Funny you should ask... the PD170 is one of those rare cameras that "has it all" for me - I really love it - but I'm putting it up for sale - probably later this week.

SD is over - long live HDV

v

Great to see more of it Victor.

A minor technical point. In a couple of the scenes it looks like you've got the video on an upper track and it doesn't fully mask the lower track by a few lines at the top..

Bob.

...well, hats off mr Milt !

Transporting.

Tim

Vic, with all due respect, your shooting and editing is always good, but I would like to suggest a review of the music and lyrics. Maybe less singing at some parts and more voice over....... be carefully about blending "causes" and moments of music build up so they don't create confusion for the reviewers. ie, if you part of the "Cowboys of Florida" crowd then you are anti- communities and anti - tourism, ( not a Florida marketing theme)....etc...... but you know all this, so stating anything more not needed. Again, VIc, your work reflects your "camera eye" for flow.

Vic,
Your work/comments via this forum were part of the encouragement for me to move forward with bigger scale documentary projects of my own. I just sold my two Sony 2100's, bought one Sony V1U already, and just was given the remaining funds for a second camera yesterday (I will likely be picking up a FX7). I've had huge support for a project involving a sole Holocaust survivor; I haven't even shot a frame and I've been funded over $3000 already. Not big potatoes for most of you professionals, but for a fellow trying to move to the next level, it's huge. Not just in money, but in encouragement. I met with a guy yesterday, and after two hours of discussing the project, he handed over a check for $1500. Once they see it in HD....

One question: when the scenes switch to widescreen, is that the 170 in widescreen mode or the Z1 already?

>>>>ie, if you part of the "Cowboys of Florida" crowd then you are anti- communities and anti - tourism, ( not a Florida marketing theme).<<<<

As someone seeing this from afar (and having seen the short version as well as clips of the new production on Vic's instructional DVD) this documentary celebrates the cowboys (and cattle industry) of Florida. That this is fading into history underlies the project and obviously people whose have lived at the centre of this aren't going to be happy to see it all disappear. Apit34356, you seem to be objecting to this theme. The stuff Vic has put on UTube is just a trailer. Or are you suggesting that the trailer needs to make it clear that it isn't a Florida marketing plug? That it is indeed anti-community and anti-tourism? It seems to me that the cowboys are concerned for the future and question that more concrete is a good thing.

Serena, I need to state that I have no "inside" information concerning Vic's real message. My concern was the trailer's impact on the funding crowd that was putting up the money. I had a "general" impression that the funding was from a group associated with promoting Florida and the "cowboys",(again this is a general impression from postings and general comments from Vic - which I could be incorrect). There is a long history about the cowboys wrestling with development, they want customers for the beef but don't close neighbors - which in today's over-regulated communities one has to agree with the ranchers, not too far away but not to close.

Outside those political issues, music, lyrics and timing can be a real killer..... greatness can be a 1/4 beat away or a word or two. I think Vic wants to make some serious money from this work( pay some expenses from making this docu and put some in the bank), possibly selling it to tv or as a film Documentary. I think the trailer's sound track is just-off a bit, as stated above. I have no investment in Vic's work, but would like to see it make a few millions, sooner than later.

Apit, thanks for clarifying. Obviously I'm a very distant observer, so anything I say has that much relevance. The song lyrics (written by Vic) backed the short version and I presume were popular with the people who gave it awards as well as popular with the cowboys. I'm not enthusiastic about the lyrics, but I dump most current music hits into that basket so my view is unreliable.

hmmm...
I do dearly love to hear from y'all -
believe it or not - YOU are my film family, and I trust and listen to everything here -
when I lived in NYC (40 years), all of my friends and acquaintences were immersed in the craft of film-making - - I mean EVERYONE. Even my family "caught the fever" from me - my mom became an actress at age 62, my brother a DP, my wife a script supervisor (and later my producer) and all of my children are in the business. I lived in a sound stage for years. And everything in my life was about the business of movie production.

But now I live in a community in South Florida surrounded by older folks who come from varied backgrounds (manufacturing, garment, construction, stock market, real estate ) but no theater, no art, no music and for sure - no film, video or movie production. This I'm certain is the same situation that most of you live in, and it's fine.

So, like you, I'm on my own, and the Vegas forum is my "contact" to technique and passion. Therefore, consider my ramblings on these pages simply an extension of sitting around coffee houses, theaters and sound stages, shooting the crap with the guys and gals, crew, actors and musicians. And thank God for the internet and the communication it offers us all.

In no way do I mean to defend or explain what I've shown you. It's not hardly a "trailer", since I've not yet fully discovered the film itself, for myself. Apit - I understand your remarks and concern, but no - I am independently backed by a patron who believes in me and is totally "hands-off". This, of course, is dramatically different than the hundreds of jobs I did throughout my career for ad agencies and corporate sponsors. Everything then, was subject to intense scrutiny and often pointless revision. One of my favorite lines was, "See that big house we live in? I built it eating S**T, one teaspoon at a time." It was a big house, with a private beach and an indoor pool and I paid dearly for it. Now it's just a fond memory.

No - in this project I only answer to conscience and to the film itself. Remember that I started the original "Cowboys" as a self-financed project of love.(No budget - gas money, tape stock, pizza for the crew - when there was crew) I just wanted to shoot pretty pictures of cowboys - hey - it was FUN.

But during the production of that project I became aware of much larger issues, and these affected personally in a huge way. Florida, the USA, and indeed the entire world, is losing wilderness in a wholesale and rampant fashion. Once gone, it can never be replaced. So I see this new movie with Florida as a metaphor for the world.

Civilazation is only about 10,000 years old. But it's in the last 100 that mankind has discovered technology and non-animal energy, and that discovery allows one person the power to do the work of dozens, if not hundreds. It used to take weeks of hand labor to clear an acre of land. Today, one man on a bulldozer can do the same renovation (destruction) in hours. And they are doing that in a way never before imagined.

At the same time, we are seeing the end to hand work (cowboys) and the wholesale move from the farm to the city. Our society is changing at an unbelievable rate, and I am simply documenting that change.

I have been encouraging all of you to shoot - shoot - shoot.

Why? Because you can!! It's cheap, it's easy, it's accessible and it's the second most fun thing in life (and it lasts so much longer)!
The footage that I mounted is purely for the enjoyment of my friends here, and to encourage you all to get out and do the same.
There are stories EVERYWHERE, and it's almost your DUTY to capture them, before they are gone forever.
I am using the exact same equipment as all of you. I don't miss being surrounded by thirty or forty experts and having trucks full of equipment. I am totally enjoying THIS experience, and want you ALL to enjoy it as well, no matter how involved you actually get.

I thank you all for your honesty, encouragement and support and try to extend the same courtesy to you.

Now get out there and shoot something!

With respect and humble gratitude,

v

Vic, its great that you have a fully supportive backer. May your vision yield profits and wisdom for all!

> "I have been encouraging all of you to shoot - shoot - shoot.
Why? Because you can!! It's cheap, it's easy, it's accessible and it's the second most fun thing in life (and it lasts so much longer)!"

Hilarious Vic - I've also never had a problem making my video projects last for ages!