Exciting things to come at APVideo

October Update with lots of 4K

Evening all! It's been a long summer, made even longer by fantastic work with friends and brilliant clients. My last post 'Filming with the JVC GY-LS300..' has actually been in the works for months, but I didn't see fit to release it without a couple of the accompanying videos. As well as completing productions for Screen Systems, I also worked with NewsShooter.com to produce the coverage and blogs over IBC 2015. It was great to work with Dan, Elliot, Matt and the others from the NewsShooter team, more on IBC in another post.

On returning from IBC, I met up with Dan and we played around with some old 'budget' manual lenses with the LS300 and got some interesting results. Many of the lenses were purchased for £5 or at least under £10, giving it the budget aspect. The LS300 is also somewhat of a budget option for a video camera, but with the eagerly anticipated J-LOG gamma curve firmware update, much more visual quality and dynamic range can be captured. Together, that makes the 'budget lens challenge', in which you purchase a cheap lens, and make a short vid with it on a budget setup!

Can you do the 'Budget Lens Challenge'? Send over your results and #budgetlens on twitter to @plowman91 and @theNewsshooter!

Coming up, I am working on part 3 and 4 of the JVC GY-LS300 camera review which will include using J-LOG; filming and grading with it, as well as including the budget lenses I've acquired as part of the budget lens challenge!

Thanks to Manfrotto and WTS Broadcast for your support.

Looking for something different in 2015 (in your videography and photography business)?

Happy New Year all!

2014 was an incredible year for APV, started from the ground up in late December '13 and now producing media content for many international businesses and organizations, something must be going right!

The coming of the new year is a great excuse to have an overhaul of your business practices and to set some resolutions for yourself to aid in 2015 being just as successful as the last.

I came across this post from PetaPixel earlier, it has some great ideas to do photography set to a theme of that week, but it's completely translatable into video. To keep content fresh and interesting, I'll be embarking on this challenge, and hopefully I'll learn lots of new things along the way!

Original post - http://petapixel.com/2015/01/01/52-week-photography-business-challenge/

Have a go, and remember to share your work with me here or on facebook and twitter!

New summer post coming very soon!

It's been an extreme summer season! From epic weddings with drone flying to creating the videos for The IABM for IBC, it has been immense.

Now nearly 9 months since starting Adam Plowden Videography properly, I am over the moon with the great clients and people I've worked and am working with.

I still have a number of productions on the go, and I will be attending The IBC Show in September so there is much more great stuff to come!

Massive shout out to the team over at Manfrotto who have been a great help with sorting out equipment for my travels abroad!

Keep those creative juices flowing!

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/103717010]

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/75340958]

Update from Adam!

It has been a very busy couple of weeks since BVE, which by the way was great this year. I was over the moon to see the new finalized range of Manfrotto LED Spectra light panels which I got to test out a couple of years ago. Seeing products develop over a long period of time is interesting, even more so when your opinion is considered in how the final product should perform. Manfrotto also had their re-designed SIMPLA rig to demo, a much lighter and more ergonomic model I must say which is compatible with 15mm rig accessories like their matte box and electronic remote control.

As well as that, Manfrotto have also joined forces with Schneider Kreuznach optics (page in German), who have a new range of cinema lenses, specifically designed with ease of use in mind. All of the lenses from 24mm to 135mm have the same filter size, length and focus rotation to make filming with a range of the lenses effortless, simply change the lens and your peripherals stay in position. The optics of the lenses blew me away. Even in the well lit Excel, the background bokeh was stunning, soft yet so crisp. I cannot wait to get my hands on them. I think the combination of the new Manfrotto 055 tripod, the SIMPLA rig and Schneider glass will be a killer cine kit, delivering incredible visuals, making your shoot run smoothly, and at a low cost. Give it a year and this will be the go to package for production rentals, and part of every kit bag.

In other news, I've been working with EEBC on a couple of projects; a short video on recycling and another about a Wellbeing centre for those suffering with dementia and their carers. Both projects have messages that are close to me, so I've been working hard to blow my clients expectations out of the water. For the recycling video, I'm combining video with animation to show why recycling food and material waste is ever more important today; generating renewable electricity and resources. The Wellbeing centre video will be live action video, featuring the range of activities available to those in the community as well as the vast benefits to carers and visitors to the centre.

So, busy busy at the moment. I'm also meeting some designers from the fashion label ACF (Art Comes First) next week about another video featuring the design process here in London. Very exciting, I've been patiently waiting for an art-collaboration project to come along, it's what I started the business for!

I've had no #videoquestions for a while, so remember to keep them coming to @Plowman91!

Remember, inspiration is everywhere so take your camera with you!

EDIT!!!! Just remembered to include this, I spoke to an un-named informant about the new Samyang/Rokinon VDSLR cine lenses and whether any new models are going to be released. Our brief chat resulted in confirming rumours of a 50mm and 135mm cine lenses coming very soon! I think it's exactly what the lens range needs, and I will certainly be investing in the 135mm if it is at T/2.2, or pushing it at T/1.8 would be a dream come true. So hear my thoughts Samyang/Rokinon!

What do YOU want to know about Video, Editing, Graphics, Audio, Live?

I've had my fair share of experience over the last couple of years, working in many different situations from audio engineering at the London 2012 Olympic Games, to single filming the Prime Minister of Kuwait, to weddings, to motion graphics and more. I can write about pretty much any of the above situations, the camera skills and techniques used as well as anything else really, but I want to hear from YOU so you can learn from this blog!

What do you want me to write about? Do you have any questions about the video and media industry or its practices?

Contact me so I can help!!

[contact-form][contact-field label='Name' type='name' required='1'/][contact-field label='Email' type='email' required='1'/][contact-field label='Website/Facebook/Twitter/Blog' type='text'/][contact-field label='What do you want to know?' type='textarea' required='1'/][/contact-form]

IAmsterdam - My trip to the city of diamonds! The Video

http://vimeo.com/75322095

Here is the video from my trip to Amsterdam, in and around the city!

IAmsterdam - My trip to the city of diamonds

Update! Just checked on the video upload on Vimeo, and I was hoping to be able to share it on here for you, but Vimeo once again disappointing me with its ridonculous conversion time! Still 20 minutes to go. :(

My experience of IBC 2013 Part 1

I had never been to IBC before, I wanted to go a couple of years ago but I was a little last minute with extremely expensive prices, but now after all the hard uni work and starting myself up as a freelance videographer, a trip to Amsterdam for IBC 2013 was just what I needed! It was also the first time I've been on a plane in 11 years, so I was super excited, and acted rather like a tourist for the first couple of days.. But, I have no regrets!

Myself outside Amsterdam Schipol Airport, great smoking area with all the sunflowers, how Dutch!

Just had a quick thought, for you readers to enjoy your experience reading my blog further, you can listen to what I am listening to while I write it, having withdrawl symptoms from Amsterdam lead me to searching for "Coffeeshop" "Soul" on 8Tracks, hoping for a chilled result :) So here is the playlist you can listen to while reading! Street Cues Sound Clues Amsterdam Withdrawl Playlist on 8Tracks

Amazing Mexican restaurant called 'La Margarita' just off the canal, near Amsterdam University (https://plus.google.com/105150292043799825469/about?gl=uk&hl=en) They do great cocktails too, definitely recommend it.

Amsterdam's coffee shop culture is something to be admired, the liberal and relaxed lifestyle suits me perfectly, and I'm not going to pretend I disagree with coffee shops, because they are awesome. I met more friendly people and generated more work in coffee shops than I do in Starbucks in The UK. In the photo you can see The Bulldog, and further down is the original coffee shop. I did pop in to these, but both were really busy so I skipped off to another in the pouring rain. (https://plus.google.com/112706500562557581286/about?gl=uk&hl=en).

This rather lovely looking church turned out to be a brothel.

Taken from outside The Greenhouse Seed Co Coffee shop, near Dam Square. Sitting outside having a drink by the river is so cool. We had a couple beers over there on the first evening, Duvel! (Cafe Rock Planet)

The view from my hotel window, the Pathe Cinema! (Rembrandtplein).

On the Friday (13th) myself, Amy and Sam made our way to the Amsterdam RAI. We jumped on the tram outside our hotel on Rembrandtplein which took us all the way to IBC, very convenient although it was rammed with suited business-people attending the show! IBC provided free tram travel for the duration of the show which was great for getting around town, until I lost mine.

We made our way to The IABM stand, near the Future Zone in one of the 14 halls of this massive place, where we met Steve Warner and Sam Hawkins and were presented with the prize money. We also met the other Engineering Student Award winners who came from across the world for IBC; Zoe Wyeth of the University of Salford, Julian Theis of the RheinMain University of Applied Sciences, Adam Plowden and Amy Tinker of Kingston University, Pierre Hamme-Gerome and Antonin Morel of the Université de Valenciennes, Kathryn Savage of Southampton Solent University, Lennard Bredenkamp of HTWK Leipzig, and Evgenii Smirnov and Anna Nikolaeva of St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television. (Photos are coming from The IABM in the next couple of days).

The rest of the day was spent wondering around, wowing and touching all the amazing new technology and equipment, which I will upload the photos of soon! There will also be video blog entries uploaded very soon too, including interviews with manufacturers, designers, and a film of Amsterdam too, yes 'Ive been busy!

BlackMagic Design had a fantastic booth exhibiting many of their Cinema and Pocket cameras in different set-ups, as well as demonstrations of the new 6G production switcher, and the newly released DaVinci Resolve 10. As I am looking to upgrade cameras, the BMCC is definitely an option for me, as the price of the unit and features weigh it up considerably as a mid range cinema camera, rather than a simple DSLR upgrade. Also, as I discovered, Tokina had been hard at work on an 11-16mm T3 cine lens for Super35 sensors, demonstrated on a BMCC at their booth; finally opening up wide angle shots which had previously been restricted due to the 2.2x mag factor. More info on the NEW Tokina releases can be seen in an upcoming video with the Director of Tokina himself!

There will be much much much more coming soon, I just have to get through the video editing and chuck it all together, but please be patient, they are coming :)

As for future work and plans, I was due to produce a couple of videos for some classic RV's, with Joel from London Event Photography however thanks to the terrific English weather it was called off. Also got some top secret work with a manufacturer coming up, as well as a possible booking to go back to Amsterdam for the end of November.. IE.. My 22nd Birthday!! We shall see..

All the best for now you wonderful people! If you haven't checked out this kind of teaser video then please do :)

http://vimeo.com/74469276

First Day In Amsterdam

After a very short flight and efficient transport, myself and Amy (who also won The Engineering Student Award from The IABM) decided to take a stroll down the many streets of Dam central, the square, I was silent absorbing the atmosphere and surroundings.

We are now accustomed to European Pigeons that like to take strolls in Mc Donalds too.

As for our hotel, we are staying in the lively yet relaxed Rembrandtplein, so we enjoyed plenty of Amstel and Duvel on the canal side outside the Rock Bar. Dinner was late, the chips were alright but 5.50 Euros is pushing it!

Here is a quick video depicting my travels to Amsterdam for The IBC! > http://vimeo.com/74469276

A couple of snaps for you too!

More to come from IBC itself soon!

Counting down the hours 'til IBC Show 2013!

I've just finished packing my suitcase, I've managed to cram in my tripod, Camax field monitor, batteries, mic, all my clothes and stuff. Got a GoPro Hero 3 on charge (cheers Sam) and the trusty Canon 60D is coming with me on the plane.

It's going to be an early start tomorrow, bussing it from Kingston to Heathrow through morning rush hour could be a nightmare, but we'll see. Extremely excited now, the weather however does not seem to be up for a sunny holiday for me :(

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2759794 

(Thursday: cloud w/rain, Fri: cloud w/rain, Sat: cloud.. etc)

I shall be uploading bits and bobs tomorrow from the journey so keep updated!