Making footage look better

K

kmcclung

Been a while since I posted... still working on the EX1 feature KERBEROS. Never said I was fast!

I constantly see examples of wonderfully lit and shot footage on this forum, and hats off to all who are 'doing'.

As people start moving into bigger and better camera (i.e. more expensive) like the EX3 and the iterations of the Red camera, just a quick reminder to keep pushing the 'post' processing and color grading for nearly all footage so as to maximize the story telling ability of whatever formats and cameras we shoot on. Rarely can the success or lack of success on a movie (short, feature, or music video) these days be attributed to the shortcomings of a camera.

Story, story, story... then acting, acting, and then the 'art' of the frame... (at least equal to if not more important than the image is sound) - but back to the footage...

Here are a few shots from KERBEROS - before and after - presented at 50% size and compressed with a med quality jpeg setting. These are 'normal' shots - no effects or action. Shot on EX1 with stock lens in a variety of lighting situations - all certainly helped with some subtle and some not so subtle post - time consuming but worth it to my eye. I've tried to add a few basic notes and will get more detailed in subsequent pages.

Many (and maybe most) the time I am trying to make up for my mistakes or rushed shots - not everyone will have as many - but if I deleted all the mistakes, I wouldn't have a movie at all!

For those interested, there is also a link on the bottom of the thumbnail page to the graphics created for the title sequence - predominately footage from the film manipulated and composited using various transfer modes to control.

the link to color grading examples

keep filming

Kely
KERBEROS
BLOOD TIES


for those who want to see a bit more in motion, there are high rez clips on the website and of course even more on YOUTUBE

hope it all helps!
 
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This is great advice that I am learning makes a world of difference in film. I have seen the difference it can make in photography and am going to make an effort to use it with more film projects.
 
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Your article on CC is something I've been looking for for a while! Thanks for producing it :) It goes past the "Set levels, then white balance" stuff. Very Cool!
 
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Great work and i like the trailor too .when was your first film released Kmcclung? By the way sorry if i am asking apersonal question.i saw your website where i saw lot of upcoming projects.just wanted to know after getting a big name (after all your movie is on HBO now :) )
so is it getting little easier for you to get finance for these projects? or you are still using your own pocket?

Regards
 
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ad2478 said:
Great work and i like the trailor too .when was your first film released Kmcclung? By the way sorry if i am asking apersonal question.i saw your website where i saw lot of upcoming projects.just wanted to know after getting a big name (after all your movie is on HBO now :) )
so is it getting little easier for you to get finance for these projects? or you are still using your own pocket?

Regards
Click to expand...

Wow - thanks for the props!

I'm a pretty long way from having a big name! HBO must of been desperate! The inclusion of that tidbit of the sale was to illustrate how important it can be to learn everything we can to give our movies an edge and polish that let's us compete. AM SESSION was shot on miniDV for about 400$ - HBO still doesn't believe me!:lol:

My first film BLOOD TIES should start getting out there through Int'l distribution within the next month or so. We are wading through several decent offers now for world wide distribution - a DVD type release I am sure... Still hoping for a couple int'l fests just to let it get seen by the filmmakers but it is locked and I am pushing hard on KERBEROS.

The bit of success I am having, (the festival wins on BT and the short on HBO) have definitely helped bring aboard some resources.

KEREROS is still pretty small - in the words of Hollywood - "under a million" - which is what's used to describe any film from $10 to 700K - over that and they'd be claiming it was a couple mil.

So still out of pocket mostly, but am gradually recruiting people to help out a bit more - BT was a crew of 2 and 3, Kerberos might hit 7 or 8!

BLACK HEART has a half dozen diffrent companies talking about financing it - looks like it might hit that " couple mil mark". Certainly not any money I have!

The other projects are small enough I can probably get by out of pocket, though I think I have several groups that will put up the small amounts I need to pull them off - mostly for bragging rights more than any hope of significant returns.

I hope 2009 is great for all of us!

respects to all

Kely
 
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Can you talk about your post flow a bit. You said on the site that you took the DV footage on AM Session from MiniDV (4:1:1) and cheated it to 4:4:4 somehow. Is that just by converting to Image Sequences to do your color/FX work on first, then working at those depths? I'm getting back into post on my feature and am looking for ways to not kill my footage while I post it. I have some clips I'm going to have to scale up to remove light stands (didn't know about overscan yet) and booms in frame (which will mostly be solved in the letterboxing).

I'm also interested in the thought process that goes into any particular shot, both on set and in grading. Is there a particular shot that you could walk us step by step through the grade? Doesn't even have to be a particularily iraculous rescue, I'd just like to see the whole thought process about where to add shadows, how and why... where to add a color adjustment, how and why... that sort of thing. I have Shake and I know I can do some incredible stuff with it, I'm just not quite sure how yet :) Some of it is not understanding the adjustments I have access to (I know PS like the back of my hand though), but some is not understanding the process of cinematizing a shot.
 
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Knightly,

Let me think about a scene that I maybe able to take the time on and create some kind of walk through. I am thrilled that you think it would be worth doing for yourself and others.

I'll try to think it out so becomes a worthwhile bit of info for those who follow it and are interested. I think I can answer a lot of people's questions at the same time, and I am happy to try to explain how and why I do some of the things I do. Right or wrong, good or bad, there is a conscience thought process behind it and a rationale of how I think it contributes to the story and end result.

I checked out your site as well... that is a lot of great info you are sharing, and I hope people take advantage of it. I know I will! It looks like you are "pushing"... and for that you have my respect.

kely
 
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KERBEROS World Premiere up for "Best Picture" and more...

Some good news to share!

Our movie "Kerberos" makes its official World Premiere the opening weekend of the Action On Film Fest in Pasadena on Sat July 24th 7:30 pm.

They just announced the nominations for fest awards and we didn't even get one... we got FIVE!

"Kerberos" is up for "Best Cinematography", "Best Young Actress", "Best Director", " Action Film Of The Year", and "Best Picture"...

We're thrilled to be featured with such a great screening time as well as the nominations... and I'm happy that they support my first post in this thread

Story, story, story... then acting, acting, and then the 'art' of the frame...
Click to expand...

I've redesigned our website to make it easier to update everyday...

The line up is pretty impressive this year at AOF and here is our ticket info if anyone can make it... all followed by and after party the fest is throwing...

Our video Clips

Thanks for all the support from the board members and great luck on all your own projects!

kely mcclung
 
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"Kerberos" makes its official World Premiere the opening weekend of the Action On Film Fest
Click to expand...

Neat! I'm gonna be runnin' about, there. Dunno what I'm seein' yet (friend paid for tix), but it's gonna be an awesome time.

I'll say hi if we end up at your flick. :cool:
 
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Awesome - should be cool! I'm thinking we'll have a good turnout with all the nominations up front we have... and I was invited to speak during the filmmaker's seminar and brunch on Sunday... hope you get to say hi!
 
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Your color correcting looks great. Good job. I tried color correcting but the funny thing is that it may look good on the computer but in the dvd player it may look different. But maybe it is the software I am using. I used sony vegas and added a yellow tint and found it looked red or orange skin tone on the dvd in some scenes. Weird. I am new and don't really know what I am doing. I will keep on truckin on.
 
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Thanks so much guys! Hope some of the color grading info above helps... should apply no matter what program you are using. I now head the the airport - our World Premiere at AOF on SAT night... I've also been invited to speak during a filmmaker's symposium on Sunday.

I'll try to post and put up as many pics as I can to share the fest with you... revamped my website so that FaceBook and Twitter show up on our home page... http://kerberosbites.com

kely mcclung
 
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Hey, I'm quickly becoming a fan of your work.

I'm trying to make a micro-budget film and I hope it comes out as good as yours. (Long shot, perhaps). But I would love some advice, if you could.

Here are my questions:

1) I'm trying to raise 5-10 grand for the budget. How can I get this? Where can I get this? I've heard I just need to simply ask rich people to be investors, so how does one go about this? How did you do it? What was your budget, if I may ask?

2) With a 5-10 grand budget, what should I get and who should I hire? I think I definitely need a professional DoP, how much do they cost? Or should I just get one fresh out of film school?

3) I have an HV20, maybe perhaps getting a Jag35 St. I think need a better camera, like perhaps a Canon xh a1. And use my HV20 for B-roll. What do you think?

4) Locations, locations -- with 5-10 grand, what kind of locations could I get? In my script, I have a strip club, a miniature golf course, and a boxing ring... expensive? Doable?

5) Since I'm directing, acting, and maybe editing -- I'm having my cousin produce it. I gave him a "For Dummies" book. Any in-depth advice you wanna give him, for me?

6) Sound is mentioned in your press kit and the importance of it. How could I go about getting a sound editor/mixer/etc? And if I edit my own digital movie, what format do I give the movie to the sound editor? A DVD?

I know it's a lot of questions, and I have A LOT MORE. But I really respect what you did and I would like to learn from you. Thank you. Please help.
 
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Note: Your webpages pages are just slightly too wide for my 15" laptop screen @ 1280x854. I keep having to scroll side to side to read the ends of the sentences.

Trailers, freaking amazing... what did you shoot with ( camera and lighting gear - in general )?... how many shoot days?... Shooting ratio?... Pages/Setups per day?

In case you can't tell, I'm trying/beginning to figure out more of the time/resource budgeting stuff in regards to larger projects ;)
 
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