Last week, Sony ambassador and popular filmmaker, Philip Bloom commissioned Loretz Visuals to create subtitles for his epic review of the Sony FX9 video camera. Yes, I said epic; the review runs for 1 hour 54 minutes. It’s a deep dive in to the cameras performance and AI based autofocus technology.
As such, there’s technical terms and complex information in abundance, as well as Philips stunning cinematography. Subtitles ensure that the technical terminology, products and brand names are correct and, most importantly, you can get the message wherever you are.
The benefits of subtitles are far reaching and in this case, assist those for whom English isn't their first language and provide a template for other language versions. As a long form video, subtitles especially help combat concentration fatigue and enhance the overall viewer experience. For search optimisation, subtitles help the YouTube algorithm position the video to relevant brands and promote it to targeted audiences.

Next time you are putting a budget together for your next video it's worth considering your audiences needs. Crafting your videos visuals and audio are not going to guarantee the  message gets through to your audience. Subtitles provide an extra hook to help keep your audience connected. 

Contact Adam Loretz today to discuss your production needs.

The DJI Osmo Pocket has been available for about 16 months and with some decent firmware upgrades and little competition, it's still my pick as best small video camera of 2020. Recently, I made a short video covering the video features as both a filmmaker and father, where this little pocket rocket shines equally. #vlogging #bestsmallvideocamera #videoproduction #gimbal 

Being an independent video producer, I manage my time between projects for clients and being hired by agencies and associates to work on their productions. For my virtual filmmaking friend Anders Overgaard, working on his own was fun, until one day, it wasn't and he teamed up with a group of filmmaking friends to form a production company. Based in Norway, Anders film company is called VJUS and in the first two years of operation, Anders kept a video diary of the companies ups and downs. It was a rollercoaster ride and this content is now an insightful and fun web series. Something all content creators will connect with.  ​I caught up with Anders to find out all about the series.
​Episode One of Making a Film Company is below the interview.

The truth is, people use YouTube for search, like a visual Google, no wonder Google bought it. Connecting people with products via advertising and affiliate links make it awesome if you are a creator and want to build revenue streams.

Whilst my YouTube channel, The Filmmakers Workshop is about filmmakers and providing in depth reviews and interviews, I cannot ignore what my audience want. In the main, they want answers; is camera X good in low light and does camera Y have great autofocus. As such, I've been making more short videos, sharing insight and providing a different kind of valuable, watchable content. This is the future of The Filmmakers Workshop - A little bit of this and a little bit of that. The FW is a business after all.

I'm also adding links to affiliate programmes and open to sponsorship and paid for programming. Contact me to discuss your product needs. [email protected]

Eerie blog post title aside, Australian filmmaking company Blackmagic have been turning things upside down recently with some new production gear and I felt it was time to bring that magic to Loretz Visuals offering.
A huge aspect of filmmaking is procuring the highest quality images possible and with the launch of the Blackmagic Pocket cinema camera 4K, it seemed like this could be the solution for high end work. To be clear, I’m talking about short films, commercials, single interviews or music video. In this content, stylised imagery and dynamic range is critical and where raw video is required. Raw what? Yes, like in photography, video can now be shot on some cameras in raw formats. The benefits being, that with visually lossless compression and the ability to stylise or amend the footage in the editing process, this new Blackmagic equipment offers Loretz Visuals more creative freedom. The colour science of Blackmagic cameras is World class, skin tones look simply beautiful.
Before offering new technology, I always test equipment thoroughly first. Passion projects are the best test bed for this, where I can experiment and master my craft. Straight off the bat I filmed a piece to camera. A testimonial from a client. Secondly, I filmed an AirBnB for a friend. This time shooting interiors with the camera on a gimbal, to float around and add a graceful dynamic.

There’s a best camera for every film. For longer form content, wet weather, 360 video or just remaining low key, the arsenal at my disposal now covers every event. With an open mind, 2019 is my 20th year in video production; always learning, understanding my clients needs and connecting them with the right visual solution.

The World of filmmaking is constantly evolving. Back in 2007, YouTube was growing rapidly, however indie filmmaker Tom Swindell, whilst popular on the platform, had designs on making it at the BBC. With shrewd moves, style and attitude, Tom made his own luck.
I recently had a chance to work with Tom on a Channel 5 documentary and took the opportunity to interview him about his career so far. Interview below.

Alongside Loretz Visuals, I produce content for my YouTube channel The Filmmakers Workshop. The aim of the channel is to offer fresh insight in to Filmmaking today. Since 2013 I have interviewed first time feature film directors, animators, BBC and Hollywood directors of photography as well taking time to create news, reviews and offer insight of my own for the filmmaking community. If you want to learn to be a filmmaker then subscribe to the channel to find out about some new filmmaking workshops set for Autumn 2019. #GH5 #filmmaker #documentary
​

Time is money, but more than that for me, a filmmaker with a wife and three lovely children- time is precious. As such, personal projects and freebies are something that are often hard to entertain. Sometimes though, a project grabs you and you find yourself compelled to pull out the stops.

Last week, I heard that my friend and fellow filmmaker Philip Bloom was releasing a documentary to aid a charity dedicated to helping cats in Skiathos.
Well, if you know Philip, you’ll know that cats are a massive part of his life and that he has spent a lot of time and effort shining a light on their welfare and this good cause.
Feeling I might be able to help somewhat, I reached out to Philip and offered to subtitle the first part of his charity fundraising documentary.


To make the film more accessible I thought it would benefit from English subtitles. In an article,
https://www.3playmedia.com/2015/04/03/3-reasons-why-closed-captions-increase-youtube-views/


Videos with subtitles saw a 13.48% increase in views over their first 14 days and 7.32% more views over their lifetime.


Subtitles also improve SEO and open up the possibility to watch the film in places where you need the sound off, such as on public transport or library.


Having an English subtitled version can also be used to help create other language versions too. As English is both a common language for translators and with the timestamps in place, it’s easy to simply replace the text and upload the .srt subtitle file to YouTube or Vimeo.


The first instalment of the documentary was emotional, beautifully shot, with a great voice over by Philip. I hope the subtitles help raise awareness and increase the call to action-
​The Skiathos Cat Welfare Association needs donations to buy land to build a cat sanctuary.




Philips documentary is being released in several parts. Part one is here
https://youtu.be/WVzv74KQGV0



Please watch and consider donating.

Vlogging has become a big deal of late.
Casey Neistat, PewdiePie and others have made the (TV) news and becoming household names.
Acceptance of internet stars is now tangible by the established media.
Moreover, the term 'broadcast' is now one which most certainly includes internet services and sites like Amazon, Netflix and YouTube seem to dominate social media and our viewing schedules.

As a kind of extension of reality TV, Vlogging takes the audience on largely a first person journey in to quite often a myriad of previously niche activities, compared to those featured on broadcast TV. Video gaming, make up tutorials and filmmaking tips might never have gotten a look in on broadcast TV.

I digress, oh so slightly, because the real focus of this blog is to examine the technical side of Vlogging. It is important to set the scene though, as the concept of broadcasting changes through its production and distribution means yet at the same time, a large chunk of this new programming is often being made by individuals not crews hired by corporations
Unlike TV broadcast, where the Kardashians are being filmed by a crew, Vloggers by their nature are typically, one man bands. Peter Mckinnon seems to utilise a cameraman, opening himself up to be more of a 'typical tv' presenter from time to time.
So to the question on my mind, and no doubt many filmmakers and of course Vloggers, 
to date it seems no camera manufacturer has really given Vloggers the time of day and created a unit for this purpose.

What would the perfect Vlogging camera be like?
As a point of reference, let’s start with the Sony A6500 - a well spec’ed capable camera
(as used by Casey Neistat); 4k video. Largish sensor, good in low light and very good autofocus/face detection. However, the Sony A6500 suffers from terrible rolling shutter, whereby panning left-to-right creates a jelly like effect on the image. The battery life is pretty poor, the screen is not flip around so you cannot frame yourself and the camera uses separate lenses. On the audio front, the A6500 whilst it can take a standard 3.5 mm mic, or Sonys XLR unit, doesn't have a head phone jack for monitoring.
In my mind, the perfect Vlogging camera has a fixed wide lens of around 15mm and a large-ish sensor such as micro four thirds or APSC with the ability to crop in on the sensor to act as a zoom. The camera should use Sony NPF batteries which could give very long record times and power peripheral devices. A 1080P flip screen of 7 inches would provide The detail to ensure perfect composition and focus. At either side of the FlipOut screen should be LED lights to perfectly expose the image and allow Vloggers to film day or night.
Focus should be able to be set on the flip out screen, at exactly arm's-length or a distance predetermined so that the camera does not hunt to find your face.
Audio is massively important, and the perfect Vlogging camera should have four assignable audio channels, stereo left, right, dual mono Centred and rear. Built in to the unit should be Bluetooth audio, to capture sound from a capsule mic/lavalier when the vlogger is more than arms length from the unit. Wireless Bluetooth earbuds should also be able to be in the audio back to the presenter for monitoring. As far as ergonomics go, the unit needs a handle, to be held at arms length, a tripod mount area that does not interfere with the battery door and flexible legs al a Joby to attach the unit when travelling without a tripod. Finally, the camera should have image stabilisation built in.
Interestingly, several manufacturers have tried to integrate good sound capture with 1080P video, such as the Canon Legria and Zoom with their Q8. However, these models both seem favour audio quality over video and seem like they don’t meet the total needs of a modern Vlogger, who should be able to shoot 4k video and time lapses, a large is sensor, have integrated lights and excellent battery life.
Vlogging is here to stay, so let’s just see what the main camera manufacturers come up with to fill this gap in the market.