Autumn on Campus at DVinfo.net

Brock Burwell · November 6th, 2015, 09:29 AM

Put this together over the course of the last couple weeks here on campus while the leaves were at peak levels. Let me know what you think!

Tim Lewis · November 6th, 2015, 09:43 AM

Nice work Brock. I would have liked to see a focus pull from the leaves to the lamp post, the shot seemed to be waiting for it.

Brock Burwell · November 6th, 2015, 10:03 AM

Yea I can see that. I think I actually even did that, but didn't end up using the shot cause I couldn't get it without it being shaky. Let me go back and see if I still have that footage.

EDIT: Looks like I do have some rack focus footage, but it doesn't look very good. I'm not great at rack focusing very smoothly. I need to work on that for sure.

Nate Haustein · November 6th, 2015, 06:19 PM

Great job, Brock. How very "fallish!" Out of curiosity, what would this video be used for? General college media release? Looks like you've got some delicious 4K in there, what are you shooting on these days?

A couple critiques I thought of:

•*Could have been about 30% shorter. 60-90 sec.

•*Your GoPro settings can be better for drone work. Set manual white balance, use ProTune and turn down your sharpness to Low. The drone stuff was way over sharpened and the color was shifting as you moved past stuff. Use a ND8 or ND16 GoPro filter to knock down your shutter speed, and you could even set your exposure index to -0.5 or so to keep the highlights in check. Or just get that Phantom you really want...

•*I felt like there was some disconnect with camera movement throughout I think. This one is really subjective, but for example when the girl is sitting in the grass, I think a little camera movement/slide would have really enhanced a somewhat simplistic static shot. With the 4K you can even do a tiny little zoom and pan movement too. Subtle but I think it can keep things looking consistent with your other slider/drone/tripod movements. If the majority of the video was lock-down, I might think otherwise.

•*The nighttime football shots looked really great I thought. Nice job!

Brock Burwell · November 7th, 2015, 09:39 AM

Hey Thanks Nate,

We will probably use this on our facebook page and the youtube channel. They may put it on the website as well. When they hired me, they told me that they wanted videos that made campus look like a place people wanted to be, so that's what I've tried to do.

I'm currently shooting with a GH4 and the 12-35mm and 35-100mm.

It actually isn't a GoPro (though I wish it was). It was the DJI Phantom 2. I don't like the video that comes out of it and I'm trying to talk them into upgrading it, but it's not looking great at the moment so I am probably stuck with it for a bit. I'll look into knocking down the sharpness a bit and into your other suggestions as well.

I'm not great with color grading and I need to get better. I obviously have DaVinci Resolve, but I don't really know how to use it. I had Magic Bullet Looks for a while and liked it, but still didn't feel really comfortable color grading. I always feel like I'm changing things without a purpose and then when something looks halfway decent, I stop and leave it there.

Good call on the movement with the girl on the grass. I'll go in and put a little pan in there to enhance it a bit.

Thanks for the words of advice! Much appreciated.

November 6th, 2015, 09:29 AM	#1
Brock Burwell Major Player Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Charleston, WV Posts: 385	Autumn on Campus Put this together over the course of the last couple weeks here on campus while the leaves were at peak levels. Let me know what you think! Autumn at UC - YouTube

November 6th, 2015, 09:43 AM	#2
Tim Lewis Major Player Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Perth, Western Australia. Posts: 591	Re: Autumn on Campus Nice work Brock. I would have liked to see a focus pull from the leaves to the lamp post, the shot seemed to be waiting for it. __________________ Cheers Tim

November 6th, 2015, 10:03 AM	#3
Brock Burwell Major Player Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Charleston, WV Posts: 385	Re: Autumn on Campus Yea I can see that. I think I actually even did that, but didn't end up using the shot cause I couldn't get it without it being shaky. Let me go back and see if I still have that footage. EDIT: Looks like I do have some rack focus footage, but it doesn't look very good. I'm not great at rack focusing very smoothly. I need to work on that for sure. Last edited by Brock Burwell; November 6th, 2015 at 03:23 PM.

November 6th, 2015, 06:19 PM	#4
Nate Haustein Trustee Join Date: May 2007 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 1,313	Re: Autumn on Campus Great job, Brock. How very "fallish!" Out of curiosity, what would this video be used for? General college media release? Looks like you've got some delicious 4K in there, what are you shooting on these days? A couple critiques I thought of: •Could have been about 30% shorter. 60-90 sec. •Your GoPro settings can be better for drone work. Set manual white balance, use ProTune and turn down your sharpness to Low. The drone stuff was way over sharpened and the color was shifting as you moved past stuff. Use a ND8 or ND16 GoPro filter to knock down your shutter speed, and you could even set your exposure index to -0.5 or so to keep the highlights in check. Or just get that Phantom you really want... •I felt like there was some disconnect with camera movement throughout I think. This one is really subjective, but for example when the girl is sitting in the grass, I think a little camera movement/slide would have really enhanced a somewhat simplistic static shot. With the 4K you can even do a tiny little zoom and pan movement too. Subtle but I think it can keep things looking consistent with your other slider/drone/tripod movements. If the majority of the video was lock-down, I might think otherwise. •The nighttime football shots looked really great I thought. Nice job! __________________ Nate Haustein PXW-FX9 / FCPX www.flightcreativemedia.com

November 7th, 2015, 09:39 AM	#5
Brock Burwell Major Player Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: Charleston, WV Posts: 385	Re: Autumn on Campus Hey Thanks Nate, We will probably use this on our facebook page and the youtube channel. They may put it on the website as well. When they hired me, they told me that they wanted videos that made campus look like a place people wanted to be, so that's what I've tried to do. I'm currently shooting with a GH4 and the 12-35mm and 35-100mm. It actually isn't a GoPro (though I wish it was). It was the DJI Phantom 2. I don't like the video that comes out of it and I'm trying to talk them into upgrading it, but it's not looking great at the moment so I am probably stuck with it for a bit. I'll look into knocking down the sharpness a bit and into your other suggestions as well. I'm not great with color grading and I need to get better. I obviously have DaVinci Resolve, but I don't really know how to use it. I had Magic Bullet Looks for a while and liked it, but still didn't feel really comfortable color grading. I always feel like I'm changing things without a purpose and then when something looks halfway decent, I stop and leave it there. Good call on the movement with the girl on the grass. I'll go in and put a little pan in there to enhance it a bit. Thanks for the words of advice! Much appreciated.