Smuggler's Ransom- OFFICIAL THREAD

I have some not so great news to report tonight...

For those of you who've been keeping up to date on the thread and website know we had the priviledge of having an awesome casting director for this film, Briane.

I am sorry to have to share that her Mom passed away tonight... Her mom had been suffering from some issues in her brain (I am not totally 100% sure on all the details), and it was inoperable... Her mom was moved to a Hospice a few days ago, and tonight she passed away... Briane was a friend of mine before we worked on Smuggler's Ransom together, and I was hearbroken to hear about this tonight... please pray for her family during this difficult time for them. Thanks.
 
Oh That's terrible Brandon. Very sorry to hear that. :(

Will be praying for her family, all the way over in New Zealand.

-Chris
 
Thanks Chris, her family appreaciats it a lot!

In other news, we finished all the stuff we had to record VO-wise for Smuggler's, so now really all that's remaining is two effects shots, some effects modifications, score, and sound!
 
Oh yeah!

Just a quick update... there are some pretty nifty color grading things coming up on this thread... be on the lookout! I'll be showing you before/after plus my Curves and Levels I used in Avid!
 
BTS: An Inside Look at the Color Grading of Smuggler's Ransom

BTS: An Inside Look at the Color Grading of Smuggler's Ransom

Click the image below to see a full-screen image of my Avid color corrector.

You'll notice the first image on the left in the three panels is the corrected image. The second image is the uncorrected image. You'll also see I used the curves tool and the Master Saturation tool as well.

 
This is an area that is always so subjective that I am hesitant to even comment and the screen cap is so low resolution that I can't even be confident in what I am seeing.

That stated, there seems to be almost no shadow detail in this scene's corrected image. This might be exactly what you wanted, it might be perfect for this scene, I can't be certain. Perhaps you can post a pair of higher resolution grabs, both before and after, even better would be a pair of short clips.
 
I'll try to post a couple before/after clips soon. In this scene I was going for a more muted, stale look, as it's supposed to be a drab apartment, that is why you see very flat contrast in the lighting.
 
Brandon Rice said:
UPDATE: I just heard some music from Justin... one word... WOW! He's got SKILZ!
Click to expand...

That's exciting! I can't wait to hear the music..as i've already told you the movie score is very important to me. I feel it can make even a weak movie great! :) That's just me though.

I'm so sorry about your friend Brandon. I'm praying for her and her family. I can't imagine losing one of my parents...
 
Thanks for the prayers! I spoke to Briane yesterday, and she's doing pretty well (considering). Thanks for the continued prayers.
 
Just watched both the before and after.

I will start by saying that these types of things are very subjective, but it still feels like there is no shadow detail, same that I saw in your screen cap from Avid. I like the direction you headed, but for me, you went a taste to far in pushing the contrast.

How this works in the context of the whole story is what is really important and perhaps this is the best choice, I really can't tell from a few second clip.

Do you make your final choices on a calibrated production monitor?
 
khmuse said:
Just watched both the before and after.

I will start by saying that these types of things are very subjective, but it still feels like there is no shadow detail, same that I saw in your screen cap from Avid. I like the direction you headed, but for me, you went a taste to far in pushing the contrast.

How this works in the context of the whole story is what is really important and perhaps this is the best choice, I really can't tell from a few second clip.

Do you make your final choices on a calibrated production monitor?
Click to expand...

I hear you. The whole movie is very contrasty in nature. For this scene I wanted a grittier, more earth tone look (see some scenes in 24) as he (our protag) is questioning the man by force for information.

I do use a calibrated production monitor on final Color Grading. Most all of the scenes I've done that on, this being one of them. I'll probably go through it all one more time for final tweaks. Thanks for watching.
 
Lets face it, if the story is good, the performances are good, no one but a few film nerds are gonna nit pick about the shadow details. Now in isolation, these types of things are a bit more apparent because that is all you can pick up on as there is nothing before this point in time to support it.

Being a film guy I kinda think in terms of exposing for the shadows and keeping a bit of detail there (unless the nature of the scene calls for something else) but that is just a personal perference.

There is a tendency to work forever on these types of things because you can and that can be more than a bit of a burden. At some point it is important to get a project to a finished point, if you are seeking perfection, you may never get there. Something that is hard to accept is that there is such a thing as "good enough".

Best of luck and I am looking forward to seeing the final product.
 
Thanks Kevin, agreed. A lot of it's preference and in many scenes the lighting schemes are much different. I'll be posting up another color grading example up.
 
BTS: An Inside Look at the Color Grading of Smuggler's Ransom - Part 2

BTS: An Inside Look at the Color Grading of Smuggler's Ransom - Part 2

Here is a color grading example that is a bit more dramatic than the last one... in this scene, our protaganist is having a flashback. As you'll see, color grading is used to help show a more dreamlike state that he is in....

Click the image below to see a full-screen image of my Avid color corrector.

You'll notice the first image on the left in the three panels is the corrected image. The second image is the uncorrected image. You'll also see I used the curves tool and the Master Saturation tool as well.




Here are some higher-res Stills of the before and after...

beforeafter2_before.jpg

beforeafter2_after.jpg
 
I see what you are going for but in my opinion you are compressing out all of your dynamic range (which is causing the highlights to blow out and glow a little unnaturally)

if you introduce this effect with a wider curve then you will retain more dynamic range. If you had the ability to use histograms (which you cant in avid) you would basically use the range of the "mountain" in the graph and then adjust your gamma point. You can simulate this in curves but its less precise (IMHO)
 
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