Branded The Helios 44 Project, the first part of this recurring series is devoted to this classic Soviet-era lens, and features some background info on my use of the Helios 44-2 with a vintage Pentax K5 DSLR,, plus “FRIENDS FOREVER”, a short narrative shot entirely with the 58mm lens.
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Sony VX3 Hi8 Camcorder Part 1: Consumer to Prosumer When I started a video transfer business around 1991-1992, my first camcorder was the Sony Hi8 CCD-V801, which offered good quality image, in-camera editing features, and ease & portability, but I remember my eyes widened when a year later I read of Sony’s upcoming CCD-VX3 (or VX1, as it was known in Japan and in Europe), a Hi8 camcorder that marked the company’s upper tier model for the burgeoning […]
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My latest podcast interview at BHA+ is a lengthy conversation with Canadian filmmaker-musician-composer schudlbug and the making of his 3-D short film “Roach” where a pilot attempts to escape the debris-laden, toxic surface of a dystopian world, and evade a giant flying roach. We touch upon visual and sonic influences, crafting the film’s effects, and assembling materials for a limited VHS release with swag. Detailed in the Blog are some of the vintage video gear used to create the analog voice-triggered visuals, and the first vintage gear to be reviewed at BHA+, with Part 1 coming later next week!
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Announcing the soft launch of BHA+ where I review vintage consumer, prosumer, and broadcast video gear; offer practical user info for filmmakers; test footage featurettes; podcast interviews; and serialized, historical examinations of unique gear. Read the Introduction for an overview of the channel’s mandate, and details of my upcoming podcast with filmmaker-composer Schnudlbug; hear an audio podcast version of this Intro; or watch a Visual version of the podcast!
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BHA+ soft-launches with a lengthy podcast interview featuring Canadian-born musician, composer, producer, filmmaker SPOOKEY RUBEN, whose 2024 tour is in mid-flight, spanning the Eastern U.S. and Canada, and select cities in Germany.
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Whereas Part II dealt almost exclusively with the Video Toaster’s appearance at York University, plus Zach Weddington’s superb extra-heavy release of his documentary VIVA AMIGA, the latest instalment focuses on a short film made by Gary Blakeley, whose consumerism satire THE TREND (1987) was made the year I entered Year One of York’s film program, and appeared on The Great Canadian Shorts Contest a few years later on Pay TV channel First Choice.
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