chris grieder
Well-known member
that was sooo good! what was the name of the song playing when it shows the kid catch the baseball with his bare hands?
"The Faithful" Trailer, now online - HVX + M2
- Thread starter Haakon
- Start date
Ryan Patrick O'Hara
Veteran
Awesome job! Your trailer was very successful! It made me want to see the whole movie. Hell, I'll even pay to see it! Very nice work.... you mentioned it will be playing in LA.... did you blow the HVX to 35mm film? I have yet to see the results of what the HVX looks like blown up to 35. Let me know how you plan to show this on the big screen. Best of luck!
Haakon, this looks awesome. Great lighting work.
Andrew Brinkhaus
Veteran
Well, I liked the trailer, but I couldnt get used to how shallow the DOF was at times, it was too much for me. Nice music and composition, great trailer otherwise.
Kevin Wells
Well-known member
Great work Haakon! The trailer looks great.
Chris Messineo
Veteran
Great looking trailer. The story looks very interesting.
My only concern would be the focus. It almost constantly looks soft on the edges. At times it was definitely distracting for me.
Chris
My only concern would be the focus. It almost constantly looks soft on the edges. At times it was definitely distracting for me.
Chris
Thanks again everyone for all of the nice posts. It feels good to know we're doing something right! 
I'll try to get to as many comments as I can - busy day today!
jay_switzerland : That is indeed our Jacob! We're a pretty young crew... I try not to put a spotlight on that as it tends to shift focus away from things I think are more important, but your detective work was successful! This isn't his first time directing, but IMDB takes FOREVER to update submissions so there's nothing else listed yet. He's an amazingly talented friend and I love working with him!
Anders Holck: Re: the battery belt - hey, whatever it takes to get stuff done, right?
Interesting comment about the screaming... I don't think any of us had thought of that before! Seemed a logical reaction to finding a naked boy in your bed, we thought. :laugh:
MOVIE STUNTS: The runtime of the film is about 35 minutes. We've been calling it a "short feature" as it's longer than the standard 10 or 15 minute shorts that are typical at festivals (I think Sundance has a limit of 22?), but then again it's not a 2 hour "full-length" either. I would've loved to expand it even further, but we were already stretching the outer limits of our budget as it was (isn't that always the case?).
thefilmaddict: It's funny, I know some people who are still so adamant about digital not being an acceptable alternative to shooting film, but when you can cut something together that people can emotionally invest themselves in, does it really matter what it was shot on? Luckily, the technologies are only getting better and I hope that one day it will be a moot point. A lot of people blasted CDs when they were first developed as well, saying they weren't as "warm" or "natural" as analogue reproductions... but I think most of us prefer an iPod to a portable turntable these days.
smelni: Thanks so much for your comments. It can be quite difficult to translate an idea that's on a page into a feeling on the screen, and with the trailer I really wanted the audience to feel the way I did when I first read the story. It seems like we were able to do that successfully with this cut, and that makes me very happy!
You know, they say the two things you should never work with are children and animals, :laugh: but making this movie really was such a wonderful experience. I think you just have to enjoy what you're doing - if you don't like kids or don't have the patience for animals, well then I can definitely see how the process could seem like a chore! Personally, though, I love children and I have a very soft spot for animals and it was fun to work with both. We didn't want to cast 25 year olds as high school freshman (as you see all the time), and I think keeping the cast young really added a lot to the film. We had an amazing group of actors (with the exception of one person, every one of them was under 16!) and although that brought along its own share of limitations (they could only be on set a certain amount of time, we had to hire an on-set studio teacher, they couldn't work past certain hours, etc.), it was all worth it. Jacob might have more insight as to how directing kids is different than directing adults, but I thought they were all very mature and talented individuals.
If you come to the screening, we're going to have an in-person Q&A with both the principal cast and crew, so you can get some further insight into the process and even ask them some questions directly!
Larry R: I know that the screening is slated for a weekend in August, but we don't have a firm release date yet. As soon as we do, I will let you know! There is still a lot of post work to be done, the film still needs to be scored, and all of the behind the scenes stuff still needs to be authored for the DVD. That being said, August is less than two months away, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long!
Barth Gimble: Lol, shh....
Justyn: Thanks a lot! We had casting sessions for the actors back around February (posted on a few breakdown websites, got together a list of people we wanted to see and called them in for an audition). It took three or four rounds to finalize all of the parts since there were a lot of characters in the film, but I think we found the perfect people to play every role. They all have very unique and distinct personalities and were really fun to be around! Ironically, the only character we didn't cast from the auditions was the lead, Jake Lefferman, who plays Kevin - we actually spotted him as we were visiting different schools to consider shooting at, and did an impromptu audition with him right there in one of the counselors offices! It's his first time acting in anything, but you couldn't tell at all. He is amazingly talented and brought so much to the role.
As far as getting locations (schools, specifically), it was mostly just a process of finding the ones we wanted, talking to the administration, and seeing if they were up for it. Some places were not interested at all, but others proved to be very helpful. Once we found a place we liked and had their blessing, we had to go through the steps of getting it signed off by the district and a permit issued by the county. There are a lot of steps to go through, but our super producer Ethen made sure all of it got handled. It's not incredibly difficult to find a place like a school to shoot at, but it can cost quite a bit and of course you have to work around their schedules (which inevitably will conflict with yours). We also couldn't shoot during the day when kids were on campus, but nearly all of our school scenes took place in daylight, so that forced us to do most of the school stuff on the weekend. That of course costs more, because they have to hire a janitor to come in "after hours," etc. etc. We knew we needed a real school, however, so we had to do what it took to make it happen!
chis grieder: Thanks! I think someone else mentioned it already, but the song is called "Breathe Me" by Sia. She has a Myspace page you can check out at www.myspace.com/siamusic. It's definitely a beautiful track!
=Prodigy=: I wish we could afford a 35mm blowup! Lol... unfortunately, that would probably cost more than the entire budget of the film. The theater we are screening at has a high definition digital projector however, and I can't wait to see it on the big screen. We did another screening previously with just some DVX and XL2 stuff and even that looked remarkably good considering it was SD. I think you'll be surprised at how well the HD stuff will hold up compared to film, especially considering the difference in cost.
CMessineo: There were definitely some edge softness issues with the M2 that we weren't able to overcome. I've heard the same things from many other users and perhaps it's a limitation of the adapter or perhaps the 55mm achromat (the newer version didn't exist when we were shooting the film). In fact, we literally received our adapter the night before principal shooting began (took about 6 weeks to arrive), so I wasn't able to do nearly as much testing with it as I would've liked. We decided in the end that it was worth some slight softness of the edges to get all the extra shallow DOF we did from the adapter. It's definitely not perfect, and I can't wait until RED comes and we'll have a true s35 sensor to use once and for all! That being said, I think the results with the HVX and the M2 are pretty darn good considering, and I think that the "cinematic" feel of the film that many users have alluded to is greatly enhanced because of the M2. Ya live and learn and take with you your experience to the next one!
Thanks again everyone for all of the wonderful support - I will definitely keep everyone updated with the status of the screening as it gets closer!
I'll try to get to as many comments as I can - busy day today!
jay_switzerland : That is indeed our Jacob!
We're a pretty young crew... I try not to put a spotlight on that as it tends to shift focus away from things I think are more important, but your detective work was successful! This isn't his first time directing, but IMDB takes FOREVER to update submissions so there's nothing else listed yet. He's an amazingly talented friend and I love working with him!Anders Holck: Re: the battery belt - hey, whatever it takes to get stuff done, right?
Interesting comment about the screaming... I don't think any of us had thought of that before! Seemed a logical reaction to finding a naked boy in your bed, we thought. :laugh:
MOVIE STUNTS: The runtime of the film is about 35 minutes. We've been calling it a "short feature" as it's longer than the standard 10 or 15 minute shorts that are typical at festivals (I think Sundance has a limit of 22?), but then again it's not a 2 hour "full-length" either. I would've loved to expand it even further, but we were already stretching the outer limits of our budget as it was (isn't that always the case?).
thefilmaddict: It's funny, I know some people who are still so adamant about digital not being an acceptable alternative to shooting film, but when you can cut something together that people can emotionally invest themselves in, does it really matter what it was shot on? Luckily, the technologies are only getting better and I hope that one day it will be a moot point. A lot of people blasted CDs when they were first developed as well, saying they weren't as "warm" or "natural" as analogue reproductions... but I think most of us prefer an iPod to a portable turntable these days.
smelni: Thanks so much for your comments. It can be quite difficult to translate an idea that's on a page into a feeling on the screen, and with the trailer I really wanted the audience to feel the way I did when I first read the story. It seems like we were able to do that successfully with this cut, and that makes me very happy!
You know, they say the two things you should never work with are children and animals, :laugh: but making this movie really was such a wonderful experience. I think you just have to enjoy what you're doing - if you don't like kids or don't have the patience for animals, well then I can definitely see how the process could seem like a chore! Personally, though, I love children and I have a very soft spot for animals and it was fun to work with both. We didn't want to cast 25 year olds as high school freshman (as you see all the time), and I think keeping the cast young really added a lot to the film. We had an amazing group of actors (with the exception of one person, every one of them was under 16!) and although that brought along its own share of limitations (they could only be on set a certain amount of time, we had to hire an on-set studio teacher, they couldn't work past certain hours, etc.), it was all worth it. Jacob might have more insight as to how directing kids is different than directing adults, but I thought they were all very mature and talented individuals.
If you come to the screening, we're going to have an in-person Q&A with both the principal cast and crew, so you can get some further insight into the process and even ask them some questions directly!
Larry R: I know that the screening is slated for a weekend in August, but we don't have a firm release date yet. As soon as we do, I will let you know! There is still a lot of post work to be done, the film still needs to be scored, and all of the behind the scenes stuff still needs to be authored for the DVD. That being said, August is less than two months away, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long!
Barth Gimble: Lol, shh....
Justyn: Thanks a lot! We had casting sessions for the actors back around February (posted on a few breakdown websites, got together a list of people we wanted to see and called them in for an audition). It took three or four rounds to finalize all of the parts since there were a lot of characters in the film, but I think we found the perfect people to play every role. They all have very unique and distinct personalities and were really fun to be around! Ironically, the only character we didn't cast from the auditions was the lead, Jake Lefferman, who plays Kevin - we actually spotted him as we were visiting different schools to consider shooting at, and did an impromptu audition with him right there in one of the counselors offices! It's his first time acting in anything, but you couldn't tell at all. He is amazingly talented and brought so much to the role.
As far as getting locations (schools, specifically), it was mostly just a process of finding the ones we wanted, talking to the administration, and seeing if they were up for it. Some places were not interested at all, but others proved to be very helpful. Once we found a place we liked and had their blessing, we had to go through the steps of getting it signed off by the district and a permit issued by the county. There are a lot of steps to go through, but our super producer Ethen made sure all of it got handled. It's not incredibly difficult to find a place like a school to shoot at, but it can cost quite a bit and of course you have to work around their schedules (which inevitably will conflict with yours). We also couldn't shoot during the day when kids were on campus, but nearly all of our school scenes took place in daylight, so that forced us to do most of the school stuff on the weekend. That of course costs more, because they have to hire a janitor to come in "after hours," etc. etc. We knew we needed a real school, however, so we had to do what it took to make it happen!
chis grieder: Thanks! I think someone else mentioned it already, but the song is called "Breathe Me" by Sia. She has a Myspace page you can check out at www.myspace.com/siamusic. It's definitely a beautiful track!
=Prodigy=: I wish we could afford a 35mm blowup! Lol... unfortunately, that would probably cost more than the entire budget of the film. The theater we are screening at has a high definition digital projector however, and I can't wait to see it on the big screen. We did another screening previously with just some DVX and XL2 stuff and even that looked remarkably good considering it was SD. I think you'll be surprised at how well the HD stuff will hold up compared to film, especially considering the difference in cost.
CMessineo: There were definitely some edge softness issues with the M2 that we weren't able to overcome. I've heard the same things from many other users and perhaps it's a limitation of the adapter or perhaps the 55mm achromat (the newer version didn't exist when we were shooting the film). In fact, we literally received our adapter the night before principal shooting began (took about 6 weeks to arrive), so I wasn't able to do nearly as much testing with it as I would've liked. We decided in the end that it was worth some slight softness of the edges to get all the extra shallow DOF we did from the adapter. It's definitely not perfect, and I can't wait until RED comes and we'll have a true s35 sensor to use once and for all!
That being said, I think the results with the HVX and the M2 are pretty darn good considering, and I think that the "cinematic" feel of the film that many users have alluded to is greatly enhanced because of the M2. Ya live and learn and take with you your experience to the next one!Thanks again everyone for all of the wonderful support - I will definitely keep everyone updated with the status of the screening as it gets closer!
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Justin Marx
Well-known member
Amazing job dude! I'm so picky about what I want to see in the theaters, and, well, it looks good.. It's hard to get a feeling for a character through just a preview!! BUT YOU DID!! I was ready to put the blonde pretty boy to sleep..
Anyway, onto the technical if you dont mind..
1. set pictures? website? rig pictures?
2. M2 with what lenses? PL mount??
3. Grip/lighting equip? (what lights/truck/dolly)
4. How long to shoot?
5. Budget?
6. Workflow? (p2 card sizes, laptop etc...)
7. Marshall monitor?
8. Camera settings? (720pn??)
9. Sound?
10. How many crew?
11. Camera package? (stix, hi-hat, Follow Focus, mattebox, filters? ND's? Pola?)
To bad you didn't make a full length.. Get it SHOWN quick! so your actors don't age, when before they want you to shoot a full length feature!
But I would put money on you guys that someone in your crew will make it big after this movie..
Great job again!
- - Justin
Anyway, onto the technical if you dont mind..
1. set pictures? website? rig pictures?
2. M2 with what lenses? PL mount??
3. Grip/lighting equip? (what lights/truck/dolly)
4. How long to shoot?
5. Budget?
6. Workflow? (p2 card sizes, laptop etc...)
7. Marshall monitor?
8. Camera settings? (720pn??)
9. Sound?
10. How many crew?
11. Camera package? (stix, hi-hat, Follow Focus, mattebox, filters? ND's? Pola?)
To bad you didn't make a full length.. Get it SHOWN quick! so your actors don't age, when before they want you to shoot a full length feature!
But I would put money on you guys that someone in your crew will make it big after this movie..
Great job again!
- - Justin
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IMHO the pacing of the trailer and the music make this "feel" instead of shout at you. well done. You need to work on your location audio, sounds a bit weak and "cheap" give it all some EQ...also I think your visuals are good, but you could enhance with some goold color timing, looks a bit raw from the hvx...
good work.
good work.
Wow, that was very film like and professional. Actors were very believable, lighting was interesting and pro, the storyline is something disney would love, why not try to sell it to them. I thought the dof did a lot in helping it feel film like. I couldn't find anything to critique. One tiny little note, it seems this would be marketed to a younger crowd and if it is, maybe the minor sexual moment might seem just slightly too suggestive. (I might just be too much of a prude.) I can't wait to see this on the big screen. thanks for sharing
T Widener U
Member
Awesome premise! Looks really good, too. Trailer has a great flow.My humble suggestion...How about a little ADR on the first line? Pronunciation alittle soft. Hard time understanding. Other than that... great job.
Rasquachemedia
Well-known member
very impressive
Thanks a bunch! I looked through some of the pictures I got back from the EPK guys and I couldn't find many shots of overall set/lighting setups, but there were a bunch of the rig itself. Here are some of the different ways we shot using the HVX:Justin Marx said:
On sticks:
On Steadicam:
On a dolly:
On a jib with a remote head:
And just for fun,
A 180° dolly setup:
Danny pulling focus remotely (from the upside-down monitor, of course!):
We had the Nikon mount. Lenses were as follows:Justin Marx said:
28mm 2.8
35mm 1.4
50mm 1.8
85mm 1.4
I couldn't begin to remember every piece of equipment we had off the top of my head, but I did find a picture with some of the stuff sprawled out on the front lawn of the house location for you to see.Justin Marx said:
You can see the truck we had in the back on the right, the generator behind the palm tree (100 amps), and other various grip stuff. I primarily used tungsten lights... 650w, 1k, 2k, 5k, and a couple of Kino Flos. The dolly was a model 11 from JL Fisher. I prefer Fisher to Chapman, but that's just personal choice.
Nine shooting days and one extra for pickups. The days were extremely compacted because most of the actors were under 18 and could only legally be on set a certain amount of hours and not past a certain time. Some days we really had to hussle to get all of the shots we needed in the allotted time, but the crew is used to those situations and was able to work hard to get it done.Justin Marx said:
Believe it or not, I only had two 4GB cards for the entire shoot - and never ran into a bottleneck situation one single time. Our 2nd AC effectively became the "P2 Wrangler" and it was his job to unload the cards, make redundant backups to hard drive and DVD-R, import all of the footage to FCP, and rename and organize all of the clips. He had his hands full, but we were never waiting on each other... the workflow went very smoothly. At the end of the day, all of our footage was completely logged and organized, and we could pull up any shot we wanted to in FCP instantly for playback and review. This is my favorite part of the HVX system and it worked without a hitch. All in all, I think we shot a total of 72 cards and not one of them had a single corrupted file or problem. We used a powerbook G4 on set with FCP 5.1 and one 300 GB hard drive to unload the footage. That's it!Justin Marx said:
Yes, I think it's pretty mandatory for the HVX especially if you're using the M2. There's no way anyone could operate upside-down and backwards and be precise! It helps immensely with focus and has blue mode so it's easy to quickly calibrate it. Lastly, it works very well with Steadicam, and was easy to attach or remove from the rig as needed. I like the monitor a lot. We also had a 17" Panasonic BT-LH1700W monitor on set; in addition to being nice and sharp, it has a built-in waveform monitor as well which is very handy.Justin Marx said:
I shoot pretty much exclusively in 720PN. The 1080 mode isn't worth the hassle in my opinion for the almost negligable resolution gain (and space requirements) and shooting in non-"N" mode in 720 isn't very efficient unless you really have a reason to be using it. The 720 footage can be edited on a G4 Powerbook without any hiccups and I think that's the mode where the camera functions best.Justin Marx said:
Sound was recorded separately to an external deck and sunc in post. Reference sound was recorded on the camera "just in case," but we didn't end up using any of it.Justin Marx said:
The producer would know these figures better than me,Justin Marx said:
but I'd guess there were about 15-20 crew working on set each day; director, producer, DP, AD, gaffer, 1st AC, 2nd AC ("P2 Wrangler"), script supervisor/slate, production designer, craft services, boom operator, sound designer, makeup artist, grips, PAs. I hope I'm not forgetting anyone! Also, that number isn't including the set teacher, animal trainer, stunt coordinator, or minor supervisor(s) who were there at different times but not consistently depending on the day.You can see a bunch of that in the photos above, but we did have multiple sets of sticks, a hi-hat, the Bartech wireless follow focus (you can read my endless raves about it in this thread), a Chrozsiel mattebox, and a black pro-mist filter (only used in one scene). We had a polarizer but it wasn't necessary on our outdoor day and the only NDs I had were the built-in ones in the camera.Justin Marx said:
Hope that answers some of your questions... it's been a LONG day (it's 4am here!) but I know I like hearing all of that kind of stuff about movies other people shoot, so I'm doing my best to get to all of the questions that people have.
Thanks again to everyone for all of the positive support - I read every single post and I will pass along everyone's wonderful comments to the director and producer as well. We can't wait to premiere the film in its entirety on the big screen and meet everyone in person!! More to come!
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Justin Marx
Well-known member
Nice post dude! Thanks for the answers..... Off to the airport... would love to pick your brain somemore later today..
Budget??
- - Justin
Budget??
- - Justin
TheFirstCause
Member
The trailer is very well made.
But I was disappointed, I was waiting for the "Dogboy is making out with girl and turns back into a dog. Girl opens her eyes, all of a sudden she's making out with a dog, she screams. Dogboy, now just Dog, proceeds with humping her leg." scene. =P
It could be the reverse of the scene when the two boys scream at each other in the bedroom. He should turn into a dog when he's horny or aggresive. So when the guy punches him he turns into a dog and bites him. lol =D
But I was disappointed, I was waiting for the "Dogboy is making out with girl and turns back into a dog. Girl opens her eyes, all of a sudden she's making out with a dog, she screams. Dogboy, now just Dog, proceeds with humping her leg." scene. =P
It could be the reverse of the scene when the two boys scream at each other in the bedroom. He should turn into a dog when he's horny or aggresive. So when the guy punches him he turns into a dog and bites him. lol =D
daviddelaurier
Active member
You did it. That movie will sell...I would even pay to see it. That was a flawless trailer.
Oh, and the girl...whoever was casting should get a raise.
Oh, and the girl...whoever was casting should get a raise.
Justyn
Veteran
Haakon... Love all the info and your willingness to share your findings and set-ups and discovery.... That's just very generous of you.. and I know this is why I love this site... and want to share my crude findings as well.
Keep us up to date on the distribution and cover ya booty during the way. Do you have a producer's rep/ attorney/ big dude to kick down some doors? I could totally see this on TLC, lifetime, Disney/Nick.. or maybe bigger. Wish you the best and bring some garlic and holy water for your dealings with the studios and networks... A shame we have to grovel and deal with such people but again.. it's showbiz!
Good luck and those set-ups look really cool. The HVX looks like a snipers rifle with all that on there... CONGRATS!
Keep us up to date on the distribution and cover ya booty during the way. Do you have a producer's rep/ attorney/ big dude to kick down some doors? I could totally see this on TLC, lifetime, Disney/Nick.. or maybe bigger. Wish you the best and bring some garlic and holy water for your dealings with the studios and networks... A shame we have to grovel and deal with such people but again.. it's showbiz!
Good luck and those set-ups look really cool. The HVX looks like a snipers rifle with all that on there... CONGRATS!