How's the progress?

Philip Gioja · April 3rd, 2006, 11:22 PM

well... I'm a little outgunned too... but I got the rough cut in tonight, and I'm sending it off to a friend to get it scored. It's simple, but hopefully not (too) cheesy. Probably is.

Robert Kirkpatrick · April 4th, 2006, 01:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edward Slonaker

Wow! I think my production (which is finished and posted) will be a little pale in comparison to yours.

Not really. I think I accidentally made it sound more impressive than it is. I got my cast and crew (3 actors, 2 crew, all friends and family) a day before the shoot, and I spent about 30 bucks (on tapes and fake flowers and a mirror and assorted stuff). I should have spent some on booze. Only had a camera and a tripod (and sometimes a mic with XLR), and my ghetto green screen are just large pieces of flourescent green poster board carefully taped together. Then it was rush, rush, rush all day.

Now that I'm in editing, I'm banging my head because I'm missing some shots. I just tend to be rather overambitious -- CRAZY actually. There was just a bunch of neat things I wanted to try -- like green screening -- so why not not experiment in front of everybody?! :) But hey, this was an excuse to light a fire underneath me. So I guess that worked at least.

Edward Slonaker · April 4th, 2006, 04:10 AM

Well, you got me fired up about the "green screen" part. We've got a portable green screen at work and thought about using it over the weekend; forgot it, of course. So, we were in Hobby Lobby and I saw this lime green looking cotton material. Bought a couple yards of it and dang if it's not close enough! Six bucks for a green screen??? Can't beat that. I'm going to try it out on something.

I had low production staff and talent (just me, the mrs., and my best friend) as well. In fact, anyone who touched the FX1 and asked, "uh...what does this button do?" got there name in the credits. I shoulda spent money on booze. A good bottle of Scotch would've helped me work out one scene. Oh well.

Dick Mays · April 4th, 2006, 06:52 AM

My wife was right. The nudity was gratuitous, and completely unnecessary. The dancing midgets should be enough to hold the viewers interest. After all, it worked for Willie Wonka.

On a serious note, the good news is, I finished editing my sweet romantic piece yesterday, and my wife loved it. Hope ya'll like it too.

Mike McNeese · April 4th, 2006, 12:07 PM

I'm gonna get started on it tonight.

:)

Lorinda Norton · April 4th, 2006, 12:43 PM

I know Dylan likes for us to keep our movies as close to three minutes as possible, but ours went longer and then, doggone it, I wanted to add some behind-the-scenes stuff just for fun! The movie, with credits, runs 4 minutes, but then I added another 58 seconds of extras. Unfortunately, that puts a wmv file at 59.7mb. Took me eight minutes to save it to my computer, which is a long time. I think I'm going to have to give the extras the boot.

So my question for those of you who are finished--how big are your movies?

Edward Slonaker · April 4th, 2006, 01:13 PM

Mine came to just about 3:20 (with credits). I think the .WMV is around 8MB. I've also uploaded a Flash version that's around 9MB.

Hope the 320x240 does it justice......although it'll help hide the "flaws".

William Gardner · April 4th, 2006, 01:41 PM

Mine is just under 5 minutes, including credits.

I have 2 WMV files online ready for download,
One is about 20 MBytes (320x240, 12p), and one is about 58 MBytes (480x360, 24p). Please watch the big one if you have the bandwidth; I'll return the favor... :)

Bill

Mark Utley · April 4th, 2006, 03:10 PM

I've done a basic edit and went through it all a few times and trimmed it down wherever I can. I'm sitting at 5:02 without credits. Bah.

Robert Martens · April 4th, 2006, 03:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mark Utley

I've done a basic edit and went through it all a few times and trimmed it down wherever I can. I'm sitting at 5:02 without credits. Bah.

Welcome to the club! The cut I talked about last night sat at six minutes, fifty-five seconds, which I only realized after reading the last few posts; a bit of judicious cutting, and I'm down to five minutes, nine seconds, no credits. Looks like I'll be able to do something, as there's one scene I have with some cutaways that may be useful, but credits aren't looking possible, even quick ones. Hope I'm wrong about that.

Best of luck to you, Mark, I'm sure you'll figure something out!

Philip Gioja · April 4th, 2006, 03:57 PM

I still have some cutting and trimming to do tonight, but I'm running 6:50 at the moment. I'll probably do a short version and a long version.

I spent a little too much on this -- rented an apartment, bought a bed... I tried some green screen stuff too but it turned out really pixelly around the edges, so I must not have lit it very well. I ended up just doing an overlay rather than using the green screen. It still looks good, but I guess I still have some learning to do.

I did build a boom pole for my shotgun mic, I was pretty pumped about that. I got a 12' aluminum house-scrubbing pole (my house needs cleaning too, I'm all about multiple-use!), bought a dirt cheap made-in-china paint roller that screwed on the top, hack-sawed the screw end off to use the plastic threads, threw out the roller part, and epoxied a screw with the right threads on it to screw onto that a hotshoe adapter that I got off of Ben Lynn (he is the guy who got me here to dvinfo.net.) $35 total.

Dick Mays · April 4th, 2006, 06:02 PM

I was struggling to get an edit under 4 minutes, then found out we had five, and I went back and reedited it with full cast credits it's 4:50.
320x180 15 frame wmv is 18M, and looks okay. I'm going to play with QT Pro tonight.

Chris Barcellos · April 4th, 2006, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by William Gardner

Done! Hurrah!

While I was glad that the challenge lasted more than 10 days this time, I sure did spend more time on this than I expected... :)

My main sadness is that the web versions look so mediocre compared to the full, HD glory produced by my Sony Z1U.

Good luck, everybody! Finish, finish, finish!

Bill

I shot in HDV with my FX1, but decided for speed just to downconvert out of the camera, knowing that it was going to be a web movie only

Bradley L Marlow · April 4th, 2006, 08:35 PM

After all that, doesn't look like I'll make it....

Lorinda Norton · April 4th, 2006, 09:00 PM

Brad! After all that work. Dang.....I'm sorry. Hope everything is okay. :(

If you weren't a Mac guy I'd offer to edit for you.

April 4th, 2006, 04:10 AM	#168
Edward Slonaker Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Hell's 6 acres in S. Texas Posts: 203	Well, you got me fired up about the "green screen" part. We've got a portable green screen at work and thought about using it over the weekend; forgot it, of course. So, we were in Hobby Lobby and I saw this lime green looking cotton material. Bought a couple yards of it and dang if it's not close enough! Six bucks for a green screen??? Can't beat that. I'm going to try it out on something. I had low production staff and talent (just me, the mrs., and my best friend) as well. In fact, anyone who touched the FX1 and asked, "uh...what does this button do?" got there name in the credits. I shoulda spent money on booze. A good bottle of Scotch would've helped me work out one scene. Oh well. __________________ Edward Slonaker El Pilon Productions San Patricio, Texas www.elpilon.com

April 4th, 2006, 12:43 PM	#171
Lorinda Norton Wrangler Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Southwest Idaho, USA Posts: 3,066	I know Dylan likes for us to keep our movies as close to three minutes as possible, but ours went longer and then, doggone it, I wanted to add some behind-the-scenes stuff just for fun! The movie, with credits, runs 4 minutes, but then I added another 58 seconds of extras. Unfortunately, that puts a wmv file at 59.7mb. Took me eight minutes to save it to my computer, which is a long time. I think I'm going to have to give the extras the boot. So my question for those of you who are finished--how big are your movies? __________________ Lorinda

April 4th, 2006, 01:13 PM	#172
Edward Slonaker Major Player Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Hell's 6 acres in S. Texas Posts: 203	Mine came to just about 3:20 (with credits). I think the .WMV is around 8MB. I've also uploaded a Flash version that's around 9MB. Hope the 320x240 does it justice......although it'll help hide the "flaws". __________________ Edward Slonaker El Pilon Productions San Patricio, Texas www.elpilon.com

April 4th, 2006, 03:10 PM	#174
Mark Utley Major Player Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Toronto, ON, Canada Posts: 479	I've done a basic edit and went through it all a few times and trimmed it down wherever I can. I'm sitting at 5:02 without credits. Bah. __________________ Mark Utley

April 4th, 2006, 09:00 PM	#180
Lorinda Norton Wrangler Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Southwest Idaho, USA Posts: 3,066	Noooooooo!!!!! Brad! After all that work. Dang.....I'm sorry. Hope everything is okay. :( If you weren't a Mac guy I'd offer to edit for you. __________________ Lorinda

April 3rd, 2006, 11:22 PM	#166
Philip Gioja Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Piper City, IL Posts: 350	well... I'm a little outgunned too... but I got the rough cut in tonight, and I'm sending it off to a friend to get it scored. It's simple, but hopefully not (too) cheesy. Probably is.

April 4th, 2006, 06:52 AM	#169
Dick Mays Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 690	My wife was right. The nudity was gratuitous, and completely unnecessary. The dancing midgets should be enough to hold the viewers interest. After all, it worked for Willie Wonka. On a serious note, the good news is, I finished editing my sweet romantic piece yesterday, and my wife loved it. Hope ya'll like it too.

April 4th, 2006, 12:07 PM	#170
Mike McNeese New Boot Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Lancaster, Ohio Posts: 7	I'm gonna get started on it tonight. :)

April 4th, 2006, 01:41 PM	#173
William Gardner Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 216	Mine is just under 5 minutes, including credits. I have 2 WMV files online ready for download, One is about 20 MBytes (320x240, 12p), and one is about 58 MBytes (480x360, 24p). Please watch the big one if you have the bandwidth; I'll return the favor... :) Bill

April 4th, 2006, 03:57 PM	#176
Philip Gioja Major Player Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Piper City, IL Posts: 350	I still have some cutting and trimming to do tonight, but I'm running 6:50 at the moment. I'll probably do a short version and a long version. I spent a little too much on this -- rented an apartment, bought a bed... I tried some green screen stuff too but it turned out really pixelly around the edges, so I must not have lit it very well. I ended up just doing an overlay rather than using the green screen. It still looks good, but I guess I still have some learning to do. I did build a boom pole for my shotgun mic, I was pretty pumped about that. I got a 12' aluminum house-scrubbing pole (my house needs cleaning too, I'm all about multiple-use!), bought a dirt cheap made-in-china paint roller that screwed on the top, hack-sawed the screw end off to use the plastic threads, threw out the roller part, and epoxied a screw with the right threads on it to screw onto that a hotshoe adapter that I got off of Ben Lynn (he is the guy who got me here to dvinfo.net.) $35 total.

April 4th, 2006, 06:02 PM	#177
Dick Mays Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 690	I was struggling to get an edit under 4 minutes, then found out we had five, and I went back and reedited it with full cast credits it's 4:50. 320x180 15 frame wmv is 18M, and looks okay. I'm going to play with QT Pro tonight.

April 4th, 2006, 08:35 PM	#179
Bradley L Marlow Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Central Wyoming Posts: 484	After all that, doesn't look like I'll make it....