Clip: what to do with bad footage

Nick Avdienko · May 13th, 2008, 04:04 PM

Travis - thanks for the reply. Forgive me, but how do you know if you have the right exposure. Is it just as simple as the image seeing if the image is too light or too dark. I can certainly figure that one out - but it's making the adjustments so that it is just right.

Travis Cossel · May 13th, 2008, 04:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick Avdienko

Travis - thanks for the reply. Forgive me, but how do you know if you have the right exposure. Is it just as simple as the image seeing if the image is too light or too dark. I can certainly figure that one out - but it's making the adjustments so that it is just right.

Well, in the camera you should have access to "zebras". These allow you to make sure you don't blow out your whites, or at least your important whites. There isn't a whole lot more you can do unless you have a camera that allows for custom presets that affect contrast (which many do, like my GL2's).

Most of my contrast adjustment is done in post however via a color corrector filter.

Nick Avdienko · May 13th, 2008, 04:26 PM

Yes, I've been using the zebras and help quite a bit. Also, I've been playing with the custom presets a bit as well.

I guess I just want to make sure I'm doing it right. Sounds like I'm doing okay.

For color correction, I'm using Final Cut Pro. Still figuring it all out - but getting there.

Thanks so much!

Travis Cossel · May 13th, 2008, 04:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nick Avdienko

Yes, I've been using the zebras and help quite a bit. Also, I've been playing with the custom presets a bit as well.

I guess I just want to make sure I'm doing it right. Sounds like I'm doing okay.

For color correction, I'm using Final Cut Pro. Still figuring it all out - but getting there.

Thanks so much!

No problem. Good luck!

Vito DeFilippo · May 13th, 2008, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis Cossel

My only suggestion would be at the beginning you transition from a shot of the groom in B&W, and during the transition it goes to color.

Dammit, Travis, you have a good eye! I figured I would just tweak that out but couldn't even find it the first time around. On a 20 frame fade to black, no less.

It's my crusade now to post something one day, about which you will have no suggestions as to colour or contrast... (note correct spelling of colour :-).

Always appreciate your time. Thanks a million.

Travis Cossel · May 13th, 2008, 09:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vito DeFilippo

Dammit, Travis, you have a good eye! I figured I would just tweak that out but couldn't even find it the first time around. On a 20 frame fade to black, no less.

It's my crusade now to post something one day, about which you will have no suggestions as to colour or contrast... (note correct spelling of colour :-).

Always appreciate your time. Thanks a million.

No problem, Vito. I know most of us post our work on here to get some sort of useful critique out of it, if not some support as well. So I always speak freely about anything that stuck out for me, even if I thought the piece was great.

Case in point, I actually felt a shot didn't feel right in Patrick Moreau's recent Beastie Boys music montage, and although the entire production was stellar in my opinion, I still pointed out that clip.

So I'm glad that you find my posts valuable, and that you understand I'm just trying to help us all get better. If nothing else, you've made me laugh out loud twice today!

Scott Hayes · May 14th, 2008, 06:03 AM

love the noirish feel you had in the beginning part, very nice. Should have kept it that way the whole way through. But, very nice. I have taken on a couple of these jobs myself, and no more from now on.

For me, personally, I can't stand cleaning up someone's mess, and have even sent jobs back from "professional" crews because they were such shit, the amount of time wasn't worth the pay to edit it. Makes you want to call the person who shot it and ask them WTF are you doing in this business!?

Kelsey Emuss · May 15th, 2008, 12:47 PM

Personally....I LOVE your edit!! It's got a great "feel" to it! The B&G will be thrilled!!

Jason Robinson · May 16th, 2008, 03:01 PM

If a scene is very very dark, I usually take the opportunity to play with the camera some and just see what I can do. For example, one wedding when I was just starting out, I happen to be shooting with a Sony camera that has that "night shot" feature which is an IR LED or two and it switches to a green/grey scale image. That was hte only way to shoot the footage, so I did it. Then in post I just turned everything to B&W and then colorized things and added layers of color effects. The dancing was done to some 80s song, so the bright colorization worked pretty well.

As for dealing with the very very blurry shots from 1/15sec shots.... there isn't much you can do with that. It just isn't usable. I'd rather see grain than that kind of blur. You did a good job minimizing the impact of those shots. It is better to leave them out, than include them and make the viewer go "Ewwwww."

Richard Gooderick · May 16th, 2008, 04:18 PM

Hurray. Excellent work. She should thank the cameraman for screwing up. Probably wouldn't have got nearly as interesting a film otherwise :-)

Travis Cossel · May 16th, 2008, 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Robinson

If a scene is very very dark, I usually take the opportunity to play with the camera some and just see what I can do. For example, one wedding when I was just starting out, I happen to be shooting with a Sony camera that has that "night shot" feature which is an IR LED or two and it switches to a green/grey scale image. That was hte only way to shoot the footage, so I did it. Then in post I just turned everything to B&W and then colorized things and added layers of color effects. The dancing was done to some 80s song, so the bright colorization worked pretty well.

As for dealing with the very very blurry shots from 1/15sec shots.... there isn't much you can do with that. It just isn't usable. I'd rather see grain than that kind of blur. You did a good job minimizing the impact of those shots. It is better to leave them out, than include them and make the viewer go "Ewwwww."

I think you may have missed that he was editing footage that was given to him, not footage he shot himself.

Jason Robinson · May 16th, 2008, 05:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis Cossel

I think you may have missed that he was editing footage that was given to him, not footage he shot himself.

I got that part. The first part of my comment addresses what to do in those instances if you are the shooter, the second part to if you are the editor. I was trying to combine both thoughts into the same post.

Travis Cossel · May 16th, 2008, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason Robinson

I got that part. The first part of my comment addresses what to do in those instances if you are the shooter, the second part to if you are the editor. I was trying to combine both thoughts into the same post.

Oh, okay, my bad. It's been a long week, lol.

Jason Robinson · May 16th, 2008, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis Cossel

Oh, okay, my bad. It's been a long week, lol.

No problem. I was kind of straying from the topic by introducing shooting topics, instead of just editing topics.

Vito DeFilippo · May 19th, 2008, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scott Hayes

For me, personally, I can't stand cleaning up someone's mess...

Usually, I'm with you on that, but this time I felt like it gave me a chance to change my thinking a bit, so I learned something.

Thanks for all your feedback, guys. Always helpful.

May 16th, 2008, 03:01 PM	#24
Jason Robinson Trustee Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Boise, Idaho Posts: 1,997	On Dark dark scenes If a scene is very very dark, I usually take the opportunity to play with the camera some and just see what I can do. For example, one wedding when I was just starting out, I happen to be shooting with a Sony camera that has that "night shot" feature which is an IR LED or two and it switches to a green/grey scale image. That was hte only way to shoot the footage, so I did it. Then in post I just turned everything to B&W and then colorized things and added layers of color effects. The dancing was done to some 80s song, so the bright colorization worked pretty well. As for dealing with the very very blurry shots from 1/15sec shots.... there isn't much you can do with that. It just isn't usable. I'd rather see grain than that kind of blur. You did a good job minimizing the impact of those shots. It is better to leave them out, than include them and make the viewer go "Ewwwww."

May 16th, 2008, 04:18 PM	#25
Richard Gooderick Major Player Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: London, UK Posts: 795	Hurray. Excellent work. She should thank the cameraman for screwing up. Probably wouldn't have got nearly as interesting a film otherwise :-) __________________ http://www.gooderick.com

May 13th, 2008, 04:04 PM	#16
Nick Avdienko Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 54	Travis - thanks for the reply. Forgive me, but how do you know if you have the right exposure. Is it just as simple as the image seeing if the image is too light or too dark. I can certainly figure that one out - but it's making the adjustments so that it is just right.

May 13th, 2008, 04:26 PM	#18
Nick Avdienko Regular Crew Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 54	Yes, I've been using the zebras and help quite a bit. Also, I've been playing with the custom presets a bit as well. I guess I just want to make sure I'm doing it right. Sounds like I'm doing okay. For color correction, I'm using Final Cut Pro. Still figuring it all out - but getting there. Thanks so much!

May 14th, 2008, 06:03 AM	#22
Scott Hayes Major Player Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Lexington, KY Posts: 692	love the noirish feel you had in the beginning part, very nice. Should have kept it that way the whole way through. But, very nice. I have taken on a couple of these jobs myself, and no more from now on. For me, personally, I can't stand cleaning up someone's mess, and have even sent jobs back from "professional" crews because they were such shit, the amount of time wasn't worth the pay to edit it. Makes you want to call the person who shot it and ask them WTF are you doing in this business!?

May 15th, 2008, 12:47 PM	#23
Kelsey Emuss Major Player Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Burlington, Ontario, Canada Posts: 259	Personally....I LOVE your edit!! It's got a great "feel" to it! The B&G will be thrilled!!