Monday, April 25, 2011

Video Editing Post Production House Quiz that will humble

I just found something quite cool - a Post Production Quiz from EditHouse in Australia. Video Post Production Technology Quiz
It was difficult and humbling. No I'm not going to tell you my score. If you are brave, you can also take a Broadcast Quiz and one about 20th Century movies. Broadcast and Movie Quizzes
Here is what the company does: "EditHouse is a technology services company specializing in the broadcast and communications sector. We are based in Sydney, Australia". Thanks guys!

Sunday, April 03, 2011

This girl is so funny! Dancing Sundrop Commercial

The drop it like it's hot dancing Sundrop commercial girl makes me laugh every time I see her! Enjoy!

Elton John & Leon Russell on SNL - Leon and Mary Russell Wedding Album

Saturday Night Live was amazing last night! Elton John, Leon Russell, Tom Hanks, Jake Gyllenhaal. And the Elton/Leon musical segments were just great. I hope they go back out on tour together again (Elton will be in Bismark, North Dakota in a few days so he is going out on tour with his own band). The fabulous and MATURE backup singers with Elton and Leon were beautiful and much appreciated by us baby boomers! Thanks to the comment that made me dig a little harder for their names: Tiffany Smith, Rose Stone, Tata Vega and Jean Witherspoon. These are the girls who toured with Elton and Leon last fall and I will try to confirm that they all performed on SNL. Tata Vega is the lead backup and I will post more about her soon.


I bought the Leon and Mary Russell Wedding Album right after the show because it was the finest album of the 1970s. Magical harmonies, romantic and breathless love songs, beautiful writing, full and rich orchestration. There isn't a bad song on the album. There is a fascinating story on CBS Sunday Morning about Elton bringing Leon back to performing and I am so glad he did. All the songs on the Wedding Album are great but Fantasy, Love's Supposed to Be That Way, and Like a Dream Come True are spectacular. Rainbow in your Eyes will have you out of your chair and boogiein' through the whole song - you won't be able to sit still!

Friday, April 01, 2011

Refurbished MiniDV Camcorders

I had 5 occasions to buy refurbished MiniDV Camcorders for my media classes. I was frankly skeptical about buying a used electronic device. Who knew where it had been or who had used or abused it. But, it turned out to be a very good experience BECAUSE I was able to buy a two year warranty. In 4 of the 5 cases, the camcorders worked fine. I needed camcorders that weren't too expensive but I did need them to work. Usually, most people don't wear out MiniDV camcorders because they use them just for family or vacation situations, so if you know that's the type of camcorder you are getting it's a pretty good bet it will work for many more years. Professional videographers usually trade up to newer better models fairly quickly so camcorders like the Canon XL series, purchased from a reputable reseller should be a good buy. But camcorders are digital and mechanical so sometimes it may have come from the factory with problems not caused by use. My next concern was that the warranty wasn't going to do what it promised. That proved to be unfounded. One of the used camcorders I bought failed fairly quickly and I sent it back to the warranty company. After they confirmed the camcorder wasn't working, they issued a full refund with no questions asked. If you buy used, make sure the company is reputable, research the warranty company and try to buy from a reseller who deals only in electronics. Soon they won't make miniDV camcorders anymore, and like VHS, Sony 8 and Hi8 camcorders, you won't have a choice but to buy used. You will still be able to look at miniDV camcorder reviews to see what reviewers ranked as the best miniDV camcorder for that particular year, so make sure you buy what was ranked highest when they were made. As long as you do your homework on the make and model and find a reseller with a good reputation, you should be very happy with your refurbished camcorder.

Best MiniDV Videotape - Maxell

Since the early 1990s, I have time and time again been proven right about my feelings that Maxell videotape gives a brighter, more colorful image. I've used all formats of Maxell including MiniDV, BetaCam, DVCPro, and even VHS videotape. In the 90s, I was responsible for buying videotape stock for my television station and we compared brands of BetaCam videotape side by side. The editors and camera people were involved and we all agreed that Maxell videotape colors were better, more vivid and the overall picture quality was superior to Sony, Panasonic, Fuji, TDK and JVC. I still have footage shot on MiniDV videotape that is 10 years old and looks just like it did when I shot it originally. With all the format changes happening with computers, videotape is still a great way to store projects for later use. MiniDV videotape is also very sturdy and I've seldom had mechanical trouble with the cassette or tape hubs as long as I use it properly and store it correctly.