archived-videos An unpleasant surprise

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Sam K

Hey guys, I'm here again with yet a new video. the problem with this one isthat it was meant to be shot outside mostly,but between day one and day 2 it snowed and my bros gave the idea up, so I made a video out of what we had shot.
In my opinion the action comes in to late.
What do you guys think?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U65WAV2jgg
 
Upvote 0
Ignore mrbigchin (he's poking fun of your movie). Whatever. Not everyone has an appreciation for a shoot-em-up action movie.

The effects look pretty good, considering they were all (presubably) done in After Effects. Personally, though, I've never been a fan of the AE gunshots and bloodsplatters (even when they used them in "The Expendables").

Please tell me that was iced tea you were chugging. That cognac is far too fine to be drank like that. :)
 
It was fun. I've seen this and your last video, You have an eye for for it but now you should probably start working on the preproduction and planing side of your videos, try to up the quality. It looks like a video that you just grabbed a camera and shot, not one that with pre-planned shots and scene transitions.
 
Also, lighting would be a good next step.

Don't get me wrong, these are great for what they are for sure, but it's time to take the next step.
 
I think the sniper shot was the most effective effect (where the head flicks back)...

All in all it was a pretty decent set of effects. I had to watch without sound so I don't know what you were talking about, but all in all it looked pretty decent.
 
Cracker Funk said:
The effects look pretty good, considering they were all (presubably) done in After Effects. Personally, though, I've never been a fan of the AE gunshots and bloodsplatters (even when they used them in "The Expendables").
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What's wrong with After Effects? (To be fair, I hate watching films cut on Avid.)
 
chilipie said:
What's wrong with After Effects? (To be fair, I hate watching films cut on Avid.)
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They just don't work for me. They look fake. It's nothing Sam K is doing wrong. It's the technology, the entire method. I don't like it. To me, it's just not convincing. For gunshots and bloodsplatters, and exploding heads, etc., I just think practical effects are the way to go. Obviously, this is very low-budget work, so he's working with what he's got, and that's cool. I'm just saying that if the desire is for the effects to be convincing, I'd either use another technology, or just not do it.
 
Cracker Funk said:
They just don't work for me. They look fake. It's nothing Sam K is doing wrong. It's the technology, the entire method. I don't like it. To me, it's just not convincing. For gunshots and bloodsplatters, and exploding heads, etc., I just think practical effects are the way to go. Obviously, this is very low-budget work, so he's working with what he's got, and that's cool. I'm just saying that if the desire is for the effects to be convincing, I'd either use another technology, or just not do it.
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Fair enough, though I've seen After Effects work that looks much more convincing than some people's forays into practical effects. Without any disrespect intended towards Sam, I think the shortcomings here are more to do with the artist than the tool - compositing, like any film craft, takes a hell of a lot of practice and experimentation before you get good at it.
 
On a technical level I found the visual and audio effects very video game-like; I could easily see and hear the repetitions.

Paul has it right; it looks like you just decided to shoot something for fun. It's time to actually start telling a story. It's time to start doing the hard work - PREPRODUCTION!

Any tools you use will work convincingly as long as you are willing to put the time and effort into it, and the lower your budget the more time, effort and creativity you will need to expend.
 
Pretty sweet. Your weapons look pretty convincing. One thing I would change is the ending. The sniper squeezes the trigger, you hear a gunshot, but there's no recoil. M16's have a small kick comparable to a 10 gauge shotgun.
 
chili, Alcove, I made an assumption that it was done in After Effects (and I think I pointed out that I was assuming). It doesn't matter the software -- I can tell it's done with software. That's all I'm saying. The difference between a squib and software does not require a trained eye to see.

Stallone recently did two movies that, on paper, should've been rather similar -- "Rambo" and "The Expendables". Both of them are really just about shoot-em-up action, but in that respect, there is no comparison. "Rambo" used practical effects, and it was awesome. "The Expendables" -- I swear, I think they made the damn thing using After Effects plugins. Again, it doesn't matter what software they used; it's painfully obvious the effects are digital.
 
Cracker Funk said:
chili, Alcove, I made an assumption that it was done in After Effects (and I think I pointed out that I was assuming). It doesn't matter the software -- I can tell it's done with software. That's all I'm saying. The difference between a squib and software does not require a trained eye to see.

Stallone recently did two movies that, on paper, should've been rather similar -- "Rambo" and "The Expendables". Both of them are really just about shoot-em-up action, but in that respect, there is no comparison. "Rambo" used practical effects, and it was awesome. "The Expendables" -- I swear, I think they made the damn thing using After Effects plugins. Again, it doesn't matter what software they used; it's painfully obvious the effects are digital.
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I read that post as picking up on After Effects specifically rather than digital effects in general - my bad, sorry. For what it's worth, The Expendables seems to have used a lot of practical effects that were built upon in post-production and digitally enhanced. Like I said, without wanting to be rude the OP's effects are solid but far from perfect, and in practice you're never going to notice well done digital effects - they'll blend right in.
 
Cracker Funk said:
The effects look pretty good, considering they were all (presubably) done in After Effects. Personally, though, I've never been a fan of the AE gunshots and bloodsplatters (even when they used them in "The Expendables").
Click to expand...
Fair enough though obviously I don't really have the budget for squibs.

Cracker Funk said:
Please tell me that was iced tea you were chugging. That cognac is far too fine to be drank like that. :)
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I'll keep you guessing =D

PaulGriffith said:
It was fun. I've seen this and your last video, You have an eye for for it but now you should probably start working on the preproduction and planing side of your videos, try to up the quality. It looks like a video that you just grabbed a camera and shot, not one that with pre-planned shots and scene transitions.

Also, lighting would be a good next step.

Don't get me wrong, these are great for what they are for sure, but it's time to take the next step.
Click to expand...

[/QUOTE]

I'm actually feeling the same way. For my next video I'm hesitating on whether I put a lot of work into thinking of a cool story or I put a lot of work into studying some existing great action scene and make it mine.

Keep in mind that for now I'll be making 1-4minute long videos since I'm aiming to get a good youtube presence within the next couple of years.
And yes for this video it was a bit less of the just grab a camera and shoot, I actually thought a short story out and wrote it down. But yes I must start working on the camera angles.
For our next film I might try and get a couple of mates to participate so I can stick to the camera, because trying to tell my bros " alright I want you to film it this way" is not the way to go.

NickClapper said:
I think the sniper shot was the most effective effect (where the head flicks back)...

All in all it was a pretty decent set of effects. I had to watch without sound so I don't know what you were talking about, but all in all it looked pretty decent.
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Yeah I like my sniper effect to. I hate my bullet hits though.

chilipie said:
Fair enough, though I've seen After Effects work that looks much more convincing than some people's forays into practical effects. Without any disrespect intended towards Sam, I think the shortcomings here are more to do with the artist than the tool - compositing, like any film craft, takes a hell of a lot of practice and experimentation before you get good at it.
Click to expand...

Hey that's cool I wasn't expecting to hit the jackpot with my second vid anyways. ;)

Alcove Audio said:
On a technical level I found the visual and audio effects very video game-like; I could easily see and hear the repetitions.

Paul has it right; it looks like you just decided to shoot something for fun. It's time to actually start telling a story. It's time to start doing the hard work - PREPRODUCTION!

Any tools you use will work convincingly as long as you are willing to put the time and effort into it, and the lower your budget the more time, effort and creativity you will need to expend.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree with all this. I do indeed need to spend more time, much more time on preproduction.

insert_cliche_here said:
I liked the part where people got shot :D
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Haha :p

gooberman said:
Pretty sweet. Your weapons look pretty convincing. One thing I would change is the ending. The sniper squeezes the trigger, you hear a gunshot, but there's no recoil. M16's have a small kick comparable to a 10 gauge shotgun.
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Our weapons are our number one asset when filming. We play airsoft so we have a few real looking guns. This is an M15 We're using for the sniper shot
We've also got an AK47
A couple of M4a1's
A Steyr Aug.
And the handheld Sig.


Thanks everyone for the feedback I appreciate it. I'd also appreciate any of you guys who decide to subscribe on youtube.

Thanks.
 
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