Home Turf

My mission: To put my #NoExcuses manta to work.  Last week, I wrote some mini-short scripts and now I wanted to shoot them.  I was having trouble scheduling with anybody to help me, so I picked one that I thought that I could shoot on my own and I just decided to do it today.

It took a good portion of my afternoon, but I like how it turned out.  I was able to show off the Nokia Lumia 1020’s HD capability.  I was also able to (hopefully) show a bit of the funny that exists in my head.  Most of all, I just got something done and that is so important in creating the habit of creating.

OK, let’s jump into it.  I’ll give a few tips along the way…

First things first. This camera is HD, so I had to “powder up”.  I’m not ashamed.

I had just shaven so you’ll see that some of the powder stuck to the micro-hairs, sticking up.  Oh, how I wish my makeup expert Andria was available.  Oh well, this was about NoExcuses, right?

Now that I was prepared, I needed to prep the phone.  If you are shooting video that is really important, be sure to put the phone into “Airplane Mode”.  No only do you not want calls and text and emails coming in while you are shooting, anything in the background can cause a ‘blip’ in your video file.  Trust me…you don’t want “blips”.

Here’s the setup.  I used a cheapo tripod and a “Phone Boat” to attach the Lumia.

You can see that I also have some lights.  I got these on Amazon for REALLY cheap.  They are from Cowboy Studios and they did the job for me today.

I was by myself so I didn’t have anyone to hold a boom, so I used the on-board microphones of the phone to capture my audio.  The Lumia devices have great microphones, but they tend to capture everything in the space.  When recording dialog, it’s preferable to isolate the voice of the actor.  This came out pretty well, though.  There was some echo, but it was definitely usable.

OK, let’s go ahead and play the short film now.  Ladies and gentleman, I give you “Home Turf”

Wow…thank you. I can hear your applause!

Now, I am borrowing the Lumia 1020, so some people at Nokia might be nervous to see that under water shot.  Never fear, the device was completely safe.

I put one bowl, upside down, on the bottom of the sink and placed the phone on it.  Then I put a large, clear bowl over that stack.  The top bowl protects from the stream of water coming from the fountain.  The inner bowl elevates the device to protect it from water as it heads for the drain.

See?  100% Safe.  BONUS TIP: Don’t use water that is too hot, or you’ll get steam inside of the outer bowl.  Steam will mess up your shot and your phone.  We want you to have a great shot and a functioning device to shoot more great shots.   Be careful, my friends.

I edited in Sony Vegas Pro and I arranged the music using Sony Cinescore which sadly, no longer exists.

So there you have it. I hope you enjoyed the video and I’d love to hear what you think.