Canon 60D Short Film/Music Video Hybrid

davebloomers

davebloomers

Member
Mostly I was hoping to receive some criticism, positive or negative feedback, since this was basically the first real artistic project I've completed since I discovered that my older photography camera shot great video. This was mostly shot using a my newer Canon 60D somewhere in the Antelope Valley part of the Mojave Desert. The tripod shots were all done with 50 and 85 Canon primes and for the handheld shots inside the moving car I used a Canon 17-55 IS zoom. I'll say in advance that this was heavily inspired by the work of a certain famous director with a large cult following, sure you guys will know who that is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axY3XkllPP4

I'm relatively new to the world of shooting video or using HDSLRs for anything but photography, but learned a few things when shooting in the desert:
1) Never try to shoot in bright sunlight and expect to pull focus perfectly without a viewfinder. Spent way too much time under a black coat in 100+ degree heat, terrible idea, and I still missed focus on several shots. I've rented the Zacuto, but wondering if anyone wants to recommend another viewfinder that isn't $400 and works well with the Canons?
2) The Canon 60D doesn't appear to have the overheating issues I hear about with Canon HDSLRs, and I say this because I shot continually for about a 7 hour period in 100+ degree heat without any camera issues.
3) Never shoot in the Mojave Desert miles from anywhere without bringing a lot of water and a way to keep it cold, I was woozy after this shoot, really woozy and dehydrated.

The rest of it was shot around Venice, CA with the 60D, except for the underwater footage that we shot with a GoPro Hero 960. Overall had a lot of fun on my first official music video shoot, or short film, whatever you want to call it.

Any questions, advice, comments, etc. on the artistic or technical aspects are all welcomed and appreciated.
 
Were you using ND filters? Unless you were going for that 28 Days Later shutter effect- shutter speeds looked quite too high. Which is what you have to resort to without ND filters- i.e. too much light.

Noah
 
NoahK said:
Were you using ND filters? Unless you were going for that 28 Days Later shutter effect- shutter speeds looked quite too high. Which is what you have to resort to without ND filters- i.e. too much light.

Noah
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I couldn't secure a fader ND in time so I went out without one, with the expectation that it would result in that "horror film" sort of look. I was hoping that it may benefit this sort of vid, but looking back I definitely wish I would have at least used a three stop ND or something to help minimize the shutter effect. Did use a polarizer and UV for all of the outdoor shots, which seemed to help a tiny bit. A friend mentioned that using a matte box for this sort of shoot is ideal to utilize multiple filters simultaneously, definitely something I haven't had the opportunity to experiment with yet.
 
DavidBeier said:
You didn't know that before?
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Haha, you would think so, but I was so caught up in making sure I had the equipment, wardrobe, makeup, etc. that I completely forgot to bring extra water. The band also made the same mistake. I had a 1 liter bottle, but had it outside with me while shooting and within an hour it was hot! I guess survival should always be top priority, maybe?
 
For what it's worth: I'm immediately pulled out of the movie once the music starts and all other sound ceases. Because it's clearly not written for the film and doesn't really seem to fit what's happening on screen, the song reads to me like some random piece of music the filmmaker through in their because he/she likes it and didn't want to deal with sound design. Because of this, all the work you clearly put into the visuals doesn't really matter because it feels like any thrown together YouTube video.

I'm not trying to sound harsh or condescending. Making movies isn't easy and people's attention span is short. Most of us are sick of the countless YouTube shorts which have very little effort put into them. When you seemingly blow off sound the way you have done here, it gives your viewer the sense that you simply didn't care enough about the project and thus they (or I) don't feel the need to invest any further time/emotion into the film.
 
DavidBeier said:
When you seemingly blow off sound the way you have done here, it gives your viewer the sense that you simply didn't care enough about the project and thus they (or I) don't feel the need to invest any further time/emotion into the film.
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Don't worry about sounding harsh, I really do appreciate the critique. And I guess I stuck my own foot in my mouth for using the phrase "short film hybrid" in the title here, but this project was first and foremost a music video for the featured song. I think if the story took precedence over the song, I would have been off the mark, too, although I did consider incorporating the dialogue into the audio as well. I was hoping that the desert visuals would support the big, expansive sound of the song itself. I think if people are drawn into the story and really start thinking about it, it's a big plus, but it wasn't my primary objective. Coming from an audio engineering background, I completely agree with you that sound is heavily neglected in a lot of shorts you see online, and in a lot of popular recorded music today, a lot of it!
 
jambredz said:
here u go http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004GLDHFO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?ie=UTF8&m=A1KM4QXTQQPGX4
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Awesome, thanks for the recommendation, definitely more in my price range. Guess my only concern would be using the adhesive frame. Since I'm only familiar with the Zacuto gorilla plate setup, does "adhesive frame" mean it needs to be permanently attached to the camera? Worried it may cause issues with the 60D swivel screen when it's needed or when using the camera for photography if it can't be easily removed.
 
you attach the frame to the camera screen (very unobtrusive). then you "snap" the viewfinder into the frame. so the viewfinder can be popped off whenever you want for photography or flipping out the LCD or whatever. its not a problem. I have something similar but its the zfinder "snap" version. The only issue per say is maybe getting more adhesive strips...just incase u need more. The 3M adhesive strips I got from Zacuto is pretty strong... but i got extra ones just in case. I dont know where u get them..but zacuto gave me some free when i asked (of course though i'm there customer). When your installing it to the LCD I attach it and then put a couple heavy books (camera is lens face down). I leave it to "cure" over night. and its all good.

http://vimeo.com/6212699


 here's a vid of the Zfinder and they go through installation (2.12). the Seagull is similar to that...it can even be used with the zfinder frames.
 
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there are cheaper solutions....just do a "hood loupe" search on amazon. but the seagull seems really well built based on reviews and one dvxuser who has used it. you'll need anti fog wipes.
 
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jambredz said:
here's another http://vimeo.com/25464445


http://www.amazon.com/NEEWER-Hoodey...3G6Q/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308748753&sr=8-1
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Thanks for all the recommendations. I initially messed around with the Hoodman because it's cheap, but it didn't really work well with my glasses. The Seagull seems like a good alternative to the Zacuto, and the micro adjustment is a huge plus, just worried that the mounting plate will get in the way when I use the camera for photography, which I do quite often. I'll definitely be renting the Zacuto for any important shoot until I pick one up. It's a shame when you come back with a lot of good looking footage and end up missing focus on a couple of important shots.
 
u can use it for photography just fine...but for storage i'd imagine people would want to store the cam with the back of the lcd exposed (face up)to protect the lcd. this is what may be a problem. for storage then i;d just store it with the finder ON.
 
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