OTL Productions

Q:  What equipment do you use to film and edit?

A:  We use two DSLR cameras:  a Canon T3i  and a Canon 6D – mounted depending on circumstances on one of two counterweighted stabilizer systems: a Steadicam Merlin, or a Steadicam Pilot.  Our cameras are fitted with either a 24mm prime lens or an 11-16mm wide angle lens.  We use Adobe Premiere Pro CS5.5 and Final Cut Pro X to edit our videos.

Q:  I was at an event you filmed, but didn’t see my scenes in your videos.  How come?

A:  Most likely because we messed up during the filming process, and the resulting video clips were too shaky, out of focus, or too dark.  Sometimes we run out of time during the length of a song to feature everyone, in which case the extra footage will be saved, then used in our annual cosplay compiliation videos.

Q:  I’m interested in making videos.  What equipment would you recommend?

A:   Bear in mind two essential considerations:

1. Camera cost is proportional to light sensitivity.  Every camera delivers beautiful video under bright sunlight.  If you want high quality video in the shade, or indoors, you’ll need to pay extra for this capability.
2. Stabilizer cost is proportional to stability and ease-of-use.  Every stabilizer works well if you move at a snail’s pace on a windless day.  If you want to accelerate or need stability under windy conditions, you’ll need to pay extra for this flexibility.

We believe that a good cost-performance “sweet spot” exists at around the $600-$800 price point, each, for a video-capable DSLR camera and a stabilizer.  Any system built from components in this price range should be adequate for a majority of amateur videography projects.

Q:  What’s the learning curve for this equipment?

A:  Stabilizer systems are all about touch, feel, and timing.   It’s like learning to play a musical instrument.  You can make noises on day one, but the results will likely be somewhat unpleasant.

We recommend setting a personal expectation of 60 hours of practice, to establish a satisfactory level of competency with any stabilizer-based videography system.

Q:  I can’t get the same look in my finished video, what specific camera settings are you using?

A:  Our Camera Settings:

• Video mode of 720p at 60 frames per second.
• Sharpness 2, Contrast -4, Saturation +1, Color Tone 0.
• Shutter speed of 1/125 to 1/250.
• ISO 100 (sunlight) to ISO 800 (indoors).
• Aperture of F4 or higher for dynamic shots;  F2.8 for close-up static pose work.
• Focus using Quick Focus at the point of closest approach to the subject.
• White balance on auto unless there’s a big blotch of solid color in the shot, in which case we flip to whatever manual WB setting looks about right in the display.

Our Video Editing Settings:

• Editing timeline set to 25 fps.
• All footage interpreted to 50 fps.
• All footage used at either 100% or 50% speed, nothing else.  (To avoid frame stutter.)  Slow motion is achieved by selecting 50% speed.
• Brightness and contrast adjustment using RGB parade display.
• White balance using eyedropper tool in Fast Color Corrector.
• All footage has Unsharp Mask applied, default settings.  Where necessary, higher amounts of sharpening are applied to compensate for soft focus.
• Audio gain normalized so max peak is -3 dB.

Q:  How do you achieve smooth-looking slow motion?

A:  The technique is to film a scene at a faster frame rate than called for in the final video, and to then play back that scene at the slower frame rate.  This achieves “true” slow motion without any lost information.

We film everything at 60 frames per second, but our final videos use a playback frame rate of 25 frames per second.  The difference between these two is the true slow motion percentage that can be achieved.

It’s also feasible to use software to interpolate missing frames required for true slow motion, but this requires some crisp (non-blurry) footage, and software that can do a decent job at guessing what the intermediate frames ought to be.  We film ultra slow-motion takes at shutter speeds of 1/500th or faster, and then use After Effects.

Q:  These random cosplay pose videos are okay, but why don’t you make videos with more of a storyline, or use cool special effects?

A:  We don’t have enough time.  Even the simple videos we currently make take about 20 hours to prepare, film, and edit.  We do know how to craft storyline and special effect heavy videos, but the time commitments are severe, and in excess of what we can currently allocate to this hobby.

Q:  What’s needed for more complex video projects?

A:  Planning and preparation.  A team that wants to succeed at more complex projects needs to do the following:

1. Create a scene-by-scene shooting script that clearly identifies camera framing and movement requirements;
2. Scout shoot locations, lay out (block) all scenes, and obtain filming permission from all site owners; and
3. Draft a detailed and realistic shoot schedule, that includes travel times.

In our experience, teams that don’t do the above typically run out of time on their filming day, and don’t have enough video footage to realize their vision for the end product.

Q:  Would you be willing to work on a collaborative project?  Or could you make a video of me, or someone that I know, or of some event that I’m associated with? 

A:  While we welcome all project ideas, bear in mind that our specialization is in working the camera and video editing.  Not in scriptwriting, location scouting, scheduling, or logistics .

Depending on how busy we are with other things, we’ll generally try and help out with all projects, however, Individuals and teams that are willing to do the scriptwriting etc. are more likely to get us on-board, compared to teams that expect us to do all the prep work.

The scenes you want to shoot also need to be feasible, given the equipment that we have.  My camera performs poorly under low-light conditions, and none of our equipment is weather- or water- resistant.

Q:  I was at an event you filmed.  Can I have the footage you filmed of me, or of others?

A:  We can’t release any footage filmed on-site at an event or convention without the consent of that event’s organizers.  We also need the consent of any foreground subjects that were in the shot.  If you get written permission (email is fine) then we’re good to go.

If you only need a few short clips (small file sizes) then we can probably exchange them using a web-based file sharing mechanism, such as Dropbox.  Otherwise you’ll need to hand us a portable data storage device and we’ll copy over what you need.

Q:  Can I borrow or rent your videography equipment?

A:  Sorry, we don’t lend or rent out our gear.

Q:  Can I hire you to do a paid job?

A:  We don’t do paid work, since we don’t have the accreditation or the business framework to cover the associated liabilities.  But if you’re based in Calgary and have a non-steadicam based video project that could really benefit from one or two critical steadicam shots, contact us.  We may be able to volunteer an hour or two of our time to help out.

Q:  How can I contact you?

A:  Please do not message us on any local convention forums, Deviantart, cosplay.com, etc. Although we maintain a presence on these sites, we don’t check them often.  Instead, send us a message by any of the following methods.

1. Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/OTLProductions
2. YouTube:  http://www.youtube.com/Andalantie
3. E-mail:  practicalwang@gmail.com