Sunlit Office scene from a recent gig

johnhafner

johnhafner

Active member
Crap I thought I was in the screening/footage section. Mods can someone move this please to 7d footage/stills?

Check it out I did this for a UT director. Still needs color correction, and he is gonna change a few takes where the camera work was poor, or the dolly shook.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlQzezrSqeM&fmt=22

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I AGREE
 
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That was really good, can we get some production notes on what you did, to achieve that look,
Did you do any CC, or was that a raw look from the cam? and what lens did you use?
 
Don't mean to play "coach" here cus i'm not that experience myself however i do feel that composition and lighting design is slightly lacking in that peice. Its very jarring to me when i see that the camera's "objective" was to frame the doctor's hand in there and thus forgot about the talent facing camera and therefore cuts off his head right above his eyebrow....see what i mean. Also i look at the shot and think the crew were more interested in showing the nice lightspill/shadows from the window spilling on the table that they didnt think that the actual composition of the lead actor was more important.

I feel that indie films try their hardest to look "hollywood" whereas "hollywood" is really about telling a story well. Its all about objectives.

Once again i'm not Joe Experience so dont take my word for it. Just my opinion.
 
Beauty is only what an individual can see with his or her own eyes.
To be honest I am more interested in the color, and the technique he used I forgot to pay attention to the story.
 
To each his own... I liked this look a lot. If I were to see footage like this from day one I wouldn’t have been flipping so much between what cams to get. But honestly, this isn’t about the camera, it’s about everything else that went into making this shot. The only thing I had any problem with is the professor/counselor’s audio which could have had a little more presence and not sound so far away. But I would love to shoot images/scenes like this. Thanks for the look.

I only wish you had it available to download on Vimeo...You Tube keeps stopping/restarting/stuttering...I hate it.

Edit: of course there were some shaky camera moments also.
 
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mastermind said:
I feel that indie films try their hardest to look "hollywood" whereas "hollywood" is really about telling a story well. Its all about objectives.
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Not sure if I understand what this really means. I know you’re not trying to be condescending but some folks might think this comment is way off here. At the same time though I can’t assume the DP, Director or anyone on this set does or does not have any “Hollywood” experience. Then again...being that there are students involved I guess so. I thought, outside of some quirks, this looked very good including the acting.
 
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He means that actor performance was cutted off by top of the frame and i agree on that , would choose different angle for this and put 7D slightly lower so you could catch the hand and actor to the top of his head, too much table in frame.
 
I thought it was better than a lot of stuff I've seen posted here in the past few months. Things that didn't work for me:

1. Sunlight was too much. Windows needed to come down a stop, maybe 2. Audio seemed distant which shouldn't have happened in a quiet room in a series of 1 shots and OTS.

2. Color was a bit muted for sunlight. I would have liked to see the sun be just a bit more orange (or cyan depending on time of day)

3. The OTS angle to the doctor was very good, but the reverse really made the student seem "small". Perhaps that was the goal, but the two seemed like equals in terms of the power of the scene, so it seems a different angle would have been warranted.

4. It would have been nice to have some view of the office. Something to offer some depth to the screen. I think this is one thing that is missing a LOT from non-Hollywood level work. Everything just seems so small.

5. The small push-in near the beginning, really just kind of stops and goes to a static camera. That move sets up something and then falls flat. This scene is screaming for a dolly.

6. I'd have rather not seen the student's backside when he stood up. That needs to be either suggested, or go to his POV or something else. It just took a nicely framed scene and totally destroyed it.

But overall, it was well shot, sharp, and pretty well acted. Don't meant to come off so negatively, but that's kinda what happens on the forums..
 
I was only looking at the feeling of the footage - and thought it looked great!
Some production notes would be awsome...

1. Lenses
2. lighting (or only sunlight?)
3. More...

Thanks for sharing!
 
I'm diggin the Lupe Fiasco. I made myself a Daydreamin' ringtone as soon as I heard Food & Liquor. Good stuff bro
 
Ian-T said:
Not sure if I understand what this really means. I know you’re not trying to be condescending but some folks might think this comment is way off here. At the same time though I can’t assume the DP, Director or anyone on this set does or does not have any “Hollywood” experience. Then again...being that there are students involved I guess so. I thought, outside of some quirks, this looked very good including the acting.
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Yes I agree and upon rereading that I can see how it can come across as being condescending so before going further: My apologies as that was NEVER my intent in saying that. Just something i thought the owner of the video could read and consider.

I joined DVX user just when it started and right after film school. the wealth of knowledge i've learned on here is incredible and where i learned that stuff was not really from people saying "great job" but rather from people technically critiqueinig work.

The peice did look great, nice lighting etc etc...i was just really commenting on the fact that composition was very jarring in a couple frames and I can see why it was. ORRRR i could have said "great job" and kept my thoughts to myself. Had someone made that comment about my work next time i'm on set i may think about it when i'm in that situation again. I've directed over 50 broadcast music videos at this point in my career and now engaging in my first feature film...and beleive me when i tell you alot of the things I implement in my work and technique come right off this message board. So it was just food for thought. nothing condescendinig.

When i put something out please let me know EVERYTHING you see wrong with it, that way hopefully i can learn from my mistakes and not stay stuck in a rut.
 
You have a good attitude mastermind….I’m glad you didn’t take my comment the wrong way. I agree with some of what you said about some of the “jarring” looking scenes. Actually, the side view forehead shot of the older actor didn’t bother me until you mentioned it. Seeing that it is a semi-wider shot I would have expected him to be in the whole frame. I notice Hollywood films have a tendency to cut off the actor’s head also but mainly in more close up shots…especially on balding men like Bruce Willis etc.

What also threw me off was the bounce in some of the dolly shots. The movement overall was steady and smooth but when it came to those bouncy movements my mind picked up on it right away and flagged it as a mistake. There are purposeful shaky cam moments in a lot of films and then there are those smooth silk movements that I love to see. It just seemed like this was an “oops” moment. But it should be able to be fixed in post very easily (I believe).

I liked the acting by both characters. The older character reminds me of…(I forget his name) the guy who plays the newspaper boss in Spiderman (he was also on HBO’s “OZ” as the head Nazi white supremist, and he’s on “Law and Order” I think)… Anyways…he has the same dry straight faced humor as that actor.

I'm overall impressed with how the camera performed. There was a lot of detail in that room that stuck out due to good lighting. I just bought a 7D (should be arriving today) and would love to learn how to light capture scenes like that. Others might find a whole lot wrong with that scene…but whatever issues there are didn’t stick out to me. So…I’m learning just like you are….
 
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