By Hook or Crook - By Troy Ruff

Yeah I could tell it wasn't hacked just wanted to confirm it because footage seems a tad muddy, but hey just think what you can do next time and plus still looks pretty darn good for non hacked gh1.

by the way how did you do that awesome shot where the camera just "flies" to the other guys gun really fast and has that warped blur effect when they're in the standoff and the father is walking away and the son pulls out the six shooter?
 
Homunculus said:
Yeah I could tell it wasn't hacked just wanted to confirm it because footage seems a tad muddy, but hey just think what you can do next time and plus still looks pretty darn good for non hacked gh1.

by the way how did you do that awesome shot where the camera just "flies" to the other guys gun really fast and has that warped blur effect when they're in the standoff and the father is walking away and the son pulls out the six shooter?
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well part of the muddyness is the fact that its only 50mb, but still it will look better now with the GH13. :) The way we shot, that scene, (which was done all in one shot) was pretty simple. We steadycamed from the Father to the son as fast and steady as we could, then I ramped it in post. Did a cool warp effect in AF on the sides and stabilized the whole shot. :) done. I think that shot came out pretty nice. Thanks for your comments, :2vrolijk_08:
 
I'll be honest I keep coming back to this short, having now watched a lot of the others and like I said though the camera work still often distracts me because it too often has that amateurish hand held feel and I would have liked more really slick jib, dolly shots, but still so far this is the most emotionally engaging story and I keep coming back to see it over 5 times already it just touches me emotionally like the others don't because it is very well acted and that reminiscing/remembrance scene in the middle is really touching, and with the music etc everything falls together and it just feels heart breaking at the end when he has to do what he does and lights that cig. By the way the music in the beginning at least sounded very similar to clint mansell's the fountain score, was this intentional? I loved that music as it was nominated for an oscar I believe and it works well here.
Anyways this is still one of the top shorts so far and I wouldn't be surprised if it placed in the finalists but one of the only small things keeping it from greatness for me were
like I said too much hand held/steadycam camerawork. I feel like the most iconic type of western shots that would have suited this film best were missing. The type I'm talking about is like the camera low level behind one guy showing his boots/legs dollying slowly across from left to right and looking at his opponent way in the distance as they face off. Strict smooth/slick dolly types of shots like that and other aforementioned smooth jib shots would have really given this that big budget production polish.

But there were also a few great shots that did capture that 'stillness' and for the most part it was very emotionally engaging and had truly a great chase scene in the beginning
 
Homunculus said:
I'll be honest I keep coming back to this short, having now watched a lot of the others and like I said though the camera work still often distracts me because it too often has that amateurish hand held feel and I would have liked more really slick jib, dolly shots, but still so far this is the most emotionally engaging story and I keep coming back to see it over 5 times already it just touches me emotionally like the others don't because it is very well acted and that reminiscing/remembrance scene in the middle is really touching, and with the music etc everything falls together and it just feels heart breaking at the end when he has to do what he does and lights that cig. By the way the music in the beginning at least sounded very similar to clint mansell's the fountain score, was this intentional? I loved that music as it was nominated for an oscar I believe and it works well here.
Anyways this is still one of the top shorts so far and I wouldn't be surprised if it placed in the finalists but one of the only small things keeping it from greatness for me were
like I said too much hand held/steadycam camerawork. I feel like the most iconic type of western shots that would have suited this film best were missing. The type I'm talking about is like the camera low level behind one guy showing his boots/legs dollying slowly across from left to right and looking at his opponent way in the distance as they face off. Strict smooth/slick dolly types of shots like that and other aforementioned smooth jib shots would have really given this that big budget production polish.

But there were also a few great shots that did capture that 'stillness' and for the most part it was very emotionally engaging and had truly a great chase scene in the beginning
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thanks so much for your comments, its helps us all grow as film makers. I do agree with you and we had gib ready to go and a dolly. Which I had planned for those shots. :( but sad to say we where running late and had to push through. We shot this in 12 hours, which I have already said on another post, is that I will never do a one day shoot again. I hate that I had to sacrifice quality for time. I will be pushing for at least a two day shoot always. Even if I think I can get it done in a day. Also I am in the middle of making this short a feature. The actors where so amazing and loved the story and passion we have as film makers, that they are willing to help raise funds and make this a feature. So be looking for this in the next year and half. Thanks again for your review. I can't say it enough. :) :2vrolijk_08:
 
Here are a few pics of the first showing of By Hook or Crook to some of the cast and crew.
AD and 2nd DP Matt Sconce and Director Troy Ruff.
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Cast and crew with families in front of the screen. We had tri-tip and BBQ chicken.
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As we were setting up for the film at DP Shane Foster's house we were kept on our toes by the automatic sprinklers coming on... Troy grabbed the HD projector, Matt grabbed the PS3 and everybody else just cheesed it quickly until Shane turned off the sprinklers. What a funny time. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
You did a good job on this, Troy. There were a lot of well composed shots and I think you made GREAT use of the aspect ratio, particularly in the standoff scene. The slo-mo was handled well and the costuming and makeup was believable. Oh, and you had horses.

I thought the opening was a bit long and somehow I just had a hard time buying that the sheriff didn't know it was his son until he looked at the pistol and had the flashback. Other than that, very well done.
 
by the way the very last shot as camera is tracking out away from main actor waht is all that weird lens distortion going around on the sides, in the bushes? it looks like perhaps the movement of the camera in conjunction with pulling focus simultaneously did that ...waht lens was that is that normal? was some heavy distortion and I saw that earlier in the horse chase as well
 
by the way I like the tradition someone else started in previous festival of posting pic of his favorite shot(s) so i'm going to do that for every film or at least my favorite ones.

Here are 2 of my favorite shots from this one

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the first one is blurry because it was in motion but that one in particular when you see it in motion is the most pro looking shot of the film to me

2vlnytu.jpg
and this one is a very nice iconic wide shot that has that fateful stillness. very nicely done and very nicely framed with those beautiful trees there and scenery
 
Gary Sconce said:
Here are a few pics of the first showing of By Hook or Crook to some of the cast and crew.
AD and 2nd DP Matt Sconce and Director Troy Ruff.

Cast and crew with families in front of the screen. We had tri-tip and BBQ chicken.
Click to expand...

Now thats the way to go with cast and crew. Many times I see a willing crew that works hard and after six months I ask "hey did you see the finished cut of..... " their response is "No, I havent even heard from.....".

Well done guys.
 
In response to the wiggling in some of the shots. This was my first attempt at using the GH1 that I had just bought two months prier. So after the shoot when I got home off loaded and converted files, sat down and got a chance to review the footage. I found that the lens image stabilization was on during the horse chase and pull back at the end. The result of this was the lens image stabilization trying to over compensate for any slight giggle. As a result it warped my frames. :( so I did lose a lot of shots I wanted to use. In some cases I still had to use some of them, and I didn't have the time or money to reshoot those shoots. So in all, I learned a big lesson about the GH1 and motion with the lens image stabilization on is not good. So everyone if your doing motion with the GH1, make sure that is off on your lens. :) But in all I think it still came out really well. Actually in the last shot I kind of liked the warping and added some to help give the crazy effect of his mental state of mind. Thank you all so much for your great kind words and feed back. :)
 
This was really good. Love the hand with the bullets shot and loved that wide shot with the reflection.

Good touching story, believable dialogue. This has got to be one of the top films.
 
I just wanted to say really quick, sorry for my really bad Synopsis, I was half asleep and running on two hours of sleep. Cant change it now. :)
 
oh another question guys, did you shoot with any filters like nd's or polarizers etc? just curious what your gh1 setup was like.

and you said that the image stabilization is what made the lens refract like that, which lens were you using I thought OIS was only on kit lens, did you shoot it on kit?
 
Some great stuff in this one guys. You did a great job representing the genre. Good acting and an emotionally driven plot helped drive the story home. You had some really cool shots, like the kick or the zoom to the son's gun hand. Great stuff! I also want to give you kudos on having horses.

Good job!
 
Jeez, Troy. I thought I'd been here already! I guess not. Excellent film! You had some really nice cinematography and some great shots. Kudos to you for having horses too. I really liked the flashback and the zoom in to the kid's gun was super sweet! The makeup was excellent as well as the stunt fall off the horse. You had a good story and your wide shot at the end was very, very nice! Really good job on this!

Oh, and love your setup for your premiere in the backyard. You guys are some real indie-pros!
 
Homunculus said:
by the way I like the tradition someone else started in previous festival of posting pic of his favorite shot(s) so i'm going to do that for every film or at least my favorite ones.

Here are 2 of my favorite shots from this one...

24fcqqo.jpg


"...the first one is blurry because it was in motion but that one in particular when you see it in motion is the most pro looking shot of the film to me..."
Click to expand...

We had Max in a pro harness strapped into the bed of a pickup truck shooting this with a steadycam. The gun was shooting really loud blanks and the recoil seen in the film was all real as the cartridges were the size of .357mags. The amazing thing is the movie horses didn't even flinch at the loud gunfire. Amazing.
Homunculus said:
2vlnytu.jpg
"...and this one is a very nice iconic wide shot that has that fateful stillness. very nicely done and very nicely framed with those beautiful trees there and scenery..."
Click to expand...

This shot was by Matt Sconce from across a pond. I love this shot! Notice the true gunfighter stance both actors were in before the fateful shootout. Also, the reflections are meant to be part of the shot. The mare leaving the scene after her man is killed, to me, represents his spirit leaving. I get choked up every time I see it... It is so powerful.

Finally, when the Sheriff lights his cigarette and tosses down the match at the end, it carries so much weight of guilt and anguish. He actually did love the son. Very powerful stuff there.
 
Yup the end scene where he lit the cig is actually one of my favorite as well and nicely comes full circle to the opening shot of him doing that at the beginning. I loved your actor's ability to portray that very silent anguish, a disillusioned, hardened, stoic sort of old-style anguish, and I don't know if done intentionally but as he lights the cig and cam begins to pull away there's this slight twinkle/reflection in his eyes that adds a tinge of heartbreak to it. Not sure if you guys flashed some reflectors in his face to achieve that or if it was just accidental but it was a very nice little subtle touch that added to the emotion of it.
 
Homunculus said:
Yup the end scene where he lit the cig is actually one of my favorite as well and nicely comes full circle to the opening shot of him doing that at the beginning. I loved your actor's ability to portray that very silent anguish, a disillusioned, hardened, stoic sort of old-style anguish, and I don't know if done intentionally but as he lights the cig and cam begins to pull away there's this slight twinkle/reflection in his eyes that adds a tinge of heartbreak to it. Not sure if you guys flashed some reflectors in his face to achieve that or if it was just accidental but it was a very nice little subtle touch that added to the emotion of it.
Click to expand...

Did you catch the use of the Aftershock SpinRig on the Sheriff when he turned around after the son tried to shoot him in the back?

Notice the Sheriff turns one way and the camera smoothly goes the complete opposite way while staying completely in focus, finally meeting on the opposite side. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

...We did have reflectors on him for that twinkle.
 
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