Show Your Work 2008

[Mark Dawson]

This is Me – A very personal project, inspired by real events in my life played out by London actors Anna Keeble and Stanislas Torikian. Shot in 7 hours at a frantic pace but helped by advanced planning, script, and storyboard and brought in just over budget. My thanks to everyone’s help and support during this time.

Shot entirely on location in London in a boutique hotel Suite on Sony XDCAM HD. In association with the Philip Bloom film festival, my thanks to him for his support in making this short film and his tireless efforts for all film makers everywhere.

Let me know you feedback and comments

Can be found at

http://www.londonmarkfilms.co.uk/
under the films section

or

http://www.vimeo.com/1501835

[Howard Karlsen]

Hi everyone, and thanks for a great forum on all things HVX/EX1

Thought it would be cool to get some feedback on my recent work. Ive uploaded everything to my website www.hkarlsen.no/eng, but my reel is also avaliable on http://vimeo.com/1112698

A recent musicvideo I shot with HVX200/mini35/Zeiss primes has just been released at C+C records. Im not sure if this is the final grade, so I have not posted it at my site yet. Ill keep you posted. Here it is http://www.ccrecords.com/hmk/fantasy.mov

In may, I spent a month shooting a crazy actionpilot, handheld with up to 3 EX1 in action. I DPed it, and shot it on EX1 (standard lens) with an Easyrig. Warning: This trailer is a very rough cut, no cc and very poor audio. I might post a workblog on this, because we have very talented people onboard for grading, fx and music. This was made only days after we finished principal shooting, during one night. Turn up the volume!!! http://www.hkarlsen.no/actiontrailer_rough.mov

On another note, the pilot is shot using Bill Ravens and the other guys Picture Profile, found here http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=110902&page=16

Im interested in pursuing job opportunities in the US. Do you think thats possible with this reel, and if so, does anyone has any tips on where and how to start?

Thanks again guys!
Regards
Håvar
www.hkarlsen.no/eng
havar.karlsen@gmail.com

[Daniel Alexander]

Hi Howard, I just downloaded the EX1 trailer and was very very suprised at how well you managed to pull it off with only the stock lens and no CC. The action is spot on, the editing is well paced and the effects and stunts are very well executed. I really like how you made use of different focal lengths to simulate different lenses, it worked really well and most of all it jus stands out as a very professional trailer, one which if i saw anywhere i think i'd be intrigued. Well done.

PS. Do you mind giving a low down on any useful technical setups you had during the shoot, i.e. lighting, camera setups etc Thanks

[Howard Karlsen]

Hi Daniel!

Thanks for great feedback! I cant take much credit for edit, my director Morten Sommerland did this over one night. Together we had before this produced commercials and videos with much higher budget then what we had for this, and now we had much higher ambitions. Theres not of lot of action work beeing done in Norway, since its probably beeing regarded as to expensive/commercialized and the true "artists" stay away from it. Ofcourse, they dont know what they are talking about...

Therefore its actually pretty easy to get people onboard for lower rates, sinces its a chance for them to show more of what they can. Our stuntguy, Tyrone Wiggins, has worked on Bad Boys 2, but mostly stunt coordination here in Norway. He plays a central bodyguard role in this film, and creates some amazing carscenes. Together with his companion Kai, both professional stuntmen working in Norway, we got great footage, coordination work and fx on set.

With Morten, the director, I talked alot about finding a common ground with regards to look and coverage. And it wasnt easy. As ambitions raised, the budget for light and grip lowered (actors/fx fee to the most of it). So, after a while I understood that I was left with a basic lightpackage (3x200 fresnell 3x800 redheads 1x 4bars kinoflo), a focusdollie and an Easyrig. But it is amazing what decent grip equipment can do (Magic arms!!) We also had a smokemachine and a big reflector (which we rarely used). Im really inspired by the framing and timing of "24", and Morten is really into fighting coreography and coverage from the "Bourne" films, and I believe that we ended up somewhere in between, also adding some of our own flavour.

Close close close! Thats the keyword for this. Laying on a long lens, even in totals and mediums is what Morten wanted and I adapted as a style throughout. It gives ofcourse low DoF, but it hardens the operator-job. Luckily, our brand new EX1 has a VERY nice focus highlighting feature, enabling me to know if I nailed it straight away. The easyrig enabled also to perform better on closeup actionframing..

I should perhaps go deeper into what we did sometime soon. Theres a ton of BTS pictures, and we did use some custom equipment (handheld shoot from the back of a griptruck). As I mentioned, this film is going to have a completley new look and feel than in the trailer. Were getting tons of goodwill from fx-houses and composers in Norway, so this is going to be cool. Stay tuned here and on www.hkarlsen.no/eng

[Jeff Kolada]

Here are two of my most recent pieces. Both were pretty much made just for fun, all natural lighting.

"We Had A Good Run While It Lasted" Music Video for Alex Parker

http://www.vimeo.com/1328818

I made this video for my friend Alex, it was very impromptu as I was using the shoot to learn how to use the new sony HD1000 i picked up. Edited very quickly as well in FCP, and I bumped the colors up a bit.


"Jug Shoe Review With Hawke Trackler"

http://www.vimeo.com/1470849

This video was just for fun and made for the shoe company, my friend is reviewing the Chris Haffey Pro Shoe for Juggernaut Shoes. Shot with the sony V1U and edited in FCP.

[Chris Harris]

It was great, you really seem to have the documentary style down nicely. I'm not the type to watch bodybuilding competitions on TV, but with the way your were telling the story, I was disappointed when it ended. That's how you know you succeeded.

[Michael Pulcinella]

Great! I feel like I am on the right track now. I will continue. Thanks for your help.

[Paul Mailath]

http://www.vimeo.com/1158931

This is a short entitled 'Prick' (it shows as black swans due to vimeo uploading problems)

It's a rough cut and I don't really like it but before I redo it myself I thought I'd get a few opinions.

Notes:
the audio levels need fixing and there is some repetition, also we need to sync more with facial expressions.
The end is not really an end at all - she's supposed to pause in the hallway say "Prick" again.

it took 4 packs of chocolate biscuits and I can't even look at them now

shot with the XH-A1 and LEx

[Stefan von Halenbach]

Hi! I had luck when i pointed my camera at some dark clouds. Some impressive flashes happened. I have slowed the video down from 25p /sec to 1p/sec.

It is encoded as ogg theora, because that is the only format allowed on wikipedia commons.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Im...slowmotion.ogg

You can use it for whatever you want. I release it into the public domain.

greets
Stefan

[Paul Mailath]

com'on guys - 77 reads, 24 have watched the short and not ONE comment?

If it's that bad fine, just let me know what needs changing?

[Daniel Alexander]

Hi Paul. What i thought worked well were the camera moves, the story (i like how the documentary commentary kind of ties in to the emotion of the film) and the comedy, it's so hard to make people laugh but i think you managed to do that no problem. What didnt really work for me was the pace, i felt as if i was waiting for a climax that never really came and so it left me expecting a big finish or punch line. Anyway theyre just my personal opinions, i really do like the concept and i think with a bit more attention to pace and maybe throw in some sort of punchline or climax this would be a winner for me. Congrats on getting it complete, must have taken some work :)

[Bruce Foreman]

Pacing on this kind of thing can be difficult to manage, although the pacing may have a lot to do with setting the mood.

Paul, just a few suggestions on the audio for similar projects. The tv soundtrack overpowered the dialog for the most part. I try to get a mic in close to the actors, not always having a boompole person I usually use a sturdy lightstand with a boom attached and suspend the mic over and just in front of the actors, keeping it just out of view (and I learned the hard way you can't count on the viewfinder or LCD to show you this due to "overscan"). So a quick "test" shot played back on a laptop may be required. Shooting AVCHD on flash memory makes this a tad easier as one can just pull the media card out and run the file with a software player.

The background audio (tv documentary soundtrack) can be brought in and synched as a separate audio track and the level brought down as needed until the dialogue dominates.

Just my ideas.

The camera work and acting seemed to work well.

[Mark Howells]

Hi,

I have used some elements of one of my posts awhile ago, "A Blade for the Dead", for a 2 minute short, entitled "The Bloodstained Moth". This was for a competition on the Horror Channel, which restricted the running time to 2 minutes. As such, the plot was revised, which completely changed the tone, and required some additional filming.

Anyway, I hope you like this new reconstituted version.

Stream:The Bloodstained Moth on Vimeo

Download:Free file hosting by Savefile.com

[Paul Whittington]

Great film Mark! I love that you managed to pack a lot into just two minutes. I really liked the lighting (especially in the bedroom) and the sound was awesome too - good luck with the competition!

[Paul Whittington]

I put together a short video montage with some footage I've been filming down in a small canyon not far from where I live. The canyon itself contains a trail that leads down to the beach and this short video reveals the scenery one sees from within the canyon.
Shot with a Canon XH-A1
Carrotkid Films - Canyon Pathway