My First Short

A

araujofh

Veteran
Hello folks,

In October of 2004 I made my first short film, and it was shot with the DVX100AE.
I have always found excuses to make a film, but this time I actually made my first film. I wrote the script based on a joke I heard from someone and then shot it with the DVX. I wanted to practice with the DVX and here is the result.

The actors I was supposed to work with let me down. So, I called my friends and asked them if they didn't want to make a film. They said it was ok and so we shot the film in about 4 hours.
They aren't really profesional actors, so don't expect a great performance, and don't expect great cinematography. I used two lights bouncing of the ceiling.

I haven't done any colour correction yet and I just messed a little bit with the sound.
The sound was recorded on a Hi-MD uncompressed, since I didn't have a proper mic at the time. I just used a cheap one.

Well, just watch it and tell me what you guys think.

Here is the link http://www.mundoangolano.com/movies/itwasabet.mov
 
not bad man. the length was perfect, and the punch line came off well. i cant speak about the acting being that i only speak the spanish i learned in highschool, but it was a good little short film. good job man.

-daniel out
 
Hey guys, thanks a lot.
ianfreeze, the film is in Portuguese. It sounds a bit like spanish.
The film was originally going to be in Spanish, but since the actors let me down, I used my friends from Angola (In case you don't know, Portuguese is the official language in Angola).

Thanks again for the comments!!!!
 
I've heard that joke before!
I took a while to understand what was a bet, but that is just my pothead self.

Ahh, that is kind of different from the portuguese I'm used to though... hehehe

That's it Araujo, keep shooting!

PS: Are you back to Angola? I thought you lived in London...
 
Thanks guys,

Taubkin:

in Angola our portuguese varies. In some parts the accent is similar to the Cariocas, and in other parts (the posh parts) it is like the portuguese from Portugal.

Angola has been independent since 1975, so it's not like you guys who have been independent for two centuries.

As for my whereabouts, I used to live in London, but now I went back to Angola. I am in London at the moment, but I am going back on the 9th of September.

PS: These jokes just go around all the countries from the CPLP. So, I am not surprised you have heard it. Oh, by the way, Angola has a very big Brazillian community.
 
**** man, portuguese. when i saw city of god i remember thinking how beautiful a language portuguese was. i was taking italian in college at the time, i could see the similarities in the languages. it was really awesome. anyway, again, good job.
 
Hello folks,

Thank you for your comments. In another post, someone just mentioned something negative, but wasn't specific as to what it was. He just said that I had loads to learn. Well, I know I have loads to learn, but were exactly do I need to improve? That is what I am after.

So, I would love to hear more feddback from all you guys. Please be honest.

I would really like to hear it here rather than bringing it up on some other post unrelated to this one.

Look at scharky, he listened to other people's comments and he took them well. Even if some of the comments were negative.
 
Hi araujofh,

you re right, better to post my critic here instead, sorry about that.

Humm...as for the short. You need to get the 180degree thing a bit better, there s some jump cut here and there. The sound !...i understand you use the in-camera mic, which is not a problem for a small video with no pretention, BUT... you cut the ambient sound on the editing !...there s no mix at all. You should at least mix the sound between the scene/frame. If you did,...doesn t sound like it.

That pretty much it,... that was a funny thing anyway. oh...your lighting was way too low.

Good luck
 
skart82 said:
Hi araujofh,

you re right, better to post my critic here instead, sorry about that.

Humm...as for the short. You need to get the 180degree thing a bit better, there s some jump cut here and there. The sound !...i understand you use the in-camera mic, which is not a problem for a small video with no pretention, BUT... you cut the ambient sound on the editing !...there s no mix at all. You should at least mix the sound between the scene/frame. If you did,...doesn t sound like it.

That pretty much it,... that was a funny thing anyway. oh...your lighting was way too low.

Good luck
Click to expand...

Hey, thanks for your comments.
Well, the sound wasn't really the in-camera mic, it was on MiniDisc. I was playing with the camera, and then left the mic off. So, no sound in-camera.

With regards to sound, yes I haven't done any mixing at all. Well, I didn't really do any post processing of any sort. I shot this thing in October of 2004, and I just put it together last week.

As for the lighting, yes that is another problem altogether. I used to guide myself with the zebra settings, but I always ended up getting underexposed footage. So, I now use my eyes instead.
It would be cool if the camera had an histogram to help us adjust exposure. That way, I would know if it was being underexposed or not.

But hey, I now got hold of Barry's book and I must say that it is really amazing. The DVD as well.

Edit: oh, I will see if I play a little bit more with the footage. But the problem is that I don't have that much footage.
 
critique

critique

hey dawg,

decent for a 1st short... keep it up -- sound mix would have been nice, definitely keep in mind for next time, especially in a short comedic piece that needs to flow -- both the edits and the hard sound cuts jar the flow and reduce the comedic effect...

i think you have to cut the heads and tails of almost all the shots... especially the long "placing laundry in machine" shot (which would have benefitted from a bounce card -- your actors are dark-skinned mang) and the "looks at paper, stands up" shot...

the reason for the awkwardness is that you edited in camera -- meaning you didn't shoot any coverage of your scenes, or any overlapping actions, and just went from shot to shot, only getting what you thought in your head you needed... it's video dude, always get more than you need, for important beats shoot mediums, then close-ups, so you can cut in -- always! overlap action... it'll make your life easier in the editing room...

and yeah, watch the 180 line... it can be a difficult thing to get your head around first, but practice makes perfect --

cheers
 
Hey guys,

Thanks for the suggestions.
Dromatador, you are right on that. I edited everything in camera, and didn't care much about sound and lighting.
I was so sick of it, that I didn't even want to edit it. But, hey, I decided to edit it and just share with you guys, cause it is the only way I can improve.

I'll try to mix the sound a bit. But thank you guys.

As for practice, I am a bit lazy, you know. I bought the camera over a year ago, and if I tell you that I have used only 20 hours, you will want to kill me.

I have to stop being lazy. I always find my job as an excuse not to do stuff. I just have to fight that.

Once again guys, thanks a lot for your sincere comments.
 
The girl, how much for the girl???

Nice film. I would echo what others have said, but for a first attempt it's nice!!
 
Good stuff Fidel. Nice little piece. I would just condense the credits in the beginning. Instead of putting your name three times, just put a Fidel Viegas film. Or you can do written and directed by Fidel Viegas as one title.
 
I concur with the majority.

Not bad for a freshman attempt. But keep shooting. You have your work cut-out for you.
 
Hey guys,

This was a throw away project, but since you guys are giving me loads of nice tips, I will do so.

Thanks
 
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