Dark grabs from Short

Drew599

Drew599

Veteran
These are two grabs are from a short that I should have done by next week sometime. I know the second one looks dark but this isn't suppose to be a happy shinny short. I wanted to use practical light sources in this short. Projection booths are dark all the time and I believe that you don't need to see much to figure out what is going on in a frame. So most of the footage from this short is dark because it would look fake as all hell if I lit it up. The b/w ones are from a flashback sequence. Plus the time we had to shoot and the schedule would have made it very hard to do the lighting good. Maybe next time.

Shards-pic1.jpg

Shards-pic2.jpg

Shards-pic3.jpg

Shards-pic4.jpg
:)
 
Re: Dark grabs from Short

I really like the last two. That looks good.
I like the second pic a lot too. I think the light on the right side of the wall is throwing it off a bit though.
But this is good. Can't wait to see the short.
 
Re: Dark grabs from Short

The second one imo is the most atmospheric and my favorite. Sure the B&W stuff is ok, but B&W, especially an extreme closeup, is pretty easy to nail honestly.

The first one COULD be ok but is in dire need of cc as it reeks of video. The colors are washed out and you have poor DOF. Also the layout is odd because your shot is slight leaning to the left. Its not quite off kilter enough to look drastic, and its not straight enough to look proper, it just looks kinda sloppy.

Please dont take this as insulting at all btw, believe me my crap looks just like what it is, crap.
 
Re: Dark grabs from Short

The second one is great!
// I can't wait to see how you nailed dark shots!
// I had some experience lately so I'm very curious about your footage!

I don't like B&W... I don't know why but it doesn't speak to me....
 
Re: Dark grabs from Short

Thanks for the comments everyone. Lucidz, when I shot that stair shot it looked pretty damn level. But when I put on the 1.85 matte it showed how crooked it was. It's been bothering me also so I might try and fix it. Now that I just looked at it again I think the stairs are a little slanted to one side and I might have been off it the right just a litle bit.

I'm glad you guys like the second grab. Most of the time I post stuff like that and all I hear is that its too dark. So...thanks. I'll try and get the short up if I can when its done. The only problem is that its running just shy of 24 minutes and I've been trying to thin it down. I'll at least get some clips up when I have the music finished.
 
Re: Dark grabs from Short

the last two are nice :o, I agree that the first shot is very video looking. VERY.

depending on the storyline your slanted image may work out for you. Please treat that image though. Maybe Hudson will have a go at it

If I were you id try going totally b&w for your film. Just my .02
 
Re: Dark grabs from Short

Darkstyle8, b&w wouldn't be that bad of an idea. Just for this short I don't think it would work very well. The b&w is being used just for flashback stuff...if you could call it a flashback sequence. The main character is shown a couple images from someone else's past. So I guess it really isn't a flashback. Also I think the reason why the first shot looks so much like video is because of the colors in the theater lobby. I might try and tweak it a little. If I do I'll post it for the groups two cents.
 
Re: Dark grabs from Short

No anamorphic adapter. I just try and keep really good focus. The anamorphic sounds like a good idea but I keep hearing about focus problems. Plus I didn't want any more glass for the light to go through.
 
Re: Dark grabs from Short

Also the reason why the pics might look sharp is because I used a different program to capture the frames. I used a program called "Capture Me", works really great.
 
Re: Dark grabs from Short

Although the first one is a bit washed out and not very contrasty and with deep focus, it does give me a sense of something's wrong, in an errie way. I'm reminded of the muted colours of The Shinning. Remember those jump cut shots of the twin girls in the corridor? Still spooks me out when I watch it. Anyway the first grab reminded me of that scene, if only there weren't so many bright highlights from reflections of the overhead down lights. Took the attention away from the kid walking into something we can't see. The red carpet probably did something to bring me back to The Shinning too. I don't know what the rest of the film looks like, or how you intend to grade, but seeing your b&w are quite contrasty (those blacks are super black!), having the colour "real life" shots a bit muted might be an interesting juxtaposition with the flash backs. It looks as though the flashback scenes have a confrontational intent, while the real life shots set the mood and drive the narrative. Anyway, I'm just guessing from 4 grabs. So I could be way off. In any case, cc would still be required to get the muted colour film look. So I guess it doesn't save you any work really.

I'm with darkstyle8 about the slight crookedness of the shot. It would bother me if it was a locked off shot. If it was a handheld following shot then I'd probably like it. It could bring just the right amount of unease to the visual. Again, I'm guessing the context of that shot.

Some fill might've made the lighting of the second shot a bit tidier but not essential by the looks of it. The only thing that distracted my eyes (as also mentioned by IncMedia) is the bright light on the right. It took the immediate focus away from the character. However, this is a still shot. So it could well not be an issue depending on how it's cut and how the shot moves. That's just my first impression of the still grab.

So, a whole lotta guessing and rambling from me. These are all shots I'd be happy to call my own. Good luck with the film. I'd be keen to see these shots in motion and find out what the story is all about.
 
Re: Dark grabs from Short

Wing, you have some good guesses about the short. The flashbacks are suppose to be confrontational. That's why I wanted to do the really contrasty b&w. Plus the effect I did in FCP makes it look really gritty and some of them are inverted b&w. That crooked shot was done on a tripod, not handheld. So that whole crooked thing is all my fault. The shot is locked off and the guy is just going up the stairs. In a couple days I'm going to post some clips of the flashback stuff. So stay tuned.
 
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