I have just acquired a new Sony FDR-AX1 Video camera. DO NOT BUY THIS CAMERA! UPDATE. my sony FDR-AX1 would not power up so i returned it to sony centre in Cardiff. They replaced multiple parts but could not fix it. After 4 months it was returned to me. Sony stated “sorry we can not find what is wrong with it and so we have returned it” I find it concerning that Sony can not find what is wrong with their own camera. So i am now left with a camera that will not switch on and Sony and Sony do not know why. I have now brought a Panasonic HC-X1. As a matter of principle i shall never purchase a Sony piece of equipment again since they do not know how to fix them.
This page is going to be dedicated to some of the films and projects I use this camera for. I have also got a high quality Manfroto tripod with a fluid head this helps give fantastic smooth video.
The other aspect of video is learning the use of Adobe Premier and mastering the editing. At this stage I Am finding it is taking more time to edit than film but I sure am enjoying it. I hope you enjoy my videos and hopefully as time goes o I will improve both the quality and content of these films. Let me know what you think. It seems that my love of music and photography has led me to lots of video work with live bands, lucky me!
I have invested heavily in equipment and time to produce this page and lots of you have had videos and photographs. Any donation however small will help me to keep updating my equipment and the quality of this web page.
My Latest Video Blog. “the Adventures of Sea Pigeon”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-3skuMQDXg
Gopro 9 Black. Shot in 4k: Very impressed with the quality.
Cold Outside. An exercise in fast video cuts.
The Turf Locks Devon: Shot on multiple cameras and also a Ronin Gimbal.
Using adobe premiere to sync 4 different cameras and separate audio on green screen.
In this set up I have used four different cameras and a separate audio recorder to see if it is possible to sync all of them accurately. This has proved to be very successful and largely due to the new Adobe Premiere CC,s function of “sync on audio”.
2019 entry into the 48 hour film festival
Ripped Canvas. 2018 entry into the 48 hour film festival
The Last Stroke. 2017 entry into the 48 hour film festival
The 48 Hour Film Project is a contest in which teams of filmmakers are assigned a genre, a character, a prop, and a line of dialogue, and have 48 hours to create a short film containing those elements. Our film had to contain the line “this tastes weird” the prop a chalk board.Our genre was thriller and just to make it more difficult it also had to contain a lost tourist.
Exeter Indie: Hide Your Fears: 48 Hour film challenge 2016
This film was created in 48 hours with a team of two, my wife Maxine and myself. We managed third place with this movie. Shot on three separate cameras and a drone. Best watched full screen with the volume turned up.
Exeter Indie Freedom Debt 48 hour film challenge.
This is a film produced in 48 hours from writing to editing. Part of a film challenge where we were given: A line of text, “yes they have been counted twice there are defiantly 74”. The theme was Independence, we also had to incorporate a map and a world cinema look, just to make it complicated it had to be no more than three minutes long. This was the challenge set to Neil Ewins, Marcus Violette, Theo Chronis, and Daniel Willers. I have learned a great deal from this film challenge and our next effort will be much better. Given the time restraint we did not have chance to fine tune the audio or colour balance. What we have learned from this is that we need a dedicated sound man and a much better lighting set up, something like multiple lights with barn doors to focus the spot.
Testing time lapse and slow motion on the new Panasonic HC-X1
Testing a 360 camera
Exmouth time lapse in 4K
The Simmertones: Al Capone.
This was an experiment on filming using a mobile phone (Galaxy S8) I was very surprised at the quality of both video and audio.
A Montage from The South Devon Big Band
Filmed live in Totnes with a 3 camera set up and separate audio.
Rich Butnotfamouse: Waspish. Shot on a Galaxy 8 Phone
Mistreated; Sharp Dressed Man: Live at Woodburystock 2017
4 camera + separate audio. I have tried to match the edit up with the speed of the music to give a much more dynamic feel to the music.
The Brent Hutchinson Band: Hero. Live at Woodburystock 2017
This was filmed live with a 4 camera and separate audio set up. The Gopro works really well mounted above the drums for quick infills. The Taskam recorder is proving to be really high quality.
Gareth Hedges: Leaving Hot Foot. Live at Woodburystock 2017
This guy has a fantastic old style Mississippi style of blues. So i have tries to give this video an old style film in post production to match the music. Shot on a Sony FDR AX1 for bot audio and video.
The Neil Maya Quartet: Take Five.
Filmed live on Dartmoor in 2017 using a 3 camera set up. The audio was recorded professionally and added in the edit. Having high quality sound makes all of the difference.
The Brent Hutchinson band live: Hero
Filmed on a 3 camera set up and Taskam Dr_60DMK11 with beringer microphones. I am really pleased with this video because of the quality of the audio recording. The Taskam is a great took but very heavy on the batteries especially when you are running two mics with phantom power, you defiantly nee an auxiliary USB power supply.
Filmed on GH4 using D-Log and Taskam audio recorder
The Drat Pack: King Of The Swingers & The South West Lindy Hoppers
Filmed live at the Teignmouth Jazz Festival Devon.
The Papers Live: All Along The Watch Tower
The Papers Live
Windslide Get Lucky: Acoustic Set
Windslide Live. Local Devon Americano didgeri Blues.
This was filmed live in the local Forrest with a 4 separate cameras and a UAV. Fantastic sound and very haunting. the Cigar Box Guitar and Didgeridoo are quite unique.
Testing of a new 3 Axis Gimbal with a GH4.
Update. this did not last very long and was returned for a full refund. It had an error with the battery pack and charging.
The AFI 3 axis gimbal is a camera stabilisation platform. IT is controlled by 3 brushless motors and controlled by a 32 bit controller board by Basecam Electronics. This is one of the cheaper version coming in at around £350.00. The quality of it is very good and so far some very pleasing results. This was the first outing with it and you defiantly need to practise with it to get the best from it. While walking around objects you need to also operate the finger joystick on the front. I find this over sensitive and intend to slow it down via re programming it via software and the front USB. Top tip is defiantly to modify the way you walk for smooth footage.
Awesome Street Busking with Windslide
This mystical sound was echoing down the high street in Exeter Devon today. I felt they just had to be filmed. The hardest part of this shoot was obtaining good quality audio and the post processing involved with the audio to remove some of the ambient noise of a busy high street.
The Travelling Bluesburys Live
Samantics Live
Samantics live in Crediton Devon. Sam lays down his tracks live on stage and builds up an incredible sound. The Lyrics are very powerful and deep. Listen to the individual stories built into this song. This is a two camera shoot with separate audio and post processed in adobe premiere 2017.
A Paddle Down The River Walkham
This was taken with a head cam and mounted on my helmet. Taken December 2015
Jumping Out Of Planes
Another head cam shot taken from 15000 ft.
Jumping Of Cliffs
I was wearing a head cam when i had this accidental parachute deployment over Woolacombe. (contains some swear words and blood!)
Playing In The Surf
Taken with a head cam whilst using a specialised carbon fibre surf kayak
Live Blues With Hooper & Mills: Filmed on a 3 Axis Gimbal
Great blues set here from a local fundraiser set up by the Bluesbury’s for Devon Bloodbikes. GH4 mounted on a 3 axis gimbal. This syle of shooting give a much more dynamic interaction, almost like been at the concert. I plan to use this style of shooting to complement the static video shots.
Stoke Canon Blues Jam
Stole Canon Blues Jam shot on a 3 axis gimbal with a GH4
Kriss Baras Band live at Woodburystock
The Sugar Shakers Live
I have added an overlay of old film on this as well as a sepia tint to give it an old film feel.
The Travelling Bluesburys Live at Woodburystock 2016
The Travelling Bluesburys Live at Woodburystock 2016
Samantics Live at Crediton
I would not normally rave on about Dub music but i filmed this guy “Samantics” at The Great Crediton Jam Night. This guy just keeps laying down tracks on a loop machine until he has around eight different tracks. His instruments include a Ukulele and harmonica as well as multiple backing vocals. He the proceeds to sing over the top of them, Also listen to the lyrics they are very powerful dealing with depression and suicide. I only recorded one of his tracks but WOW listen to him. For the photography geeks out there: Lumix GH4 shooting Vlog at 3200 iso. Audio via a shoe mount Boya stereo mic. post processing in premiere pro and Audition. Please share this this guy deserves some recognition
Testing The Lumix GH4 in Low Light for Video Work.
Shot at the Stoke Canon Blues Jam in July. Featuring Ray Kemp Guitar and Paul Smail on Keyboards. Great rendition of a J J Cale song: Lies Lies Lies. This was a test with a Lumix GH4 shooting natural light at 3200 iso using V-LOG. The use of V-LOG was exposed using zebra stripes at 70% and putting these on the high lights. Effectively it was shot over exposing by around two stops. The use of a camera mounted Boya Stereo microphone has helped bring out the depth of sound stereo can provide. Post processed in Premiere pro and Audition. No de Noise was added as the render time is around 2.5 hours.
Rock Creek Morris Women and Great Western Morris.
Testing the New Panasonic Lumix GH4 out in Video Mode. Shot in Manual mode in Cine-d and post production in Premiere Pro CC.
Woodbury Stock Blues Festival 2016.
The Kris Barras Band Live at Woodbury Stock 2016
This is a must see band live, full of energy and very talented musicians. This was shot on a newly acquired Panasonic Lumix GH4 and one of its first outings. The audio has suffered from my proximity to the band. But incredibly impressed with this camera.
Bluesbury Blues Jam Featuring Bill Williamson
This was filmed at the Malsters In Woodbury. Yep the one that hosts Wood {Bury]Stock 2016. Shot using a shoulder rig and Sony FDR AX1. I have used the inbuilt microphone on this one rather than a shotgun Mic. It seems to be far superior sound much greater stereo separation and dynamic range. The down side is that I have picked up far more audience noise. But since it is a live blues jam in a pub this does not distract from the sound quality.
Stripey Howling Hancock Busking In Exeter Devon
I alway try to carry my camera with me and when i heard this guy I knew I just had to get him on film . Fantastic finger picking style of guitar and a regular site in Exeter high street.
Low light filming at a local blues jam
This was taken with the camera on a shoulder rig and has really helped with the stabilization. Shot at 25db gain in low light with a shotgun mike. The codec is XAVC S. sony’s new codec and really helps keep the dynamic range. Post processing involved crushing the black and a denoise filter. Audio processed in Adobe Audition.
Storm Jumpers
This was filmed on Exmouth sea front during the December storm. I was amazed at the skill of these guys as well as envious of their toys. It was shot with a newly acquired shoulder rig with my Sony FDR-AX1. It was using 20X optical zoom and shooting through the rain which has degraded the quality. But I would not have been able to achieve this level of stability without a shoulder rig. Catch more of my movies at www.neilewins.com. watch in HD and crank up the music
Exeter Christmas Lights
The Christmas Fairy
This was filmed with my new Sony FDR-AX1. As I was wondering around Exeter I bumped into a Fairy. This was shot completely in Auto mode as it is a new camera and is going to take some getting used to. It has 4k capability but I do not yet have a 4k monitor to edit on. Worth watchin in full screen 1080p. There is a strange fascination in the way this lady moves the crystal ball in here hands and is done with great skill.
Short test on Sony FDR-AX1
This test was shot in manual to deliberately shoot under exposed to give a dark and moody feel. A single light + a reflector. This has the effect of not showing the back ground.
Alex Roberts live at the Killerton Cider and Apple Festival.
This is an Early attempt at using a Glide cam. I used a nikon dslr with a rhode mike attached. I have to say I an not happy with this footage as I had a 50mm lens on which has increased the camera shake. I have now rebalanced the glide cam with an 18 mm lens and added more weight. the improved balance this has helped a great deal so better footage to follow.
Gwithian Cornwall 2015: Sun, Surf, Seals and Sand
This is a combination of static and aerial video to give a more comprehensive cover of the subject. This was taken while surfing in Cornwall I have tried to incorporate stills ,static video and Aerial video into one movie. I have tried to work around the soundtrack by Moby from Moby Gratis. It is the first time I have tried filming surfing and wild life and I am very pleased with the results. The slow motion of the surfing works really well to show the skill involved.
Wild Space Adventures Dartmoor
This is a true multimedia production involving a Sony HVR, Drift head cam, Gopro, S1000 Octocopter and a Phantom 2 quadcopter. This was taken over two days and reduced down to thirty seconds. The hardest part of this was taking my large Sony video camera down a caving system and keeping it clean. I still need to improve my colour balancing skills in post production as trying to colour balance so many different media to look the same is proving very difficult.
Ukulele Club at Cafe 55 playing Oh Boy
In this video I have tried to add an aged look to the video to give it a little character. Also the audio has been run through Adobe Audition to improve the quality of the sound. I have also noted a very slight focus issue on the front camera a Nikon D200. I relied totally on the auto focus and should have set it to manual focus and focused using the view finder.
Exeter Ukulele Club at Cafe 55
Julian Piper and the Junkyard Angels. Live at Wood[bury]stock 2015
The Travelling Bluesburys on the final night of the Wood[bury]stock music festival at the Malsters in Woodbury Devon. This is a dimple one camera video but crank up the volume.
Real Ale Blues (Worth watching in HD with the speakers turned up to 11)
This song was written and performed by Roger Sayer in celebration of Real Ale. Roger is well known locally and had been a publican most of his life. This project started off as another video from our local blues jams with the travelling bluesburys. But it was decided it needed to be more than this and so escalated into a larger project. This included video at the local Exeter Brewery, including rooftop filming. Other scenes are from Rogers’s former pub the Bowling Green in Exeter. The band video was shot in the Malster arms in Woodbury. This is my first attempt at the editing technique which included lip syncing over the original track. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did making it. A like of my face book page would be much appreciated at Ewins aerial photography. Have you got any video projects you want filming?
Two camera edit from a local Woodbury Music festival in aid of Force Cancer Charity. Hooper & Mills
The Sugar Shakers Live. This was shot at a local pub using just available lighting. the camera was set to 12 fps and 12 db. gain. The low light conditions have resulted in some very grainy footage the older Sony V1E seems to have suffered more from this than the Nikon D700 digital camera.
A test of high frame rate on a Gopro filmed at 100 fps. In the edit it is then slowed down to %25 speed to give this fabulous slow motion effect of the rooks. I have added a portion of the Raven by Edgar Allen Poe read by James Earl Jones & Toccata by J.S Bach to give it a dark moody feel. What do you think?
Charity paddle for Teignbridge canoe club.
This project was about pushing myself and starting to do interviews. Since I am working on my own I have tried the technique of getting other people to interview each other leaving me free to video. I feel on the interview side I needed a second set of hands to hold a reflector to light up the subjects. Brightening the subjects was done in post-production and has left them looking a little pale.
This was a quick one camera shoot with the onboard shotgun mike. I have also used a newly acquired on camera LCD light. I have used Luma Curves in the edit to increase the contrast. I have also used unsharp mask for the first time to increase the contrast. Post audio editing was in Adobe audition, I find the mastering filter coupled with the parametric equaliser make a huge difference to the quality of the audio.
This is the Helen Rimmer Quartet. This is the first time I have used some lighting while shooting a live band. The colour balance and noise reduction is significantly improved. On the down side the reflection in the rear window could not be removed, the curtains could not be closed. The side light also gave a hot spot on the Sax players face. But overall I love the richness of the colours. I am in the process of building some LED lights for my next shoot to give a much more diffused and even spread of light.
Take a high quality video, remove the color and add lots of Noise?
4 Camera edit + Separate Audio. Filmed at my local Pub
This is another 4 camera + separate audio taken of a local band. Each time it is good to come out with a learning point from the work you have done. On this exercise the hand held camera was slightly out of focus as I prefer to use manual focus for video. So never be afraid to admit you mistakes and LEARN FROM THEM.
Some great raw blues in this video and proved to be very difficult due to the poor lighting in a cellar. I have found with bad lighting editing in black and white helps to remove allot of the noise. I think I will need to get some small portable lighting.
The Papers Live. Here the 4 camera set up really helped as I had to keep switching cameras in the edit due to people getting in front of various cameras. Also the use of post digital zoom to zoom in and remove people who are in camera shot. I always remember when filming not to become one of those dictator photographers or order and bosses every one around. I am there to capture the music while still letting every one else enjoy it at the same time.
This is a video I took last Saturday night of a group called “The Papers” Turn up your speakers.
Johnny Mars puts on a spectacular live performance at the Teignmouth Jazz festival singing “got My Mojo Working”. Filmed on two cameras and digital audio recorder. Again the audio is proving to be the tricky part of this edit. If any one has got a set of Studio Audio speakers they want to donate I have just the place for them!
This was filmed at the local Teignmouth Jazz Festival featuring the Fabulous Johnny Mars Singing Manish Boy
This is a simple re edit with much improved audio
This video was taken at a local jazz club in Devon. The group is fronted by the fabulous Rebekah Hayden. Keyboard: Tom Unwin. Double Bass: Pat Haggerty. Tenor Sax: Collin Morice and drums Norm Marsh. Audio processed through Adobe Encore and video through Adobe premiere. Audio on this track has had the treble taken down to reduce the snare drum. I am finding getting good quality audio is not easy for live recordings.
Neil
Yet another exercise in multi camera and editing. This is using 3 cameras and a separate audio recorder. This is raw footage as it was a quick edit. I have put the audio through Adobe Audition to reduce the bass and boost the vocals. Taken at the Maltsters in Woodbury for the Bluesbury Jam Band
This is a combination of my Octocopter and SLR video combined. Also another exercise in video editing. Some of the footage i have tried to add the “Sin City ” look to. Music by Moby. Some great photographs over Teignmouth Pier.
My new lighting set up and an exercise in multi camera editing.
This was an early test of using my Sony video camera in a dark setting. I have filmed this with two different cameras as an exercise in multi camera editing. The video quality is very bad due no direct lighting on the players and strong back lighting. The main problem with the editing was syncing the picture in picture video for accurate lip sync. Hopefully better next time. Any of you adobe experts out there comments and tips welcomed.