Model Railroad Blog

Compelling Video June 17

The Elephant in the Corner of the Room

 

The constructive criticism received on the LAJ practice video fell into two areas, the white balance and the bit of choppiness in sound transitions. Noted, but also very simple to fix. The purpose of the exercise was to experiment with some techniques but primarily to unearth the challenges that lie in producing higher quality model railroad videos, something that moves closer to cinematography and further from “model railroady” works.

When all was said and done, the biggest problem, and it is a big one, is the lighting and backdrop. Model railroad still photography frequently, and model railroad videos almost always, are typified by a flat muddiness to the images. Part of this is related to not using the correct lighting and part of it has to do with the unique challenges and problems created by our 2D backdrops. Backdrops are the elephant in the corner of the room when it comes to model railroad photography. Model railroad backdrops tend to muddy up in images, show skewed perspectives, and snare shadows of vertical objects (ever see a shadow of a telephone pole when you look into the real sky?)

With still photography, we can work around the problem. By becoming more skilled with the use of photofloods we can inject shadows and contrast into our images. Problematic backdrop issues can be resolved simply with an online editor which can be used to delete the offending background and cropping in a better image. Software such as Corel’s Knockout 2 allows background removal with almost microscopic laser precision, totally free of white artifacts and halos.

The image above is a still photo. The existing backdrop was simply the walls of the room which had been painted sky blue. Although the wall looks totally fine in person it presents as a blue-gray muddy sea in photos. Using Knockout 2 I was able to delete it and replace it with an actual sky. This edit alone totally transforms the image (note: I’ve moved to the philosophy of using low drama, cloudless sky photos as I think they are less distracting). Note also how I was able to position the photo floods to inject shadows into the photo which drape across the building faces and vehicle hoods. Ideally, this is what I’d like to move to with the videos, the absence of muddiness in the sky and more defined shadows. Therein lies the enormous challenge and my central focus moving forward.

Now, contrast the still image with the screen capture of the practice video. I inserted a more brilliantly colored blue poster in the back which helped a little but note the flatness and muddiness in the color. Notice the burnouts and shadows. Although I used the same lighting as the still photograph, the shadows didn’t really snap out. My current video editor is Adobe Premiere Elements. Perhaps due to the challenges of video, I find it much wimpier and less powerful than the still counterpart, Adobe Photoshop. I’ve experimented with Green Sky, Blue Sky, and Chroma Key with lackluster results. Even when I did show signs of progress the borders and artifacts around my edits were apparent.

If any of my blog readers have experience with more advanced, more precise video background removal tools and techniques I’d love to hear from you. Perhaps a video editor that does this for their day job.

 

Compelling Video Imagery – June 12

I spent the better part of the weekend working on a practice/test video to test the waters as to what the challenges would be to produce something that was less “model railroady” in appearance.

You can see the video HERE.

Going in, I wanted to focus on three aspects of video production:

  • Composition
  • Lighting
  • Audio

After the experiment, it’s clear the biggest challenge will be the lighting.  Creating the look of “realistic natural sun produced” light, color, and shadows within the confines of a layout room is going to be a humbling experience, I can see that now.

The experiment:

I’ve been doing a lot of reading on high-quality cameras, whether to go with a video cam or video DSLR, etc.  I was surprised what I could produce with my iPhone so, for now, I’m going to experiment with that.  The phone was securely clamped to a tripod and positioned about a foot from the track.  The broadside orientation meant I didn’t have to deal so much with depth of field.  It was key to keep the camera level low to give the appearance of person sitting in a car at a grade crossing and get away from the ubiquitous model railroad helicopter view.

For lighting, I used a single photo flood positioning it as best I could to produce long shadows without blowing out the backdrop.  Even so, the sky blue background washed out so I experimented with a much more vivid blue sheet of poster board wedged in the back which helped.  I did have some odd shadows on the backdrop from a telephone pole so temporarily removed the pole during filming.  The lighting was “ok” but I wasn’t really satisfied with the lack of long shadows.

The audio ended up being easier than expected.  The trick is to never, ever use ambient sound.  After loading the clip in my video editor (Adobe Premiere Elements) I immediately deleted the actual audio.  Going online it was easy enough to find high-quality sound clips including several for an EMD 567 prime mover.  It’s fairly simple to clip the audio, add fades, and increase the bass of the primer mover.

I’m at the bottom of the learning curve when it comes to video editors.  As far as entry level products go, I was basically satisfied with Premiere given its cost.  It does give a lot of flexibility in terms of image editing but not to the extent I’m used to with still image editors like Photoshop Elements.  I found Premier’s text functions and movie templates to be limited, clunky, and maddening to work with.  At any rate, it will do for now as a learning platform.  I can always get a higher end editor once I’m farther along.

For now, the biggest challenge will be more effective lighting, a process which has no solution other than a lot of trial and error.

Compelling Video Imagery

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what constitutes compelling video imagery and how that could be applied to model railroading. Videos/trailers/movies can serve a myriad of purposes from telling a story, evoking a mood, making a socially relevant point, documentation, or instruction. With model railroading or railfanning, the overwhelming majority of imagery falls into the last two categories, documentation and instruction. There’s no shame in that as both are valuable and necessary. However, model railroading videography, and to an extent railfan videos, generally, don’t rise to the level of high-quality entertainment to the extent a professionally produced movie trailer would.

A typical railfan video consists of a three-quarter view of an approaching train. The train passes, the passing rolling stock is filmed and the train is gone. A model railroad video is typically an elevated video of our plastic models traversing the layout, generally not that exciting but still valuable as a learning tool.

The question I’ve been asking myself is, how would a person move beyond the typical model railroad video format and produce something that moves more towards the entertainment quality of a professionally produced movie trailer? For example, the HBO trailer for the True Detective series HERE.

First would be the composition of the production. Is it necessary that the film tells a story? It could but I don’t think it would have to. It could be equally compelling if it simply evokes a mood. For example, e excellent Miamism production playing on the iconic Miami Vice Phil Collins scene which you can watch HERE. It doesn’t tell a story and yet is very compelling. The sound and imagery alone are enough.

There are challenges applying this to rail fan videos and even larger challenges taking it further to model railroading. Even so, I think it could be done. On the rail fan side, one of the best productions I’ve come across is Tolga’s East Rail at night which you can watch HERE. (If the aspect ratio is off on your screen you can use this online aspect ratio correction tool) It’s a highly unique production from the standpoint of the mood it conveys via the turbo whine, the lighting, the windshield wipers and light rain.

In closely studying high-quality movie trailers I’m struck by how much of the overall effect is carried by sound and lighting. It seems to be the theme with high-quality video production in general these days. That reality poses enormous challenges to producing a compelling model railroad trailer. Ambient model railroad sound won’t work so a way would have to be found to directly channel digital audio from the decoder to the video audio track. I think this could be done. There are also professionally produced audio tracks that can be picked up online and dubbed in. Next up would be the lighting. It’s a given that ordinary room lighting, especially fluorescents, won’t work. It remains to be seen how much improvement can be had moving to photo floods. Other challenges include dealing with backdrops and obtaining and learning high-quality video editing software.

I’m curious what I can come up with. Stay tuned.

Layouts as Wall Art

Full complete Los Angeles Junction layout.

As you walk through your living room, chances are that somewhere on the wall hangs something you enjoy looking at. It could be a painting, poster, sculpture, or photograph. Whatever it is, you liked it when you bought it, you liked it a year after you bought it, and to this day it gives you pleasure to look at it. That’s what art is all about.

A number of years ago somebody wrote that model railroads weren’t meant to be static. By their very nature, their purpose extended beyond serving as a diorama. Although I agree to an extent, and I understood where the writer was coming from, I’m beginning to think that may be oversimplifying things, at least in certain situations.

It sort of snuck on me but I began to realize how much I enjoy looking at my LAJ layout…even when it’s not running. The same held for East Rail. Although it was built to operate, and does so, I derive pleasure from simply taking it in whether trains or running or not. It gives me the same visual sensation as a favorite painting. Maybe we are being a little myopic in pigeon-holing our layouts solely as beautifully crafted, interactive machines.

The nature of art is such that everybody’s experience will vary but a few things factor in if you’re going to build something primarily as wall art.

  • The layout needs to be relatively small, I’d say a 10 foot by 10 foot “L” at most. As layouts get larger, no matter how great they’re built, it becomes too much to take in as you would a painting or sculpture. As I mentioned, East Rail and the LAJ project “feel” like wall art. My Monon layout and The Downtown Spur are too expansive to serve that end.
  • Presentation matters. Ragged MDF fascia’s and dangling wires may be something you could live with on an operations oriented layout in your basement but that won’t fly in a living room or den, especially if you share the space with others. It’s not hard, but the effort has to be made to keep things clean and presentable.
  • Visual composition matters more. On a prototype layout, accuracy, modeling what was there, what serves on operational purpose, is more important than visual cohesiveness. For an art oriented layout, looks and composition are more important than accuracy. To an extent, you can have your cake and eat it too, as long as you are careful in picking your subject.

I did a recent Google search of “what constitutes great art”. The top results were primarily from those in the art world and were surprisingly non-judgemental. The bottom line is if looking at a piece of art brings you enjoyment that’s all that matters. That’s why we hang our children’s finger paints on our wall. If it sparks happiness, humor, or another positive emotion, then its art and worth appreciating in our homes. Some of the google results did go a step further though. Most said that if you start spending a lot more times in museums and studying the work of masters you do start noticing the difference between the skilled amateur and somebody like Vermeer or Hopper. That’s a point that translates to what we do. If you step outside of model railroading and really study painting of the great artists of all time you will start to pick up on nuances that can be applied to creating an effective model railroad scene.

Vernon

If you want to get picky the LAJ isn’t technically in LA, it’s in a separate municipality just south of downtown called Vernon. I’d like to say I had the artistic forethought to pick a location for the LAJ that had a storied, textured past. Not so, I just go lucky. Seriously, how can you beat a place where “the corruption charges outnumber the residents”! On the entertainment website, Vulture.com, Nate Jones wrote an exceptional article on the city of Vernon and the HBO series which uses it as a backdrop.

The Real-Life Town That Inspired True Detective Season Two

By

Los Angeles River and Downtown Skyline

The Los Angeles River as it flows through Vernon. Photo: Hal Bergman/Getty Images

Back in 2014, Nic Pizzolatto teased the second season of True Detective by saying he was trying to capture the “psychosphere ambiance” of Southern California, telling the TCA he was hoping to set the season in “the places that don’t get much press and where you wouldn’t normally set a television show.” Well, he found it – True D‘s second season is set in and around the fictional town of Vinci, a business community on the fringes of Los Angeles that, judging from Sunday night’s season premiere, appears to be corrupt to its very core. Pizzolatto didn’t have to delve deep into Lovecraftian mythos for his inspiration this year; as he told Vanity Fair, he only had to look a few miles south of Downtown L.A. to find the city of Vernon, an industrial wasteland where the corruption charges outnumber people.

As the L.A. Times‘ history of the city puts it, criminality has been baked into Vernon’s DNA since the very beginning. The community was co-founded by a Basque immigrant named John Baptiste Leonis, who around the turn of the previous century incorporated a patch of sparsely populated farmland near the rail lines in the hopes of turning it into a mecca for manufacturing. The city lured business interest with low utility rates and sparse regulations, and Leonis promoted the town as a haven for boxing, gambling, and drinking. It would be a place that would eventually draw in the crowds, especially if the likes of boxing, gambling, and drinking were featured.  Vernon, in essence, became the exact type of place L.A. noir was made of – and Leonis ruled over it like a petty dictator. As one political rival told the Times in 1925, “In that town, you do not file papers at the City Hall. You simply hand them to John and he puts them in his pocket. If he is in favor of the proposition, it goes through; if he is opposed, that’s the last you hear of it.”

Vernon only includes a small handful of residences – its population has hovered around 100 – most of which are owned by the city, allowing the local bosses to create a powerful network of political patronage. With taxes from businesses flowing in, they were also able to redirect the city’s funds into their own pockets. After surviving corruption charges that brought down four high-ranking members of Vernon’s oligarchy, Leonis died in 1953 a very rich man, and his grandson Leonis Malburg inherited both his fortune and his political influence; he was elected mayor in 1978 and didn’t leave office for another three decades. (Vernon had no competitive elections from 1980 to 2006.) Malburg pops up in True Detective as the obvious inspiration for Vinci’s seedy mayor, who lives in posh digs in Beverly Hills. In real life, Malburg was convicted of voter fraud in 2009 after it came out that he had been falsifying his Vernon address and really lived in a Hancock Park mansion he’d inherited from his grandfather.

Malburg’s conviction came amid a flood of corruption charges for Vernon’s elite – city administrators were found to have spent public funds on lavish trips for themselves, on top of the million-dollar salaries they were already receiving – and in 2011, State Senator John Perez launched a bill to de-incorporate the city and absorb it back into the city of Los Angeles. The effort failed after Vernon politicians promised a spate of reforms, including pay limits for government employees and public investment in neighboring communities. A year later, with the state auditing Vernon’s finances, former administrator Eric Fresch was found dead on Angel Island in San Francisco Bay, an incident that may have inspired the death of Vinci city manager Ben Caspere in True Detective. (The Marin County coroner’s office later determined Fresch’s death was the result of an accidental fall, which seems unlikely to be the case on True D.)

Today, Vernon is home to companies like Tapatío hot sauce and True Religion jeans. Its Wikipedia summary is unintentionally poetic:

Meatpacking plants and warehouses are common. As of 2006, there were no parks.

Despite city officials’ claim to have cleaned up the city in the wake of the failed de-incorporation campaign, Vernon’s lack of environmental regulations is still wreaking havoc on its neighbors: For years, residents in East L.A. fought to close an Exide battery plant in Vernon that was emitting lead and arsenic into the surrounding area; after more than a decade of fines, the plant was finally shut down for good in March.

But if Vernon officials are upset about the city’s reputation, they don’t seem to mind True Detective bringing the city’s sordid history back into the spotlight. In fact, they even let HBO shoot scenes in the city limits. “True Detective will have some settings that look like the city, sound like the city and feel like the city,” Vernon spokesman Frederic MacFarlane told the Times. “But it’s not going to be the city of Vernon.”