Looking for some advice for my footage.

linkdafourf

linkdafourf

Active member
Hi everyone,
I am a first year film student at temple, and am just about to finish my final project for the semester. I just bought a DVX100b and shot the whole thing on it. I was wondering if you guys had some sugestions to help make the footage look a little bit better. Maybe export settings, or things you can do in adobe premiere pro? The one think I do know is that I probably should have used a tripod, the camera movement is pretty shaky, and I'm only using the on board camera mic, so the sound is pretty weak. but just the footage in general, any ideas that could make it look any better? Thanks in advance,

http://vimeo.com/7700400
 
You'll definitely get some better suggestions down the way since I'm not a huge post guy, but first things first. Did you shoot it 24p? If you didn't, and you want it to have a film look, then convert it and you will already see a large difference.

As far as it being shaky, yes, you should have used a tripod or steady cam unless you want a blair witch or run-and-gun feel. Depending on how bad it is, I know there is a filter in FCP that is decent at steadying the shots. There is also an option in motion which leads me to believe you'll find one in your editing software and it should help out atleast a little.

Magic Bullet is an additional program which can be bought to add filters to a video and give it different looks (film looks).

ADR (Additional Dialog Recording) is always an option if the sound that you recorded is no good. Also, with whatever sound software you have, basic equalizers and noise reduction will help.

Everyone is going to screw up their first shoot or their first few shoots so don't feel too bad. Just remember that the basic rule is "**** in, **** out". "Fix it in post" people should NOT be your friends!
 
it was shot in 24p advanced, and edited in premiere pro in a 23.97 time code. (i think thats the exact ratio? right?) anyways, so yea I did that. I definalty am going to get a tripod for my next shoot, I just didn't have time because of the due date. but really, the clip i uploaded is the least shaky, its really destracting in the begining. I thought it wouldnt be, since shows like always sunny are all handheld shot, and its not that bad, and i didnt think they used steady cams... oh well. regaurdless, as far as post goes, any other sugestions?

oh yea, and for the sound, the equalizing, i never really knew how all that worked, is there any quick fix settings i can adjust the EQ too to make it sound better, keeping in mind that i used the onboard dvx mic, or is it more situation based and just require tweaking untill it sounds right.
 
since this seems to be going for the "saw" type theme it needs to be more gritty/grimey/dirty. Increase the contrast and brightness in premiere...mess with the three way colour corrector or levels to give a greenish tint or maybe enhance the blue u already have in the scene. add some noise (grain) and maybe desturate the result u get a little bit.

As for export settings ...use this link.

http://eugenia.gnomefiles.org/images/cs4.jpg

its for cs4 and for hd but use it still and it will get an hd tag.... u shud see better results.

As for ur next shoot...some tips...this cud have benefited from some close ups and xtreme close ups ( on the villain and the kidnapee) to enhance the tension/fear or whatever. lighting seem underxposed. and for this type of theme u;d want to shoot some shots at a high shutter speed and zoom in for some chaotic looking shots to also enhance the tension. this wud however require more light.

I liked the baseball bat hit...but it wud have been better had it cut to a CU of him getting that hit and a CU of the blood splattering on the wall.
 
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wow, thanks a lot for the advice. there is still another scene, somewhat simaller to this, so i can keep that in mind this weekend. the only thing is, would it look incosistant i wonder if i changed the shooting style, i dont know. im going to try your ideas in premiere right now and check out what effects i can get. thanks again.
 
heres a little turorial on Grading u can also use...from the Guru mr. Maschwitz. he is using colorista...but u can use the 3 way color corrector.

http://vimeo.com/5298634


yeh maybe the shooting style change wud be wierd...can test them out just for ur education for the future though. record ur freind gettin punched using 1/500 shutter and zoomed in (ur whip zoom on him as he gets hit) Any movement of the camera at these long focal lengths will be exaggerated making the hits better... it will look really cool. As i said though...more light will be needed.

 
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photo.php

is that okay, or is it too dramatic, i really cant tell. i have no idea how to color correct. i did this before you posted the link to the video though, so ill take a look at that now.
 
big improvement . actually do like that..just tone down the contrast a little. I luv how the blue and warm lights play off each other in the foreground and background. u cudnt see that well at all on the original. slap some noise on it and desturate it a little and see what u get. try it with a tint of green instead also and see how that works out.

But this is definately looking more like a torture scene now :)

also grade each clip invidually (if ur not already doing so)
 
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Terrific job. I enjoyed the clip.

You'll get a lot of great technical feedback here, so I thought I'd comment
on my favorite moment at 1:01 - getting hit with the bat.

I loved the fact that you had some slight spatter hit the wall after the bat
made contact. It was very subtle, but very effective. The actor's timing with
the fall over also made the whole scene work really well. Congratulations.

One small point, beware of the stunts you have your actors do. Falling off
a chair into a wall seems simple, but can be very dangerous. I know from
experience that student actors will often do anything asked of them (my
first film had an actor fall head first into mud). As a director, your need to
watch out for your actors and keep them safe - even from themselves.

Just something to think about. Congratulations again.

Peter
 
one more thing...if u dont mind me saying...even though i LUV that track in kill bill...it doesnt quite seem right (to me) here. this is only my opinion though. i didnt feel fear or anything from that villian. only when the music changed when he was beating him on the ground. a more foreboading/scary/ slow rising tension kinda track wud be good...and then u can flip it into another harsh track when the beating occurs but make the transition good (seemless)...if ur gonna use 2 separate tracks.

edit : i watched it again...and if u were goin for the easy goin..."i kill people everyday so its nothing to me" vibe..then that first part of the track works. I got thought of that when he took so long to get started...taking off his jacket...pulling his sleeves up ect.

be careful how u grade it with the contrast also..cuz the scene is underexposed so this mite push everything into darkness for some of the clips.
 
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yea, thats what i was going for. the easy going thing, i just thought it contrasted especially if i grade it now with the stuff i learned from that video, it ll look grittier but still have the easy going music.
although, its the only song i have tried it with, i could play around with someother stuff.

the stunt nick did, made me really nervous actually. the first time he did it, he came really close to the wall, and i was liek dude i dont know if we should really go all out like this, and he was like no itll look really good, and low and behold after doing it three or four times, the next day, he was like man, my neck really hurts, (hes my room mate so,) but yea, ill keep that in mind. thanks for all the feedback guys, its really helping.
 
dude, thats totally where i got it from. half-life is SO bad ass. anyways, so i just got magic bullet looks, and have been messing around with the color correcting in it. its pretty cool.
 
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okay, now i really think im getting somewhere.
the bottom is the before, top is after. what do ya guys think. took a lot of tips from the stu machiwitz video. i think it really helped.
 
that looks good also...i guess it just depends on what u want for ur film. I personally like the first one(just need to tone down some) more because i'm a huge fan of mixing colour temperature. so it really comes down to you in the end.
 
right, the problem with the first one, is i just messed with color of the entire scene, with the second i used magic bullet and did the three seperete shadows mids and highlights. which gave a much more controlled effect. im going to keep experimenting though
 
this is good stuff bro, alot of people just post clips of random stuff and try to put some background music and say its a test or a teaser and say its coming out soon or what ever and they never finish it, but this is a whole scene and it worked, good for you....
 
yea, that always bothers me... i am shooting the final scene in a few hours, and then a few pick up shots and itll be done tonight. Then just to finish the color correcting tweaks, and i'; upload the full movie to this thread, i hope everyone likes it. and youve all been a huge help.
 
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