Amherst Part One: Canon VIXIA HF100 High Definition (HD)

A Dog Beast Production: Amherst Part One

Amherst was inspired by Ethan and Joel Coens No Country for Old Men. I loved the long, drawn-out landscape shots in the opening hunting sequence. The lack of any substantial dialogue required that the characters actions carry the story and set the mood. I tried to mimic that minimalistic style. The story was written to bring multiple locations into the project, with multiple times of day.

The focus was to learn as much as I could about camera techniques on a near zero budget. The camera used was a Canon HF100 a small, consumer-grade handheld HD camera. I built a camera dolly and steadicam out of cheap materials to add production value.

The audio for sound effects and dialogue were recorded on a Zoom H2 handheld digital mp3 recorder, sometimes in conjunction with a Rode Videomic on a boom pole.

The music was generously provided by Little People at Illicit Recordings.

I edited the video with Sony Vegas. I edited the audio with Audacity.

All of the actors are co-workers of mine who I owe many hours of favors.

-Scott Patten

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• canon
• vixia
• hf100
• dog
• beast
• wetsuit
• no
• country
• for
• old
• men
• blondes
• guns
• cat
• mouse
• short
• film
• pulp
• fiction
• cormac
• mccarthy
• scott
• patten

[MajicPictures]

generally i thought the idea was cool, and i'm a huge no country fan as well, just be careful not to overuse your shots , in particular the tracking. i thought it worked really well on the beach, but they were used so often at the beginning that it almost became cliche

[Vahkil]

@MajicPictures Thanks for the comment. Looking back, I agree that the dolly was overused.

[fullyflaredsk8er]

what settings do you use? cause i have this same camera and i cant get nearly this good of quality please help. it looks decent on the camera screen but horrible on the computer. I have a mac and i use imovie to edit. please help me out on what i can do to get the best quality possible. thanks and i also have final cut pro but i dont use it cause i cant get the files imported in there

[Vahkil]

@fullyflaredsk8er I use Cinema Mode with highest HD quality. I edit in Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9 on a PC.

[welshbay]

Is part two now online?

[199FOE]

I just bought this thing off ebay and I cannot wait. The cheapest camera I could find with a great cinema quality and loaded with useful features.

[gatler05]

@baconbits12321 200 is just the newer version of the HF100, it has just some new feature. but overall they are the same camera if were talking about the quality.

[TamalaBaldwinMusic]

I'm thinking about getting this camera and this quality looks awesome. What mic did you use?

[nuahsx]

@fullyflaredsk8er just...dont use imovie, or at least i hope you are able to convert it to a format that looks flawless and works in imovie.

[baconbits12321]

which is better the canon vixia hfs100 or 200???

[IceFreshProductions]

Great video I learn t a lot and the simple approach to it was cool. Keep up the work.

[MisterCriticalGuy]

really want the soundtracks!

[19andr1]

Did you ever use any external lenses like a wide-angle lens or something?

[HiiDefinition]

You can import files directly to Final Cut Pro by going to file > log and transfer. From their, the camcorder should be automatically picked up. Then simply drag footage into the box that says "drag footage here". Also on iMovie, make sure that for the importing settings that it is set to original full quality setting (preferences > video).