Random Thoughts (WARNING, LONG, BORING!)
Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks at work.
Two weeks ago, I was called into a meeting to meet with a new customer at our department had acquired. This customer wants to have us shoot 9 short videos, 3 to 5 minutes in length, describing the use of a new piece of software that they've had created for themselves, cheery place an obsolete program written by another group. One of their experts will actually run the software while we capture the mouse action on the screen, and they want me to do a video hosting segment for each of 8 videos, and a voiceover describing the action on the screen. The first video segment would be all me describing the "case for change."
The customer's vision is to shoot these videos against a white background. Similar to the Apple Computer commercials you see on network TV these days. This is actually an excellent design choice and well within our capabilities in the department, however, since I have white hair and a white beard I would fade into the background and be very difficult to see.
It is of course technically possible to shoot a white-haired speaker against a white background. All you need to do is over light the background, use separate lights and a light gel on the subject, and set the exposure on the camera to capture the speaker properly. Unfortunately, this technique does not give you a really good quality picture.
The alternative would be to shoot it against a chroma green background. The problem with chroma green is that it generally leads a halo around your subject unless you have excellent software to pull the separation. We do not have "excellent" software.
I spent about three days convincing the customer to let us build a set so that I can be seated at a desk when I do the introduction to the software. They went with the idea also they really didn't like it.
Now in these last few days, the customer contacted our department to find out if we can produce icons for the commands in their software. They asked for 65 icons! Now you tell me, how would you explain 65 commands, in detail, in 30 to 40 minutes?
Oh, and they need this all done by the second week of December this year. Funding for this project runs out then.
Despite all of this, I'm a jazzed about this project! Go figure!
Two weeks ago, I was called into a meeting to meet with a new customer at our department had acquired. This customer wants to have us shoot 9 short videos, 3 to 5 minutes in length, describing the use of a new piece of software that they've had created for themselves, cheery place an obsolete program written by another group. One of their experts will actually run the software while we capture the mouse action on the screen, and they want me to do a video hosting segment for each of 8 videos, and a voiceover describing the action on the screen. The first video segment would be all me describing the "case for change."
The customer's vision is to shoot these videos against a white background. Similar to the Apple Computer commercials you see on network TV these days. This is actually an excellent design choice and well within our capabilities in the department, however, since I have white hair and a white beard I would fade into the background and be very difficult to see.
It is of course technically possible to shoot a white-haired speaker against a white background. All you need to do is over light the background, use separate lights and a light gel on the subject, and set the exposure on the camera to capture the speaker properly. Unfortunately, this technique does not give you a really good quality picture.
The alternative would be to shoot it against a chroma green background. The problem with chroma green is that it generally leads a halo around your subject unless you have excellent software to pull the separation. We do not have "excellent" software.
I spent about three days convincing the customer to let us build a set so that I can be seated at a desk when I do the introduction to the software. They went with the idea also they really didn't like it.
Now in these last few days, the customer contacted our department to find out if we can produce icons for the commands in their software. They asked for 65 icons! Now you tell me, how would you explain 65 commands, in detail, in 30 to 40 minutes?
Oh, and they need this all done by the second week of December this year. Funding for this project runs out then.
Despite all of this, I'm a jazzed about this project! Go figure!