Silent Film Test/Short/St. Patty's Day Card

brownpaperbagproductions

brownpaperbagproductions

Well-known member
This is a test of doing the Silent Film look, with the 18fps and scratches and jitters and black and white. Then we turned it into a St. Patty's day card/short thing. Critque's would be awesome, and maybe some hints and tips on how you guys pull off the silent film look.

We used Vegas, speed up play back and put the sample frame rate to 17 or 16fps, and used the film effects filter for the scratches and jitters.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyV9mJ9RbyE

:dankk2:
Brown Paper Bag Productions
 
I know that the Barry Green book has a way to do 18fps, but I don't have the dough to get it right now, and I can't find anything when searching the forums.
 
I'll watch anything that has to do with the Irish. You seem to have done your research or used an old film as a reference. I liked it other than the flash back which didn't fit into this picture. I thought you dropped in a clip by accident. What was the meaning for it? The music was good, editing was good. The angle of the cop as he bashed the drunks skull in with his umbrellas was perfect. I think subtitles would have been really cool, but I don't think they were used in old films like that? Because you have to figure, when these guys are talking and we can't hear anything, we have to sit there and wait for the text on the screen you have now to explain what's going on. I think subtitles would keep us in the story. "Scram Copper!" Well done, looked like a lot of fun.... Irish The World Over
 
Yeah the flashback was a clip from another movie of ours that ended with a violent act, it was just to punch up the ridiculous nature of the voilence, a technique stolen from Monty Python. I'm glad you like the look, we were worried that the compression erased the 18fps look of it.
 
The very first film I did was along the lines of the old silent era. I didn't have an NLE back then so I just used After Effects to do the entire edit.

I applied a sepia tone on the whole film and then sped it up (can't remember by how much exactly). I took chunks out of the timeline here and there to emulate frame skipping (you have also done that I see).

You can see it here: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/somethingfishy.html

For the opening titles of your own piece, you have a fade transition. That looks weird and out of place, make it a simple cut from one title to the other. Also, the top and bottom parts of your titles are moving differently. For it to be authentic you have to imagine that your titles were shot off a single board so everything would need to be "jittering" at the same rate. Also, tone the intensity of the jittering down a little, it seems way too much compared to the actual footage.

Clothing also can make or break the believeability. Even though this is a test, your actors are wearing contemporary clothes and it immediately feels off. I am specifically referring to the shirts they are wearing and the sunglasses.

I'm not sure about the repeating frames you are using. I have not seen this in vintage films so, unless you are trying to create your own style there, I would ditch that idea. It seemed a little distracting to me.

I didn't get the concept of your film. Are you using the old cliche of the Irish being drunks and, if so, what was the point of the film? The subliminal inserts seemed a little much in the context of such a short piece and your subliminal text over the images near the end had me feeling seasick.

Anyway, maybe more than you wanted but I hope some of these comments helped.

EDIT: Here's something else from when I was playing around with Magic Bullet software: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/images/bullet_horror.mov

The motion doesn't feel right but the vintage horror vibe is there I think :)
 
Last edited:
The film look on those really blows the balls off ours, expect the blowout on the faces sometimes. The jumpness look good, but I really like the fake solarized lines around objects; what effect in After Effects was that?
 
I loved the random inserts and cuts - it's not what's accurate, it's how it manipulates the audience. I was laughing my ass off (Irish heritage permits me). Keep it up, it looked great, though your color balance was a little light. I would have gone a little more brown trouser and added a vignette. I too am magically Bullet endowed so it's easy for me, but you can create a vignette in photoshop, and Vegas has a sepia tone filter somewhere.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top