Feedback Wanted: Same Day Edit and Highlight Film at DVinfo.net

Feedback Wanted: Same Day Edit and Highlight Film · October 30th, 2014, 12:26 PM

We are really trying to bring our work quality up a couple notches during the offseason and am looking for some feedback from other creatives. Also, if you have any recommendations for edu material I am all eyes. The only two courses/workshops we have taken up to this point are Stillmotions KNOW filmmaking DVD/guide and Rob Adam's creativelive course on wedding cinematography.

Here are our two latest films. The first is a highlight film and the second a same day edit.

Craig McKenna · October 31st, 2014, 06:35 AM

Hi Kyle,

I'm struggling with my Internet today, but another course you may wish to consider would be Creative Live's training sessions with Ray Roman. In my opinion, it's better than Rob Adams' course, mainly because Ray is a better speaker and practitioner (in my opinion).

Hope this helps... can you tell me whether StillMotion's DVD is available to buy? Or is it simply their videos on Vimeo that you're referencing?

Thanks,

Craig

Kyle Hawthorne · October 31st, 2014, 08:13 PM

Thanks Craig. Ray Roman's course is definitely on my short list.

Stillmotion has both a fieldguide (book) and a two DVD set of the workshop. They are both fantastic resources. I noticed they have since split up the DVD set into two options. Everything can be found here: Stillmotion Store | Stillmotion.

I do also love stillmotion's free tutorials on vimeo. I follow most of the high profile DSLR filmmakers like Phillip Bloom, Patrick Moreau, Ray Roman, Joe Simon, and try to take advantage of any free education resource they provide. I feel like this has taken me up to my current production quality level but I really want to continue improving.

Adrian Tan · November 4th, 2014, 12:36 AM

Hey Kyle, great work, and definitely your SDE puts mine to shame. I think your work is at a level where it's hard to say how it could get much better.

Particularly liked the speed of your slides. And there was some amazing stuff near the ceiling of the reception, that presumably was a very controlled stabiliser shot rather than slider?

The movements around the bicycle -- my friend suggests you're using a gimbal. Did he guess right? Something to do with how level the horizons are.

Main comment: maybe consider closing everything down a stop for the next one. The main imperfections that stood out for me were shots with missed focus / hunting for focus, though I doubt a bride would care too much.

Kyle Hawthorne · November 4th, 2014, 11:27 AM

Adrian-

Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment. Yes, the moving shots with the bike are with a ronin gimbal and EOSM. Unfortunately, these shots turned out like crap because I accidentally turned on FPS override in the ML menu, which artificially sped up all the clips 2-3x. It's hard to explain and we did the best to slow down and salvage the clips in post, but I'm still not happy with the result.

I'm not sure which shot you are talking about regarding the ceiling so it's hard to say whether it was a slider or gimbal.

I agree regarding the focus and stopping down a bit. We shoot with all fast prime lenses, so it's very tempting to shoot at crazy low apertures like 1.2 or 1.4. I'll be trying to stay closer to the 2-2.8 range for most of the shots in our next wedding. It will make focus easier and also create a sharper image. I finally pulled the trigger on the Ray Roman workshop and he says he almost never shoots wider than f2.

October 31st, 2014, 06:35 AM	#2
Craig McKenna Major Player Join Date: Nov 2013 Location: Liverpool Posts: 495	Re: Feedback Wanted: Same Day Edit and Highlight Film Hi Kyle, I'm struggling with my Internet today, but another course you may wish to consider would be Creative Live's training sessions with Ray Roman. In my opinion, it's better than Rob Adams' course, mainly because Ray is a better speaker and practitioner (in my opinion). Hope this helps... can you tell me whether StillMotion's DVD is available to buy? Or is it simply their videos on Vimeo that you're referencing? Thanks, Craig

October 31st, 2014, 08:13 PM	#3
Kyle Hawthorne Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Waterloo Iowa Posts: 68	Re: Feedback Wanted: Same Day Edit and Highlight Film Thanks Craig. Ray Roman's course is definitely on my short list. Stillmotion has both a fieldguide (book) and a two DVD set of the workshop. They are both fantastic resources. I noticed they have since split up the DVD set into two options. Everything can be found here: Stillmotion Store \| Stillmotion. I do also love stillmotion's free tutorials on vimeo. I follow most of the high profile DSLR filmmakers like Phillip Bloom, Patrick Moreau, Ray Roman, Joe Simon, and try to take advantage of any free education resource they provide. I feel like this has taken me up to my current production quality level but I really want to continue improving.

November 4th, 2014, 12:36 AM	#4
Adrian Tan Trustee Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 1,149	Re: Feedback Wanted: Same Day Edit and Highlight Film Hey Kyle, great work, and definitely your SDE puts mine to shame. I think your work is at a level where it's hard to say how it could get much better. Particularly liked the speed of your slides. And there was some amazing stuff near the ceiling of the reception, that presumably was a very controlled stabiliser shot rather than slider? The movements around the bicycle -- my friend suggests you're using a gimbal. Did he guess right? Something to do with how level the horizons are. Main comment: maybe consider closing everything down a stop for the next one. The main imperfections that stood out for me were shots with missed focus / hunting for focus, though I doubt a bride would care too much.

November 4th, 2014, 11:27 AM	#5
Kyle Hawthorne Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Waterloo Iowa Posts: 68	Re: Feedback Wanted: Same Day Edit and Highlight Film Adrian- Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment. Yes, the moving shots with the bike are with a ronin gimbal and EOSM. Unfortunately, these shots turned out like crap because I accidentally turned on FPS override in the ML menu, which artificially sped up all the clips 2-3x. It's hard to explain and we did the best to slow down and salvage the clips in post, but I'm still not happy with the result. I'm not sure which shot you are talking about regarding the ceiling so it's hard to say whether it was a slider or gimbal. I agree regarding the focus and stopping down a bit. We shoot with all fast prime lenses, so it's very tempting to shoot at crazy low apertures like 1.2 or 1.4. I'll be trying to stay closer to the 2-2.8 range for most of the shots in our next wedding. It will make focus easier and also create a sharper image. I finally pulled the trigger on the Ray Roman workshop and he says he almost never shoots wider than f2.