Megan and Murray McMillan

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Here’s a list of the most common tools we use in the order we use them:

Apple Safari
Microsoft Word
Pen or pencil
Cellphone
Adobe Photoshop
Paint roller and brush (someday to be replaced by a HVLP sprayer)
Scissors
Image Camera (low end)
Station wagon or pickup truck
Tape
Apple Final Cut Pro
Drill (battery powered)
Tape measure
Extension cords
Brad nail gun and air compressor
Apple Aperture (Much better than iPhoto)
Video Camera (Panasonic, Sony or Canon)
Drill bit index (I prefer brad point)
Eye and ear protection (always)
Square
Table saw (the older the better)
Laser printer (we like the workhorse Brother HL-5240)
Miter saw (we like Delta and Makita)
Screwdriver
Xacto blade (most dangerous tool in the shop)
Quicktime Pro (perfect for quick import/exports)
Paper shredder (peace of mind)
Apple Compressor (the trick to quality DVDs)
Image Camera (high end)
Pry-bar
Apple DVD Studio Pro (MUCH easier than it looks)
DVD burner
Dozuki saw (I swear by these)
Wrench set
Hot glue gun (some day we’ll get an industrial one)
Random orbit sander (Festool and the Festool vacuum)
Jig saw (Bosch or Festool)
Industrial staple gun (save money: go to Harbor Freight)
Tripods (we like Bogen)
Knife
Adobe Flash (unintuitive to learn, but easy afterwards)
Tie Wire (some call bailing wire)
Dremel
Industrial heat gun
Circular saw (We like Festool and Porter Cable)
Industrial vacuum (buy the best you can afford)
Broom
Inkjet printer for DVD labels (not cost effective, but better than a sticker)
Level (don’t get the cherry version: buy one you don’t mind beating up)
Drill press
Adobe Dreamweaver (old versions are fine)
Wire strippers
Hammer (almost never use it since switching to air nailers)
Chisels (not an everyday tool, but handy when necessary)
Sawzall saw (good to buy used)
Hammer drill (waste of money: consider renting, not buying)

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Mikes’s HD for Indies blog is a blog I read daily for the latest video technology info. It’s full-on geek talk–sometimes over my head–and tends to focus on filmmaking gear that requires a budget noticeably higher than Megan and I can generally muster, however, it’s the best way to learn about what’s in the pipeline for the future, which will be here eventually.

One project Mike has invested a lot of energy into over the last year is a new 4K (that’s a technical imaging moniker-not price) camera designed by a new startup camera company called Red. The Red 1 HD camera starts at $20,000 (but that doesn’t include all the necessary features, like a lens). The significant thing is it delivers the nearly same quality as a $100,000 film camera. It has the potential to create a revolution for independent filmmakers.

The quality of this camera is actually comparable to a digital still camera. Check out Mike’s blog here to see test images. Click an image to see the actual video quality. Note: Mike’s a purist and has posted images without any image sweetening: these are raw images straight from the camera before color correction so they will lack the wowzo punch of a great photograph. The thing to look at is the detail.

We’re researching cameras for underwater photography for our next project in Greece. Three options are contending:

The Expensive Route
The Canon 5D is our current dream camera. It’s the camera we rented to document Channelbone. It delivers high quality 12.8 megapixel (mp) images, however costs $2700 + $400 for an underwater housing. The problem: comically expensive.

The Inefficient Route
The Panasonic Lumix DMC-LX2 is the rave of the current Consumer Reports comparison. Its $400 price for a 10 mps + $250 for an underwater housing is tempting. The problem: spending $650 for a point and shoot camera (with a hard to use “point and shoot” interface) does not make sense—that’s the price of a 10mp Canon SLR (which doesn’t go underwater—but there you are).

The Underpowered Route
The Olympus 770SW is a 7mp camera that is designed to be submersible to 33’ for a cool $350. The problem: 7mp is on the low side for what we need and the lens is so small that “breaking the surface” images would be 30% distorted.

The Red Herring
Any of the above could be used with a partially submerged aquarium and potential risk depending on wave size.

All computers crash–mine crashed last week, along with my data. Luckily, we back up once a week. Since our work is stored digitally we’re somewhat compulsive about protecting it. We keep everything on both our computers, an external hard-drive and an off-site hard-drive. In addition to that, once a year we make non-electronic backups on data dvds.

It takes energy to stay on top of this, but we’ve saved more energy than we’ve exerted.

Still from The Stepping Up and Going Under Method, 2006

Megan and I are pleased to launch an updated portfolio site and blog. In addition, we’ve added a YouTube video channel, Flickr page and a MySpace site. We retired the green/brown motif, which had such a loud flavor.

Our hesitation with YouTube, Flickr and Myspace has been the informality. But after a lot of research and thinking over the issue, we’ve come to realize that informality is the strength of these sites. They are the ideal locations for older projects, sketches, failures and experiments — none of which work on a portfolio site. Also, YouTube and Flickr are perfect when direct links are needed (impossible with the Flash portfolio site). Additionally, having a location for older projects honors the work of the people who helped us make them.

This started with Tyler Green’s post questioning why more video artists don’t take advantage of YouTube. We actually spent a lot of time writing a long counter-argument before we realized we didn’t have any strong points. So we changed our position. Cheers, Tyler.

In our new portfolio site, we’re now showing 10-second excerpts of videos instead of their full duration. For work that we’re currently showing in brick-and-mortar venues, we feel like it’s a good compromise to show abbreviated versions online. When we retire a work from our active portfolio, we’ll post it on YouTube in its full duration. This allows the work to keep living, while creating more of a reason to see our new work in galleries, where its exhibited in full resolution and designated scale, with powerful sound.

The MySpace site is the biggest risk in my opinion. But we’ve seen how many museums, galleries, and artists are now using MySpace sites as a front door and a direction marker pointing to other sites. It seems like a good approach, considering the popularity of MySpace.

So join us in this process, we’ll be adding new content weekly, and plan on keeping the new sites experimental and fun.