Here’s all you need to know if you’d like to record a short video for Outside In. Again, you can use any camera (e.g. your still camera probably has a video function) but do a short test before to make sure audio and video are okay. Use the highest quality setting the camera offers.

• Make sure the space is quiet – turn off anything noisy (air conditioner, loud computer etc.), indoors is better.
• Frame yourself so that we see mostly your face and a bit body (see images below). You can look either directly into the camera or you can have someone off-camera ask you the questions and you can look at them as you answer.
• Feel free to do multiple takes or have someone there talk to you so you are relaxed and natural. Don’t worry if you stumble etc. – just be yourself. And feel free to say anything (e.g. some people say when they first saw the clips that it did not real i.e. from real photographs). I will edit these and make sure you come across well.
• You can use your own language (does not have to been in English) and we will subtitle. In facts, it’s BETTER if you speak your native language.
• You can do it solo or with friends or family.

Suggested questions to answer (you don’t have to use all of these and you can make your own):

1. If you like, state your name (can just be first name), where you are from (can just be city or country), what you do.
2. How did you hear about Outside In?
3. What did you feel when you first saw clips from the film?
4. What appeals to you about the film?
5. Why did you decide to donate (or support the film)?
6. What are your plans for seeing the film? (e.g. what theater – it would be great if you could look up the theater by their official name and use that)
7. What do you like most about the film?

When you have it done, you can use a service like YouSendIt (www.yousendit.com) or upload to as private (password protected) video on Vimeo (www.vimeo.com).

OUTSIDE IN ON THE GIANT SCREEN:

Mark your calendars as new footage from my non-profit film “Outside In“ will be on the giant screen at Wells Fargo IMAX Theatre at Marbles Kids Museum on Sunday August 21st at 5:00pm, followed by a reception and short presentation. Until you’ve seen these amazing images brought to life on 70ft wide, 50ft tall screen with 24,000 Watts of sound, you’ve not seen or heard them at all. And if you are too far away to attend, please let us know anyone you know in the area.

The occasion is the kickoff event of the Summer Fundraiser to support production and promotion of this ground-breaking film. We will be showing stunning new footage, a Q&A, a casual reception and special presentation from space outreach advocates Mike Malaska and Tony Rice. This is a critical time for the film to create a new film-out of the new footage to present to global theaters and distributors at this years international Giant Screen expo in Austin TX.

IMPORTANT FACTS:

• You must RSVP to this event as soon as possible – seating is limited. If you have not received an Evite, contact us or call 336-315-6081. All donors in NC so far (big thanks to you) should have received one.
• Please invite anyone you know in NC that you think would help support the film but please let them know this is fundraiser – the goal is raise enough funds to cover the cost of a new filmout of 3 minutes of new footage. Please contact us with their name, email and/or phone number.
• If you are attending, please arrive a few minutes before 5pm. We have a narrow window in the theater.
• We will be serving non-alcoholic beverages and light snacks in the reception following the screening.
• If you are not able to come or don’t live in the area, you can still support our Summer Fundraiser by contributing in the online campaign and/or spreading the word on IndieGoGo here: http://igg.me/p/29650?a=1258&i=shlk

Thanks to all our donors and sponsors – it’s people like you that make a project like this possible.

The fantastic part of this (for me) is that he is shooting 12 days of day & night time-lapse footage for Outside In and donating this work to the film. It’s an amazing gift as the footage I originally planned to use was just some stills stitched together – nice stills but pales in comparison of what now will be there.

The Rig with Milky Way: Photo Credit Colin Legg

Colin and I crossed paths on the interwebz via the Timescapes Forum – he was really excited about my film and I loved his work. So we begin chatting about possibilities of him helping the film. After some testing on my part and tons of work, planning and building on he and his team’s part, the expedition is finally a go!

THE SHOOT:

The plan is to shoot a 12 day continous sequence timelapse sequence, 6 days either side of the new moon. Changing light will be tracked as smoothly as possible in camera and all 5 cameras will fire together. Images from each camera will be stitched together to cover 195 degrees of sky. The sequence will be used for the key sequence in Outside In that shows the loss of the night sky over the entire history of human civilization.

THE EXPEDITION:

The shoot will take place in a dry lake bed, Lake Auld, that is basically in the middle of nowhere. It’s about 80 km from the nearest aboriginal community to get supplies and 160 km from nearest mining operation, so there should be zero light pollution.

Location of Shoot (credit Google Earth)

It’s far enough north to escape most southerly winter storm systems but far enough south to avoid tropical lows with a very high chance of clear skies. Of course, nothing is easy especially shooting in the wilds. There could be smoke from fires, sandstorms etc. but hopefully if those occur, they will be brief and maybe even incorporated into the film.

THE TIME-LAPSE RIG:

The rig is built using five Canon 5D Mark II DSLR cameras arranged to capture a full sky dome panoramic time lapse with sophisticated electronics and software to control the cameras during the shoot. The rig allows all camera to fire at once, manages the exposure as light changes from day to night to day. By using five 5 Canon 5D’s, it will give better resolution and lower noise than even 15/70mm film used in IMAX and other giant screen productions.

Colin has a lot of help from key people in pulling this off that I’m also very indebted to.

• His wife Uta Bauer is a critical member of the team helping with everything Colin can’t handle.
• David Gargadennec is talented photographer & collaborator on the project. He will be with Colin on the 12 day shoot for the Outside In sequence. He designed and built 5 camera mount, power systems and contributed post processing advice.
• Thomas Bethell built an 8 camera bulb firing and monitoring micro-controller for the project. He is a pioneer in bulb ramping camera controllers for smoothly tracking light (sunrise/sunset/moonrise/moonset). You can read more about the building of this here.
• Fred Bruenjes is the developer of Eclipse Orchestrator software used in adjusting camera settings and orchestrating and timing the 12 day sequence. He modified his software to Colin’s needs for the shoot.
• Carsten Oehring -  Created custom power systems engineering to keep all 5 cameras and supporting gear running.

As I get updates from Colin, I will keep everyone posted. This is a very exciting part of the creation of the film.

Sometimes it really is the simple, small gestures in life, from someone I will likely never know or meet, that matter.

click for larger image

One of important ingredients is re-creating natural visual effects as they occur in nature. Digieffects, based right here in North Carolina, donated their excellent plug-in Buena Depth Cue that’s a great set of tools for dealing with 3-D visual issues in Outside In. We’re happy to have them on-board as a supporter of the film.

Founded in 1996, Digieffects is a developer of visual effects software. Our software functions as “plugins” and work in conjunction with Adobe After Effects, Apple Final Cut Pro, Adobe Premiere Pro, Autodesk Combustion, Boris RED and Grass Valley Edius. We have customers all around the world including many of the best known brands in the media and entertainment industry. We also service a variety of other markets including corporations, government agencies, universities, non-profit institutions, independent freelancers and hobbyists. Digieffects has also licensed software to both Adobe and Roxio, leaders in the digital media software industry.

Digieffects is based in Wilmington, North Carolina, the third largest film production hub in the United States. Affectionately dubbed “Hollywood East”, over 300 movies and TV shows have been filmed here, many at EUE/Screen Gems Studios, the largest production studio east of California. Wilmington is also host to the Cucalorus Film Festival, one of the top film festivals in the United States according to Time Magazine, MovieMaker Magazine and The Brooks Institute. In addition to all this, the UNCW Film Studies department is nationally recognized as a leading film program in the United States. For more information about Wilmington you can read why CNN Money ranks Wilmington #14 among midsize metro areas for small business startups.

When work ramped up on Outside In, I built a dedicated machine just for the film. Red Giant Software stepped in and donated the Trapcode Suite of plug-ins for the machine. The “Big Bang” concept shot from the teaser trailer is created using Particular and Knoll Light Factory and a photograph of a single star repeated 10,000+ times (a still frame is used for the background image of this site). Right now, work is underway on using entire images of galaxies, star clusters and more in Particular, only now possible with the new version of After Effects that allows animated thousands of these massive images.

Even if you don’t have any idea of how this exactly works, you can enjoy the results. Check out their cool demo reel below.

Founded in 2002, Red Giant Software publishes and develops iPhone apps and software tools made by industry veterans Stu Maschwitz and John Knoll. Red Giant Software’s ever-expanding product line has over 30 packages that run in Adobe Photoshop®, Adobe After Effects®, Adobe Premiere Pro®, Apple Final Cut Pro®, Apple Motion®, and Avid® systems. The vast range of visual effects tools features industry-leading effects for designing realistic fire, rain, and water; adding popular looks; and creating perfect keys. Red Giant effects have enhanced feature films such as Angels & Demons, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Mummy 3, and Grindhouse, and added sparkle to cable and broadcast content from NBC Universal, Food Network, ESPN, Disney, CNN, Comedy Central, MTV, and TNT.

But there is a very critical part of After Effects that makes so much of the magic of animation like this possible – something called the “plug-in“. For the non-geek, I’m not talking about controlling those pesky household odors Software plug-ins are sub-programs that you add to existing software to provide powerful, time-saving and cool features to the software.

Outside In would not be possible without a number of key plug-ins but once you start adding a lot of them, the cost really adds up. Fortunately, I was already a small customer of simply the best place on earth to find and buy plug-ins: the good folks at Toolfarm. I approached them about sponsoring the film and they generously jumped on board, well beyond my expectations. So allow to me to “plug” this special sponsor to the film.

Toolfarm is the leading third-party reseller of After Effects Plug-ins and visual effects tools. Known also for distribution, publishing, service and training, it has become the de facto standard as the one-stop shop for Adobe After Effects Plug-ins as well as motion graphics tools.

On February 19th, 2009, Toolfarm acquired the assets of Pluginz.com – an online ecommerce resource for information about digital content creation, including it’s network which includes bedagi.com, editingutopia.com, post601.com, 3dplugins.com, and vfxplugins.com.

On October 18, 2004, Toolfarm aquired the AE FreeMart – an online resource and portal for users of Adobe After Effects and Motion Graphics Tools.

So spread the word, not only is Toolfarm the place for plugins, they are also a strong supporter of creative artists around the world.

Mike at the Eno River

First up, Mike Malaska has been the #1 fan and supporter of the project since he discovered the project on the awesome Unmanned SpaceFlight forum. (UMSF). UMSF is an incredible place where you can find the most talented space image processors on the planet. Several (to be profiled later in this series) have donated their work to the film and the spectucular animations in the film would be impossible without their thousands of hours of work.

Since Mike first got involved in supporting Outside In, he’s rocketed up to the stratosphere of passionate amateurs – he’s now directly involved in the hard science of Titan. He’s one of the smartest and nicest guys I’ve ever met and now officially one of the Executive Producers on Outside In. Be sure to check out his Flickr page, and if you are in North Carolina, he’s recently become an official NASA Solar System Ambassador, so look for upcoming presentations from him.

His official BIO:

“Mike Malaska is a PhD organic chemist leading drug discovery projects at SCYNEXIS, Inc. in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina.  He has worked on therapeutics for diseases that include cancer, glaucoma, and Alzheimer’s Disease.

He is also a volunteer researcher in planetary geology studying the Earth-like processes of Saturn’s giant moon Titan in collaboration with researchers on the Cassini RADAR team.  His current research focuses on characterizing the Sikun Labyrinth canyonland region and hydrocarbon rivers and channels located near Titan’s South Pole. He is also a volunteer artist for the AVIATR Titan Airplane mission proposal.  His scientific and artistic works have been presented at several planetary science conferences.

Mike is fascinated by the differences and similarities between the planets and moons of our Solar System and how they relate to planet Earth.  One of his hobbies is processing data from current and past spacecraft missions, including raw images taken only hours ago from orbit around another planet. He is a frequent contributor to unmannedspaceflight.com and has a flickr page dedicated to new planetary images he has processed from raw data:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/31678681@N07/

As a self-described enthusiastic science nerd, Mike is a recently-appointed participant in the NASA Solar System Ambassador program for educational outreach to schools, museums, and civic groups.

In his “spare time” Mike also enjoys fossil collecting, gardening, and blackwater kayaking.”

This is fly-through of this photograph – photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA11141 – only a little brightness and contrast has been made to balance the moons with saturn’s body. Do note that several thousand layers of many Cassini photographs were animated to make the fly-through work without any 3D CGI. The saturation is off due to lack of Flash Player ICM support. This is still a work-in-progress and it’s an art film, not a science film, but as new image data comes down I will tweak this shot for improved accuracy. To watch in HD, click on HD in window below or click here.

And if this excites you even half as much as it does me, I need to raise $2500 in the next couple of weeks to showcase this clip at the international IMAX conference at the end of September (GSCA Expo 2010). I heard today the my last grant application was denied, so it’s up to you to help Outside In get made.

I’ve set up a special fundraiser at IndieGogo that is tied in with Fractured Atlas for tax-deductible status. If you can’t donate, please spread the word far and wide. Click here to claim your special perks!

And here’s more tease shots from the clip…

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