Video Production Notes

(1) Link to my YouTube channel









Post-Script: Despite the limitations of the iOS/iMovie platform, and the occasional frustration working around the Apple/Google imbroglio, I find it very liberating from the old model of video editing on a PC with some editing software that typically requires the resources of some online discussion forum in order to learn from others those special ways of working around the inevitable glitches and bugs that seem intrinsic to Window-based editing software. Neither have I ever had to reboot or restart the iPad2/iMovie platform; it's very stable and bug-free, something that attracted me to these devices in the first place.

The "update" from iOS version 5 to version 6 seemed to add some further difficulty, making it less glitch-free and requiring some creative work-arounds when doing seemingly innocuous tasks like commenting to other bloggers, like having to compose a comment first in the Notes app, then copy/pasting the comment directly into the blog's comment field - it seems the iOS update is very buggy around deleting/editing text in a comment field. And having an older hardware platform like the iPad2, I've decided not to "upgrade" to iOS 8, as reports from the experience of others indicates my tablet lacks the performance to adequately run the new OS.

Typecast via Smith-Corona Silent.

Some Time Off

Post-Script: I must say, this Smith-Corona Silent continues to impress me the more I use it. For one, I've found it very easy to touch-type upon, due to its snappy feel. Then too, my brother made mention during the Christmas Eve gathering of its nice action. Even the carriage return lever seems to be engineered to be at just the right position for easy access. Further reinforcement that beauty is more than skin deep, as I recall my disparaging remarks in a previous entry about its rather drab colors.

The top image is a scan of a paper negative image from the Speed Graphic, at Phil Chacon Park. Typecast via Smith-Corona Silent.

Bonus Images: (From today's outing with Lumix G5 and yellow filter, converted to monochrome in Silky Pix.)













And some color photos from earlier this week:

Going, Going ... Gone?

(1) Guild Cinema link

Post-Script: I would encourage all those of you out there in the Typosphere who are blessed by the presence of local typewriter shops whose proprietors understand and appreciate the Insurgency to do your best to give them your business, and participate in any and all social gatherings there might be. You may not appreciate how blessed you are; while those of us out here in the hinterlands and badlands have to get by the best we can.

I'm still awaiting the resurgence of an underground VHS tape movement, but am not holding my breath. Although I've recently unearthed boxes of old tapes from storage, and am enjoying them in all their quaint technological glory.

I did the preliminary writing of this piece using the BAROP and typewriter outside in the cold air and warm sun of my front porch; double-spaced, the rough draft was about six feet long - not quite worthy of Kerouac, but I gave it my best. My wife commented "What are your writing, War and Peace?"

Photos via Lumix G5 and Vivitar 24mm lens in Minolta MD mount; typecast via Smith-Corona Silent.

Smith-Corona Silent Night

(1)Aztec Motel Link
(2)Humble Coffee link
Post-Script: I'm not even sure I felt this one coming, like the Typewriter Bone kept silent (in keeping with the machine's name), just for added holiday surprise. I'd say the condition of this one is near-pristine, the only issues of note being: the ribbon vibrator intermittently hanging up a bit when switching from red back to black; the imprint of some characters are not as bold as I'd like; and the letters don't all line up evenly. But not bad for the age which, according to the serial number as referenced on the Typewriter Database, dates it to 1949. The feel of the keyboard is really excellent, one of the best in my collection. The touch control had been set to "L" (low), but I increased it to "4".

On the way home, after coffee, I stopped in at John Lewis's Business Systems to get a new red/black ribbon, and found out that Brown & Smith, the only other typewriter shop in the city, is now out of business.

Photo via Lumix G5 (sitting atop my workshop stool under the backdoor awning, a gentle winter rainstorm adding to the seasonal gloominess); typecast via Smith-Corona Silent.

Distant Horizons Beyond

Post-Script: I'm blessed to live in this high desert climate, where a person can enjoy the wide open spaces in relative comfort even on a cool December's day (although the wind was a bit cold, bringing the chill factor down to the 30s, and the air is extremely dry, what we in these parts call the "lotion season").

Photos via Lumix G5, typecast via Olivetti Lettera 22.

Bonus Images:

The Great Calendar Caper

(1) Link

Post-Script: Of course, I'm still open to the possibility of finding just the right kind of 2015 typewriter calendar.

It was informative to see, during my online search, the plethora of calendars out there, few of which piqued my interest. There are litters of cat calendars (cute cats, mean cats, fluffy cats, etc.); kennels of dog calendars (cute dogs, ugly dogs, dogs in motorcycle sidecars, dogs with jowls flapping in the wind, etc.); garage-fulls of car calendars (classic cars, sports cars, muscle cars, etc.); garden-fulls of flower calendars (enough to turn off the most strident of flower lovers); Dilbert calendars; Game of Throne calendars; babes in bikinis (or in nothing at all) calendars.

Typecast via Olivetti Lettera 22.

Between Then and Now

Post-Script: I've worked in this medium so infrequently this year that when I do so it seems to become a noteworthy event, at least for me. I do have a homemade 8"X10" camera with which I can create much larger paper negative images, but the camera is a beast to carry, not intended for portability at all. Perhaps I need to work on building a lighter, more compact field version.

Typecast via Olivetti Lettera 22. The title I typed after the main body of the text. Only while typing the title did the capital letters become imprinted as descenders. Up until now, I've thought the machine was at fault, but now I realize this happens because I'm typing the title so close to the top edge of the paper that the paper bale can't hold the edge down against the platen roller, causing the imprint to strike too early.

Bonus Image:

A Bit More Human

Post-Script: It was really an unexpected pleasure to meet these rather eclectic fellows and spend some time listening and talking. This is another example of why I continue to return, time and again, to this most bohemian of coffee shops (for my town) miles from my own neighborhood; you never know what awaits discovery.

The little Fujifilm X10 continues to surprise me once again with its image quality. I like to use the camera in the EXR Dynamic Range 400 mode, producing JPEG files that are a combination of two exposures, one balanced for the shadows and the other balanced for the highlights. I will apply a bit of levels and curves adjustment afterward in SilkyPix.

Typecast via Olivetti Lettera 22. No skipping problems today, which sums up my suspicion that these all-mechanical devices prefer to be used rather than let sit idle.

Behold, the iBox

iBox Details:
Looking into the viewing window at the tablet's screen, set to the Hipstamatic app. The shutter button is to the right of the window, while a cardboard glare shield/cover is flipped up to its deployed position.

The rear box lid removed. The iPad is held in place on the left under a block of wood, hot-glued to the box, while the two black rectangles of foam core board on the right are velcroed into place. The on-screen shutter button for Hipstamatic is the bright yellow circle to the right of the viewfinder; this gets touched by the shutter button rod. If using the iPad's normal camera app, the image would cover the entire screen. The tablet's power button is on the upper left-hand edge, accessed by a narrow hole cut in the box, covered in gaffer's tape.

The box's front. The pretend pinhole lens is hot-glued to the middle (it's a functional pinhole lens board for my Speed Graphic), while the iPad's camera lens peers through the hole in the upper right corner. The upper left corner had a washer taped down with gaffer's tape, in an attempt to conceal the real lens.

The shutter button, to the right of the viewing window. It's a 1/4-20 carriage bolt, with washer and spring to keep its other end away from the tablet screen. The cardboard sun shield can be seen in its deployed position above the viewing window.

The reverse side of the rear lid, showing the internals of the shutter button mechanism. The end of the bolt has a T-nut, interference fit to a regular nut. Pressing the head of the bolt with one's bare fingers causes the flat end of the T-nut to touch the iPad screen at the Hipstamatic shutter button location, transferring the capacitance to the screen when it touches, causing the iPad to trigger the camera shutter. The white Fujifilm canister is hot-glued into place as a guide for the bolt.

Test Images: I'm using the Hipstamatic app with the Tintype film style and Lowy lens effect in these images. While it's nominally monochrome, this combination provides some random bronze tone to certain parts of the images, an interesting effect.












Post-Script: Typecast via Olivetti Lettera 22.