comments on my first project with my new DVX

B

blazingoat

Carbonite Member
Hello everyone!

I just got my DVX100a two weeks ago. We just wraped on my first project that I've shot with it. It's a short documentary on "alternative families". I'm a film student and we all had to shoot short docs in crews of 4. All the other crews used the school's xl1's and pd150s, but I decided to use my new DVX.

Anyways, like i said, I'm still a student, so be nice! But I really want some feedback on some of the shots. I took some stills from the raw footage in the DV rack demo. (They're posted below)... they look really crappy though (for stills). I duno what's up with DVrack (first time i'm using it). I can get better quality stills through premiere, but i don't have time to do that right now. But stills suck anyways... I wish i had some way to post some clips....

I just took a few frames from some of our principal interviews. I'd really like some coments on the lighting/composition etc. I'm going to try and post a finsihed version once we're finsihed editing (over the next few weeks). Like i said, we just wrapped and I'd really like some comments on the raw footage. I'm impressed with the camera but not with my cinematography. I NEED HELP!

Thanks for all your help, eveyone. This community has really gotten me going with my new cam.

Here are the stills:

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Re: comments on my first project with my new DVX

They look good. Your main problem is lighting, needs more modeling. Try adding a kicker or backlight. Be sure to use Photoshop to De-Interlace the grabs. Other than that they look very good. Nice job. You might want to relocate this thread to the screen grabs section, you'll get more replies.
 
Re: comments on my first project with my new DVX

Hey, congrats on your first project!

In the first three shots (first scene), the colors of the setting are fabulous…so good choice in placing your shot. I like that you used a reverse key, but you should have used a soft light. The hard edge shadow of the nose has got to go, it rarely looks attractive on anyone and it just screams “there’s a big harsh light over there!”. You can really see where you put the light when you look at the shadows on the background objects. I would have gone with a more diffuse source…either a softbox, a silk or a bounce. I probably would have placed it a bit higher. An alternative would be to use the same source you did, but place it higher and bounce a little bit for the camera side of the face to even out the shadows.

The second shot looks okay, he seems a bit green though, so I’d do a correction on his skin tone.

Third scene, again very harsh shadowing. You seem to have three different color temperatures going between the desk lamp, the candlelight and whatever is your source. Unfortunately, this makes your subjects very pink. Looking at it again, it looks like the desk lamp is your source? I think your scene would look better if the desk lamp wasn’t as bright in the frame…as it dominates the scene and you end up loosing detail in all the other corners of your frame. A little bit of light on the far wall, and a little bit of light below the woman’s knee would have balanced out the frame in terms of contrast. Lighting people with glasses is hard, as you can see the hard edge shadows from the frames…thus it would have been better to place a soft source somewhere as a fill or subject key.

Fourth scene. You’ve got some well lit oranges, bananas and liquor! Unfortunately, the left half of the scene seems quite dull in contrast to the bright highlights on the fruit. I like the cool light, but your subject and couch take on a slight green hue again. I think a slight levels adjustment would punch up your subject a bit, but with the oranges and everything being so bright…it wouldn’t help. I like the subject’s facial lighting in this one, it just needs a little bit more illumination for me personally along with a little bit of a backlight on the camera left side of the head.

Fifth, very unflattering. The framing is kinda vanilla, and the lighting really doesn’t complement the scene. Did you use existing overhead fluorescent lighting? People with puffy eyes don’t look very good with overhead lighting, they need soft frontal sources. Tonally, she’s very dark while the chair a few inches behind is very bright…so it doesn’t favor the subject at a..

Sixth looks fine, again maybe a slight green hue to the picture, but otherwise nice.

Finally, seventh. I’m not sure I like the composition, as I’d like a tiny bit of headroom in this frame if you keep the elbow in. The shirt is illuminated a bit much for my tastes, as it dominates the scene. It’s both the most colorful and brightest object in the scene, but it’s not the most important. I think I would have moved the light on the camera right side a bit more frontal, you’ve got that slight band of darkness splitting his left eye, and that nose shadow again. So I think I’d just change one of the sources to a diffused light and put some illumination somewhere in the background, maybe on the pot holding the plant.

Overall, very good. Most of the framing is probably close to what I’d do. I tend to have my subjects look a little closer to camera, but that’s personal choice. Congrats, now you get to edit!
 
Re: comments on my first project with my new DVX

Nice post Barnes. I'm glad I'm one of your first declared fans on those boards. Although some of what you said is a matter of personal taste (and you made it very vlear stressing it out), you made probably the most useful critique on frame grabs I've read over here. I wouldn't know where to start, especially because my taste is so different of the ones in the images shown.

I can also say I'm a fellow student and have seen a lot of student work. Yours is very nice comparatively. If I should guess, I'd say the same story I can tell, you did not have acess to a better, more delicate light kit and were stuck with some totas and their respective acessories...

I think you have nothing to loose by listening to J_Barnes advice, but congratulatoins, anyway!

Cheers!
 
Re: comments on my first project with my new DVX

Woo Hoo! Big J hits another one out the park!

Mr. Goat, if you take a day and experiment with bouncing light off of a variety of surfaces, you'll really begin to understand one of the most important and least understood aspects of lighting.

Controlled bouncing can bring a multitude of different lighting options to any source, and I dare say that if you become experienced with bounced light...you can light almost any scene you want with a bunch of totas alone.
 
Re: comments on my first project with my new DVX

Thanks for the relpys!

I agree with everything you've said, J_barnes. Thank you very much for taking the time to write out those detailed thoughts. They have helped me IMENSLY.

Tabukin, Yeah all we had were 3 arri 500w lights, 1 set of barn doors, one half stop scrim and some gel. It's the worst "lighting package" I have ever been witness to. haha.

The first scene was shot in a basement apartment with incredibly low cielings and very cramped space. I would have liked to have the key light higher, but it was touching the cieling! Also, didn't have a soft box or any way to bounce... A chimera would have been more to my liking :) Also, no way to take down the intensity of the key, as it could not be backed up further and we were using our one and only scrim... haha.

The fourth grab, was shot outdoors in a park with available lighting and polarizer. I'm not sure i agree about the green, but will definatly check it out when we do color correction.

The fith grab, again you're totally right about the harsh shadows. After seeing how these shots turned out, i think i'm going to invest in my own softbox/chimera, just so that I know I will always have it on set. And yeah, their flesh tones are way off. It's color correcting time!

The sixth grab, i'm pretty happy with the lighting in this one as well, I agree that his face could be a little brighter overall.

The seventh grab was an impovsed setup with no time for lighting, and you're absolutley correct about how unflatering it is. Oddly i think it will work with our piece because she needs to be portrayed in this manner :)

The eighth i think needs some more contrast and the framing sucks.. it was again a run and gun "streeter" interview.

The ninth is the one I hate the most. It's just horrible. We had 5minutes to setup, cause the guy had to leave, and the location was horrible.

But yeah, thanks for the tips!!!! I'm going to try and post some color-corrected versions for some more oppinions.
 
Re: comments on my first project with my new DVX

YOU NEED TO WORK ON YOU LIGHTING ... YOU SHOULD LIGHT FACING THE CAMERA THAT WAY THE SHADOW IS OUT LINING THE FACE.... IF YOU DON'T HAVE A SOFT BOX YOU NEED TO BACK YOUR LIGHT IS UP A BIT, YOU DON'T NEED A LOT OF LIGHT TO MAKE IT LOOK GOOD JUST AN EVEN AMOUNT.


Roderick Finch
 
Re: comments on my first project with my new DVX

You are doing better at three point lighting than a lot of grabs I see here. Keep working at it.

Numbers 1, 2, and 3: My thought is that yellow as a background is not her color. She's a redhead, so my first inclination is a dark background and really hit the hair light hard. But you may have just been working with whatever was available.

Number 4 is fine, a little soft maybe. But it looks like you've captured that guy's personality.

I think number 5 is fine, although the composition looks a little less than optimal. Sometimes it is hard to arrange people just the way you want 'em!

I think number 6 is outstanding. I love how that guy's hair kind of stands up, and I like the soft shine of the bottles and statuette.

Number 7: another redhead! Highlight that hair, dammit! A white chair washes her out, and you need a sharper key light here.

Number 8: fine. The woman's good looks carry the picture.

Number 9: not too bad. I would have begged this guy to wear a black turtleneck sweater, if he had one.

Thanks for sharing, keep up your studies, you are well on your way.
 
Re: comments on my first project with my new DVX

where are you going to film school>?

I also am a film student... just curious.. quite like the shots... no real feedback from me though...

requires to much at this time ;)
 
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