Hello y'all--

Just finished this 30 second spot for the Elephant Butte Inn located in southern New Mexico. (Shot with XL2, 30p, soft f/x 3 filter.)

http://www.madjavaproductions.com/EB_Inn_30sec_Spot.wmv

Please let me know what y'all think.

Best,

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com

Nice work! I think the subjects at the bar and the family & waiter at the table could have used a bit more light... it also would have been good to soften the sunlight on the side of the woman's face a little more. Other than that, well done!

Thanks for checking out the commercial Dale.

I agree about your comment about the bar being a bit dark. We were trying to make it look "authentic", and not make it too bright. Also, the restaurant/family is not as well lit as it should have been; we should've used the sunlight coming from the window for a better effect.

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com

Nicely done, Jeff. Looks very professional. Doesn't have any of that "local car dealer commercial" feel to it.

My only other thought...try panning left sometime. :)

Actually, his choice to use pan-rights was a good one - on screen, things always flow left to right easier than they do right to left. This which means that, when you want a calm, easily flowing pan that relaxes the viewer and communicates a peaceful atmosphere, you want to pan right if possible.

Dale

Nice job Jeff it looks really good.

I thought it was great. I didn't notice the pan issue at all, instead thought it had a really nice flow to it. The only weak part for me was just the lighting when he's getting the massage; it seemed a little dark, and a little too warm, but not horrid or anything like that. Did the client ask for the 4/3 aspect ratio? I try so hard to shoot 16x9 for all my stuff now.

Great work though, solid solid solid!

Thanks everyone for the compliments and replies!

This was our first work with a pro VO guy. At first he did sound a bit "car commercial-ly", but after a few takes, he toned down a bit. (Good thing we had him do several different takes.)

I would love to say that I planned all the pans to go right; but I didn't! (From my reality tv days, I was always taught that if you did one camera move, you do the exact opposite just to cover your @$$ in editing.) Unfortunately, some of my pan lefts turned out to be crap. Fortunately, most of my pan rights saved my @$$!

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com

Hi Bert--

I would have to place the blame on my dear wife who was cam op when I was busily being manhandled by the massage therapist :)

Seriously though, our lighting skills need some work (that's why we practice and shoot, right?). As the XL2 takes wonderful images, we've been mostly shooting exteriors, until this commercial. So we've taken for granted that it'll take the same wonderful image indoors without "tweaking".

But we did purposefully shoot it warm (maybe too warm) with a definite orange hue.

As far as shooting 4:3, the client really didn't specify. I figured since the commercial will be airing in broadcast, the 4:3 format would be better. (But the dilemma is that the XL2 has native 16:9 chips--yikes!)

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com

I actually like the warm feel of the massage scene, I do agree, though, that it is just a wee bit dark.

BTW, the chips aren't native 16x9 - the camera just make use of more of the chip when in 16x9. Read about it here (http://dvinfo.net/canonxl2/articles/article06.php) if you haven't already.

Dale

Good job overall!

I would agree with the massage scenes, the color is actually leaning to the magenta a bit too much but a little color correction would help. The main problem is that the wall color is quite similar to the skintones in both color and intensity, so there is a lack of contrast. Flagging off that wall would have helped to bring some snap into the image (remember that lighting is as much about erasing light as it is adding it!)

I too think that the bartender could have used a little extra light, even if it was a backlight to give more snap. And if an "authentic" feel was in order, it probably would have been good to avoid getting the exterior doors in the shot, as there is a certain message sent about cocktails during daylight hours...!

Looks like you had some sort of jib for the bar shot--too bad you weren't able to use it for some of the more static shots or to replace some of the pans. Booming (and dollying) has a much more sophisticated appearance than a simple pan, more of a 3D effect.

Watching this reminded me of my first "real" job shooting local commercials in a small market in Massachusetts nearly 20 years ago--amazing to think how much less expensive and bulky the shooting gear has become (with a far better image)!

BTW, the chips aren't native 16x9 - the camera just make use of more of the chip when in 16x9. Read about it here (http://dvinfo.net/canonxl2/articles/article06.php) if you haven't already.

Beg to differ Dale. The chips are 960x480 which is actually wider than 16:9 (852x480). In 16:9 mode, the camera takes all those pixels and puts them into the 720 anamorphic pixel aspect ratio required by the mini-dv spec. In essence, it oversamples and that's why the camera really shines in 16:9 mode. In 4:3 it takes just the 720 middle pixels out of those 960. They are considered native widescreen sensors as the inactive pixels aren't considered as part of the image producing portion of the chip.

-gb-

Good work Jeff, just curious, did you created the wmv file yourself, if yes what settings did you use to get such a clear 'artifactless' cuts on the movement for the web viewing. It looks clean/smooth

Hi Charles--

Thanks for the comments and advice!

We used a jib (Kessler Crane) for the bar scene; and also used it for the pool shot, but the tilt was locked down (so the XL2 couldn't take a dive :).

Glad we could conjure up some memories about your first real commercial job. Hopefully, I can write back (in 20 years?) and talk about our first job!

And as far as the bar scene being authentic, come out and visit southern New Mexico sometime and you'll know that folks are drinkin' right when the bar opens (which is at 12noon :)

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com

Hi Akwasi--

Thanks for checking out our work!

We used Premiere Pro to export to the web (as a wmv file). I'm not a web guru, so I had the help and guidance of Steven Gotz (Adobe wizard).

Unfortunately, we're travelling at the moment. (We're out and about in San Juan County, Utah; and just came from Lake Powell/Paige area.) So I won't be able to give you the exact settings that I used. Maybe when we get back I can get them to you.

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com

that happens everywhere Jeff! Been there meself, especially after a long hard night shoot--won't go into the stories.

Actually I'm headed to Albuquerque on Thursday to work on a feature, speaking of NM...

Did anyone play this with headphones? It sounds really nice, except the voiceover has background noise/hiss in it, and there's a noticeable cut between every speech clip. It would be good to use a noise removal plugin/tool on that, or use some room tone (the voiceover mic while no speaking is going on) to run underneath in the gaps between speech clips.

Otherwise, nicely done!

I too have an XL2 and a Soft FX/3. It's a nice combination, I just need more projects!

Eric

IPod headphones: free (came with IPod)

Computer speakers: $20

Broadcast monitor speakers: $$$$ (added on personal wishlist)

Customer/client satisfaction: PRICELESS.

Everything else there's use-what-you-have, trial and error, and practice, practice, practice. (And hope you can earn enough to buy more equipment :)

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com

You don't need high end monitors, just a pair of decent bookshelf stereo speakers with the 'loudness' turned off and the EQ and tone and everything set to 0 or flat.

Any pair of headphones will reveal the cutouts in the sound. Maybe on a tv it sounds fine, I only heard it on my headphones late at night so I didn't bother my wife who was sleeping. But it was obvious in the phones, otherwise everything was great. :)

Hi Jeff
Overall nice work and if your clients are happy then you have accomplished the goal. The rest does not matter. However since you asked here are my 2c.

I would have swapped the opening scene with the last one and vice versa. I believe the establishing shot would have been more effective. I think you shot the landscape in the morning or the afternoon during "golden light time". Way to go! You framed this shot using the rule of third which is also good. However I think there is too much empty sky (unless you pop some text on it like "New Mexico, Land of Enchantment" or something). I would have framed it in the opposite way with the horizon way up. Camera on tripod low to the ground with maybe a bush in the foreground to add depth to the shot. Keep everything in focus and you have a decent shot.

I like the pool shot, nice and slow pan. A lady or two lounging would have been a plus.

The bar shot pan is very good. I like the down camera movement at the end. Very well executed. Others have talked about the shot being a bit dark and I agree. Your editing software could help lighting things up a little without changing the mood. Or you could have used a hand held reflector to light up the guy's face.

The dining table shot is very good. Maybe 1 or 2 seconds too short. By the time you realize what it is, it fades to black.

I really like the composition of the lady getting her feet done . The mood is great but once again I would have put a reflector to illuminate her face. Compare it with the way (at the dining table) the lady and her baby are lit.
Because this shot (the lady and her feet) is so strong, it makes the other two massage shots a little weak. I would have started the massage sequence with the last shot too.

I would have put the golf shot before the pool shot. It would follow a normal day. Establishing shot of the hotel sign. Then you play golf , then you dip in the pool, then lunch, then the massage. Finish with a beautiful sunset on the landscape.

A shot of one of the rooms would have been good to see.

Most of what I talked about is subjective. It is also very easy to comment on a finish product. When you have to start from scratch it is another story. Although one general comment on a short spot like this would be to strive to make every shot really count.

Jeff, it is a good spot technically well executed with great shots. It works!
As I said, if your client are happy, forget what I said

Brice
Digital Motion Studio

Thanks for comments and advice Brice.

It was indeed tough to sequentially put in order which shots to put sequentially in order :) We had some discussion (ahem, argument) about which dept. to highlight first, foremost, and often. As the client had just added a massage therapy and spa service, we thought that should be highlighted best.

As I said earlier, our lighting skills aren't up to par. Hopefully, we can "shine" better in the next one :)

--JA
www.madjavaproductins.com

Well done Jeff. I thought the voice over guy sounded warm and natural.

Would have liked to see a few close ups mixed in here and there. e.g. close up of golf ball being putted into the hole mixed over the wide shot. Close up of hand massage, Close up of drinks.

Video loves close ups. Try and plug a few into your next commercial.

Hi Owen,

Good advice on the close ups. As we had plenty of coverage (as far as the people shots), we ended with wider shots instead; we thought we'd cover more space that way, but lost some "personal" touches as you saw.

We had very limited time shooting the golf course, as it had not officially opened yet (at the time of shooting). Fortunately, we've captured more golf footage after their opening (which we hope to parlay into a commercial :)

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com

Hi Jeff,

I also thought you did a nice job with the audio and editing. Areas to work on include lighting and composition (especially camera angles).

Good luck, Michael

Thanks Michael!

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com