SHORT: HUSTLE (shot with 7D)

O

Omada

Member
Hey, DVXusers... long time lurker but have never posted a video. Right now I'm working as a videographer doing book trailers for Thomas Nelson Publishing. I started blogging about my life as a writer/director on my blog: http://www.jasonthewriter.com/

This is a short film that I recently shot with a 7D and a crew of two. I used a 5-light Arri kit and a small 18" slider for a couple shots. Sound was recorded to a Zoom H4N via Rode mics (I use the NTG-2 and NT3).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ0v7qeCWE4

Hope you enjoy!
 
I forgot to mention, but I used the stock lens for the exterior scenes with a Fader ND filter (which softened the image considerably, to my horror). For the interiors, I used a Sigma 28mm 1.8 and a Canon 50mm 1.8
 
Omada said:
I forgot to mention, but I used the stock lens for the exterior scenes with a Fader ND filter (which softened the image considerably, to my horror). For the interiors, I used a Sigma 28mm 1.8 and a Canon 50mm 1.8
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I tried watching this, but could barely hear the opening dialogue/voiceover over the music. Your audio mix is really off. (And, I'm listening to his on a good set of speakers in my work's edit suite)
 
music - 3 dB could help

and VO +3dB

I missed the talking people around 1:40 - 1:50, not to much but just a little maybe

Barking dog and sirene was there to make it sound as "the big city" ?

The music stops on the closing of the door, coincidence or ment to be ?

I have a feeling the pan from the dialogues is not in the middle ? Around 2:40 and continuing

I hear some levels going up and down also suddenly. I don't know if you've added ambiance sounds ?
I think you have because I hear people talking and horns in a way you wouldn't hear them as you're inside a house...
What you can do is high cut, and some low cut also to remove the "rumbling".

You've used a lot of music....using music is very dangerous... Music sets the mood, but using to much of it can lead to..."boring".

I think the same story, but with only music when it's realy needed could make it a very interesting short
 
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Thanks for the replies on the audio mix. I've briefly taken the video down to see if I can address those concerns. I'm listening on Yamaha MSP5 studio speakers, so I thought I was hearing accurately whilst editing. Perhaps I should try other speakers, as well as a couple different brands of headphones while I'm at it, since the levels seem so off to you guys. dre83, the dialog we recorded in the house was too "clean" on its own so I tried adding a couple layers of exterior sounds (road noise, barking dog) to bring more depth. How should I best accomplish this? I appreciate your thoughts on the use of music in a short piece like this. Thanks for taking the time to make comments and help me strengthen the edit.

On the opening scene, the VO is set is +5 and the audio is at -14. Is there a reason why the music is overpowering the dialog with such a disparity?
 
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The sounds are good to make more depth, but you have to be consequent. If it's like dogs barking, sirens, cars, horns from inside, it has also to be outside like that.

Also the speakers have to be positioned well. http://www.jiscdigitalmedia.ac.uk/images/bam-02-stereo.jpg

And try to do high cut to make it sound as it is "outside, heared from inside". (equalizing)

Another thing not to forget: there's "hearing" and there's "listening"....
 
Thanks for the followup. Could I trouble you to expound on that last part, about hearing and listening.
 
I'm going to ask a few questions back first, it's just to know a few things:

- the sound suddenly going up in level, do you hear it ? Or do you hear it because I told you ?

- the background sounds, was it ok for you ? Or does it sound to much "we're outside" ?
And do you hear human voices in it ?

- Was the level VO - music, ok for you at first ?
 
dre83 said:
I'm going to ask a few questions back first, it's just to know a few things:

- the sound suddenly going up in level, do you hear it ? Or do you hear it because I told you ?

- the background sounds, was it ok for you ? Or does it sound to much "we're outside" ?
And do you hear human voices in it ?

- Was the level VO - music, ok for you at first ?
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I didn't notice it on my speakers, so I guess I heard it because you told me. Regarding the background layers, I do hear voices if I crank the volume, and agree that it does need some adjusting to make it more "outside." As for the last one, the level for the music and dialog sounds fine on my speakers, so I just assumed something was amiss with my equipment. When the first two posts mention audio levels, I pay attention.
 
Well that's what I ment with "hearing" and "listening"... I (as a soundguy) don't have to crank up the volume to hear the voices.

I think the VO sounds good for you because you know the text. If you don't know the text, it's a little harder to understand it.

And there's also the "82 dB SPL rule". Which means when mixing there's a pink noise measuerd C weighted with a sound level meter, untill that meter shows "82" (or 82, or 79 depeding on the use, theater or tv, sometimes 85 is used)
It gives a "reference" to the sound level. After having checked that one, and your dialogue is much to high or much to low, you have to level it up or down.

NEVER TOUCH YOUR SPEAKERS LEVEL WHEN MIXING !!!!!!!!!!! NEVER !!!
 
It's hard to mix for a film that's distributed solely via YouTube since there's no standard for listening. Forgive the blasphemy, and I feel embarrassed for even asking, but wouldn't it be more prudent for me to judge the levels based on my iMac's internal speakers and not my studio mixing speakers if the majority of the intended audience is listening to it on a computer? I went to great pains to capture crisp, clean audio and would hate to have that ruined because I'm mixing with wrong levels, as judged inaccurately by my studio speakers. Or should I re-mix using the studio speakers for best quality and hope it translates well to web delivery? Thanks again for your time.
 
Well it's always better to mix on speakers that 99% of your audience will have. So in this case: PC speakers. Because then you hear it how they will hear it.

So yes it's not a bad idea.
 
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