle that stabilizes your shot while allowing you to maintain amazing control of your depth of field. You may also use the same principle on a telephoto lens to give you equal control over the zoom functions of the lenses, however it isn’t possible to control zoom and focus at the same time with the ring. That being its only drawback, I realize three hundred dollars isn’t an insignificant amount of money but for the control and stabilization that this can give to your DSLR and the next comparable set up being almost double in price this is a must have for any low budget filmmaker.
Archive for September, 2011
In a recent TIME article Ken Burns was quoted as saying “I think this will be the great struggle with our civilization, the idea that we can substitute artificial experiences for real experiences.” The threat of artificial experiences–those that are digitally created– replacing our real or natural ones is imminent in the Digital Age. In a time where there is mass appeal in the mimicry or creation of artificial experiences, we lose sight of our real ones. Corporations also stand to gain profit by finding ways to make everyday experiences in life easier, faster, more convenient and more entertaining.
Take for instance the everyday experience of social interaction: with the overwhelming popularity of internet dating and social networking sites people now need only to log onto a computer to be social. Friendships and relationships are created, maintained and even “deleted” at the click of a mouse. With the popularity of sites like Facebook and Twitter, even the Google corporation has invested in a new social networking site, Google +. How will this affect future generations’ ability to interact in person?
But the effect of these digital experiences extends beyond replacing our real ones extends beyond social interaction. Kids today can build a civilization on a computer game but cannot build anything with their hands. Kids can score a touchdown on the Madden video game but no longer run outside and spend time holding a real football. Why would companies invest money in educational or recreational programs for kids when there’s more money to be made in producing digital substitutes? I am inclined to agree with Kens Burns, the threat of artificial experiences replacing our real ones may be the great challenge of our modern, digitalized civilization.
Soon I’m going to start posting film reviews and thought it prudent to explain the grading system I will use. We will grade a film on four different parts:
Aesthetic Appeal-Purely the look of the film (cinematography, use and believability of special effects, editing, sound, and nostalgic appeal)
Story-Just the story taking acting, cinematography, and anything else but structure, writing, and originality out of the equation.
Acting-Their performances taking into consideration if the role was out of their typical mold/typecast, and how well they evoke the audiences emotion.
Each of the three sections can be graded as follows:
🙂 🙂 Amazing
🙂 Good
😕 Not good but not bad
😦 Bad
😦 😦 No redeeming qualities whatsoever
The Total Film Score will be based on each section being combined or neatening each other. For instance a film has two happy faces for Aesthetic Appeal and a sad face for acting and a sad face for story the overall score will be Indifferent face (not good or bad). Now if the film has two happy for story one happy for aesthetic appeal and one sad for acting total score is two happy faces. A film can get up to six but its very unlikely. I don’t expect all of you to agree with my grading of a film but to use it more as a measuring stick. I will try to be a consistent as possible so even if you hate my highly graded films and low my low graded film you still have a good chance of figuring out what to watch.
Jacquian Williams and Jasson Pierre-Paul both were drafted out of South Florida and considered project players drafted for their athleticism. For more on Jason Pierre-Paul take a look at The Man with Three First Names. Jacuian Williams was selected in the sixth round with the 202nd overall pick by the New York Giants, and once again re-united with Teammate Jason Pierre-Paul. I don’t know that anyone outside of the Giants organization had sincere interest in him as anything but a free agent rookie signing, all the so called draft experts were shocked when the Giants selected him and the live drafts on espn and NFL network didn’t have a picture or graphic prepared for him. The 2011 draft was different from most due to the lockout and inability to sign undrafted free agents, so if you wanted a player you had to use a pick on him because there was no way of telling what teams would need or try to sign due to the lack of free agency. Even with that being the case should we be shocked that Giants GM Jerry Reese picked him he always picks for potential/best player available. Williams had the size and speed combination that the giants love but spent most of training camp with the third team defense, but in the end was one of four rookie linebackers to make the team. With injuries to Clint Sintum and Jonathan Goff, Greg Jones got the first crack at filling the linebacking core and performed admirably. Williams got his shot last Sunday against the Eagles more then likely due to his speed and the speed of the Eagles Playmakers. He not only showed the incredible ability to wrap up with his tackles registering nine SOLO tackles but was a part of a linebacking core that for the first time this season rendered the opposing team tight ends inconsequential. It’s only week three but expect him to see more time this week against the Cardinals who love to spread out defenses to isolate linebackers in space. Williams has the speed and size to be a 3 down linebacker and if last weeks game was a sign of things to come the giants might have found yet another steal at the bottom of the draft.
Game Balls
Eli Manning-Tied his career high with four touchdowns passes and went sixteen for twenty-three, but the most important stat zero turnovers.
Victor Cruz- Three receptions for one hundred ten yards and two touchdowns, he twice beat what is widely considered a top ten cornerback. He eluded an Nnamdi Asomugha tackle scoring on a seventy-yard play then out jumped the large corner for a second touchdown.
Jason Pierre-Paul- seven solo tackles two assisted tackles and two sacks, he seems to be getting better each week.
Jacquian Williams- an athletic rookie sixth round pick from the University of South Florida (same as Pierre-Paul) led the giants in tackles with nine solo tackles.
Aaron Ross- After being benched in the Rams Monday night game Ross redeemed himself on Sunday night with four tackles and two interceptions.
Kenny Philips- seven tackles with two assisted tackles and interception and a forced fumble, Phillips seems to have the step we saw in his rookie season back last season coming of his knee injury Fewel said he tried to protect Philips. Now two years removed from the injury he is back to showing why he was a first round pick. (Although he dropped what should have been an interception on a tipped pass in the red zone)
LeSean McCoy- twenty-four attempts for one hundred and twenty-eight yards and a touchdown, McCoy may have the on of the fastest first steps in the league.
What this Means
The Giants won a game at a division rivals stadium to a team which they had dropped nine straight to and on their home opener. This is a good sign if the team can get back Mario Manningham, Osi Umenyiora, and Prince Amukamara, then they may have enough to make a deep run in the playoffs but they have to keep winning these tough division games. Another good sign is the Giants line-backing core limited the production of tight ends the past few weeks after getting torched by Fred Davis week one. If they can stop the big play and limit turnovers this could be a productive year for the G-Men.
Black Swan, Moon, The Wrestler, Smokin’ Aces, The Fountain, Doom, Sahara, Murder by Numbers, Knock Around Guys, Requiem for a Dream, and Pi is there any connection between these movies? Clint Mansell composed the music in these films plus many others. Anyone who has seen Requiem for a Dream can reproduce Mansells version of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozarts “Summer Overture” never have I heard such hauntingly beautiful music, use so effectively to derive emotion from the audience. His use of diegetic sound in Black Swans club scene (Chemical Brothers “Don’t Think”) sets the tone for the upcoming chain of events. Black Swan was however excluded from Oscar consideration because the “scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other pre-existing music.” Black Swan is adapted from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, and no matter how much creativity and beauty his score brought to the film; it’s simply not “original” enough. This was Masnsells first opportunity for an Oscar and personally I find it appalling that he was punished for scoring a film that was limited by a bound motif. I’m just taken back that the academy would give 3 6 mafia an Oscar for “it’s hard out there for a pimp” and then tell Mansell that because thirty percent of his score was bound to that of its original production that the other seventy percent is irrelevant. He even reproduced the score with his own tweaks much like a rapper would sample a classic track to produce a new song and how many Grammies have been handed out for that same reproduction. I just think its short sighted to remove someone from consideration for this reason, I understand taking this into consideration with your vote but how did the kings speech not get removed from consideration let alone win the Oscar when it had the same scoring issues that Black Swan Had? Mansell will one day get his Oscar much like Martin Scorsese finally got his for The Departed while being snubbed for Taxi Driver and Raging Bull.
Considered a project player when taken with the 15th overall pick in the 2010 draft Jason Pierre-Paul impressed scouts with his “freakish” athletic ability which he put on display during the combine in Indianapolis. The media however latched on to his youtube video where the 6’5 280 pound defensive end was having a backhand spring competition with a teammate who played wide receiver, he not only won but also completed 22 consecutively without any signs of fatigue. Espn conducted test on Pierre-Paul before the draft and he hit a heavy bag for a three-point stance much like he would engage an offensive lineman and he hit the bag consistently with over 2600 pounds of pressure. All this sounds great but the Giants took a “flyer” on a player who was freakishly gifted but had only played one year of football. The South Florida product has since then impressed everyone he has come into contact with, Jason didn’t star seeing the field with any regularity till the final 3 games and in the final two games he registered a pair of sacks in each. Now in his second season he is starting due to an injury to pro bowl right end Osi Umenyiora and currently is tied for the league lead with sacks with four and a half. Most impressive was his last game against the Eagles he was credited with nine tackles and two sacks those stats as impressive as they are don’t tell you what he really contributed to the game. All game he threw his arms up blocking Mike Vicks vision and obstructing his passing lanes. He pressured Vick the hole game and on one of his sack got immediate pressure on a bull rush and flushed Vick from the pocket and in doing so went to the ground but got up and tracked Vick down on the opposite side of the field to take him down for the sack. Later he waved to the sideline as he was cramping but said no one noticed so he decided to take the snap and executed a perfect swim move and picked up his second sack of the day. This is a gifted play and with the ability to learn from the best in Umenyiora and Justin Tuck he should only continue to improve mark my words expect to see this young man to make the pro bowl this year and for the foreseeable future.
Injuries
Vick has been cleared to play after suffering a concussion from a collision with his own teammate. Also the Eagles will get their first look at free agent and ex Giants wide receiver Steve Smith. For the Giants Mario Manningham is out after his concussion suffered in the second quarter against the Rams. Tonight making his season début for the Giants is staring tight end Travis Beckum, we will see if he and the recently signed Brandon Stokley call fill the third receiver void left by the afore mentioned Steve Smith.
Matchups
For the Giants this game will come down to hitting Michel Vick, the Eagles offensive line has at times allowed pressure to get to Michel Vick and considering the only part of the Giants not decimated by injuries is the defensive line this is the method they must use to attack them. However they must rely on just the front four with in addition to the Giants secondary being a weakness the Eagles may have the best wide receiving core in the league they have two of the fastest receivers in the league in Deshean Jackson and Jermey Macilin, both are primed to take it the distance at any point in the game and with the addition of Steve Smith they have the most productive third down receiver in football over his last two non-injured seasons. The Eagles make their living on the big play so if the Giants leave in the nickel package and can generate pressure with the front for they may have a chance. On offense the Giants have to pound the ball the eagles put their defensive ends in the wide nine where with the angle they line up in and the position of their heads makes it more then difficult to defend against the run. The linebackers have also been switched around this week and no how you arrange them none are close to being 6’3 275 ponds which is what Giants running back Brandon Jacobs brings to the game utilizing him and the powerful slashing style of Ahmad Bradshaw should take advantage of the underside but speedy defense the Eagles employ.
Prediction
The Eagles have had the Giants number as of late and I don’t see it changing this Sunday, the Giants will try to run out the clock but in the end the Eagles big play ability will be too much to handle. Eagles over Giants 24-10
We have become accustomed to watching players “flop” in soccer in an attempt to get a free kick, or in basketball I attempt to neutralize players like Shaq and Dwight Howard form constantly using their size to back down players into the post. After the Giants Monday matchup with the Rams we were exposed to how a “flop” is used in football. It’s almost impossible to determine if a player has an injury such as a burner/stinger or other temporary injuries but player safety is always at the forefront of all NFL games which is why the referees stop the clock and allow teams training staffs on the field to examine players. In the 40’s players used this to stop the clock in order to allow the offense more time to score at the end of the game. So the NFL instituted a rule that involved lose of time outs or time of the clock to deter players from “flopping”. The modern day NFL has progressed from the running back driven teams of the past an all out aerial attack we see today and an offense can gain advantages by running the hurry up offense and tiring the defense and hampering their ability to adjust personal groups. So to combat this new trend players have resulted to a time “honored” tradition in sports the “flop”. As the game evolves and the rules change in order to help the offense in order to “protect players” or maybe to drive up game scores for ratting whichever it is, defenses will always try to find a ways to reduce their competitors advantage.
Highlights
Domenik Hixon one handed touchdown grab was a thing of beauty.
Lowlights
With all the injuries we couldn’t expect a lot but this game felt sloppy and had the atmosphere of a preseason game. This truly makes you wonder if the lack of offseason training camps due to the lockout is having more of an affect on the NFL then we though. However this game will always be know as the “Double Dive” it was more then obvious by the way Williams and Grant fell to the ground no more then five feet from each other that their might be just a bit of acting involved. Williams got up shortly after his “flop” realizing Grant was next to him trying to accomplish the same thing. After the game Brian Kehl accused Giants defensive coordinator Perry Fewel of coaching his players to “flop” Kehl was on the Giants for Fewels first season with the team but was cut after training camp. In Fewels post game press conference he refused to deny or confirm the allegations. But would it surprise anyone if that were the case his job is to give his players the best possible chance of winning and on Monday the Giants left with the win.
Domenik Hixon just one year after his season ending knee injury repeated the same injury on his touchdown grab. This makes last weeks signing of Brandon Stokley all the more important. In other news wide receiver Mario Manningham suffered a concussion and is doubtful for Sundays division game against the Eagles.
johngilliam 