The GAF Video and Filmmaking Thread

Fidelis Hodie said:
Exactly! I'm happy that someone else got it.

Yea that was pretty cool. Do you have a link to any other videos you've done?

I'm preparing a little staged documentary to be released on Friday, I'll throw a link up on here.
 
Futureman said:
Yea that was pretty cool. Do you have a link to any other videos you've done?

I'm preparing a little staged documentary to be released on Friday, I'll throw a link up on here.

This is the beginning of the first real wave of things I'm putting up. Outside of terrible shorts and other things I did back in school and before, I've never had anything I was proud enough of showing.

Now, I'm finally almost ready to fully unveil my first feature + a gorilla marketing campaign around LA to somehow garner interest. We'll see. That includes more teasers, an actual trailer or two and a place for all to watch the feature itself, SCOUNDRELS.

Thanks for watching man.
 
Hey this didn't get much attention, wish I could have changed my OT title.

I have a film I made for class last semester. by best short to date. I just cut it down to 5 mins. It really conveys everything much better. I would like some feedback. Hopefully someone enjoys it.

I'm also using this as a video sample for transfer applications.

Predictable - 5 min
http://vimeo.com/19390678

Thanks, let me know what you think.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=416150
 
Those Blue Jays fans are definitely trouble, Henry Gale. :P

This will be an interesting read for me. I do work with my student television network and it'd be neat to learn some tips. I film and edit for a couple of shows.
 
soultron said:
Those Blue Jays fans are definitely trouble, Henry Gale. :P

This will be an interesting read for me. I do work with my student television network and it'd be neat to learn some tips. I film and edit for a couple of shows.

Haha cant believe you could see what hat that was in such a short spot, and it was kind of dark. Nice catch.

Did you like it?

Thoughts critiques?
 
HenryGale said:
Haha cant believe you could see what hat that was in such a short spot, and it was kind of dark. Nice catch.

Did you like it?

Thoughts critiques?

Well since you asked you need work on the camera angles in the beginning. Some of them are repetitive or too close to the shot before it.

The sounds is weird, at some points you have little ambient knows to a lot of ambient noise (city shots.) The music is also too high. If you're trying to tell a story through the music you should cut the dialogue audio. We already have a strong sense of what is happening without the audio. Let the movie tell it's story through actions not words.

I would recommend a shot of some type on the pregnancy test showing that it says she is pregnant.

---------

Here is a short film I did a couple years ago as a final project in college. Let me know what you guys think. I was the sound supervisor and assistant sound designer on the project. My speciality is editing but I was assigned to sound on this project.

http://vimeo.com/5308662

http://vimeo.com/5308662
 
UltimaPooh said:
Well since you asked you need work on the camera angles in the beginning. Some of them are repetitive or too close to the shot before it.

The sounds is weird, at some points you have little ambient knows to a lot of ambient noise (city shots.) The music is also too high. If you're trying to tell a story through the music you should cut the dialogue audio. We already have a strong sense of what is happening without the audio. Let the movie tell it's story through actions not words.

I would recommend a shot of some type on the pregnancy test showing that it says she is pregnant.

---------

Here is a short film I did a couple years ago as a final project in college. Let me know what you guys think. I was the sound supervisor and assistant sound designer on the project. My speciality is editing but I was assigned to sound on this project.

http://vimeo.com/5308662

http://vimeo.com/5308662

Which shots specifically? I'd love more input on that.

I'd have to say I definitely agree with the audio critique. It's going to be my main focus for the next time around. I just need to figure out a better recording tool, it was shot with a DSLR 7D so the audio could only be so good.

The pregnancy one was obvious, not sure how I overlooked it. Feel pretty dumb about it to be honest.

Thanks. I always appreciate constructive criticism.
 
sans_pants said:
not bad henry, id work on the sound mix. visuals are good

If you mean the music.. It is a lot better than it appears. I had to cut it from 9:28 to 5min for applications. Although I think it greatly helped the film. The effect it had was me taking a 9 min audio sequence and trying to fit it back together.

If you mean the ambient noise. Yes, you are correct. I need some more work in that. In fact my Capstone presentation teacher has challenged me to make that my primary focus on my next project for this semester. He thinks it could really push my work to the next level if I can get over a lot of amateur follies.
 
I just got interviewed for the Las Vegas Review Journal for the Dam Short Fest that is coming up next week.

My short "Modern Art" is in it and they wanted to profile one of the filmmakers...so that'll be interesting, article comes out on the 10th.

Here's the short film if anyone is curious:

http://vimeo.com/8041489
 
does anyone here have any insight into Green Screen?

my little brother is shooting a music video for one of his songs and is trying to figure out what a reasonable price is for the graphics work after the shoot. I'm assuming maybe a minute or 2 of green screen.
 
oatmeal said:
Henry, did you shoot at 720p60?

Some of it, most of it was 1080 30FPS. I did the 60FPS on anything I felt I may have wanted to slow.

7D was an amazing tool. It took a little getting use to. I cant wait to utilize it this time around now that I am more familiar with the equipment.
 
oatmeal said:
I just got interviewed for the Las Vegas Review Journal for the Dam Short Fest that is coming up next week.

My short "Modern Art" is in it and they wanted to profile one of the filmmakers...so that'll be interesting, article comes out on the 10th.

Here's the short film if anyone is curious:

http://vimeo.com/8041489


you just live in vegas or do you go to school here?
 
HenryGale said:
If you mean the music.. It is a lot better than it appears. I had to cut it from 9:28 to 5min for applications. Although I think it greatly helped the film. The effect it had was me taking a 9 min audio sequence and trying to fit it back together.

If you mean the ambient noise. Yes, you are correct. I need some more work in that. In fact my Capstone presentation teacher has challenged me to make that my primary focus on my next project for this semester. He thinks it could really push my work to the next level if I can get over a lot of amateur follies.


dont sweat it too much, i almost never hear good sound unless its pro

that said, bad sound is a serious roadblock to getting noticed
 
Dreams-Visions said:
does anyone here have any insight into Green Screen?

my little brother is shooting a music video for one of his songs and is trying to figure out what a reasonable price is for the graphics work after the shoot. I'm assuming maybe a minute or 2 of green screen.

Is he shooting and editing it himself? If so why not just do the green screen itself. It's a simple color correction type thing.
 
UltimaPooh said:
Is he shooting and editing it himself? If so why not just do the green screen itself. It's a simple color correction type thing.
No, we have people shooting it professionally. He wanted to create some sort of futuristic looking scene for a couple of shots. I'd have to look at the proposed treatment, though.
 
As for the rest, strictly technical thoughts...

- The look is interesting, I kind of like it. High contrast, the pink/green gradient. It's unique.
- There are a lot of issues with the way it's shot...

a) The cut at :31 is really bizarre, it's almost the EXACT same shot as the previous one (sans the 'dolly' move), only the girl isn't as far into the frame. So it's like a jump cut backwards in time.
b) Some of the shots I think may have been too ambitious, or needed more time to get them 'right' as it's pretty jerky. I'm referring to the CU of the dropped keys and then the jib over to the guy on the bench. It's so wonky that it would have been better if it was just a CU of the keys falling, cut to a CU of the guy looking. Keep it simple.
c) Crossing the axis when he's giving the keys back. That's a big no-no.

Ex:
8acea3aac91080b631ae3087c7f06142.jpg


Cuts to:
54b7de9349e04d03d800b96a18920206.jpg


Which violates the 180 rule. The next cut is back to the first shot, so it crosses again.

- The audio is tough to hear in the conversation, and there is some 'wind on the mic' ruffle.

- When the dude goes into the house, more 180 breakage.

2cd086b0912a48f38dbdc69f664a0b1c.jpg


Cuts to:
be4c99dc723cc29064cc2fa5cb4b0ac3.jpg


- Back on the bench, there's just a lot of long shots that may be 'cool', but they just add unnecessary time...like the long pan and jib down to the keys. A lot of dead space in that shot.

- The shot through the staircase posts was nice. Good foreground, clear intent in the action, even though it's just pelvis down.

- It gets really dark inside, need to light that, even dark scenes are lit.

- Some focus issues when he hands the key over at ~4:00

Annnd stuff...sorry, I like to pick at technical stuff. Most of it is fine, it's just the 180 rule that you need to follow.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
No, we have people shooting it professionally. He wanted to create some sort of futuristic looking scene for a couple of shots. I'd have to look at the proposed treatment, though.

Green screen is a giant pain in the ass.

You can key it pretty well in After Effects, but to do a realistic futuristic setting...that's going to be a big challenge. I would assume he's not a good compositor if he's already asking how to do green screen.
 
oatmeal said:
Green screen is a giant pain in the ass.

You can key it pretty well in After Effects, but to do a realistic futuristic setting...that's going to be a big challenge. I would assume he's not a good compositor if he's already asking how to do green screen.
oh, they're complete novices looking to shoot their first video. they just know what they'd like to do and have it on paper...and have been assembling teams to help realize the goal. I just don't know (and don't know if THEY know) what really goes into making green screen turn into a believable reality...or how much it costs.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
oh, they're complete novices looking to shoot their first video. they just know what they'd like to do and have it on paper...and have been assembling teams to help realize the goal. I just don't know (and don't know if THEY know) what really goes into making green screen turn into a believable reality...or how much it costs.

Technically it costs nothing, just time and years off of your life.

If he's wondering what to charge, since he's not a professional, charge what he feels is fair. But he's in for a rude awakening.

Also, put tracking markers on the green screen...if there's any movement, you'll be forced to try and find something to track, or hand track. Neither of which are very fun.
 
oatmeal said:
Technically it costs nothing, just time and years off of your life.

If he's wondering what to charge, since he's not a professional, charge what he feels is fair. But he's in for a rude awakening.

Also, put tracking markers on the green screen...if there's any movement, you'll be forced to try and find something to track, or hand track. Neither of which are very fun.
I totally wasn't clear.

My little brother is the artist in a music video. He's doing the singing and dancing. He and his managers are trying to fullful an idea he had to implement some Green Screen in order to accomplish particular "futuristic" looks here and there. But none of them have really done anything like that and are still trying to get an idea how it works. They've assembled a team to do the video work and green screen, but editing the video and putting in the graphics stuff is beyond their experience level. I was thinking GAF might have some ideas about how expensive that kind of service is, per hour. They'd want someone professional enough to create the look they seek (a professional look).

sorry for not having been clear.
 
oatmeal said:
File > Export > Using Quicktime Conversion > Options:

Set Video Size to 1280x720. Keep it on BEST QUALITY (under encoding). I set mine to 6500kbps. I turn off Prepare for Internet Streaming.
Thanks, to the both of you who replied it helped me out. I will post the final YouTube video sometime this month. It's my first music video.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
I totally wasn't clear.

My little brother is the artist in a music video. He's doing the singing and dancing. He and his managers are trying to fullful an idea he had to implement some Green Screen in order to accomplish particular "futuristic" looks here and there. But none of them have really done anything like that and are still trying to get an idea how it works. They've assembled a team to do the video work and green screen, but editing the video and putting in the graphics stuff is beyond their experience level. I was thinking GAF might have some ideas about how expensive that kind of service is, per hour. They'd want someone professional enough to create the look they seek (a professional look).

sorry for not having been clear.

OOOOH, haha. Sorry, that makes sense, too.

I'm not really an effects guy, but the company I used to work for charged I think 350/hour for their graphics work.

Sooo... It's expensive.
 
HenryGale said:
Some of it, most of it was 1080 30FPS. I did the 60FPS on anything I felt I may have wanted to slow.

7D was an amazing tool. It took a little getting use to. I cant wait to utilize it this time around now that I am more familiar with the equipment.

Why did you choose 1080p30? Just a stylistic choice...or?

Yeah, the 7D is great.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
I totally wasn't clear.

My little brother is the artist in a music video. He's doing the singing and dancing. He and his managers are trying to fullful an idea he had to implement some Green Screen in order to accomplish particular "futuristic" looks here and there. But none of them have really done anything like that and are still trying to get an idea how it works. They've assembled a team to do the video work and green screen, but editing the video and putting in the graphics stuff is beyond their experience level. I was thinking GAF might have some ideas about how expensive that kind of service is, per hour. They'd want someone professional enough to create the look they seek (a professional look).

sorry for not having been clear.

It'll probably be expensive. Post the job online and people will come.
 
oatmeal said:
I just got interviewed for the Las Vegas Review Journal for the Dam Short Fest that is coming up next week.

My short "Modern Art" is in it and they wanted to profile one of the filmmakers...so that'll be interesting, article comes out on the 10th.

Here's the short film if anyone is curious:

http://vimeo.com/8041489

I've seen this short somewhere. You've posted it before right? Love it. The shots are wonderful.
 
oatmeal said:
OOOOH, haha. Sorry, that makes sense, too.

I'm not really an effects guy, but the company I used to work for charged I think 350/hour for their graphics work.

Sooo... It's expensive.
Gotcha. I'll pass that along. Thank you.
 
WARNING MEGA REPLY

oatmeal said:
As for the rest, strictly technical thoughts...

- The look is interesting, I kind of like it. High contrast, the pink/green gradient. It's unique.
- There are a lot of issues with the way it's shot...

a) The cut at :31 is really bizarre, it's almost the EXACT same shot as the previous one (sans the 'dolly' move), only the girl isn't as far into the frame. So it's like a jump cut backwards in time.
b) Some of the shots I think may have been too ambitious, or needed more time to get them 'right' as it's pretty jerky. I'm referring to the CU of the dropped keys and then the jib over to the guy on the bench. It's so wonky that it would have been better if it was just a CU of the keys falling, cut to a CU of the guy looking. Keep it simple.
c) Crossing the axis when he's giving the keys back. That's a big no-no.

Ex:
8acea3aac91080b631ae3087c7f06142.jpg


Cuts to:
54b7de9349e04d03d800b96a18920206.jpg


Which violates the 180 rule. The next cut is back to the first shot, so it crosses again.

- The audio is tough to hear in the conversation, and there is some 'wind on the mic' ruffle.

- When the dude goes into the house, more 180 breakage.

2cd086b0912a48f38dbdc69f664a0b1c.jpg


Cuts to:
be4c99dc723cc29064cc2fa5cb4b0ac3.jpg


- Back on the bench, there's just a lot of long shots that may be 'cool', but they just add unnecessary time...like the long pan and jib down to the keys. A lot of dead space in that shot.

- The shot through the staircase posts was nice. Good foreground, clear intent in the action, even though it's just pelvis down.

- It gets really dark inside, need to light that, even dark scenes are lit.

- Some focus issues when he hands the key over at ~4:00

Annnd stuff...sorry, I like to pick at technical stuff. Most of it is fine, it's just the 180 rule that you need to follow.

Holy crap, thats some of the best feedback I've gotten so far. Thanks!

I'm glad you like the filters. I tried to give it an odd dream like state for the first time around, and a darker cool tone for the bad day.

The cut you refer to I cant really argue with. It is two separate shots, and in the original you can see its much farther down the road, this is my shortened version. I just didn't have any other footage to replace those shots, and really liked the first one. Except I need the second since it contained her dropping the keys. This basically was a give and take. I took away the continuity and confused the viewer a bit with the shot, but gained a shorter set of shots which shouldn't have been as long from the get go.

I hadn't noticed some of those cuts. the 180 rule is video 1 stuff, but I suppose it's easy to make simple mistakes like that. I hadn't noticed that I made that error, I'll have to keep some of the earlier things in mind next time I shoot.

The house part and 180 breakage I knowingly violated, It more had to do with the set up of the apartment, and our limited time. I don't think it was too jarring, but I suppose there were ways I could have added in camera movement if I wanted to change the angle.

Yes you're right as well about things being a bit too dark. I try not to make too many excuses, but at times some things are limited to being a student. I didn't have a crew it was me and my actors, I did everything. We got together and shot when we had time, so certain things were just unseen factors such as the low lighting (had never been there) which with more time, experience or a crew could have been overcome. Either way though, there are ways I can overcome those, and just being conscious of it will hopefully allow me to have more foresight in future projects.

As far as my amateur skills on the gib and certain shots you felt were a little ambitious your'e pretty dead on. It was my first time ever using a slider track (instead of a dolly) and the gib arm. I am eager to finish my concept for this semester so I can really take those tools to the next level. Find shots more suited for them, and make them far smoother.

I'm honestly really glad you took the time to take that apart from me. in my OT for the film I had mentioned how we had a snow storm. Our final was canceled, so no one in the class nor my teacher got to give me any feedback. I just dropped the disc off and that was that.

Knowing the areas in which my films can be improved is the only way to get better, and this was my most ambitious and best film so far. I cant possibly expect to make something twice as good if I don't know what I did wrong.

So thanks.

Also may I ask, what do you do for a living? You seem very knowledgeable.

sans_pants said:
dont sweat it too much, i almost never hear good sound unless its pro

that said, bad sound is a serious roadblock to getting noticed

This. As I said my teacher has challenged me this semester to make that jump. He told me that one of the biggest ways you can tell a film is amateur is by the audio. I don't want that holding me back. So I'm really going to be taking my time with it.

oatmeal said:
Why did you choose 1080p30? Just a stylistic choice...or?

Yeah, the 7D is great.

Well I honestly have never used a camera at this picture quality before, so I wanted the highest resolution and picture quality. I know some people are sticklers for 24FPS but I didn't think it would make the difference.
 
HenryGale said:
WARNING MEGA REPLY



Holy crap, thats some of the best feedback I've gotten so far. Thanks!

I'm glad you like the filters. I tried to give it an odd dream like state for the first time around, and a darker cool tone for the bad day.

The cut you refer to I cant really argue with. It is two separate shots, and in the original you can see its much farther down the road, this is my shortened version. I just didn't have any other footage to replace those shots, and really liked the first one. Except I need the second since it contained her dropping the keys. This basically was a give and take. I took away the continuity and confused the viewer a bit with the shot, but gained a shorter set of shots which shouldn't have been as long from the get go.

I hadn't noticed some of those cuts. the 180 rule is video 1 stuff, but I suppose it's easy to make simple mistakes like that. I hadn't noticed that I made that error, I'll have to keep some of the earlier things in mind next time I shoot.

The house part and 180 breakage I knowingly violated, It more had to do with the set up of the apartment, and our limited time. I don't think it was too jarring, but I suppose there were ways I could have added in camera movement if I wanted to change the angle.

Yes you're right as well about things being a bit too dark. I try not to make too many excuses, but at times some things are limited to being a student. I didn't have a crew it was me and my actors, I did everything. We got together and shot when we had time, so certain things were just unseen factors such as the low lighting (had never been there) which with more time, experience or a crew could have been overcome. Either way though, there are ways I can overcome those, and just being conscious of it will hopefully allow me to have more foresight in future projects.

As far as my amateur skills on the gib and certain shots you felt were a little ambitious your'e pretty dead on. It was my first time ever using a slider track (instead of a dolly) and the gib arm. I am eager to finish my concept for this semester so I can really take those tools to the next level. Find shots more suited for them, and make them far smoother.

I'm honestly really glad you took the time to take that apart from me. in my OT for the film I had mentioned how we had a snow storm. Our final was canceled, so no one in the class nor my teacher got to give me any feedback. I just dropped the disc off and that was that.

Knowing the areas in which my films can be improved is the only way to get better, and this was my most ambitious and best film so far. I cant possibly expect to make something twice as good if I don't know what I did wrong.

So thanks.

No problem. I totally understand that this was a student project, and at least you're thinking of shot composition and whatnot. Every little thing you do is practice for the next piece. Every script you write, every time you pick up the camera, you're getting better for the next time.

Those mistakes (180 rule) and whatnot are simple fixes. I always thought it was funny when people cross it during a simple 1 on 1 conversation as it's more walking to break it than it is to not. :) Just shoot from the side you're on, walk 2 feet, turn around, and shoot again.

The 7D is nice because you can adjust the ISO, so when you find yourself in a dark place like that you can open up the camera a little bit. You'll introduce yourself to some noise, but whatever. Better to see than to not see. As for lights in the future, invest in some chinese lanterns with some 100-250w light bulbs. When you're shooting something like that, just hang it JUST out of frame in the direction the character is looking. It will give them a nice key light and most likely an eye light.

Also, the 7D loves backlight. So any time you can throw something on the actors back, do so. It's almost impossible to fuck up. Just put it on the OPPOSITE side of your key. So if your character is looking camera right...put the key camera right. And the backlight camera left.

Just do some tests. Get your hands on some lights, lanterns, home depot work lights, anything. Just turn off all of the lights in a room, and have someone stand facing the camera. Then just start putting lights around and see what they do, you'll find it's pretty interesting. If you are using a work light and it's too strong, throw some WAX PAPER over it (just fold up a bunch and use clothespins (C-47's) to pin it to the grate on the front). That'll soften it and act as super cheap diffusion. Start with one light, add another, then throw something on the back wall and see how effective that is.

Honestly, people talk about 3-point lighting all the time, but I rarely do that. I mean, a lot of my set ups will have 5-10 lights, but if it's something simple two is just fine. Especially on the 7D, it's sensitive to light, so it doesn't need as much.

Also, if you CAN, try to shoot at an ISO of no higher than 640. I don't like the noise that's introduced at 800. Use if it you must, but try not to.

HenryGale said:
Also may I ask, what do you do for a living? You seem very knowledgeable.
I'm a director/editor.

HenryGale said:
Well I honestly have never used a camera at this picture quality before, so I wanted the highest resolution and picture quality. I know some people are sticklers for 24FPS but I didn't think it would make the difference.
Stick to 24p, unless you NEED to go to 30 (and you shouldn't need to). 24p looks nicer.
 
Here's a few things I'm working on, btw...these are rough still and a lot will change. I've just got a lot of shit being cut right now (3 music videos, an EPK, a TV pilot and a commercial) so I'm bouncing back and forth making bits of progress on each.

Two of the music videos are for one Mexican band:

This one is like half cut of the first cut. I haven't done any coloring or anything...I'll get to that later. I'm just putting pieces in.
http://vimeo.com/19276799
pass: chela

This one is a full first cut (sans the intro, which needs to be done in AE), but the band is making some changes to it so I'm waiting on that.
http://vimeo.com/19283586
pass: menores

And this last one is an english one (yay, i can understand the lyrics) and is only like 30 seconds in. We just shot the rest of the pickups on Monday. There's a lot that happens in it, so this 30 seconds doesn't scratch the surface.
http://vimeo.com/19421612
pass: eld

I shot all three of these in one week. Was a shitty week.
 
Dreams-Visions said:
I totally wasn't clear.

My little brother is the artist in a music video. He's doing the singing and dancing. He and his managers are trying to fullful an idea he had to implement some Green Screen in order to accomplish particular "futuristic" looks here and there. But none of them have really done anything like that and are still trying to get an idea how it works. They've assembled a team to do the video work and green screen, but editing the video and putting in the graphics stuff is beyond their experience level. I was thinking GAF might have some ideas about how expensive that kind of service is, per hour. They'd want someone professional enough to create the look they seek (a professional look).

sorry for not having been clear.

I've done green screen (and white screen) work in AE. It can be done yourself. You'll need 4-5 lights (2 for background, 2-3 for subject) and keep the subject some distance away from the screen to avoid any shadows.

Get a 30 day trial of AE, get used to using keylight (there's a great tutorial on video copilot) and bang it out.

RE: CG backgrounds. Look into virtual sets/backgrounds for AE, they're like $100.
 
Playing with the thought to buy a 7D. Shot on the HV20 before and already liked the quality and image stabilization. Does the 7D have built in image stabilization or does it depend on the lenses you´re using?
 
Max@GC said:
Playing with the thought to buy a 7D. Shot on the HV20 before and already liked the quality and image stabilization. Does the 7D have built in image stabilization or does it depend on the lenses you´re using?
Depends on the lens.
 
Raxel said:
I've done green screen (and white screen) work in AE. It can be done yourself. You'll need 4-5 lights (2 for background, 2-3 for subject) and keep the subject some distance away from the screen to avoid any shadows.

Get a 30 day trial of AE, get used to using keylight (there's a great tutorial on video copilot) and bang it out.

RE: CG backgrounds. Look into virtual sets/backgrounds for AE, they're like $100.
Oh wow. Will look into all of that today. Thank you so much for your insight.
 
kai3345 said:
Nubodeh commented on my video :(

will peep.

I'm going to focus on the technical, like I did before...

There are a lot of instances at the beginning where the edits are very slow. You have a shot on the ground...a second passes, then we see feet, then a second passes, and you cut. This is an action sequence, cut that shit tighter.

The low, hero shot into the sun is spoiled by us not being able to see their faces. The sun is too bright.

Next shot, the head room needs to be fixed...

See:

4a3a911afaf649514140c5e5e4901fe1.jpg


The guy who's talking is centered right in the middle of the frame. He has as much body in the frame, as he does empty space above him.

Again, lots of really slow cuts. I don't want to see a wide shot of a dude entering frame a second into the shot, then watch him run all the way through the frame. We have this great, fast paced music, and it's not getting the imagery to support it.

The slow motion through the shallow water works okay, I think you should have punctuated it by doing it again but much tighter, so you could start on the wider, then cut into the close up.

Right after that, there is another long shot where the momentum is lost half way through the shot and you've got 2 guys still making their way through the frame. And the shot is punctuated by an awkward 'camera dutch tilt' that I think is you stopping the recording.

More shots where we wait for everyone to clear the frame. In a shot like this, just imagine how much more energy there would be if you start with the wide, cut to a CU of one of their faces, then a quick shot of their feet, then back to the wide. Just adding two simple shots and you're able to cut it up to increase the intensity.

You have the nice shot of the ledge when he almost goes over. Stuff like that is what you need to try and repeat over and over in something like this. When it's just wide shot, wide shot, wide shot, the video gets tiring. Our brains want some more energy in the video, as it's getting pumped from the music.

The shot of his face in the left of the frame while the three are in the back is cool. You could have gotten a bit higher so they're not so close to his shoulder.

See:

32a17b7b0687ae7732560bc08be9f9ac.jpg


If you got 3-5" higher, they would have been up closer to the middle/upper tier.

Remember you have 1920x1080 pixels here, that's a lot. In this shot, you're only using around 65%. Paint as much as you can onto it.

Very next shot crosses the axis, and you have broken the rule. In most action sequences, it's fine...but since you're taking a pause to go into a conversation, you should follow the rules.

OH SHIT...NEVER ZOOM.

The 'log transition' was baller. You could work on smoothing out the cut, though. It's a little apparent with teh color change, but the transition definitely works.

Same thing as before. It's a fight sequence, just shoot it from every possible angle you can think of. Throw the camera in the air and roll on it, just get some more action in there. Cover that fight as best you can.

I mean, don't get me wrong, if you have some amazing choreography, absolutely make up one long shot. But since this is sort of haphazardly thrown together, we want to see as little of the actual fight as possible :D I mean that in a good way.

There, when you are spinning with the dude on the dudes back and you cut to the close up, see how muhc energy that adds? It's moving, it's tight, it's cool. It lasts a little too long, so it loses it's 'coolness', but it's the right idea. You want more of that.

Lots of loong slow motion shots without cutting to end it.

So what you need to do is shoot more coverage, and cut cut cut cut.
 
Just got a new computer and everything setup to start doing some independent stuff with some friends. Hard to find people who are actually willing to participate :(. Anyways a few questions

1. I know I've asked this before, but what are YOUR methods for getting proper slow motion and what kind of advice can you give me? I'm looking for fluid, and natural slow motion.

2. What are some cheap alternatives for steadicams? Anybody tried out the DIY kind?

3. Finally what does everyone here use for caputring sound?
 
msdstc said:
Just got a new computer and everything setup to start doing some independent stuff with some friends. Hard to find people who are actually willing to participate :(. Anyways a few questions

1. I know I've asked this before, but what are YOUR methods for getting proper slow motion and what kind of advice can you give me? I'm looking for fluid, and natural slow motion.

2. What are some cheap alternatives for steadicams? Anybody tried out the DIY kind?

3. Finally what does everyone here use for caputring sound?

I actually have none of this stuff because I am poor and don't have a decent enough job to get any of it.

However the stuff I used back in school fits this bill.

1. You're gonna wana shoot a high frame rate on your camera to get good slow mo. When you import it into your editing program be sure to import it at a lower frame rate (24fps at the least)

3. I had a friend who created his own with a part of a bench weight. I'm sure a google search will find one for ya.

3. Use a shotgun mic and a boom poll. It's the best all around sound capturing device in the field.
 
And now for something completely unrelated to scoundrels . .

"Our Weekends Are Better Than Yours - San Diego"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCnValWYNrw

Going to start doing this every weekend with my peeps and our overly ridiculous outings in life. This weekend was San Diego; car broke down, no way to get home, stuck for two days in not even a good part of San Diego and . . we made the best of it.

Comments, thoughts, hate and love are always appreciated!
 
Very nice idea Hodie!

Although it's hard to understand what was going on, or what the point of it was, without your explanation. Maybe putting your explanation in the video would be better.

But it was great! You bring your cool camera everywhere!
 
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