Life of a Ditchdigger~A Short Study

Dude you didn't tell us this was shot on the HVX. Nice.

I'd like to see a larger version if at all possible. Funny as hell, though!
 
Some fantastic looking footage guys well done !
What lenses & settings did you use etc ?
 
Lens Setup

Lens Setup

I only have one Lens at the moment: an old Nikon 55mm, F2.0 supposedly from a National Geographic photographer.
On the HVX I raised the vertical Sharpness to about 4 to offset some of the softness from the M2. I don't know if this is a good idea or not. I also lowered the pedestal to -3.
4Mat, Since you're from the UK I'd be interested to know how the Southern humor translates accross the sea?
 
That was very nice. I really liked the lighting and shot selection. Making something from nothing.......just like Jerry Seinfeld.
 
That was great! Yeah, it was a little slow moving, but that just added to the whole effect for me. It helped convey the message. I liked the editing and the different angles. I thought the business suit guy was superfluous. He wasn't as good an actor or as believable as the other two and I think if you eliminate him, you have a better and shorter movie. The point gets across just as well, maybe even better without him. He's mostly just restating the obvious instead of letting you "get it" yourself. I thought the two workers were hilarious! Great job!
 
Just a couple of tiny nit bits, when the guys in the hospital hes walks towards the camera and is badly out of focus, looks messy unneeded. Just after he finishes talking to the kid in hospital you clip the kid as hes talking, needs trimming.
Personally don't mind what you put at the end its easy watching :)

PS don't let your actors where white jumpers on sunny days !
 
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Great short by the way. It does work without the suit, but I don't think he was a bad actor. I think his character went bad after his first couple of lines when he started commenting on the obvious. It might have been better if he was defending the ditch diggers. As in, as a useless politician he related to their plight of being expected to do stuff. In this way he would be part of the satire instead of the guy spelling out what the satire was about. If you don't want a reshoot, then like I said, it does work without him. Keep up the great work, I enjoy shorts like this.
 
I just did a re-edit without the "suit" and I do think it works better. Previously when I had shown it I felt kind of uncomfortable whenever his bits came on...not because of his acting but because it just wasn't working. Thanks for the comments.
 
Very nice!
But why are there so many blown out highlights?
I thought adapters eat so much light so I wasn´t expecting this...
Also the highlights even seem a bit "enhanced", is this part of the M2 look?
Anyway, great work and good entertainment with a message!
 
Very cool short. I think the accents are great for character. Good message. it worked for me.

keep it up
 
Most of the highlights come from the cameraman over-exposing. I don't think he knew what he was doing (Hey I had a lot to worry about with the M2). In the hospital scene I purposely blew out some of the whites in FCP though, I was looking for that sanitized, gritty (sloppy?) documentary look. I may have gone a little too far.
 
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