Light Box Filming

 Filming small Objects requires ambient lighting with little or no reflections and no shadows. This is easiest to achieve on a small scale using a lightbox and works very well for selling small items or gameplay.

3 Manuals

 Are 3 manuals better to play on than 2? I can set up three registrations at a time and sometimes play the great and the swell or the choir and the great together. This being an organ rather than a digital console, I can't split the keyboards as I can on the two manuals, but plenty of variety.

Standing to edit

Using a standing desk is beneficial. Sitting for long times editing video footage isn't good for you so switching between sitting at the computer and using a standing desk can help.

360 to the boat

 Finding a good place to mount the 360-degree camera on the sailing boat. There are lots of rigging lines, and fixing the camera to one of these gets the camera out of the way and records some shots inside the boat.

Online teaching

 Many students who normally come to my classroom sometimes need to work online instead because of various issues. We can seamlessly switch from in-person to online, including all the experiments and closeup shots necessary to create a great lesson.

1st Day Sailing

With a gust of wind, paul and I took to the water, with Paul at the helm and me trying to balance the boat. We had help from the safety boat crew following us, telling us where and when to move, and much-welcomed advice from other members on successfully rigging the sailing.

 

Using the 3m Selfie Stick

 The 3m selfie stick works great with the Insta360 camera, but it also works well with other cameras that can take a picture by remote control. Simple drone shots can be achieved where we couldn't use a drone.

Gaming setup

 Setting up the cameras for a gaming session with an overhead view of the board and side view. Lighting is particularly difficult as there are lots of reflections to get rid of, and this involves the use of flags.

Short Backgrounds

 I'm creating some one-minute jingles to accompany a one-minute shorts using a Novation keyboard connected to Ableton Live and some add-on VSTs to create appropriate background music.

Creating Videos for the Instagram feed

 Creating videos for the Instagram feed takes a long time. The shorter the video often, the longer it takes.

Changing the vantage point

Getting the right shot often means changing the vantage point to get what is needed into the picture. Sometimes, it is about going above and sometimes below, or near or far. What it is really about is capturing that great photo.

T-Shirt Priniting

Having our first attempt at printing using dye sublimation onto a Polo shirt

 

Watching a Powerboat course

Between the showers and more persistent rain, we managed to video a bit of a Powerboat course.

 

Benro upside down

 Using the Benro tripod with the camera upside down to get a good view of a chemical reaction. The @benro tripod is very versatile, allowing us to get steady closeup shots that would otherwise need to be handheld.

In German

 The Wersi OAX 800 Organ. Windows is all in English, the Bios is set to English but the Windows Boot Screen still comes up in German. I am running out of places to look.

Speed Editor

 For me, the Speed Editor does speed up the editing process, which is excellent for making and producing very short films. The pain is still in the format for a short being portrait and most of the things I am filming are landscape in orientation.

3m Stick

 The Insta360 camera on a 3m Stick is above the roof level, taking the aerial drone shot where a drone wouldn't be allowed to fly.

Online tuition in Maths

 1:1 online teaching Foundation Maths using a protractor for bearings and a compass for construction. It was easy to use cameras, a visualiser and Openboard software running on a Wacom Graphics Tablet.

RNLI

 

My wife and son visited the RNLI centre in Poole to view the name of my Dad and my wife’s parents on the side of the new lifeboat 13-40

Filming Video Gaming

 Video gaming can be a little boring just watching the game, but adding the live action of the players adds to the drama.

A little disruption to our day

 There is a little disruption to our day. Our road is closed due to road resurfacing at the junction. Car removal is taking place, and large machines are cutting up the road surface.

Genos styles to the Wersi

 Getting the best of both worlds—converting some of the Genos styles so that they work on the Wersi. The Wersi has a utility to convert Yamaha styles, so with a bit of work, new styles are available.

Coloured Lights

 At all the shows I go to, manufacturers offer coloured lights, but how often are they needed? For some moody creative scenes, they are needed, but how much in day-to-day filming?

Setting up the Insta360 ACE Pro

Uploading two sets of firmware before we could Activate the Insta360 Ace Pro Camera and then try it out. The first attempts look good. Now, all we want is some dry days to let the river go down so we can try this out on a boat and record some sailing.

 

Homeworld

Unboxing and then learning to play the board game Homeworld. After reading the instructions, some gameplay, and then working out how to fit it back into the box unit, we can play the next game.

 

Safety Boat Duty

 We are supposed to be on Safety Boat Duty today. We are not going sailing so everyone can, but with the River Thames rising and flooding again, it's going to be at least three weeks before we can get out on the River.

Teleprompter

 For many videos, we don't use a teleprompter, as the film is live-action, but sometimes we need to work from a script and need a teleprompter to help. But keeping the flow of text natural is so much harder than it should be.

Insta cameras ready

 The cameras are now ready to be fitted to the boats. We plan to put several on a dinghy to watch me as I learn to sail and several on a camera boat, which will be a rib or similar for an external view. All we need now is the rain to stop, the river level to fall (its rising) and the wind to come up.

Playing the Wersi

 When playing a church organ, the top manual is often the swell and the bottom the great. On the Wersi, the top manual is usually the Melody and the bottom the accompaniment. Different software means I often change hands with different manuals set as different instruments and sounds.

GPS Remote

 Taking control of the insta360 camera with the GPS Remote via Bluetooth.

Olympus add on Lens

The add-on lens for telephoto work is a great idea when you need a waterproof camera and a longer reach on the lens. We often use a bigger camera, but sometimes this setup is more practical for getting shots in typical British weather.

Different perspective

 Looking at a normal view but from a different perspective.

No Sailing again

 Another week comes and goes. The wind and river levels were down, but the flow rate was too great, and the red boards were up. No sailing or even powerboating.