As a local interactive, video and motion designer, I’m fathomed by the amount of change happening these past three years – in terms of tools we use for the work we do.

Among these, there have been a few game-changers in the video & film industry around the world.  The ones I’m more familiar with are the recent DSLR cameras Canon has come out with.  Their out-of-camera footage doesn’t just look film-like, it’s also considerably affordable.

Unfortunately, as a result I’m finding myself spending more time sifting through amateur videos and shorts online than ever before.  As much as everyone seems to have a website for their dog, they now also have a short feature film up online.  This is why websites like www.vimeo.com are becoming a better place to post solid creative work and have great communities for input, inspiration, and feedback.  Among its users, there are countless Hollywood directors, camera-operators, writers, and producers watching and commenting.  I recently had the honour of having a UK cinema tool inventor comment on and embed my video on his website and post a link on twitter.  It’s really exciting getting that kind of international audience at little to no expense.

The great result of these cameras being on the market is seeing extremely talented people who wouldn’t have had the opportunity previously; make the films they’ve always wanted to make.  As much as there are questionable amounts of quality videos out there, there are gems that make it worth while to look through and find.

There is an interesting debate, now, about how well these DSLR cameras work in professional circumstances.  A lot of camera-operators are embracing the new technology, but there are still a few that simply don’t think they should be used at all.  Something I find really interesting about these cameras is that they are photography cameras first, which happen to have video capabilities.  Their video controls are a lot less automatic and you really need to learn what each function does to create great imagery.  Video cameras are/were becoming very easy to shoot and edit very quickly without having to think about focusing and exposure.  Considering how motion pictures came from still camera technology, it’s neat how we’re able to step backwards and re-learn where it all started.  For myself, it has been great learning to control each setting manually – same as film-camera would be used.  I’ve been able to hugely challenge and expand my knowledge of camera use and composition.