Michael Shivers + mdshivers Creative Media » Blog

There is always a need for new gear, but to stay in budget and to keep a good control over finances, you've got to make those choices wisely and effectively. I've been researching some new gear for some weddings that I will be filming coming up and I'm pretty excited about it. I've come to learn that shooting the hybrid HD material on the 5d MarkII is a lot of fun, but you've got to be really prepared for it. CF Cards, balancing tripods, audio capturing to name the few. But the image quality that comes out of it is just spectacular. I'm not going to go into detail of what I'm getting just yet- so I can have an element of surprise. But it should be a lot of fun and stay tuned for the final product!
I'd also like to point out that a 16GB Sandisk Extreme card cost $85 dollars while a 16GB P2 card is $900 dollars. That's is just unreal. While I love my HVX200, it's very costly to keep running especially for shooting events like weddings!
Hopefully P2 prices will come down even more and become more a of reality when shooting long format shows.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 02:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Fun little video I made about men blowing up things with Potato Guns while at a Men's retreat. The retreat was great and something I really needed. This little break in the day was much needed and glad that we could shoot something while at it.
the direct link to the HD version is http://vimeo.com/3502746

Men with Potato Guns. from Michael Shivers on Vimeo.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 02:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've actually been taking a back seat lately and have been discovering and reading some new interesting blogs instead of writing on this one. I've also been quite busy in my personal life, which has been a beautiful thing. As I have read and been told, take time for your family. In the end that is all what matters.
So what has been cooking? I've got several video projects out the door, a few photography assignments and I am working on a complete redesign of the L'Abri Fellowship International website. I have actually really enjoyed going back in forth between disciplines lately and it has stretch my creativeness. Once I start a project, I really dive into it, immersing myself in the language, current trends, etc. And yes those two things change constantly.

One video that I just completed was for Emory University, School of Medicine's Cardiology department. I made this video for the annual TCT Interventional Conference. The symposium features live procedures originating from more than 25 leading US and international medical centers featuring world-renowned operators performing complex interventions. Emory University, located in Atlanta Georgia, was chosen to do several live cases this year and this opening will be played before each live case starts to show what the city, staff and surroundings are like. Attendance is around 30,000 doctors and industry professionals.

So check out the video and I'll be writing soon on my thoughts of video portfolio's and presenting your video projects on the web.

Emory Opening for TCT conference from Michael Shivers on Vimeo.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Not that I am old or anything :) , but video on the web just a short while ago use to be a joke. In college Real Media was the only way to watch streaming video online. There was Quicktime of course but you had to download the file before it played and that was fine to do. But just a reminder (late '90's and early 00's) high speed internet was just hitting the dorm rooms and Wi-Fi was still "magical". So Real Media was the only way to watch media when you clicked the button to play. Quicktime just was really there yet (many years before the streaming protocol and h.264 codec). Real Media's quality back then was pretty good, but when you look back on it now, it's pretty worthless. Plus if you try to reencode a .RM file back to Quicktime or something, it's even worse.

Then of course came Youtube. It brought video to the masses. But Youtube's quality hasn't been the greatest and it has really specialized in clips of copyrighted TV shows and funny stupid little videos. You sometimes see some ground breaking stuff- but it's hard to come by. And the comments on videos are really pretty bad. It's usually some irate 16yo who doesn't have a clue how to write a sentence with out cursing profusely.

I have recently been spending time at Vimeo- a website that is all about good design and quality video. They have there own "HD" section that has HD video. It's using the latest version of Flash player and the video comes out amazing. There is a full screen button if you want to watch it that way. I prefer the smaller size because you get the high quality video without the distraction of video taking up all of your screen.

Vimeo has actually been very inspiring lately, with a lot of really good content and tips and comments. When I go there I basically look for what is "recommended" and start browsing from there, or I'll find a Vimeo link from some video forum. Go and check it out!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

the windy city, originally uploaded by mdshivers.

I can see this from my hotel. My first impressions of Chicago are amazing. What a wonderful city. It's big and busy but not as much as New York. It's still pretty cold though and it's the end of March. But pretty busy up here, not much internet time :)

Posted by Michael Shivers at 06:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This looks very cool. And very structured. (Unlike the Sigur Ros contest that was pretty random and didn't hear from them in three months!)

Check it out

http://www.aniboom.com/radiohead/

Posted by Michael Shivers at 07:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I just completed the Sigur Ros video and have uploaded it to my site and on Youtube!! I am excited for it to be done. So far, I've had some positive feedback from people who I have shown it too. Check it out- on Youtube, and of course the higher quality on my site.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well - I've actually been working on this and really glad that I have. I wasn't sure if I would have time, or if I could come up with something, but I have. I've been shooting all week here and there and am mostly done filming. I may have a little scene here or there to do but it's mostly done.
It's the first time that I have worked on a project in HD, so it's been a great learning process. I use to do this type of stuff all the time in college, but the past few years I really haven't had a chance (nor time).

But it's fun to put in some work that is all about art and being creative. That kind of stuff get's my blood pumping.

We are in the midst of Holiday season- and just trying to keep my head on to complete some projects and get them out the door.

The Sigur Rós video is due December 5th so i've got to get the ball rolling. I'll be posting it to youtube soon and of course a higher quality version on my site.

If you don't know what I am talking about at all, read my last post :)

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Now this is really cool. I think I'll pass on the Tori Amos video for this new competion. I just stumbled upon this a second ago- while browsing Sigur Ros' new mini site for their new DVD/ album that is coming out this month. It's available everywhere except here in the states.
The premise for this contest is that you download all the extra footage from the film and put it together and upload it to Youtube. The judges will be the band, the managers and the editor of the film.

THIS IS AWSOME! As you can tell some of the videos I have on my site are with Sigur Ros songs so this will be great to do. If I were to choose between the Tori Amos and this contest, this one would win hands down.
Hey- it's all about how you spend your free time.

Anyway-the details aren't up yet when the contest starts/ends but you can go ahead and start downloading the footage.

Link
http://www.hvarf-heim.com/contest/index.php?section=instructions

happy editing and downloading.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 02:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

What a great idea that Tori Amos came up with. She's providing high resolution video clips of her new music video to download from her website. You can download all the clips and make a version of your own and enter it into the contest. Aspiring editors will be able to do what ever they want to it and make it their own. The footage has green screen all over it, so not only can you do some fun edits, you can key the green out and put your own footage, art graphics in it.

Needless to say, this sounds like a fun opportunity. Hopefully I can devote some time to do this... deadline is November 24th. Winners get an I-Pod Touch and tickets to the concert.

http://www.sonymusic.com/artists/ToriAmos/bouncingoffclouds/

happy editing!!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 03:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Earlier this week I had an amazing opportunity to attend the induction/ceremony of the Dalai Lama as a professor at Emory University. It was a really exciting experience due to many things. First they had traditional Buddhist Monks praying/chanting while they played their instruments. This lasted about 30 minutes and was calming and very interesting. Though I was really close to the front of the stage where the Dalai Lama was sitting and the monks where playing, I was able to look at two huge High Def screens to my left and right. The production people had two main HD cameras in the front of the stage shooting front left and front right. These cameras were huge bulky broadcast cameras- but I couldn't see the brand of them. Then on the stage they had two Canon XHG1's. This is the HD version of the GL-2 with SDI out. I have never seen any footage from these camera's so I was excited to be able to see what they could produce and how the footage would mix with the two high-end cameras When the show started, the director stayed on the two main cameras for a while and then started switching to the two canon's. My reaction? AMAZING. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. In fact the images were sharper, cleaner and had higher contrast than the two "Broadcast" cameras. So with these Canon's you really could have a professional live HD video shoot with these $8,000 cameras, hands down. The SDI out on these cameras really comes through. The only downside of these cameras is if you wanted to record in camera using the HDV tapes, you suffer major quality degradation. But for live shoots, these camera's are well worth the money.

The induction and lecture lasted about 2 hours and it was one of the most memorable events that I have been too. The Dalai Lama was very humble and very very funny. He just did things through out the event that made every laugh. From helping hold the microphone when the President of Emory was having trouble with his notes; to making jokes about how people should listen to him now since he is a "proffesor". His ability to connect and relate to the 4,000 attendants was something I've never experienced before. And to top it off, the video production was a pleasant and unexpected surprise.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 03:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I joined YouTube last year and posted a video for a contest that "The Fray" were holding. Since then I've been featured on the Fray's website and on youtube. It's now at 531,708 views. Needless to say, thanks for everyone viewing the video and sharing it over the internet. Though the video was originally made for a Radiohead song in 2002 (which is available to view on my website) this new version has taken a life of it's own.
So if you haven't seen it, go to Youtube to check it out. And again, thanks for stopping by and checking out my work.
P.S. Yes life has been really busy lately, but I plan to start back up with some new short films soon. Stay tuned.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

As you may know, I am a huge Sigur Rós fan. I was lucky enough to see them live in Atlanta in 2005 with my wife. She had never really listen to them before and after the concert she really caught the bug.

It was an emotional and excellent concert. Made me feel young (though i am not really old :)

So, Sigur Rós is releasing a DVD of footage of them and their homeland (Iceland) along with different concerts they performed around their. check out this trailer for it.

http://emichrysalis.co.uk/sigurros/heima/film/heima_trailer.html

Posted by Michael Shivers at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A few weeks ago I was asked by a client to create a documentary about Heart Transplant patients. It is going to be a video about what goes through their minds and really focus on the emotional aspect of getting a transplant. It sounded exciting and I was happy to do it. The next day I was asked to visit a patient who was waiting on a Heart Transplant. I have met several people in my life that have had transplants, but never like this. So I brought my gear in and set up - introduced myself and talked with the family. It was a tough time because the person had been waiting a while for a transplant and they were not sure when a heart would become available. The interviewer asked the person questions about what they were going through, what they were feeling and what they would like to do after the transplant. As I stood there staring through the view finder, I began to really look at life in a very different way. The things this person wanted so badly, I took for granted. Taking walks with my wife, playing with my daughter- all the freedoms that I forget everyday. The interview lasted about 30 minutes and as I packed my gear, the person's preacher came in to see him. It brightened everyone up having him in the room.

Several weeks went by and I wasn't really sure what was going on with the patient. The client wanted to have interviews before and after the operation and I was just hoping that I was going to get a call to come back and film. I think since that moment that I had met the patient, I just started thinking about my own life more and my own health. Just this past week I got a message saying that the person got the transplant and that they were doing really good. I was so excited for this person!! It just brought joy to my heart to know that the patient was doing good.

I went back and filmed the person yesterday and they looked so much better. I told the family that I had been thinking of them and glad that everything is ok. I set the camera up again, this time more excited and more encouraged about the situation. As the person began to talk about the experience, the wait, the family's experience, you could see life at it's grandest right in front of me. This person was fighting to live. They wanted to live. The interview lasted about 40 minutes and it was a very emotional time. The person talked about the importance of being a donor. How even if you say you want to be a donor make sure your family knows. Everyone in the family needs to be in agreement to donate. They talked about wanting to live and being so grateful to the doctors and staff. The person just really shared their thoughts and it was a great thing to for me to hear.

I hope that this documentary will help people understand heart transplant patients and what goes all into the process. I am not sure of the distribution, but I think even with this one interview, it could be really influential to people and their families who need transplants. It was for me!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 02:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My mind is starting to think in the blog format... kinda the way I post photos on flickr. Just got to find a computer when i have those thoughts.

lots of video work has been done and put to rest. excited, tired and glad that it is over. In the process of that several week fiasco, i got some reading glass. you can check my flickr blog on that.

So I've entered into the four eyed world when i am in front of the computer. Kinda weird- and still getting use to it.

As far as the video projects, I worked with the Atlanta News FOX 5 on a medical piece dealing with injecting stem cells into the heart with the outcome of revitalizing the dead cells from a heart attack. Pretty cool stuff- i shot some footage of the operation and other B-Roll stuff and they used it in their news piece.

Then I collaborated with the ACC (American College of Cardiology) and filmed some intro's and did some audio recording for a breaking news piece about Pfizer and their wonder drug torcetrapib, Pfizer's experimental pill to raise good cholesterol, touted as one of the most important medicines in a generation. Well it got yanked out of research and is going no where.
Go to http://www.cardiosource.com/ and click on the Dec. 5th video. I also shot the Dec. 8th video too.

After all that I shot some footage for a news story about the stem cell heart research video for a company (gosh totally forgot the name at the moment) that creates health news stories and then sells them to news affiliates across the country. I was helping out another videographer and the News company and asked him to get the footage from me. Do I get the short end of the stick? Probably. Do I get credit for it? Probably not. Do I care? ehh.... i guess that is how it goes in the industry. If they want more footage they'll come directly to me and I make more contacts.

Also in the midst of all the video stuff.. I am trying to revamp a few websites and trying to get a new one up for a local Swiss author. Its fun... but busy!!

anyway i'm here :)

Posted by Michael Shivers at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Music video for the song "How to Save a Life". I made this video a few years back. I recently saw howtosavealife.com website and it said to make your own video with the song. So i did some re-edits to the original video and decided to put it on YouTube.

Posted by Michael Shivers at 08:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Indeed it is. wow-- Apple came out with some cool stuff! New shuffle,Video Ipods, and nanos. Also updated Itunes 7 and a sneak peak at their new content streaming device code name I-TV. man that is going to be awsome.

I was expecting a little more- maybe I have my expectations too high lately, but over all its a good annoucement.

I mean now you can buy movies off of I-tunes and watch it! very cool. They will be a great way for independent film makers to get their content online.

Funny now that Apple is stuck with the I-Tunes name. They did change it to I-Tunes Store from I-tunes music store.

ok- i give you some feed back of itunes 7 when i can download it!

Posted by Michael Shivers at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Canon took four years to update their famed GL2 cam, but today they have: The XH G1 and XH A1. The two cameras offer a slew of new options to the prosumer, not least of which is the HD resolution offered by the HDV format. Both cams feature the same 16:9, 1/3-inch CCDs of Canon's XL H1, along with 1080i recording at 60 and 24fps and Canon's 24p-like 24f option. The XH cams nicely fill the GL2 gap, trading the XL's interchangeable lenses for size and cost savings. Both models feature 2.8-inch LCDs, 20X zoom lenses and even XLR inputs, but the XH G1 has an extra "jack pack" and a $3000 premium. What'll that three grand get you? Pro ports like HD/SD-SDI, Genlock and TC in/out that allow a serious shooter to output uncompressed HD footage for recording to another format with less compression than the consumer-ish HDV tapes.
This will be a great advantage to the folks who want to have higher quality video- but they will still have to use the camera to play the tapes which degrades the equipment over time.
The vanilla XH A1 version goes for $4000, and should be available in October, while the XH G1 will follow in November for $7000.

This is from Camcorderinfo

Posted by Michael Shivers at 11:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Walkin' the Dog


Originally uploaded by mdshivers.

Well I am sitting here after many of many revisions and I am on the final lap. Same video that i mentioned before.

So its a tedious process. Doing a lot of it in Motion and then importing it into Final Cut. But every time you make an adjustment in Motion, you have to re-import it. AHH!@!. Then re-render again. Hence thats why I am writing this write now on my laptop and my desktop is rendering away. But the little tweeks make the whole thing look good.

Less than a week now when we head to Switzerland. SO SO excited about that. We are renting a car so we can drive around and do some site seeing. I'll be taking my DSLR with me; and most likely my video camera too. Ally will be missed but in good company.

anywho- things are good with us. We are really liking our new place and its much more spacious. New additions can easily fit.



So back and forth of rendering. Such is life.

I am so excited to see so many old friends and places next week. Its a blessing that we are able to do that.

off for now ...

Posted by Michael Shivers at 05:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

All-
My life has changed. The phone is ringing off the hook. I have hired a consultant to manage my over seas accounts. I got the dog cleaned this morning. Yes its true- I made it on Channel 2 Actions Prime Time.
And how did this happen? Beauty? Inteligence? My utter grasp of the English Language? The secrets will be told in my next book. The Limelight is really blinding my preception of reality!!! I recorded the the video last night and made a still frame so you could see me. thought you all would enjoy. I'll upload the video so you all can watch.

Watch The Video

Posted by Michael Shivers at 09:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Found this article today about how the new Tim Burton's film was made. Very very interesting. It wasn't done on CGI (computer animation) but stop motion with a Canon Digital Camera and Final Cut Pro!! Wow! Check the article out and check it i theaters September 23rd
Read Here

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I wrote this to a friend the other day- thought it might be helpful for others:::::

Here is a quick suggestions. Depending
on your price range and quality you want there are
three levels.
1. Prosummer- $2000.00 and up
2.mid line $600-$1,500
3. cheaper but works. $220

You should stick with the "Mini DV" format for tape.
This is the digital standard and is much better than
Hi 8 or Digtial hi8. You transfer the info to the mac
via firewire on mini dv cameras. The software on the
computer will control the camera to tell it to play,
pause, etc.

I would recommend Canon on the top of the list. I have
been extremly pleased with them and the amount of
craftmenship that goes into their camera's.
Sony, Panisonic and JVC are also great brands.
Each camera will have its own "look". They use Charged
Couple Devies (CDD's) to convert light into Red,
Green, Blue. The better the chip and more chips you
have the more expensive the camera is.
Most mid and lower cameras have 1 CCD. That means one
chip converting Red, Green, Blue. Prosummer's have 3
chips dedicated to each color. Hence the color and
contrast will be much richer on 3ccd's cameras.
As for Canon, I prefer their camera, it has an
overall "warmer" tone to the images. Its hard to
discribe- but the images are soft, rich but also very
detailed.
1. Hi end for you- would be the Canon GL2. I bought
this camera in 2002 and its is very trusty. Also
images, prosumer- great quality, took it all around
europe- i film weddings with it etc. 785mm (20x
optical) zoom, 3ccd, light and small. It has gone
down some - probably find it for around $2,000- 2,200.
with maybe some rebates.
ps. any digtal zoom sucks. don't use it. look only for
optical.
2. There are several choices with them. The Optura XI
or the new Optura 600 look really great. Both have
great zoom's (10x optical) and are small and compact.
the Optura 600 is brand spanken new and it has a lot
of cool features. it is a hybrid, so it can also take
4.0 megapixel still images. (thats cool). It also has
true "widescreen" mode. so that it shoots in 16:9 (the
shape of the screen like movies theater and HD) and
that footage will play letterboxed on a regular TV
(4:3). So that is kinda the new cool feature to shoot
like that. Also most upper end canon's come with Image
Stabilzer- which takes the shakyness. It really works
too! Crap just read this camera is available in
september. so i don't what you think about waiting. If
not,the Optura Xi looks like a great one too. So
really look into that one too.
What you want to look at is this.
1. How many CCd's?
2. What is the effective pixel's on the one or 3
ccd's? like 350,000 blah blah. the higher the better.
3. What is the Optical Zoom.
4. the size- what to you want to carry around?
5. What is the cost? What are you going to use the
camera for? You always pay for what you get.
Canon's DV site
http://consumer.usa.canon.com

be sure to copy/paste entire link

Other costs involved with buying a camera.
1. You want to get a UV filter for the lense. This
helps protect glare, uv rays, but most importantly
protects the camera lense from scratches etc. Its the
biggest life saver. around $15-$20 bucks.
2. Tripod- pick a good one up that is light and
compact for about $40.
3. Extra batteries. (they can die so quick and you
will probably want a back up) $50-$100 depending on
the size.
4. Camera Case-gotta have it to hold all your goodies.
around $20-80.
5. Mini DV tapes. buying online you can get it for
about $3bucks a pop (i think.)
6. Once you get rolling, probably want to look into an
external harddrive for all your video clips. Video can
get pretty big. "Lacie" is a good brand. Either USB2
or firewire. ($100-$250) depending on size.
7. Possibly upgrading your software to Final Cut
Express. check out apple's website on that. I movie is
great - this just gets more advanced.

Where to buy?
Go to your local stores to check it out see if you
like it. But don't buy it there. Go to B&H Photo
Video's website. Company based out of New York- Best
deals in states. I buy all of my equipment from them
and its great. No hassle- either order online or by
phone. I spent a lot here an never had a problem. No
tax and that will save you a lot- and usually lower
than other places.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

If you want local place to get all gear go to Showcase
Video and Photo
on the corner of Cheisbrige and La Vista (right down
the street from my place.)
http://www.showcaseinc.com/site/

Posted by Michael Shivers at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here is how apple is promoting creativity in the youth. This works!
http://edcommunity.apple.com/gallery/student/

Posted by Michael Shivers at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)