Doppelganger - a web series shot on Red

Cool stuff. Personally I like the washed out look and don't think it looks over exposed. I do see the information where it's needed. It's exposed nicely, just blown out for aesthetic purposes, and I like the over all look/style. The people that think it's over-exposed just don't like the look, simple as that.

One thing that bugs me is that you're shooting very filmic, using a red, yet the special effects don't do it justice. The two day to night shots (fake time lapse shots) really didn't look convincing. With the street lamp I was just paying attention to this strange light coming from the street lamp and I didn't realize it had gotten dark. Then the same with the house time lapse, all I was paying attention to was the way the house was cut out to replace the sky behind it.

Lastly, the radar, aside from it being strange that the car was technically coming towards the radar (which I guess means that there's a radar station ahead of the car?), it looked a bit off, especially with the look you have going. Just a simple square monitor with a dark (close to black) map and a red dot on it moving would have worked a lot more convincinly, and felt more like a tracker rather than a radar station in the middle of the city.

As for story, it's okay. It's tickled my interest, but I'm not holding on saying "what's going to happen next!?" I think the problem is that I don't know who this guy is, and thus, don't really care for his survival, and I'm not inclinded to put myself into his shoes.

Now this is a web series, and we can't bore audiences with... well... time. So what should have been done is that his character gets revealed through the actions of the story right from the begining. It should have come out through how he treats his sister, or his parents, or his friend. Also, right now it just feels like he's just riding along with the story rather than shaping it.

Anyways, it's looking good. Hope to see more!
 
I'm not going to comment on the content or the image. I do have to say that bwwd didn't make a bad point, and I see where he's coming from. Whether it was an artistic choice or not, that's whoever's business, but I saw a bit of what he mentioned and I think his opinion is valid.

The reactions to his comments are what make people afraid to speak what they really think, and it's the same reason a lot of people who could use a little constructive criticism don't get it, because others jump in behind posters and start backhanding their thoughts.

Might have been able to put it in a different way? But in the future the thoughts on overexposed whites might come in handy to Sean or his DP.

In my experience with the RED, even a compressed image that was properly handled in the acquisition stages and, beyond, treated well in post, will still see pretty, honest highlights.

I see some things that I would have commented on but after the backlash bwwd got I'm going to bow out.

Good Luck with the remainder of the series.
 
sean90291 said:
Thanks Justin! I'm glad you took a moment to watch!

It is a lot of camera for the web, you're right. But don't you find you're always shooting dramas with a 35mm adapter anyway? I'm not as interested in the resolution (especially for web series, as you point out), but I do like the shallow depth of field. I made a bunch of shorts with a Redrock adapter, but it wore me out after a while. Adapters are just very fussy pieces of equipment. Red is just really heavy!
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So do you find it's an easy camera to use once you get the workflow down? What's your turnaround on one of these episodes? How about a music video or a 30-60 second spot?
 
Justin, I find that the Red is a bit labour intensive to use. I think we might all be a bit relieved when the DSLR's are shooting 24p with manual controls, because the weight and size of Red slows me down a lot. Everything needs to be bigger than I was used to. The tripod. The dolly. My biceps. I'm really excited by the new DSLR type video cameras because they are so light and portable.

Turnaround on the episodes was fast, with a one day shoot and a couple weeks of post. I would expect that a music video could be done faster than that. But Red footage does take a lot of extra time in post because the files are too big!

Thanks for watching Kholi.

And Jon, thanks for the thoughts. The episodes are so slight and small it's hard to get it all in there. It's almost like a teaser. I hope to be able to get more into the characters in the future. I think that rather than trying to pack in so many locations, I'd also limit it to a scene or two so the characters can breathe. That might go some way to addressing your concerns too.
 
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I shoot all my stuff on an HVX and now that I've got the bigger cards so I don't have to worry about space (still do; just on my drive, not my card) the workflow is generally quite painless. So I'm looking forward to first look at Scarlet. The videos that DSLRs make are pretty but you don't retain as much control as you might otherwise I gather. Plus recording separate sync sound I don't wanna deal with.
 
No problem, Sean.

On the RED and labor-- You think it takes more than a 35mm Adapter setup? I think it's a lot easier to run-and-gun than an HPX170+Adapter.

I'm looking forward to the GH-1 myself, though. See what you can get out of that system for web projects.
 
Maybe I didn't say what I meant properly: I found 35mm adapters took more work and were fussier (with compromised results), but the Red was heavier and took heavier equipment than any of my adapter setups. Maybe because I mainly used an HV20 + adapter. That was still pretty lightweight for handheld in comparison to Red. I think you're right that the GH-1 sounds totally cool. I bet they sell a gazillion of them. It's going to do 24p right?

Justin I'm still seeing really beautiful stuff on HVX with adapters. Have you seen the trailers for Deuce of Spades? Wow. Check out Faith's thread on DVXuser and watch one. They look gorgeous.
 
I did watch that trailer. She's like Rodreguiz squared.

I don't use an adapter though. I would if I felt like I could afford it, and I maybe can right now, but now doesn't feel like the right time to buy camera-specific gear with Scarlet about to drop. Shooting hip-hop stuff I don't really need shallow DOF anyway--I shoot a lot of stuff full wide for that barrel distortion. But that stuff goes to TV. Hence my comment "that's a lot of camera for the web"--I'm jealous, of course. :Drogar-Evil(DBG):
 
Thanks for checking it out Nate.

And hey, who wants to wait around in a world of one billion online videos huh? ;-)


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