Deuceofspades
Veteran
I just wanted to share my joy tonight as I have just officially become a "filmmaker" and completed my first ever film. Clocking at a hair under 40min, I guess it is officially a 'short'. I just sat down with cast members and watched the whole thing from top to bottom for the first time.
It was a religious experience. I had no idea making a film could be such a powerful experience / feeling. All I can say is WOW.
I could have never done it without the help of this awesome forum and all the awesome people here and the film would have never looked as good if it wasn't for my 35mm adapter. In all honesty I could not ever imagine making a film with a video camera without an adapter.
The whole piece was shot on HVX200 and LetusX. The DOF is phenomenal and the shots look awesome. I am in awe of what was produced and for so little. Having already purchased my gear, the entire film was done for around $600, this was made possible because I did absolutely everything on it myself.
My Letus gave me great results. It is now permanently bolted onto my camera and I transport it that way, in a hard case. Shooting with an adapter did have its share of challenges but I quickly got the hang of it and now it has become second nature. The choice of lenses and quickly swapping from one to the other has become an integral part of my filming and I REALLY love it.
The bulk of THE BENCH was filmed with a 100mm Nikkon lens for an up close and personal feel which matches the concept and script. The remaining 20% was shot with 50, 35 and 24mm, with a few key shots done with 55 micro.
You can see screen grabs here: (sorry no trailer just yet)
http://www.bettatalk.com/the_bench.htm
I am very happy with my LetusX, although I did have a few moments, notably forgetting to turn it on quite a few times (ouch) and having to redo some shots, and also my initial unit having a problem. The Letus people were very good at overnighting me a replacement unit and I was able to resume flming. My second unit is so far performing very well. I did a lot of low key lighting, and some darn dark shots too all possible because of the little light loss. I also had to film without a monitor several days because a lot of scenes take place at a public park and I was there sorta... Incognito
if you know what I mean... The letus gave me a flipped image so it was easy to film. I could not imagine doing it upside down, personally (althought I know many of you guys do do it - hats down!).
Editing was done on a PC with Vegas and Raylight and the footage cut like butter. Seemless edits all the way. I was pleased.
My indie dolly was worth every penny and I used it a lot and it added a lot of production value to the film. Some awesome dolly shots in that short.
The film is artistic, poetic and very deep, filled with heartfelt emotion, but also has a dark side to it. It is very powerful. The best way to describe it would be French film meets music video meets Major motion picture American drama. It is slow paced, not especially commercial. It is very alluring in its concept, and intricate. All in all a film that makes you think. If you like car chases, gun fights and mindless action, this flick is not for you
.
I wrote, produced, directed, did the DP work (turns out I love lighting), camera work and editing and scoring myself. I also did the props, set design, casting, location scouting, photography, art design. So here I am, a DIY self contained little filmmaker! Call me Faith Chaplin!
You can see screen grabs here: (sorry no trailer just yet)
http://www.bettatalk.com/the_bench.htm
Once again thank you all for your help, especially David for his Vegas help and Disjecta for his advice and help picking the right lenses. Love you guys!
Happy in film land,
The new kid on the block, now officially a filmmaker YEYYY !! (and now on to the El Biggo, my hotrod film)
FAITH
It was a religious experience. I had no idea making a film could be such a powerful experience / feeling. All I can say is WOW.
I could have never done it without the help of this awesome forum and all the awesome people here and the film would have never looked as good if it wasn't for my 35mm adapter. In all honesty I could not ever imagine making a film with a video camera without an adapter.
The whole piece was shot on HVX200 and LetusX. The DOF is phenomenal and the shots look awesome. I am in awe of what was produced and for so little. Having already purchased my gear, the entire film was done for around $600, this was made possible because I did absolutely everything on it myself.
My Letus gave me great results. It is now permanently bolted onto my camera and I transport it that way, in a hard case. Shooting with an adapter did have its share of challenges but I quickly got the hang of it and now it has become second nature. The choice of lenses and quickly swapping from one to the other has become an integral part of my filming and I REALLY love it.
The bulk of THE BENCH was filmed with a 100mm Nikkon lens for an up close and personal feel which matches the concept and script. The remaining 20% was shot with 50, 35 and 24mm, with a few key shots done with 55 micro.
You can see screen grabs here: (sorry no trailer just yet)
http://www.bettatalk.com/the_bench.htm
I am very happy with my LetusX, although I did have a few moments, notably forgetting to turn it on quite a few times (ouch) and having to redo some shots, and also my initial unit having a problem. The Letus people were very good at overnighting me a replacement unit and I was able to resume flming. My second unit is so far performing very well. I did a lot of low key lighting, and some darn dark shots too all possible because of the little light loss. I also had to film without a monitor several days because a lot of scenes take place at a public park and I was there sorta... Incognito
if you know what I mean... The letus gave me a flipped image so it was easy to film. I could not imagine doing it upside down, personally (althought I know many of you guys do do it - hats down!).Editing was done on a PC with Vegas and Raylight and the footage cut like butter. Seemless edits all the way. I was pleased.
My indie dolly was worth every penny and I used it a lot and it added a lot of production value to the film. Some awesome dolly shots in that short.
The film is artistic, poetic and very deep, filled with heartfelt emotion, but also has a dark side to it. It is very powerful. The best way to describe it would be French film meets music video meets Major motion picture American drama. It is slow paced, not especially commercial. It is very alluring in its concept, and intricate. All in all a film that makes you think. If you like car chases, gun fights and mindless action, this flick is not for you
. I wrote, produced, directed, did the DP work (turns out I love lighting), camera work and editing and scoring myself. I also did the props, set design, casting, location scouting, photography, art design. So here I am, a DIY self contained little filmmaker! Call me Faith Chaplin!
You can see screen grabs here: (sorry no trailer just yet)
http://www.bettatalk.com/the_bench.htm
Once again thank you all for your help, especially David for his Vegas help and Disjecta for his advice and help picking the right lenses. Love you guys!
Happy in film land,
The new kid on the block, now officially a filmmaker YEYYY !! (and now on to the El Biggo, my hotrod film)
FAITH
- no, I'm not kidding. Since the bench sits a mere 20 feet from the Balboa lake, and since the balboa park is somewhat of a bird sanctuary, birds are all over the shots. Since a lot of the footage was shot overcrancked, the birds flying through the frame all look very cool. In one shot, I had an entire row of ducks swim across the frame in the background while the main character walks up to the bench in the foreground. It took a lot of training and bribery to get the ducks to do that :grin:. 
