Airborne: It Takes More Than Powers

[ugman77]

Here is the first installment of the Airborne series worked on by my friend Jordan Imbrey and myself. Shot on a HV30 with a homemade 35mm adapter.

http://vimeo.com/8514348


Feel free to comment or critique. We are currently working on the 2nd part.

 

[SpenserS]

I think you did a pretty good job man! I think if you just worked on sound editing a little more your stuff will improve dramatically. Sound is one thing that can really disorient the audience so once youve worked on that I think youll be golden.

Oh and out of curiosity was the line by the lockers at the beginning supposed to be ripped off from Superbad? or was it a complete coincidence.

 

[ugman77]

Thanks Spenser!

Yeah the audio is a little rough at times, we planned to go back and fix some and ADR some, but somehow never got around to doing it. Hopefully will at some point.

Must be a coincidence being that I am not really sure what line you are referring to...

 

[jonE5]

I really enjoyed this.

Could you give more details on your home made 35mm adapter? Between this and the Plague short that was up a few weeks ago, im VERY impressed at the capabilities of an HV camera in the right hands.

Could you give some insight into your setup? What did you use for lighting? Sound? Any setup shots?

I really like the writing and acting here. Particularly your main character, gary, and your female lead were all pretty spot on and funny. Good chemisty and delivery between your actors. Are these actual actors/actors in training? I have worked with a bunch of friends before, and getting good performances and chemistry is REALLY difficult, so im amazed, especially given the length of your work.

How long did this project take?

As for the shots, good camera work, and good composition for the most part. I have read people saying that you can overuse the DOF shot thing, and I wasnt really sure what that meant, until i saw your piece. I think nearly every shot you do, was a DOF shot, and it became a little noticable after a while. That may just be cause i know what to look for, and im not even saying it bothered me cause it didnt, just that i noticed it.

I like the wide crop, did you mark the spots on your camera when recording? Or was it setup?

Keep shooting this, its a great idea, and good execution.

I am happy to announce that I have selected your piece as the Short film of the week on my blog, which you can see here

http://jone5films.wordpress.com/

 

[SpenserS]

Coincidence really? wow yeah the line is very similar and then turns into comics instead of getting laid in Superbad haha

 

[Dangitskang]

Thought it was really good!

One thing that I noticed was that when he first tests out his powers outside with the leaves, you could see the crew on the glass front door. Not sure if that could be fixed in post.

 

[ugman77]

Could you give more details on your home made 35mm adapter? Between this and the Plague short that was up a few weeks ago, im VERY impressed at the capabilities of an HV camera in the right hands.

Could you give some insight into your setup? What did you use for lighting? Sound? Any setup shots?

http://jone5films.wordpress.com/

The adapter was made with some parts from JAG35 and various components from ebay. I got the jag ground glass because it was cheaper than some of the other alternatives, and in my opinion more useful being that it came completely built with the holder and screen, also it is easier to clean.

We lit with some cheap shop lights from home depot. Sound was with the audio technica atr55 on a homemade boom pole.

I really like the writing and acting here. Particularly your main character, gary, and your female lead were all pretty spot on and funny. Good chemisty and delivery between your actors. Are these actual actors/actors in training? I have worked with a bunch of friends before, and getting good performances and chemistry is REALLY difficult, so im amazed, especially given the length of your work.

How long did this project take?

http://jone5films.wordpress.com/

Jordan Imbrey does wonderful work with writing, and I cannot take credit for the script. Most of our actors are just our friends without any real acting experience, a few of them have had some drama experience in school.

We shot everything and edited in about 2 months.

As for the shots, good camera work, and good composition for the most part. I have read people saying that you can overuse the DOF shot thing, and I wasnt really sure what that meant, until i saw your piece. I think nearly every shot you do, was a DOF shot, and it became a little noticable after a while. That may just be cause i know what to look for, and im not even saying it bothered me cause it didnt, just that i noticed it.

http://jone5films.wordpress.com/

The reason almost everything turned out as a DOF shot is because a homemade adapter eats up a lot of light, so I usually have to keep the lens wide open to avoid vignetting or intense grain. A wide aperture therefore gives us a narrower focus. I really would like to have more control over that, but the gear is limiting me at the moment. I hope to invest in a HD DSLR soon, giving me more control.

I like the wide crop, did you mark the spots on your camera when recording? Or was it setup?

Keep shooting this, its a great idea, and good execution.

I am happy to announce that I have selected your piece as the Short film of the week on my blog, which you can see here

http://jone5films.wordpress.com/

We didn't decide to crop into 2:35 until halfway though production, so some of the earlier stuff was cut off. Later I realized the menu displays on the lcd were almost a perfect matte.

I really appreciate the critique, and it is an honor to be shown on your blog. That is a very high compliment.

 

[ugman77]

Thought it was really good!

One thing that I noticed was that when he first tests out his powers outside with the leaves, you could see the crew on the glass front door. Not sure if that could be fixed in post.

Thanks! Yes we did notice that reflection problem, however we were not able to fix it being that there was never a frame out of all the footage in which she was not seen in the glass.