Friday The 13th Fan Film that will kick your butt (trailer up!)

joshreluctant

joshreluctant

Well-known member
We've been working on this for some time now, and it was our first scripted project. Doing so, we felt a fan film would give us creative freedom to focus on aspects other than a story, which is what we needed, the practice in pre and post production. So here it is, the fruit of our efforts, and when we're finished shooting, the whole thing will be up for grabs.

www.reluctantproductions.com (file should play in main webpage, if not, you can also download via a link at the site.)



Thanks much, and all comments welcome,
Josh
 
OKay, I am going to go easy and realize this is subjective on my part;

I think it is totally cool you picked a FT13TH Fan Film to do instead some lame ass Star Wars or Indy film. I love horror; and the first 4 FT13TH films have stuck with me from my childhood. Congrats on getting out and getting busy and making something. There is nothing wrong with honing your teeth on this subject matter; as I always say "It beats making lesbian love stories; unless they're hot)

Based on the trailer alone; this doesn't feel like a FT13TH Film. Can I at least get some 'Crystal Lake' ambient music going? You know the "Cha Cha Ch Ha ha ha" vibe?

Your comps aren't too bad; yet they don't appear too good either; at least there is nothing that is blowing me away. It appears it was very run and gun; something I too have been guilty of.

The INT shots are dying for some lighting; at least get some brooder lamps and some 'twisty floros'; cheap and portable and effective.

My suggestion is to watch 'religiously' some FT13TH films (The first 4 IMHO) and study them; shot for shot; emulate them; pay homage and steal from them. Take certain KEY scenes and repeat them; feeling free to enhance and put your own spins on it.

When it comes to JASON. Do not skimp. To me it looked like a dude in a hockey mask and NOT Jason.

What I am getting at is: NOt only will your fan film LOOK and FEEL and SOUND like a TRUE FT13TH film; but you will learn tons in doing this.

On a bright note: Your exposure is nice; still some hot spots in the snow but I do like your levels; your blacks are nice.

This is merely my humblest of opinions


Check this link and rip that Wav:

http://skinnyswavs5.tripod.com/ Look for the FT13TH Wav; re-cut the Trailer using this.
 
Hey, thanks for the honest feedback. I'm the director of the short. We are still very young(teens) so were still learning. The short film has tons of F13 music and ambience, we just wnated a short, fast paced trailer, so we did not include any. We didnt want to exactly copy a Jason film, we wanted to take a charectar and make up a story and make it a bit different, to help hone our skills.

I greatly appreciate your honest feedback, thanks alot.
 
Thanks much

Thanks much

John_Hudson said:
OKay, I am going to go easy and realize this is subjective on my part;

I think it is totally cool you picked a FT13TH Fan Film to do instead some lame ass Star Wars or Indy film. I love horror; and the first 4 FT13TH films have stuck with me from my childhood. Congrats on getting out and getting busy and making something. There is nothing wrong with honing your teeth on this subject matter; as I always say "It beats making lesbian love stories; unless they're hot)

Based on the trailer alone; this doesn't feel like a FT13TH Film. Can I at least get some 'Crystal Lake' ambient music going? You know the "Cha Cha Ch Ha ha ha" vibe?

Your comps aren't too bad; yet they don't appear too good either; at least there is nothing that is blowing me away. It appears it was very run and gun; something I too have been guilty of.

The INT shots are dying for some lighting; at least get some brooder lamps and some 'twisty floros'; cheap and portable and effective.

My suggestion is to watch 'religiously' some FT13TH films (The first 4 IMHO) and study them; shot for shot; emulate them; pay homage and steal from them. Take certain KEY scenes and repeat them; feeling free to enhance and put your own spins on it.

When it comes to JASON. Do not skimp. To me it looked like a dude in a hockey mask and NOT Jason.

What I am getting at is: NOt only will your fan film LOOK and FEEL and SOUND like a TRUE FT13TH film; but you will learn tons in doing this.

On a bright note: Your exposure is nice; still some hot spots in the snow but I do like your levels; your blacks are nice.

This is merely my humblest of opinions


Check this link and rip that Wav:

http://skinnyswavs5.tripod.com/ Look for the FT13TH Wav; re-cut the Trailer using this.
Click to expand...

Thanks TONS for the reply and for the thought put into it. It's much appreciated, and will be kept in mind. Even with all of our preplanning this has been a very hectic shoot. And don't worry about the ch-ch-ah-ah's, they're in the film. Just didn't want to make a cheesy jason trailer, i wanted the trailer to look a little scarier, because in my opinion, the jason trailers usually sucked. But all opinions are welcome, and thanks.

Josh
 
Thanks for understanding; and you know what? I'm still learning too! Everytime I go into POSt I sit there and curse; "WTF! What was I thinking?" "I should have gotten this or that" "That shot sucks!" "The blocking is horrible!"

LOL
 
Ain't it great :D. An expensive little hobby we all share! (ok well some of us are actually pros - I'm just not good enough!).

Interesting trailer. I don't think I have anything to add to Johns comments. He summed everthing up very nicely. I do have one question though, did you shoot this with a 2x anamorphic lens? It seems very wide - a good deal wider than 2.35.
 
That was pretty cool guys. I agree with John about it not visually blowing you away. I think maybe if you worked on colour correction it could look much better. I don't know what NLE program you're using but in Vegas playing with the Color Curves effect can give you some cool results. Also if you don't shoot as much run-and-gun I think overall it will look better.

That being said, I thought the Jason character was really good. Unlike John, I didn't think it was a guy in a hockey mask. Music was really good too. When I just went back and watched the violent bits with Jason it was actually quite scary.

Good luck with your project,
Mike

EDIT: Just to add after reading Shaw's post, it did seem a little too widescreen, more like a strip than cinemascope. If you just cropped the image maybe consider changing it to like 720 x 327 (that's the PAL 2.35:1 resolution), so something around there would be good.
 
progress

progress

I did like the music and a couple of the shots coming down the driveway, really do play with color correcting your shots though you will be able to set the mood you could even turn day to night making it more ominous, err however u spell that. Keep it up!
 
Shaw said:
I do have one question though, did you shoot this with a 2x anamorphic lens? It seems very wide - a good deal wider than 2.35.
Click to expand...

Same thing I was just going to ask. How do you get a screen size like that, and how do you export it in that size? I'm stumped.
 
Well what we did was we shot on 1:85, on the DVX standard setting, and we shot matted, not stretched. Then in post, we matted it for 2:35. I exported the file a little bit wider than I should have, that will need to be fixed tonight when I get home (I'm still in school, American History, it sucks). And then when all our footage is completed, we'll probably cut a proper theatrical style trailer while finishing the color correction on the film.

Also, a quick question. I've seen a lot of films on DVX user, and they all have a definite look to themselves, I feel our films still look they're shoot on your low end mini dv cameras. I was wondering any color correcting techniques, or iris you could use to improve the quality of the film and not have a grainy image. Or even taking this film, and I could put up stills, and just show me some color correction. i'm just new to it and want to improve.

Josh
 
Did you shoot in 24p mode? I'm just wondering becuase I tend to think that the ' film look' doens't come from that too much, more the gamma curves and panasonics high qual. electronics. I dont have a DVX so I may be totaly off.

I just know when when some people post screen shots, some peoples shot look very nice... professional and high quality, while others do not. I dont see how 24p can make a difference there, since it's a still frame. And when you post an interlaced screen shot most people deinterlace them anyway, so....

It's just that I've seen some stuff shot on 24p and it's looks like anyother camera. What seems to matter is getting a shallower depth of field, lighting, color correction, and having good audio.
 
1. What do you you mean you shot 1:85, does the DVX have a setting for that aspect ratio, or did you just mask the viewfinder and then in post matted it ?

2. I think the easiest way to get a more filmic look is to use an S- Gamma curve, but don't quote me since I still have a gazillion things to learn myself.

Thanks,
Derrick
 
Adjusting the Contrast/Brightness Ratio with a stylized Color Correction and fine tuning your Levels can really contribute to the masta film look.

This is assuming you shoot 24p and treat the shoot like you should with proper lighting, blocking and compositions.

IMHO
 
John_Hudson said:
Adjusting the Contrast/Brightness Ratio with a stylized Color Correction and fine tuning your Levels can really contribute to the masta film look.

This is assuming you shoot 24p and treat the shoot like you should with proper lighting, blocking and compositions.

IMHO
Click to expand...

What if you shot 60i and then exported the footage as 24i, what difference would that make? :cheesy: Or , not much diff. unless you combine it with the above stuff, right?
 
You mean 60i deinterlaced? (No 24i available). Of course, all of those things make a difference. Look at the work we have all seen with the XL1. Wheter it be 60i or Frame Mode I have seen some very filmic work with that camera.

In the long run; I think the 24p goes a lot farther than people give it credit for. COnsider the 24p the icing on the cake; and really? What good is the cake without the icing?
 
John_Hudson said:
COnsider the 24p the icing on the cake; and really? What good is the cake without the icing?
Click to expand...

yeah, see your point.

You mean 60i deinterlaced? (No 24i available).
Click to expand...

No i mean shoot in 60i and then capture the footage into your program ( premiere ) and then export it back uncompressed as 24 fps without deinterlacing... would that work? But there is also a selection to deinterlace the footage.
 
Not usre; I have never done that. I use V4 and always shoot 24p. (I actually used 60i the first day I had the camera but have never used it since)
 
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