GH2 First paid short film with Gh2

[redman7t]

For those curious I used:
A Panasonic Gh2 hacked with Moon T7 | 2, 6 bank and 2, 2 bank fluorescent lights (Kino flo knock offs) | A R-300 led ring light | Drop cloth for diffusion | Only Zoom H1 for audio (Wish I could of improved on this one)

As you can tell by my equipment I'm a small time amateur. I was blessed to get a paid offer to make a short film to be shown in front of hundreds of people for an upcoming venue. This was my first time directing actors older and in some ways more experienced than I am. The first day of production I was soo stressed didn't eat a good meal for about 12 hours lol It's kinda sad but I pretty much can't recall much of what happened during production on day 1. It's like I blacked out! It's a true miracle I got what I did. Also so many mistakes(audio and video) and unforeseen consequences on my part, at one point I wanted to just scrap it! If this was how being a director was, I wanted no part of it. But eventually my nervousness and anxiety went away and I became more focused and it worked out in the end, thank God. So here it is, a sneak peak of my short film.

PASSWORD: fcmovie

 

[Ian-T]

Nice interpretation of Ruth. There are a few things that I see that could be fixed (audio is one) but I'll leave that for the experts.

 

[redman7t]

Thanks! Yeah that was my main downfall in this. At least now I know not what to do in that aspect.

 

[heri]

Congrats for your first movie, looking forward to see more

A few comments :
- there's some kind of white halo in the image - be careful with the lights
- we hear some kind of AC or fan in the audio - a bit distracting. if you can put the mic closer to the actors next time
- the performances are a bit theatrical. Either you have to tell them to rehearse, warm-up or as a director you need to check each shoot if it was natural enough
- did the guy really pass away?? we can see him breathing, it's like he's sleeping
- focus is a bit off in a few shots

Apart from that, very good photography (lighting, camera framing, camera movement)

 

[Frank Lantern]

Congrats!

Regarding the audio, have you tried to clean it up using a noise gate then EQ then add some compression. It sounds to me like the audio could be processed a bit to make it sound more in your face. As others have mentioned better mic placement would have been ideal but sometimes you gotta go with what you got.

Around minute 2:30 two women are talking and a third character come in. I heard the voice but the cam stayed on the two women. Perhaps I missed something but the transition seemed odd.