DVC 7 - Darryl Ahye

Darryl Ahye · December 26th, 2006, 04:05 AM

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.

Lorinda Norton · December 27th, 2006, 12:07 PM

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.

Michael Fossenkemper · December 27th, 2006, 12:14 PM

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.

Lorinda Norton · December 27th, 2006, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Michael Fossenkemper

Loved the B&W.

....And here I called it "color." LOL!!

William Gardner · December 27th, 2006, 01:15 PM

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...

Hugh DiMauro · December 27th, 2006, 01:55 PM

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.

Bradley L Marlow · December 27th, 2006, 01:57 PM

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

Lorinda Norton · December 27th, 2006, 02:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh DiMauro

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... :)

Robert Martens · December 27th, 2006, 02:35 PM

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.

Mike Horrigan · December 27th, 2006, 02:44 PM

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

Michael Fossenkemper · December 27th, 2006, 03:08 PM

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.

Chris Barcellos · December 27th, 2006, 11:00 PM

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..

Darryl Ahye · December 27th, 2006, 11:31 PM

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.

Meryem Ersoz · December 28th, 2006, 10:01 AM

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....

Darryl Ahye · December 28th, 2006, 11:26 AM

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!

December 26th, 2006, 04:05 AM	#1
Darryl Ahye Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 51	DVC 7 - Darryl Ahye - "Une Perte Tragique" 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. Last edited by Darryl Ahye; December 27th, 2006 at 02:11 AM.

December 27th, 2006, 12:07 PM	#2
Lorinda Norton Wrangler Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Southwest Idaho, USA Posts: 3,066	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. __________________ Lorinda

December 27th, 2006, 01:55 PM	#6
Hugh DiMauro Trustee Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Central Florida Posts: 1,207	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. __________________ Interesting, if true. And interesting anyway.

December 27th, 2006, 01:57 PM	#7
Bradley L Marlow Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Central Wyoming Posts: 484	Hi Darryl 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

December 27th, 2006, 02:44 PM	#10
Mike Horrigan Major Player Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ottawa Canada Posts: 755	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 __________________ My short films... The Interview & Calls From The Führerbunker

December 27th, 2006, 12:14 PM	#3
Michael Fossenkemper Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: NYC, weeee. Posts: 417	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.

December 27th, 2006, 01:15 PM	#5
William Gardner Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 216	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...

December 27th, 2006, 02:35 PM	#9
Robert Martens Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Miller Place, NY Posts: 820	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.

December 27th, 2006, 03:08 PM	#11
Michael Fossenkemper Major Player Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: NYC, weeee. Posts: 417	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.

December 27th, 2006, 11:00 PM	#12
Chris Barcellos Inner Circle Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Elk Grove CA Posts: 6,838	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.. __________________ Chris J. Barcellos

December 27th, 2006, 11:31 PM	#13
Darryl Ahye Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 51	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.

December 28th, 2006, 10:01 AM	#14
Meryem Ersoz Wrangler Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 3,015	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....

December 28th, 2006, 11:26 AM	#15
Darryl Ahye Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Tampa, Florida Posts: 51	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!