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

Wow, Tyler Baptist and I used my Z1 for our projects and I've seen at least three other people who have used Z1/FX1s for theirs. Should be interesting to see what kind of images we can get out of them.

I did most of my shooting yesterday and hopefully the last of it will be done tonight. I also helped Tyler with his this afternoon.

Minor setback.

I finished shooting all the nude scenes on Saturday, but spent so much time in the editing room on Sunday, I believe my wife has rootkited my computer.

Nude scenes? In a freely available movie? Heck, you've got my vote! :)

Finished my own rough cut about half an hour ago, showed it to my father, who tells me he's pleased with it, and got the point I was trying to get across. So all that's left is to rerecord one particular voiceover (I've fallen victim to the "cell phones as the new cigarettes" bug, I'm sorry to say--not one, but TWO phone conversations in one movie), add in a select few sound effects, add some crossfades and color correct a shot or two.

I can see the finish line, and it looks good.

Holy cow, I feel completly out gunned. Z1's, green screens, no little puppies or kids? I spent 50 bucks on parts to make a dolly, 30 bucks on scotch and wine, 10 bucks on tape, 40 bucks on new bulbs, 40 bucks on sandwiches. I shot everything on a DVC30, My dad doesn't get the idea, but then again he thinks everything I do is a bad idea.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I'm gonna get started on it tonight.

:)

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?

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".

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

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!

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.

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.

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

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

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.

...but I could be kidding...eh, eh, eh.

Ooooooooh!!!!!
 

So I logged off and called this big ape to commiserate and see if I could help....only to find out he was kidding! *smoke curling up from the top of my head*

Just remember, Brad: "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." ....or tricked, as the case may be! ;)

you can finish mine for me, lorinda! i am beginning to loathe it.

except i need a deep resonant man-voice to do the V/O. having trouble finding one. may have to get my friend patrick drunk and make him promise to help me.

any deep resonant man-voices out there in colorado who will help me? i'm desperate! the guy i thought i had lined up is not available....

What are the chances we can delay his flight so we have another week? After reviewing my film for the 98th time. I want to shoot some new scenes and re-edit.

This is my first "Drama". I've learned a ton of stuff in the process. But most of all, my story started to solidify at the end, unfortunately I already shot most of my stuff. Now that I've had a chance to "reflect" on my endeavor, I'd like to start over. does this happen to everyone? anyway, I'm serious about delaying his return home. does anyone know what airline he's flying on and the date he's supposed to return?

Yikes
 

I happen to be the star on my film. After watching the film I have decided that I am really, really bad at acting. :(

Now, Scott, you sound just like my son! He was so disappointed when he saw himself on this latest movie.

You've heard countless times about people being their own worst critics; it's true. I'd be willing to bet we'll all think you did a great job!

Say, Meryem, if you get really desperate I know a resonant baritone over here who would be available to take directions by phone, record, and then I'd email the files to you! We'd sure have to hurry!!! :)

Well, I have shot footage maybe a week ago with my partner. problems:

-I have not shot footage till a week ago, and therefore with midterms and the process I am working on this time (which involves creating a story in the editing), I will not be able to put forth the strongest piece.
-My computer, too slow to render the realtime effects that I have been messing with, which involve heavy use of a crushed black filter and light rays and flashes.
-I don't know the footage like I should, which is where I get a real grasp on the story. especially in this new method without a script

What you can expect from me:
-A first draft of whatever, which will just be messing around with flow and the footage
-A halfway halfway decent picture due to cheap hosting through youtube.

I am honestly making a tentitive use of this piece later on, but feel it'll take maybe 4-5 weeks to really develop and then another 3 to master it. I was using this project as a means to shoot with a dancer anyways, and try a different method without a script ...which I actually have done with another piece, called the clown, which here is a link to that:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sPemYOTYk8A

itsa fine, itll go in my portfolio when I finally finish it. even though you all will get the dirty end of the stick here.

Also, here is some test footage from the reflections piece:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=rREe8zqlVKI

Well, I'm finished mine - I just have to export it and find a site to host it.

thanks for the offer, lorinda! man, you all are the best! send up a cry in the wilderness, and the offers pour in. what a great community!

i think i have a line on the vocal stylings which i hope works out. guest-starring one of dvinfo's own! wish us luck!

Yikes
 

Thanks for the lift, Lorinda. The only problem is that I have already quit my day job. :)

Damn, blast - I need to get more organised next time.
Having delayed due to 'actor' availability, and then hesitating due to strong wind (waiting for that elusive window), we missed what is probably the last opportunity to film anything dry. And I'm not risking my precious camera in the rain. I'll just have to blue/green screen it if need be. Or hopefully have a non-rainy night and do it as a night scene - will still work just with issues.

Either that or I'm pulling out some 'stock' footage of mine and getting the actors to do a modified voiceover - if I get desperate enough. I've got the basic event, just a different context. And the number of people around doesn't match - maybe vignette them out, it is a flashback after all, and the character has some screws loose ;-)

Although now I'm starting to get ideas for other ways around it, dark and ambiguous may work if the audio works. Time running out, but it's not called a challenge for nothing.

Well looks like i won't be getting my entry done :(
Haven't been able to find any actors.... oh well

I'm pretty much done, except for a bit of audio mastering and transition touch-ups. We're having a big premiere party on Saturday with all the Saskatoon people who entered.

And that's the end of that! Movie's done, files are compressed and uploaded (Windows Media 7 and 9, for compatibility and file size), email's been sent, now I get to sit back and listen to some kickin' tunes!

Can't wait to see how many entries there are, and start watchin' 'em all.

Not quite done but, I had one of those lightening bolt thingys hit my square on the bean earlier today and shot a few bits as soon as I walked in the front door tonight. Been editing last nights late night drive through town to fulfil that part of the criteria. Shot some things dealing with reflections and am doing what is going to amount to an "art" piece. I had a rather sobering event or two this week in my personal life and that's always good for a few days of not thinking at all in an effort to escape the situation for a while. On the other hand, once you talk yourself out of that mental slump, you sometimes come up with some interesting ideas.

When the thread on this piece comes out, I will be interested in seeing how many different interpretations for it come out of the discussions. It's not like anything I have seen anyone do in the DVChallenge before. I think it will challenge the viewers, and the judges a bit.

As I myself am looking at it as a learning "art" and "interpretive"piece, I will not be hoping to win but I am hoping to be able to transfer some meaning and emotion with the piece.

I have said before that I want to be able to create totally emotionally motivated scenes. I am not really interested in telling a 3 act screen play. I want to show something very personal and deeply emotional. Something simple enough to grasp but hard hitting. That's the goal, and I'm a long way from shore, but I am swinning.

See you all in the funny papers,

Sean McHenry

blurgh. finished editing at 1:20 am thursday night. compressing and uploading can wait until morning....

I posted my link to Dylan
 

Emailed my links to Dylan a half hour ago.

Well, if I could get the "talent" back tonight, I think I'd shoot the whole main scene again. As it was, I had to cut and paste sections of the scene from the various takes, and really didn't have a way to cut away. I always wondered why there is all the fuss about it, but next time, I'll get a plethora of valuable "B" roll stuff, to make cutaways. That is what this is all about-- learning some things.....

24 hours to spare
 

It's not the best work I've ever done, but it's not the worst either and as someone said to me in an interview yesterday, done is beautiful.

Good luck everyone.

A batch of exams between me and my friends during this month killed any progress....... won't happen again... as long as there's another this summer or the beginning of next semester before we have to start studying.