If you enjoy sad artsy shorts...

Reverend Godless

Reverend Godless

Active member
Maybe you'll enjoy this!
Dear DVX aficionados!
Fresh off the NLE, my newest short is here for you. I shot this recently at a nearby Dam, with a couple of friends with only a loose idea of what we wanted to accomplish. Now for the technical specs!

Camera: DVX100a
NLE: Final Cut Pro 5
CC: A plethora of different presets in Magic Bullet Editors 2.0 (including No 85, Reversal Stock, Bleach Bypass, Bleach Bypass Light, and perhaps some others)
No adapters used, custom set in camera settings (sorry i don't happen to remember them) Auto White balanced to the palm of my hand (I'm pretty pale).

Music: "For Wanda" by A Silver Mt. Zion from the album "He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corners of Our Rooms"

I hope you guys enjoy this as much as I do...feel free to ask questions, make comments, let me know what you think. Please!

http://www.safety-last.com/videos/forpete2.mov

-Luke
 
I liked it. Some really nice shots in there and you managed to create a nice mood.

If I am totally honest however I was glued at the start; I liked the combination of images and music, and it seemed like some emotional story was developing between the characters. Toward the end however I started to drift a little as it seemed to be very similar imagery and the mood stayed constant.

However this is probably what you intended, it had a very daydream like feel.

"sad artsy shorts..." dont undersell yourself. :-)

Karl
 
hey, luke, I was really curious as to how you got those beautiful greys and dark look more towards the end of the film. Especially the shots with the dirt through the fence with those dead blades of grass blowing around. It was an amazingly stylized color theme, j/w if you knew how you got it.
 
If I'm thinking of the same shot, I used a bleach bypass filter in Magic Bullet, and it really came out in an awesome way. Thanks for taking interest.
-Luke
 
Reverend Godless said:
Hey Thanks guys!
Marlene, I liked your comment, but to clarify...in what way was I breaking all the rules? Thanks!
-Luke
Click to expand...

Oh just those "rules" about horizon lines, focus, steady camera movements and speed consistancy in pans. We've all seen, and maybe bought, one of those "how to shoot better video" crapola books and they sure don't tell the reader how to be creative, just "rules" like "you must keep your horizon line straight" and "tripod your camera or use a steadicam or tripod".....ya know that kind of stuff.

You have proved them wrong my dear man!

Marlene
 
reverend, i think this is a FANTASTIC short. please, if you dont mind, could you give us a rundown of some of the steps you went through to achieve some of those tones and colors?
 
hmmm...
Well, Doc, because you praised my short, I'll do my best.
Well, like I said before, I white balanced to the palm of my hand, I picked this trick up from my cousin's girlfriend who said it worked for her because she was so pale. Being of a scottish background, I thought it might work for me, and it did. For some of the shots I didn't do any color correction because I thought they fit the feel well already (the shots of the sun behind the bush, the sun behind the fence, the sun behind gate, Spencer looking through the fence, and Kate smoking and laughing.) For the opening shot I just happened to stumble on the interesting look of the sun and the horizion with this big stretch of water between me. So I notched up the old ND filter and turned down the shutter speed, and then in post production to make it even more alluring I CCed it with the filter No 85 in Magic Bullet. All of those first few shots before the bush with the sun behind it were done with No 85. Then the shot of the gate posts panning upwards I CCed with Bleach bypass light, to give it some more contrast to the sky but still be able to see the rusting and paint peeling on the bars. The shot of Kate being playful with the camera has no CC on it, simply because I thought it didn't need it. But the shot of her in the wind directly after it was done with some No 85. I really like the strange feel you get with No 85. It's got this contrasty yellowish sort of look, and this strange purplish undertone. It makes for a wierd look. I like it a lot. the only other notable things are some Color Reversal CC on Kate's face later, as well as on the shot of the ground in focus, but the trees in the bacground out of focus...the shot of Spencer walking against the fence was corrected with Bleach Bypass Light...Bleach Bypass was used for the shot through the gate at the blowing blades of grass...and Color Reversal was used once again for the drawn out shot of Spencer walking in front of the Dam wall. I hoped that helped!
 
marlenedegrood said:
Oh just those "rules" about horizon lines, focus, steady camera movements and speed consistancy in pans. We've all seen, and maybe bought, one of those "how to shoot better video" crapola books and they sure don't tell the reader how to be creative, just "rules" like "you must keep your horizon line straight" and "tripod your camera or use a steadicam or tripod".....ya know that kind of stuff.

You have proved them wrong my dear man!

Marlene
Click to expand...

that he has. and it was excellent. Very well done! These images were just awesome to look at! I get more and more inspired on this website each day.
 
I just watched it, and WOW. Thats all I can say, it so good. Too me it seemed almost better then film, I liked the look, especially. Very nice.

I noticed you did alot of shallow DOF, how'd you achieve that? I've been trying to get that myself but I can never get it that good.
 
It's like breaking all the rules and getting away with it. Love it!
Click to expand...

I don't recall this list. Sides' this is more montage than straight forward narrative.

I loved it. It felt artsy, it felt sad. I enjoyed it.
 
Mr. Durden,
I'm very pleased you liked my short. And I'm glad you liked my use of the shallow DOF. All I can say is that I zoom in as far as possible (usually, or witin reason) and find the right balance between the shutter being near open and the ND filter being up. This seems to work pretty well for me. I'm still looking forward to purchasing an SG35 in a few paychecks, though! If Wayne will permit me, of course. I might just suggest playing around with it till it looks rad, that's usually what I'll do. Take care!
-Luke
 
This is really beautiful. I think it would make a beautiful BEAUTIFUL opening credits sequence in a feature. It reminds me a little of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which is definitley a good thing, considering i find it to be one of the prettiest films ever.
 
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