befourcreative's ramblings...

Show off your business through the words of your satisfied customers! From £1400 complete film.

Testimonial films are a brilliant way to let your happy customers sing your praises. No scripts, no actors, just genuine comments from real customers. See how you could utilise a testimonial film for your business over at our brand new website!

We're shooting complete films from £1400. If you have a film requirement and you'd like some advice then don't hesitate to get in touch with us, we don't bite!

here's a recent testimonial shot for our good friends at Alliance Wine.

Testimonial Films
Product Films
Event Films
Training Films
Animated Films
Internal Communications
Toursim Films
Documentary Films
Viral Films

Sliding across the world has ended with us Gliding a mere stones throw to Paisley. All thanks to @Glidetrack

Luke and I have been utilising a slider for a film shoot recently which has led to much discussion over purchasing one of our very own for Befour Creative. After countless hours researching and reading reviews we have come all the way home to a Scottish company based in Paisley! Just a stones throw away. The company is Glidetrack(Most aptly named!) and the slider we have our eyes on is the Glidetrack HD Hybrid Slider. (http://www.glidetrack.com/glidetrack-hybrid-slider.html)
Glidetrack HD Hybrid Slider

Featuring sliding and rolling bearings it looks very, very smooth and the videos online only hint at it's potential! The legs allow it to be balanced on any surface and combined with a Manfrotto 701 HDV fluid head (which is very reasonably priced!) we'll have ourselves a quality piece of equipment which will be portable, versatile and provide our clients with tons of value!

With the slider we were using, I have also been experimenting with using it as a make shift camera Crane!!! With the slider plated to my beasting Vinten fluid head at the very end of the rails with the camera mounted to the 701 at the other, it forms a very simple yet effective camera crane! Believe me it is really amazing! Takes some amount of control but it works a treat! Check, check, check it out for yourselves!
This coupled with the Blackmagic Cinema Camera due to be shipping at the end of July it will be a truly awesome set up!

Keep on filming!

BefourCreative.com gets a facelift!

Time for a website overhaul.

We've been meaning to get around to sorting out the website for a while now. It turned out that not enough people had the insight to 'scroll down'. So we've fixed this problem now. And in the words of the great Napoleon himself* 'Et Viola!"

More video, less clutter. We make films, that's what we do!

Have a look around if you get a moment.

Next stop. Barcode!

(* may not be factually accurate)

Luke Yerbury


New Prometheus Trailer. Ridley Scott gives Alien the prequel treatment.

I remember watching the Alien trilogy when I was younger and being truly terrified. When Alien: Resurrection was released I was impressed with the CGI, but little else. It lacked the charm of the previous 3. I think there's something to be said for the creativity used to grow fear in your audience through suspense and intrigue rather than throwing it in their face via impressive 3D modeling. The first 2 films are far more scary that Alien 3 and Resurrection put together.

The trailers and teasers have been coming out gradually over the past few months, and with the slow trickle of information building up it's looking like an impressive prequel to say the least. I just hope it lives up to my massively high expectations!

"Ridley Scott, director of "Alien" and "Blade Runner," returns to the genre he helped define. With PROMETHEUS, he creates a groundbreaking mythology, in which a team of explorers discover a clue to the origins of mankind on Earth, leading them on a thrilling journey to the darkest corners of the universe. There, they must fight a terrifying battle to save the future of the human race."

See it here. Awesome.

Luke Yerbury

befour creative

I keep thinking we should have some sort of grip checklist... Now we do!

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Every time we're on shoot, something happens, and we need some random item to fix said problem! 75% of the time Fynn is resourceful enough to have packed what's we need, but until now the list of trinkets we need on set has remained unwritten. Then I read this...

http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/04/the-38-things-every-photographer-needs-in-hi...

Duct tape, electrical tape, masking tape, cable ties, clamps, markers, lens cloths, tape measure, Stanley knife, leatherman, it's all there.

Next time you pack your kit up, make sure you have a glance over this list first.

Luke

www.befourcreative.com

Smaller DSLR's shooting HD is great, but what if you need production value too? How about this...

There's something nice about having a camera rigged up old school style. Shoulder mount, big old focus ring, mic all jammed up ready for a force 10. Brilliant.

I love the fact that we can shoot full HD with lovely primes at a fraction of the price we used to pay only 10 years ago, but I miss the features of a camera build for the industry. We're getting closer to making a compact HD camera that takes decent lenses and provides a decent workflow, but there's still so much missing! Audio, matt boxes, follow focus, rails... to name but a few. 
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The only problem I have with a rig like this is that it doesn't feature a single hand strap on the right hand side, because, as anyone with two hands will tell you, when they're both employed holding onto those two handles you're not left with many options in terms of focus and alike!

I think there's some sort of happy medium with this rig to help make DSLR filming more user friendly.

Luke



befour creative

Could this be the excuse we've been waiting for to buy a new iPad? I think so!

Teleprompters are one of those things we expect to only see used for broadcast news and live TV shows, but in fact, there's been a good few occasions during shoots where a telepromter would have proved invaluable.

Don't get me wrong, I think with some careful construction using various bits and bobs (rails/mounts/hoods/plate glass) I think we could construct one of these things, but for £350 I don't think you can go wrong. Plus, it TOTALY gives us the go-ahead to buy a shiny new iPad to play with!

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Blackmagic Cinema Camera- A game changer? Lets not just wait and see http://tinyurl.com/bnktem3

Thank you Blackmagic!
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We are always looking for ways of acquiring the best kit for our projects at an affordable price to ensure instant access with the best results for our clients…our next step will be the Blackmagic Cinema Camera. The advent DSLR's has made all the difference in creating quality images at an affordable price. Bui now, Blackmagic have released their debut camera. The Blackmagic Cinema Camera. Unveiled at NAD 2012 and without getting too technical (as, if you are interested you will know where to look), It blows DSLR's out of the water for a similar price to the new 5D mk III. With huge dynamic range between lights and darks, and a massive image sensor it will be amazing and a real game changer.

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To read more, see some test footage and some chat from NAB have a look here: http://www.cinema5d.com/news/?p=10835

Say hello to the future….today.

360º Video shot from your iPhone? Kickstarter providing creative film solutions once again!

We've been discussing some options for shooting 360º film here at Befour Creative for some time, and we're working towards getting something set up for our clients very soon, but this throws another option into the mix!
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My thoughts are this; 360º film shot using a single lens adapter for your iPhone is a great idea, but I can't help but to think that for true film use and HD output, maybe some sort of lens made using a canon mount (fitted to the new upcoming 4K canon) would be unstoppable! 

Make it happen kickstarter! (I want 25% for my idea, thankyou.)

Luke



befour creative

Test shoot this afternoon with the 5D mk III...stunning! And get to shoot all next week with it!:)

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Just finished shooting some test footage and photography with the 5D mk III with the most well spoken camera operator you'll find...the Gav Man!

Stunning full frame images, needing a slight sharpening filter in post as per Mr Blooms findings to bring them up to their best. Due to all canons work to hammer out a bit of the moire and aliasing issues.

Anyone who loves cameras will know what o mean when I describe the 5D mk III as sexy.

Audio out! and live monitoring! Boom! Enough said while on a bus ;)

More photos to come!


Fynn

befour creative

www.befourcreative.com