first 'book video': how to make jams, jellies and marmalades

[averan]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCiRFdsI26A

any feedback/comments welcome!
the author wanted something similar to the look/feel of the movie "Amelie". i'm not sure how well i was able to achieve it, but feel i'm not too far off.

the interview shots were underexposed for the subject.
i made the mistake of trying to get the whole frame within limits....to not clip the sky/leaves outside too much, but this resulted in a less than perfect image. i changed the curves a bit in post to bring it up, but still, you can see the result of underexposing your subject!

i also had some fluorescent lights in that small kitchen as there wasn't enough ambient light.
used my slider for several shots.
the publisher wanted a lot of images from the book to be used...more than i would prefer, so excuse the 'slideshow' section in the middle.
i ran the finalcut through After Effects and applied the 'remove grain' effect...perhaps overdoing it on some shots which made them a little too soft, but when used right, this effect can work miracles to clean up an image!!

 

[matt s.]

Not bad but if you were concerned about blowing out the windows I would have rearranged the girl for the shot and used the natural lightas a key or fill rather than a backlight so to speak.

 

[averan]

i actually had her positioned to take advantage of the sunlight coming in through a window on the right side of the frame as the key and supplemented that with a softbox, trying to even out the levels to avoid clipping behind her.

thanks for your feedback matt. =)
looking forward to checking out your new movie when you're ready to share it online!

 

[matt s.]

All in all I thought your video looked good and natural. I have only watched it on my iPhone though and it looked great on it. Looks like the author may be a little obsessed with Amelie

 

[averan]

thanks. the iphone/ipad test is how i judge my work too.
i've got a good workflow figured out that allows me to keep visual quality all the way through to the final h.264/mp4 youtube export. took me a while to get that sorted out!

 

[modus]

Looks like the author may be a little obsessed with Amelie

Yeah, I agree. She went a little overboard with the outfit and makeup. They don't match the personality that came across in the interview.

Your work, however, was great. Excellent use of the camera tracking and I thought it flowed very well.

 

[modus]

thanks. the iphone/ipad test is how i judge my work too.
i've got a good workflow figured out that allows me to keep visual quality all the way through to the final h.264/mp4 youtube export. took me a while to get that sorted out!

You use your iphone/ipad on-set? Or in post?

 

[averan]

no, no...i just like to check my work on my friends' iphones. if it still looks good there, then i'm happy. =)
i have no reason to own either an iphone or ipad, but the HTC EVO coming out this summer with hdmi input is very enticing! otherwise, i'm one of those people who just wants my phone to make phone calls.