SHORT: 'hunters'

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Xerxes_Sangco

Member
Update - December 1st, 2010
The film 'Hunters' has been updated with a new and improved cut and is available below.

About:
'Hunters' is a 5 minute student short film made for Mt. San Antonio College's Advanced Television and Film class.

Plot Synopsis:
Two Hunters in search of valuable game are pit against prehistoric rivals in this sci-fi action film.


Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Filmed on Canon T2i, Sigma 18-50 2.8, Sigma 18-200 3.5-6.3, Glideshot 6' Jib & DIY Dolly
Created in Final Cut Pro, Adobe After Effects, 3D Studio Max & Boujou.

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December 16th, 2010 Update:
I've been getting a lot of positive feedback on this film so I decided to start a blog on the 'Making of Hunters'. Not sure how often I'll update it but check it out if you're interested.
huntersfilm.blogspot.com/​
 
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Reserved for Pre Production

Here are a few tests I created before taking on the 'Hunters' short film project:

 
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Reserved for Post Production

Here's the Teaser Trailer I created for the short film:


'Hunters' Compositing Reel

 
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Obviously this one wasn't made with a story in mind, but I guess that's not what you were going for.

It's more of a visual effects show. And I imagine that's what you were looking for. And succeeded. It looks really good for a 5 minute short film, in terms of the visual effects.

Though I couldn't tell which accent the hunter was trying to pull off.
 
Screenforme said:
F"n awesome. For what it is, I think you did a fantastic job. Spielberg-esque.
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Thank you!

SieteNegro said:
Obviously this one wasn't made with a story in mind, but I guess that's not what you were going for.

It's more of a visual effects show. And I imagine that's what you were looking for. And succeeded. It looks really good for a 5 minute short film, in terms of the visual effects.

Though I couldn't tell which accent the hunter was trying to pull off.
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Thank you! Actually, that's the actors real Bulgarian accent. We had a hard time getting him to pronounce a lot of the dialog, but everyone that worked on the film worked for free so I never complained. As for the story, well...I will be including a version with subtitles so that people can understand the film better. =)
 
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First off nice work on putting this all together. I mess with AE for minor things so I know you had some rotoscoping going on in some of the shots. Overall I did like it...the audio for whatever reason seemed hollow or off. Not so much the hunter guy but the other actor...like it was too clear or something compared to everything else. Also you could hear the actor's footsteps fine but there didn;t seem to be any sound effects for the running of the creatures...especially the TREX walking off...even though he was not in the shot I think it could've added some.

The dinosaurs were great...better than anything I could do or have tried...but some shots they need some more color correction to get them to look like the belong.

Also if you have any good tutorials on the DIY equipment can you PM them to me...I would like to do a jib and a dollie this winter.

If you get bored feel free to check out my latest...thanks
Rich
 
richke said:
First off nice work on putting this all together. I mess with AE for minor things so I know you had some rotoscoping going on in some of the shots. Overall I did like it...the audio for whatever reason seemed hollow or off. Not so much the hunter guy but the other actor...like it was too clear or something compared to everything else. Also you could hear the actor's footsteps fine but there didn;t seem to be any sound effects for the running of the creatures...especially the TREX walking off...even though he was not in the shot I think it could've added some.

The dinosaurs were great...better than anything I could do or have tried...but some shots they need some more color correction to get them to look like the belong.

Also if you have any good tutorials on the DIY equipment can you PM them to me...I would like to do a jib and a dollie this winter.

If you get bored feel free to check out my latest...thanks
Rich
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Thank you! I'll be adding an FX reel pretty soon.

A lot of the audio was ADR, then the audio that fades in and out was something I hadn't notice until all filming and ADR had been completed. I was running out of time so I had to settle for what's in the film. There are footsteps for the dinosaurs actually, but I guess maybe it depends on whether you're listening through headphones or speakers. I can't confirm this since I'm on headphones all the time.

Yup, I'm not the greatest compositor and my eye for this stuff isn't as good as someone who is dedicated to compositing/rendering. I color corrected them to the best of my ability and this is the end result. But I tried =)

I bought my jib from a company called 'Glideshot' and purchased their 6' JIB. They may not have it listed on their site so you may have to contact them about it. They're an amazing company.

As for the dolly, I built mine using this tutorial:
http://www.digitaljuice.com/djtv/detail.asp?sid=144

Hope this helps!
 
After some more thought, I like this film so much I've decided to feature it on my blog as the Short Film of the Week. You join the ranks of some very talented film makers. From indie wonders to the man
Martin Scorcese himself! Feel free to leave any comments about your experiences making the film etc...

You can view the blog here
http://jone5films.wordpress.com/

Congratulations!

jon
 
jonE5 said:
After some more thought, I like this film so much I've decided to feature it on my blog as the Short Film of the Week. You join the ranks of some very talented film makers. From indie wonders to the man
Martin Scorcese himself! Feel free to leave any comments about your experiences making the film etc...

You can view the blog here
http://jone5films.wordpress.com/

Congratulations!

jon
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Thank you very much! I left a comment on your blog post with some info on making the film. If you have any questions, please ask away! =)
 
Can you elaborate some on your experience with craigslist actors? Did you pay any of them?

I have a couple scripts i want to shoot, and had casted some local theatre talent from the local community college i like to take classes at, but htey have been so busy with their theatre projects i still havent gotten started in shooting.

Im considering just opening up auditions, and seeing who i cant. Its basically no budget, so i wouldnt be able to pay my cast or crew anything (i have had plenty of people volunteer for crews, so not worried on that front).

I could probably afford to feed everyone at least.
 
jonE5 said:
Can you elaborate some on your experience with craigslist actors? Did you pay any of them?

I have a couple scripts i want to shoot, and had casted some local theatre talent from the local community college i like to take classes at, but htey have been so busy with their theatre projects i still havent gotten started in shooting.

Im considering just opening up auditions, and seeing who i cant. Its basically no budget, so i wouldnt be able to pay my cast or crew anything (i have had plenty of people volunteer for crews, so not worried on that front).

I could probably afford to feed everyone at least.
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No problem. Everyone from cast to crew worked for copy, credit and meals. Because everyone was working for free, I tried my best to make sure their morale was up high. Feed your actors and crew well, never yell at them if they're not giving you what you want, just try to keep a really good vibe throughout the whole project. There was even a point where we were joking around about the Pepsi bottles we had and I let my crew direct this really bad Pepsi commercial :laugh:

As for finding actors on craigslist, in my experience, you will get flagged and your post will be removed if you don't offer any pay. I understand that people need to get paid, but I found it ridiculous that my postings were constantly flagged when I stated that it was merely a student project. So be prepared to post up different variations of the same post (since craigslist doesn't allow you to post the same exact one).

I don't know if holding auditions for an unpaid gig is a good idea. Mainly because it's not paid. I basically said 'Reels are a plus, but not required'. But I don't know, that's just my opinion.

Also, I'd recommend showing your previous work. I was able to get my cast and crew ready for the film by showing them the FX tests I created, that way they knew what they were getting into.

Lastly, if you can, offer a digital copy of the film to download somewhere. DVDs are cool, but being able to download the film online is more convenient for everyone.

Hope this helps!
 
Very cool of you to post such a detailed blog about your production, i added a link in my blog to reference it.

How experienced were you with working with 3D models prior to this? About how much was it to purchase the models/animations?

My last short, which was a rather large production, came out not quite how i wanted it (my script was picked up, but they chose a more experienced director to direct, and a CGI artist). Problem that arose was they were so involved with their own projects (many paying), that they didnt dedicate the time i felt was neccesary to making it a great finished product. I still own the script as its registered with the Writers Guild America, so who knows i might reshoot one day, but likely wont get a 30-40 person cast and crew again anytime soon.

I dont think i woudl have tried it on my own, cause it was sort of a sci-fi as well and needed some effects shots, which was stuff i have never done. Next time though, im either giong ot learn, or just write things that dont need effects cause i dont think i will allow any one else to direct my material again unless they are actually buying my script.

Whats your schedule to starting your next project? I think you have shown enough talent that you should def stick with it.

jon
 
Amazing, that it's possible to realise s.th. looking as good as Jurrasic Park noewadays with cheap equipment and comutional skills. However, acting and story where quite uninspired. Why did you let the better of both actors die? What is your story for? Finally there was no transistion, no resultion ... however, nice achievement in technical terms.
 
jonE5 said:
Very cool of you to post such a detailed blog about your production, i added a link in my blog to reference it.

How experienced were you with working with 3D models prior to this? About how much was it to purchase the models/animations?

My last short, which was a rather large production, came out not quite how i wanted it (my script was picked up, but they chose a more experienced director to direct, and a CGI artist). Problem that arose was they were so involved with their own projects (many paying), that they didnt dedicate the time i felt was neccesary to making it a great finished product. I still own the script as its registered with the Writers Guild America, so who knows i might reshoot one day, but likely wont get a 30-40 person cast and crew again anytime soon.

I dont think i woudl have tried it on my own, cause it was sort of a sci-fi as well and needed some effects shots, which was stuff i have never done. Next time though, im either giong ot learn, or just write things that dont need effects cause i dont think i will allow any one else to direct my material again unless they are actually buying my script.

Whats your schedule to starting your next project? I think you have shown enough talent that you should def stick with it.

jon
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Thank you! It's comments like yours that inspire me to continue this difficult career path. :beer:

My experience with 3D animation goes back to when I was about 18. After high school I wanted to be an animator so I studied animation for a while. But things changed and I got into film about 3 years later, so this film was a great way to combine 2 things I enjoyed doing. BUT, besides animation, I learned a lot of compositing techniques from www.VideoCoPilot.net which is a great resource for learning Adobe After Effects.

The models were part of a dinosaur package I downloaded off of Turbosquid which was about $60 at the time. The rigging was horrible on the models though so I had to re-rig them to better suit the animations I wanted to achieve. All animations were created by me.

I'll say this (I'm inexperienced so you can either take it or leave it). Be the Director of your script. You wrote the script, you know the locations, the characters, etc. You know how you want the actors to deliver their lines; not all actors will be able to pull it off but you have the idea in your head. If you're not a visual director, that's OK. Try and get a really good DP. You'd be surprised how far good cinematography will take your film. As for FX and crew, try to get college students to help you on your film. Everyone's always looking to build their reel. :) As for producing...no comment.

It took me years to get to this point in my experience with animation and compositing and I still suck (because I wish I were as good as the guys at WETA, ILM, DD, etc). So I say if you have the patience to learn the software and theories behind it, go for it. Just know that it's a long road that takes a lot of patience and frustration. :crybaby:

I have nothing planned at the moment. I have the ideas down for a possible feature film of this short, but I'm not an avid writer so writing a full feature script is a hell of a chore for me. :crybaby::crybaby:

hannibalekta said:
Amazing, that it's possible to realise s.th. looking as good as Jurrasic Park noewadays with cheap equipment and comutional skills. However, acting and story where quite uninspired. Why did you let the better of both actors die? What is your story for? Finally there was no transistion, no resultion ... however, nice achievement in technical terms.
Click to expand...

Thank you! This is actually a student short made for my college. There's more info on my blog here, but I found my actors through Craigslist a week before shooting began due to my previous actors dropping out. This probably sounds like an excuse, but working with inexperienced actors (mainly the Hunter actor because he's a foreigner from Bulgaria) isn't an easy task. I have a lot of footage of multiple takes because I wasn't satisfied with their delivery. But time was a factor as I had 51 shots to complete in 2 days so there's a point when you know enough is enough and you gotta take what you can get. These guys were trying to build their reel and I was desperate for actors so I have no right to complain. :)

Haha the better of both actors dying wasn't something I had anticipated when i wrote the script. Again, I casted the actors a week before and met them the day of shooting so I wasn't aware of their acting range, nor who would be more likable on screen. As for the ending, well I've gotten mixed feedback but mostly good. So I guess it depends on the viewer. :beer:
 
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