Code 10-60 DVXuser shortfilm

wsup austin...cant wait fro the film cuz i like ur work. U get amazing quality online...crazy! i saw the "dolly film" man that looks good. what where ur export settings. Also what time of day was that shot? daylight and u just graded it. Looks reallly good. favourite shot was the push in while she was reading. Theres an frame with artifacting in there.

Anyway nice work. Hurry up with that blog showign the set and lighting set ups.
 
The dolly short was filmed in the late evening then I just graded it. I just export as an H.264 with a high bitrate.

The next video blog will be about the setup for the short and then the following will be all behind the scenes of the 2 day shoot on the weekend.

I also did notice the artifacting when i push right when she first starts reading, I cleaned my heads the next day.
 
link doesnt work....had to use ur signiture. Cool photos...wish there were more. Cant wait till i get an adapter....sgblade :)
 
Day 2! Shooting is over!

We had a full 9 hour day today. There first scene took 26 takes for the one angle! At that point we took a break and we got it on the 27th.

I changed up a lot of the camera angles and moves plus there was a lot more movment at this point with the actors so going over blocking was a bit frustrating at times but through a bunch of practice shots and dozens of times acting it out we finally got all of the difficult shots done and we finished!

What I have learned from this:

Rehearse! There was no way I could get everyone together before hand to rehearse, it just would not happen. I knew that it would take more time when everyone was here and ready to go, but rehearsing together on the days of shooting worked out since the lines and blocking was fresh in theirs minds and we were able to get multiple takes to work with.

LIGHTS!!! Light is a great thing, I have never really lit large areas like this before (which you will see in the weeks to come). There was a few long camera moves that involved lighting a bunch of areas and at some points I had all 5 lights, plus practicals going.

Crew! I knew right from the begging that since no one was really interested in working on this since some people (no names) shunned the script after the first draft... Doing everything myself was a challenge and the worst part was that in between takes and setting up I could not talk to the actors like I wanted to and instead had to worry about everything else. Either way for one person doing all the work, I came in ahead of schedule.

The last thing I think everyone should remember is that you should not really care what people think of your script to some extent. When I had people read the first draft 75% liked it, the rest didnt and I took suggestions and worked with them, by the sixth edit and the final copy, I had enough people interested and got an actress that does paid gigs to work on film.

At the end of the day, I am happy with what I accomplished in less than 30 days. From getting screwed over for weeks of pre-production for something that didnt happen, to proving to myself that I can make a film all on my own with no one helping me. I am pretty damn happy.

If you want it done right, do it yourself.
 
duno bout the "if u want it done right do it by urself " bit....but i'm glad u got it done. Man i wish i was around there so i could help out. I'm kinda starved for people that wanna do stuff like that. Anyhoo...def want to see all the bts stuff.
 
I did not realize those were made until after I finished writting it. I can assure you it is nothing like the episode, the shortfilm, or the box. There is enough twists to make sure it is nothing like those. The only similar thing is the money.
 
Austinv said:
I did not realize those were made until after I finished writting it. I can assure you it is nothing like the episode, the shortfilm, or the box. There is enough twists to make sure it is nothing like those. The only similar thing is the money.
Click to expand...

yea it seams like an idea a lot of people wander, how far they would go for money... im looking forward to see how you turn it. (my favorite ending was the twilight zone episode btw).
 
In a few weeks it will be posted, rough editing is done, and I am now work on all the sound design and then colour correction.
 
hey Austin...been wating for this i had to go on vimeo to watch it cuz for some reason it wouldnt load here. Anyway congrats on completing ur film. I really admire that you went out and did your thing. So lemi delve into some critique.

First off i like the colour grading ...the look and the quality u got on vimeo. goodstuff. But i felt the audio and the acting killed your film. the acting wasnt good all round. I'm not an audio guy so i cant really tell u how to fix it...but it needs fixing (ask member c2v for audio advice, he knows his stuff). levels are jumping all over the place some scenes. It seems u used off mic audio...meaning say u had a 2 shot and one person is mic up....u use the audio of the other person thats not mic also in there...so one will sound good,then u can harldy hear what the other person says. And the audio from clip to clip doesnt transition well...some clips u hear rain i think it was...then some u dont and the levels from clip to clip is off sometimes. Audio is a whole nother beast which i duno bout so i cant even help u there.
The acting wasnt good. The lead guy's performance was the worst in my opinion...the lead girl doing the best even though still not really good. Are these actors or friends? if its friends then i understand. Now i'll go into a little more detail.

1. focusing issues all throughout. i guess cuz of the letus

2. 1.12 the framing of that shot is off. both people are framed on the left. they are 2 close to each other and the lead guy is cut off...looks very off. next time frame the guy left but dont cut him off and the girl in the middle of the frame.

3. at 1.10 that cut from medium 2 shot to the OTS. you break the 180 rule and he goes from right of frame to left of frame. then through out the discussion at the table u break the 180 degree rule again hence the guy is jumping from left to right of frame in each cut. a bit disorienting.

4. 1.41 follow the actor so he doesnt get chopped off when he gets up...or just redo the take

5. cut at 1.46 needs to be better....he was sitting down...then cut to him already standing up

6. 2.14 i see ur rig shadow dollying :D

7. watch ur framing again a 2.37. I realise Brooke is the focus but she is addressing the lead guy...but u cut off half his head. Oh btw brook he knows ur name cuz the lead said it :)

8. when the Lead says call the police its so unconvincing. then when he's asking why they are there...very unconvincing....but i wouldnt put it squarely on his shoulders as the script is a bit wierd there. He's asking why they are there...then they tell him.and he then says he knows ?? i dont get that.

9. cut at 7.26 is also weird. its a jump cut but i dont see why u used it. we have a medium shot of the front door and u cut to a medium of her running to the door...or mid way running cuz she just appears.

10. 9.01 i'm a stickler for continuity ..he was smoking..put his hand down...then we cut to his hand up smoking already.

11.lighting was harsh from the shadows cast...normal household bulbs are usually a soft source. lots of harsh shadows around there. i thought i saw sound china lanterns in the BTS how comes the shadows where so harsh and defined on the walls?

12. the gun scene is also quite unconvincing thanks to the lead...and also the script. I just didnt think the actions were motivated enough.

Hope this critique helps you in ur upcoming films. I picked it apart i know and alot of the things i said def can be overlooked cuz viewers dont notice those stuff, but if the audio was good i sure could have alos overlooked the acting and i;m sure it would have smoothed things over alot better. Keep on shooting man. I like watching ur stuff...looking forward to the next film.
 
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Hey man,

Overall I liked your short, 7.5/10 Kudos, I agree with jambreds that the audio is Terribad, very hollow and jumpy levels, also you can see rig shadows and your sutdio lights reflecting in the shots. Acting was decent, that didnt throw me off as much as the audio did.

The good, the shots were great ^.^ loved the dolly work and the focus work whilst dollying, there were few shots the were out of focus. nice work. :D
 
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