matthewkappenman.net » Links

Modern Love

Matthew Kappenman — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 13:17:11 +0000

I feel like this photo is the synopsis of an entire film…one that I want to make. Seriously. Just stare at it for a while and fill in the blanks. Pretty compelling story, eh?

Photo Via: Quality Peoples

The Rig of My Dreams

Matthew Kappenman — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 13:40:44 +0000

I generally try not to post a bunch of technical-industry-mumbo-jumbo on here as most of you could care less, but I saw this picture today and I just about did a cartwheel. The picture, courtesy of Stu Maschwitz of Prolost, the DV Rebel’s Guide and one of the founders of The Orphanage, is what amounts to my cheapo-movie-making dream setup.

What you have there is a consumer grade, $1,000 HDV camera that anyone can go into best buy and pick up and start shooting with. Generally the downside to these cameras is that the sensor which records the image is fantastic, but the lenses attached to the camera are fairly mundane. Enter Stu and the guys at Redrock Micro. They are working on prototyping the rig you see above which sets the little consumer camera on rails to give you more support, and then hooks it up to a lense converter which allows you to connect high quality lenses. This gives you a pristine image with a lot more control over focus and the all important Depth of Field.

With this camera and rig from Redrock you can create HD (compressed but who is counting for 1000 bucks) movie quality images for cheapo. The best part is that with Redrocks adapters you can hook up almost any digital/film SLR lenses and be up and running. This allows you to use high quality glass but at a relatively affordable price of SLR lenses. In the shot above Stu just has a 50mm Nikon lenses that would normally work with a digital SLR hooked up. STU, I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE IMAGES!

For me this setup revolutionizes low-budget production as it can produce images for under 3K (once you buy lenses and an LCD) that rival that of cameras that cost over 10K. Now it’s no RED, but we’re talking about an order of magnitude difference in price and I can’t help but be excited about the future. Now where’s that Best Buy credit card….

On Fridays.

Matthew Kappenman — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 17:46:53 +0000

Tug, of American Copywriter fame, summed up exactly how I’m feeling this Friday on his personal blog. While I love spending my weekends going back to see the parents, the trade off of missing MY weekend is always painful. It is that lazy morning breakfast, farmer’s market trip, or afternoon-geek-out that reminds of why the weekend matters.

I won’t spoil the effect by re-posting it here, but go check it out just the same. It’ll bring a Friday smile to your face.

Ben’s Art…My iCon.

Matthew Kappenman — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 03:23:46 +0000

I had asked Ben Rumback, my super artist friend, to paint me a water color based on a picture of myself that I could then photograph and use as a fun icon in all of my communication apps. Ben exceeded my wildest expectations of how the painting was going to look and I couldn’t be happier with my new painting/icon. Best yet, he gave me the original painting so I could frame it and hang it up in my office.

You’ll notice that the favicon in the URL of the site now has a version of this painting, along with my ichat/aim icon and user account photos on all of my Macs. As much as I love the painting I’ve decided to commission him for yet another painting/icon, but this time with a slightly more “professional” looking photo…as opposed to one where I’m psuedo-drunk from our sophomore year of college.

Ben is now taking orders for this service, so if you’d like to get an icon and a painting for yourself, or a gift for someone else, be sure to hit up his website/blog and get in touch with him. Best part is he will send you the original water color to use as well as its digital counterpart. All you have to do is email him a digital pic of the pose you want and he will work his water-color-magic.

Links for 2007-01-16

Matthew Kappenman — Tue, 16 Jan 2007 23:35:09 +0000