10 Video Standards of Quality and Intentional Practice

A couple of years ago, a workshop was arranged to address an issue that arose in my absence.  My team was challenged by a manager to create a list of ten standards of quality video. While we corrected the issues, this exercise was an excellent way to solidify my thoughts on what I strive for in my video-making.

Interestingly enough, many others had similar types of standards. I thought I’d share my take on it:

10 STANDARDS OF QUALITY VIDEO

• Clarity: all aspects; from writing to execution. Clarity means that the video is free from distraction—which may arise from poor writing (confusing, lacking conviction, obscure/esoteric language) to poor execution (distracting audio, anything unusual that takes away the attention from the message). Ironically, poor video quality is the most forgivable violation. People forgive a bad picture, the will not tolerate bad audio, and will lose interest from poor writing. (Amateur vs professional)
  
  
  
• Visual Design: utilizing composition, camera placement, camera involvement (observer vs addressed), graphic design (color palette, text usage and movement, illustration/photos/animation) is an entire list in and of itself. Visual design doesn’t necessarily need to be pleasing, but it should support the content of the work).
  
  
  
• Accessible: Aside from clarity, it needs to be accessible to the impaired.
  
  
  
• Editing: there are two types of edits- invisible and intentional. Most of what we see online is intentional- edits for edits sake. It’s almost like visual poetry, or a slam cut to a loud graphic to keep your attention. However, the more you scream, the less you listen. Invisible edits do not attract attention to itself; it keeps the cognitive load to a minimum where the viewer can passively assimilate the information on its own merit. Invisible edits support the content as it is meant to not detract from it. 
• Intentional editing:
  https://vimeo.com/7366368
• Invisible editing:
  https://medium.com/applaudience/invisible-cuts-a-new-trend-in-video-editing-b858ede7403d
  
  
• Engagement: clarity is the gateway to engaging video. Engagement can be interesting content, interesting delivery, a highly desirable aesthetic, or a personable narrator. Engagements holds a person’s attention.
• Example:
  https://youtu.be/RLykC1VN7NY
  
  
• Connection: Relates contextual content to subject knowledge, deepening understanding. Connection invites the viewer to be an active participant in parsing the information, giving clues and fostering engagement. In the narrative world, mysteries are popular because it invites the viewer into solving the puzzle. Featured journalism uses storytelling, informational “tools” to educate the viewer and allow them to find the context of the information and relate it to the issue discussed.
• Example:
  Malcolm Gladwell
  
  
  
  
• Informative: A clear, engaging video can be devoid of any relevant information. A broad example of this is network/cable television… most entertainment. The opposite would be the evening news- dry exposition of information and facts. Documentaries often try to marry the two extremes.
  
  
  
• Noteworthy: Bringing a noteworthy element separates the content into something memorable and significant. An unusual attempt or delivery not only keeps the video engaging but gives the viewer a touchstone to recall it later. If the video reaches the other standards, it will entirely help shape their thinking. 
• Example:
  TED talk, rise and fall of Incan empire https://youtu.be/UO5ktwPXsyM
  
  
• Challenging:The content should challenge the viewer and invite them to compare different approaches and ideas that contrast their own thinking. However, there is a danger to fall into an opinion camp and skew the information to influence thinking. 
• Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5B5ub9bzwcU
  
  
  
• Invites Discussion:This one is a cheat- if all the other standards are met, the viewer/student will invite discussion with peers or the uninitiated.

INTENTIONAL PRACTICE

This is outside of the scope of the above standards list, but is important none-the-less. Intentional Practice is taking items that you have learned in a Youtube tutorial or a book on the subject, and applying it to a made up project.

5x5s: VIMEO used to have 5x5 video challenges. While they’ve mostly fallen to the wayside, I still think it’s a powerful took to keep in practice- much like how an illustrator uses a sketchbook to draw. If you’ve never heard of a 5x5 video challenge, it is simply this: Five 5 second clips strung together in an experimental narrative or comparison. The end video should be 25 seconds, and should use only the audio that was recorded with it. Purists eschew text, but I like the idea of anything goes- it’s experimental.

The purpose of the 5x5 is to train your eye for aesthetics and visual composition. It keeps you active on observation, shooting, and editing. Here’s my first attempt:

The 52 Week Video Challenge: Some others have decided to create a 1-2 minute video weekly. I plan on starting this challenge in January- a clean run. My hope is that it will improve my shooting and production style, and create a body of work. I think the hardest thing will be coming up with content each week- so there is a huge amount of diligence. It’s a perfect challenge for where I am right now.

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The Dragon Has Awakened

LOSTSKIES.COM has been renewed. Those looking to jump on lapsed renewals will be met with disappointment. I’m planning on keeping this domain for a very, very long time.

I’ve been working furiously behind the scenes to jump-start my filmmaking efforts. Doing videos for my day job have kept my skills from growing cold.

LIBBY LENAN
Libby Lenan has graciously accepted my offer to create a video for her stunning single “Wilderness” (available on Spotify). She asked if I could record her covering a few songs for social media, to which I said “of course!”. She had worked with my old friends from ALSO SISTERS to create a video another of her songs, hopefully to be released soon.

NEW PRODUCTION HOUSE

I am teaming up with a few people to create a production house. I’m not ready to officially announce names yet, but it’s in serious works. We have a number of projects on the plate- a couple of minidocs, and a number of short films with a serious effort to create a feature film within a year or two. Two short films are greenlit-- and one, Bond’s Bail Bonds, is in full pre-production. I’ve began casting, but it will be led by my longtime collaborator Geoff Richards taking on the lead role of Frank Crandall, recovery agent. 

The show will play out much like an updated 80s detective show with quirky characters and cartoon danger. I have three short episodes planned- and we are planning on doing this using an iPhone.

UNDERRATED BUT POWERFUL

I have sung the iPhone’s praises before, but check out some examples of what can be done:

Ari Virem’s iPhone cinematography using the Moment animorphic lens.

Zach Snyder’s heavily stylistic Snow Steam Iron.

BRONCHO “Big City Boys” which utilizes a DOF adapter (much like my pre-DSLR days).

Feature films have been shot using the iPhone- the highest profiled are Sean Baker’s Tangerine and Steven Soderburg’s Unsane.

I’ve recently acquired a Zhiyun Smooth 4 and am planning on using an anamorphic lens adapter with it. We are currently location scouting and rounding out the rest of the cast. 

It’s exciting fully coming home to what I love. I have put it off for so long, chasing other paths and finding that they lead back here.

On writing, drawing, and filming.

Gearing up, literally.

Right now, I have three short form films in development: two narratives and a minidoc.

The two short films will only be about 2-3 minutes long. The first one is called TOE TAG, a thriller with a twist starring Joey Sanchez and Geoff Richards. We’ve done location scouting and the script is in place. I’m in the process of looking into permits. Since there are some action shots, I've ordered the Fotodiox Freeflight 3-axis gimbal stabilizer. I'm excited to get that.

The second film’s working title is The Letter. It’s a road trip drama featuring Joey Sanchez and Jenny Aguilar. This one is in development. The gimbal stabilizer will also be useful here since there’s a number of traveling shots.

My mini-documentary will be about my neighbor, Craig Collings, who is the hard-working owner of Collings Awning. I’m looking forward to this because I find what he does fascinating, and the fact he and his wife Kathy have been able to sustain their own business for nearly 30 years is inspiring.

The workload at my day job has increased significantly, but I am settling into doing more video work instead of illustration and animation. While I have the skill to do many of these things, being a jack-of-all-trades has a tendency to pull you into too many directions at once. It’s extremely difficult to switch gears. Our team has been growing and many of those responsibilities will fall onto others. I’m happy that I’ll be able to focus on one job, and to do it well.

Compelling Stories
I have a slew of short films I'd like to make, but I haven't really written anything in a while except for The Letter. I was working on a feature length drama, but the story was beginning to meander because I haven't solidified many of the character's weaknesses. Drama is about confronting weakness and finding strength- at least it has been in my stories. I'm trying very hard to avoid cliches... and that's what's slowing me down.

My Illustration Dilemma

The hard truth is that Illustration, as a vocation, is all-consuming. All of the greats spend long, long hours at a desk focused on the work. You need to be dedicated and obsessed with it. \It was my first love—it's difficult since I also love filmmaking.

That said, I like to illustrate my own stories. I have many waiting on the shelf. I’ll go back and play with them when I’m ready. But, after some recent attempts, I know now for a fact that working in the comics realm collaboratively is a very separate path than filmmaking.  I have a choice to make.

Leaving The Nest

Test Shots and Location Scouting

A few days ago, I went to old Midvale with my friend Joey Sanchez to do some location scouting and video tests my next film TOE TAG. The Vincent’s Pharmacy, featured in these shots, was in The Sandlot.

Joey Sanchez sneaking around back alleys in old Midvale.

Yesterday, my friend Geoff Richards and I used our lunch to get some more test shots in and around the business complex we work at. This test was primarily more for me to get used to the Chung Dha-style monopod rig (which I’ll get to further down).

Geoff Richards lurking around in underground tunnels and parking garages in Salt Lake City.

These shots aren’t bad considering I shot them on an iPhone 6. I’ll likely be using this old phone for TOE TAG and possibly the 48 Hour Film Project unless I can manage an upgrade to the 7 before then… though unlikely.

Chung Dha-style Monopod Rig

I don’t have much money to spend on equipment, so I often try to figure out the best way to get the most out of what I have by using technique to steady and light my shots. I’ve adopted a modified Cinema Verite method- using available lighting and augmenting it with inexpensive portable lights. I also try to figure out the best way to grip my camera with what I already own using very unconventional means.

I like DIY, but there are too many things- like making stuff out of pvc pipe, is just a waste of time and looks ghetto trashy. I mean, come on, use your time to plan movies, not making shitty gear.

I had come up with this method on my own, but it turns out I wasn’t the first to think of using a monopod this way. In 2010, Chung Dha came up with a fantastic method and setup using a collapsed monopod with a ballhead camera mount as a shoulder rig.

Chung Dha’s 2010 demo of his monopod shoulder rig.

Using a speedlight extension bar to extend handling is clever, though I am using an ALM mCAMLITE iPhone case, which has a similar set up on the bottom. I also use the small handle from my Zoom H4N kit for additional handling.

Photos coming soon!

My ALM mCAMLITE Quick Rig: transforms from a shoulder-rig to a monopod set up in 5 seconds.

I already owned the monopod, but I decided to take some birthday money to buy a better support for the heavy mCAMLITE case, for which I bought a fluid-filled tripod head from Anovor, using a Desmond 1/4” to 3/8” adapter.

It works pretty good, though it will take practice to get more fluid shots.

To be honest, I like the challenge of using an iPhone. It limits me in many ways, forcing me to become creative with my shots.

Getting real about wants and needs

As much as I would love the form factor of the Redrock Micro Retroflex-S and the Sony a5100, I need to be pragmatic about where my money is better utilized. The cost for those (including cards, lenses, etc) would cost $1,500. That’s a serious chunk of change, and it’s not including audio. I may indulge at some point, but realistically I need to be more fiscally conservative.


Panasonic’s GH3 has come down in price considerably since the GH4 was introduced a year and a half ago. I’m sure a GH5 is in development… However, for what I need to do in the next year, the GH3 is more than enough camera to handle the needs of my next dozen or so projects- which DP demigod Philip Bloom shows in the video above.

The micro four-thirds sensor is half the size of a full size sensor, but it can use far more lenses- including old cine/tv c-mount glass and Newsie ENG B4 Mount lenses. How cool is that?

More than anything, I want to make a feature length film. I have had a number of attempts, of which I had learned so much… not just about what it takes, but what I can expect from other people. Filmmaking School of Hard Knox.

One of my constant inspirations is Faith Granger, and her feature length film “Deuce of Spades”. She shot her feature on a barebones budget and a lot of favors- and the product looks amazing. She shot on an first generation Sony HD camera, and edited in Sony Vegas.

The greatest thing about this movie is her passion for the project. Finding the right project to immerse yourself in can be challenging, but sometimes the project finds you. That's true art.

The Space Opera sings!

I've been putting as much of my best art on my new Instagram account @lostskies7. I deleted my old account a few months ago (no clue why...) but instantly regretted it. SO- since I couldn't use my old handle, I've opted to stick a 7 at the end of it since it is my lucky number.

So, remember all those previous posts over the years where I kept eluding to my "space opera epic"? Well, it's finally happening. I have shoved everything under the bed and out of sight so I can focus and do this thing! I'm still not ready to announce the title, much less any details about the book, but I will give some insight into it:

It takes place in the far future- against a galaxy spanning, Earth controlled empire. There will be giant robots in it. Certainly lots of action- from space battles to martial arts to gunfights and chases. There is a large subplot of unrequited love, and the major part that plays within the context of the story. The art style is my house style- an attempted mix of Al Williamson and John Buscema, with a pinch of Frazetta mixed in.

Not sure when it will be finished- I haven't imposed a timeline to it yet. I am rewriting the original script though... I have a way of making it even better. I DO, however, want to get it ready in time for next year's Salt Lake Comic Con, and San Diego Comic Con would be just as good! That's the plan, anyway.

So, that's where we're at! More to come!

Gallery Recap

Well, since lostskies.com is down for a bit, here's a link to my current portfolio- right here on this blog!

2014 seems to be shaping up with new opportunities, and I'm open to them. Aside from a personal project that I've been wanting to work on for some time - a webcomic.

In the meantime, you can view my gallery on this site- The Art of Juan Maestas.

SO, here's an old familiar illustration- my Steampunk Sky Pirate that I painted a couple of years ago. I particularly love how the painted sunset clouds worked out.  Enjoy!

Southside of Elsewhere

Enjoy!

SATURDAY PREMIERE!!!

After three years, Southside of Elsewhere will finally have it's online premiere! Tune in to Lost Skies Production on VIMEO on Saturday, May 26th, 2012 at 10:00am MST and watch the hard work of many people!

Here's the official synopsis: A researcher goes on the run when he tries to hide his daughter from becoming the target of a megacorporation's super-soldier project.

I'm excited for all of you to see it!

Visual tool

Well, I promised some recent drawings. Hardly any personal stuff right now- my fault of course, but to be fair I have been busy with house and home lately.

My day job is challenging, but sometimes the work very dry. So I get excited when a project comes along that requires me to draw something. A year and a half ago, I was asked to design a mascot, but they opted for another design by a very talented employee whom I've yet to meet. Earlier this week, another department wanted an orientation video, but due to expense they'll have to pitch the idea to the president of our organization... so I was called upon to do some quick storyboards.  By quick, I mean just a couple of hours!

Luckily, due to the nature of the video, it's mostly interviews- and not a lot of b-roll. So the Senior Copywriter pounded out a script and I illustrated the key points. Easy enough... so here's what I quickly put together:

Ball point pens are my friends.

Of course, the copywriter added this to the side of the script. Hopefully this will help the group get what they set out to do.

Quick Update

It's been a bit busy lately. While Aaron is hammering out a new script, I've been taking care of life, but have also stayed creative with drawing. Not to worry, I will have a storyboard article sooner than later! As for SSOE... plan on a Vimeo release in May.

Meanwhile, please check out my other site http://juanmaestas.blogspot.com to see what I've been up to lately!

Conceptualization for Film: Part Two

CONCEPT ART

Wikipedia has a pretty good definition of concept art: "Concept art is a form of illustration where the main goal is to convey a visual representation of a design, idea, and/or mood for use in films, video games, animation, or comic books before it is put into the final product. Concept art is also referred to as visual development and/or concept design. This term can also be applied to retail design, set design, fashion design and architectural design." 

The level of concept art depends on how much a specific idea needs to be created and produced. This can be as simple as a color palette and wardrobe ideas, to dressing a room, to creating vehicles, props and prosethics. Sci fi and fantasy genres will more than likely have more concept art designs than a modern day drama.

As always, it's best to have a finished script so you know what you need to design.  There needs to be a visual breakdown of each scene, each shot, and everything that will need to be created for use.  This can be anything from specific specialized props, costumes, characters, vehicles, building, etc etc etc.  Everything needs to be created if it's not bought off the shelf.

Of course, Concept Art is used other than film. It's heavily used in video games, comic books, etc.  Here is an example of characters for Jason Anderson's Role Playing Game "SoulChasers":

Post-apocalypic characters Moy, Snake, and Hannah.

The above example is far more refined than what you'd typically use when you're conceptualizing something- it's more akin to production art.  Concept art should be more rough- to get a point across.

For Archangel Alpha, I created early concepts for the "Alphas", as well as some other vehicles. Here are some thumbs and design notes:

We really played around for quite a while on the head design. The director wanted wings on the head, since these were aerial combat mecha. The design went through dozens of revisions, which inspired the eventual final design that was created by the director himself.

Original Thumbs.

For Two Sides of the Moon, I created a possible idea on what the Skinwalker could look like:

While certainly not the final design for the skin walker, we did need to decide how large the monster would be. Stilts were a heavily considered option in a real costume.

For dramas, it's often a good idea to design wardrobe and makeup for a consistent look, even if it's as simple as photographing the actors with wardrobe changes.  On American Junkie, a drama about drug abuse and teen pregnancy, I created some basic wardrobe suggestions before they cast anyone:

The bad boyfriend. You can tell these are old, before I started a system of labeling them.

The teen junkie girlfriend. I also made some notes about possible makeup to emphasize her drug addiction.

For James Cawley's Bigfoot short, I created refined thumbs for to give direction to their FX artist:

Possible creature looks- we didn't want the typical man-in-the-suit look.

A favorite look for the creature's face. He came out a little typical, something that quickly happens when you refine a design.

There are a ton of resources for the concept artist- conceptart.org is one of the largest.Or simply google Concept Art tutorials.

However, it's okay to be inspired by another piece of art and to run and make it into your own- but it's NEVER okay to flat out plagerize it.

Next week: Storyboarding!!

Conceptualization For Film: Part One

I'm highly visual. I've spent 21 years learning to illustrate- from commercial illustration to comic books to TV storyboards to concept design for film. So of all the things filmmaking-wise that I feel somewhat qualified to talk about is conceptualizing your film.

What's involved? Well, there's plenty: Key Scenes, conceptual art, storyboards, animatics, and production art- just to name a few.  In this post, we'll discuss KEY SCENES.

ESSENTIALS

First off- the #1 thing that a conceptual artist should have gotten from the director or producer, above ALL ELSE, is a FINISHED LOCKED SCRIPT. I consider it a red flag when the script isn't finished.  I feel it means the director is indecisive and is looking for inspiration within someone else's work. Some have made reference to George Lucas using concept designers to inspire his script for the prequel trilogy... but we saw what happened there.  Of course, the designers don't mind, they're getting overtime.

Also, to work with unfinished scripts means a scene might change the tone of the entire movie... plus without an unfinished script, often the director themselves don't know what they want- and you fly into an endless waste of time designing by trial and error until you've accidentally hit on something they want.

The same goes for you as the director- if you don't know what you want, you're going to spend time and money exploring that. Now, if you have money, then I have the time... but that's for another post.  First off, let's talk about coming up with a way create the spirit of the film by using Key Scene Illustrations.

KEY SCENES

After they have a finished script, I read it trying to find the key scenes that define the movie visually. I'll talk these over with the director to see if it's where they felt the emotional and visual high points of the film are. 

These Key Scene Illustrations often will be used for investment pitches, or if money is in place, an anchor to keep the spirit of your visuals consistent. Concept designers will often find inspiration within these key scene illustrations and draw out more ideas. It may also inspire the director of photography, or even give the director insights into their script where they hadn't seen before.

For Archangel Alpha, I created six Key Scenes- using color, tone, texture and elements to give you the sense of otherworldliness. Four of these are scattered around the internet in articles relating to Archangel Alpha, but the last two are making an online appearance for the first time.

This scene was simply to show one of the main characters, Alex, looking out over a Soviet inspired homeland of Rodinia. I used lots of greys and blues to show how cold the world was as it entered into a new ice age.

Admittedly, this image is an homage to many an action film, heroic silhouettes of the ace fighters flying in an epic sky.

To give contrast to a world covered in ice and snow, I wanted to show the dirt that has been kicked up from a massive battlefield known as the Sea of Glass.  Here, the main character, Elena, emerges from her crashed Alpha to witness the wounds the world war has inflicted on her homeland.

As a direct contrasted moment to Elena and the Sea of Glass, this scene shows Alex and Grigori, overlooking what was once a proud city. Silhouetted over a stormy sky, and the ice cold rain shows that devastation has hit everywhere. In a way, this scene is far more bleak than the the previous one.

This scene would have been in the beginning as the province of Praetoria riots against the Rodinian capitol as it strips it of resources. Dust, smoke and tear gas mix as people run from Rodinian Alphas that take harsh police action on the rioters.  Although the script was written in 2007, it seems allegorical to our world of today.

I had experimented with this scene, animating it in a gif image- click on it to see some .gif animated action.  It is a destroyed and abandoned bunker that the characters encounter in the dead world. The green artificial lighting almost makes it feel eerie and haunted... showing that even the ghosts are fading from this nearly dead world.

In Two Sides of the Moon, I created five Key Scenes, again using color, but also suggesting interesting camera angles.

In the beginning of the film, a strange skeleton is found by archeologists. The reveal on this would have been an overhead so we could clearly see the skeleton in it's grave, and the archaeologists almost as strange ants.

The Skinwalker- the monster of the story- lurks in a young girls room, waking her. It is a very low-key light scene, barely able to see. While my first inclination was to have the eyes glow, the director wanted the attention to be on the girl- who herself illuminated by the moonlight, and she can barely make out the weird shadow. These decisions belong to the director.

The family that the story revolves around is camping in the woods.  The father attempts to scare the children with the legend of the skinwalker, which lurks in the woods, just watching, melding with the cold, post autumn trees. The scene is cold, but the only warmth is the tiny light that is around the family- which the monster tries to stay away from.

As a direct contrasting shot to the beginning where the skinwalker bones are discovered, a strange ritual takes place as the family is put into coffins as sacrificial fodder to appease the skinwalker. As the dancers dance around the bonfire, a strange pinwheel pattern emits from them.  I came up with the idea to give a different spin on an otherwise dreadful scene... I wanted to show a certain beauty in their beliefs.

The secret society that revolves around the skinwalker attacks and silences one of the perceived threats to their way of life.  The Sheriff goes down in a grisly scene of vain blood as cloaked figures enter his house and take his family. I felt that the scene should be devoid of color, and framed by shafts of light and shadow.  He dies in the most undignified way... I really wanted them to seem like demons.

In summary, the director should be involved while making Key Scenes.  While it is the work of the artist to interpret the script and bring something forth in an emotional way, and even can suggest camera angles and composition, the director should begin DIRECTING at this point... because ultimately the film is theirs to mold into a work of art.

Next week: Concept and Production Art

Questions? Feel free to post in the comments below.

The Future of Digital Sketches

I love paper and sketchbooks. I prefer them to my plastic Wacom tablet. Don't get me wrong, I'd be lost without my Intous... but Wacom has created something very much worth looking into:



I seriously believe this is going to change how we work. And for only $199, I want one.

The Future of Digital Sketches

Archangel Alpha

These were created a little while ago, but I thought I'd post them as examples of Key Scene pitch concepts.  The film, Archangel Alpha, is a feature length Sci-Fi film slated for a late 2011 release.  Director Aaron Martin had asked me to create some concept art pieces to be used in early funding pitches.

Old Friends Contemplate the War

Alphas Attack

Elena and the Sea of Glass

Aaron has been furiously working hard at finishing it up.  Check out the official Archangel Alpha website and 'like' his Facebook Fan Page!

Session 1138: Day One Shooting

I didn't get much of a chance to take very many photos, but we shot all the flashback scenes of the main character's (played by Allan Groves) wasted life.

It was a pretty freeflowing shoot- I got to mix a technicolor cocktail that got a close up for shock value, and also played as an unfortunate visitor that got the business end of fists and kicks.

Sunday is the main shoot- large crew and large cast.  I'll post more as it happens!

Location, location, location!

I'm going to start something new here, posting snapshots of areas I think that would be fantastic as locations.

This little dilapidated warehouse district is the one Mario DeAngelis is using for "Session: 1138"

But just around the corner was this great pothole strewn street with questionable powerlines and worn buildings.

This is closer to where I live- I pass by these tracks quite often and I love this backdrop. The watertower dominates the area, it is easily 6-8 stories high.

Well, I'll be adding more photos as I take them!