Hostage (new host)

drummerboy678

drummerboy678

Well-known member
Hey guys,
I posted this a while ago, but the website was up for only a limited time. I think this one is better.

First, I'd like to say I'm still in high school... this was just a project between friends to get better, but will not be entered in any festivals or competitions. So, we used a song from the Eternal Sunshine soundtrack, and a song from Nick Drake.
I hope this doesn't stir up copyright issues, as its just a film to learn and practice.

DVX100a, basic settings, shot in letterbox, edited in Premiere Pro 1.5, Magic Bullet and Premiere's basic Color Corrector used.

If we had more time, we were hoping to foley some sounds in during the chase scene. Its pretty bad.
The acting is also horrible (not something we really cared about for this project).
I DP'd, directed, edited, and color corrected the project. Story is pretty weak (barely even one). We had about an hour every other day to film, so by the time we got out to the woods and setup, we had very minimal shooting time. Had to cut the story in half.


I'm no good at compression, so if this is too big, I posted some stills too for those 56k members! I also dont have a website, so this is the only one I could find. Sorry about the size (if anyone knows anything about compression in Premiere Pro, I used sorrenson 3 with 20% quality, still HUGE).

http://files.filefront.com/Hostage_Compressed;3901571;/fileinfo.html
11.1mb, WMV

http://files.filefront.com/Hostage/;3899707;;/fileinfo.html (.mov, 158mb)
158mb, .MOV













Critiques are welcome!
Thanks
 
I'm going to go ahead a DL this one as I am on the phone all day today anyway.....

But you must seriously consider getting Sorenson (158 MB?) For 158 MB I want at least an MPEG 2 version.

...and finding a legitimate host for your work. This is kind of a silly hoopfest to jump through just to watch; waiting in line at pop up central.

17 minutes 40 sec left. Damn.
 
The grabs look great! I especially like the bedroom shot. If you're just in high school then you have got a great future ahead of you. I'll try downloading the movie. But what I see so far looks impressive.

Oh, don't worry about the copyrighted music. If the project is just for fun and for learning, it's no big deal. Lawyers haven't started going after casual users. ...yet. :)
 
Trying to download it now.....big file!


If you need help with compression, let me know. First off try compressing to a .wmv file. It will still look great and the file size would be cut WAY down.


Good to see yet another DVX user here in Charlotte.


dolby
 
I gave up. Sorry. It stalled at about 30 KB/sec and 68 MB. I mean; I'm on hold but man....

Sorry. GRabs look okay though :/
 
good for a practice run

good for a practice run

I tried downloading this a couple of times and kept getting some error about "Multiple Server Connections" or something, but I finally got through and got it (huge file, by the way).

I know you were doing this for practice and such, so I'm not going to comment so much on content. It was fairly clear the specific sorts of things you were trying to practice and/or try out.

I liked how the kidnapping scene was played out. The timing in the cuts was good and the handheld camera was nicely done, although I think there could have been more variety in the shots in that scene, like maybe a close-up on the guy getting kidnapped or just some other angle so you're not just going back and forth between a single shot and the opening credits the whole time. The overblown constrast and colors in that scene seemed sort of appropriate--reminded me of the movie "Man on Fire" a little (hey, there was kidnapping in that one, too). Did you guys really film that in the middle of an intersection in broad daylight or does it just look that way?

The other scene that I thought was technically interesting was the "chase" scene. I could tell that you were going for a certain look with the high shutter speed and high contrast, and I think it was done pretty well.

Throughout the movie, in my opinion, the glow effect was a little over-used, but that's a matter of taste, I suppose. The acting in the movie wasn't the greatest, like you said, but it was serviceable. Actually, that guy that got kidnapped is a pretty decent actor in a subtle way. He didn't have any lines (if I remember right), but he had fairly believable facial expressions and the way he sort of double-taked when the kidnappers rolled down the window and drew the gun was an interesting touch.

Overall, I think this could benefit from a little more consistency in the color correction and a little more shot variety, and you're good to go. Also, if you want to be taken seriously, I'd say you should use a different font in your titles/credits.

That's it from me. Good work. Peace.
 
hey, wait a sec...

hey, wait a sec...

I watched the movie a second time, and I was wondering: is that gunshot in the end supposed to mean that the "escape" was all in his head and he actually got shot? If so, maybe there should be a little more stuff in there to clarify that.
 
Pretty good. Good camera work, not the best muzzle flash, if I had to use that flash I would just do a cutaway instead. Otherwise, not bad, some of the best stuff Ive seen on these forums (in my short time here).
 
Thanks for all the responses...

John - Sorry about the compression man... I'm rendering out a couple more copies, but I really just cant get it down, and being a student, can't afford to buy a compression program at the moment. Sorry about that.

PK - Thanks for the comments on the grabs

Dolby - I PM'd you

Bluespider - Thanks man

Asylumproductions - I had a 1000K light outside the window, held up by 2 10-foot polls taped to the side of the house... Pretty cheap setup, but I liked the effect.

Ronald - Thanks for downloading and the comments... Good point about the closeups and the opening font. I've always been horrible at picking fonts, and I completely see what your saying now, watching it again. Thanks. Oh, and gunshot at the end, yes, the whole chase was in his head, he was really shot... It was supposed to be a loose adaptation of a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, where he imagines an escape in a hanging, but actually dies after saying goodbye to his wife in his head.
Yes, it was filmed in an intersection... We did it in two takes, about 30 seconds total with the gun out, and made sure any cars passing saw the camera and the crew behind us.
The kid who was the main actor is actually real good, he's helped us with a lot of what we've done.

Urine Sane - Thanks for watching man. Appreciate it.

Re-rending now... Got it down under 20mb. Thanks for the suggestions on .WMV. I swear, everyone hosts these .mov files, but without Sorrenson, .WMV is the way to go for size.
Should have it posted in about 2 hours... ***** to export now.

Thanks again
 
Over all I liked the video, specially since you did it for a learning curb. I really enjoyed the chase scene. I dig that effect of the shutter speed and fast movement. It looks "exciteting". Reminds me of the opening for saving private ryan on the beach, that similar feel to me, just so frantic. :) Anyways, good job on the shoot, the main guy seems natural on screen, other 2 (specially phone guy) should consider taking classes. lol. Seriously though, good job and keep making more, that's the only way.
 
I think the story is called "Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge" by Ambrose Bierce.

I was hoping you were going to twist it up in the end and have his wife be the one who called in the hit.

Also, he's not really a "hostage" is he? This is more of an execution.

I think the lighting for the first scene is great. But the next scene, as he leaves the bedroom, isn't consistent with it. I guess the exposures seem very different in every scene. When we see his wife in the house and then the camera swings back to show him walking out the door, it's like staring directly into the sun. Maybe another shot from outside the house would work better there.

Also, just plotwise, I wonder why he's waking up from a single bed when he seems to be married. That's what made me think the wife had it in for him or something. He doesn't even speak to her when he leaves, and she seems surprised about it.

The Nick Drake song at the beginning sort of gets cut off strangely. I know it's supposed to be jarring but the cut didn't seem to work for me. I think it's a matter of pacing there.

The running scenes were done well.
 
CC, thanks for the comments man.

Mux -
Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge. Thats it. Thanks so much for the title. My dad just told me about the story, so I never saw, read, or learned about it myself.
I agree, the lighting totally changes. We worked hard for the lighting in the first shot. Unfortunately, while we were setting up for the stairs shot, the camera slipped off the tripod and fell down the stairs... Worst moment of my life.
Everything works, the mic is just bent... Thank god for heavy duty parts. However, for the rest of shooting that day, I wasn't really focused on lighting or other things, so there were a lot of problems with that opening shot.

Thanks for commenting
 
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