How's my look?

Thanks for people's comments and analysis. An issue I found with camera angles was getting people to be patient with blocking shots. The only experienced actor was the red haired woman, who is a great performer on stage, but had never done film, and the others also seemed to be thinking of terms of being on a stage with an audience sitting around.

That of course is still my fault as the director, for not communicating what was needed to make the film better. The whole thing is a 4 minute comedy skit, deliberately intended to a 'Saturday Night Live' style of comedy, so it wound up being sort of a filmed play, so visually pretty dull.

I'm tempted now to see if I can film the whole thing again based on everyone's feedback. People who read the script and saw the whole thing found it quite funny (to my surprise). So now it's a pity it turned out so poorly. I've done a few more things since, and gotten more training, so I know a re-shoot would be dramatically better.
 
Still looks like video to me. Needs more disciplined angles. Colors are decent, but the rug on the wall is distracting. Is there any way you can post a smaller clip? Maybe an excerpt from one of the scenes.
 
330ceo said:
Still looks like video to me. Needs more disciplined angles. Colors are decent, but the rug on the wall is distracting. Is there any way you can post a smaller clip? Maybe an excerpt from one of the scenes.

I'm working on posting something. I exported the whole piece to QuickTime - I use Premiere Pro - just clicking File, Export, Adobe Media Encoder, and the resulting video looks even worse - very smudged.

Not sure what I'm doing wrong. Sorry to be such a loser, if anyone has a quick thought or suggestion, that would be great.
 
d;
Thanks for swallowing pride. As the guys mentioned practice is the key to knowing the trade and equipment. The actors seem inorganic(unnatural). This could be due to the fact they are trying to control the size of their movement. When I asked an experienced actor "What can I tell the stage actors to encourage them to "Film Act"" , he stated, "tell them the camera is there endearing friend. It loves them and wants to be part of their life. It sees without complaining or distracting. No need to be over or underdramatic. It knows and understands."
Good Luck,
Jeffery Tahl
 
JefferyTahl said:
d;
the camera is there endearing friend. It loves them and wants to be part of their life. It sees without complaining or distracting. No need to be over or underdramatic. It knows and understands."

i think i'm going to write this on a note card and pass it around during my shoots.
 
JefferyTahl said:
d;
Thanks for swallowing pride. As the guys mentioned practice is the key to knowing the trade and equipment. The actors seem inorganic(unnatural). This could be due to the fact they are trying to control the size of their movement. When I asked an experienced actor "What can I tell the stage actors to encourage them to "Film Act"" , he stated, "tell them the camera is there endearing friend. It loves them and wants to be part of their life. It sees without complaining or distracting. No need to be over or underdramatic. It knows and understands."
Good Luck,
Jeffery Tahl

Those are definitely great words, I'll also be passing them on to my actors. Thanks for your words of encouragement.
 
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