Little Jenny and her father enjoy their hiking. On a bright sunny day they head out only to find that this particular hike will be an event to remember.

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Film Frames

Pre-Production

The Summit

What an exciting adventure it was to be the guest speaker at the 2011 Sharp Shooter Summit in Houston, Texas last weekend! I had the opportunity to develop some training material for the more technical aspects of film production, as well as provide a discussion on how to budget for filmmaking.

It was a weekend of intense training meant to encourage and inform those in church drama ministry on the methods and techniques of serving God through acting, plays, films, and more. I was excited and honored to be included in such an important event that would equip and encourage many people from the Houston area.

Rex was my contact and the event organizer. We met at last year's 2010 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival where I felt like a true beginner. Since then he contacted me several times and it all lead to this year's summit. I am thankful that God brought us together to collaborate on this training and I applaud the work that he and his associates did to make it a worthwhile endeavor. Everything was handled professionally.

I was blessed to have been part of yet another great Christian film shoot.What a blessing it was to be part of a group of people who are passionate about their film making and their desire to serve God while doing it.

Though there was a lot of driving involved, I enjoyed every minute of it and made some good friends. I got the A/C in my car fixed the day before I headed out. That lasted for only a few hours of my drive as I had to temporarily trade in my car for a mini-van with no A/C. It was HOT in Amarillo, but making a movie made it all worth it.

Photos

Here's a commercial we shot for putting on the full armor of God as read from Ephesians chapter 6. Though it was a quick production, the post took a lot more time to complete. Read here how we did it.

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How It Was Done

Pre-Production

Our concept and planning was done the evening of the shoot. I just wanted to use our AirSoft guns for a little fun.

Who doesn't love a good explosion? I sure love 'em... the question is how to make one and make it look good. For training and a little fun, I got our film group together one evening to shoot a quick take that I could use later to create some exciting imagery. Check out the video, then read on to see how we did it.

How it Was Done

Visual effects shots typically require lots of planning. But since we were doing something so short and unrelated to any other shots, I figured we could get by without too much fuss.

Production

We hung the green screen on the wall with nothing but 2x4s and some masking tape. Then, we set up our construction lights (all we had at the time to light with). Throwing a few pillows on the floor from the couches nearby, I asked Whitney to do her part (see original plate below). After a few takes we had a good shot to work with.

The new camera from Lytro coming out in the next year could be a real game changer in the world of photography and cinematography. This new method of capturing image data will allow for some powerful capabilities with your images and film.

Currently, film and digital sensors only record the color, intensity, and location of light when taking a photograph. While this information can be modified somewhat in post, one aspect of the image cannot be changed: it cannot be refocused. Once a shot has been taken the focus is locked. I'm sure you've all experienced a shot that you wish you could do over because it was blurry. The new light field camera by Lytros is going to change all that!

How Does it Work?

While typical cameras focus and concentration light on the sensor to reproduce what appears in front of the lens, it is in fact losing a very important component of the light: its vector. All that is recorded is the color of the light and its position in the image. While this provides for quality images, it does not provide for the ability to make certain changes to the final photo. This includes the ability to change focus after the photo has been taken.

So, what is a vector? It is the direction of motion of an object, or in this case a ray of light. When light hits an object such as your subject, light rays bounce off in countless directions. Some of those rays head toward your eyes, and yet others head toward your camera lens. A light field camera is able to record the angle of each ray of light that enters the camera in addition to the light's color, intensity, and location.

This short film was an introduction to our 2010 church Christmas play titled "Life's Battlefield". Director/Writer Mary Sue Mangino thought the newsreel would be a great way to introduce the characters and set the time period for the play. Starring Bob Walton, Stacey Sanchez, and Brian Brown.

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In our country where millions of unborn children have died since the Supreme Court decision of Roe v. Wade, many people do their best to share the dangers and evils of abortion with mothers who feel as if they have nowhere to turn.

Reverend Stephen Lesniewski has used a fictitious letter to share the perspective of the unborn child to help hundreds of women change their minds and keep their babies. After such successful results, he decided to have it made into a short film that would visually and aurally share the emotions and potential of a child who wants desperately to have the chance at life.

It is truly a powerful experience that slaps you to attention then runs with you through the torment of abortion and the elation of choosing life.

Read the complete story at Life Site News, or visit the To Be Born movie website.

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Warning: this film contains mild to moderately graphic blood and surgical procedures as well as graphic descriptions of dismemberment. It is not recommended for those who have weak constitutions or are squeamish around blood. While graphic, it is necessary to show that people be made aware of the procedure. Those who provide or perform abortions want to keep the world's understanding of abortions sanitized so no one is aware of the gruesome nature of this horrific act. To hold back from the reality of this cruel practice would be a disservice to the millions of children that are awaiting their chance to live.

Andrew Shpagin and the folks over at Pilgway have created 3D-Coat, a 3D modeling system that provides an intuitive, organic sculpting experience with the ability to texture and paint your model in a more natural way. With very little effort compared to traditional polygonal modeling, you can shape, extrude, enlarge, rotate, cut, trim, slice, reduce, and smooth your creations as easy as handling a ball of clay.

Watch this Modeling Demo

3dcoat voxel sculpting primer from 3dioot on Vimeo.

Here's a short news report covering the crew from the Engine Room working on the Visual Effects of the film "Soul Surfer" starring AnnaSophia Robb.

Robb plays the role of the real-life surfer Bethany Hamilton who lost an arm in a brutal shark attack. While the film focused on the difficulty Bethany faced over her injury, the doubts, and the struggle for her faith, behind the scenes a crew of visual effects artist pored over countless frames to make sure the missing limb did not draw away more than its share of audience interest.

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