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She is Fearless Breast Cancer Photoshoot

February 20, 2012 1 Comment

We all have battles that we face in our life. Most of the time we fight them privately. What if that battle was seen by everyone you came across? For the case of these women who faced breast cancer, their reflection became a battle of life and death.

The idea to do a free photoshoot came when I was editing Pam’s testimony. I thought how amazing it would be to host a few women who had or are going through cancer with a shoot. Even though the battle of breast cancer is more than appearance, looks plays a big role in how we feel. I wanted to be able to remind them of how beautiful they are.

I presented the idea to my hair dresser, Roni and good friend make up artist, Veronica they both accepted the project with such excitement. I also invited the youth pastor from my church and one of my best friends to help me host the girls. Everything was coming together, even my lovely senior pastor opened up her home to us for the shoot.

When the women first began to show up, I wasn’t sure what to say. As they opened up and share their journey with breast cancer, the serious tone in the room began to transform into laughter as experiences were being shared. As each woman got her hair and make up done, you could see the their moods changing. When Lisa saw herself with her make-up, she said, “Hello stranger.”

When we walked around the mansion each girl was taken by the beauty of the house, forgetting the house was just the background. It was so much fun to seeing the girls pretending to be models. I kept telling them them they were doing great.

Pam:

Pam told me one of her friends wasn’t feeling good to do photos but she would come to the party. I told Pam that maybe she would like to take a group photo. When Pam told her the idea, she loved it. It was great to see the women supporting each other, giving one another tips. It made the words “breast cancer” less scary.

Paula:

I wish I could see the expression of the women’s faces when they see their photos. I know that their friends and family are not going to see the fancy camera work, the great make up, or the hair but they will see the true beauty of their fearless brave mother, daughter, friend and lover.

Sandy:

Lisa:

Its hard to pick out what made that afternoon special, for me but being in a room with women who went through a life and death situation encouraged me that God helps us through the valley by blessing us with each other.

Behind The Scenes

Thank you to everyone who was involved:

Briana Marie Jimenez – Host / Michelle Villanueva – Host / Monica Briano – Photographer / Veronica Duran Esparza – Hair / Veronica A. Hernandez – Make-Up

Filed under Uncategorized Tagged with appearance, breast cancer, fearless, friendship, giving back, make over, making a difference, photoshoot, testimony, the power of photography, women

A Video Critique

December 27, 2011 3 Comments

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The best part of having a blog is meeting people. I love getting email from dreamers, editors, visionaries and artist. Mandy emailed me with a few questions about editing. The cool thing is that she took my advice and reworked her video. Her second version looked like a whole different event.

After watching her first version, I emailed her back with a few tips:

The thing to learn is your equipment, the better you know what it does the better your footage will be. Remember focus is important on your shots and try to keep your motion smooth if you are going handheld and moving one place to another.
Know what you want to focus on in your framing.
Also don’t be shy about getting in to people’s faces and asking them to smile. What is happening on stage is just half of what is taking place, the crowd’s reaction will make great cut-aways when you are going to the next shot. You are making your viewer a part of the experiences.
Use the higher number of lens (70-200mm) on a tripod to get some close-ups.
As for sound, if you are filming for a church or venue, see if the sound guy can give you a copy of the mix they are recording, sometimes you can get the clean mix and then sync it up later.
The length of a video is everything. Keep the rhythm and story flowing. Captivate the viewer. You need what is called “a ramp”: For your recap video you can build up to the concert, people saying, “I can’t wait…” “I’m excited…”, then transition to the stage, the crowd going crazy, you can add a clip of someone saying something inspiring, pick up the pace at the end either with the soundtrack or editing to end with a bang. The over all point: People’s lives are being changed, they are connecting with God.
As the editor you are taking the viewer on the same journey that would have happened if they were there in the crowd. The excitement, the experience and the impact.
Your video is full of great footage but now make it in to a story that will change lives!

Here are a few questions she asked me:

1. Do you create a timeline/storyboard for every project you do..or is it more experimenting with clips and seeing what comes of it?

I create a timeline for videos that require me to hit certain points. It keeps the video on track. I create scripts when important information has to be given and a story board for animation. If you are the only one working on the video then its your job to be very strategic. Know the purpose of the project. Close your eyes and play the video in your mind.

2. Do you choose the song first and work around it, or do you work out some footage, then choose a song?

Sometimes a song inspires a video and you know exactly what you want. Most of the time finding the right soundtrack can take time. Music is powerful. It carries emotions and feelings, knowing what vibe you want to give will help bring out your vision.
Before I start editing I like to find the type of song I want, if I am getting a song created then I show the composer what I am looking for. When the track is finished I swap the soundtrack and re-edit the sequence to match better.

3. Is there such a thing as recording too much footage? or the more the better?

Yes and no. Too much footage can waste time looking through it, but not having enough can leave the editor in need of more. The key is quality. You can have hours of footage but if there isn’t one single shot that could be used then its useless. As an editor I prefer to shoot my footage only because I know what I want. But if someone else is shooting then I have a conversation with them and tell them what I want. I also remind them to hold their shots three seconds before and after. Having a shot list is handy. Sometimes the hype of shooting can cause a person to forget what they need to get. I like to mark things off as I go. Then once I have everything, I shot random stuff or give the footage to the editor or capture it.

4. If you don’t have footage you need, how do you work around it?

If I don’t have footage that I need then I look for stock footage, photos, film something abstract or plan to create some motion graphics.

5. I saw in an interview where you said that when you worked with Hillsong Australia…if there was one uninteresting shot, you had to start all over again. Is that a good rule of thumb?..to start over from scratch if the video’s not working?

When I was at Hillsong they taught me the value of a frame. Each frame matters, each frame is with full intent, nothing is random. If a video isn’t working then starting over helps but it probably just needs to be re-worked. There are some videos where I have different version. The great thing about editing digital is that you can try out many things but beware of wasting time or over working a project.

–

Well that was a video critique. Know that more than anything be yourself, edit, have fun, learn, ask questions, if you make mistakes, learn from them, and stay humble. One thing I do know is that I don’t know everything.

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Filed under Tutorials, Videos Tagged with advice, church, conference, critique, filming, interview, questions, shooting, video, video editing, wisdom

Audio: Advice to a New Editor

November 29, 2011 5 Comments

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Duration 20 minutes (Audio doesn’t work on mobiles)

Audio Notes:

After Effects – Motion Graphics & Effects - Free Basic Training

Final Cut Pro – Video Editing software – Paid Basic Training

Ask yourself: What is your goal?

Learning software and try out what you want to do.

Be honest with yourself on what you really want to do.

Best experiences: Volunteering & Interning

After Effect example video

Movie Scene Project Blog

Learn by doing.

School is good if you can, if not put yourself in your own school.

READ AND DO. Book list blog & After Effects

Give yourself projects; You’ll learn the language of video, pace, time management, learn from mistakes.

Learn from failure. It will happen, learn how to grow from it.

Challenge yourself, “Have I improved?”

Have a platform where you can share your work.

Success comes by working hard.

When your working hard on something you love, it doesn’t feel like work at all.

Blog: My vintage baby (my nephew)

Video of my nephew visiting my grandpa.

Don’t get caught up making stuff for money, money will come, if you love doing what you do people will see that and hire you to do it.

A paid shoots

The important part is knowing what you’re doing.

Using what you have.

Learn the fundamentals on how to tell a story. Book: Blink of an Eye by Walter Murch

Free Mpeg Stream clip download

Freelance: ask, “Do you have a budget for this?” ask yourself, “What is my time worth?”

Volunteering and interning: your pay is the experiences.

Create projects that you want to get hired to do.

People will pay you to do what they already know you can do, they don’t want to pay for your experiment they want to pay for a guaranteed product.

Put yourself in your own school, read books, give yourself projects and deadlines.

Learn how to manage others: communication is key, don’t be afraid to ask for help, to correct, to critique.

Do it all in love for the greatness of the team. The goal is to get things done, by the deadline.

PC: After Effects & Premiere.

Mac: After Effects & Final Cut Pro. (Editing for Film: Avid)

You need the experiences, you need to prove what you can do.

Editing is a lot like life, you’re putting it together.

Get a journal: write projects and creative ideas.

Use your creative muscle.

Creatlive.com - Photography class on line

**share your work with me**

Life is beautiful and I desire to share that with everyone… awwww

Hope this helped. Feel free to ask any questions that you might have.

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Filed under Interviews, Tutorials, Videos Tagged with advice, after effects, audio, editor, family, fcp, freelace, growing, learning, projects, school, video, volunteer

Tips for New Working Video Editors

June 29, 2011 Leave a Comment

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I’ve edited for nine years, so sometimes I forget there is so much for a new editor to learn. I wrote down some of the things I had to learn as a new editor. Some points are my opinion but break the rules at your own risk.

Tips for New Working Video Editors

Use common sense.
Watch examples, get inspired but don’t completely copy.
Don’t be lazy, fix the shot, color, animation, or re-export.
Keep text within the title safe.
Copy and paste all your text from a word document so it can pick up miss spelled words.
Make text large enough to read.
Say no to RED text. Make it maroon. Red doesn’t process well in video.
Make your text constant if creating lower thirds.
Lower thirds= graphics on the bottom of the screen.
If text is supposed to follow the speaker, have the text appear as they say it, unless instructed otherwise.
Work smart to save time.
Save your work, turn on auto save on final cut and after effects.
Do the ground work, its worth the extra time. (templates, research, shot list,etc)
Learn keyboard short cuts.
Takes notes when learning from someone. It’s ok to ask questions the first time but learn to figure out the answer on your own. Goggle is your best friend and creative cow forms are great too.
Learn the company’s “culture” or style when it comes to language, and delivering information.
Find where your video storage is on the IT network.
You can break the rules when you are giving permission and freedom.
Know and understand your EXPORT settings. Where is the video going to be played?
Understand video compression.
Find which video compression works best for your work and then make it a custom setting. (After Effects)
After Effects, learn how to render your videos correctly. It will save time.
Check your frame dimensions, frame rate, aspect ratio, final file size when video is completed.
Delete old versions of your video/renders that have mistakes on them. 1)They will appear and haunt you, confuse you, and take up file space.
Make the person on screen/company look good.
Edit out: Awkward moments, silences, expressions, mistakes. (Unless you are editing for TMZ)
Be proactive and inventive.
There are 100 ways of doing something but learn the old process first, understand it then fix it.
Don’t be offended when someone is training, teaching, correcting, critiquing you. They are there to help you grow in your skill as well seeing the job is done right.
If you don’t like the video you are creating, start over. Don’t waste time trying to make something work.
Take care of your hand, get a wilcom tablet.
Label your tapes and footage!
Don’ think no one will notice your mistakes, THEY WILL.
Understand NTSC/PAL and other international TV standards.
Work on your audio. Keep levels around (-12 to -16). Soundtrack pro is great for this. You can export your audio mix from FCP to Soundtrack. Don’t make your narration compete with your soundtrack.
Double check your work, review your video more than once.
Don’t think you know everything, expect to learn the rest of your life.
Spend time living real life.
Carry a note book with you to write down video ideas.
LEARN FORM YOUR MISTAKES.

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Filed under Tutorials Tagged with after effects, audio, export, final cut pro, list, professional, tips for new video editors, video tutorials, working

The Mini Diana Camera

May 11, 2011 Leave a Comment

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My friend bought me the Mini Diana Camera for Christmas. Two time I tried to use it I had some trouble with loading the film and rewinding it. I was so mad that I lost those photos but I decided I would give her one more chance. Saturday I tested it out for the third time and I finally figured it out.

I thought I’d make this video so others wouldn’t have to go through the heartache of missing up their film. Hope it helps.