Good comments already that I'd agree with, but there aren't many music videos out there that I'd bother to say "that was good."

But I say, "That was good."

If you can do that in one day and not be happy with it, I'm jealous!

I've posted on here for a while, but never shared any of my
videos with you guys because I've never put any of them online.

Then I just remembered today that a promo video I worked
on is on the band's website.

So, if anyone is interested, I'd like to hear what you think.
The idea was to do a very short teaser video for the band's
upcoming album, so it's not a full music video - more of a
trailer (under 2 minutes).

You can check it out here (www.spoontheband.com)

Go to their video section.
The name of the video is "Making LP5"
(I think that's what they called it).


Hope you enjoy it.



Edited to add:
The website is all Flash, so I'm not sure what the direct link to the video is.

Rob's been a buddy of ours for a long time. It was awesome of him to do it!

Yeah, we shot it on the XL2....we're still figuring it out....still total novices.

Glad you liked it!

-Curtis

Perhaps you could re-edit this into your top post... unless you don't want this information out there.... But here is a direct link to the video.

http://www.lukesfilms.com/Vids/Bad%20connection06.wmv
Right Click - Save Target As.
It uses the same amount of bandwidth, but if you want me to remove the link I will.

I'm about to watch it now...

I actually thought some of the shots were pretty good. Some were bad, yes... the problem I thought with the piece, was the way the video was edited. Too many disolves, and strange cuts. I think a re-cut, removing all stylized cuts, and removing redundant shots of him walking would improve the piece substantially. As it is now, I would give the editing a 2 or 3 out of 10.

But one big problem is... alot of this story is coming from a phone conversation or "story" making it telling, and not really showing. It's like a long voice over that is used to tell a story, rather than the images.

Thanks,

Yeah, since this was my first time doing interviews I didn't think about the inconsistent lighting being a problem. I tried out a few things and some worked, most didn't. Luckily no one but me knows what those things were. :)

Live and learn, and I learned a whole lot on this project. But I'm really glad the message was communicated.

Luis

I really liked this; I used to play guitar in a band (for about 5 minutes of my life) and always appreciate the footage during rehearsal and recording. This looked great with wonderful coloring and the blow-outs on the windows work very well. The editing is tight and your choice of framing is spot on.

One part I didnt like? The black and white. Usualyl not a fan of Black and White as it is; but this element removed me from the piece.

Great work. You should share more often!

Looked well done. What was this video made for?


I recognized one of those songs, skillet perhaps?

Really cool little video.

I especially liked the first 5 seconds. Had a very 'teaser-ish' feel to it.

Good Job!

Thanks for the feedback.
i'm glad to hear you enjoyed the opening, as that was fully my creation. It orginally had a bit longer of an opening, but we were asked to cut it down a bit. The rest of the piece was cut together with a friend of mine (the one who did most of the shooting by the way John, so I can't take credit for his shots).

The black and white footage came from little security cameras we used. I have to say that agree with John that it wasn't the strongest choice.

The piece plays much better if you could see it off DVD instead of the web (but isn't that always the case?). It's a mixture of 35mm, DV/24P & 60i, and low res security footage. Sort of loses the effect watching a quicktime.

I shot all the DVX footage, and my friend shot all the 35 footage.

Thanks for checking it out.
I appreciate it.

The best compliment I've gotten on this was from a fan message board for the band... someone said that if the new album was anything like the video then it "was sure to rock!"
:)

It's always good when you see that something you made actually served it's purpose.

Thanks for everyone's comments, we will learn a lot from these! The short was shot on a cheap handheld Mini DV cam. We have since got our baby, the XL2! We are currently in pre-production of a feature, called 70's Cop - go for the gold. It will be an interesting experience for MJdoubleD!

The video is for an organization called Joels Place. You can check their website.

www.joelsplace.org

Thanks for the comments.

I think it's a good, solid music video. For a second effort, I think it's extremely well done.

Content:
I liked a lot of the shots and the story-line. I wouldn't like to see less band, but that's a personal preference.

The stock footage shots didn't fit in I feel.

Lighting:
I liked the silhoutte shot of the singer, the dark shots, the stop motion shot. I dig stylized lighting so I liked a lot of the dark shots.

The group band shots didn't really do much for me. I don't think I like the hotspot reflections you can see. Maybe try lighting the band like there's moonlight coming through the window, and/or backlighting them or doing high-contrast lighting where they're lit from one side with strong hard light or light them like they're standing directly under spotlights, or use barndoors and use light slashes to light them.

I didn't find the video too dark

2- I'd like to see your third video!

Click Open, then when the pop up appears cright click Launch and save as.

Check out www.drvproductions.com/theassignmentmovie.html Like to hear some opinions.

Thanks

Very nice................held my interest..........

good use of the "what you don't see is creepier than what you do see" concept.

great soundtrack...........

the only thing I would change is the establishing shot of the location needs to look a bit more spooky................seemed a bit out of context with the nice interiors.........



kaos

Thank You,
The establishing shot actually has been changed we used a more extreme angle and shot it at night, that teaser that is up now is going to be replaced hopefully sometime in the next couple of weeks.. Thanks for the feedback any is always better than none.

Moved to the correct forum.


Very nice! Styleish, a little creepy! Good ear candy too!

GREAT WORK!

Looks great,
if I was to comment on something I think the 2nd interior shot focusing on the broken glass is a bit too long, and (watching it on Quicktime) looks a bit TV, while the rest gives me a film feeling.

Also, I LOVED the shot of the flashlights in the smokey corridor.

I think the trailer would be even better if you cut it down a bit futher, trim the cuts a bit more, make it 1/4 shorter.

I agree very much with the above comment from Scott Grocott on the good use of "what you don't see is creepier than what you do see" concept.

The trailer makes me want to see the film... now all you have to do is fullfill that...

I also join the cheering crowd for nice use of music/sound!

Good luck!

Here I am again. I have spent quite some time recutting this movie, and people have told me it's about 1000 times better than the original I posted here. So I thought I'd post this cut here and see if I get any better feedback than I did last time.

http://www.transcendentfilms.com/files/ufo_RECUT_3_large.mov

Production Notes:
Shot on XL1s.
Shot in natural light plus one 300 watt worklamp.
All of the Non-UFO shots were shot over one night, in about 6 hours.
Actors: 1 (Andrea)
Crew for non miniature shots: 1 (my self)
Crew for miniature shots: 3 (dolly, fog, myself-camera)

Edit... no one has watched it? Or no one knew what to say?

Hey Everyone.

Since I had some time at home to recover from the Pneumonia, I figured I would get caught up on my newest Fire Academy Video.

It was all shot with an XL1s, standard lens and ambient light. It's a work in progress so don't be thrown by the abrupt ending.

The video is 3 min. long and is 20 mB. I know its a big download but I would appreciate feedback.

www.pixel-mesh.com/media/video/academyIntro.mp4

- Aaron

Im trying to fine tune this commercial so I can submit to a client. Any comments or suggestions? Thanks.....

http://steakmotionpictures.com/inbox_web2.wmv

A shot of the magazine cover would be be good so people can see what they are looking for. You may have done this, but it is hard to tell becuase the clip did not stream well for me. It was jerky.

Heh, that was A LOT better than the first version Bryan! I liked the strobing lights, nice creepy effect. How'd you do that? I don't know much about lighting effects like that. Did you just simply twiddle the light switch on and off? ^_^ The faster editing was also easier on the eyes, the first one had too many long cuts that made me sleepy. Overall, everything is infinitely better.

Thanks for watching!

Yeah, I had my brother flip the light switch back and forth, and I cued him when to move out of my pan, and to the other light switch, where he did it again.

Good shot selection. You've been studying your thriller films, eh?

Could have used a couple shots to build the woman's sense of isolation and foreboding.

Not quite sure what happened when the woman was approached from behind. Maybe a shot of her suddenly turning and freezing as she is confronted or attacked.

The resolution, hmmm, not sure what is happening there. She is clutching her butt?

It's suppose to look like she is shot, which freezes her from moving. Then the spaceship closes, which is suppose to mean she is in it, or that they are leaving. But then there is the montage of what is suppose to look like an alien looking over her, and a probe. Then at the end it's suppose to look like she woke up and maybe it was a dream. But then she can't walk correctly.

Lot's of "supposed" in there. But I'm learning. Next time hopefully there will be less of them.

Many changes on kettenvideo.de...
There are two new "branches" to be continued!

Tell your friends...!

Volker Krieger

www.vk-videokunst.com

Hey all, just got the news that our first film has been selected to make it to the festival. "For Emily" will be screened on April 30th at 8:05pm in cinema 4. We are so exited that just had to share with someone. I will post more info asap about the actual film.

Just finished this up for a band called Minutes too Far. It was shot over a period of 2 days. Shot with Canon XL1 and 4 arri lights. Also one huge mother-f***** in the back of the room for fill. Edited on Premiere Pro and a little DVexpress. Color correction done in After Effects.

I don't know that there really was a budget. I bought an extension cord, a couple strands of christmas lights, and some water for the shoot. We were able to borrow the light kits from OU.

The band is an OKC band here that rocks pretty good. It's my first serious attempt at a music video so I'd appreciate any comments or contructive criticism.

http://www.itimebomb.com/MOVIES/rfr_full.mov

Congrats, good job! Let us know when you have a trailer/clip for download.

I'm taking a class called Overview of New Media. Basically we do work with Photoshop, After Effects, and 3D Studio Max. I just finished up this After Effects project last night. The assignment was to take a photoshop assignment we made earlier in the course and animate text over it. Some of you might recognize the theme I went with...

Let me know what you think.

http://www.sweepinghalo.com/third_eye_animation.mov (11mb)

I liked it a lot. At certain times it felt like there was something very unnatural about the audience. Were they composited in?

I liked the flashback cuts and their visual style, but wish that there was more of it in terms of quantity, narrative, and development, as it's the most engaging part of the video.

At times it seemed like the cutting could have been faster. There was one shot of the swings that seemed to linger just a little too long.

Overall, a very good job. My favorite shot is of the drummer twirling his drumsticks- his expression is hilarious. The flower sequence was also very well done.

Benjamin,

Thanks for your comments. I agree there should have been more flashbacks. The original concepts were much more intricate but as things happen our shooting schedule got trimmed to almost nothing around the bands recording time. And then by the time I got what we had into post it had to be trimmed even more just so it didn't linger and matched the beat.

As far the the cutting faster, its hard to say. There's a fine line between fast and unrecognizable, and of course it has to match the beat too. I HATE having to cut fast just because its a music video, but if you don't then its just boring or the viewer notices that the shot hangs too long.

Anyways thanks for watching. Glad it turned out good.

it streamed well enough for me. nice job. very fine point to make---at the end, the text says "order a copy today" which is ok and we know what you mean but usually when an order is placed having to do with a magazine it is for a "subscription" and not just a copy. This is however just a silly detail. I liked it overall.

That is one sweet film.

Hello everyone,

We have just put up our latest short film online, if you'd like to watch it, follow the link below:

http://www.bargus.org/deadontime.html

The film runs for 19 minutes and comes in two formats; Windows Media and Quicktime.

Feedback is of course much obliged!

Thanks,
Adam Bowman

I like it, Adam. It's cleanly shot and has some nice, small comic touches to leaven the tension: the friend who laconically ate from the hero's plate after the hero bolted from the cafeteria & the sweep-second-hand which paused at the last second before the hero's lunch hour.

What camera/lens did you shoot with? I noticed the wide-angle on some CUs of the hero---were those done with the cam's standard lens or did you add anything on? If the latter, what specifically, and did it give you any focus problems?

I liked your use of the dolly; generally, it was motivated and added to the dramatic impact. There was one dolly---the lateral move, in the opening?---where you faded in before the move began; I thought you might fade in with the move already in progress.

What did your lighting kit consist of? How did you light the interiors? Were the fluorescents in the hero's kitchen practicals? Did you use any reflectors for exterior MSs, etc?

Did you have any trouble getting permission to shoot on city streets or in the office or photo shop?

How many shooting days did you need? How many crew?

Hi John,
Thanks for your comments, I'm glad you liked it.

We shot with a single XL1 the wide-angle shots were done with a the standard 16x but with a surplus optic(!?) taped to the front - cost of around $10 with some cardboard and sticky tape. The distortion was incredible before post but I managed to removed the majority of that in, there is definite lack of clarity near the edges though. It got us the shots though, we'll be investing in some wide-angle equipment for the future though, that's for sure! We used a more powerful surplus optic to get the fisheye view for the SLR lens reflection in the bedroom too.

For the first dolly shot, on review I agree with you.

Our lighting kit was made up of some work lights and a large regular flourescent tube, we also made up a giant piece of white polystyrene with foil on one side (we also covered some similar boards with black fabric to make flats).

The main flourescent in the kitchen was a pratical.

As far as shooting on the streets, we didn't ask for permission we just shot, we've had dealings with councils before and they're a pain! We found it best to just shoot and ask questions later.

As far as other locations we just asked and owners we happy to let us film there.

The majority of our shots were done over weekends, about four days, in total though about seven days.

Thanks again,
Adam Bowman

So, I got it scored.

http://transcendentfilms.com/files/ufo_Scored.mov
If anyone checks it out, let me know what you think.

Thanks

Excellent stuff. Very atmospheric and nicely edited.

The only thing that "bugged" me at first, was the first closeup shot of her feet stepping down onto the carpet ---darn flared pant...I thought it was the alien!

This is a good example of what you don't see being more scary than what the film actually shows. [as the Alien only really materializes in our imaginations].

Loud Orange Cat Productions' first short titled "Bad Cat" is now online.

Visit loudorangecat.com to view/download the file.

Just wanted to let you know that my fiance and I watch the show religiously - tonight was the Sara episode (meth addict). Pretty compelling stuff each week; really makes us count our blessings

Great job w/ the camera work!

I worked on this Fine Living Network show with DV Info member Gregg Therieau / DP-Camera Operator called "Your Reality Checked" as a camera operator back in 2004 but just got around to encoding it. It was shot with two of my XL-1 systems and 2 audio techs with field mixers. It was shot over a 3 day period in Atlanta. The first day used one camera and the next two days used two cameras with overlapping shifts. It seems like a train wreck when it's being shot with unexpected delays and story issues, but it always amazes me what great writers and editors can do with your footage.

"Your Reality Checked"
http://161.58.78.36/asx/dvinfo/realitychecked/REALITYCHECKED.asx


Production Stills: Shooter - Gregg Therieau

http://198.65.158.133/images/production/realitychecked/image1.jpg

http://198.65.158.133/images/production/realitychecked/image2.jpg

http://198.65.158.133/images/production/realitychecked/image3.jpg

Thought I saw some DVXs.
Watched Sara's story,---the meth addict from Minnesota last night.
Thought show was shot in 24p,----looked real "filmy".
Or maybe film look was added in post.
Curious to know shooting ratio on something like that.
Also there must be some highly volitile situations.
Even danger?
Watched for professional reasons.
But also subjective matter for our family.
Nephew entered treatment for meth addiction today.

After many aeons I have finally put a personal website up that contains some screenshots of stuff and a reel. Most of the stuff on the reel is from low budget community funded videos, but there are also more snippets from The Silencer and Soul Searcher in there too.

Let me know what you guys think. Hold on........ Okay, fire suit is on ;-)

http://www.simonwyndham.co.uk

Hey guys, My friend Dane(the director) called me up and asked if I would help his team for a film festival thing called "48 hours of Madness"
http://www.bestfestsandiego.com/48Hours.html It was pretty intense and we had to turn this script into something somewhat intelligable, shoot and edit it in 48 hours.

I guess you could say I was the cameraman/cinematographer or dp or whatever for the shoot since I brought my equipment and composed and shot all the shots and told people where to put lights and stuff. Then we edited it, naturally it ran at 7 or 8 minutes, but we had to cut it down to 5. Oh and my friend jon rushed to my friend dave's house two hours before it was due and recorded the music for it in 15 minutes then we ran back to put it into the video. It was fun and a rush, it was a great experience working with so many agreeable people, this is what we came up with. Let me know what you think.

http://www.petemurph.com/REbirth.mov


Sorry for the rant.
Thanks,
Peter

cool, I liked the part with the girl looking at herself in the end and the many fast zoom ins and zoom outs!

Enjoyed the movie - Had a nice flow to it and is even that much better if you realize it was done in only 48hours.

I wish one of these 48hour contests would come close to me.

Anyways, Good Work!

Well there is something similar here online being run here by Dylan Couper. It's one week to make a film. You're given a Theme, and movie has to be less than 3 minutes.

Better be quick cause it starts this Friday ;)

Aaron

Looks good.

Nice to see how even the Xl1 holds up to this sort of shooting style.