Hi folks, thanks to the folks and the great articles on this forum and website (Watchdog rocks!), we ventured forth a couple of years ago, bought an XL-1 and made a movie. We had no idea what we were doing when we started - but the end result is pretty impressive (IMHO)!

We just posted the teaser trailer on ifilm - and we expect to be finally finished sometime in the fall - the post is almost done. You can find it here:

http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2748108

or just type ISHIN in the search feild.

Please tell me what you think! You can reach me at barking.dog@sympatico.ca; or just post a reply here.

What this truly testifies - is the power of DV in the hands of anyone! We had no training - no skills really - just an idea and an urge - and we figured out everything on the fly! I could write a book on what we spent (wasted)days (weeks!) trying to figure out - only to find out it's a switch or just a click we didn't know we should have used.

Please, check it out - and provide me some feedback - but please - nothing too overtly scathing or overwhelmingly negative - I get enough of that from my wife :)

Terry

I have no experience, and certainly am not an expert, but I will say that if the trailer is any indication of the rest of the movie, I'd say you have a winner. Hard to believe you had no experience when you started it.
Great work!

Telling you... not an oodle of experience - just bought some crap (with the help of the watchdog!) off ebay and starting shooting. Took us a week just to figure out how to capture it properly onto the computer!

Thanks for the words.

TMS

Terry,

That's a neat trailer. A very unique vision. I'll admit, I'm interested. Have you seen Cashern? Another DV/green screen samurai-infulenced epic worth checking out.

Josh

That looks really great. You really have a nice style worked out there. Great props and costumes and effects and everything. I did notice the quick shot of 4 red dudes that looked a bit strange (I think it just clashed with the background or something). I'm really impressed though I can't wait to see the final thing.

you should go ahead and write the book on the stuff you've learned and sell that too!

I like the props and the costumes a lot more than the trailer...

I think actually think the trailer has some great shots: (the branch with the moon behind it, the guy walking along a mountain - at beginning, the cave shot and the shot of the guy looking out at landscape.

but it also has a lot of not so good at all shots...

...and then you have the real bad ones: Effect shots of small spacecraft - doesn´t work for me at all, the red lobster monsters looks like something from a terribly bad 60s sience fiction film, and the guy screaming at the end... ohh loose that!

All that said, for a beginner you´ve come a very long way and there are certainly a lot of good shots/things here, but I just thought I´d warn you since the people commenting above are all two thumbs up... this isnt exactly A class material.

Keep up the good work!

I agree with most of the things that Erik pointed out.

I seem to remember the moon + tree shot, or almost exactly the same, somwhere before...in a full feature movie...

Very good work Terry! Especially given that you had no experience. Let me know if it screens anywhere in T.O.

I don't know, I thought it looked cool.
Yes, I agree, your red guys looked like a science fiction movie from the 60's but I thought that was charming, to see something more 'fresh' in that sense.

Show us more when you have more
(trailer, film, behind the scenes pictures,...?)

Keep up the good work.

Thanks Folks for all your feedback.

We are pounding away (the shot of the red guys is staying - but it needs work - always bugged me) to get this thing done. It's actually an 8 part serial - lossely bound together as he travels along.

Will let you know more as we get there!

TMS

Dude, I thought that looked fantastic! I've been shooting for about a month and have just turned off the automatic settings on my GL2. How the heck did you get so good so quickly?

I'm also a samurai movie fan so I can't wait for the full length version. Sci Fi meets samurai. Awesome. And those costumes...

This is coming from a beginner myself, but I thought it looked great. I loved the costumes/props. I can't wait to see the full version. Nice work.

Thanks,
Luke