For a while I’ve been frequenting a great site called colorgradingcentral.com as I work to improve my color grading skills. Color grading is the art of altering the video captured from your camera in order to enhance a scene. Using Blackmagic Design’s free color grading software called DaVinci Resolve, I can make my footage look prettier, grungier, colder, warmer, softer, more harsh, more futuristic, more old-timey, whatever!
DaVinci Resolve Screenshot from Coast Guard Academy Sailing Video
Big thanks to Denver Riddle and his site for getting me started. I’m really excited that now he’s come out with a whole series of training videos. As a promotion, the site is currently giving away (3) 6 Month DaVinci Resolve Training Memberships valued at $197 USD. For details on entering the contest giveaway visit the site to learn more. (Or don’t enter so that I’ll have a better chance of winning myself.)
The enormous amount of influence I obviously enjoy from the wild popularity of this blog can sometimes feel like a heavy burden. This is why I spend so many minutes toiling over each of these posts that you see coming out at an incredible rate of about one per month. I am aware, however, that with great power comes great responsibility, and with that in mind I gladly share with you my latest musings on two wonderful sailing-video-related projects that you simply must get behind. In no particular order:
Serious Sailing, Serious Fun, the upcoming documentary from sailing videographer Vince Casalaina:
Vince is an excellent sailing videographer from the bay area, a passionate Snipe sailor and promoter of all things Snipe, and a hell of a nice guy. he has been working on his upcoming documentary, Serious Sailing, Serious Fun: Traditions Build Winners for the past several years. The film is now in the all-important final stage of production: editing. And for a film with the breadth of this one, it costs a healthy chunk of money to get shape countless hours of footage from interviews, sailing highlights and archival stuff into the polished final product that I know the film will become. I’ll let Vince tell you more about the film himself:
Vince has done incredible thing crowd-sourcing his film through a Kickstarter campaign, but he still needs your help. If you can spare even a modest donation, please help Vince bring our sport into the spotlight through this amazing project. Even if you can’t afford a donation, please help Vince by promoting this project among on your social networks and by talking it up with your friends, and by voting for this film on the International Movie Trailer Festival website:
Then, sometime soon, go to one one of the world’s most prestigious film festivals and when you overhear someone saying, “Boy, that was the greatest documentary I have ever seen; I think I’ll go learn how to sail a Snipe,” you can tell them how you made the film possible way back in March 2012, and maybe that person will buy you a drink or something. It could happen.
Waterlust, an exploratory film series by cutting edge kiting, sailing, GoPro film maniac Patrick Rynne
If you like online sailing videos or in any way dabble in things that are cool, then you probably already saw this video, Kite vs Moth vs 49er: (It’s okay if you want to play it again. I’ll wait.)
That was just a little weekend project Patrick Rynne put together for fun. And by “put together” I mean thought of the awesome idea, recruited some of the world’s best athletes to take part, equipped the sailors with a half dozen cameras, brought out additional powerboats, drivers and shooters, and edited the whole thing himself.
Well this time he’s really going to apply himself. Pat has partnered with GoPro and his classmates at the Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami to produce short films about our relationship with water. The first three are already in the works and they will include: 1) a scientific study of rip currents and surf zone dynamics in Australia, 2) a profile of the gravity-defying sailboat whose daggerboard and rudder use small foils to lift the rest of the boat, and its skipper, high above the surface of the water, and 3) a team of marine scientists fighting to protect the stars of Discovery Channel’s Shark Week.
Sound cool? Wait til you see Pat’s promo video:
Learn more about the project and how you can propose ideas for future films at waterlust.org. Show your support by spreading the word and liking the Waterlust Facebook page. Then, follow the project as it develops and get ready for some amazing films.
I’m so pleased to share with you my first non-sailing-specific video since starting Chris Love Productions, that I’m posting it 8 months early: Zombie Obstacle Course!
This short promo video for Dane’s Body Shop and the Austin gym’s most awesome idea ever, a Zombie Obstacle Course, was the brainchild of my friend Chad “Hey Chad” Owen, of Cinematic Rebellion. He asked me to join him on location last October for a one-hour sunset shoot to get a second angle on the action from my DSLR camera. Chad needed multiple cameras since the event was running in real time and couldn’t stop for him to change angles. Secondly, Chad knew that DSLR video would do a really nice job with zombies! The low-light performance and bokeh (intentional blurriness of background, aka “shallow depth of field”) from my Canon 7D helped bring out the creepiness of the zombies, especially the texture in their professionally made-up faces. Both Chad and I shot in a flat color profile which allowed Chad to match our shots in post, and do a really cool color grade that brought out the red blood while pushing everything else a creepy muted muddy color.
This was a quick and dirty production but I think it came out really well and I’m so glad to have been a part of it. I would gladly shoot zombies again any month of the year.
As expected, NSPS (US Sailing’s National Sailing Programs Symposium) was a blast, and drew an incredible amount of talent this year, from veteran sailing coaches and professionals to experts in the relevant fields of sports psychology, crisis management and communications. Here is the first video I cut, highlighting this year’s edition:
Look for more to come, specifically a longer promo video about NSPS that will be used in future years. As you can see, my biggest challenge for this shoot was getting attractive, interesting footage from the many conference rooms at the hotel. They were all dimly lit with nasty greenish fluorescent lighting. Luckily, the sailing shots from Long Beach Sailing Center came out beautifully, plus I got to go sailing on a Weta Trimaran, which was an awesome ride and provided a great platform for shooting. I could easily steer with one foot while holding the camera with both hands lying on the canopy. I’ll have to see if the Weta guys down in New Zealand would consider hooking me up with one in exchange for some promotion: wetamarine.com for more info!
Before I even get into how great it is that I’m going to be attending US Sailing’s National Sailing Programs Symposium, can we all take a minute to note that US Sailing is no longer written in all caps? For years it has been editorially correct to write the name of sailing’s national governing body in all caps. They recently changed it. As Stu Gilfillen, National Sailing Programs Symposium Coordinator for US Sailing, said: “we stopped screaming.” Anyway, for you sticklers out there, note that I am doing it correctly. For those who have blissfully unaware, sorry to bother you with this opening paragraph. Please keep reading.
US Sailing’s National Sailing Programs Symposium (NSPS) is an awesome conference held every winter for sailing program professionals to meet and swap information on best practices. With US Sailing at the helm, the symposium always offers a wide variety of topics covered by some of the best program directors, coaches and instructors across the country. It also includes keynotes from pseudo-celebrities in the sailing world. Distinguished speakers at NSPS 2012, held January 11-14 in Long Beach, CA, include USSTAG Coach, rules expert, author and 2011 US Match Race National Champion Dave Perry, as well as Editor/Publisher of Scuttlebutt Sailing News and 2011 Etchells World Champion crew Craig Leweck. Also on the docket are sports psychology expert Dr. Joel Fish, former chairman of the National Coaches Council, Jim Perry, and amputee/offshore sailor Kevin Wixom, who will present his story of the team of disabled sailors who completed the Transpac race.
I attended in 2009 in San Diego for Sailgroove and can attest to the caliber of this event and its value to anyone who works in the field of sailing instruction (which I did for almost 10 summers prior to starting my career in video.) Regular-price registration closes today and hotels will need to be booked soon! Get on it: register for NSPS 2012 NOW!
As the official videographer of the event in Long Beach, I will be attending as many of the sessions as I can, as well as some of the outdoor demonstrations, compiling highlights for a promotional video that will come out after the symposium ends. It will be used on ussailing.org to celebrate this year’s meeting and to promote the event next winter.
I’m thrilled to be working once again with US Sailing. They are the NGB of sailing in the US and strive to support the sport in every way they can. I’m happy to be contributing to those efforts in 2012 and look forward to more opportunities going forward.
I updated my recent videos gallery to give you quick access to all the videos in my portfolio. These videos come direct from my recently updated YouTube channel, so you can view them in either place. Over the winter I’m going to continue to dig up some of my old videos and, of course, will be posting my new stuff as it comes out. Enjoy!
From old to new, the Chris Love Productions YouTube channel
In case you haven’t seen it, YouTube overhauled their site design last week. I don’t know what you think, (of course, feel free to comment with your opinion) but I think it looks great. Even better, I found out today that channel owners have the option to update their channels with the new design. For a long time, I have hated the look and feel of the YouTube channels and have never spent much time or effort to use my own. But today, the Chris Love Productions YouTube Channel is looking slick and professional, with all my videos laid out better than I could have done myself.
So far I’ve been pretty lackadaisical about posting my work to YouTube on my own account once I’ve sent them to a client or posted on their site. But now I have a portfolio I can be proud to show off. New, slicker Facebook and twitter integration will make it easier to share videos with people who want to see them. (Shameless plug: you can like the Chris Love Productions Facebook page or follow CLP on Twitter to receive future updates.)
This update follows Google’s updates to their main search sites (web, pictures, news, etc.), Gmail and apps like Docs and Reader. While these updates have given everything a cleaner look, none have produced such a vast improvement to the aesthetics and usability as has this YouTube update. Keep your eye on YouTube as they continue to move forward, apparently trying to become a living room source of video that could rival Netflix and other digital video delivery platforms.
This is old news by now, but I just came across the finished product from my first video shoot since going solo: the Storm Trysail Club Junior Safety at Sea Seminar, with support from US SAILING, held in August at Sail Newport in Newport, RI. [UPDATE: just found the HD version on Youtube:)
I didn't do the editing or web delivery, but I did shoot all the video footage. This was my first time shooting for someone else so it's fun to see how the finished project came together.
I shot it all on a rented Panasonic AG-HMC150, a great pro-grade HD camera with lots of bells and whistles not found on my current Canon 7D DSLR nor on Sailgroove's line of Sony Handycams: onboard audio mixing and XLR mic inputs, built-in neutral density filter options and more. The camera's manual also bragged of "Optical Image Stabilization (O.I.S.) that ensures stable images, critical to high definition video display." You can see from a lot of the sailing shots what I learned that day: built-in camera stabilization is almost never good enough for sailing video.
A CobraCrane SteadyTracker UltraLite camera stabilizer from B&H Photo
Software can help some. I used Final Cut Pro’s SmoothCam filter for some of my shots on the ILYA E Scow Championship and Adobe After Effects’ tracking and stabilization tools on the Kite Fleet in Miami video. The gyroscope-stabilized lens on my current camera helps some as well, but both solutions only work on the small vibrations. For both my Sailgroove Handycam and my DSLR I use physical stabilization devices that make the camera easier to hold in waves and chop, and absorb some of the shock. For the Handycam, I used a CobraCrane 210056 SteadyTracker UltraLite from B&H Photo and for my DSLR I use a CowboyStudio Shoulder Support Pad. There are tons of options out there, and the price range runs from $25 (Amazon is having a sale on the CowboyStudio solution) to many thousands of dollars for a film-grade Steadicam system. I chose my current solution because it had good online reviews and it’s dirt cheap. It’s already broken on me once, but the company replaced the broken part and now I always carry a second unit as a backup. As my business grows and as people continue to innovate and develop more tools for DSLR shooters, I’m sure I’ll want to upgrade.
A Do-It-Yourself Steadicam from YB2Normal.com
So to all the coaches, parents and aspiring sailing videographers out there: remember, it doesn’t matter what the camera’s box says, no “digital stabilization technology” is going to save your video when it’s blowing 25 and you’re in a rib trying to zoom in on a single Opti from outside the course boundaries. This doesn’t mean you necessarily have to follow my lead and spend your hard-earned cash on professional gear though–there are lots of great solutions you can build at home for next to nothing. Just google homemade camera stabilizer for some ideas, or start experimenting yourself!
US Sailing’s National Sailing Programs Symposium (NSPS) is an awesome conference held every winter for sailing program professionals to meet and swap information on best practices. With US Sailing at the helm, the symposium always offers a wide variety of topics covered by some of the best program directors, coaches and instructors across the country. It also includes keynotes from pseudo-celebrities in the sailing world. Distinguished speakers at NSPS 2012, held January 11-14 in Long Beach, CA, include USSTAG Coach, rules expert, author and 2011 US Match Race National Champion Dave Perry, as well as Editor/Publisher of 
