Kristy and I are members of Good Sam Club. We joined in 2007, a few months after buying our Airstream and hitting the road. We don’t have any “official” affiliation with the club, although we do blog on RV.net (a site that’s owned by the same parent company, Affinity).
When we first started camping, we really didn’t know ANYTHING about the RV club scene. What interested me in Good Sam Club, quite frankly, was the 10% discount that members receive when staying at Good Sam campgrounds. It costs about $20 to join the club, but the membership “pays for itself” if you use it at campgrounds the way we do.
When we do long term Airstream travel, we stay at a lot of privately owned campgrounds. There’s more to life than Walmart parking lots, right? At times, even the most ardent boondocker has gotta have hookups. Even Queen Elizabeth I took four baths a year.
We usually choose to stay at Good Sam parks because (1) they are everywhere (2) they are usually quite good (3) we get a modest discount, and (4) there is NO number four. 😉
Anyway, as part of its standard membership, Good Sam Club also sends a monthly magazine to its almost ONE MILLION members. We were pleased to see LongLongHoneymoon.com featured in the current issue. Woo hoo! Good news, indeed.
What's this? Long Long Honeymoon gets a little magazine love!
Some corporate campgrounds are basically grassy parking lots with sewer hookups – sounds inviting, doesn’t it? But I’ve noticed that most (not all) Good Sam parks are a little more charming in character than other campgrounds.
Each park is individually owned and operated, so there’s obviously some variation in quality. But we’ve had satisfying experiences at the parks. You usually (not always!) get a little more space, a little better landscaping, and a little warmer hospitality. We use the Trailer Life Directory and RVParkReviews.com to choose the better campgrounds before we book a reservation.
So anyway, thanks to the good people at Good Sam Club for the coverage. We’re getting 2010 off to a promising start!
Ok…. we found the the old woodalls is a shade above the Good Sams … sorry…
another that caught our suprise was that the AAA or AA also have good responses on the campgrounds for rating purposes…
Lots of the campgrounds are listed on the internet along with a lot of real time users rate’s … While Good sam is nice it adds to the cost of having fun… which can be gotten around. Good Sam also has Trailer life… mag… which we find some of the articles on RV some what questionable if not down right a promotional scam…
(I still have to chuckle about the gas mileage making device they tested years ago… promoting the sale of them… when in fact it was nothing more than a piece of alu tube mach’nd out… yet they said it made 2-4 miles per gallon more… I guess the consumers affairs took issue on that article .. and cut one in half to show it was a scam… ) 😀
We joinded another group out of Texas that is fast taking over the ratings of campgrounds.
While our site location manager usually re-cons the parks that we stay at… we have found that when we strike out on our own… we go with the group on the radios or other travel parks…recommendations.
While good Sam is a nice group… we have found that the independent s are much more popular. Wonder why????
GMAs, I hear ya…
There are some real positives about Good Sam Club, and then there’s some marketing that leaves me scratching my head.
For example, they send a ridiculous amount of junk mail that has nothing to do with the club. Much of the junk mail is misleading (“URGENT! RENEW NOW!” Blah, blah…)
If you want my honest opinion, Good Sam started in a proper place — Good SAMARITANS, RVers helping other RVers. The Club filled a need. Over time, the Club grew, and so did the marketing. After a while, it got a little tilted towards selling memberships instead of servicing RVers.
The Good Sam Club magazine – Highways – could be a real positive. It offers useful content, but needs a makeover (better quality paper, thicker cover, etc.). IMHO they should get back to the fundamentals and focus on the core original mission of helping the RVer. Help the RVers, and the memberships will come!
With regard to Trailer Life Directory, we really do use it quite often. If you travel around the States as much as we do, you gotta have some sort of directory. Woodall’s is good too, but for whatever reason we usually use Trailer Life. (They are owned by the same company, by the way.)
For me Good Sam Club is mainly about the 10% discount. I know it’s not much, but over the course of a year it adds up.
Oh by the way your crimson folks from AL did a great show in the rosebowl… 😀
The Texas longhorns are now called the DE-HORNED hamberger on the hoof… 🙂
It was a interesting game.. watched it on the Sat TV..
As to the Good Sam’s Indeed it was like the old AS groups. Its a shame but the oldies have left the arena and the newbies really don’t know what it is to be a groupie’ member. which is a shame.
The group the X joined is called the escapees com ones… They have alot of fun activities but,….
…. as one can tell on the web it seems a group is to be found for just about what ever your flavor and like’ns are. Thus I don’t think their is just one group.
Some of the others in ours are members of the Thousand trails, other timeshare, that think that is the way to go.
What, on our own, I like to do is hit the road… find a nice overnight space to park…(such as a State or Fed Park…) and head out for the back country. Needless to say we have had much more of a adventure going that way than making reservations and having to stick to a set timetable… that always seems to have problems when their is ust one more thing you want to see but, can’t because you have to hit the road or lose your reservation…
Now going to AK one can park just about anywhere along the roadside rest areas… being self contained is a plus up their… but, before you go thinking its a third world country… ahhhhh more like going through montana or New Mexico… as walmart is their and also others… thus its not all wilderness with man eating bears and wolves. (about the only thing you need to bring a supply of is blood for the winge’d bombers during the summer months.) I was surprised to hear that not many rattle snakes either…
One going up their normally gets a “MILEPOST” book that comes out yearly. In it one can find all kinds of stuff just like the woodall’s but for the northwest land.
You can buy them on line or get them at the book store… I don’t know if they have it yet on computer but, I would think today everything is…
As to the Highways mag– I agree that it has a lot to offer if it was published by a decent editor and staff. Not to say the current one is bad but, I agree leaves a lot to be desired with respect to the focus of the orginal mission of RV’rs.
Like anything else they seem to be stuck on their own and need to get back in touch with the reality of what is going on. Problems are most go do surveys and of course then end up bickering over what is wanted in respects to the people they target vs the commercial aspects of what they are trying to steer users in to a market. Sometimes you wonder if the fun has left the building— 🙂
One also has to remember that the motive is now the bux and not the fun aspect. .
Ok so when are we getting back to seeing more video? Come on.. lets get with it… several of the Disney people have taken to the road and started to produce a show called “Motion” over at the Living Well channel. They are two brothers that are into showing what fun one can have touring the Calif area… and have been working in broadcast TV for 24 years and for Disney/ABC for the last 10.
Jeff wrote: Hi again!
Disney asked Greg and I to come up with an outdoor show for their new Live Well HD network 2 years ago so we shot a pilot, showed it to the suits and they liked it! We just finished our 24th episode and are looking forward to 2010!
As to the equipment they use….
Jeff shoot the main landscape shots with a Panasonic HPX-170HD. For audio we use a Sinheiser ME-66 and wireless set up.
Greg uses a Canon G10 for the stills.
Jeff said …. You can follow us on the road via our Facebook fanpage with pics, updates and videos of upcoming shows.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Motion/129633264788?ref=ts
Thanks again for watching and taking the time to drop us a line we appreciate your comments and suggestions to make it better.
Jeff n Greg
You may want to check it out and see if there are any settings you may gain useage from… but, simple, cheap and showing the fun and adventure to all is what sold the suits to fund the show. Now … if you can just get ’em to do RV’n.
I still think a movie about your adventures might be fun. That being said. So when is the next video coming out?
Back to work… as we are doing background shots right now… no real snow as yet… and hate to just be sitting around playing hearts.. etc… 😀
Congrats on the article! How exciting!
We’ve stayed at a few Good Sam Campgrounds and always appreciate the discount. But, I agree with you, my only complaint is the amount of junk mail we get. I could go without that…otherwise, I’m a pleased member!
Thanks Lani! BTW, I think it’s possible to “opt out” of the junk mail. I haven’t tried it yet, but I’m told that to stop the home-delivered mailings, we can call Member Services at 800-234-3450 and tell ’em to remove us from the list. I may give it a try this week.. 🙂
GMAs, thanks for the heads up about the TV show. I will definitely check it out.
With regard to our next videos… at the moment I am trying to figure out next moves for our site (not to mention recover from a severe case of jet lag!).
I’ve been working on some DVD projects. I have a tendency to start projects, bring them to about 80% of completion, and then move on to other projects. I need to FINISH a few things in this first quarter of 2010.
Maybe I will release some of the DVD video content here as a temporary freebie…so you can give me some criticism, err, feedback. 🙂
When you think about it, we have over 100 videos on this site — that’s about FIVE HOURS of content. From my standpoint, it’s important that we continue to push forward… visit new places … enjoy new experiences … and develop our website in a way that makes long term sense.
I have a couple of goals this year.
The first is the development of the aforementioned DVDs.
The second is development of a TV show pitch. I think we’ll go to Los Angeles soon to float the idea and see if there is interest. I’m confident that we can create an entertaining & informative show on a budget. Give me a smidgen of production resources and we will create some great stuff!
So I’m going to pull together that 10-minute pitch video for the TV programming guys that you suggested a while back. We need to make a few new friends in Hollywood (CAA, William Morris, etc.) in 2010… 🙂
AWSOME AWESOME AWESOME! How great congrats guys. To thing it started with a video camera and a wedding!
hey Sean I’m checking out a engine oil bypass kit from Filtration Solutions. I’ll give ya a head’s up on it to see how it works. We have the same engine. We’ll see how it works.
Thanks Matt! Yeah, it has been a long strange trip, and I think you’ve seen every video from the beginning! Hopefully we’ve got a few more surprises up our sleeve for the new year.
Keep me posted on the oil bypass kit. So far my truck engine is completely stock, but I have been tempted now and then to do a few aftermarket mods. As you know, diesels are HIGHLY tweakable. With a few small investments (chip, intake, etc.) the engine can generate gobs of horsepower and torque. I’ll probably wait until my warranty expires before really having fun with it…
Sean….
Sounds like fun. Wishing you all the best …and while your at it make sure you hit up the ABC group now run by disney. They have the LW (living Well) chan and as mentioned they have the show ‘Motions” going right now. It seems to be finding a adventure nitch in the media. SOOOOOoooo… set up a apt m’t and get ‘er done…. 😀
I don’t think I would set up a 10 min pitch however, Just a short trailer on your background and a smig of a few of the “where we went” with the AS trailer.. i.e start with the begining (wedding) and just a couple of short 10 to 15 second shots with VO highlighting the video. In all you want to keep it down to a min amount of time (that being less than 3 min) . If they want to see more they will ask… for a proof… but, if you give ’em a small taste of what the show is about and your contenual adventures you plan for travel future… I think you stand the best chance .
You need to kinda make it into a video resume but, with one except… that is what you intend to do in the future as shows. (explore your possibilities but know your limits)
Remember this however, once you ink the line… your on the hook for a production… and you have to deliver… which is unlike a fun blog where you can pick and choose your presentations and/or time… In the industry we call it WORK… 🙂
…and expect delays and things to go PooF… when you do get started. (Some dog barking in the background… just when you have things all set up.. you find out the camera battery just died suddenly… those kinds of things)
I spend a good deal of my time … going back over … key mistakes that were made the first time… (such as the extra kid in the background that was supposed to be eating his hotdog… yet he fakes a bite .. like the coach told him to… 🙂 stands out like a thumb on your hand… but was not caught until the editors picked it up in the background… soooo the whole shot has to be done again… just because of one mistake that is background extras and not part of the action. ) Or the case where the actor has the label from his hat sticking out… that clearly say nikie… in the close up… yet he is supposed to be in the civil war… ops big time… don’t think they were around back then… oh well… everything else went well… right up to the point that the editors called and were laughing their heads off … 😀 it still cost money to re-set the action back up …again… and its frustrating when the grips don’t do dry runs first to ensure that the set is correct… after all if you have a western with indians and john wayne in it… that was supposed to take place in the 1800’s a jet con trail is not supposed to be in it either… but as Mr. Ford said…after screening…. you can’t win ’em all the time.
So attention to detail is the difference between good and great… and while your doing travel adventure… you still want to have someone check the verbage… and /or lighting/background/ info…TIME’N etc… so that you don’t have to get wrinkles from grin’n or frustration 😀 If it was easy they wouldn’t call it WORK… 😉
Oh by the way did we mention you have to do camera work too… as well as get the idea across… while all the time :D’n (even if its raining cats and dogs and the script says its supposed to be sunny…) and the shot is going to hell… ya that is real acting… and after you say cut… you should hear the whining… if that doesn’t do it… just have the camera op say… can we shoot that one more time… as the camera was not up to speed… (where did I leave my bullet proof vest)
😀
are we having fun yet???
Thanks GMAs, I will check out the Living Well channel. The History Channel seems to be embracing travel programming also. We’ll see. If I pull together a video pitch maybe I will run it past you. 🙂
I know what you mean… there is a fine line between “having fun” and WORK.
For me, the creative process of film making is quite FUN. I enjoy the writing and the camerawork…. the voiceover…. and the direction. Heck, I even enjoy editing. 😉
But when you add deadlines, dealing with a crew (ha ha), legal disclaimer forms, etc. to the equation… it starts feeling a lot like work. Ideally I’d like to bridge the gap between fun & work… keep doing the fun stuff but in a more goal oriented fashion. That means DVDs and TV.
There’s a lot of potential upside in TV, but there are also downsides. Namely, you can’t do TV without getting permission from the guys in suits (just ask Conan O’Brien!).
Creating DVDs allows complete creative freedom and an existing business model that works well. But it isn’t the “big stage” of TV.
I’d like to do a feature-length documentary film also, but I think I’d need to step away from the blog for a few months to pull that off. A man can only multitask so much.
BTW, I also empathize with your plight when it comes to shooting outdoors. It seems like every time I roll the camera… dogs start barking … someone nearby fires up a leaf blower .. and noisy planes start flying overhead. You never realize how much noise there is in the world until you need a little peace and quiet!
Hey Sean!
That’s kinda cool news about the article. Congrats. You’re well on your way to becoming a national sensation. (hey, I’m dreamin’ for ya, OK?)
I’m still relying on wi-fi hotspots here in Vienna. GOD how I miss a reliable connection! Telecom-Austria is now coming next Tuesday to hook us up. Long sordid story. Suffice to say, Ma Bell in Canada is actually slightly sharper than these chimps, and that’s pretty sad. We’ll see how that turns out.
Still heaps better than the first time I came to live in Yurp back in the 70s. Then you were REALLY cut off. I remember going to the post office in Paris to try and phone home. I’m not kidding. It was crazy.
Nice to see you’re once again safe at home. We were a little concerned after that Nigerian guy tried to blow up his nads, but we flew direct to Austria from Toronto, and all went very smoothly. It is however, a long flight that’s not for the faint hearted.
Best to you and Kristy.
Bob
Indeed DVD’s are not big sellers and keep you in the video business. Just look at how fast the big screen items are converted over to DVD’s for trinkets in return. Besides once you have produced one … the hackers will jump on it and have priate copies out almost as fast as you can produce them .. but at half the price… 🙂
Ok.. so you want to do a documentrary film… (this should be good… no really… it should be good… and a step in the right direction … as we require it of all the video students aspiring to be big names on the silver screen)… and its not as easy as some think… that is why theirs turn out to look’n like home movies… spratic and chop’y
So what are you going to start with? Hmmmm that should set one back about 2 or three days with their eyes closed… thinking.
One should ask if this Doc is going to be about.. what? Lets zoom in on a subject… ahhh a travel trip…fine… so now we have our idea that we want to show… but, while it might seem super interesting to the producer… it has to sell… i.e you need to have a interest by the viewer… (so what we have to do is now go back and think about exactly what we are going to try and convey to the viewer… be it fun, exciting, adventure, drama or a hero saving the day…(of course there are others)
so where to begin… we have our trip (adventure) but, shouldn’t we have a story and time line also … we don’t get wraped up in one detail and not have time for the others? (what we want to do is set a time limit for our documentary film… somewhere around 20 min is a good start … which if used on TV leave 10 min for commercials that will sponsor the adventure were on… someone has to pay the freight.. hmmm)
Ok so now we have set limits on our travel adventure… we also have a bunch of blank 3×5 cards to write on.. (these will make up our story board as we progress) you have done this before… hmmm 🙂 we want to do this so that when we get ideas or shoots… we then can put the location, run time and time of day… along with any comments and a shoot number so that when it comes time we can put them in order and edit our documentary to show progression. ( I think also we want to record the bacground sounds… but use VO to nar’ate it thus saving our time on the line. )
So now we go on the road… shoot all kinds of trailers… and takes… adding to the card stack or story board on the wall… so we know what is on the tape… don’t worry when we get done some of it will be .. as we say… left on the cutting room floor… while what we think is more improtant is dwelled upon… with the idea always in the back of our mind… would someone else find this adventure thrilling or boreing…??? 😀
We don’t want to make our adventure look like home movies…either…hmmm…
So what we need to do is basic’ly make our adventure into what we call a 3 act paragon
Here is the story structure timeline that nearly every scriptwriter / production follows. It’s a simple formula, Act I is the beginning, Act II is the middle, and Act III is the end. (wow thats simple… huh…. 🙂 )
In the big movies Scripts are generally 100 to 120 pages. Each page, (let me expand here a min… a page of script is 4 inches wide by 10 inches …i.e less than 200-300 words.. really not much… as the page also contains the setting, dialoge and action… ) on average, equates to 1 minute of screen time. Of course some action-discription-filled pages may take 5 minutes a piece while some pages loaded with dialogue only 20 seconds but it all evens out.
One of the first things that a producers check when reading the script is the length. If it is under 100 pages then it appears that the scriptwriter doesn’t have enough material to tell a feature length story. Go the other way, over 120 pages, and the script is automatically thought of as cumbersome. Once you have a solid reputation as a scriptwriter you can get away with going over 120 pages but you should stick to these guidelines if this is your first spec script. But remember this is for a full 90 min movie most of the time….
The easiest way of keeping to this unwritten rule is as we said…to break your story into three acts. In a 120 page script the first act would take up one quarter (30 pages) of the script. Act II takes up half (60 pages) of your script. Act III takes the final quarter (30 pages) of your script. ( your documentary should follow the same rules too… thus the intro should take up 1/4 of your total time… the adventure the travel part 2/4 and the ending the last 1/4 of your total presentation time… those are the gudelines… but can vari as needed)
Ok that is for the normal story telling movie… i.e it has a message to get across .. as well as excite the sense’s.
Our adventure however is more to the documentary side of the story telling..(still based on three acts) i.e we go now.. kinda thing… so our story line should be .. get’ie Up go… (then we need to tell the viewers what to expect… in our presentation… so typically to do this.. one can say…. ” we are going to the world biggest trench…(pause.. pause..pause).. the Grand Canyon!!!…) this then confuses ’em.. trench is first on their mind…(what trench!!) and when you say GC they get a image of maybe when they went their some time back.. but you hooked ’em into staying with you… otherwise it would be like this… Ok were going to the Grand Canyon… oh wow is the first thought… big deal… been their done that…what else is on martha… is the second…thoughts… hmmm .. but, how we going to get their… well lets show a roadmap.. and not tell ’em were driving… (yep they can figure it out pretty quick after show and not tell) … so what exactly is it …that we will do along the way that you will keep our viewers interest??? … and hooked into ride’n along?? , .. so what are the three acts… we went… we saw… and we had the adventure… I would say… 😀 Now your job is to make it simple, interesting and adventuresome… to keep the viewer on the hook… 😉
Oh and one other thing we see a lot of the newbies make mistakes on… they try and make it too complex… i.e over load the viewer with too much information… again using the story board cards and setting your time limits up… with a verbage that is being spoken at less than acutioneer speeds… does much better.
Remember also that the camera takes pictures… and as we have been told … a picture is worth 1000 words.. thus.. use the video to get the point across…in your presentation… first off .. then add words to highlight it… or trans’ to the next part.
As you have found background sounds, music and or other noises can put some frosting on the cake so to speak… adding to the flick… so if bad weather is coming… like our GC trip… we can get dramatic music … and when the sun comes out …after… we get light and happy music… all this adds to the mix… spice of life thing.
Now arn’t you glad your in video…. and not just taking still photos… which have little or no dynamics to play with?? As you have found still photos have to have words added… video .. well sometimes but, most of the time not as we can show action…. (again we require the newbies to take the video camera out… turn off the sound… and try to get a message across… (story) Might want to try that… sometime and have Kristy view your finished video…and after she is done ask… what did you get out of it… and see if your story matches with her take of it …and yes its not easy… but, extreamly helpful… remember the slient movies…hmmm 🙂 take your shots… arrange and make them do your talking… for you)
So far you have been doing a good job and improving your video’ogphy by each adventure… and what we have said in this novel is nothing new.. you knew all along that you have done this… but, then again… shooting from the hip can get confusing and leave you with a rushed presentation at the end… sometimes you need to recap what you did… sometimes you just say Bye… and end it… either way we want it to be a smooth trans… I would think…
are we having fun yet…?? 😀
Well off to work… big day today…
LOL Bob, I’m afraid that “national sensation” status still eludes us. But hey, every little bit of press helps.
Yes, the “underwear bomber” did a number on all of us holiday airline passengers. We flew back to the States out of Heathrow, and went through several additional layers of security. Quite honestly, the journey home was a grueling experience. By the time we made it back and went to bed, we’d been awake (and often uncomfortable) for 24 hours straight! As I’ve said before, I love BEING overseas, but the process of GETTING THERE is a huge pain in the arse. (A little Scottish lingo I picked up in Edinburgh. ;-))
Flying strikes quite a contrast to RV travel, which we generally do on our OWN schedule in complete comfort. It took me several days to bounce back from the journey, and only now am I beginning to feel somewhat normal!
I know what you mean about being out of contact in Europe. When I taught English in Czechoslovakia in the early 1990s, I made one (expensive) phone call a week to the States. I keep in touch with current events by occasionally reading newspapers in the American Embassy. On this recent trip, we had free Internet access on our TRAIN! I was literally checking Facebook and posting pics from our train seat as it traveled along the eastern coast of England. For those of us who remember what it’s like to be out of touch with the rest of the world, this is nothing short of AMAZING!
Cheers and Happy New Year,
Sean
Thanks GMAs, for the helpful reminders! Especially about the hooks… That’s a nuance of editing / storytelling that I always need to consider. I thin the application of the “hooks” separates good writing/editing from excellent….
I’m sure you are correct about the tendency of filmmakers to overload films with too much info. Sometimes it’s best to let the “visual medium” speak for itself.
I have a few different documentary ideas in mind. The most obvious would be a LongLong Honeymoon film, but I also have one music-related film in mind that isn’t really RV or travel related. I have a (bad) tendency to develop lots of different projects at once, so I have put that one on the backburner.
But it would be really cool! For me to really do the documentary justice, I might have to take a hiatus from blogging for a while. OR blog the film in small increments to the public, before eventually retiring it offline to DVD and film festivals.
Yes, I’m sure that piracy will always be a problem, but my films aren’t exactly Avatar.;-) I mean, the informational DVDs we create will be catering to a small niche instead of a mass audience. I get the feeling the latest mass market releases are pirated the moment they hit the silver screen.
During our recent trip to Europe, I experimented quite a bit with still photography. Eventually I’m going to pick up a digital SLR that shoots video, like your D90. Overall, yes, I am happy to have developed my skills with video. I have great respect for talented still photgraphers, and in fact at this point I find it easier for me to get quality video than still shots! For most people it’s the reverse, but for some reason my instincts go to motion pictures.
Stay tuned, as I may post some of our travel DVD excerpts here on LongLongHoneymoon.com in the near future.
And by the way, I have cowritten a screenplay with a friend of mine. It’s totally absurd and very funny. At one point we had interest from MTV to develop it, but the project has been shelved for the past year. I am kicking around the idea of filming it myself, with my EX1 & a Nanoflash, on a shoestring budget. We have some hilarious dialogue, so I think the film could work well despite a low budget production.
Indeed all the great films (stories) have hooks in ’em. Some have hooks but no explanation after which leave the viewer with a big ? … Take for example the movie space od 2001… their it was all hooks and no real story…. just a bunch of illusions which the director/writer left to play on ones imagination. Really what were those black boxes??? you never find out until the movie loops back on itself.. and even then if you asked 10 people what were they you would get 10 answers all different.. 😀
It is not easy to balance out a film with instructions/directions and exhibits/adventure… if you find a way to do it easy’ly let me in on it too.
As for stills … indeed they can be incorp into your blogs between video takes. Most effective way to do it in what we call stop gapping. This is where you video with naration with the subject (you) i.e Open shot… you in front of camera… day… action is … your discribing the next town your going to …. then video of the travel to it… now (VO) with stills showing areas that you ventured into for some adventure happenings or highlights in slide show format…. then tossed back to you in front of camera showing the next area your taking us to. )) It has been used in all kinds of movies quite effectivly. i.e the good guy stalking the bad guy and shooting pictures /showing stills of his actions while the good guy is bracketed by the video camera action. Its a neat but highly difficult action to achive without problems.
Yep love the D90.. have used it now several times…. and gotten some great vids and still shots combind .. as it does both. Of course the canon XL H1 also will shoot stills but, I use it more as a side shot for background development and placement before we go to the real shoot. But, if we stop for some reasion (like it starts to rain) I can ask for a sideshot and when it comes time we can use that for re-location where we left off…
Here you can see it used in this big budget promo along with exactly what we were talking about intergrating stills with the video.. although thes appear to be taken from the still feature of the HLHD1 also.. but as you can see the editor chose to use the stills into the stop gap’n.. check it out … one learns best from others that are their kinda thing 😉 but don’t go whining about the HD at youtube… not their.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PMIjUwQ1SRg&feature=related
I am sure after you view this you will see how your work is almost sim or better than what was thrown togeather showing the cameras potential. Indeed it has been used for real time movie making in HD format. Sony seems to be finding more favor with the news and interview settings though.
Would like to hear more about your ideas of the documentary of the LongLongHoneymoon film. Can you give us a thumbnail storyboard outline of what you have in mind? Maybe make it into a video and post it so you can get reactions from others .. sort of a poll the viewers thing 🙂
I have seen lots of good stuff come from the EX1’s. but, to hipe it up a little more one needs to use wireless mic’s such as the Azden Wireless UHF Lavalier Microphone and Body-Pack Transmitter. (they are not expensive… you can get ’em from sears too… about 160 bux ) But, as our sound guys say…. you have to place the mic so that you get the voice without heart pulse, wind or breathing noises. (Ya we had one on a guy who had a heart valve transplant… and wow.. talk about… head scratching… never the less the guy had a great pulse ) You can take the output from the wireless and mount it right on the back of your camera… matter of fact get the stereo one and you can have two people… while the camera op balances out the audio levels for the recording.
Ahhh remember its what the person does with the tools he has that makes him shine…
So indeed , you actually could do a whole blog on … how to… so others can see and learn… and what about at the end of your trailer (not AS) you put in some of the behind the camera outatkes? Bet some of them are pretty funny and interesting too … I know ours usually are … when people think the camera is not recording… 😀
Keep up the good work… and get ‘er done
GMAs, I have ordered the poor man’s version of your camera — a D5000! It’s basically a D90 in a D40 body. It’s got the same sensor, imaging processor, etc. as a D90 but is compatible with my D40 batteries, etc. Also, it has an articulating screen that may be handy for low angle shots. It does the same 720P video as the D90.
Anyway, it will be a nice upgrade over my D40. If Nikon releases a 1080P DSLR later this year that’s in the same category, I may pick one up. But in the meantime I’ll use the D5000 to supplement our videos with shallow depth of field shots.
I am definitely keeping my EX1 long term — I love the camera. I checked out the George Lucas comments you mentioned, and he was indeed raving about the EX1 (apparently they now use ’em at USC Film School). Only problem with the EX1 is that it weighs over 5 pounds, so it’s not something you want to tote around all day long.
Next question… I usually shoot 30P, but the D5000 only shoots 24P. I’ll need to decide whether to switch to 24P exclusively (which would conflict with my 30P/60i camcorders) or whether I can artfully mix these different frame rates in the same editing time line. Camera manufacturers really make it tough on video guys when they fail to include a comprehensive choice of frame rates!