archived-videos Opinions on my first action/scifi film??
- Thread starter jvfilms
- Start date
All in all. Well done ! Very creative, good camera moves.
The wind noise at first was very distracting, might have easily dubbed in the sound of the guy and left out the wind noise. The vid was devoid of story could have let us known more of who what why etc
Keep it up, a solid effort IMO !
The wind noise at first was very distracting, might have easily dubbed in the sound of the guy and left out the wind noise. The vid was devoid of story could have let us known more of who what why etc
Keep it up, a solid effort IMO !
Very good for a two-minute short - let's see you add on other scenes, and tell us why they're shooting at each other. 
BTW, you're holding guns in the open - did you check with the film board about having to get permits? You don't want the local police to get the wrong impression.
BTW, you're holding guns in the open - did you check with the film board about having to get permits? You don't want the local police to get the wrong impression.
The guns looked like Nerf guns. I don't think he needed permits for them...
The film looked good. But I agree that it needed a story or else it comes across like a Transformers movie: all flash and no substance...
Really good for a first effort, though. My first outdoor short didn't turn out NEARLY as good aesthetically. It just looked like video:http://youtu.be/nZzwGCG1zxA
The film looked good. But I agree that it needed a story or else it comes across like a Transformers movie: all flash and no substance...
Really good for a first effort, though. My first outdoor short didn't turn out NEARLY as good aesthetically. It just looked like video:http://youtu.be/nZzwGCG1zxA
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Good cuts, I could easily follow the action. It doesn't really have a story but as a practice piece it's good.
You didn't specifically ask for critique but I'm gonna go ahead and give some since this is in the screening room.
The cc was mostly consistent, but a couple shots weren't quite matched up. Overall I wasn't a fan of the low-contrast look, it made everything look a bit overexposed (and a few shots were definitely overexposed.) Maybe look into getting some ND filters?
The abrupt stopping of the music and cutting to a black screen didn't work for me. The music needed to go on after it goes black, but not the whole song, maybe just a diminished chord or have the last note ring out for a second or two. That will create some tension when you come back with that 'boom' sound.
Thankyou for not going nuts with the shallow depth of field that is getting all-too-common with folks who just got their first DSLR
Now get yourself a story and keep making stuff!
You didn't specifically ask for critique but I'm gonna go ahead and give some since this is in the screening room.
The cc was mostly consistent, but a couple shots weren't quite matched up. Overall I wasn't a fan of the low-contrast look, it made everything look a bit overexposed (and a few shots were definitely overexposed.) Maybe look into getting some ND filters?
The abrupt stopping of the music and cutting to a black screen didn't work for me. The music needed to go on after it goes black, but not the whole song, maybe just a diminished chord or have the last note ring out for a second or two. That will create some tension when you come back with that 'boom' sound.
Thankyou for not going nuts with the shallow depth of field that is getting all-too-common with folks who just got their first DSLR
Now get yourself a story and keep making stuff!
Not bad at all. Reminds me of the dozen films I made when I was
starting. I didn’t have YouTube so I never showed them to anyone,
but I learned a lot.
My opinion on this movie is you show you have skill in editing and
camera set up and are learning how to use the standard EFX plug
ins. Nice set up and good action.
My opinion on your next few movies is to start thinking about your
audience. What do YOU like to see in a short film? I know I like a
bit of a story. Dialogue isn’t essential, but I usually respond
better to a story than simply good editing, EFX, SFX and camera
angles.
starting. I didn’t have YouTube so I never showed them to anyone,
but I learned a lot.
My opinion on this movie is you show you have skill in editing and
camera set up and are learning how to use the standard EFX plug
ins. Nice set up and good action.
My opinion on your next few movies is to start thinking about your
audience. What do YOU like to see in a short film? I know I like a
bit of a story. Dialogue isn’t essential, but I usually respond
better to a story than simply good editing, EFX, SFX and camera
angles.
In post, you should use your 'scopes for targeting your levels when you're color correcting. Most of the shots (specifically the ones with the camera pointed toward the sun) look washed out, which can be fixed by doing minimal color correcting to make sure the whites just touch white and the blacks just touch black.
To help avoid the washed out stuff, be REALLY careful when shooting toward a light. A lens hood / matte box / french flag to help the light not directly hit the glass of the lens would prevent some of that in those shots. Careful framing would help the others that the french flag couldn't prevent. The bright wash on many of those shots is the surface of the lens elements being illuminated by the sunlight directly hitting the glass. This is generally considered a bad thing and is usually easy to avoid once you know to look for it.
The pacing was good. It seemed like more of a fun test than a short with an obvious plot. Careful blending of the gunshot hits would let them blend more convincingly with the shots, if not darkening the shots slightly, then lightening the hits to match the raised blacks. If you're editing on a PC, don't trust your monitor to show you true black (not really on a mac either, but they tend to be closer out of the box). Always use your scopes to match exposures... specifically the blacks in the case of PCs. With an internet expectation for distribution, aim for 0% on the black (some broadcast uses 18IRE which isn't quite 0% -- and I get the impression some Windows based editing solutions target that by default).
To help avoid the washed out stuff, be REALLY careful when shooting toward a light. A lens hood / matte box / french flag to help the light not directly hit the glass of the lens would prevent some of that in those shots. Careful framing would help the others that the french flag couldn't prevent. The bright wash on many of those shots is the surface of the lens elements being illuminated by the sunlight directly hitting the glass. This is generally considered a bad thing and is usually easy to avoid once you know to look for it.
The pacing was good. It seemed like more of a fun test than a short with an obvious plot. Careful blending of the gunshot hits would let them blend more convincingly with the shots, if not darkening the shots slightly, then lightening the hits to match the raised blacks. If you're editing on a PC, don't trust your monitor to show you true black (not really on a mac either, but they tend to be closer out of the box). Always use your scopes to match exposures... specifically the blacks in the case of PCs. With an internet expectation for distribution, aim for 0% on the black (some broadcast uses 18IRE which isn't quite 0% -- and I get the impression some Windows based editing solutions target that by default).
I didn't get a chance to see this. Why was the video removed?
On scenes without any dialog just delete all the actual audio and strip in fabricated audio from other sources.
"Real" audio is often either distracting, irrelevant, or poor. Don't be a slave to it.
"Bogus" audio gives the audience the sounds they think they should expect.
0% clouds in the sky days also give that high contrast either/or washed out overlit+dark shadows shots that are just hard to look at.
Wait for the thinly overcast days to knock down a lot of that harsh natural lighting contrast.
Weather.com is your friend: http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USOH0212 (Pick your own city, of course).
My camera doesn't care for temps under 40°, likely your T2i doesn't either.
http://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/USOH0212
Looks like you'll be waiting for another month or some freaky weather.
Notice in films where the outdoor lighting produces no/little shadows. Thems overcast days.
Something like this:
"Real" audio is often either distracting, irrelevant, or poor. Don't be a slave to it.
"Bogus" audio gives the audience the sounds they think they should expect.
0% clouds in the sky days also give that high contrast either/or washed out overlit+dark shadows shots that are just hard to look at.
Wait for the thinly overcast days to knock down a lot of that harsh natural lighting contrast.
Weather.com is your friend: http://www.weather.com/weather/tenday/USOH0212 (Pick your own city, of course).
My camera doesn't care for temps under 40°, likely your T2i doesn't either.
http://www.weather.com/weather/monthly/USOH0212
Looks like you'll be waiting for another month or some freaky weather.
Notice in films where the outdoor lighting produces no/little shadows. Thems overcast days.
Something like this:
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All in all. Well done ! Very creative, good camera moves.
The wind noise at first was very distracting, might have easily dubbed in the sound of the guy and left out the wind noise. The vid was devoid of story could have let us known more of who what why etc
Keep it up, a solid effort IMO !
I totally agree with IndieBudget's comments. Definitely a nice job for a "test short." Thanks for reposting the link.
To echo what others have said - really nice camera work and good editing, but two guys shooting at each other does not a story make (and has been seen many many times before). Also the muzzle flashes and hits looked a bit cheap. Really good as a first attempt though.
Curious to know how you were manipulating the camera - is it steadicam or totally handheld? I know nothing about these things really, so sorry if that should be obvious
Curious to know how you were manipulating the camera - is it steadicam or totally handheld? I know nothing about these things really, so sorry if that should be obvious