24 december 2010

Autochromes



The Autochrome Lumière is an early color photography process. Patented in 1903 by the Lumière brothers in France ,it was the principal color photography process in use before the advent of subtractive color film in the mid-1930s.
Although difficult to manufacture and relatively expensive, Autochromes were relatively easy to use and were immensely popular among enthusiastic amateur photographers—at least, among those who could bear the cost and were willing to sacrifice the convenience of hand-held "snapshooting" in black-and-white. Autochromes failed to sustain the initial interest of more serious "artistic" practitioners, largely due to their inflexibility.
Autochromes continued to be produced as glass plates into the 1930s, when film-based versions were introduced, first Lumière Filmcolor sheet film in 1931, then Lumicolor roll film in 1933. Although these soon completely replaced glass plate Autochromes, their triumph was short-lived, as Kodak and Agfa soon began to produce multi-layer subtractive color films (Kodachrome and Agfacolor Neu respectively). Nevertheless, the Lumière products had a devoted following, above all in France, and their use persisted long after modern color films had become available. The final version, Alticolor, was introduced in 1952 and discontinued in 1955, marking the end of the nearly fifty-year-long public life of the Autochrome




21 december 2010

Christmas fair




If you're reading this I needn't remind you that there's a revolution happening in video, with major TV shows and even feature films being shot in whole or in part with video-capable DSLRs, in particular the Canon 5D MKII, and more recently the Canon 7D. These are pretty lousy video cameras from an operational point of view, but their shallow depth of field, great low-light capability, and high video IQ have earned them a solid reputation among both amateur and professional film makers. An entire accessory and support industry has grown up around them.


 

19 december 2010

Black & white Christmas




Ever seen a video where everything's a lot redder than it should be? It might even have been one of your videos. Different lights are different colors - in bright sunlight a sheet of typing paper looks white, under fluorescent lights it may look slightly green and in tungsten lighting it will have a reddish cast. The "white balance" setting on your camera tells the sensor what color light you're shooting under. Most cameras have a number of pre-set white balances for sun, shade, fluorescent etc, and also an "auto" mode where the camera will try and guess what the light is. Your camera's okay at guessing, but not great. Leaving it in auto mode is a sure way to get an odd color cast to your footage



15 december 2010

Christmas-market




There are only two kinds of films: good or bad. Anything in-between is often vague and pretentious. Now the big question is how you can make a good film when making a bad one can be just as difficult.

A good script, I believe, is the answer. However while developing a script you really believe in, it is very likely that you will lose your objectivity in the process. As parents have the tendency to believe their children are perfect and can do nothing wrong, a filmmaker can also develop the same misconception.



14 december 2010

Pure Nature



A biography is someone else's life story. An autobiography is about your own life.



A work is biographical if it covers all of a person's life. As such, biographical works are usually non-fiction, but fiction can also be used to portray a person's life. One in-depth form of biographical coverage is called legacy writing. Together, all biographical works form the genre known as biography, in literature, film, and other forms of media.

10 december 2010

Underwater




Today, the small size of fully automatic camcorders with large view screens and long-life rechargeable batteries has reduced the housing size and made underwater videography an easy, fun activity for the diver. Low-cost wide-angle lens add-ons are available for many cameras and some can even be fitted outside the camera housing for versatile use. This lets the photographer get closer and make the subject clearer and also with fewer focusing and depth of field problems. Today cameras are more sensitive to low light conditions and make automatic color balancing adjustments. Nevertheless, deeper water videography still needs auxiliary light sources to bring out colors filtered out of sunlight by the distance it has travelled through water. The longest wavelengths of light are lost first (reds and yellows) leaving only a greenish or blue cast in deep water.