Just watched a short entitled "Sweet," directed by Elyse Couvillion and shot on miniDV by Allen Daviau, ASC (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, The Color Purple, Empire of the Sun, The Astronaut's Wife, etc.). From what I've read, he used mostly natural light. Not a mean feat with miniDV, but Daviau has shown what the medium is capable of.

Watch it: http://www.ifilm.com/ifilm/product/film_info/0,3699,701874,00.html

Jay,
"Daviau has shown what the medium is capable of." is a remark certainly on the mark to my eyes. This is a very good short in -any- medium. It's all there; skillful shooting, lighting (existing or otherwise), skillful editing and a good little story told mainly visually.

Frankly, your notice would have been just as appropriately placed in the "Towards a Film Look..." forum. So many people continue to believe that the magic lies in the camera and computer...and they're so wrong.

Thanks very much for posting this note. I'm going to watch "Sweet" again, and again.

Very interesting. Thank you very much for the link, Jay. Did you catch the credit in the beginning for The Orphanage? http://www.theorphanage.com/ they are the inventors of Magic Bullet, a film effect plugin for After Effects and FCP.

Jeff

Ken--

I couldn't agree with you more. I'd love to see this uncompressed on a real video monitor!

Too, I almost posted it on the film-look forum, but I thought it might cause less of a ruckus here. I just wanted people to admire the piece for what it is, not debating.

Jeff--

Yes, I saw the logo for The Orphanage. When I saw that, and how well done it was, I knew what followed promised to be well worth my time. No, I didn't know they invented Magic Bullet.

Yes, the Orphanage credit also caught my attention. I wonder if they used Magic Bullet on "Sweet".

I, too, would very much like to see the uncompressed feature. If it looks this good compressed...

BTW, the current issue (December, 2002) of DV Magazine features a comparison of "film-look" utilities including Magic Bullet and Twixtor. John Jackman, the author, seems to favor Twixtor.

Ken--

I read that same article. That was where I saw the blurb about "Sweet," that directed me to iFilm's web site.

What a great film! "Graceful" is a better word. Addictive, isn't it?

Ken,

I'm sure Magic Bullet was used. If you go to their site and click on recent work in lower left corner, you'll see some pretty impressive projects (including sweet). They list Magic Bullet processing as a service provided on Sweet. It is an interesting site with info about the projects and many QuickTimes for viewing (i'm sure most have MB processing).

jeff

Upon getting my copy of John Jackman's new book "Lighting for Digital Video & Television" I noticed that "Sweet" is mentioned in a photo caption on p.8.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>
BTW, the current issue (December, 2002) of DV Magazine features a comparison of "film-look" utilities including Magic Bullet and Twixtor. John Jackman, the author, seems to favor Twixtor.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>


I'm very interested in this article. Could someone publish it online or let me know of a retailer that sells DV magazine? I have yet to find a retailer of DV mag in my area.

thanks


k

The bigger chains carry it in my area, Barnes & Noble etc. I believe you can go to their web site and get a free subscription by filling out a qualification questionnaire.

Jeff

This is a really good short film. The music (the dance of the Arabian whosits from the Nutcracker suite) is also very important to setting the mood of the story. Just the right choice. The "graceful" comes in part from this music written for ballet.

Nice short.What camera was it shot with?

Thanks

It was shot on a VX1000e (PAL) and editied on the directors G4, using final Cut Pro. The Orphanage http://www.theorphanage.com/ did Magic bullet processing on the mini Dv footage.

Jeff

I saw this screened this last year. It was projected from a digital project right from the director's hard drive. It's really impressive in person. Even if you think her story is a little light, it's still visually beautiful and acts as an impressive calling card. She presented the short and then she showed her storyboards that she had edited in FCP. She did that because she felt she wanted to basically compose the whole movei before it was even shot, through boards. A road not travelled by many filmmakers, in her budget range. It's greatness lies in the sum of it's parts and for a short that makes it successful.

christian
nebunule films llc
los angeles, ca