Day 1 on my feature film (consumer camera)

Your story seems quite similar to a frustrated young individual that had to be thrown out (of the forums) not too long ago...
 
*GASP*

its-a-trap1.jpg
 
Day 4 guys! It was horrible. I got my dolly working real nice and smooth now since I bought the metal pipes. It works awesome. But everything else was just horrible! Grrr...it sucks to know when you spent an entire shooting day and it was just a waste. Here's my situation.

But me and my friend just got a great idea for the beginning part to make the movie more interested.

When we were shooting, a guy asked us what we were doing and we told him and he said that if we need an actor, just to call up.

After the shoot today, we went to my house, got free pizza as a donation this local pizza place (in exchange for publicity) and then we swam in my pool. That was basically the day.

Talk to you guys later!
 
I have a question. Do you guys have any idea on how to film a chase scene? Like an on foot chase scene? I tried to just run a long side the talent with a monopod but it was way too hard because they run fast and for me to keep it steady it's hard. Not even a steady cam would work. But do you guys have any ideas? My friend said to film from inside a car but that would disable me from shooting through alley ways and gardens and backyards and stuff (you know)? So let me know if you guys have any ideas. (and no, I am not going to build a 100' dolly track. lol!) Peace!
 
Terry_Lasater said:
Monte, Congratulations on your new title here at DVXuser.com! :happy:
Click to expand...

I thought a custom title would be cool... not anymore. I'm happy with "gold member" thanks.
 
I didn't mean the $7,000 steadicams I meant like the cheapy ones that you can build yourself. You would fall down trying to use one of those things. Lol!

Monte, you said my footage is decent. I know the first day wasn't all that great, but how about the second day? Well, what can I do to make my footage look better? (not quality wise but shots wise...you know?)

Thanks for your help.

And trust me Brian, I am using your advice. I'm always trying new things and see what works best.
 
The "stabalizers" you build yourself aren't steadicams since they don't have gimbals. It's like someone taping together three sticks and telling you it's a tripod even though it won't hold a camera: the central concept is missing so the product itself doesn't function remotely as it should. I use a glidecam 200 (about 250 dollars) with my dvx and can't say enough good things about it and it's great for smaller cameras, too. Otherwise, Dan's book on camera rigs has plans to build one for about 60 dollars that actually has a gimbal system built in and looks awesome for the money. Of course, any stabilizer takes a LOT of practice to get good with. Using no stabilizer can work, too, but takes even more practice. For a chase scene, I'd do some combination jib/crane moves and a few handheld shots just because I love how this looks but the entirely handheld thing could work to your advantage if you cut fast and get good coverage: Doug Liman is all about this style and I like it a lot, others say it makes them feel sick. In terms of getting better footage in general, lighting and camera movement are everything. A lot of movies today have camera movement in about 90% of shots because it makes the frame seem more dynamic, and most importantly, more three dimensional since there's less of an illusion of perspective if nothing moves.

The first day was terrible, by the way, but the second day was pretty good. Nice lighting, much better editing, etc. Keep it up.
 
thanks Brian.
Hey Policar, what do you mean cut fast and get good coverage. I know what you mean, but not really. Do you mean like in editing, to cut back and forth through different angles? And to get good coverage like to do it many times with different angles? Is that what you're saying?

Also, you said lighting and movement. When I reshoot my first day, how should I do it to make it better? I think the lighting is fine but how about everything else? I think the sound is fine too, but what else should I do? My dolly is really smooth now so I can work that out better. I can stop the zooming when he walks up. What else do you have in mind to make it better?
 
Good coverage means get each action from a bunch of angles so that it's all very clear and edits together well. Try to follow the 180 degree rule, too, or use camera movement to re-establish the axis of action when necessary and if your characters are far apart so that they are not onscreen at the same time, you might want to repeat angles and camera moves each time one runs by the same location: the brain subconciously links the shot to the location, so it's much simpler in terms of establishing space and spatial relations and makes the scene clearer for the viewer. Also, think abou the rhythm of the figure movment. These people are running, driving, or whatever they're doing fast. Compliment that with fast music, fast pans and tilts, crash zooms (probably not possible on a consumer camera and cheesy anyhow, so maybe avoid zooms), and really fast cuts. You want the photography (handheld camera and close ups) to compliment the music and sound effects (fast music, footsteps) to compliment the editing (lots of fast cuts) to compliment the action (people chasing each other.) You have to deal with four things: sound, photography, figure movement (mis-en-scene in general), and editing. Have them all work together, and establish similar rhythms. Watching chases scenes with the sound off is indeed a great idea and I support doing that as well since it really makes you think about how and why the photography works by isolating it from the sound (in fact, it's what I plan to do before shooting my next "project" which is doomed to failure for any number of reasons.)

As for the first scene, I'm too busy to analyze it fully, but here goes based on the first link you posted: so far as I can tell, you didn't light for the first day. That's fine, you don't need to light at day. Just shoot after 4pm and you're set (or in the morning, just avoid noon.) The first shot was terrible because it was shakey and off center. Just make it a simple pan maybe, or a dolly. No zooms at all. Your next cut was to a very similar camera angle with the character in a noticeably different location moving more quickly: it was a jump cut, basically, and that destroys continuity. The character also had no headroom (keep room in front of him, not in back), and you cut way too quickly from it. I'd lose that shot altogether. The next shot was shakey, too. The conversation works as basic shot/reverse shot, but I'd use two close ups intead of one close up and one medium two shot. It just cuts together much better. Also, you did handheld (never do handheld in scenes like this) and you didn't zoom in. The wide angle lens expands space, makes lines bulge, and distracts the eye. Stand further from the characters, shoot them in similar shots (either two close ups, or two medium one shots, I'd opt for close ups once you've established location, and cuts to a single medium two shot when there's significant figure movement) and ZOOM IN from a tripod so that you don't get that cheesy wide angle look. By compressing space, you get a shallower depth of focus and less stuff behind the faces. Also, shooting close ups with telephoto lenses instead of wide angle lenses makes the talent look more attractive (honestly, it's true!) When you do handheld work, though (and this scene shouldn't have any), you should zoom out all the way, though, since telephoto lenses magnify shakiness.

That was way too long, but I don't have time to edit it all or go over any of it so I'm sure it's redundant and full of typos. Anyhow, good luck with the rest of the shoot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top