I usually just leave no frames of blackness before the movie starts because I always feel that if it's too long people start scoffing in the audience that nothing's showing up on screen. If it's too short the audience may not quiet down long enough and I hate it when people talk at the start of the movie especially if actors are talking. Then again I'm worried that when I exhibit a film especially like if I gave a dvd of a film of mine to someone that the time it takes the disk drive to speed up also creates the possibility that a second or two of my film's audio will lag at the beginning. What's an adequate time to leave as black frames before my film starts? Should I make that time variable for different exhibitions (film festival= larger crowd and longer to quiet vs. class=smaller crowd less time to quiet). I also don't believe in using phony trademarks before a film in amateur filmmaking because it screams 13yo who's just found out how to use moviemaker so there's that as well. Would a quotation before every movie be a nice middle ground followed by a second or two of blackness be a happy middle ground so a theme for the movie is established and people will know to shut the hell up or would that come off as officious? That also brings up the question of how long to play the quote. Anybody have any thoughts on any of this stuff?
editing How much time to leave before video starts
- Thread starter klbasey
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Why is a production company logo equated with 13 year olds? Everyone I know uses a production company logo.
Problem solved.
Problem solved.
I have seen quite a few short films where it is a minute and a half before the story even starts.. OK, you are a plugin pro ! wow, that floating logo is absolutely amazing ! Sound FX.. Dolby 15 channel w/ perfect right to left pan wow ! ....show me your fricking movie !!!!
Five seconds is an adequate time.
You will not be able to control how an audience reacts. You
will never know how many people will be in the audience when
you send in your projection copy.
I agree with you. Nothing is more amateur than a phony prodCo
name and thirty to one hundred seconds of "...presents" and
"A film by..." and a slow, dramatic list of actors we have never
heard of at the beginning a movie.
On the other hand, five seconds of a legit prodCo logo and five seconds
of the title before the movie begins is very professional.
If a quotation works for your movie then it might work. But not every
movie needs a quotation so if it's done simply in an attempt to control
the audience, I think it's a really bad idea.
My "rule of thumb" on a quotation is to read it out loud three at a reasonable
pace. That's how long it should stay on the screen.
Thanks. 5 seconds sounds like a winner to me.
" ...what essential detail are the audience going to miss in the first five seconds?"
I'm submitting a 30 second video to a <1min category at a local festival and when I play it back on my pc on dvd the first second or two sometimes skips which conveys important information, I mean it's like 1/10th of the whole damn film so this was my reason for asking.
"Why is a production company logo equated with 13 year olds? Everyone I know uses a production company logo."
Have you ever had to sit through a class where 13 year olds that are tasked with making a short film? I have. In fact I was one of those kids not long ago. And I don't really think you have the right to start giving yourself a company name when you haven't even cleared it yet i.e. my father trying to open a business under a certain name, but couldn't due to it being already taken. Plus you really aren't a legit company. I mean are you deducting your camera as business expense because I'm sure the IRS would really like to know if you are doing that. Plus, most of these amateurs' logos just look tacky. Much better just to put your name in the credits than to say to the audience before the film even starts that you're new to this or give them a reason to scoff at your potentially shitty graphics work and uninspired faux company name and logo.
" ...what essential detail are the audience going to miss in the first five seconds?"
I'm submitting a 30 second video to a <1min category at a local festival and when I play it back on my pc on dvd the first second or two sometimes skips which conveys important information, I mean it's like 1/10th of the whole damn film so this was my reason for asking.
"Why is a production company logo equated with 13 year olds? Everyone I know uses a production company logo."
Have you ever had to sit through a class where 13 year olds that are tasked with making a short film? I have. In fact I was one of those kids not long ago. And I don't really think you have the right to start giving yourself a company name when you haven't even cleared it yet i.e. my father trying to open a business under a certain name, but couldn't due to it being already taken. Plus you really aren't a legit company. I mean are you deducting your camera as business expense because I'm sure the IRS would really like to know if you are doing that. Plus, most of these amateurs' logos just look tacky. Much better just to put your name in the credits than to say to the audience before the film even starts that you're new to this or give them a reason to scoff at your potentially shitty graphics work and uninspired faux company name and logo.
I always put three seconds of black before my short films. Because when you double click on a video to make it bigger, the play/fastforward etc buttons still show up for a second or two, so I look to give it a few seconds of black to allow them to fade away.
But yeah, try to make it too long before you show your movie, people will get bored otherwise.
But yeah, try to make it too long before you show your movie, people will get bored otherwise.
