The GAF Video and Filmmaking Thread

Finished the feature and looking forward to some commercial work this spring. Currently editing a band's show. It's fun working with musicians, editing their work is a different style and pace. Do tell, raise your hands, how many here have worked with bands? Is it a passage of rites type of deal?
 
Any tips for tracking for a shoot?

We're shooting a business tomorrow and for b-roll, the company wants UI elements to be tracked (like Iron Man and stuff like that)

I'm gonna be there for a second to help make sure our camera guy gets the best coverage. Should I be making markers? Should I trust After Effects' 3D Tracker? He's gonna be shooting a lot of window/glass section and that's what really worries me...

*edit*
He's going to be using a gimbal so shots should be smooth. They shoot on an Amira so data and picture should be clean
 
Anyone know a good plugin to degrade and to age your footage? I've shot some footage with the FS5 but I need to make it look like it's shot with an older camera. Almost VHS like. But just not too crazy.

killertofu said:
pics, man, pics!
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I will once I get back to editing that piece! Gotta finish a commercial project first :(
 
OK guys, I'm awfully tempted. The price is just so damn high though. But that obstacle avoidance stuff is sounding really good in reviews so far. I have no experience in flying a drone, so this might be right up my noob alley.

en_02.jpg


http://store.dji.com/product/phantom-4
 
Drones are so easy to fly it's scary. I've had two in two years and I love them. I feel like if you're comfortable playing a first-person shooter you should be able to understand the controls fairly easily.
 
So, as some people maybe know, my friends and I make a web series about board games. It's pretty small. I don't normally spam GAF with it.

Anyway, I directed the newest episode, and I'm really happy with how it turned out. We flew in some special guests so it was a tight shoot. Basically shot in a weekend.

My BG is sound, but I was pretty happy with how it turned out. https://youtu.be/GtpUAZ0pWng

Let me know what you think.

It was shot with a Black Magic Cinema Camera and a Movi.

We were actually featured on the AV Club today.
 
Y2lYLo9.gif


I present to film making GAF: Computer Fighters.

Passion, vanity comedy project made with my friends whenever we had free time over a few months. Got Jon St. John to do a cameo (Mr. Duke Nukem) and Mel McMurrin (the voice of Calypso in Twisted Metal 2-4).
 
I've flown with the Phantom 3 Professional quite a bit and it's honestly that easy that I don't really see the point of obstacle avoidance. Sure it's nice to have but I would've preferred some kind of image upgrade. (Or the Inspire to massively drop in price lol)


Benjamin_MFF said:
Red Giant would be a good resource for vintage effects, if you want to get close to VHS, they have a specific plug in for it here: http://www.redgiant.com/universe-tools/vhs/
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Cheers, works great!
 
Welp, the Ursa Mini 4.6K is finally shipping without global shutter. At least it means the resale price of the 4K Mini won't drop through the floor. I should be able to afford a 4.6K after a price drop and some saving.
 
Spaghetti said:
Welp, the Ursa Mini 4.6K is finally shipping without global shutter. At least it means the resale price of the 4K Mini won't drop through the floor. I should be able to afford a 4.6K after a price drop and some saving.
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Well, fuck. I really wanted that global shutter. At least the price reflects its loss...but damn. So tired of jello pans/movement.

EDIT: Wait, I was thinking of the PL mount. It's the same damned price, even with feature loss? Very disappointing.
 
Armadilo said:
anybody recommend any good quality cheap cameras ?
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I'm about to get a Panasonic Lumix G7. Comes with a shotgun mic and a 14 - 42mm lens for just under $600.

I hear they're pretty good for the price.

I'm just about to get back into it though, so someone who knows more about it might have a better recommendation.
 
-griffy- said:
Rolling shutter has secretly ruined an entire generation of video.
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It's just one of those artifacts that is SO easy to spot, and right in your face. At least with CA or something like that, it's something that most people don't notice. Warbling jello is something everyone can see, I feel.

I've been checking BMCUser and some people who had an early hands-on said the Ursa 4.6k's refresh is so fast, it's hard to notice, so that's promising. They're shipping, at least, so I'm sure someone will do some tests soon.
 
Anton Sugar said:
Well, fuck. I really wanted that global shutter. At least the price reflects its loss...but damn. So tired of jello pans/movement.

EDIT: Wait, I was thinking of the PL mount. It's the same damned price, even with feature loss? Very disappointing.
Click to expand...
BM's rolling shutter is generally far better than a DSLR, for instance. Unless you're really into whip-pans or sports videography, then it shouldn't be hugely something you notice.

Not dropping the price is bullshit though. It's not as promised, and way over six months late. BM will get eaten alive at NAB.
 
killertofu said:
Thoughts on a Red One MX?

A kit was recommended to me by a coworker for around $3000....
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The Red One is that cheap now? Wowzers. It has great image quality, especially at that price point. Though when I first saw some raw images that came of the thing I was a bit disappointed because I had crazy high expectations at that point. Still stellar though. Anyway, the thing is really clumsy, heavy and pretty much unusable without a tripod. It's clearly no run and gun camera. The startup alone takes about a minute or two. The one we had had a lot of technical issues as well.

If you know what your getting into it's an amazing camera for just 3000 dollar. Just know it's best suited for studio work. Or what we used it for, a nature doc.
 
killertofu said:
Fuck, finding a camera to rent for like 2 weeks is such a pain in the ass.

Its so expensive. I might as well buy a camera/
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I was in the same boat two years ago when the A7s came out and the world of hype that followed it. If I was to advise my younger self, is find the lenses you want to film with and build a camera package around that.
 
Benjamin_MFF said:
I was in the same boat two years ago when the A7s came out and the world of hype that followed it. If I was to advise my younger self, is find the lenses you want to film with and build a camera package around that.
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The URSA Mini 4.6k has my attention

Unfortunately it costs 5 grand and I work in post. I want it :( :(
 
killertofu said:
The URSA Mini 4.6k has my attention

Unfortunately it costs 5 grand and I work in post. I want it :( :(
Click to expand...
You and me both brother.

It'll get a price drop before the year is out though. I'm going to sell off my Ursa Mini 4K and use savings to cover the gap. I've seen it compared to an Arri Alexa XT in terms of image output, which is sorta nuts considering the price difference.
 
Spaghetti said:
You and me both brother.

It'll get a price drop before the year is out though. I'm going to sell off my Ursa Mini 4K and use savings to cover the gap. I've seen it compared to an Arri Alexa XT in terms of image output, which is sorta nuts considering the price difference.
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Bah,can't afford it.

Anyone have any thoughts with the Micro Cinema Camera? I honestly havent' looked at Black Magic since the first camera. Wasn't particularly impressed when I used it. But now the URSA and maybe the Micro Cinema Camera has peaked my interest. I could probably swing 1000$ for that but I honestly don't know what I would be getting myself into.

*edit*

or a Blackmagic Cinema camera? I see one on Craigslist for $1000
 
WoopWoop! So excited for this weekend since I'll be partaking in a 48 hour project event! Anyone here ever done one? Any tips and tricks? I'll be directing and partly writing the script so I'm feeling the pressure!
 
killertofu said:
Can we just start an URSA Mini 4.6k NeoGAF timeshare?

Good God, something about this camera stirred something up in me.
Click to expand...

I'm down :D

In all seriousness, I'm saving up for one. Selling/exchanging all the stuff I won't need from my BMCC (a number of things the URSA comes with natively, in terms of the rig), the difference for me will only be about $1-2000.

Now for those goddamn CF cards to drop in price :-|
 
Sec0nd said:
WoopWoop! So excited for this weekend since I'll be partaking in a 48 hour project event! Anyone here ever done one? Any tips and tricks? I'll be directing and partly writing the script so I'm feeling the pressure!
Click to expand...

Here's some advice I've given before here:

-griffy- said:
If the schedule is like the 48 hour film fests I've done, this should be your tentative plan. Ideally you will have three "teams," a pre-production/writing team that will go to the kick-off, get the required elements (character/line/genre/prop/etc.) come up with the story and script, then a production team that will shoot the movie, then a post production that will edit. That way you won't have any one group stretching themselves too thin by trying to work throughout the full 48 hours, you can start to get footage to editors earlier in the day, they can already begin work on effects if needed, etc. That's ideally though, and may not be realistic.

You'll want to have several locations available to you for shooting, already planned out in advance, all located relatively close to each other to minimize travel time. That way you can pick a couple or one to fit what is required of you. The simplest is to shoot at one location so you can maximize your time, but shooting at more locations can look more impressive.

Here's a tentative schedule:
7PMish (or whatever the kick-off time is) get required elements
7PM-too late at night - send someone to buy/find any required props if need be, come up with story/script (KEEP IT SIMPLE AND STRAIGHT FORWARD, IF YOUR GENRE IS THRILLER, DO A THRILLER! HORROR, DO SCARY! This isn't the time to try and get fancy or overly thematic or meaningful! Just try and have fun with it!)
SLEEP
7AM - fill team/actors in on story/plan, begin shooting as soon as possible
8AM-around 8PM - Shoot the movie
EAT SOMETHING
9PM-import footage to computers/editing programs, organize, some editing
Hopefully get some GOOD SLEEP this night, you will want/need it.
7AM-5PM EDIT EDIT EDIT
5PM Export. Leave time to export, because it will take longer than you anticipate and you want to give yourself time in case of unforeseen problems.
6:30PM deliver "finished" film, whether you are dropping it off or uploading it or whatever
FEEL VICTORIOUS, EAT DINNER, SLEEP EARLY

This is more realistically what you can expect if you don't have a large team and are doing everything yourself or with a very small core group:
Get required elements, gather with team, spend too much time trying to come up with/agree on a story because too many people are providing input, agree on shit idea, realize at 12AM after team goes home/falls asleep that you and your main partner need to come up with entirely new idea that is decent and logistically doable, but half-baked because it is getting late and you really need to sleep and it is now 3AM so you go to bed. Get up early, fill in team, but some of your team will probably be late, a couple may bail on you even. Hopefully you have worked with some of them before so you have a shorthand and can work efficiently. Sometime in the mid/late afternoon your lack of sleep will catch up with you and you will feel brain dead, like you can't function anymore. Just push through it and you will get a second wind. You won't be able to do much editing this night because by the time you are back you will be so tired you are getting delirious. Best you can do is get things imported and get some things in the timeline. You'll get up early and edit your ass off, you'll feel well rested and like you have plenty of time (12 hours? Easy!), but you'll still end up being rushed by the end, you'll miss a couple silly obvious things in the edit (like a boom in a shot, audio problem, shot without color correction, etc), but it won't be a big deal. You may be exporting in a laptop on the ride to the drop-off to make the time. You will sleep like a king/queen this night.

You'll get stressed out, you'll feel like your movie is shit for most of the shoot/editing, you'll be tired, but somehow it will still be fun, and damn if you won't feel like you really accomplished something when you turn in your movie.
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-griffy- said:
Oh here are the two films I worked on for the Minneapolis 48HFP. The first one I helped come up with story and co-directed/shot/edited/visual effects, the second I only did effects and edited/visual effects/color. These are both the "director's cuts" where we fixed some of the minor things we didn't catch during the 48 hours. The second one went much smoother, we actually had a full crew and had time to spare to actually work on things like color and stuff, but it was overall a simpler video. The only thing we had to fix in the second video was a couple color correction layers were off by one frame, so you saw a flash of a shot in the wrong color a couple times:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iH2QFNzxus

https://vimeo.com/73103137

Sounds like you have a decent crew so hopefully things go relatively smooth. It's so much nicer to have crew members with roles and not having to try and direct and shoot and run a sound recorder and set up lights while talking to actors. Make sure to stock up on bottled water too!
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Anton Sugar said:
I'm down :D

In all seriousness, I'm saving up for one. Selling/exchanging all the stuff I won't need from my BMCC (a number of things the URSA comes with natively, in terms of the rig), the difference for me will only be about $1-2000.

Now for those goddamn CF cards to drop in price :-|
Click to expand...

I'm seriously trying to come up with ways to afford the camera. What to sell, what to do, etc.

Are there any decent financing options anywhere?
 
-griffy- said:
Here's some advice I've given before here:
Click to expand...

Super! Thanks for the advice. I'm fearful that I'll die. Since I'm the director the want me to help write the script, then obviously direct the piece and than be present during editing. Oh and I'm also the colorist so I'll have to do that as well! Oh well! I'll try and get some sleep whenever possible.

Edit:

I promised a screen grab from the 4K shoot with the FS7 + Zeiss CP2s. What an epic combination. This is done with a quick and waaaaaaaay too underexposed grade that will obviously not be in the final cut but just looks so insane as a still image. That sharpness.

nHeZghS.jpg
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