LAPS / Falls

[kopciak]

Hi from France !
A clip of an upcoming project called LAPS (a teaser still exist somewhere on this pages).
Just some shots of a particular scene in a cemetery, with a song from Ben Christophers.

- 25p - Premiere Pro 1.5 - Magic Bullet -

It's in wmv, sorry for mac users.

Here : http://perso.club-internet.fr/headshot/Laps_Falls_2Ballesprod_mai2006.wmv

Enjoy:)

[kopciak]

Gasp ! :( Really ? no one ?...

[spotlightpro]

Kopciak-
Great shots and I loved the color. What song was used? The actor did a good job of expressing emotion. I would have like a few more dynamic shots, but overall very well done, I loved the imagery.

[art metal art]

What the hell was that?????
That was great!
Is that a bit of color I see or all BW? What settings did you go with?
How did you light that quick single light source shot of the womans face?

[art metal art]

Looked again and I did see color in the flowers. Wow

[mastertee31]

What the hell was that!? That was awesome! Share your settings... How'd you do the colour pass for the flowers?

[kopciak]

Thanks everyone and sorry, in advance, for my english.
The shots are in color, 3 hours of shooting with the actor and my homemade dolly : first hour cloudy sky, and then a big great sun ! So I decided to desaturate all the rushs.First I work on the gamma and then the colors controls, and then I use Magic Bullet, Berlin option, and change the basics settings of it. Some of the shots, concerning the church essentially, were to colored, so I used a Black and white effect before using Berlin filter.

http://perso.club-internet.fr/headshot/comparatif_cimetiere.jpg

For this lovely girl I used "masks" to isolate her face and then do the same with the gamma and the filter.

http://perso.club-internet.fr/headshot/comparatif_laila.jpg

The music is taken from the album Spoonface by Ben Christophers.
The entire movie will be ready for october I think. I need the same landscape at differents moments of the year. It's a love story. A tragic love story concerning the time spending with her, and the time left without her.
LAPS in french means "a period of time". So many things could happen in a brief moment (an accident for exemple...), and so few during a long period.
My principal character is going to find a particular way to reconsider his life without the one he will love forever.
Well... You'll see. Maybe in a festival ? Cross my fingers !

Thanks again.:)

[luster]

looks really great. you really captured the somber mood with the combination of the music, muted colors, and slow camera moves.

one thing you might consider is adding a POV shot that shows what he is actually looking at when he keeps seeing the girl. i think i understand that it is a headstone, but i would like to see it at least once.

keep up the good work.

[keynstring]

Cool Dude. I think for a trailer, I'd like to see less of the girl, strangely. As she is beautiful.

More of a flash of a memory or clouded. Like he is either forgeting what she looks like either consciously or subconsciously. Overall, it draws you in.

[art metal art]

Those screen grabs show that you are a master of editing!
It's amazing how much peoples advice can make something already great even better.
Your dolly sure did work smoothly.

[art metal art]

Keynstring is on it with the clouded look for the girl.
I would blend the girl from the dark area around her to each scene of her more like the clouds that she seemed to be floating in. Looked like she was in a white box then a cloud scene flashed and they kinda didn't blend.
I really love the BW and a bit of color you got left.

[david jerome]

beautiful.

[kopciak]

Thanks to all of you. I really appreciate your comments.

- Luster : There was a deal for shooting in the cemetery : can't read any names on the graves. And remember, only 3 hours of shooting. But I understand that something is missing for you.

- Keynstring : I choose 3 moments for the girls :
- 1 : The white for the violence of the flash of remembrance and her sensuality.
- 2 : The black and just a little smile on her face : she's gone.
- 3 : blended with the sky, smiling and mouving sensualy. Hope she's somewhere.
- 4 : The melting Christ : even faith can't comforte him : she's gone.

Well... For my part. I tried to inspire that.

- Art Metal Art : Well !! Thanks for the "master", but I need to work a lot more for that. And for you a photo of my 40 Euros Dolly ! :

http://headshot.club.fr/PICT1122_web.jpg

- David Jerome : Thanks for that.

:) Go back to work now !

[rszebras]

http://perso.club-internet.fr/headshot/comparatif_cimetiere.jpg

That is really incredible how you changed the original to look like this. You must have had in your mind what look you were going for? Or did you just experiment until you found the right look? Incredible. Thanks for the post.

[Matt Sconce]

Colors and lack there of were very well done.

[kopciak]

Thanks a lot rszebras and msconce.

- rszebras : I wrote this story in 3 segments (past / near past / present) , and the final editing goes from past to present then near past, past, present,etc... It's not a linear concept but, if you could see the movie in real time from past to present, you would see the colors changing. From hapiness (full colors) to despair (barely monochromatique).
And, some details from the first segment are already monochromatique... well, you'll see. It's not so obvious. It's delicate and subtil. Like fellings from memories...
I wrote LAPS as a Requiem. I need to, for several reasons.
So, yes I have had this intention from the beginning and search a bit, during the editing, for this result.
But it's just the way to tell this story. And story, for me, is everything. Not technologie or softwares.

You can see 2 teasers on the blog of 2Balles prod. : teasers from the second segment. This clip is from the third. Teasers more "blue" than this clip.
here : http://2ballesprod.over-blog.com
It's in french but very easy to find : just go to the LAPS section.

Thanks again :)

[cheezweezl]

really nice. i have no idea what is going on and yet, i'm glued. powerful stuff. i thought that looked like the MB "berlin" setting..... great choice of cc.

[kopciak]

Thanks a lot cheezweezl and that's right, I used Berlin and changed the basic settings.

[rszebras]

Kopciak:

Thanks for the links to the teasers. You're right. I speak no French but was able to find the teasers with little effort. It really looks like a superb production. If you don't mind me asking: How long have you been working with the dvx and cinematography? Everytime I see a production of this quality, it amazes me that a camera as inexpensive (compared to film) as the dvx can produce this work. Of course, the key is the DP and postproduction.

I like the shot of the actor walking into the cemetary (0:27 to 0:33) where the camera is moving to the right and down and the actor comes in from the right to the left. I noticed the picture you posted of your homemade dolly, but it got the job done. Was the dolly set up on an incline to get the smooth move to the right and down (since you weren't using a jib arm)? Or did you move the footage down in post since you were using a widescreen matte?

What effect did you employ at 2:07 to 2:09? Quite powerful.

Thanks again.

[kopciak]

Thanks rszebras, glad you like it.:)

- I bought this camera on march 2006 and test it in 25p otpion with the first teaser of LAPS. Then I choose to make a little movie, who became a more bigger film called ICON, that I finished to edit actually. You can also see a teaser trailer of it, in ICON section of the Blog. (This one is not in 25p)
- I am orginaly a screenwriter, here in France, where I won some prices. But it's so difficult to produce something here without the money of a network that I created my own strcuture 2Balles Prod., wich means "2 cents movies".
So I can produce and direct my own films, without the Juda's eye of a publicist.
- Yes, you're right, I mooved the footage down in post production, thanks to the widescreen matte. I love this shot too.
- For the last effect I used the Ghost filter with a slow motion fx. Then I double it and put in on another track, with 1 image ahead from the original, reduce his opacity to 50 and used a little blur.

Many thanks again!

[rszebras]

Thanks for the description of how you did the two shots I inquired about. I checked out your website and looked at the Icon teaser. Other people on this forum would appreciate seeing it as well. It was great, just like the one you already posted. I liked the dolly shot with the actor exercising. The shot in the square with what I believe was a fake assasination was a little cheesy but on a limited budget what can you do?

Anyway, thanks for all your answers. Some people abandon their posts. Remember, post the Icon teaser if you haven't already done so. Seeing other people's work really helps in developing one's own skills. :dankk2:

[kopciak]

Thanks rszebras, it's a real pleasure to indicate "how I made this and this", I'm also learning by the experiences of others.

- For ICON, I had already posted something here : http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=54813
And few others members also appreciate my works.
Il's very encouraging.
Thanks a lot ! :)

- And I know for the "headshot", it's always a work in progress...again, and again...
ps : It's my own head ! My Hitchcock cameo !:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

[Mark_P]

This clip is really great -- hauntingly beautiful. How long did you work on the scenario?

I'd love to see more. Hope you will share some clips from segments 1 and 2! "Icon" looks good, too. I love your cinematic sensibilities, your sense of the tragic.
Please post more sometime.

Mark

[kopciak]

Thanks a lot Mark_P, it's very encouraging.
I will certainly post more clips from LAPS , but for the moment I'm working on the editing and post prod of ICON.
Also two others shorts (a Tv project I wrote) I have to shoot. Only 24h./day unfortunately...
Concerning LAPS script, I'm still working on it.
Don't hesitate to see the evolution of 2Balles Prod. on the blog, from time to time. :)
Thanks again for your consideration.