My First Short Film
- Thread starter davidatree
- Start date
Dillon Novak
Well-known member
yeah that would be awesome, if you ever have the chance.
davidatree
Member
Hi People, again many thanks for the words. Merry Xmas too!
I used a Zoom recorder to do the audio and mixed in in FCP. I did all the Foley myself it took a while. You'll find more info on the audio here on this thread:
http://www.redrockmicro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6387
As for the grading its a hard one to answer, I used Color this time, I normally use FCP CC. I didn't have any particular presets or thoughts before the film, as to how I would grade it. In the end I experimented with a few different looks but found them too much, I ended up scraping everything and going for a more subtle approach and basically doing everything by eye. There are subtle effects in the film. The flares, and I think I recall 5 different ones throughout the film were put in with Light factory. Again I tried to keep them as subtle as possible and used them only to emphasis flares I was trying to get on the day. The biggest composite was the final shot of the film which is a 3 part composition. Thats to time the trains and to also be able to expose for the trains in the dark and still be able to get a powerful sunset exposed correctly. I think the best compliment I got was at the screening when someone said how I "Lucked out" getting the last shot of the film
. That to me is a FX shot done right!
hope that helps
I used a Zoom recorder to do the audio and mixed in in FCP. I did all the Foley myself it took a while. You'll find more info on the audio here on this thread:
http://www.redrockmicro.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6387
As for the grading its a hard one to answer, I used Color this time, I normally use FCP CC. I didn't have any particular presets or thoughts before the film, as to how I would grade it. In the end I experimented with a few different looks but found them too much, I ended up scraping everything and going for a more subtle approach and basically doing everything by eye. There are subtle effects in the film. The flares, and I think I recall 5 different ones throughout the film were put in with Light factory. Again I tried to keep them as subtle as possible and used them only to emphasis flares I was trying to get on the day. The biggest composite was the final shot of the film which is a 3 part composition. Thats to time the trains and to also be able to expose for the trains in the dark and still be able to get a powerful sunset exposed correctly. I think the best compliment I got was at the screening when someone said how I "Lucked out" getting the last shot of the film
. That to me is a FX shot done right!hope that helps
Wow that was amazing! I thoroughly enjoyed it...
A little off topic...
I have just moved to London from Australia to do some traveling and further myself as a young film maker...
Would you have an email I could contact you on, to possibly help out in any form on your future productions to gain experience???
Thanks
A little off topic...
I have just moved to London from Australia to do some traveling and further myself as a young film maker...
Would you have an email I could contact you on, to possibly help out in any form on your future productions to gain experience???
Thanks
davidatree
Member
I've been a little tied up but I'll see if I can pull up the edit and take before and after frames and breakdown what I did in the grade.
It was my first time using color.
dave t
It was my first time using color.
dave t
davidatree
Member
yes I was able to use available light.
The Fd glass I used was 1.2 and 1.4 L rated tho.
I did pick well lit stations for stuff i needed light for. The need for good recce's is essential. Although I used available light in places, it wasn't without prior planning.
The Fd glass I used was 1.2 and 1.4 L rated tho.
I did pick well lit stations for stuff i needed light for. The need for good recce's is essential. Although I used available light in places, it wasn't without prior planning.
davidatree
Member
Sorry for not getting back sooner I've been busy buying a new rig ;D
Here is a scene example of some basic grading I did. Generally my scene file is pretty saturated. I like to shoot saturated and then pull back from it in post. That way I can be specific in what colours I want or need to leave behind or emphasis. I find this is better rather than boosting colour later. However its a balance because you dont want colours to bleed into each other.
So here is an original shot taken from the film :
Here we can see that the image is pretty saturated. Also the white balance is too orange/red. This particular scene I've selected because of the fact that there was natural light coming in from the windows and many tungsten heads lighting the kitchen in the background and also fill on the girl and boosting key on her too.
So all the lights were gel'd to match daylight. In almost all circumstances where there is natural light in the image, its best to balance to that, than fight it. IMO
And here is the final image which I settled for:
here some of the saturation is taken out of the reds and other colours leaving slightly more green in the image as I wanted the green trees to remain vibrant. I have my reasons for this. I also concentrated on making sure that the light on here face was white daylight and that the walls looked like they were not being lit with tungsten. I think here i brought up the highlights just a tiny bit to lift the face.
The important thing in all CC is trying to get it right from day 1, the shoot. CC is a bit of a worm hole and you can find yourself totally lost in CC and spending forever "tweeking" I wanted the most natural image possible, "lighting, without looking lit" the most important thing for me was to achieve a film that didnt look lit. Meaning it never distracts the viewer and perhaps only on a second view do you ask yourself "what did he do here?"
I hope that helps to answer any questions. I'm about to enter the film into a few festivals this year so I'll leave feedback if anything new happens. Right now I'm having to get to grips with my new 5D mkii rig
thanks for the interest and comments! feel free to leave more !
Here is a scene example of some basic grading I did. Generally my scene file is pretty saturated. I like to shoot saturated and then pull back from it in post. That way I can be specific in what colours I want or need to leave behind or emphasis. I find this is better rather than boosting colour later. However its a balance because you dont want colours to bleed into each other.
So here is an original shot taken from the film :
Here we can see that the image is pretty saturated. Also the white balance is too orange/red. This particular scene I've selected because of the fact that there was natural light coming in from the windows and many tungsten heads lighting the kitchen in the background and also fill on the girl and boosting key on her too.
So all the lights were gel'd to match daylight. In almost all circumstances where there is natural light in the image, its best to balance to that, than fight it. IMO
And here is the final image which I settled for:
here some of the saturation is taken out of the reds and other colours leaving slightly more green in the image as I wanted the green trees to remain vibrant. I have my reasons for this
. I also concentrated on making sure that the light on here face was white daylight and that the walls looked like they were not being lit with tungsten. I think here i brought up the highlights just a tiny bit to lift the face.The important thing in all CC is trying to get it right from day 1, the shoot. CC is a bit of a worm hole and you can find yourself totally lost in CC and spending forever "tweeking" I wanted the most natural image possible, "lighting, without looking lit" the most important thing for me was to achieve a film that didnt look lit. Meaning it never distracts the viewer and perhaps only on a second view do you ask yourself "what did he do here?"
I hope that helps to answer any questions. I'm about to enter the film into a few festivals this year so I'll leave feedback if anything new happens. Right now I'm having to get to grips with my new 5D mkii rig
thanks for the interest and comments! feel free to leave more !
ChristianScott
Well-known member
Hey David any chance you can post the scene file setup you used ? i really like the way it turned out, i never really think to over saturate, guess out of fear of ending up with footage that you cannot touch in post,
anyway would love to have a look at your settings if its not to much trouble
Christian
anyway would love to have a look at your settings if its not to much trouble
Christian
davidatree
Member
To be honest I think my scene files would only apply to a HVX200. the original model. In fact mine was a HVX200MC that had been hacked to shoot PAL. The later versions of the camera are much better at dealing with low light. My camera was the worst in low light.
I speak in past tense because unfortunately I just sold my rig. Along with all my settings.
I speak in past tense because unfortunately I just sold my rig. Along with all my settings.
ChristianScott
Well-known member
Ah right, Is the low light one of the reasons you sold the rig ?
Cause we have a Hvx200e which is the pal one, think its the original pal,
It is a ***** in low light but we dont have too much of a problem.
Just interesting how you shot it, did you find yourself limited in post ?
Cause we have a Hvx200e which is the pal one, think its the original pal,
It is a ***** in low light but we dont have too much of a problem.
Just interesting how you shot it, did you find yourself limited in post ?
ChristianScott
Well-known member
Also what is your new rig ? as i have been following your stuff for sometime, one of the reasons we went with a hvx200,
davidatree
Member
Canon 5d mkii. I'm still keeping the redrock for the time being as I do have all the FD canon lenses I could ever want. However now I'm buying all those same lenses in EF for the 5d.
I'm keeping the redrock as I want to try it out with the HPX. I may decide to buy one of those too. But really, P2 media is so totally overpriced ( i realise the technology is expensive and thats whats holding the price so high) but seriously? Panasonic should take a hit on P2 cards. If p2 was more affordable, everyone would want to use hvx's and hpx's. In real world day to day productions, its just too expensive to gain enough strength. Thats why it's just us indie people who appreciate it and tollerate its costlyness.
I'm after 35mm look. The HVX redrock was the best option ( that was over 2 years ago I bought the rig) Now there are more options. But bottomline is, I want something that can shoot in next to no light. My next film will be shot a great deal in the dark or at night. The 5d is the best available option for 35mm look video in very poor light. It has some drawbacks but then so does everything.
So far in my low light tests the rig has been nothing short of OUTSTANDING. In lit environments where no dof adaptor could ever gain a usable image.
plus I've always wanted a professional dslr. and now I do! 2 birds and all that!
I'm keeping the redrock as I want to try it out with the HPX. I may decide to buy one of those too. But really, P2 media is so totally overpriced ( i realise the technology is expensive and thats whats holding the price so high) but seriously? Panasonic should take a hit on P2 cards. If p2 was more affordable, everyone would want to use hvx's and hpx's. In real world day to day productions, its just too expensive to gain enough strength. Thats why it's just us indie people who appreciate it and tollerate its costlyness.
I'm after 35mm look. The HVX redrock was the best option ( that was over 2 years ago I bought the rig) Now there are more options. But bottomline is, I want something that can shoot in next to no light. My next film will be shot a great deal in the dark or at night. The 5d is the best available option for 35mm look video in very poor light. It has some drawbacks but then so does everything.
So far in my low light tests the rig has been nothing short of OUTSTANDING. In lit environments where no dof adaptor could ever gain a usable image.
plus I've always wanted a professional dslr. and now I do! 2 birds and all that!
ChristianScott
Well-known member
Well if you ever decide you want to sell your m2 let me know as we were looking into buying a sgblade next month but if you had a spare id be willing to give you a good price,
anyway thanks for responding.
Christian
anyway thanks for responding.
Christian
ChristianScott
Well-known member
also what does your new rig look like ? use rods or anything like that, im guessing its a lot more versitile than the hvx, have you got any footage anywere. i checked your youtube and nothing on there.
Post a pic =p
Post a pic =p
davidatree
Member
to all the lens loving freaks, I just spent an evening trawling through my camera notes and memory. I've shot by shot, listed every lens used, where and when, during my film.
If you turn on annotations in the corner of the youtube window, a little pop up box will tell you the specific lens used on any shot during my film.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qwoIv3pMo-g
I hope someone appreciates it lol!
If you turn on annotations in the corner of the youtube window, a little pop up box will tell you the specific lens used on any shot during my film.
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qwoIv3pMo-g
I hope someone appreciates it lol!
davidatree
Member
I've been away on holdiay and collecting all the lenses I own in FD, now in EF! heres a pic of my rig you wanted to see
