New Short "Nova" & my short film blog

Tav Shande

Member
Hey folks,

It's been a while but I've finally posted 'Nova' my new music short inspired by the song Aviva Pastoral by Nathan Larson. I've been trying to get in the habit of filming more often so I set up small projects that can be filmed in about half a day, this allows me to test out new equipment and techniques for later, significantly longer, films. Check it out!

The story is about gaining closure after experiencing a meaningful loss by looking to the bright future ahead. It was filmed with a DVX100a and Redrock M2 and Nikon 35 mm lenses. The shoot was 4.5 hours and the actress is Nicole Ramsey.

nova_film_poster_smallest.jpg


http://www.vimeo.com/896438/

http://tavsfilms.blogspot.com/

I've also posted a couple shorts on the blog for all the gamers out there:
mockposter_small_xbox.jpg


http://www.vimeo.com/901516/

Thanks,


Thanks,
 
I like the mood in your film!! wounderful job!!

I suppose the light was a on camera light with blue gels ?
 
Really nice, great flow, great shots. I am also curious as to what you used for the film effects. I am picking up my macbook and FCP2 at the end of the month, any suggestions on some good plugins? Really like the film burn. I am sure the people I do weddings for would love it as well.
 
Nova process...

Nova process...

Thanks all for the positive feedback,

I really wanted to do a nighttime shoot on the streets so I needed something portable. I used my Vidled mounted light as the only non environmental light source after messing with the white balance levels I got a nice eerie blue color for the poster frame. I ended up changing the color later in post for the short so she didn't look like she had been holding her breath for too long.

I did use Artbeats Film clutter CD1, it was great for helping some of the transitions and providing a unique mood to the piece. I had fun changing the colors of the damaged film to stick with the palette I wanted.

For the anamorphic lens flares I used Knoll Light Factory which took no time to figure out and implement... it is pretty robust and you can even match it to moving lights and have layers effect the flare.

The whole short was shot upside down and back wards since I didn't know Redrock had released a mirror element that flips the image while shooting. I'll have to get that soon.

As far as suggestions for plug ins go, I can list the ones I use the most:

Twixtor ( for time remapping and smooth slo-mo)
Noise ninja ( when you want to remove unwanted grain)
Photozoom Pro ( for uprez)
magic bullet ( color grade)
Knoll Light Factory ( for flares and lens effects)


I love the dvx100a, I can only hope when I finally upgrade to HD that the new camera will retain all the great qualities of the DVX.
 
i was looking at Noise ninja and from what i see its a plugin for Adobe photoshop? So how did you go about using it on your footage?
 
nova

nova

I use noise ninja by rendering all my footage out to a tiff sequence then importing the frames into to photoshop and running the noise ninja filter using an automated batch sequence on all the frames. I usually don't do this on all my footage, only when it's needed. Mainly if I haven't let enough light in and things get grainy.

As far as the tracking shots, focus, and lighting.... for focus I use the redrock follow focus or just manually rotate the focal ring, it takes a few trial runs to get the focus correct especially when the image is flipped. When walking and tracking I try to keep the subject at the same focal length on the same plane as we move together. I also made a dolly for some of the smoother tracking shots.

I can't wait to get the flip element for the M2, it will make my life alot easier.

Lighting is usually natural or static setups per shot using an on camera light or a diy,home depot,china ball rig. I really like the way the dvx captures natural light so I plan on shooting alot more daytime shoots but it's good to know that the camera plus M2 can operate well in low light situations too.
 
Wow, really impressive. I also enjoyed tight jeans quite a bit. I'm curious as to what your scene settings were for tight jeans. Excellent work, I'll be sure to look out for your future projects.
 
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