Here's a short film I shot with a few friends last week.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrKw4KKWerg

We shot it in one day, totally unscripted, all run and gun. I have yet to put it up anywhere else besides youtube... it looks half way decent on youtube, but the movie looks killer in full res. I shot it 720p, 24fps, and my quicktime conversion settings were: Comp: H264, Quality: slightly below high, key frame 24, frame reordering yes, encoding mode: multi-pass, Dimensions: 556x313. It came out at 98.5 megs...

Hi Douglas,

I really like it!

The story/concept is intriguing, the editing is pretty nifty and the overall effect is rather nice. I would like to see a non YouTube compressed version to get the full effect.

If I was to find fault I think I might mention the over shaky camera work. A tripod could probably have been used in some of the shots (especially by the railway line).

Keep it up...

Alex

If I was to find fault I think I might mention the over shaky camera work.

Haven't you heard? Shaky is "art". I saw Bourne Ultimatum last weekend. My girlfriend had to stop me from walking out. I sat there in misery wanting to stand on my chair and shout "Will you hold the friggin' camera still?! They run out of steadicam guys in Hollywood?!?!"

To me it was horrible. What's worse is that it is obviously intentional. They're aiming for the "Law and Order" look, I guess.

But I say this to someone and they think I am crazy. "Oh the movie was great!" they say. "What are you talking about? I didn't see any camera shake."

Oh well. Just my POV I guess.

Jim

They're aiming for the "Law and Order" look, I guess.


Jim

Do you mean the "NYPD Blue" look?

Dan Weber

P.S. I liked both of the last two Bourne films with the shakey look. But it is a style that is not for everyone. My wife hated it in the second film and was fine with it in the third one.

Ha ha! Maybe you are right! I am not sure, as I have never seen NYPD Blue. Actually I rarely watch TV. The only reason I know Law and Order used this method is that my folks stayed for a visit two weeks ago, and they are big L&O fans. I walked into the living room from my office where I was editing and I sat and watched with them while we were talking. I noticed it right away.

"How can you stand all that shaky camera work?" I asked, as I watched the guy in the witness stand move in and out of frame, as if the cameraman either had parkinsons or two double lattes from Starbucks on an empty stomach.

"What shaky camera?" My mom replied.

"Oh, that's how all these shows are now." replied my dad. "Supposed to be "edgy" according to a magazine I read."

Twenty minutes later my mom was laughing saying- "Thanks a lot. Now that I notice it, it's driving me crazy too!"

I see it all the time lately. Funny how what used to be considered sloppy is now edgy? I can understand times when it works, like fight scenes and chase scenes. But for close ups and serious discussions thick with drama? I say-Just lock that puppy down!

Oh well, art is in the beholder. And until I am making $100 million pictures I guess I can't say what works and what doesn't, eh? Until then I will say it is just my opinion. Heh heh.

Jim

In the first season of Battlestar Galactica the shaking and "zooming in on faces when it's not even necessary" was terrible as well. I hated it ! In the second season they kept on doing it for the first two episodes and then they finally got enough money together for a tripod and a real cameraman...

Doug - what settings (recipe) did you use?

I thought it looked pretty dang good.

john

evilgeniusentertainment.com

I like hand held but I thought this was too "handheldish".

nice music. interesting faces.

Btw, I totally didn't get the story. I felt stupid after watching it--like everyone gets it but me. Can you summarize the story? Went right over my head.

Haha, Thanks for the compliments, guys! Well, first off.... There was NO plot for this movie at all. My friends and I just grabbed a few random items: cactus, chains, tiki head, and some crazy outfits. We shot it in about 2 hours, I didn't know how the movie was gonna end or anything...and it took me about an hour to edit. I used fcp, and all really did was crush the blacks, lower the saturation, turned up the sharpness for some scenes, and used soft focus for a few scenes. As far as the "handheld look", I don't like it too much either. I wish I would've brought my tripod, but I didn't feel like bringing it.

John, did you want the in camera settins, or the export settings I used for fcp?

I hope to get this up somewhere online at full res. Is that even possible to do for free? I doubt it... Anybody know?

That about does it. Thanks again, dudes.

[QUOTE=Douglas Joseph;738743John, did you want the in camera settins, or the export settings I used for fcp?
[/QUOTE]

As Deon Sanders might say, "Both."

Thanks! Looks great for the time spent fo' sure.

jdv