Smashing Alarm Clocks In Super Slow Motion

A super slow motion concept stock video of smashing an alarm clock with a sledgehammer!

Smashing A Ringing Alarm Clock With A Hammer

Hey, who hasn’t wanted to smash a ringing alarm clock with a hammer, or better yet a sledgehammer? Well, that is exactly what I got to do, and to have it filmed at 1000 frames a second to boot (do I love this career or what)? When I got the opportunity to shoot with a Phantom HD camera to help beta test the GVS9000 VTR hardware and software to efficiently utilize this high-speed marvel I didn’t hesitate. I threw together a list of ideas, grabbed some props, pulled together a skeleton crew and undertook some super slow motion stock video clips.

One Alarm Clock, One Try

One of our first ideas to execute was the alarm clock destruction. Now as it happened I only had one alarm clock. That means we had to nail it on the first try. I accepted the challenge and responsibility of swinging the sledge (OK…the fun too). My hammer was one of the smaller, short-handled ones. We set up our lighting, a 5000K tungsten light (lower wattage lights tend to “strobe” at slow motion frame rates) filtered with a 4x8 diffusion panel, on one side, and a 4x8 sheet of foam core adding fill on the other side.

A Ringing Clapper and Killing Time

With the lighting set-up and the camera ready I took a few practice swings. When I was relatively sure I could hit the clock squarely with a good hard swing I asked my partner, Stephanie, to give me a count down. Three, Two, One…slam! I nailed it! I can’t tell you how gratifying it was to do a good job of hitting that clock! The video looked great too.  In Final Cut Pro we sped up the first part of the clip so that the clapper looked like it was ringing in real time. As soon as the hammer reached the top of the alarm clock we slowed the frame rate to 30 frames a second implementing our super slow motion.  Voila! A concept stock video about deadlines, boundaries, time issues, sleep issues…and I suppose…killing time! OK, maybe not that one.

Eight More Clocks And A Faster Frame Rate

Even though we were happy with our image we wanted to see if we could do better. Since we had the camera for several days we went out and purchased eight more clocks. You can see some of our additional efforts at stopping time (hey…another concept) by smashing alarm clocks. These additional efforts really brought out how lucky we were with that first effort. In the subsequent efforts I missed the center of some of the clocks, in one the Duracell batteries became clearly visible, in another the clock had very little action and so forth. I think the first effort was still the best, though in the next eight attempts we did move the frame rate up to 1900 frames per second.

Three Different Breaking Clock Videos And Revenue Generation

We ended up submitting three different versions. I think each of these smashing clock videos can work as a stand-alone video with a voice over, or type, and can also work as parts of other video productions as well. It will be interesting to see which one generates the most revenue. Time well tell (no pun intended).

My Introduction To Shooting Slow Motion Video

Watching a dove being released and taking flight shows the extraordinary in the ordinary that is part of the allure of shooting super slow motion video.

 Balloons, Butane, and Balls of Flame
This was a test, so I only filled the balloon about half full of butane. I ignited my long handled butane lighter, the kind you light barbecues with, and slowly advanced it to the balloon. I'm not sure if there was any sound or not, I was too fascinated by the ball of flame that engulfed my arm in a flash, then melted away leaving only the smell of burned hair, to hear it. Hmmm, I think maybe I should come up with a different way of igniting that butane filled balloon!

Slow Motion Video At 1000 Frames Per Second
David Fischer, a friend of mine and long-time still photographer and motion director, and I, were in David's studio in the middle of a slow motion video shoot. We were shooting footage using the Phantom HD High Speed video camera. This amazing camera can capture HD footage at 1000 frames per second. When the video is played back at slower rates, say 30 frames per second, you have ultra slow motion video. We were also beta testing Grand Vitesse Systems software with the new user interface and the next generation hardware of the GVS9000 2XU 444 VTR which is due to be released in January 2010.


Flight Of A Ladybug In HD
The combination of the Phantom and the GVS9000 VTR made shooting truly a breeze. The camera shoots in 4 second bursts (32 gigabytes of data) and captures continuously. This means you can set the capture time to actually start at up to, well, almost four seconds, before you hit the record button. That is hugely important when shooting action that can be impossible to predict, such as the flight of a ladybug from a finger. Before you capture a scene you can set the frame rate from 24 fps to 1000 fps, or even much higher if you don't need the HD resolution. Once you've captured your four seconds it only takes a couple of moments to play it back. A simple slider allows you to set the play back speed, which is then color-corrected and converted to the desired codec, or format, on the fly. The whole process is incredibly simple and efficient and really allowed us to focus on the creative aspects of our shoot. Like figuring out how to ignite the gas-filled balloons with out injuring ourselves!

 Phantom HD, GVS 9000, And Ease Of Use
Using the Phantom with the GVS9000 2XU 444 VTR was incredibly easy. My experience with video prior to this shoot was limited to a Panasonic HVX-200. While I have been shooting still images professionally for over thirty years, I am still very new to motion. I found using the Phantom with the GVS9000 system to actually be easier than shooting with the Panasonic!


Custom Soft Boxes And Lots Of Light
One challenging aspect of shooting ultra high-speed (slow motion) video is that of lighting. To shoot at such high frame rates requires a lot of light. Most of our clips were shot with 10,000 watts of tungsten light. Our primary light source was a custom built soft box with five 2000-watt lights mounted inside. Depending on the shot, we would sometimes throw an additional 4000 to 6000 watts of light onto the background and or add some 1000-watt lights back on the subject for a rim light or highlight effect.


 Monitor Calibration And Exposure Confidence
An important consideration is monitor calibration. The GVS 9000VTR software provides a histogram, Waveform, Vectorscope and many more options to facilitate accurate exposures. It even offers the ability to capture RAW to compressed format to see a visual difference in quality before you save your shots. Because we were using a dual monitor set up and did not go through the calibration process, the result was a rather large discrepancy between our two monitors, and resulted in a less than comfortable confidence in our exposures. It needs to be mentioned that exposure is very important when shooting with the Phantom and frequent white balancing is a good idea. Fortunately both white and black balancing are simple to execute.


 Vast Storage Capability
Another feature of the GVS9000 VTR that really helped our production efficiency is the vast storage capability in such a compact and portable unit. We were able to shoot RAW all day without interruption and without fear of running out of hard drive space. The configuration we were using featured a storage capacity of 4,000 gigabytes with hot-swappable drives and RAID level 5 protection. The GVS solution can transfer massive amounts of data at incredible speeds.

The Extraordinary In The Ordinary
Shooting with the Phantom was truly a case of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary. In one case we decided to shoot tumbling dice. I dropped a single die, from two or three inches high, onto a marble surface. I had to drop them from a low height because if the die moved an inch closer or further from the camera, we would lose our focus. The die clattered about for just an instant and stopped. David and I looked at each other, agreed that there wasn't anything exciting about that particular bit of action, but decided to play it back anyway to check focus. It was mesmerizing! The die hit the marble surface, rose up and almost out of the frame, came down with a slow, lazy spin, hit the marble popped up, and just hung there spinning for what seemed like forever. Totally cool!


Water Balloons And Woman's Hair
Whether it was a water balloon bursting and leaving a teardrop shaped body of water hanging, seemingly frozen in the air, a cat twisting to land on it's feet, or a woman's hair undulating in the wind, the Phantom allowed us to see things as we had never seen them before. The GVS9000 VTR gave us the capability to quickly see our captures and make adjustments without interruption in our flow. It is hard to stress how important that is for both our creative process and the bottom line.


Ruggedized Video Recorders And Media Management
GVS is a Leading developer and manufacturer of ruggedized digital video recorders (VTR) and media management for the broadcast, defense, digital cinema, post production, and live event. Utilizing their broad experience they have created a series of configurations including complete hardware and software systems that are self-contained in industrial flypack cases.

If you have an interesting project that you would like to try out on the 9000VTR, you can contact GVS directly at 415-777-0320 or online at www.gvsf.com.

This slow motion experience is a great example of my approach to stock video (read more here), that shooting video for stock makes sense if you have passion for what your shooting, and/or you can take advantage of an appropriate still shoot by adding video, or as in this case, an unusual opportunity presents itself.

Stock Video vrs. Stock Stills

Disclaimer: The idea and the derriere were provided by my partner Stephanie Roeser!

Stock Video Plans In 2010
Recently I was asked what my plans for video, specifically stock video, are for the coming year. I have to say that most of my intention for video, at least for the foreseeable future, is wait and see. In 2009 I submitted close to two hundred clips to my already existing fifty or so clips with Getty Images. Getty has put up about a hundred of those clips thus far, and I expect probably another thirty to fifty clips will go up in the coming months. The new clips were all slow motion videos shot with a Phantom HD camera at 1000 frames per second. To rent the equipment for shooting those clips would run around $5,000.00 a day, but I was fortunate enough to be able to use the equipment as part of a beta-testing project for GVS Systems and their GVS 9000 2XU 444 VTR hardware/software set up for capturing vast quantities of data at very high through put rates.

No Photoshop, No Room For Mistakes, Less Production
This Phantom shoot is a perfect example of how I intend to pursue stock video. When the right situations come along I will take advantage of them. I do not plan on investing in stock video the same way I approach stills. With video there is not room for mistakes, I can’t save things in Photoshop, and I get a lot less done. The editing process is slower too. So for the same amount of effort I produce a lot less video material than I can with stills.

Fewer Sales, And A Passion For The Single Image
From what I can gather about my own motion sales, and the sales made be others I am in touch with, videos still do not return as much as stills. Sure, a clip can sell for a lot, but at least with my own experience, there are way fewer sales. There is a lot of hype about the exploding use of video, and lots of excitement about even greater use with hardware developments like tablets and so forth. Everywhere you turn video is being used; on gas station pumps, on cell phones, in the bank while you stand in line for a teller. But I have little faith that I know what to shoot, and that I can do as god a job as people who are either video pros or have a passion for it. My passion is still for the single image.

Limited Stock Productions
I have truly enjoyed shooting the slow motion video. Heck, for that I might even have a so-called passion. But it still doesn’t make financial sense for me to pursue it. A year from now I might know whether shooting more of it will be worth while; but at the current cost of shooting truly slow motion video, and until I get some idea of the returns, I just can’t see diving in any further. If you do have a passion for video, then I would recommend adding it into still shoots for which it would be appropriate. If you intend to add video to your assignment work, then that might be another reason to engage in at least some limited stock productions.

Submission of Video Material Is Exploding
Another factor for me to consider is that the submission of video material is exploding. Getty sent me an email explaining that in the last several months they have become overwhelmed with submissions…from hundreds of clips a month to thousands. I bet the same thing is happening in micro as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if the supply of video is now burgeoning much faster than the demand!

Cool Slow Motion Clips
At any rate, if the right situation, or the right shoot comes up, I will engage in some video production. But as far as planning on shooting video in 2010…it is a wait and see game for me. In the meantime, check out some of the cool slow motion clips that I shot with my video partners Stephanie Roeser and David Fischer. I have only uploaded a fraction of them, but will continue to upload them, so check back from time-to time!

Dangerous Moments In Stock Photography

Dangerous Moments in Photography

I have been lucky. I have seldom been hurt during a shoot. But there have been some close calls, and, yes, I have suffered a few injuries. This is the story of one of those injuries, and let it be a warning and a wake up call to all my fellow photographers.

It began innocently enough. I was given a chance to beta test a software/hardware interface for shooting with a Phantom HD, a high speed video camera, by GVS Systems. It was a chance I couldn't refuse, as those puppies run about $5,000.00 a day to rent (with comparable software and hardware set ups). I arranged to work with friend and fellow photographer David Fischer. We were shooting in David's studio, a spacious, South of Market concrete building in San Francisco.

It had been a long day. We had covered a lot of ground shooting everything from tossing salads to water splashes to even balloons filled with propane gas. I had a near miss that morning when my first attempt at igniting a balloon filled with propane flared up a tad more vigorously than I had planned, but there were no lingering ill effects save for the smell of burned hair that permeated the studio through the rest of the day.

No, my injury didn't come from playing with propane. It was, as I have mentioned, at the end of the day. We were doing the last shoot (isn't always the last shoot?). It was an extreme close up of a soda can...and I was opening the pop top. Can you picture in ultra slow motion (1000 frames per second) the top being pulled off, the blast of spray and fizz, followed by a surge of frothing liquid? Not! The first shot produce a mere wisp of vapor. For the second attempt I shook the can before opening. A hiccup of vapor and a few bubbles popped out. Hmmmm, this time I shook the can more vigorously and even pounded it a couple of times on the counter top. Now we were getting somewhere! A healthy spritz of foam followed by a small geyser of foam bubbling out.

Now part of the problem was that I hadn't really anticipated the soda shot. It was just something we thought of at the last moment. We only had a few cans, and now only one was left. This one had to be good. No, it had to be great! I shook the can, then I shook it some more. I pounded it on the counter. I squatted down to the floor and pounded it on the hard concrete.

Suddenly, the can sprang a leak! Our last can! But there was still time! I leapt to my feet in an attempt to get the can in position and rip off the top. Well, I tried to leap to my feet. Instead, my feet slipped on the floor, slick from the stream of fluid shooting from the ruptured can. Now it wasn't the camera shooting in slow motion, but rather my vision of myself as my momentum brought me to a waist high horizontal position, where it felt like I hung for just a moment, before slamming to the floor. I lay there, struggling to catch my breath, half wondering how many bones I had broken and half being aware of the wetness spreading across my body from the still spurting can.

Hey, it hurt like hell and it took me three days before I could walk comfortably again!

Unexpected Revelations of Beauty and Grace

I have spent the last week learning Final Cut Pro and getting started editing some 500+ clips shot with the Phantom HD high-speed video camera. The camera can shoot 1000 frames a second at HD resolutions. The results can be truly mesmerizing. Thankfully, editing the clips for stock is relatively simple. Nonetheless, learning to use “four point garbage mattes”, 3-way color correction filters, and Time Lines has been a bit challenging. But all of it is worthwhile when I get to view a few seconds of unexpected beauty and grace. For one such moment check out the video at the bottom of this post.

The opportunity to shoot with the Phantom came about because over the years I have had a close working relationship with GVS systems, a Leading developer and manufacturer of ruggedized digital video recorders and media management for the aerospace, broadcast, defense, digital cinema, post production, and sports worlds. They needed a beta tester for an elegant solution they have come up with for the challenges of shooting with the Phantom. Their software/hardware solution (GVS9000 2XU 444 VTR) is capable of dealing with the huge quantities of data captured by the camera (32 gigabytes every 4 seconds) in a simple and efficient way.

This was demonstrated to me dramatically when I went on line and checked for alternate Phantom workflows. In one forum I read this:

Download the cine files to harddrive and use Gluetools (Mac) / Phantom Control Software (PC) to mov file in lower resolution workable format for offline. Once edit is locked use Iridas FrameCycler Pro / SpeedGrade HD to conform the edl with Cine files. Iridas products can access cine files directly. The other option is using Gluetools you can relink the offline files with Cine files and then directly export as DPX log frames (settings needs to be done in system preference based on various options and choice) and then take back to Color Grading and output your work to TV / Film.

Phew! I am reminded of what a novice I truly am…and how simple the world of stock clips is. With the GVS workflow we captured the scene, then were able to view the results within seconds at whatever frame rate we wanted. If we liked those results, we “clicked” on “capture” and the raw footage was converted to Pro Res QuickTime movies and saved to the hard drive on the fly, again in only a few seconds. Now I am editing those QuickTime movies in Final Cut pro.

The simple workflow allowed us to focus on coming up with and capturing what David Fischer, the photographer I was collaborating with, called the “unexpected revelation”. Over the coming weeks, I will combine learning Final Cut Pro with narrowing those 500 clips down to the fifty or sixty best. Those clips will then be submitted to stock agencies and go up on my site.

I am not sure yet how large a role video will play in my stock future. But this brief foray is proving alluring. I have enjoyed collaborating with other photographers in the shooting stage. Learning Final Cut, while a bit challenging, does feel good. I guess if I could shoot with that Phantom all the time it would be a no brainer. It feels more akin to the concept images I make in stills…and when we find one of those “revelations”, well, it just doesn’t get much better than that!