Ask Me Anything
Creating videos isn’t always easy. My clients and friends know I’m always ready to help answer questions or give advice, even if they’re not using Duchin Productions. Not every project requires the big camera and lights, sometimes I encourage people to give it a go themselves (when appropriate). But even the simplest cameras can be really confusing, never be shy about picking up the phone or sending a question over email. If for some reason I can’t answer the question, I’ll find someone who can. Struggling to get great audio or better video results with your iPhone? Then ask me...
read moreFive signs you made your own video
Everyone loves video but there are the occasions where creating it is best left to professionals. In fact, in some cases, poor quality video can hurt vs. help your business. We’ve identified five factors every video creator should solve before attempting to make their own content. 1. Earthquakes Shaky footage can easily be avoided by using a tripod. Many cameras have really wonderful image stabilization but there’s really no substitute for a solid shot from a good tripod. 2. Nose hair Using the built in camera on your laptop is great for making quick videos but consider putting a few...
read moreDo you really need that second camera?
Capturing individual interviews with two cameras has become very popular in the past few years. When done right, it looks really nice, but when done wrong, it looks plain silly. Before you green light the approach, make sure it has purpose. Don’t just do it because everyone else is doing it. Our main focus (pun intended) will always be the person sitting in front of the lens. Most of us are not naturally comfortable sitting in front of a camera, so adding a second camera often increases the anxiety level. When we record customers for a client, our goal is to get the person out of that...
read moreChallenges of video recording in Anechoic chambers
It’s no secret that we love science and technology. On this particular day, we knew we’d be shooting some RFID technology but we didn’t know we’d have to shoot inside an Anechoic chamber. We’ll skip the details on what the room is and just tell you it’s really, really, really quiet inside. This particular room was filled with pointed foam acoustic tiles everywhere. This might not seem like too much of a problem until you consider lighting. Normally we have lots of flat floor to place our hot lights however this was far from the case. A combination of...
read moreVideo Special Effects on a Budget
Want to add special effects to your videos but don’t want to spend a fortune? You may be surprised to learn that it can be affordable if you’re up for trying some unconventional approaches. Below, we’ve detailed a project where we created an invisible whiteboard. We’re fortunate to work with some really wonderful people. One of our favorites is Dr. Woodie Flowers, emeritus professor of mechanical engineering at MIT. If his name sounds familiar, he was the original host of the PBS series Scientific American Frontiers. We’ve created many videos with the professor and each one has had a unique...
read moreVideo Special Effects using PowerPoint
We frequently encourage clients to use programs like PowerPoint and Keynote to help get their ideas across. One of our longtime friends and clients, Sargent Production Services was tasked to go one step further. He was asked to produce a video but use Keynote slides and animations as a substitute for traditional video animation. The presenter, Dr. Woodie Flowers is an advanced user of Keynote (Apple’s version of PowerPoint) and is the mastermind behind the project. Not many people would attempt something this challenging but in theory, everything was going to work. We recorded Woodie...
read more
