Dexter – Review of the TV show.

Dexter – Review of the TV show.

Comments 0 Comment

Members of my fitness trekking class, in a conversation about good TV shows to watch and movies to watch, it came up that the TV show Dexter was excellent viewing. I was able to watch the first episode in the first season and found the production values in almost all categories to be excellent except the main character role. My major complaint is that he portrays being a vigilante and evidently this is acceptable because we are being entertained. I draw the parallel of the Romans using the Coliseum for entertainment by providing murder and spectacle to an audience and the entertainment value is the reason it was accepted and continued to endure. The viewer knows the main Dexter character is killing people. Because the protagonist knows his victims to be killers, this seems acceptable because he works for the police and we are seeing the action from his point of view and he is carrying out his selfish justice. The show is so well done that the entertainment factor and darkness draws us in so people continue to watch. I found the show to be a bit sick because it places the audience in a position of accepting his behavior because we are entertained. How perverse it is when entertainment tramples what should be right. What message is being conveyed to the audience? Do we really know why Rome fell?

Why Computer Games Might Be Good For Young People

Why Computer Games Might Be Good For Young People

Comments 0 Comment

Let me cover some viewpoints and offer perspective to counter some of the negativity aimed at gaming.

Gamers are escapists.  They certainly are which is an important attraction making computer games a successful commercial product.  Why might escapism be good?  One answer is that some of our young people live in homes that are troubled.  One in eight adolescents may be suffering from depression.  One factor that may lead to depression includes family problems.  I was utterly shocked to learn about one local high school child after another that was experiencing problems at home based on parents not having it together for a variety of reasons.  Depression may also lead to suicide.  In a lot of games, success is almost guaranteed and this just might give a young person a sense of accomplishment when their own personal real life home experience is deficient.

One person proposed that young people should learn a musical instrument  to gain a sense of achievement instead of mindless computer game killing.  Besides that fact that not all children are pushed to play an instrument by their parents or even have any self motivation to do so, let us look at the opportunities to play an instrument.   Some schools have dropped their music programs which can be a huge negative factor.  School music programs give powerful peer support.   Personal music lessons range around $20 a hour and thus can cost $80 to $100 a month if you buy one lesson a week.  Instrument rental or instrument purchase, insurance, maintenance, sheet music, parental taxi costs vary but my point is that a Playstation 3 with a few games is a much cheaper cost.  Some families just can not afford music instrument lessons.

The viewpoint that gaming is pointless can partly be refuted by science.  Studies have shown that playing certain types of games can improve mental agility. (Newsweek, January 10 & 17, 2011, Article: Can You Build a Better Brain.)  Video games improve vision (ScienceDaily, Sept. 13, 2010: Video Games Lead to Faster Decisions That Are No less Accurate).  See also NPR Video Games Boost Brain Power, Multitasking Skills (http://www.npr.org/2010/12/20/132077565/video-games-boost-brain-power-multitasking-skills).

One game, in my mind, stands out being superb in refuting arguments against gaming (except cost) because it demotes the killing and adds so much ancillary aspects that seem in many ways to run parallel to our real lives.  In some ways, it is an alternate universe to our own but where the rules are easily understood and the ladder to success is well defined.  In many ways it prepares our young people to cope with our current real world because it does not minimize the complexity that these young people will need to face.  That game is World of Warcraft.  This game does use killing but for purpose that rewards.  The game is over the top complex which in itself might help cognitive function.  It also teaches economics, government, collaboration, (contrived) history, wants vs needs, sharing, and much more.

As a parent I soon discovered that giving important child possessions is one of the most significant if not important mechanisms to get your child to do a chore.  Tell your child that they will not be allowed to play a game until their room is cleaned is a powerful control.

Newegg Is What Internet Purchasing Should Be.

Newegg Is What Internet Purchasing Should Be.

Comments 0 Comment

My son wanted to build his second tower computer system.  He asked mom and dad to help him buy the components for a Christmas gift in 2010.  My son gave me a list of components: case, cpu, memory chips, power supply and told me to buy the items at Newegg.com.  The process was simply flawless except the tower case was added as a second shipped item due to its size and I almost ordered TWO cases because I failed to see it listed toward the bottom of the computer screen.  Newegg sent confirmation right away after I sent in the order and follow up e-mails appeared and tracking information.  I was later to discover that their prices were pretty darn good.  We strongly recommend this vendor.

Disneyland not able to provide Christmas gift confirmation.

Disneyland not able to provide Christmas gift confirmation.

Comments 0 Comment

My daughter has an annual pass to Disneyland.  As a Christmas gift, my daughter had the idea of having dad give mom an annual pass to Disneyland so mother and daughter could go to the park together.  My daughter went on line and using dad’s credit card purchased a Deluxe Annual Passport with parking, not a trivial amount of money.  We never received e-mail confirmation.  I called a day later and after a very long hold time, due to being close to Christmas, I was informed that my daughter had misspelled my e-mail address by one letter.    I asked for another confirmation be sent to me, after giving my correct e-mail address, but I was told that that could not be done.  We were given the confirmation number.  Using that number, my wife can go to the park, I was told, and get her pass.  Problem for me was the Christmas presentation was completely missing.  The land of enchantment appeared to me to be the land of alleged indifference.

Film Production Results

Film Production Results

Comments 0 Comment

This is the third in a series of posts.  There are two prior posts to this one.  Post number one: https://ypw.wrq.mybluehost.me/website_12972da0/?p=1032.  Post number two: https://ypw.wrq.mybluehost.me/website_12972da0/?p=1035.

On 11/30/10  9:30 AM, “A. B.” wrote:

Got my footage back, first roll was blurred because I never set the ground glass, second roll was also blurred because the film stock was loose in the door. Third roll was amazing but slightly green (colorist fixed with ease), fourth roll was perfect, fifth roll was perfect with the exception of a shot that I did indoors with a 250D. The shot was too red, again the colorist fixed that with ease.  Infinite value learned from this shoot.

  • Lesson one you can’t fix focus in post make sure you are 100% with it before you shoot.
  • Lesson two the more time you invest in shoot the better your image will look.
  • Lesson 3 there will always be mistakes but there is nothing you can do but prepare for them.
  • Lastly, film is awesome and is such an intimate medium.

Thanks for all the help as you can see after your input my rolls turned out a lot better ( rolls 3-5).  Rolls one and two were salvageable in the fact that some of the images were focused for 1-2 seconds so I’ll definitely have to be a wiz in editing to make the first scene work.  I will definitely be shooting 16mm again and look forward to the great texture and quality that await!  Thanks again and I’ll link you my video when I finish if you want to check it out.

Best,
A. B.

16 MM Camera Lens Out Of Calibration? (#2)

16 MM Camera Lens Out Of Calibration? (#2)

Comments 0 Comment

This is the second in a series of posts.  The prior post can be found here: Student Asks, Was The Lens Out Of Calibration? (#1) https://ypw.wrq.mybluehost.me/website_12972da0/?p=1032

On 11/18/10 9:57 PM, “A. B.”  wrote:

All this information is very useful and I have been told since emailing you many of the same things.  All these things are definitely key in my future filming.  I was told by another about the ground glass being specifically important as well.  Although I new about the ground glass, for my previous shoot I set the diopter based on opening up the f-stop and setting the focus to infinite and then adjusting diopter so that the buildings a couple hundred feet away were as sharp as possible, focusing on the lines and edges of the building.  I’m not sure if the grain was as focused as possible because I hadn’t learned that information yet and didn’t think to check.  Although my future focusing will definitely involve the grain on the ground glass, is the method I used incorrect?  I have to send all my rolls in at once due to budget constraints so theres no way to see if I should reshoot or not. Budgeting also is an issue for reshooting with this new knowledge.  Everything was focused to my eye and then rechecked by my DP.  Should I be worried or am I being overly concerned?  I have never shot on 16 and want my first project to be a success in my academic journey into 16. Again thank you for the detailed response and it is very appreciated.

Best,
A. B.

——————–

Dear A. B.,

I just found your reply in my junk e-mail folder.  Entourage, my main e-mail software, can be a pain at times.  Most sorry I did not spot this e-mail earlier.

Your method of placing the lens to infinity and opening up the iris all the way impresses me that you seem to understand the principal of an open iris will diminish the the area of acceptable focus.  Your next procedure of using infinity lens focus as a “trick” to make sure the lens is in calibration, is correct but might be premature.  (By the way, opening up the iris all the way has ruined many a student project.  Make darn sure you reset the iris to proper setting before filming.)  The process you followed worries me a bit.  The eye focus adjustment (diopter) must be properly set so the grain you see in the viewfinder achieves best focus before you do anything with the camera.  I tell students to shoot a blank wall or even a sheet of paper so they and YOU are forced to concentrate on the viewfinder screen grain.

AFTER you can guarantee that the ground glass is in proper focus, THEN shoot objects at infinity with the lens and shoot building edges and power lines to see if the lens is in proper calibration.

What you can do if you find a perfect lenses:  You can do the Siemens star chart tests for closer than infinity to make sure that the lens is accurate all along its markings.  If you know for sure that the lens is dead on perfect for focus at every mark on the focus ring, you can then run a “TAPE” (tape measure) out from the camera to the subject and then rotate the lens focus ring to the corresponding mark.    Every professional camera has a film plane marking.  It looks like a circle with a line through it and the line is ALWAYS vertical.  I personally would viewfinder focus the shot and then tape it to check that my eye had found the correct lens focus plane.  The reason for this is my eyes are getting a bit old and that ground glass just does not do it for me every time.  In other words you can viewfinder the camera for correct focus.  You can actually tape the camera for correct focus (only if the lens is perfect for the camera you are using). Best of all, use both methods and you should NEVER get back out of focus film.

Tip: Proper focus requires LINES.  I defy you to find proper focus shooting a black curtain with no wrinkles.   I love shooting women with all that eye make up that approaches a Siemens start chart.  LOL.  Always look for lines at the plane (from the camera) that you want to look the best.

Tip: When shooting a person, focus on the eyes!   If the camera person can not determine accurate focus, for any reason, put a Siemens star chart at the SAME distance as the object you intend to shoot to make the setting of perfect focus more easy.

Tip: Just as I told you to make sure that you reset your iris to the proper setting before pushing film, ALSO make sure that the camera person sets viewfinder focus for his or her eye before they start the camera.  You would not believe the number of student films that were shot slightly out of focus because the director viewed the scene, adjusted the viewfinder and then the camera operator took over and did NOT reset the viewfinder focus.

Another tip: If you go to college in a large city, you just might have a good film equipment rental house that you can use.  Check their prices for equipment rental.  If you think the college cameras are a problem, consider renting out a camera.  Now here is the trick.  Get other students to do their projects the same WEEKEND as you do yours.  This ONLY works if the rental house closes Saturday and Sunday.  Often times the rental house will consider equipment rental ONE DAY if you take the stuff out Friday and bring it back Monday.  If you find a rental house that does offer this, fine tune it a bit by asking how early Friday can you pick up the equipment and how late you can return it Monday.  You then split the costs with the other student groups.  If YOU pay for the rental and check out the equipment, I suggest that YOU attend every shoot, guard and protect that equipment, and return it back to the rental house because you are financially responsible for loss or damage.  Consider paying for insurance to further protect yourself.  That insurance is typically offered by the rental house.

You asked, “Should I be worried or am I being overly concerned?  You told me you shot the footage; it is done.  Get over it.  If it comes back out of focus, you will have more deeply and painfully learned some pretty basic and very important technical processes that need to be understood when using a film camera.

By the way, what college do you go to?

Extra credit question 1: why should you NOT set your lens ring to infinity to get the greatest (most) area in the scene in acceptable focus?
Extra credit question 2: where should the focus ring be set if NOT at infinity?

I hope this helps.
Regards,
Score Card