C100: Same Day Edit: 1-Minute Promo Shot on Blue Screen (mostly) and AVCHD

DannayZay

DannayZay

Well-known member
Just wanted to share a promo I had the pleasure of creating yesterday. The requirements were simple: Create a <2 minute promo about an Intuition 2.0 Conference with the host, Maria DeSimone.

Link: http://youtu.be/eLZRuNTHiLE

Equipment Used:
-Canon C100 with Canon 17-55 F2.8
-Sennheiser G3 Wireless with Tram TR50 Lav
-Muslin Blue Screen
-5x 2-bank Flo Lights and 1 Softbox
-Manfrotto Carbon Fiber Tripod / 701HDV head

Setup took 1 hour (this was shot entirely in a living room), brainstorming the creative and filming took 2 hours. I then did a same-day edit after the rest of our shoot, totaling around 8 hours. The blue screen footage was keyed in After Effects using Key Light. There was no hair and make-up artist, just Maria and I trying to tame her frizz.

Enjoy and I'm open to all constructive criticism!
 
Wow can't believe you got this done the same day!

I thought everyone was great except the first couple of shots (1st, 3rd, and 4th) really doesn't match the rest in terms of quality. Everything else though is top notch and you got some slick editing done.

Maybe cutting the medium shots and sticking with the closeups of the hands/phone might really grip the viewer in right away.
 
This is nit-picky but her body is slightly angled to the right side of the frame, especially in the closeups(The chroma keyed parts). If she is on the right side of the frame, like you have her, then her body should be angled IN toward the middle of the frame (to the left), not out to the outside edge (or even square on). Nit-picky but I found that distracting.

Otherwise, it's a nice job and fantastic you did it all in one day!
 
ejdge said:
Wow can't believe you got this done the same day!

I thought everyone was great except the first couple of shots (1st, 3rd, and 4th) really doesn't match the rest in terms of quality. Everything else though is top notch and you got some slick editing done.

Maybe cutting the medium shots and sticking with the closeups of the hands/phone might really grip the viewer in right away.
Click to expand...

Thank you! I agree that those shots don't match the depth of field. I was wide open at 2.8 and couldn't back up to zoom in to give a more shallow depth of field. It was very tight in there so I worked with what I had. The original idea was just the medium shot but I couldn't get her to look natural in one take!


wgtwo said:
Always fade audio out rather than cutting. Very jarring. Otherwise pretty solid.
Click to expand...
Weird, I faded all of the audio together, were you just talking about her vocals after the beginning scene?



Paul Frederick said:
This is nit-picky but her body is slightly angled to the right side of the frame, especially in the closeups(The chroma keyed parts). If she is on the right side of the frame, like you have her, then her body should be angled IN toward the middle of the frame (to the left), not out to the outside edge (or even square on). Nit-picky but I found that distracting.

Otherwise, it's a nice job and fantastic you did it all in one day!
Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing this out -- I didn't even notice her body's angle because I was more focused on her hips not swaying across the screen! This is good to look out for next time.
 
I think the beginning could have used a few additional camera angles.....maybe an extreme closeup as she answers the phone to help sell the frustration. Sometimes a long smooth dolly shot works but since you wanted to convey her as "overwhelmed" or "frustrated" I think more quick cuts would have sold that illusion better. Still....it worked out pretty good. I have the 17-55 as well and it looks great but I think a 50mm 1.8 or 1.4 and a few closeups could have made the beginning a little less "videoish"? Not that it looks like video....but it just looks a little flat on the wide shot. Having just watched it again I think a plant or two "staged" in the foreground could have helped this shot also. They would be out of focus but moving in front to frame the shot and add some interest. Sorry....just spitballing out loud.

Just trying to add a few constructive ideas that I would have used myself. Good Luck and Nice job.

Oh.....where did you hide the lav mic? Great job....I can't find it anywhere and I was looking for it since I have the same one!
 
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I think it looks great! :)

I usually like the things that I do for about 2-3 hours. Then all of the flaws start to become more apparent to me, and eventually I hate everything I do. Too much of a perfectionist.

I have always had a lot of "ego involvemnt" in my creative work too. I always took criticism too seriously and too personally. All of that conspired to make me do less and share less and learn less than I would have otherwise.

I hope can just relax, have fun, and enjoy what you to do make a living! Value your skill, and be realistic about where you are career wise.

I can't work any more because of issues with chronic pain. Looking back, I see now all that I had when I was younger - my talent/skill when I was doing triathlons, bicycle racing, photography, etc. I could have been less of a perfectinist & enjoyed it all more. I do remember doing a fashion shoot ion teh studio one day & thinking how awesome it was that I got to do something liek that to make a living.

Eventually it will be gone, one way or another. Have fun!

Sorry, long pedantic dump in lieu of C&C. Cheers & good luck.

Best,
Michael
 
icicle22 said:
I think the beginning could have used a few additional camera angles.....maybe an extreme closeup as she answers the phone to help sell the frustration. Sometimes a long smooth dolly shot works but since you wanted to convey her as "overwhelmed" or "frustrated" I think more quick cuts would have sold that illusion better. Still....it worked out pretty good. I have the 17-55 as well and it looks great but I think a 50mm 1.8 or 1.4 and a few closeups could have made the beginning a little less "videoish"? Not that it looks like video....but it just looks a little flat on the wide shot. Having just watched it again I think a plant or two "staged" in the foreground could have helped this shot also. They would be out of focus but moving in front to frame the shot and add some interest. Sorry....just spitballing out loud.

Just trying to add a few constructive ideas that I would have used myself. Good Luck and Nice job.

Oh.....where did you hide the lav mic? Great job....I can't find it anywhere and I was looking for it since I have the same one!
Click to expand...

Good points -- I tried some close ups of her frustrated face answering the phone and she hated the double chin the shots we had haha. Funny you brought up the plant, I moved one from her desk into the background because it was covering the laptop too much. Thanks though!

The mic is hidden on her right side (left if your facing her), just below her collar bone. I used the flat horizontal mic attachment that allows you to tape it to clothing. Just 2 pieces of mole skin!

unadog said:
I think it looks great! :)

I usually like the things that I do for about 2-3 hours. Then all of the flaws start to become more apparent to me, and eventually I hate everything I do. Too much of a perfectionist.

I have always had a lot of "ego involvemnt" in my creative work too. I always took criticism too seriously and too personally. All of that conspired to make me do less and share less and learn less than I would have otherwise.

I hope can just relax, have fun, and enjoy what you to do make a living! Value your skill, and be realistic about where you are career wise.

I can't work any more because of issues with chronic pain. Looking back, I see now all that I had when I was younger - my talent/skill when I was doing triathlons, bicycle racing, photography, etc. I could have been less of a perfectinist & enjoyed it all more. I do remember doing a fashion shoot ion teh studio one day & thinking how awesome it was that I got to do something liek that to make a living.

Eventually it will be gone, one way or another. Have fun!

Sorry, long pedantic dump in lieu of C&C. Cheers & good luck.

Best,
Michael
Click to expand...

Thank you for that post haha, I really don't take criticism and flaws to heart. I do what I can with the equipment/budget I'm given and try my best to improve every time. This little promo was fun because Maria (the talent) and I have been filming WEEKLY video horoscopes for the past 5 years, and this was a creative change-up (for this client specifically). If you go back to videos on her youtube channel to a couple of years ago, there's a HUGE difference in quality haha. Cheers!
 
Definitely, excellent key with that hair! What's the blur around the rear edge of her hair? Cleaning it up?

Which 2-bank flos? And how did you do the faces in the circles at :33?

I also might have tried some handheld at the beginning, just to give it a bit more edge, but nicely done!

I guess she knew 5 years ago that the videos would get better in the future... also that you'd get a C100! :happy:
 
groveChuck said:
Definitely, excellent key with that hair! What's the blur around the rear edge of her hair? Cleaning it up?

Which 2-bank flos? And how did you do the faces in the circles at :33?

I also might have tried some handheld at the beginning, just to give it a bit more edge, but nicely done!

I guess she knew 5 years ago that the videos would get better in the future... also that you'd get a C100! :happy:
Click to expand...

Thanks! I always enjoy pulling off a tough key. I added the tiny blur to make it blend more with the background. When there was none it looked too sharp and didn't look as good.

The 2-bank flos I use are FL-110HM Fixtures by Flolight. I animated the face circles from a PNG that was sent to me from the client. They created the graphic in Adobe Fireworks and I had to cut out each circle in Photoshop, then used After Effects to animate scale/position/opacity settings. I basically created the motion for one circle and parented that motion to the others.

Funny you mention handheld...those 2 close up shots were handheld! But yeah I could see how a little more shake could have added the edge.

wgtwo said:
I can hear the background noise cut out near the end, at about 0:46. If it is a fade then it's a very abrupt one!
Click to expand...
You're totally right, I forgot to fade the last clip out! I put together everything in after effects so without having the audio waveform visible, I couldn't see it haha oh well. The client loved the whole promo non-the-less!
 
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