Night of the Indigo Book Trailer

jambredz

Veteran
Ok guys...this is a book trailer i just did. I didnt even know such things existed till i was approached to do it. Out here (jamaica) its hardly done and if it is its usally a slide show, so this is quite a step up so they loved it. I was alone on this shoot with limited time so i really would have changed alot when it came to some lighting...but i had to shoot fast and get the heck up out people's home :)

take a look. Btw shooting at a beach SUCKS!!

http://vimeo.com/4760924
 
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Man, there sure is some production value in this!
can't believe you did it all by yourself
loved the look of every shot. specially those dolly shots, they looked cool
what kind of dolly were you using?
 
thanks ryvac...really appreciate the comments. I used a homemade dolly. ( u know the ole plyboard and inline skates one) yeh it was kinda rough doing it alone..my friend was gonna help but had to pullout at the last minute. shooting at a beach really messes with ur lens, thank goodness i dont take off my UV filter, so i just needed to clean that. thanks for watching.

Oh btw ryvac...why did u sell ur sgpro. I read somewhere on the site where u said u sold it. I luv the look it give's (from what i see online) and cant wait to till i get some $$ for a blade. Interested to know why u got rid of it.
 
no, it's not like that. I loved the sgpro and it's actually my favorie adapter out there.
I only sold it because I didn't have a project to do.
so I thought "if I don't have anything to shoot, I should just sell it before the value goes down"
plus if I wanted one again, I can always buy the sgblade which is better!

so that's the only reason I sold it. it's a great adapter and you should get it when ever you've got the money!
 
Nice, mon!
I never heard of book trailers either, congrats getting the job!

What would you have done differently with the lighting?
Was it a matter of time or still working on the kit?

Was there any way you could have had your actor play the dying twin in bed also?

The dolly adds a really nice touch.
Love the beach location with the shipwreck.
Nice high shutter on the sword and dancer.

Why 4:3?

Nice to see your stuff!

Be sure to carefully clean your camera- lens and body!
Salt + Sand= Nasty!
 
Nice, mon!
I never heard of book trailers either, congrats getting the job!

thanks man

What would you have done differently with the lighting?
Was it a matter of time or still working on the kit?

time was a big factor and i was running behind. set up was a pain. I was using worklights so those are hard to control. I'm saving for my coollights kit. I didnt like the sharp shadows on the wall and under the actors chin. I would have wanted more shadow on the side of his face that didnt have the key. I didnt have something to diffuse the light properly. I would have used china balls for soft ligh source. So i;m gonna get some soon and rig up a little kit.

Was there any way you could have had your actor play the dying twin in bed also?

Personal sore point for me. I;m sure i could have but it would have required some crafty work and since time as against me i didnt. I was gonna use my friend who was gonna help me out as a body...but he didnt make it afterall.

The dolly adds a really nice touch.
Love the beach location with the shipwreck.
yeh the dolly helped. hard keeping the sand off the tracks for a smooth shot though. the shipwreck is sick!!

Nice high shutter on the sword and dancer.

i luv high shutter.


to be honest its because i havent figured out how to put squeeze on tape or a widescreen dvd properly as yet. it still looks squashed. I didnt know the pimary distribution for this so to be safe i did 4:3. when i shoot only for the net i use squeeze

Be sure to carefully clean your camera- lens and body!
Salt + Sand= Nasty!

I thoroughly cleaned that baby down...the lens is fine cuz of the UV filter so i clean the UV filter and body and tripod. sand and salt really messes with it. i will have to get a raincover if i plan to shoot at a beach again.

thanks for watch man...really appreciate it. :)
 
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Well, wouldn't whatever you compress for the net in 16:9 have similar settings as far as aspect ratio for DVD?
DVD players "know" whether to play full frame 16:9 for wide screen TVs or to letterbox it for 4:3 TVs.
I could see you want to play it safe for a client, definitely.
But maybe ask around for tips on your edit/compression system?
 
actually maybe its just my dvd player and me not setting it correctly...or i do think its an older one. the tape issue though...i'm not sure. I do very much prefer squeeze though.
 
Love the concept Darren. I liked the overall look you achieved, it has some nice filmic quality about it,,,, nice and contrasty too.

About the 16:9 bit. I(f you shoot squeeze just make sure you edit on a 16:9 timeline.
Once you finish the edit just export your edited DVAVI footage to an MPEG2 16:9 file,, most nle's have a preset now for widescreen DVD so it shouldn't be hard.
If its your DVD player, go into its setup properties and tell the player you have either a 4:3 TV or 16:9 TV.
 
cool tips shaun. yeh i always edit my squeeze on 16:9 timeline, but i'll look into the other suggestions u mentioned. thanks for watching :)
 
Good shots...yeah, yeah, yeah...

Cool dolly...bla...bla...bla...

What I really dug was THE SCORE!

Sounded really interesting - very intriguing - very compelling - very driving of the feel - very good use!

~DPS
 
Yo jambredz, this is badass dude. I want your locations and actors so bad. Well done. I also loved the lighting in the bedroom sequence.
 
Thanks, but even if I had your locations, I dunno if I would have imagined and executed it in such the grand vision you created. This book is totally gonna get published. This thing murders any slide show by a long shot. Was the client blown away?
 
yeh they absolutely loved it...along with the folks at the launch. (It was shown at the book launch)
I got a phonecall from the author after the launch saying 2 persons were interested in making music videos's after they saw it.
 
That's sick. Jump on that wave. I bet you were throwin business cards at everybody at the end of that screening.
 
sadly i couldnt be there...i had an important meeting. But i;ve worked with those guys already and they really get ur name out( through them i;ve gotten many jobs), so i'm sure things will happen.
 
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