Infamous "First Footage" Grabs

FourStarCinema

FourStarCinema

Well-known member
Well, I've finally gotten around to snapping a couple of grabs from my first session with the DVX camera. This was the first time I've ever used it, so I know that they aren't perfect, but I've gotta say...I absolutely love my new camera!! Sorry about the small image size, I'm still learning Vegas...

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Beautiful stuff. I really like the feel of these images. Middle one reminds me of Fellowship of the Ring, you know the shot. Where the black rider crosses the hobbits on the road.

Vegas exports its stills according to the size and resolution you have the preview window set at. Set it to its highest setting and see if that helps.

Thanks for posting. Looking great!
 
You've got a little of that DV haze thing going. Drop the auto iris a bit and the ped too. This is easy to fix in post, but you'll get better quality if you can get it closer on tape.

What settings are you starting out with?

CaptM
 
Pyriphlegethon said:
Beautiful stuff. I really like the feel of these images. Middle one reminds me of Fellowship of the Ring, you know the shot. Where the black rider crosses the hobbits on the road.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot! That is exactly what caught my eye. I immediately thought of Fellowship. I'd love to duplicate the dolly shot with the camera moving forward while the operator is zooming out. I'll have to try that...

Pryiphlegethon said:
Vegas exports its stills according to the size and resolution you have the preview window set at. Set it to its highest setting and see if that helps.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that answers my question perfectly!


CaptainMench said:
You've got a little of that DV haze thing going. Drop the auto iris a bit and the ped too. This is easy to fix in post, but you'll get better quality if you can get it closer on tape.

What settings are you starting out with?

CaptM
Click to expand...

I noticed that haze too. I appreciate the tip. I was so excited to just get out there and shoot, that the settings are basically the default camera settings. I did a little tweaking with the scene file settings, as well as a tiny bit of color correcting in vegas. I've never used the camera or vegas before this, so it's definitely a learning process. Thanks for the advice!
 
dj200423 said:
That bottom grab is ridiculously awesome! Nice work! It reminds me of the opening sequence from donnie darko
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I definitely agree, that last pic looks just like the opening of Donnie Darko! Totally Sweet!
I also agree with the haze-man (lol), those "Lord of the Rings" (as I'd like to refer to them as, if you don't mind hehe) pics look a little too dreamy for my flavor - However, AS ALWAYS there are definitely people who dig that kind of look.
Anyway, as long as I'm typing I might as well tell you that the shot (framing and angle) of the creek was a little bland... I kept in mind that you said it was your first time using the camera - but really, if you post things up... Remember that the people who see it want to be blown away by your talent, and not see your modesty ;-)

Beautiful pics, by the way.

Cheers!
Eric
 
I think once you get your settings set to the point where you can get the cleanest image you have some locations here which would give you excellent production value. Damn - I would start writing a story to fit these locations......but that's a cinematographer talking more than a screenwriter! Keep posting - maybe some footage?
 
monte said:
Amazing grabs man, I think I just came in my pants
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I think we just found a replacement for Ebert's "thumbs up"! :grin:

dj200423 said:
That bottom grab is ridiculously awesome! Nice work! It reminds me of the opening sequence from donnie darko
Click to expand...
Thank you! Unfortunately I have never seen Donnie Darko, but that's awesome it reminds you guys of it. I had originally planned to shoot some trees on the other side of that shot, then I turned around and saw that image I caught on film. I was losing light quickly, I shot that at around 7:30pm, so I'm glad it came out well. All of these were shot handheld too, so the moving images are less than stellar.

Thanks to everyone else for the great feedback! I'm glad you are enjoying the pics. I'm definitely going to work on some of these some more, and I'll repost when I get them looking better.

To answer the questions of where I shot this stuff, the canyon (Donnie Darko) shot was at Azusa Canyon, which is in Los Angeles County. The shots of the trail with the benches was in Laverne, which is also in LA county. All this stuff is literally in my back yard, maybe 10 minutes or so away from where I live. There is definitely a weird "Blair Witch" vibe to the trail where I caught the "LOTR" images. There was a huge tree fallen over...roots pulled right out of the ground, an old swing that looked like a cliche from a scary movie, and an eerie quietness envelops that whole trail. You couldn't pay me to go there at night, as I'm sure some kind of witch lives there! :cheesy: I am in preproduction right now on a short Zombie film (unfortunately I won't make the cut for Zombiefest), and I'm definitely going to go back there for that film. Thanks again everyone!
 
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