My new DP reel (feedback will be greatly appreciated)

Excellent work. Might be inclined to say a bit long but it's all beautiful footage. A director can stop the reel after a minute when he knows he needs you.
Bravo!
 
Works for me.

Positive feedback:
Quality is good.
Graphics are clean.
Content is professional and engaging.
Editing has good pacing and varies throughout the reel.
Overall, very nice job.

Some constructive criticism:
On my system the audio sounded like it clipped at the first change to harder music.
The reel seemed a bit long, a lot of the actors / scenes looked very similar (i am guessing there was 3 features or so in the reel) and for someone who has never seen the features you shot, I won't understand the nuances that you may be trying to portray by including certain scenes in your 3 minute reel. I only want to see the best of the best: lighting / acting / cinematography. Consider cutting it down to 2:30 or so.
Ends with a graphic at 2:56, but plays a black screen until 3:27, should be cut off.

All the best, Jason
 
Randy Che said:
Hi,
here is my new reel, its a collection of my 2008 dramatic projects. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Link to Reel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6HCpGS-GT8Y

Sincerely
R. Che
Cinematographer
Image Flare Films
604.505.2588
Click to expand...

I've used "Man on Fire" sound track as well...

For most of the shots I think the lighting was pretty good, better than many I've seen here to date.

However, my biggest problem is with the formating. Trying to do the 'super wide screen', leads to people dropping out the bottom, or busting out the top, of the frame.

I've been watching and comparing the 'pro' movies, and how various people on these boards, are framing the shots, and a 'pro' will almost never have a character drop out of the shot, unless there is motivation, the character got shot, fell off a cliff, or what have you.

If your original shots are in 16:9 then I'd leave them at not try to make it a 2:1 or 3:1-ish format. Or if you want the 'cool' look a little more attention on panning the cropping to avoid loosing the subject.

So were I a director, I'd be looking for 2 or 3 things. Lighting, Lighting, Lighting, and Composition... ok, 4 things...
 
i guess you already know that the cinematography is really good but not to mention the editing. Editing turned out perfect in my opinion.
 
Very beautiful footage. I would agree with others, but suggest that after an initial montage, to show more of a scene(s) to establish that you can continue a successful look beyond short clips.
 
Hi, Guys
thanks for the feedback, I will consider shorthen the clips. For the format, I always tape the monitor 2:35 on set, so the shots are framed and intended to be anamorphic wide, plus some of the footage were shot on RED, which is natively 2:1. I have fixed some formatting problems if the reel, and posted a new link. Again thanks for the feedback.

New link (the link on the top has also been updated)
http://youtube.com/watch?v=gBidNq6-HaI
 
awesome work, nice cinematography.. i think it's nice do know the formats during the reel too .... and then also, not sure if you have it yet, get some hosting, make a nice flash or quicktime of your reel for people to view... at the very least, use vimeo.
 
Ok got it, my bad.

yeah, great stuff! Wonderful. Didn't think it was too long. I wanted to see more, but don't think it should be longer. It's good to want more.


I could make a few suggestions (Always can)
-

Both the opening and closing clips could be stronger. It would be nice to have an image that really sticks in your mind, maybe a nice face shot that has some emotion to it. It could be from the same scene even, to bookend the piece. I heard once that what a person remembers is the first and last thing that they SEE, so make those a striking image that is your best work. I think a shot of chandaliers is little weak. Same with the fuzzy portal thing at the end.

I like the 2.35 aspect. Your outer frame looks grey though, should be black. is this intentional? The one shot that bothered me, and I felt squished into the frame was the one at around 1:30 when she's lifting the ring and its tilting up to her face, but never really gets there. Also, in that section, i think you could have a few longer shots. Too many cuts, especially for the serene slow-mo feeling that it has.

The girl at 1:46. Nice shot. That could be your opener, or closer.

There's a big difference between your high-contrast saturated color look, and the low-contrast desaturated look. Too much for me, and it seems like... well, I don't know, it looks a little "cheap' compared to the other stuff. Either, you could intercut the two less, so each look is in its own section , or, bring the contrast up a bit for those shots. Maybe, another option is to make those shots a little warmer?

Speaking of warmer, the CU up shot at :24 doesn't match the master.

I liked the sideways tilting shots. The one at 2:17 really looks washed out though.

Starting at about 2:37, those shots look a little squeezed and everyone seems thinner. Is there some AR problem with those ones?

Maybe I'm seeing artifacts from the youtube compression? I'd love to see a QT version.

Hope these comments help. Great stuff, and you'll definitely get jobs from this one.
 
WOW. that was badass. Where did you go to film school? or did you go? Just wondering if an eye like that can be taught.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top