"Once A Hero" - Envision / 235 Studios

[Norm Sanders]

Thanks Conrad. You're absolutely right about the intentions of the festival. And it's what we originally set out to do. Then it just kind of grew, and we absolutely allowed it to, because as film makers we want to grow with each experience & eventually move on to be able to handle a full feature length film. So while I love these festivals (my 3rd DVXuser fest), I don't want to limit myself (nor does Ryan) to only 5 & 6 minute films, as that won't prepare you to handle a MUCH larger project.

So I had HOPED that I could still cut a solid 6 minute cut out of the full short, that would still work well enough for the DVXuser fest, but allow us to have a more tangible, robust & elaborate film to take to other festivals afterwards.

And while a trailer might have had a little more "WOW" factor to it, it wouldn't have gotten us the feedback I'm appreciating about the sound (some of which is exagerated in the compression, unfortunately), etc.

So no need to apologize for the negative feedback. We're all grown ups, and that's the stuff we need to learn from, right?

 

[Edgen]

So no need to apologize for the negative feedback. We're all grown ups, and that's the stuff we need to learn from, right?

I Absolutely agree. If we can't learn to tell people our opinions, how are we expected to grow? And... ultimately get better? I think this fest is a great exercise and execution and will hopefully propell most of these guys as the next generation of filmmakers.

/j

 

[235 Studios]

Camera Settings-

Camera Settings-

Ok, so here you go the exact settings for our production are as follows-

BTW- if you are interested, you can download the DVX Setup sheet I created and used for our production. It helps me a lot when we were doing testing of various settings, as well as keeping track of seetings while on set.


DVX Setup sheet: DOWNLOAD HERE


Camera Settings:
Aspect- 4:3
Gain- Low
WB- Manuel
Shutter- (Varried- off / 120 / 250)
Zoom- Not used, as we had it locked down to use the LetusFlip
f-stop- (Varied- but was usually around open - 2.8 & 3.4)
Focus- Not used, as we had it locked down to use the LetusFlip
OIS- Off
ND- None
Audio- 16bit / 48k
Mic Gain - 50db
Audio Ch- 1-In2 2-In2 (the gain on channel 2 was set a little lower then channel 1)
Detail: +7
V-Detail: +7
Detail Coring: +7
Chroma Level: 0
Chroma Phase: 0
Color Temp: 0
Master Ped: -5
Auto Iris: -2
Gamma: Cine Like
Knee: Auto
Skin Dtl: Off
Matrix: Normal
V-Detail Freq: Thin
Progressive: 24pa
35mm adapter: LetusFlip
Lenses: 28mm / 50mm / 135mm

there you go for those of you who were interested.

 

[235 Studios]

Hi - nice job.

What I liked -
Your cinematography was great. Good depth, lighting, composition, etc.
...
To end on a more positive note - again, cinematography was great .

Thanks, glad you liked it.

My inclination is that this fest is about creating a story in 6 min, not creating a portion of a larger idea in 6 min (or a trailer for a longer flick). Just my opinion.

It is not your opinion- the goal of the DVXfest is to tell a story within the specified time given. And our story could have been stronger.

With that said- Norm and I are both of the mind set (as he already mentioned) that we want to push ourselves further, and deliver better / higher quality with each production. And while the 6 min. limit is a fun challenge, we did not / do not want to let that hinder us- as we want to have something that we can take to other festivals and submit for competition else where. And having a long piece will help us in that endeavor. However, trying to cut 23 min into 6 min proved to be greater of a challenge then we had originally thought or planned for ...

Thanks for you input.

 

[jpbankesmercer]

Ryan,
Thanx for the details and sheet.
How did you find the adapter setup? I'm thinking of investing in the look, giving the HVX time to breath before I jump on. How practical is it in setups and whats the pros and cons for you working with a softer image - apart from having to flood it with light?
Jp

 

[PDX_DVX]

I'm glad everyone liked the look of the film, everyone on it worked very hard to achieve that. Big ups to 235studios for the visual aethsetic. Well done. I can say that it was a blast to work on this project. Norm deffinetly knows how to get things done. The whole crew worked really well together, and no one got angry at me when I stuck the BTS cam in their face and said "what do you think about this rain????!!!!". The food was also good, and one more thing....Norm is really good at arm wrestling.....

 

[235 Studios]

Aparently the link to the DVX setup log was not working for some- I just fixed it and it should work fine now.

BTW- I'm putting together a setup log for the HVX as well, I'll let you know when it is ready.

 

[235 Studios]

Ryan,
Thanx for the details and sheet.

No prob, glad I could help out.

How did you find the adapter setup?

On this shoot we used the DVX and the LetusFlip, here are my thoughts-

The original review Norm and I did of the 35mm adapters can be found here-
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=579827

The letusFlip that we were using on this shoot was an upgraded model that is supposed to have less light loss then the one we tested in the review. We did not have time to test this claim before our shoot, so I cannot verify it. Other then to say that is what we were told.

The positive:
The flip was great in that we were able to use 35mm lenses to get the narrow DoF that we had wanted. I also loved the fact that we did not have to flip the image.Not only was the adapter easier to use because of this- but when it came time to edit, we did not have to flip the image incurring more render time.

The adapter also do not require rails- but I would highly recommend using them, as I would not want that much weight hanging off of the end of my lens.

Overall, for the price (about $700) I think the adapter delivers some good images- as you can see from our footage.

The Negative:
LIGHT LOSS- While we did not test to see what the light loss of the adapter was, I would venture to guess that it is at least 2 stops. The added light loss added to the fact that we were shooting outside at night meant that we needed A LOT of light inorder to get the right exposure.

Air tighness- While this ubnit is VERY tight, and I doubt that it will get any dust on the inside of the adapter, it is not air tight. After working in and under the rain towers we had going, one of the adapters ended up getting water and condensation on the inside of the adapter, which meant that we were down a camera. It is not easy to get inside the adapter to remove the water, and Norm had to dissasemble it after the shoot to dry it out- even then the image was not what we wanted from that adapter as it appears that one of the mirrors had come miss aligned, giving us a ghost image / double image on screen.


Summary-
If you are using this adapter durring the day, out side, there is where the adapter preforms its best. If you are using it inside, or durring the night, be prepared with lights, and lots of them- which means that you will need to be prepared for extra setup time, and refinement of lights.

For the price ($700) I think it is a decent adapter for the DVX. If you want less light loss, as well as a rotating GG (The letus has a vibrating GG) then I would go with the M2- but your price double to about $1400. The M2 also does not flip your image.

If I have the setup time, the lights, I'm not in the rain, and I'm using the DVX, then I would use this adapter again.


Other thoughts-
I have not used this adapter with my HVX yet. I want to do some testing to see how it works with HD. I know SD is a lot more forgiving, so we will see how it preforms in HD ...

Also, the adapter is 72mm, so if you are going to use it on your HVX, you need a stepdown ring to go from your HVX 82mm to the Letus 72mm.

Another recommendation:
Get the indiFOCUS: http://www.indifocus.com . I found this tool very useful on set when needing to rack focus and hit my marks. It is a great tool, and works well with 35mm lenses, as well as with the DVX. I assume that it will work just as well with the HVX, but I have not used it with the HVX yet. So if you need an accurate focus, and you need to hit your mark every time- get this tool, it is a life saver.

 

[Kirk Gillock]

I read the full script and it does fill in the gaps very nicely. Like spackle. The script will make for an interesting short. Good luck with the full production.

 

[Larry Rutledge]

Yea, I have to agree with that. Jeffrey Hawley is a fantastic writer!! He was also instrumental in helping me iron out the wrinkles in my script as well.

 

[Norm Sanders]

I read the full script and it does fill in the gaps very nicely. Like spackle. The script will make for an interesting short. Good luck with the full production.

Thanks, PK! Glad we've been able to redeem the script in your eyes. That was honestly important to me, as I don't want the rushed 6 minute version influence what people thought of the writing ... that would be the editor/director's fault (me).

 

[abalex]

how can I play this video? bunch of codes came out.

thanks
g.

 

[Dahopafilms]

Norm,

I just realized I hadn't posted comments on your film. This was one of the first I saw (by choice), so comments are overdue. And I haven't reviewed the nine pages of comments, so I may be totally repetitive (or nonsensical).

This short really interested me. I did read that it was a cut-down version of a longer presentation - and I really want to see the longer version.

The stuff I really liked:

1. Generally, I thought the lighting was awesome. Really nicely done. The shot where the "heroes" come down the stairs in the bank (?) and there was a flourescent lit tube on the ceiling and a standing lamp in the corner stands out in my mind. Nice job.
2. I liked the general set-ups of the shots. There was one close-up shot on the photo which I would have liked more in focus, but that's really nit picky. Again, really good job.
3. Wardrobe. Perfect! Lots of effort there. Great job!
4. I thought your male lead really knocked it out of the park. Very good acting in my book and totally believable. A big bow to him.
5. The effects were good. Nice green swirlies and glows. Worked for me.
6. The scoring was great (and speaking of scoring, Germany's now up 3:1 over Costa Rica), but see my comment below regarding the dialogue.

The stuff I wasn't too sure about:

• Maybe this comment should be in the above section, but I LOVED the first three quarters of this. However, I thought the ending was really a let-down. It didn't work for me on several levels and I assume this was simply because you needed to leap to the end without tying everything together. That's also why I want to see the full version.
• I hate to say this, but I just didn't like your female lead. I thought her lines were woody and simply not believable (and yes, I know she was dead). She looked great. It was just her delivery - and I do appreciate that the one really long set of lines in the (?) warehouse must have been brutal to deliver. I may be totally off base here - just an opinion.
• The dialogue got a little muddy for me in places. But that may just have been my system.

Thanks for putting this together, and it has whetted my appetite for the long version. You guys clearly have significant horsepower here. I'm looking forward to seeing the full version.

Cheers.:thumbsup:

 

[Norm Sanders]

EDIT: (screwed up the spelling for the username) Abalex, I've sent you a PM.

Thanks Dahopa! I THINK I've commented on your film ... at least I know my wife sure loved it & we both laughed together watching it. I'll double check though to make sure ... I'm planning on watching & commenting on all the rest tonight & tomorrow before judging is over. Just been a BUSY week trying to catch up from being out of the office for 3 weeks.

Okay, back to the comments ... really glad to hear that you want to see the longer version ... that's been a pretty consistant comment from users, for which we're quite glad.

You're right, the ending had to come VERY fast, and in this case too fast.

Female lead: Her first film & acting experience. That said, I believe she did a great job, and the only area that could be in question might be the dialogue in the warehouse ... as you stated, it's a killer, and the full cut's monologue is about twice as long. She's also questioned redoing it in ADR ... I'm just nervous about not being able to perfectly match her audio with the rest of the scene, and therefore having to pull back the other two talents as well & redo the entire scene, which will be a HUGE undertaking ... so I'm trying to weight out right now the return on investment, so to speak.

 

[Ben Sliker]

Envision and 235,

First off, great work, I believe this shows much improvement over your sci-fest entry. I loved the look of the entire thing, the lighting is phenomenal. And your use of the adapters and depth field is great as well, a true testament to the ability of the DVX to create stunning pictures.

For the contests’ sake, I think that your film suffered greatly from being restricted to only 6 min, but since that’s the contest rule, I’ll keep to that. There are a lot of questions in there that are just left untouched because of the lack of time to further develop them.

Special FX: for the most part, really good, I would hack away a little more on Meltdown’s green, there are times when it looks like a stinky green cloud around him, is it supposed to be just his skin or like an “aura” around him? I would also look back on the motion tracking for the green eyes, if you look really closely, they sometimes tend to drift around, bringing attention that they are added in.

Sound: I think you’ve caught enough comments about it not being loud even so I won’t repeat, but I don’t think it’s the dialogue, I remember you told me for your sci-fest entry that you didn’t want to step on your composers feet, but it’s just too loud at some points. Secondly, kudos on getting a Skillet song, they f-ing rock. I’m from Kenosha, WI, and they lived there for the longest time. I was going to skillet concerts when they were the first 3 dudes and were playing in half of high school gymnasiums. I have to say I prefer collide over alien youth though. How did you contact them? Do you know them?

Acting: Ugh... I think the word that comes to mind as I watched this was stale. There were a few well-delivered lines, but the rest was a little painful, especially the monologue by Sparrow. I didn’t really feel for her as she explaining the effects of the sting. And then the “I can’t” afterwards would be okay, him putting his head in his hands is laughable. I’d switch it up so that he is still staring directly at her, or looking away. Sparrow’s line “You don’t understand, I am dead” is awesome, but then it’s followed up by the repeat “I am dead” which should just be cut out, it doesn’t heighten the emotion and sounds kinda silly.

I hope that was a makeshift title as well in the beginning, if everything else looks really good, I’d get some SFX on that as well.

I will definitely be checking out the full version of this. Kudos for style, content needs work at times.

 

[jpbankesmercer]

Ryan,

Thanx much as I thought. Surprised about the condensation and use without rails, best to have everything solid, especially if you intend to hire in a lens or two eh?

I'm sold, gonna try a setup on my next shoot.

Thanks for all your information, best of luck to you. I admire you both for pushing the boundaries for us mere mortals.

J.p.

 

[Norm Sanders]

LOL! JP, you're too much. In defense of that Letus, I don't think any other 35 adapters would have survived the amount of water we put it through. It was directly being hit by the rain towers, while we were at least protecting the camera ... at some points we had the lense pointed right up into the rain for the low perspective of our thug in the alley (in the full cut), etc.

I've joked about our next 35mm adapter review including the "bath tub test" for anyone that claims their adapter's air tight. If they say it is, it'll go in a tub of water to prove the claim.

Hybrid, thanks for the detailed comments. Yes, the title is totally temporary, as it's not even the title of the full cut. But, you've given me a great idea ... I didn't have ANY SFX for the full cut's title, which I'll be sure to implement now. Thanks for that! :thumbsup:

 

[Ben Sliker]

hey, i do my best, i look forward to doing battle with you for horrorfest, that is, if you are in. he he.

 

[Norm Sanders]

hey, i do my best, i look forward to doing battle with you for horrorfest, that is, if you are in. he he.

You're on! :beer: My wife SO wishes I'd sit it out, and I really should as I'm in development of a much larger project (one that'll goaled to spring board a feature for next fall), but I've got a good idea of one I think I can do in just one or two days with a TINY crew, and even smaller cast. That said, she thinks it'd be cool if I did a horror spoof (comical), but that's a totally different direction than my initial idea.

Seeing what you had cookin' for Sci-Fest, I bet you'll have a killer entry.

 

[235 Studios]

Ryan,

Thanx much as I thought. Surprised about the condensation

As Norm said we had A LOT of water coming down- I'm not sure that other adapters would have survived either. And out of the two adapters we had, only one "failed".

and use without rails, best to have everything solid, especially if you intend to hire in a lens or two eh?

Yes, rails are a must, it attaches via threads, but I wouldn't want that much weight hanging off my camera ....

I'm sold, gonna try a setup on my next shoot.

Just remember that this was with the DVX. I have yet to test it with the HVX.

Thanks for all your information, best of luck to you. I admire you both for pushing the boundaries for us mere mortals.

J.p.

No problem, glad to help.