William Schryver's Book of Abraham documentary...

[_Runtu]

Will,

Another interesting voice to round out the names you listed would be Paul Osborne. I'm sure many people have come across his [urlhttp://www.myegyptology.net/file/id3.htm]MyEgyptology site.[/url] As I'm sure you know he's pro-lds but very different in his approach.


Phaedrus

I like Paul. Anybody who is confident enough to consign me to hell is all right with me. :)

[_William Schryver]

Will,

Another interesting voice to round out the names you listed would be Paul Osborne. I'm sure many people have come across his MyEgyptology site. As I'm sure you know he's pro-lds but very different in his approach.


Phaedrus

I contacted Paul early on. He gave it much consideration, but in the end he felt that he would be too uncomfortable appearing on camera. However, he did say I could use anything off of his website that I wished. And I may take him up on that offer. He certainly has many ideas I agree with, and lots of good resources.

[_Sethbag]

Will, what's the reasoning behind the white shirt ban? Is it a photographic thing (not wanting to overexpose the white shirts, nor underexpose everything else)? Or is it a "don't want the antis to look like Mormons" thing?

[_William Schryver]

Will, what's the reasoning behind the white shirt ban? Is it a photographic thing (not wanting to overexpose the white shirts, nor underexpose everything else)? Or is it a "don't want the antis to look like Mormons" thing?

My, my, my ... what interesting paranoia. Or so it would seem.

No, Seth, I wouldn't want anyone -- believer or non -- to wear a white shirt. It reflects so much of the light back to the lens that you can't get a decent exposure on anything else in the frame.

In order to distinguish believer from critic, I've got a little set of horns that the critics will have to wear during their interviews. That, and they'll have to smear black shoe polish all over their faces to indicate their having been "cursed."

[_dartagnan]

In order to distinguish believer from critic, I've got a little set of horns that the critics will have to wear during their interviews.

Dude, I would totally do that.

[_CaliforniaKid]

In order to distinguish believer from critic, I've got a little set of horns that the critics will have to wear during their interviews.

Dude, I would totally do that.

rofl! I just got this great image of you with blackened face and horns, very soberly talking about the Book of Abraham as if nothing at all were out of the ordinary, right in the middle of this scholarly documentary. Maybe Will should do two cuts, and put that in the outtakes. :-P

[_Runtu]

In order to distinguish believer from critic, I've got a little set of horns that the critics will have to wear during their interviews.

Dude, I would totally do that.

rofl! I just got this great image of you with blackened face and horns, very soberly talking about the Book of Abraham as if nothing at all were out of the ordinary, right in the middle of this scholarly documentary. Maybe Will should do two cuts, and put that in the outtakes. :-P

I'd pay more for the "special edition" version.

[_dartagnan]

I'll be heading for Florida Nov 18th Will. Did you manage to contact Stephen?

He lives closeer to Palm Bay, which is where my Dad lives.

[_Sethbag]

Will, what's the reasoning behind the white shirt ban? Is it a photographic thing (not wanting to overexpose the white shirts, nor underexpose everything else)? Or is it a "don't want the antis to look like Mormons" thing?

My, my, my ... what interesting paranoia. Or so it would seem.

No, Seth, I wouldn't want anyone -- believer or non -- to wear a white shirt. It reflects so much of the light back to the lens that you can't get a decent exposure on anything else in the frame.

In order to distinguish believer from critic, I've got a little set of horns that the critics will have to wear during their interviews. That, and they'll have to smear black shoe polish all over their faces to indicate their having been "cursed."

ROFL, great response!

Yeah, actually the photographic explanation was the first thing that came to my mind, believe it or not. I dabble in amateur photography (Nikon D200 user, several lenses, two off-camera flashes, etc.) and it occurred to me that if you were using a video camera with automatic exposure (which you would be), a guy with a white shirt on could throw the whole exposure out of whack. Perfect answer to that is of course to use a manual exposure, but oh well.

But then, since white shirts seem to be a sort of modern Mormon uniform, the paranoid motivation wasn't entirely ruled out either.

[_William Schryver]

KG:

Dude, I would totally do that.

I have to admit that it would be extremely funny. I just don’t think either one of us could keep a straight face while doing it.

I'll be heading for Florida Nov 18th Will. Did you manage to contact Stephen?

I sent an e-mail to the address you provided. I also found a website for the school where he’s at, and the e-mail address listing for him there was the same. However, I have not heard back from him yet.

Sethbag:

Yeah, actually the photographic explanation was the first thing that came to my mind, believe it or not. I dabble in amateur photography (Nikon D200 user, several lenses, two off-camera flashes, etc.) and it occurred to me that if you were using a video camera with automatic exposure (which you would be), a guy with a white shirt on could throw the whole exposure out of whack. Perfect answer to that is of course to use a manual exposure, but oh well.

Actually, I do my video in full manual mode. No self-respecting videographer would do otherwise. The problem is multi-faceted:

1- The CCDs (“Charged Coupled Device” - the 3 chips that are the luma/chroma sensors) can sample white levels that far exceed broadcast standards. You can crush everything in post-production, but it’s better to keep everything within conservative parameters from the beginning.

2- If you set the iris/shutter speed to expose the darker areas sufficiently to have contrast in the shadowed areas, then the white shirt looks like the face of God or something of the sort. You can hardly stand to look at the screen.

The bottom line is that digital video is a really different animal than film. Film is rather forgiving in many respects, because of its higher light sensitivity. Plus, a good 35mm lens can make all the difference on a film camera. I’m actually about to purchase something called a 35mm adapter for my camcorder (a Canon XH-A1). It permits you to put conventional 35mm lenses (old fully manual ones are the best) in front of the camcorder’s lens. There’s something called a “ground lens” in between the two. The ground lens is a mildly cloudy piece of glass that is made to spin with a little motor (its purpose is to create the illusion of film grain). Then you hook up a old Canon FD or a Nikon lens to the front, set your iris nice and wide (but usually not larger than about 2.8) and voila! Your camcorder is turned into a device than can capture images just like a $100,000 35mm movie camera. Nice shallow depth of field and everything. Anyway, I’ll stop rambling. But it is cool.