New Shot (scifi)

W

wheatgrinder

Hi all,
I tried my hand at making a scifi shot. This is just me trying out things and learning, but I would like your opinion on ways to improve this type of shot.

http://www.vimeo.com/10027851

  • Right off I would change the lighting a bit. I like it VERY dark, but a "kicker" on the actor in the first half of the shot would have really made a difference.
  • The toy gun has some cool lights on it, I forgot to turn it ON!
  • Foley?

I said I like it dark, but does falling off to pure black look amateurish? I sorta think it does..

I now LOVE smoke its that simple. Is there anything that doesn't look better with smoke?
I did try to do something with the sound (this is new to my work flow) let me know what you think of that.. its pretty subtle and might be to low ..

comments?
 
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Cool Clip, My suggestions to how I would of posted that clip.

1. Dark is good, but I feel I would of wanted less light near the end. Perhaps instead of that light minimal on set and add the flare afterwards.
2. Yes Lights on the gun would of been cool
3. Perhaps you could of also added a 'light' to the front of the gun. Dark is good but he is walking around in the dark.

Foley #1 - I want to hear a slight scampering of those space rats.
Foley #2 - If the gun is suppose to be an Energy Weapon I think in this scene it should have a slight hum that oscillates as he swings it around (depending on how far away from the camera the gun is, and if its pointing towards the camera).
Foley #3 - Foot steps, especially when he is right near the camera about 1/2 through the clip. Again very low (lower than your atmo sounds).
 
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Top notch ideas there...

I didn't plan this shot out very much.. Initially I had set up that light on the side and he was just going to walk by the camera, but when he walked over to pick up something from the table just beyond the light, I saw that beautiful smokey silhouette and had to have it on tape..

In post I really liked the idea of his moving from dark to light, and hyped it up a bit. The flare IS post, including the dimming as he passes in from of the source.

Your Foley ideas make perfect sense. Particularly the energy weapon aspect, as is, there isnt much particularly scifi about the shot.. Nothing says "scifi" like a humming blaster!
 
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I think it could look cool to do something like the large slow air circulation fan with diffused light behind it look that is seen in many films. (So that we get light and dark that adds to the tension.) Lightening or something shorting out could also work

Just as you are passing into black at the end, it could be cool to pass something at the beginning like a post that is close in the foreground as he walks. With some doing whatever you pass can show story too, like a stopped clock or family photo with blood on it might. When passing things like that you’ll likely want to avoid the killer in the bushes POV watching effect. (Depending on the type of story it is, you can do the something black that passes in front of the camera in a flash as well- Like a person or creature.)

For sound: I think depending where the location is supposed to be, some foot fall sound that lets us hear story like walking on rubble or echo footsteps that might mean something could work. Water dripping could be in it too, or some kind of invasion or battle sounds off in the distance.

The scene seems tense and creepy, so I think you could maybe do something like an old recorder player that has been sitting there skipping, or something that says this was once a normal place until something bad suddenly happened.

A nice false start could be done so you can scare the audience alittle and have the hero turn suddenly so we hear the gun click and maybe sci fi whirl or something of that weapon as it gets ready to be fired, then when it turns out it was nothing out of the ordinary, and the hero exhales- BIG SCARE!

-Thanks-
 
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The shot looks fine, but I would like to see a couple of insert shots added to it:

* Tracking shot of the boy's feet.

* Close up of boy's eyes, looking at scanner.

* Close up of scanner - blip read out, or POV of what the scanner sees. To do this, just take a shot of the ground, as you walk. Then color correct it or invert it, so it looks like some sort of nightvision. You could easily add a grid or circle pattern (made in Photoshop, After Effects, etc.)


If you want to take the POV even further, you could invert the image. For one movie, I used the negative mode on a handy cam, to simulate night and heat vision. I had the actors wear black and shot them in broad daylight, against a bright sky. In negative mode, it looked like this:


stills02.jpg



In your case, I would light up the whole room (just for the POV) and have black rats, then flip it, so the rats (live gerbils, on strings, etc.) show up as the only bright part of the image.



If that's too ambitious, then your shot might only need some music. :lol:
 
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Nice shot, wheatgrinder. I see i as a large step up from your other shots on vimeo.

All ideas given above are good. Depends on the style you want to achieve as well. But if i was to choose to change one thing about the shot, it would def be adding the foley sounds Graeme mentioned.
 
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Thanks again all. When I make my NEXT scfi shot Ill use many of these suggestions.. Im trying to work in a scene where I have my actor sneaking around a dark ship\place and hope to use some of these techniques sugested.
 
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