Grabs from new super epic action movie (DVX102b, PD170, XL2)

MalcolmOng

MalcolmOng

Veteran
Well, I've just finished principle photography for a short I co-directed with 3 other guys - my friends, 2 of them were 17 years old, i was 16, and the third was 18.(yes you can scream now). Just got the grabs from the shoot back, tell me what y'all think! None of these have gone through any CC, and I think you can see theres quite a difference between the DVX and the PD170. Then again the Pd170 we used was an ailing camera this close to death. I felt the XL2 generally performed slightly better than the DVX though. Anyway y'all have a look and tell me what you think!

Finished Film:
http://wobblin.net/2006/11/02/countdown-complete/

Grabs:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/wobblin/sets/72157594246886322/

Footage(Test edits):
Click here to watch Coutndown-Clip-bigger
Click here to watch Countdown-Clip-2

RAW Trailer:
http://media.putfile.com/Countdown-Raw-thriller


EDIT: just got the poster up
225087854_b050fe88a9.jpg


228059776_96003a9f0d.jpg
 
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are those actual stills from the film? cause if they are i would CC them up, as they are right now are very flat and un interesting. Although the props, and costumes, look fantastic.
 
They're actual stills from the stock footage, and i'm not sure how much of it will make it into the film. However rest assured i will cc them for the final cut, it was just too many stills for me to individually cc, and i've got a tonne of assignments due. Thanks for the comment!

The props were either purchased from costume shops or toy guns spraypainted black. We had no lighting set up though, and even if we did i doubt we would have been able to use it as we werent actualyl supposed to have been filming at that location, and it was a realy really hectic shoot
 
no worries, ive seen people pull off great stuff using ambient lighting and bounce boards. im sure yours will turn out great. post the footage when ya can!
 
Hey, I'd like to see some footage too... once you CC those suckers they'll pop... one small thing I did notice... some of your SWAT seemed awful young... just an observation :) You do have some sweet props, and I wanna see a clip!
 
I agree that it looks very flat. They look sort of like production stills from the behind the scenes shot with a digital camera... your lighting doesn't make it pop, and neither does the CC.

Boost the contrast a little and it will help a lot.
 
Don't ask me why I did this... I was bored, okay?

BEFORE1.jpg

AFTER1.jpg

BEFORE2.jpg

AFTER2.jpg

BEFORE3.jpg

AFTER3.jpg


I was having fun with the last one. I'm sure someone else can do that better
 
Some good CC there... I'll give it a go too... you know Malcom... I do like that you shot some wider shots on your film... so often I stick to CU too much... have to take a note from you and shoot wider sometimes.
 
I would go even darker w/ CC becuase a moving picture will be easier to make out than a still. (just think of the show 24 when you CC them.)
BEFORE2.jpg


 
Amazing shots. We use airsoft weapons for our stuff. I know the guns your two leads have are big sellers for movies. What warehouse did you use. We got to use a furniture warehouse here in Chicago for our shoot. Very HK. I was going for a Michael Mann meets John Woo kind of feel for my material with a little Roberto Rodriguez thrown in.

-Nate
 
Wow those are some intense screens. You gotta post it when you're done. I agree with the fact that your SWAT guys look young. I'd take Rezfactor's advice with the CC. Good luck.
 
Those are some great shots. Except fot some possible color grading, there are going to come out really nice. Some of the CC shots folks have posted have completely eradicated the mids, and are even too contrasted on a monitor. They would be damn near unveiwable on a TV. Most of the shots you have look great on a TV monitor as is, the contrast is naturaly boosted due to the TV's nature. A little coloring for mood is all most of them would need.

Great work. Can't wait to see the finished piece.
 
Hey guys, thanks for all the encouragement! About the full asian cast, yes, i AM in singapore, so we didn't have much of a choice there...lol. Directing legend: your cc looks great! I especially liked the first one you cc'd, although the gradient on the last shot looks a bit questionable... I'll be getting the footage from the editor this thursday, so i'll be able to play around with them then, hopefully be able to cough out a clip, or at least a blooper reel (:D) in a couple of weeks.

bfischinger: Your cc is nice, but imo its a bit dark. However i haven't got the chance to play with the footage yet, which i'll try to do so tomorrow.

Brandon: I'd love to see your shot at cc - the work you did on smuggler's ransom is beautiful. Maybe you could give some cc advice while you're at it? :D About the wide shots and close ups, I tend to be a fan of CUs too. However, like i mentioned we had 4 directors, so everyone had different styles, shooting with 3 cameras at a time for most of the shots. So we kinda moderated everything out(thats also the reason why we shot 9 tapes of footage for a 10 minute short...My hard disk is so dead.)

My personal comments is that a reflector would really have come in handy for some of the roof shots. Also, all that was done with an on camera mic so when i finally get footage up dont crucify me for the bad audio :(. Some lighting would have been nice too, however the budget was strained on the support of the actors, along with two way transport for the actors to the location.

Nathyn: I'd love to see your stuff too...Our warehouse was i believe a seawater distillation plant. It was funny coz the first day we were there some fat balding guy with a playboy singlet came and tried to chase us away. The things we do for the shot...

Rapier: about the cc, i don't exactly have a pro tv monitor - mine's a viewsonic gaming rig...So i adhere to the mantra of 'if it looks good, its good'. That said i will be pretty anxious as to how well it'll look if it gets shown on a digital projector or a TV... When i get the final cc going would anyone care to volunteer to moderate it? Or maybe i'll try to get one of my old tv sets and rig it up to my graphic card through TV out. That'll be useful.
 
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