New user , first short test :)

M

Molanardi-B

Member
Hello all, Iv been a lurker on these forums for quite a while now and I posted a few times under the name "streetsk8erdc" but just thought id start fresh here with my friend/partner, his name is Molanardi-Z on here.
We JUST got our new 100b today and were very excited. We never used a camera of this quality or even a 3ccd camera before this so its pretty cool. We were fooling around today and thought wed test the cam out and film a short poker movie trying to somewhat mimic the movie "rounders". Heres our little test.
I know the compression is pretty bad but Im still testing compression methods and that would be helpful if someone recommended a proven high quality method.

Dont mind the beggining intro footage, that was basicaly our very first shots and didnt expect to use them, we just threw em in for a quick intro shot.we might shoot more footage and make an actual respectable short movie but wed thought wed get some opinions first before we do . So aside from compression and a few audio glitches, how do you guys like this test, and any tips would be very helpful thanks

http://media.putfile.com/POKER101
 
Hey, can't wait to get some feedback from people on here. Always been cruisin around on these forums, finally get to post some stuff now. Give us any / all criticism. Thanks, and can't wait to post more stuff soon!
 
In my humble opinion:

The cinematography was excellent. Lighting and placement of the camera all seemed to have purpose. However, I think the film could benifit from some editing. The shots the way they are presented seem too forced. Like the money counting. You don't start the cut while the money is being counted, you start on the hands holding the money to the camera, then they count then they stop. It's all too rigid. I feel it's best in general to cut in and out during action. A clip of the money being counted would have been fine. The same seems true of most of the shots in the beginning. They go on just long enough to actually seem 'set up' instead of looking like they occur natrually.

The story didn't really grab me either. There didn't seem to be one. But as you said it was just a test. And did the character with the pair of nines actually have that accent naturally or was that put on? Seemed a little forced. Just curious.

A few final questions.
The music was AMAZING. Did you do it yourself? I would love to know.

and the DOF and lighting was supurb. If you don't mind me asking what lighting did you use? any CCing?

I have a dvx100a I hope I can get similar looking footage.

Anyway. That's my 2 cents. Cheers.

Andrew
 
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Vampiresoup, Thank you for your comments. Regarding the money counting scene, The entire intro wasnt really edited or planned to be in this, it was more like a "ok whatever lets just leave that in for now" type of deal. We plan on filming a new proper intro showing the game being set up , chips counted, etc.

For light, all we used was one simple light hanging from the ceiling about 3 feet above our heads over the table. No special lighting techniques here, we just positioned the actor on screen for proper lighting of the face and all and it turned out great (this camera is amazing). No color correcting besides a slight contrast adjustment and made it a tad bit darker. We filmed this with a homemade (cardboard) tripod (didnt recieve our new one yet hah) and every sound in the movie was dubbed in afterwards. I cant wait to get started making projects with proper tripod, lights,mics, dollys, 35mm adapters....its gonna be fun. thanks for your comments hope to hear more thanks.
 
Hah, I was the guy doing the russian accent, and yes it was fake. If you ever saw the movie "Rounders", you would know that the one character has a russian accent. Thats what I was going for, just for fun. I wasn't trying very hard to make the accent perfect, but I thought I did a decent job for just messing around.

And yes, all of the beginning shots we really didn't even want in. We just happened to throw them in there for some reason, just to have a sort of introduction to the short. A lot of those beginning shots were pretty terrible, like the card spread. That angle was not good at all. The chip focus, the camera was shaking. And the money counting I thought looked good, but Vampiresoup, I do see what you are talking about with that shot.

Please, comments are welcome, we need more feedback on this!
 
lol Teddy KGB. Loved the rounders music man. One of my favorite movies. You need to get yourself a dolly, I think those wide shots would just come to life with a little bit of movement in em. I know you were just messing around, but it looked like as you were delivering yours guys' lines, you were kind of smiling. Maybe it was just a "we don't care. We're just messing around with the camera" short, but be mindful of that next time :)
 
I liked the begining shots. I think they're necessary. All you have to do is trim them. the front and the back.

and yeah that accents better than I could do thats for sure :)
 
Yes, it definately needs those shots, but they could have been done better. Hah, accent could have been done better too. :beer:
 
I've been a lurker on these forums for quite a while too. As another junior member, let me say WOW! That was a great job first time out with the 100b! I really liked the DOF work. In my humble opinion, I'd recommend a slower change in DOF on the 6 of diamonds shot.

Did you shoot in 24p? What did you use for editing, and did you apply a 16:9 matte then? Did you use the camera's cine setting? I look forward to seeing more of your work in future posts!!!!
 
yeah i'm impressed at the dof as well, did you go full zoom for that?

What kind of light was it you had overhead?

I agree the cuts in the beginning were too long, you could relaly tell some of the shots were queued, like "OK DEAL NOW!"

Shave a few frames off em and it'll flow a lot better.
 
Thanks for your comments. Yes, the beginning shots were just left in the timeline cuz we wanted an intro for the short. We whipped it up in 5 mins, and could have made a better intro, but just wanted to get this footage up quick.
 
what u edit on molanardi what program and what were ur camera settings ? and what u do as far as CC and what program did u do ur CC in ? oh and yea i loved great job dvx100b owner here to man

peace n luv

Mark Dog
 
Hey, we used 24pa, Shot in anamorphic mode and with a 2:35:1 matte, settings were
detail level- +4
v detail level-0
Detail coring-+1
0
0
0
Master ped - -5
Cinelike D
matrix-cinelike
skine detail - on
V detail Freq- thin

We edited it on final cut pro, the minor corrections were done in final cut
Thanks for comments so far, this camera is great and we cant wait to do more with it.
 
What I liked:

Image looked good.
Single source lighting fit the mood of the piece.
Good job with the visuals.

Improvements (without reshooting and of course, my own opinion :) ):

The opening definitely sets up the scene. First, don't intercut the titles with the set-up shots. Titles, white on black, all first. Then cut to the shots of chips, cards, etc. AND, get rid of the fades. Jump cut through the shots. Play with the order and find a rhythm. Doesn't have to be long, just enough to set up the scene and build some tension. The current version plays out like a couple of buds playing poker in the garage. Tighten up and see if you can build some conflict in the main part.

Great job!


John G.
 
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