feedback on my vampire hunter trailer

L

lowercase

Well-known member
howdy.
these are 2 proof of concept trailers for a feature i'll be shooting in august. it's my first project (with the exception of a short mock documentary) using the dvx. it's also my first time using fcp and doing any kinds of vfx (some of which came out great, and some of which just came out). i'd love any constructive criticism you all have to give.
first a bit of background. it was shot over 3, 10 hour days with a coupla pickup half days thrown in. it was shot on a dvx100b with a .7 wa and a 1.6 tele lens as the only accessories. we had a few lights a smoke machine (highly recommend using these for atmosphere) a homemade dolly and jib. it was shot for around $1000. we are using these trailers to shop around for more funds. it was edited on fcps2 and i only used the fcp portion (haven't learned the rest of it yet).
it's on myspace right now and i'm trying to figure out how to post a higher res version somewhere. i need to do more reading.
anyways, here they are.
let me know what ya think.

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32417665
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=32473642

thanks
-k-
 
Hey Lowercase.
I'm digging the fight scenes. Shot for 1K? Nice work. The trailer itself was cut really well I thought (and I am your quintessential amateur). Left me with enough to want to find out more.
I know the budget precludes it but it would have been just great to use blanks instead of the muzzle flash in post but hey, I know that opens up a series of cans of worms!
Thanks for sharing and I hope more people give you some constructive crit.
 
thanks for the props. i'm a big believer in saftey (and low insurance) so i like the airsoft thing. as far as the muzzle flashes, that was my first bit of vfx work. i know someone else will do it better for me. we had 10 days of prep and shot the bulk of it in 3 days. now were gearing up for the full length. thursday starts the 90 day count down.
thanks
-k-
 
The second trailer is awsome but it still needs a little more trimming
the first time we see the heores it's not such a good shot, that backwards dolly from lower angle, and it really ruined it for me. The second time we see them all together is much better when they enter through the door. I think that should be their entrance into the trailer. I think more close ups instead of the wider shots might be better.
P.S. please explain in detail about all the effects, shooting, gun flare, and especially the head rip! That is amazing. The fight coreography is also awsome
 
the first shot of the hunters is a bone of contention with me. i had hired a DP and he wouldn't listen to me about the slo mo capabilities of the camera (he had been shooting with the dvx for years and had no idea it could do the 60i trick) so when i finally talked him into trying it, he didn't want to change his camera settings so it wasn't shot at the right shutter speed so no crystal clear slo mo on that shot. i felt you could actually get a better look at them in that shot though as the door breach was a silhouette. i decided to shoot the rest of it myself after that day (he shot about half of it and i shot the other half).
the head rip was done using a head cast that was molded in 2 peices with a chamber in the throat that was hooked up to a compressor. just fill it with blood and sponge bits and give it some air. the top half of the head just sits there and i motion tracked a bit of the skin from another layer of the same shot to conceal the seam and give it a ripping look. the best thing about this shot is that i got it done for free. the head was used in another film and i met the actor whose head it was and offered him a role in the movie so there was no cost involved as my fx guy owned the head. then i made a bodie using the indy mogul duct tape dummy (indymogul.com). i actually took it a step further than what they do and i made an articulated skeletal structure out of 3/4" pvc so we can pose him (my daughter named him phillp. theres actually a better version of the head rip in the third trailer that i haven't yet posted due to the nudity rules on myspace and the fact that i'm not very computer savy and i can't quite figure out how (or where) to post it.
the gun flares were all from detonation films and i did an 8 point mask around the shooters bodies and layered it then used the bloom plug-in in fcp to light up their faces. the shot gun blast was actually about 6 elements to give it a bigger bang, gunshots, explosions and smoke.
i literally taught myself how to do all this in about 4 hours as the guy who was supposed to do the vfx originally didn't have time then i got impatient and did it myself.
my 2 favorite visual fx are the ones nobody notices. the rain at the church (which doesn't look so great on myspace) and the candles w/the bible, knife and gun. there was no rain, i used detonation films for that one too. just distorted it to match the angle of the shot. i actually had a professional editor who i showed it to ask "how'd you get that shot without getting rain on the lens". talk about making a guy feel like he'd accomplished something. then the candles, that was shot at 10am through a window in my kitchen while my neighbor sprayed the window with a hose. the piece was set up on an old leather samsonite suitcase and i just cc'd the thing blue. that unfortunately left the candles flickering grey so i made individual masks for the candles and motion tracked them.
i may be using the wrong terms as i really don't know what i'm doing (my first time using anything other than pinnicle studio vs 9 (i'm not kiddin') as far as close ups go, you're absolutely right. i was trying to give it more scope and ended up with mostly wider shots. to tell you the truth i'm still learning how to frame the closups well. need more practice.
sorry for the long post.
thanks for the input.
-k-
 
Thank you for the input. very informative and very impressive.
How much time did it take you?
and one last question. How did you make the blood and the bullet hits on walls people etc...
 
it took about 5 full days to shoot (3 full days then a shot here and a shot there) then about 3 weeks to edit. i was taking the apple help classes at the apple store to figure out how to do the editing basics, so i had a bit of a learning curve to work with.
the bullet hits, once again, detonation films (if you haven't gone there yet, go now) and the blood was the o'l corn syrup recipe. the secret i was told by my fx guy is flour, it gives the blood more depth and less opacity.
one more thing i forgot to talk about was the fights. they were choreographed by the stunt people, and when i say choreographed i mean on the spot usually in under 5 minutes. they are very talented martial artists (as are some of my actors) and they make this thing look so much bigger than our budget would allow.
also the shell hitting the ground at the end was the most difficult shot to get. i couldn't get anything to stay lit inside the shell to get the smoke. finally filled the empty shell 3/4 full w gunpowder and held it just above camera view w/extended long nose pliers and lit it w/a bbq lighter, dropping it the instant the flash flame died. it was a pita but it was worth it i think.
thanks
-k-
 
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Dude, I just saw this and I have to say this is wild crazy man. And who is that chick, because I need a chick who do martial arts like this for my film. She is cold as hell.

-Nate
 
i liked it ...action was good. some better colour grading wud really add a punch. but i understand ur limitations being that ur new to all the programs. i very much admire the fact that u are and still achieved this. goodstuff. maybe one of the more knowlegable members will help u with settings to get better quality on the net. u really should try and get it on vimeo ...think its better than myspace. nice work.:thumbup:

edit: on watching it again...the colour grading may actually be fine..maybe if i saw the full quality one u know...


i actually think i like the first one better...editing in the first one. the sound effects for the vamps i like :) Muzzle flashes can be worked on ...but i understand ur limitations as i said b4. the more i watch it ur trailer the more i like it.
 
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Yeah man forgive the short comment, but I liked it too, some folk looked they could have been better cast (only slightly) and 1 or two costumes looked a little bit cheapish (only slightly!!!) But overall i was left with a positive impression - good luck with this mate
 
hey that was great! I will substantiate your comment about using 60i for slomo (in post) will work fine, for I had done that in a piece I'm workin' on. You've got more frames to work with (even if it is half frames).

That over the top head ripping, had me laughing because it was, well over the top, like Story of Ricky. Awesome. But then the vamp is daintly tonguing (sp?) the bloody remains. If I was a vampire that just went to the effort of opening someones head to feast, there would be a lot more blood on face:zombie_smiley:.

The choreography I thought was great for what you invested. That adds a level of production value.

The color grading, I'm guessing isn't final, since these are conceptual work in progress, eh? It could be me, I'm a fan of making blacks black. It need not be the hi-contrast crushed blacks music video look, but just ensuring that the darks be where they need to be.

Look forward to seeing more!
 
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