Abandoned glass factory video (7D)

[rustyjaw]

NOTE: I posted this in the "video" area, but then I noticed that it is part of the "knowhow" section, not the "photo sharing" section. It's unclear where you should post videos to share. I'm assuming this section is more appropriate since its about sharing, so I'll post it here too. Sorry for the redundant posts.

EDIT: The video is now streamable on Vimeo, in 720p: http://vimeo.com/9164713

The last two weekends I've made trips to an abandoned glass factory to shoot video with my 7D. The first trip, I brought a DIY stabilizer and was unhappy with the results. A few people I showed it to said they felt nauseous while watching it!

So I bit the bullet and bought a Steadicam Merlin. I still have a lot to learn about using the Merlin properly, but it's a huge improvement over the DIY one. This was my first trip out with the Merlin, so I think my skills will improve over time. There are so many things to think about at the same time; walking speed, footstep placement, hand position, pan position, wobble, composition.

All the moving shots in this were shot with the Merlin except for one. It was shot during the first trip when it was raining and I felt that even though it's quite shaky it was an important clip to keep. I'd be curious if others think it should be removed or not.


Glass House v4 (http://www.rustyjaw.com/movs/glass_house4.mov) (56MB, 5min., quicktime)

http://www.rustyjaw.com/movs/glass_house.jpg (http://www.rustyjaw.com/movs/glass_house4.mov)

[recrisp]

PERFECT!
I loved every minute of it, it was mesmerizing, to say the least, down to the "last drop"...
The Merlin did pretty well, I'd say, I didn't see your DIY one to compare, but it's a professional quality, and it kept my attention.

I loved the last few drips, that was done very well... :)

Congratulations on a job well done!

Randy

[randerson07]

Wonderful. The parts of you walking down hall ways and what not felt like first person shooters in real life, Awesome stuff. The music and sounds are perfect as well.

[Stargazerfrank]

Great Video reminds me of the haunted Sloss Furnace steel mill in Birmingham AL. I hadn't been there yet but seen some video's that are kinda creepy like yours. Thanks for sharing.

[-AP-]

I totally enjoyed that.. Nice..!!
What a treasure of a location. Do you know the history of it?

Kenny..

[risingwolf]

that was great. amazing quality. What lens did you use?

[Todd Lambert]

Nice stuff. I like it alot, the music definitely sets the mood too.

I shot some footage when I first got my 5D2 at the Struthers Plant in Gulfport, as it has a similar look and feel as this place.

I love abandoned sites... totally awesome.

Thanks for posting. 8-)

[rustyjaw]

Wow, thanks for all the kind words! I appreciate it. :-)

recrisp, the DIY section is the short side-pan shot of the rain pouring into the space, it's got a lot of side-to-side jerkiness.

randerson07 thanks! I chose the music after editing most of it, but it fit so well with visuals I knew it was the right audio to accompany the video. A lot of the drip sounds are actually part of the music, as are the rapid tapping sounds that resemble rain falling on metal. I did let the ambient audio play 'under' the music as well, but that was all recorded with the 7D built-in mic, in mono...I'll need to buy a real mic at some point.

Stargazerfrank that sounds like an interesting place. I was thinking of making a springtime trip to Texas to check out some places...Alabama's not THAT much further.

-AP- It was an Anchor Glass Containers plant, it was bought by Owens-Brockway in the 90's and then closed in 1997. I don't know when the plant was built however.

risingwolf Most of it was shot with the Canon 10-22mm, the shots that shift focus were shot with the Sigma 30 1.4.

Todd Lambert I hope to shoot more video in abandonments. It's a great way to convey the feeling of exploring a place.

[rustyjaw]

risingwolf I forgot, I also used the 70-200 f4 for two tripod shots, one of the closeups of rain on the catwalk, and the zoomed roof shot where the hail is bouncing around, if that makes any sense.

[TekHouse]

Awesome.

Can I ask a question, how are you focusing? It looks like its set at a certain depth and then you walked about with the moving stuff, i.e. in manual focus mode?. Might be a dumb question but I have a 40D only and it can't do video obviously.

[macgruder]

Wow, that video was amazing, had me sucked in the whole time. Great job with this. Cant wait to see more.

[rustyjaw]

Awesome.

Can I ask a question, how are you focusing? It looks like its set at a certain depth and then you walked about with the moving stuff, i.e. in manual focus mode?. Might be a dumb question but I have a 40D only and it can't do video obviously.

Because the 7D (and all DSLRs with video, AFAIK) doesn't auto-focus well while shooting, I pre-focus all the shots (using "Quick Mode" on the 7D which uses the AF points for focusing, but interrupts live view for a moent). In some cases, this means focusing at infinity before I start to move. In other cases. If I know the shot will zero in on some particular object, I prefocus that at the planned distance and try to walk the same path again (if that makes sense).

The tripod mounted shots where the focus shifts are done manually, with as light a touch as I can muster. Even so, you can see movement in most of those shots as I move the focus ring.

[TekHouse]

I looked at those rigs and wonder if I could make one..? I am pretty sure buying one will not be a popular purchase with the Mrs.

[canonloader]

A really nice video. My only suggestion is next time, upload a streaming format like MPEG, to do away with the long download deadtime.

[rustyjaw]

I looked at those rigs and wonder if I could make one..? I am pretty sure buying one will not be a popular purchase with the Mrs.

I completely understand, I thought the price of the Merlin was outrageous, so I went with a DIY design. But the results were so disappointing that I started to see the Merlin in a different light.

IMO, it's probably overpriced when you consider the materials, but the thing really works well. It has the feeling of an instrument that takes time and practice to truly master.

A really nice video. My only suggestion is next time, upload a streaming format like MPEG, to do away with the long download deadtime.

Oh sorry about that. FWIW, I put it up on Vimeo today, so it can be streamed in 720p.

http://vimeo.com/9164713

[CRE@TE]

Excellent!