This is a short test of FCPX shot in Binh Thanh, HCMC. http://youtu.be/bvRanpDyJj8
A Vietnamese Meal
An extraordinary meal at lunchtime served at Quan 95, a restaurant in Binh Thanh District, Ho Chi Minh City. Cost - $6.00 USD. Care to guess how much this would run in the States? http://youtu.be/jP6HA_i3SSY
Vung Tau, Crane Test
I went to Vung Tau over the three-day weekend and had a chance to try out my new cine hand jib, an adjustable hand crane from the folks at Cinecity. It'll take a lot of practice to steady the gizmo, but I'll be able to get some shots I wouldn't have been able to do... Continue Reading →
30/4 Park Revisited
I recently added a new tool to my arsenal - a handheld stabilizer that goes simply by the name of Hand Held. I have no idea where it's manufactured. The Freefly MōVI it is not, but then again, it doesn't carry a $15,000 price tag either. It's elegantly crafted from brushed aluminum (no plastic!), with leather for... Continue Reading →
30/4 Park
What an ordeal it was trying to upload this video to YouTube! First of all, Apple's QuickTime only allows videos of up to 15 minutes to be uploaded to YouTube, and the clip is almost 24 minutes long. Then, when I tried using YouTube's own uploader instead, I had to verify my account, but when... Continue Reading →
Test: RØDE Stereo VideoMic Pro
Most experienced filmmakers will tell you that sound is 50 percent of filmmaking. If the sound is poor, the wisdom goes, your video isn't going to be watched. I don't know whether this is borne out in actuality however, because to the best of my knowledge, most videos posted to YouTube by non-professionals are shot... Continue Reading →
Vietnam Lunar New Year 2013
http://youtu.be/7xFLQiI_2xQ Free background music from JewelBeat.com
The Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens
The Saigon Zoo, located just twenty minutes or so from my apartment, is one of the oldest zoos in the world. In addition to the exhibits, there are acres and acres of parkland, where you can get away from the traffic and noise of the city, have a picnic, or eat lunch at one of... Continue Reading →
Happy New Year!
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog. Here's an excerpt: 600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 4,200 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 7 years to get... Continue Reading →
18A Nguyen Thi Minh Khai Extended Cut (with Audio Commentary Track)
Here’s a look at my new neighborhood and surroundings. The voiceover commentary track was recorded with my brand new Yeti USB microphone purchased from Other World Computing. I’ve added a bouncier soundtrack than the earlier versions, made some additional color corrections and added several new shots. Hope you enjoy. Be sure to watch in HD.... Continue Reading →
Suoi Tien Theme Park, Vietnam
Here's a video of Suoi Tien amusement park in Ho Chi Minh City. http://youtu.be/mKN-dlBlFso Free background music from JewelBeat.com
More x264 Comparisons
Here are some screen grabs of clips exported to QuickTime with the x264 Encoder, with and without 2.2 gamma added, then uploaded to YouTube. They were first converted to QuickTime files using ClipWrap, then transcoded to Apple Intermediate Codec before importing to iMovie.
Café S Revisited
Café S is not only one of the most idyllic coffee shops in a city that boasts thousands of cafés, it must also be one of the most photographed by visitors. For my second video, I arrived early in the morning, when the owner had just switched on the steam jets around the artificial stream that winds... Continue Reading →
Café S
Café S in Phu Nhuan District, Ho Chi Minh City is one of the most elegant coffee shops I've visited in Vietnam. They serve food as well, and the Singapore noodles I tried were quite good. http://youtu.be/1BVnthcatT8
Washed-Out YouTube Videos?
Perhaps you've noticed that your videos on YouTube are a pale version of what you saw on your camcorder's LCD screen. Whether you're exporting your movies to QuickTime first or uploading directly from iMovie, the colors appear less saturated, blacks a dark gray. Below is a comparison between the original .MTS file and the same... Continue Reading →
Vietnam Winter 2011-2012
I just published the pictures of my last trip to Vietnam using Apple's iPhoto. For my sixth visit to the country, I travelled from Can Tho in the south on up to Hanoi. I'll be moving to Ho Chi Minh City in September. Download the PDF file here.
Buy Korean? No Way!
When I moved to Korea five years ago, I was impressed not only with how convenient everything was, I was also struck by how inexpensive everything - from food to transportation to medical expenses and the postal service were. What I didn’t realize at the time was that the cost of living in Busan is... Continue Reading →
Ulrich Seidl’s ‘Paradise: Love’ to Compete for Palme d’Or
I've been a huge fan of Ulrich Seidl ever since seeing the Austrian director's Import/Export, so when I learned that Paradise: Love will be competing at Cannes, my little heart started to race. Here's the synopsis: On the beaches of Kenya they're known as Sugar Mamas: European women to whom black beach boys offer sex... Continue Reading →
Xavier Dolan to Adapt Tom à la ferme
Xavier Dolan’s eagerly anticipated third film, Laurence Anyways, has not even been released yet (it hits theaters on May 18th), but the brilliant young Canadian director has already announced his decision to adapt a play by Michel Marc Bouchard, Tom à la ferme. This marks the first time the director will adapt a script not... Continue Reading →
The Daejeon Chronicles 