The Letus35 Redesigned :)

[Dennis Wood]

Very impressive Ben. That's a crap load of work there. You have a strong collection of shooting/editing/storytelling skills. Just curious, why did you make this film?

[Ben Winter]

Originally Posted by Steev Dinkins

You're a prodigy! What did you use to compose the music?

Thanks Steev! It means a lot coming from you. I'm a huge fan of Cubase SX, and I used a bunch of VSTs like Edirol Orchestral with it.

Originally Posted by Dennis Wood

Just curious, why did you make this film?

It was a class project. We wrote the script for about two weeks, then filmed it in two weeks, and edited it in one. I want to say that I wish I had more time to work on it, but I think we all say that no matter how much time we actually spend on it anyway :). I actually wanted to make it longer, but I'm submitting it to a festival that limits the length to under 10 minutes excluding credits.

Does anyone have any suggestions for color correction? I'm absolutely horrible at it, I don't own Magic Bullet and all I can think of is to bump up the contrast a little. White balancing that mix of indoor and outdoor light was a disaster :(. I can tell you right now that I'm kicking myself in the neck for not bringing blue neutral gels to balance out that warm light in the diner. Phooey. In fact I would've liked to make it a little green to suggest it was the light coming from the florescents behind the counter. But whatever, I definately think this helped me understand the workflow a lot better.

Thanks for the comments :)

[Mark Wisniowski]

Amazing work Ben, as always. I inspire to reach your level :)

Color correction is very subjective, some like more blues and greens, other did more reds and yellows.

Check out the Magic Bullet site and look at all the themed color examples they have listed, and pick which theme YOU think fits best with your film.

Also, please make a new thread with this posting ! I know many people will really enjoy it. It's a shame to hide it under this 7 pages deep.

If you don't, I will ! ;)

Keep doing what you're doing.

One point of critique, the sceen where the guy and girl are arguing in the hallway, I really wanted to see shoulder - up close - ups. Rather then having both on scene at the sametime and all we can see is the sides of the actors.

Oh, and I noticed another thing, are you a tiny bit camera shy !? ;)

[Ben Winter]

Originally Posted by Mark Wisniowski

I really wanted to see shoulder - up close - ups. Rather then having both on scene at the sametime and all we can see is the sides of the actors.

My sentiments exactly! I wanted them so badly that I made them go back and redo the scene. But their heads were tilted at completely different angles and the footage just didn't match up at all, so I was forced to not use it. The only part I could use was the last shot where she says "I'm working." But trust me, if I could get that footage in I would in a heartbeat.

are you a tiny bit camera shy !? ;)

To be honest, I love being in front of the camera...but I can never trust who's behind it, and I'm so nit-picky about my framing and such! I am forced to put the camera on a tripod if I'm ever in front of it.

I had a friend's copy of Magic Bullet, but I'm kicking myself because I had to return it a while back and I've reformatted my computer since then. Gah!

I really appreciate your comments Mark, and everyone. I suppose I will make a new thread.

[Daniel Rudd]

nice work ben. I echo the previous compliments, and want to specifically point out your great work in the opening credits.

And from an audio production standpoint your soundtrack was very good.

Thanks for sharing.

[Harikrishnan Ponnurangam]

Amazing...Amazing ....Amazing work.

[Alain Bellon]

Nice work Ben. I am impressed.

As for color correction, why don't you try tungsten|SOLID CinemantiQ? :)

It does all you want from magic bullet and more (fast too, without need for hardware acceleration).

[Ben Winter]

Alain, I forgot! I will try it out immediately! Thanks for the reminder! (hits forehead in frustration)

Edit: Tried out the presets, tweaked them a little and found a great look. Thanks Alain! Once you get the idea of how CinemantiQ flows (which takes about 30 seconds) it's a quick click or two to a great look. Ah, the wonderful look of diffusion :)

Saweet.

[Alain Bellon]

Originally Posted by Ben Winter

Alain, I forgot! I will try it out immediately! Thanks for the reminder! (hits forehead in frustration)

Edit: Tried out the presets, tweaked them a little and found a great look. Thanks Alain! Once you get the idea of how CinemantiQ flows (which takes about 30 seconds) it's a quick click or two to a great look. Ah, the wonderful look of diffusion :)

Saweet.

Haha we are chasing each other. I just posted on the other thread.

Well I am glad you liked it. Let me know if you need some advice, perhaps on 3-point color correction (things like getting more contrast without blowing out your highlights), etc.

[Alexandre Lucena]

I have been doing upgrades in a letus 35.

1. Painted the tube black
2. Placed a nikon bayonet
3. Removed the GG to be cleaned

Unfortunately, when the unit was put back together a couple of problems
occured.

1. The GG does not vibrate enough to get rig of the grain.
2. Aparently there seems to be an unexplained increase in hot spot

I noticed that the glue that holds the syringe black rubber snapped.
We did glue it back but did not solve the vibrating problem.

We have been eager to solve this problems. This adapter costed my friend
Daniel quite a bit as we live in Brazil and our currency is devaluated.

Thanks for help in advance.

Alexandre

[Ben Winter]

Alexandre, try doing this to each of the stoppers:

http://www.frozenphoenixproductions....attie/pic3.JPG

This will improve GG movement and most likely solve your grain problem.

I don't know how that hotspot would happen, my only suggestion is to make sure the PCXL is at the correct distance.

[Alexandre Lucena]

Ben,

I see a drop of silicone. What is the distance from the PCXL to the rear
rim. Thanks

[Ben Winter]

I wish I knew. It's mostly trial and error. Try halfway.

[Bill McMullen]

Great job on the Letus mods, it's great to see the flexibility of the device, and the possibilities for experimentation.

As for the film, it looks good too, an ambitious project. The only thing I would suggest before you do a festival submission is to redo/loop the Jake/Liz dialog immediately outside of the school, as it really sticks out compared to the excellent audio/music throughout the short.

[Ben Winter]

This adapter is now for sale for $549 here:
http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=66571