Need feedback on this New Zealand film clip

New_Zealand

New_Zealand

Veteran
Been working on a film 'Dark Past' (shooting with the Dvx100) and have put together a trailer for it and would like some feedback from you guys.

http://homepage.mac.com/ilveu/iMovieTheater6.html


This film is based on a true story that took place in the late 1920's outside of Auckland New Zealand. The film clip jumps from past to present, back and forth. The main Actress in the film is friends with Bjork. Bjork lent us her music for the trailer which was pretty cool. A lot of great people has help us with this film including some of the Dvxuser members - solving camera problems.

Thanks,
 
Very well done. When will the film be coming out? I love films that are based on true stories that take place before my time :-)

PS. I love Bjork
 
Okay, the film itself looks like it could be VERY neat, but I have to say that this trailer is quite a mess IMHO:
unless there is a specific purpose for this trailer that you haven't mentioned yet, I think there's just too much going on. It is also quite long for a trailer.
Sometimes less is more: the idea of a trailer should be to wet one's appetite, not to show as many clips as possible.

I hope you don't take this the wrong way, because the film does look good, but based on this trailer alone, I'd have to say that it is just too confusing.

BTW, on the Björk thing; I assume you have this already covered, so disregard if so, but whatever recording you are using of hers would also have to be granted permission for by the specific label (OLI?).

Certainly would like to see the finished film!
 
I agree. Editing has no structure or direction. And trailer could be shorter.

Maybe hold some of those dark shots longer? And the audio of the gun shots needs to be thickened.
 
I guess I should have been more informant. Only 45 minutes of the film is finished. The rest is going into production in a month or so (i hope). The New Zealand investors wanted to see some raw footage of what locations in New Zealand we filmed in and what high dollar props we had in the film (helicopter, police cars, tv studio, dead body, jet etc). They only wanted just plain footage. I decided that it was way to bland to do something like that so I put together scenes from the film (cut and slice) to make it more enjoyable to watch.

I really shouldn't call it a trailer since the film isn't finished, it is just a demoreel of what we have so far. By the way the film will be about 2 1/2 hours long when finished.

I hope this shed some light to this project. There is a longer version (6 minutes) giving longer cuts. The one I offered only has 2 second shots.

It is a little confusing for someone that wouldn't know what the film is about. The investors know the film story front and back so they pick up on how things are going.

I do thank everyone for their input. I think I will go in and see about cutting the footage down some more like Vidled said. It never hurts to practice up the editing skill.
 
Hahaha, well, well, well;
I thought there might be something like that going on here, hence my "unless there is a specific purpose for this trailer that you haven't mentioned yet".

See, with that all-so-important new info, it's a completely different ball game: the verdict now is WELL DONE!
 
Yes, I would go with the shortening it idea. But seeing as the purpose isn't necessarily to tease viewers, the length you have it may be more appropriate for the occasion.
Nice work. Cool deal on the music offer from Bjork, but when dialogue was layered over the music (specifically the singing) that's when things got confusing for me.
 
The footage of the news anchor (in the studio) looked great. Obviously shot with a different camera or excellent lighting. This creates a problem because it makes the rest of your film look really bad, comparitively. If you're going to use the studio shots I would suggest adding an effect that makes it look like its being broadcasted onto a tv. Maybe actually show it on a TV and have someone watching it (like a real news report). That way the rest of your footage doesn't look of lesser quality.

Also, at the very beginning, when you cut to the news reporter in the field. You have two angles of her. One where she's talking to the camera (like a news reporter should) and one from her side (still talking to the other camera). That broke me out of the reality of the situation. I would suggest not using that second angle if you want it to feel like a real news report.

Overall it looked good. It's obvious you've put a lot of work into it. Good luck with the film and the remaining production.
pk
 
The studio shot was good because it was in a studio :) It's one of our national TV Stations and one of our well known New Zealand news reporters ;)
 
You are right Aza, TVNZ with Kate Hawkesby. The footage that you saw on the demo reel is 39 seconds. The film footage is 1:09 minutes long.

We shot both ways; one was the wide shot which is what you saw. The other was done by TVNZ Studio from their cameras and from the TVNZ Cameraman who was following the News Reporter into the forest (those weren't on the demo reel). Those shot will be playing on a TV during a scene where an old lady is watching the News.

That is why we had two different shots giving us two completely different views. I hope I made sense?

By the way Hello Aza, I'm guessing you are a New Zealand filmmaker :-) I see that it says you are in Auckland? We filmed ‘Dark Past’ in Thames, Browns Bay, Auckland, Gisborne and Piha Coastline. Production is starting up again in a few weeks or so. Still haven’t been given a date yet.

Aza, not sure if you would know these New Zealand Stars in our film: Anna Hewlett, Jacqui Gilbert, Jenna Tournier, Colin Broadley (first New Zealand feature film actor in a film called Runaway), David Cole and Charles Unwin (I have heard that David, Charles, Anna and Jacqui have all been on Shortland Street. David and Charles was or still a regular and Jacqui was just on recently).

Thanks everyone for your input. I had a waterfall scene on the website but took it down.

By the way the video on the website is 20mb which really sucks and the real footage is 750mb. I wish there was a way I can show this video to where it would look much better but not take so long to download.
 
Hey there NZ. Yeah I know Charles! He acted in a short film me and some people made about 2-3 years ago for the DVInfo LadyX series. Last I heard he was in the US but that was a long time ago. If you go here (http://aza-n-dee.net/aaron/Moviemaking/LadyX.html) you can see our sad attempt with Charles in it ;) Say hi to him from me if you see him.

Is Anna Hewlett related to Mark Hewlett at all?

If you ever need an extra pair of hands when you're up in Auckland let me know, and if I'm free I'd love to help. I'm always after any experience I can get.

Catchya
Aaron
 
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I will ask Anna if she is. She did another film with me called: i lve u You can see the short version: http://homepage.mac.com/ilveu/iMovieTheater5.html or the longer version which start out the same but turns out to be a dream: http://homepage.mac.com/ilveu/iMovieTheater31.html

You can see Charles on both short and longer version of Dark Past along with Dark Past photos. You can check it out at www.fredpottsfilms.com

Jacqui is getting ready to start production. I will email her to find out when for sure and will hook you up with her.

I'm going to check out Lady X -
 
Thanks NZ, will flick here an email.

I was trying to do an entry for the latest DVX eroFest, but the fx guy bailed on me and the lead actor is going off overseas so can't use him. I'm trying to come up with something easier and simpler to shoot that still fits the theme but without as many effects. If I can do that I'll do something.

I might even do my Herofest entry later in the year when I can do it properly cause I really liked what we had.

You doing anything else?
 
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