Sit Down Interview Clip and Grading

filmstox

filmstox

Well-known member
Hey folks,

I finally got permission from the producer to post a quick clip from the interviews I shot last month. Yes, that's Greg Brady... :)

http://www.stickypod.com/stickypod_upload/uploads/barry_cc_warm_small.mov

I've noticed that the gamma seems off when I play it back in Quicktime verses in FCP. I remember some posts a while back about QT7 having some issues. If anyone has any suggestions about different codecs to output to I'll be happy to re-encode.

The clip consists of the uncorrected image from the camera (scaled down for the web) followed by the same clip with some diffusion added and a possible color grading.

Enjoy!

-filmstox


greg_brady.tif
 
Looks great, except for the diffusion. I'd recommend, if you're wanting to have that soft/diffusion look, that you use it 'gently'. It's a nice look, just too intense for my personal tastes, and I think it would look a great deal better if you reduced the effect.

The raw footage looks fantastic by the way.
 
Thanks for the feedback, and I agree that I pushed the diffusion pretty far. I've uploaded full res clips that are shorter but just a straight export from FCP.

http://www.stickypod.com/stickypod_upload/uploads/barry_cc_warm_big.mov

I'm interested to get people's thoughts on the noise issue with these clips. It's there, but I am working under the assumption that if the face reads well, the noise will be less offensive. Personally it hasn't been a problem to my taste... I know it's there, and if I look for it I see it, but overall it hasn't been distracting. I'm sure as I shoot more, there will be a time that its a problem but so far I'm very pleased.
 
I like the first one better as well. The second one feels a too fuzzy and the a little to orange. Also in the first one I would add a little more fill light to brighten up the right side of his face when he moves, but I also am not looking at it on a Production Monitor at the moment.
 
Nice to see an example of standard headshot with basic lighting.
It shows the noise and sharpness performance pretty good. Especially in the muted background.

I really like the tonality if you mute it even more:
greg_brady.jpg


(Open Image in an .ICC aware application to see it correctly)
 
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It seems nice but it's just a still. Thanks anyway Anders! I'm out@broadband.

And about the background...motion -- well, you know...any problem of that kind?

EDIT - I'm sorry, I didn't read it at all -- your post beat me as well my worries...muted background indeed?
 
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Anders Holck said:
Nice to see an example of standard headshot with basic lighting.
It shows the noise and sharpness performance pretty good. Especially in the muted background.
Click to expand...

As simple as it comes, 650 through a Chimera for the key, and a 350 rim dimmed down for warmth and balance. The background was about 10 feet behind the subject, lit by a 25w MR16 track light.

Thanks for taking a stab at grading the image, it looks good. We've only just started shooting so I'm interested in playing with looks until we have an edit.

-filmstox
 
The only thing im missing, is a kicker from back left, to give a slightly blown out rim at the key side of the face.
 
By the way...
I have done a little test of different De-noise tools based on your footage.
You can download it here in DVCPRO HD 720:
http://andersholck.01webspace.com/images/DeNoiseTest.mov.zip

It will cut between the different methods, intercut with the original.
To compare directly between two methods you can step to the posterframe of any of them with the chapter pop-up in the lower right of the Quicktime player window.
 
Anders Holck said:
By the way...
I have done a little test of different De-noise tools based on your footage.
Click to expand...

Excellent! I'm d/l now. I'm posting a new full res grade that I feel better about, the Diffusion is dialed back and I've taken a bit of the orangey feel from the face. I've held onto the warmth in the rim and pumped up the blue on the shirt a bit. It feels a little punchier now. I can't wait to see your results with the de-noise tools....

I'll post the link as soon as the upload finishes.

-filmstox
 
The AE remove grain seems to do the best job of quieting it down. The others seem to be trying but just make it more blocky and more noticable to my eye. I would preffer the origional to all of them except the AE remove noise. Even there, it's a toss up between the noise and the "plastic" quality that the AE plugin gives to the face. I'd be curious to see how it looks selectively applying this to the darker regions of the image while leaving the face untouched... I'll give it a shot...

-filmstox
 
Anders Holck said:
The noisetest has the look of your original, so it's still ungraded.
Click to expand...

The new grading that is uploading now, while impoving the look of the footage IMHO unfortunately does so while increasing the noise.

-filmstox
 
The new grading is posted here (it does not have any noise reduction applied):

http://www.stickypod.com/stickypod_upload/uploads/barry_cc_warm_big-v2.mov

Anders,
I'm running AE6 and can't find the remove noise tool you mentioned. Is it new to AE7? I'm playing with Noise | Median and using a Luma key to apply it only to the areas of the luma range that are showing the noise, the big trouble is that I end up loosing detail in the shirt in the process but it is helping the noise while keeping the face clean.
 
Yes "Remove Noise" was introduced in AE7.
Adobe has a full 30 days version at their website, if you'd like to experiment.
It's a 1GB download.
The superior thing about remove noise, is that it has temporal reduction, which detects motion and boosts noice reduction in static elements. This is pretty obvious in the background of your shot, but can also be seen in the shirt of your subject.

Here is the AE reduced shot with the original's highlights re-applied by the use of a luminance key:
DeNoiseTest2.mov
It's also graded a bit for playback in FCP, so it will look a little desaturated in QT player.
 
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I've been grading for FCP too, and viewing your work on the timeline with the origional clip. The lack of noise on Test2 looks great, its a bit dark on my monitor for my taste but it definately shows that the noise can be tamed. And the Luma did the trick with the skin tones. Great work! Thanks! So I guess AE7 might be worth the upgrade after all. :beer:
 
Yes, it's actually working quite well on this footage.
Here is a variation where I have enlarged the vignette.
The funny thing is that it does not affect the keyed in highlights because it's laying beneeth that.

DeNoiseTest3.mov.zip

It is a little darker though, so not to your likings either :)
 
Don't get me wrong, I actually like it a lot. I just know what he's talking about (doing an Elvis spoof for the VMA awards) and to see it looking dramatic is odd for me. A comment on the look in regards to context. The look as it stands alone is beautiful. High contrast, clean, and nuanced. If I steel the look for the final edit, I'll send you a case of beer! What do you like? :)

The highlights over the vignette is really pretty cool. It gives it a classic portrait backdrop feel. I like it.

Anders Holck said:
The superior thing about remove noise, is that it has temporal reduction, which detects motion and boosts noice reduction in static elements.
Click to expand...

It makes me wonder what will happen when that static background is no longer static. I've uploaded a clip when I'm zooming in to reframe for another question. I'd appreciate it if you could apply the same settings as the last test to see what the plugin does with a change in conditions.

the file is:
http://www.stickypod.com/stickypod_upload/uploads/barry_cc_raw_big-push_in.mov

:dankk2:
 
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