Happy Holidays everyone,

Darryl Ahye here...
I'm a digital filmmaking student at the International Academy of Design and Technology in Tampa FL. I'm 20 years old and I come from a beautiful island in the caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago. That's my background in a nutshell.

Here's the feedback forum for my DVC 7 Short entitled "Une Perte Tragique" which is french for 'a tragic loss'

"A mourning woman remembers a happier time. Her flickering memories of the past is a tragedy in itself."

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I wish you all the best for the New Year.

Darryl, I fully appreciated your movie after the second viewing; things get missed because I’m concentrating on the story. Nice job with the lighting and color—it fits the story perfectly.

You have the right idea, trying different styles. This is such a departure from “Face the Problem” that it kind of threw me! Harkened back to your first DVC movie in its look, but still had its own feel, of course. You did a good job with it.

I really liked the camera angles you used. I also liked the matte to give it a memory kind of feel. music fit the piece well too. Loved the B&W. The first time I viewed it, I was confused about who the guy was but by the end I got it. It looked like in a couple of shots you used a steady cam thingy? Really liked the consistent vide through out. nice job.

Loved the B&W.
....And here I called it "color." LOL!!

Wow! Really bold, daring film! I'm very impressed that you were able to pull this all off so well in 10 days and in a 3 minute film! Loved the overall effect of the dutch angles, blurring, temporal jumps, focus changes, and color. Amazing editing job! And was the song composed for this effort?! If so, even more amazing!

How did you do the muted color/bleach bypass type look?

Bill

PS: I had to watch the youtube version because the downloaded version wouldn't play for me...

The moody music, sophisticated lighting and stylized presentation were well done. You put a lot of thought and work into this project. Whenever I get a “feeling” while watching something, I know the visuals had done their job. The switch between black and white and washed out color was a nice touch (that is what my computer screen seemed to indicate!). I felt her loss. Very good. Thank you for your hard work.

Loved the wonderful look and feel of your film. You have some excellent cinematography and the editing was incredible. Bravo!

I also appreciate the minimal approach you took with the dialog and how you let the visuals and the haunting singing voice tell the story. By the way, major kudos to the singer Kaitrin Miller!

Sometimes I need to watch a film a few times for it to sink in to my thick skull. Watching yours a few times was a pleasure.

What kind of filter did you use and what is your editing software like?

Best wishes~
Bradley

The switch between black and white and washed out color was a nice touch.
Okay, so maybe I haven't completely lost my mind after all... :)

I initially ran into a Quicktime error when trying to view that version ("Error -37: a bad filename or volume name was encountered."), so I ended up watching it on YouTube first.

I had thought that was the reason the movie seemed so dark to me, but after redownloading the MPEG4 version, it looks pretty much the same. I'm sure you cranked up the contrast between light and dark on purpose, but it seemed too many of the shots were difficult to make out, even fullscreen.

Further, the actual events of the film are still unclear to me (is he dying during the film, or has it happened already? Who's the guy in the hat, glasses and coat?), I think the song could have used an instrument or two, and the movie felt a bit long overall. As negative as that may sound, I still kind of liked it; gentle and somewhat haunting, and Kaitrin performed her vocals wonderfully.

May I ask why you chose to go with French for the dialogue? It sounds lovely, I just wonder if there's a specific motivation behind the decision.

And what's with this "color and black and white" business you're all talking about? The whole thing was in color, as far as I could tell.

I really liked the look and feel of your film, very well done. You definitely set a "mood" and you could feel it during the viewing.

Mike

Ok, so it is colour. but it felt like B&W. hahaha.

What's the image in the beginning? it looks kind of like a gas stove flame spinning.

Darryl:

Sorry didn't get to your sooner. Had trouble with download for a bit but finally got it done.

Film shows great use of camera angles, with great close ups. Out of curiousity, do you actually script and block a shoot like that, or do you shoot a particular scene freestyle then edit to the look you want afterwords. I can't imagine me having enought imagination to get some of those shots.

As with most of the films so far, fairly serious matters involved, but treatment you gave it was great..

Hey everyone... sorry I missed the discussion. I'm glad for all the feedback so far: Lorinda, Michael, Bill, Hugh, Bradley, Robert, Mike, Chris.

Basically the film was created in just one day from start to finish, I didn't know there was going to be a DVC 7 in December. The time I found out about the theme was late night/early morning, 4 days before the deadline. I didn't want to leave it to the last minute so I decided to shoot it on the spot.

I wanted to do something original with a lot of feeling using the resources I had. The song was written in 20-30mins by Kaitrin. We shot for about an hour and a half.
Then we recorded the song afterwards as well as all of the other audio in the film...the dying man's breathing, their lines. Kaitrin helped me with the french translation. I wanted to put as much depth as I could into this piece and I thought that french would work perfectly for the dialogue.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Here's are answers to some of the questions I see:

The image in the beginning is a - Ceiling Fan

The woman is obviously confused and does not know if he is a memory, but one things for sure is that she has suffered a loss in some sense, loss of a loved one, loss of sanity, loss of memory, reality...etc. The film is open to different interpretations.

I was initially going to make the movie B&W but liked the look of the desaturated color a lot more. I also increased the contrast until I thought I did the mood justice.

I didn't use a stedicam, dolly or jib...I didn't have any of that equipment to use for this film. I was the steadycam, the dolly and the jib :)

I edited the film in Final Cut Pro. The editing took around four and a half hours to do since I wanted to make sure the story looked good and flowed well.

I am totally against sticking solely to a typical tripod height shot. It is a tool that is often misused and it hinders creativity. I love using dollies and jibs for camera movement and even when I don't have them I try and simulated their kinetic movements, handheld. Sometimes I put the camera on the tripod sometimes hold it up high like a boom or a "man jib". Or flip the tripod upsidedown and sweep the camera about an inch off the floor (I flip it back in post). I try to shoot through things from different perspectives. I practice a lot so I have a lot of shot ideas embedded in my mind. You'll see a lot of that crazy stuff in my last DVC short "Face The Problem".

I didn't do any scripting or blocking. I visualised what I wanted and tried to capture the closest thing possible to it. I make sure and get a lot of coverage as well so I may do around 6-10 different angles and 3-4 takes for each angle.

c'est fantastique!

very original looking yet retro-20s looking at the same time. i thought it was cool, and people worrying over the meaning of the storyline need to watch more 1920s films to get over fretting the narrative. or watch anything experimental for that matter. in fact, i would even suggest going the other way with it. less story and *more* mood, since that is clearly the strength.

this upcoming generation has so much embedded talent with working with visuals, i am so jealous.

every one of your submissions--haha, i'm still trying to forget the first one!--takes so many risks, it's a pleasure to see what you'll cook up next....keep 'em coming....

merci Meryem!

I think I have a fan :P
I know all about 1920s films....being 20 myself :) j/k
(Note: this is my 20th post)

Its true...mood is very important.
The storyline is just there to help to evoke the mood and give it some background.

Meryem...I'm still trying to figure out how you got that picture of the raven flying to the other raven in "Still Life"

Now that's visuals for ya!

Darryl -

This film was really beautiful! I'm actually really impressed that you shot it in one day, based on how calculated the cinematography seemed to be. It really appeared as if you put a lot of thought into each and every shot! Awesome job!

I also loved the effects you added when you edited...as many people have already mentioned the desaturated color was really effective. I like that you didn't go with straight black and white, because when I think of memories, I don't think black and white, but I do think "faded", which is exactly the effect your film had. The strobe-like editing you used in spots was cool too. It fits along the same lines as the faded color, in that when memories start to fade they become a bit broken up and choppy and sometimes we only remember little flashes of a person or an event. Well done!

Ok, so with all of this praise, I have to add a bit of constructive criticism too...I really loved the song and oh my goodness major props to your singer for her truly hauntingly beautiful performance, but I think some how it felt a little forced...I wanted the images to tell the story...not the song...Its like the music matched too well...If that makes any sense. I think you could have told the same story with a simpler version of the same song, so that there were moments where instead of listening to what the lyrics were telling you the story was about, the images were telling you what they were about...lol ok I totally feel like one of my film professors from college now, so I'll hope that I made some logic there and stop...hehe

All in all a beautiful, deep film though! Fabulous job again!

-Jamey-

Thanks Jamey...

Good stuff! Memories are never really that clear and I took that into consideration when I was editing. I am going to keep working hard on my cinematography and color grading (two things I appreciate a lot when I look at films).
I wanna take a shot at that "On The Lot" contest (on FOX) and the UWOL contest (right here on DVinfo). I challenge myself all the time, I started off knowing absolutely nothing last year, to the point where I'm comfortable but I wanna keep moving forward. I think I'll be learning 3d modeling next as well as more lighting and cinematography.

One day, very nice. Looks like the setups took hours. Very nice entry Darryl.

Darryl,

Very well done, the visuals and Kaitrin's vocal complement each other in a very hauntingly deep mood with enough of a hint of despair.

I've watched it over and over and it really draws one in.

Bruce

I've watched it over and over and it really draws one in.
Bruce

I'm with Bruce...even though I watched this film days ago, some of your beautiful imagery and the haunting song are still sticking in my memory!

Very good job guys! Very good "production" work! I was very impressed...
Interesting story. I liked it. And the hole speaking in French helped the mood I think, along with keeping you watching.

What did you use for gear? The audio was nice and the video looked crisp.

Keep up the good work!
~Gabriel

Amazing edits, I really liked the strobing too.

I think this film had the strongest 'visual mood' for me.

It was easier to pick up on the relationship the second time around. I think though that that held me in more throughout the film.

Really nice NLE work though, I'm very impressed.

Thanks for all the feedback everyone, You guys show so much love. That's the best thing about DVC, we're all in this thing together.

Here's a list of the gear I used:
Panasonic's DVX100b
Marshall MXL Series 990 Condenser Mic
Smith Victor Light (I borrowed one from my friend Adam Smith)
Walmart's Generic Tripod
Darryl Ahye 6'2 ManJIB and ManDOLLY (Not sold in stores)

Edited in Final Cut Pro
MPEG4 Compression

I might revert to Sony Vegas or just cut with AVID or Premiere since I can't afford the Mac I need to use it at home, even with their 'generous' educational discounts. I love FCP but they don't wanna make it for PC.
At least I have other options so I can't complain. Use what you have now and the rest will come in good time.

ManDolly!

I am totally listing 'mandolly' as professional equipment:

Camera rental: $50/day
Tripod rental: $15/day
ManDolly rental: $500/hour


Haha!

Very much liked the camera angles and movement. Thought the black and white worked well with the mood. Some of the flashing edits I didn't like as much, but that's more of a stylistic opinion. Music hit the right mood. Very well done.

Smile,
Kris

I am a great fan of holding back information. I love a good artistic piece too. I have always tried to give a sense of mood with the soundtrack.

I think this is one of my personal favorites. Nicely done. Did you add grain in post?

Sean

lol @ ManDolly rental (Brent)

Thanks, but the ManDolly did half of the work :) (Kris)

I added a sprinkle of grain, just for the flavor :P (Sean)

Hi Darryl

Well I'm finally getting round to some critique....I started with yours because it covered a very similar sequence really albeit in a different fashion as my entry....morbid buggers arent we :)

I really liked your editing and cutting effects, stylish and interesting...A feast for the eyes! I especially liked the flickering and overlaying (any info on this much appreciated:) I also like your style of shooting and some of the more abstract angles and shots. I didn't understand who the chap in the cap was but I guess I didn't really need to......oh and he did add some 'cool' factor ;) !

The story unfolded well and the music was haunting and original. The characters seemed a bit 'rigid' in places but the style did fit with the mood as a whole....and made it quite haunting.

Great stuff...It's given me some 'style' inspiration for my future works!

Cheers
Mat

Here's a list of the gear I used:
Marshall MXL Series 990 Condenser Mic

I was looking at this microphone (and the 991), and saw that it requires phantom power. How exactly did you get phantom power to the mic while recording video? I suppose that my question is based on the assumption that what little in-video speech there was ("He died"), was recorded with the video.

I rather like your video. Some of the "trippy" effects you added definitely add a nice flair. Nice camera work and a cool premise make this a good short film.