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Monday, January 14, 2013

Take #2, Take #3, Take A Lot




Then and Now. I did pause to look back
at the fifteen year old me who was so very
shy and reserved. Obviously, things have
 changed .
Or stick with what you know.

I must of opened and closed my new plein air easel about eight times over this weekend just to get the hang of it. On the eighth time, I decided to film my fumbling  to show you the easel is not a snap to put together-- though there are plenty of parts to snap and screw.

While making a video of myself making a fool of myself,  I also spent hours trying to figure out how to add the video to this post--to the point, I should  have forgotten it!  BUT:  Making videos is as much a curiosity of mine as painting in plein air.

The video process is much more involved than assembling the easel. This first effort clearly shows that video making  requires many "takes"-- a loose script and some rehearsal time wouldn't hurt either.  But my effort was impromptu so not much was expected and not much was achieved.

I did have a lot of fun laughing at myself in the two takes.  The first was a disaster. I cut off my head.  But it clued me into what to correct for the second take--position the camera just right with relationship to the action and the actor, figure the height of the tripod, the tilt and the level of the camera, don't overlook the stage and do get rid of unnecessary clutter.  Having no stand-in for myself, the star of this fiasco, a lot of running around and a few timed stills were necessary to check the set up-- from the looks of it, a few more stills would have been helpful.  I do apologize for my lack of make up and wardrobe. A gal can only do so much.

If I ever publish a book on video making,
this self  birthday portrait
will be good on the jacket.  I hope my
driver license photo comes out friendlier.
After watching Take #2, it was clear  a few more Takes-- a lot of takes--were necessary to produce a smooth film.  But I had whacked myself out.  Thankfully, Ellis came to the set carrying two glasses of champagne and called for a  break.  I may be lousy at videos, and setting up a French easel, but  I am an expert at drinking champagne.

Now this guy knows what he's doing with the easel--and he's obviously got a friend who knows how to make a video. It takes two to tango and a partner would have been great, but then I would have missed out cavorting behind and in front of the camera and spending additional hours trying to figure out how to edit and publish. Splicing film was easy, publishing revealed a different story:

I couldn't for the life of me upload  my wmv file to this post. I kept getting a dialogue box saying there was an error. My only choice was to click OKAY for it to go away, but it wasn't.  After trying this and that and surfing for help, all I could figure out was Google video/Blogger video had initiated a new way of doing things in the last couple of weeks and now wants personal videos to go through My YouTube, which Google did buy . So I opened a You Tube account and uploaded my French easel little horsing around clip and tried it again. Sure enough it posted. Now will it publish?

FORGET MY SUNDAY MORNING ANTICS. This guy knows how to use his knee for the plein air advantage. But I've had enough for now.





20 comments:

  1. Ha ha, this is Golden Globes for sure! I invented my steel easels for all of the reasons found in your video, although mine are designed to be left outside and can also be used as a trellis! I think you have the screwing correct! Righty tighty, lefty, loosey!

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    1. You would think so. Not true. The guy who made the professional video practiced a lot. I was thinking aluminum.

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  2. (sorry, that was me above who deleted the comment...I neglected to sign out from the group blog that I author).

    Nice video LW...and I like your photo portraits on the side too. Lovely! Well, I just learned recently how to set up a french easel. The person teaching me showed me the same way that Michael Chelsey-Johnson put up his. I have pochade boxes, but a french easel is definitely nice to have too. I'm looking forward to seeing what you paint on your new easel. :) Happy Birthday!

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    1. Not to worry, I took care of it. No, it is not a nice video. It's a true video, but some polish could be achieved with a bit more preparation. I'll probably attempt that again.

      I don't know what pochade boxes are or how they differ from the french easel; I hope they are easier. I do know handling a french easel smoothly takes some time; it's not a SNAP.

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  3. Just watch the video to assemble the french easel .... to hurt to my bone and joints!
    I will never be a plein-air painter, or at least not with a french easel!
    A report full of verve with a special star like you!
    I like knowing that you are a master at drinking champagne!
    And toast with you, to your Beautiful Life
    and your Beautiful Art!

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    1. Sorry about your bones and joints...a beach bag did it for me for watercolor plein air painting in Mexico, why not by my lake? I don't know whether I will take that easel out into the field, I might. My landscapes have all been of views right outside my door. So rolling it out into the backyard should be no big deal. Actually I could probably just carry it out there or out onto my deck upstairs ready to go. As tricky as this one is to set up, I did want one that could be used inside or out. I also wanted an easel with a drawer for charcoal drawings (or pastels) or for little oils--the 8 x 10 practice heads I'm intent on doing this year. It has a place in my studio. I want my larger easel free for the really large landscapes I like to do or a larger portrait--JD and Taylor x 4. I also have a watercolor easel that sets up either upright at an angle or flat and level with the floor. It's excellent for acrylics. So now I've got three and each has different features to offer which accommodate my three mediums and the sizes I prefer.

      I was thrilled to see Ellis standing there with the champagne. I really did need to sit down to catch my breath. It was a fun birthday morning over all.

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  4. Thank you for putting a smile on my face this morning. =)

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    1. Setting that thing up, I wasn't laughing. Fussing with the video, cracked me up. You're never too old to make a fool of yourself.

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  5. You are so hilarious and real.. I enjoy your blogging a lot.. just wanted you to know..

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    1. Thank you Toria. I hope I never stop doing foolish things that make me laugh at myself. It keeps you light hearted and more importantly accepting of other people's foolishness too. Easy going is healthy. But don't think I'm not going to try this again till I get it right--the easel, as well as making a video.

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  6. Great fun. Well deserved drop of the fizz.

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    1. We finished the bottle. I was so exhausted from rolling around on the floor with that thing, the break was a long one. I'm going to try it again today this time using my knee.

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  7. :-)))) smile! I'm here to wish you a happy 2013 :-) and always congratulations for your works!

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    1. Thank you! You should never get too old or too serious to fool around.

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    1. Thanks Caio. I had fun putting it together. --Now it seems, I've gotten myself involved with YouTube. They are sending me all sorts of advice on making videos, none of which I comprehend. There's more to explore here.

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  9. Hola Linda. El video está muy bien realizado. Espero que tengas muchas visitas en you tube. ¡Estoy segura que sí!

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    1. I didn't publish it with the intention of attention. In My YouTube, you have your choice on the amount of privacy you want. My YouTube is to videos as Picassa is to photos. I chose not to list it online separate from the blog. Video is just a curiosity. Painting in plein air seems to be an attractive spring/summer/fall passtime--especially down by the lake when painting breaks are taking a swim and chatting with the neighbors. I'm really glad I ordered it this far in advance. It's going to take me some time to be as adept at set up as John in his highly polished video--and bear in mind, there's taking it down too with the added problem of a wet canvas. What was interesting about the experiment, was I was unable to upload a video from my computer to my post through blogger--no matter what kind of video it was. I tried all of the options, none worked. I didn't like having to use My YouTube. I prefer to use YouTube like you do, embedding some celebrity's work that is open to the public.

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  10. Firstly, I like the way whoosh you magically appear at the beginning of the video out of thin air!! And then I am imagining all of your supplies mixing and falling into each other in the drawer as you twist and turn the thing and get your pants wet. You are magnificent! Voila! Now I know why we need to spend $300 on a prochade box and stand - it's worth the extra $200 to avoid this setup!

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  11. Oh my goodness, to think I very nearly bought one of these! I have trouble with my ordinary metal easel, hate to think what I would be like with one of these. Especially with an audience looking on!!!!

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