First in a series of shorts shot with HVX/M2

Okay. The "White Limbo." Basically, shooting against white is a royal pain, and if anyone has a better way to do this, I'd be happy to hear about it.

First, make sure you use something hard and flat. We tried fabric and it doesn't work very well at all --- it's too hard to pull it flat enough that you don't get shadows in the white --- that looks awful. We ended up using a piece of foam core, which cost us all of a few dollars at the local Office Depot. However, for future episodes, we'll be buying a big roll o' white paper.

Then, you have to have at least two bright soft lights dedicated to the white background. The good news is that you don't have to be that far away from the white board once you have those lights set (try to avoid having your actors cast too much shadow onto the white board, but a little is okay).

Then, we ended up using three more lights for Larry and me (all soft). So, it takes a lot of light (much less so if you're not using the M2 --- I was trying to keep the lens at around 4-5.6 so that the DOF wouldn't be soooo shallow). The one other thing I did was put the desaturate highlights filter on everything in post. It helped to keep the white consistent from shot to shot. If you don't know, the M2 can really mess you up with white balance when you change lenses as each lens has its own color and contrast characteristics. With a small crew it's easy to forget to white balance after each lens change (which is exactly what I did). I hope that helps.
 
I think because of the white backround the over the shoulder stuff was a little weird...but not too bad. I also noticed you were cutting back and forth between a mcu over shoulder and kinda a medium over shoulder....cut a little odd you should have had the same mcu on bothsides. thats the only i saw....and it didnt really matter or pull me out at all. The acting really was impressive...and i pretty much laughed out loud, deffinetly well written and really well done. the only thing I have to say is there is no backround on what is going on. I donno if you get a better sense of it all in later espisodes or ont he website or what....Im really looking forward to seeing more stuff from you guys....ohh when the dude says "your on" that was the only place the acting pulled me out a tiny bit it wasnt too bad at all...but just as a note.
 
darwinandpaine said:
Hello brethren and sistren! This is the first in a series of shorts we're shooting with the HVX/M2 combo (which I think we should call the HVX2M2). There's really nothing very cinematic about this --- it's very talky. But I've gotten a lot of good feedback and thought you might enjoy it. D&P
NOTE: BEWARE: CAUTION: It's not for the religiously hyper-sensitive!
http://15minuteslatermovie.com/mrdeityt3.html
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Commendations on a job well done. It was entertaining, witty and provocative in an understated way. I could see this being a nice spot on Comedy Central or something like that. Just keep at it. Perhaps a softening edge effect would be nice, but then again, the sharpness gives it a frankness that seems like two regular guys talking.
 
I think you guys have a winner here! I've always wondered why a loving God would create a planet like Earth and now I know!...and I don't think you'll ever run out of material the way things have been going lately! Be sure and let us know when its available on the net....Peace, Norman
 
JZalutsky said:
I think because of the white backround the over the shoulder stuff was a little weird...but not too bad. I also noticed you were cutting back and forth between a mcu over shoulder and kinda a medium over shoulder....cut a little odd you should have had the same mcu on bothsides. thats the only i saw....and it didnt really matter or pull me out at all. The acting really was impressive...and i pretty much laughed out loud, deffinetly well written and really well done. the only thing I have to say is there is no backround on what is going on. I donno if you get a better sense of it all in later espisodes or ont he website or what....Im really looking forward to seeing more stuff from you guys....ohh when the dude says "your on" that was the only place the acting pulled me out a tiny bit it wasnt too bad at all...but just as a note.
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You are REALLY sharp. The thing that I've learned doing this is how terribly difficult it is to act in and direct something when you have a very small crew. The two OTSs AND MCUs/CUs where not shot with comparable framing and I was PISSED when I found that out. So, I take your criticism to heart COMPLETELY. I'm impressed with your eye for composition. I was wondering if anyone would notice that. My bad. We'll do better next time.
 
kgb said:
Perhaps a softening edge effect would be nice
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We actually did this in an earlier test --- we used a "Chroma Glow" filter and it looked really cool. But... I hated the render times, and it gave the entire thing a softer look, which bugged the crap out of this new HVX user. In six months, I'll probably hate myself for not sticking with the filter. I guess I can use it on the Special Edition Director's Cut DVD box set. ;-)
 
I laughed outloud a few times,
"Lou Gehrig's disease?"
"Yeah leave it in...but oh wait for Lou!"

Really great acting..and nice clean footage. The whole thing was totally tastful too.

I'm really diggin' the big band tune at the end; being a trumpet player in a jazz band, I have to ask, what tune is it?
 
Poi Boy said:
xcellent satire..I loved it.
-A
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Satire? Seems about as plausible as any religion that's ever existed.
Hell, I think I just found me a new religion.
All praises to Mr Diety!!!!
 
"Wait for Luke..." LOL

Man that was funny. Especially the Celine Dion bit made me (literally) laugh out loud.

Really looking forward to seeing more.

cheers
 
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kramergfy said:
I'm really diggin' the big band tune at the end; being a trumpet player in a jazz band, I have to ask, what tune is it?
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The tune is called Sophisticated Swing by Crank City. I bought the rights to it years ago because I liked it so much and knew I'd use it for something. The rest of the music is my own creation.
 
ah, thats what it was... i too wondered that. -- bravo, though, thats one of the funniest videos i've seen on dvx in awhile!!!

"celine dion?"
HAHAHAHAHA

also, pugs rule...
-kyle
 
I didn't laugh out loud because the entire time I fantasized of the guy in the pink tie getting his head hacked off with a rusty fork and his blood spewing all over the white back drop.... By the time I snapped out from my inner demons, I realized that Mr. Deity is my creator and I worship him.
 
ShamrockFilms said:
I didn't laugh out loud because the entire time I fantasized of the guy in the pink tie getting his head hacked off with a rusty fork and his blood spewing all over the white back drop.... By the time I snapped out from my inner demons, I realized that Mr. Deity is my creator and I worship him.
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I'm not sure if this was our first official death threat or not. If so, cool!
 
darwinandpaine said:
Filmstox... could you please point out the odd compositions? I'd like to learn and any help you can give me will be much appreciated. Thanks.
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Darwin,

Sorry to take so long to get to a reply.

I just went back through the film to refresh my mind about my initial reaction. Let me start by saying that the piece is exceptional, as evidenced by the praise you've received so far.

The odd composition for me (and I think someone else alluded to it in terms of matched frame size) is the dirty single on the assistant. The variation in frame size is definitely the first issue, which you are already aware of. But almost as important to me is the eyeline. The 2 shot, the dirty single on Mr. Diety, and all of the singles are shot with the eyeline established by the assistant, which to me is appropriate. We are intended to empathise with the assistant and to be observing Mr. Diety, so as a creative choice, I would choose to place the camera at the eye level of the assistant, looking up at Mr. Diety, slightly. He's God, we should look up to him a bit, he has the power position. If we were at Mr. Diety's eye level, then we would be asked empathise with him, and the assistant would be placed at too weak a position relative to the viewer and Mr. Diety. By placing the camera above Mr. Diety's eyeline in the dirty single on the Assistant you are letting the actor's relative height dictate your frame rather than the relationships between each character and the audience. I would have raised the Assistant up a bit (probably a 1/4 apple) and kept the camera at his eye level, even if it meant giving Mr. Diety a haircut. This would have stayed consistent with the clean singles later in the film, where the eyeline is slightly below Mr. Diety and straight on the Assistant.

Hope that helps and as always, these are very subtle personal aesthetic choices that are neither right or wrong. I'm sure someone else will come up with a different idea as to the relative meaning of eyelines and I would bet they will be just as "right" as my idea.

The bottom line is whether the material connects with your audience, and yours definitely succeeds. I'd rather have wacky eyelines and a solid performance than solid eyelines on a wacky performance.

I can't wait to see what happens with Mr. Diety next.

Sorry for the long post,

David
 
David,
Thanks a lot for taking the time. I wish you were closer to me -- I'd just have you come and direct these things. Tomorrow, we shoot episode two, "Mr. Deity and the Really Big Favor." I will definitely keep what you've said in mind. Thanks again.
 
Great job, really funny. I'm surprised no one has gotten upset yet.

I don't like the M2, not just on your project but most I've seen it used on.

That said have you ever written a feature script? PM if you have, we can talk.
 
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