Cool, Ray. When will the finished animation be ready for viewing?

Hi all. I watch bamboozled last night and was actually quite shocked at the poor quality of the footage. I know there probably was a certain about of creative decision to have that look, but I was surprised that the trailer on the net looked a LOT better. Is that a resolution issue more than anything, or does anyone thing that more effort was put into post processing that trailer to get it looking nicer?

Just interested to see what people think.

Bamboozled was shot on SONY VX1000s. (Incidentally, I confirmed this with Spike Lee in person!) I don't know any more about post processing on the footage.

Robert, reading my post again, I realise I didn't explicitly say it but I knew it was a video shoot. I thought it was VX2000's but it's interesting to know it was VX1000's.

The trailer looked really good and less "like video" than the actual movie I saw and that made me curious.

By the way, I really liked the movie. There is one bit at the end when there is a montage of clips from old tv shows, cartoons and movies where one white guy, who is dressing himself up with the "black" makeup which is being help by his black servant says "This stuff is hard to get on, and to remove....You really have it lucky'. It just stunned me, I was not expecting that. So check it out anyone if you haven't already.


Thanks

It was shot on a vX1000, and I thought it looked good. You know it's video and I believe the DP went on to win an award for her DV cinematopgrahy (Ellen Kuras). Some short won at sundance and other places. She also lensed Blow for the Late Ted Demme and i think Jim brown All American for Spike Lee.

Looks like this flick on HBO was all shot with a trv900. Not 100% sure, as it's miniDV and Sony, so I'm assuming it's done with the 900, but since I didn't see the lens hood, I almost wonder.

I guess the documentarist was originally working for NBC which is also what leads me to think it was a 3chipper. Then again, why wouldn't they get her a pd100a?

Maybe someone else knows?

what does this have anything to do with this site?
i'm sorry. i don't get it? isn't this just spam?

christian
nebunule films

It was a sony something.
That flick was really funny.

Rented "The Anniversary Party" last night as I'm doing a scene from it for my acting class and was interested to get some backstory to the situation and in the special features there was this "Anatomy of a scene" section where they talked about the movie and how it was shot on digital. I don't know what HD digital cams look like so I couldn't tell if it was HD or what, but you can see the operators using them. Does anyone know what those cams are?

I haven't seen many DV movies and I was very surprised that this was DV because it was really nice to look at and very well made and lit, in my humble viewers opinion.

Thinking back to it now I noticed that sometimes the scene would go "slightly" darker for about 1/4 a second then light again and pulse that way a bit then return to normal and then remembered that there was a discussion about this sort of thing while back where someone was having this issue. Wonder if it's the same thing?

Anyway, it's an excellent movie and dv to boot. See it.

BTW: My scene is the one where Joe and Sally are looking for the Dog, Otis. Damned stressful..;)

The Anniversary Party was shot by noted cinematographer John Bailey using PAL Sony DSR-500's, which are high-end DV cameras (2/3" native 16:9 chips).

I am casting out to all community members and non-members who have been to any film/digital festival.

I have Chris Gore's Survival Guide, but I need information regarding press packages.

Has anyone made one? Have you made one for your movie? Have you made one for advertising/ or whatever?

I would also like this thread to start a conversation or two regarding this.

Cheers!

Derrick

When I was in student media covering films I used to get hundreds of packages every year. This is what I remember about them.

- Interesting packaging makes people pick them out of the pile. Even student reviewers are a cynical bunch and it takes an inventive package to make them pick it out of a pile. The most interesting package I remember was from "The War of the Roses", the Danny Devito black comedy about a bitter divorce between Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas. The package was made like a wedding photo album. I still have that one.

- Include 8x10 photos of the stars, the director and spectacular screens.

- Put the contact information on the folder package itself. The loose papers tend to get mangled or lost. Better yet, put the contact information on EVERY paper and element.

- SWAG: includes a poster. You never know when an interesting poster might end up being stuck on a wall. You might want to look into cheap items that will remind the reviewer of your movie.

- Paper elements: advanced reviews, pre-answered interviews (for those papers who don't have the resources for actually setting up real interviews), bios for all principals, background sheets for the making of the film, clippings.

Putting together a good package is expensive because getting beautiful printing done in short runs is not economical. Unfortunately, you cannot count on press or people at festivals having access to the Internet so you can't just say go to our website. HOWEVER, you MUST have something on your business card and on any packaging material that has your website. And MAKE SURE your website is the project specific domain. Nothing looks more cheap than a free-hosting situation.

I would include a hard-stock card containing a blurb, contact, website information that is more distinctive than anything in the package. This is in case the person who receives the package has to throw away the rest of it but wants to keep something bigger than the business card.

also note that the anniversary party was shot according to Dogme 95' films

http://www.dogme95.dk/

this means that the director takes an oath to fallow a list of specific rules
while shooting the film, which includes using a hand held camera and all
natural lighting with no props....this is why you will see alot of "un-hollywood"
like methods of film making, hence the point of the Dogme oath.

Keith!

Thanks for the abundance information. I printed it out and placed it close because your breakdown is superb.

Thanks for the solid foundation.

As far as the cost, oh boy! Working on it! HAR HAR.

Cheers!

Derrick

No problem. I hope some day to be in the same position.

community.webtv.net/JEFCom/NATUREASB

If in the future this link is not valid, just visit www.jefcommunications.com and navigate to find the Nature Conservancy Documentary.

Does anyone know what DV cameras Danny Boyle used for his latest film "28 days later" I know it was definately DV but don't know what cams were used.

John.

URL: http://www.docuwild.com/spetsnaz.php

Have a concert video shot i did in a local club here in Borås. Only had one camera at my disposal so i let that run off a tripod and let the talent work its' magic =) Sound was tapped directly from the PA system and heavily re-mastered afterwards (needed a lot of cleaning up).

My PD100 exposure settings were 1/25.th exposure and i only used standard col corrections (no Magic Bullet on this one). Intro was made in After Effects and the editing done on FCP 3. The entire video runs for 32 min total.

A word of caution for the sensitive listener =) This is a band that does retro late 80's early 90's body techno music a'la Front 242, Nittzer Ebb & Laibach. It's fast, it's hard, it's dynamic, and it's anti-fascist. So don't be to "shocked" when viewing it =) Though.. after Slipknot these guys feel more like the Teletubbies :P

Feedback appreciated (as long as it's not "you need a 2.nd camera dude ;)")

/Henrik

Hi Henrik,

Pretty cool band. Very different from what we are used to here in North America.

I have had experience shooting a similar type venue. It was hard for me deciding how to shoot the video as well, being that I only had one camera.

I really dug the intro you did, pretty slick!

I think in your situation, being that there are only two guys in the band that never really moved on stage, and a constant changing of effect lights, I would of done some suttle zooming to get some close ups of the two members. On the other hand if you did do that, you might of missed some of the action on another part of the stage. Tough call.

I guess it all comes down to what the client wants.

-Nori

P.S. -"you need a 2.nd camera dude ;)"

Yeah. hehehe.. i would have loved to have two rigs. one for this setup, one for closeups. But the guy who was supposed to be 2.nd camera cancelled the night before the gig so i was a bit short of luck :)

But in the end it isn't a total loss =)

And the intro was fun to do :) All AFX. Now if i could just get the text tools in AFX to use different char setups than the bog standard ones :) (Wanted cyrillic letters for example)

/Henrik

WARNING!!! This clip has lots of the "F" word!!!

I cut this to an audio track from Patheic Subsistence's album F.U.W. which I recorded in June and mixed this November.

It was all shot on on location at the CAC house in Houston on a GL2, edited in FCP 3.0 (Thanks to all who helped me resolve my audio woes) and is being hosted by Paul Sedillo (MANY THANKS PAUL!!!)

http://www.image-studio.com/movies/fys01.html

I sort of just went for the vibe it's not really a "music video"

Comments???

Mark

I liked it, but I'm also partial to punk rock. Good stuff!

Mark,

Good show my man! I really like the colors in this short film. Nice use of transitions with the music. Good shot selection of the band, mosh pit, and punk kids.

Tell Kyle that he owes you some DAMN money! :)

I was hopeing to get some feedback on this clip. I see there have been a lot of viewers but only a few comments. Remember HONEST, don't sugar coat it.
Thanks,
Mark

Mmmm Sugar...

Hey Mark,

Don't take any of my comments the wrong way, I feel that critisism, no matter how mad it makes you, only makes you create a better product.

Your video was cut together nicely. I liked the abstract shots that you threw in every once in awhile. It seemed a little dark, but I know what its like "working with what you got" lighting.

One thing that I would deffinitely ditch, is the final cut count down at the beginning. It cheapens the rest of the video in my opinion.

Did you use a promist when you were shooting?

I would like to hear if you used any other kinds of filters or accessories?

Over all, it's still a lot better than some of the other "pro-stuff" I've seen.

- Nori

I guess I just didn't think about the count down, thanks, I'll nix it. It looks darker on the web than on video but it's still pretty dark. I didn't use a promist when I shot, it was done in post with a freebee filter "CHV Silk and fog", I really liked how it added a little glow to the bright shots. Most of what I shot was pretty grainy and it realy took the edge off. let me know if you want a copy of the filter, I'll post it for (any of) you.
Mark
p.s. I definately aggree about the feedback. I like "real" feedback it does indeed make you better.

I was messing around with FCP today and created a crazy little intro clip. Thought I would share it with the class:

File Size - 230K

http://www.image-studio.com/movies/is_head.mov

You are ready for prime time! Nice Work!
M.

Cool, Paul! Really slick looking.

It's certainly eye-catching without being gaudy. It made my eyes cross! The cobalt blue smear on the black background is very zoomy.

Thank you Gentlemen!

It's amazing to think that little clip took 8 hours to build. The FCP filter that I used is a BEAST to work with. It did not really come with an instruction manual, which goofballs like me need.

They sure do take some doing. It would look cool with the background flashing through white to an opening clip then the text fading out

<<<-- Originally posted by Adrian Douglas : They sure do take some doing. It would look cool with the background flashing through white to an opening clip then the text fading out -->>>

Adrian,

I thought the same thing when I first started working with this plug-in. The other thought I had was an active background (ala Matrix) with this F/X in the foreground.

Paul,

Which plug-in is it?

Check your email regarding the response.

Working with yet another new plug-in, I created this Micro-Short Film:

"A Plea to Santa"
http://www.image-studio.com/movies/santaplea.html
Size - 8.7MB
Length - 25 seconds
Filter used - CGM Film LE

My youngest son is relentless in his quest for a gaming system. So I told him to write a letter to Santa and seek absolution for his poor behavior.

the absolution that is, I want to tak to him! Great clip in the holiday spirit!

Tell the boys I said hi!
Mark

Haw. Cute. The CGM filter does a pretty good "old film" look, too.

(So is he getting his XBox as compensation for his talent role?)

Mark,

Well you know Zachary and how persuasive he can be. You need to post that whacky little short that you created. Very funny stuff.

Ken,

The drive behind making it was to test the new CGM filter. Yes it does have a nice old film look. I shot the footage last night at my oldest son's Christmas concert. Zachary was doing his homework and I was just rolling tape. The footage worked out perfectly for this silly little short.

And no he is not getting an XBox! I am actually looking into getting him a Mac. He is quite the artist, so I wanted to start him up with the right tools. Plus he knows about IMovie, which is much more fun than an XBox.

<<<-- You need to post that whacky little short that you created. Very funny stuff.

Not on your life! Wendy would kill me!! (I'll ask the "Talent" for permission)
Mark

What short Mark & Paul??? You've peeked my interest here!

<<<-- Originally posted by Rob Lohman : What short Mark & Paul??? You've peeked my interest here! -->>>

Mark and his wonderful wife did a short documentary/Christmas story/house tour for an upcoming family VHS tape. His wife is very funny and gives Mark the business all the way through it. Mark thought it would be funny to leave in her mistakes as opposed to cutting them, which adds to the piece. Knowing Wendy, I don't think she would like this little gem up online. :) Which is a shame!

Please take a look to my work on www.dinfinity.com
Music videos by me :) It's filmed on Sony 1CCD DV Cam. In Prague, Czech Republic.
Now i have new Cannon XM2 and more music videos will come :)

I'm trying to set up a short film based on three songs written by a friend of mine. The songs are: Black veil, Trail of the dead, and Bridge of ghosts. I want to release it as one body of work, but it will basically be three shorts combined into a trilogy. If you have any footage you can "donate" I'd be willing to shoot some stuff for you in return. Scenes don't have to be very long just visually dramatic and related to the theme. B&W is cool, as is color, out of focus, racking focus, whatever. The only constraint is shoot/shot at 4:3. You will get film credit at the very least. I live in Houston near the gulf so if you need "Texas" (horses/cowboys/rodeo/oil wells etc.) or coastal shots I'll be glad to do what ever you need in return.

I have been doing a still photography project in cemetaries for a couple of years and I started shooting video footage in some stunning cemetaries last month (Greenmount, in the heart of Baltimore). If you need any footage shot in a visually stunning cemetary, let me know and I'll shoot it for you in return for footage trade and/or film credit.

I could shoot the whole project in my "backyard" but wanted to expand the idea as much as possible by including something visually completly different than I can shoot here in Texas or in the Baltimore/DC area.

I can email MP3's if you want to preview the songs for ideas of shots etc.

Thanks in advance!
Mark
p.s. I'm going shooting all next week (with a family visit in there somewhere) but will be back by the 28th.

Hey Mark,

Could you be a little more specific for the members what you are looking for?

If you are looking for angry snowboarders, let me know!

Thanks- Nori

We are still story boarding so I'll try not to be too vague even though I'm not sure what we will need yet.

Basically I'm looking for funeral footage, cemeteries, veiled people (in the context of death, not middle east etc), seasonal changes in cemeteries ie. flowers, fallen leaves, snow, shots that portray solitude and loss. I know it's still pretty vague, but I'm going for (conceptually) dark images

I hoped that people will conjure up their own images and submit something that portrays any of the aforementioned. As I said before I can send out the music, and let people plug in their own visual perceptions. I have an idea of what I want the finished project to look like based on my interpretation of the music. I'm very interested in what you talks to you folks, visually, when you think of the story.

The songs are from a novel that is based on a true story. It's about a man who accidentally kills on a friend on a hunting trip when he was young. In his later life he puts on a veil and his face is never seen again. The story talks about his guilt, loss, and desperate search for meaning. It’s very dark, and really touched me. The basic audio tracks are amost done for the songs, guitar and vocals but that's all. The songs will probably end up sort of in the "Oh Brother" genre, but will be much darker and not so cheery.
Thanks again,
Mark

p.s. the angry snowboarders might work for another punk video eh?

i liked it, you got some nice coverage so that you could cut stuff.

A few thoughts, keeping in mind it's a vibe thing, not a music video for broadcast.

- It's in web video, so I couldnt tell, but it was a bit dark. Even on some of the insert shots. THats a hard call when you don;t get a chance to light the place. I might be nice to have a obi-light or on-camera light that you can use from time to time. It's not the best light source ever, but it's fun and useful.

- A few face close-ups make good insert shots on action. I mean nice tight ones. You had some mid-range reaction shots that were cool.

- Cuts on the beat always entrance the viewer!

good work!

Thanks!! It's a shame really, it's a pretty dark peice, sort of intentionally. That being said, the copy I have posted is way dark. I made a copy to VHS from FCP and although it was dim it had more contrast, and was therefore easier to see, had a lot more punch, and was more what I was shooting for. The place only had like 4 or 6 60 watt bulbs so you get an idea of how well the GL2 looks in very dim light. It was pretty grainy but useable for this sort of thing. I may have to go back and bring up my output, everyone says it's too dark on the web, and I aggree. A small simple camera light is on my next up list, it won't be a Mole Richardson for sure but it may make for an interesting effect in a very dark room.
Thanks again for writing your review,
Mark

I started reviewing the songs, and realise I need a more effective way to storyboard. I found some links here on some software that should help a lot. I'm going to be working on it over the next couple of weeks and will update as the project progresses.

I completed the basic audio tracks yesterday, and have the three songs in MP3 format if anyone is interested in previewing them. Keep in mind that these tracks are just the raw framework tracks (unmixed / unmastered) and will have more instrumentation added as John gets the arrangements in order.

After talking about the project in depth yesterday we decided on a slightly different song list and order. It's now; Rise again (bridge of ghosts), If I tried to tell you everything, and Black Veil.

The MP3's are about 5mb each.
www.markaustin.com/mp3/black veil/Rise Again.mp3
www.markaustin.com/mp3/black veil/If Everything.mp3
www.markaustin.com/mp3/black veil/Black Veil.mp3

That was great!

That was better than video's i have seen on 3 chip cameras
and even higher end DVCAM ,etc.

The reasons you win is because, you have good shot composition, you use handheld where it is justified or make sense. You also use availible light to your advantage.


The Victim
-------------

I liked how the video knew where it was going.

- I loved the car , it has so much character and there was a point, where the light reflected off it's side so nicely.

- There is a point, where the protangist enters the scene from the door, there is a chiascoro effect over her and the door that is so pleasing, a tear nearly came to my eye in remeberance of things past.

- The effects were excellent. I see you have a thing for future technology. You must have loved Minority Report.

- The acting while they are kidnapping the protagonist is a little weak, also, you might want to get some close up of action shots to inset, such as when he grabs her: an insert shot of him grabbing her arm closeup, will make that scene come alive.

- While the ending was cliche for me, it was well done, Unforuantely the protaginst had reached the end of her screen time, just as her clothing had become see-thru :)



The Metro
------------
You have some really great shots to compose this peice with. The haunting track was nice. There are points where the focus belies the weakness of the camera, but you got the most out of it.

- I thought for sure , the signs were going to start dancing for some reason.
- I would have like to had the last shot of the narrative been a little better composed, either we dont see them at all, or we see more action after they get in the train, the hybrid for me was a little weak.
- The ending surpise at the end of the credits was very nice.


What? I will strike it down!


Good stuff1