The Bicycle Thief- Channel 102 pilot

Noah

Noah

Well-known member
I co-created the show with a friend of mine. We were admited into Channel 102 and got voted into prime time after the screening last night. Check it out and tell me what you think. If you have any questions in regards to the production, please ask away and I'll answer to the best of my ability.

The Bicycle Thief can be seen at: Channel 102

"There are two paths to Prime Time emerging in 102. The loose, funny shows shot in your friend's office/living room, and then ones that impress the audience with its professional production values. The Bicycle Thief had laughs, but also looks great. Shooting in NYC can be tough, and this show turned the financial district into a desolate, creepy nightmare for its hero."

Shot on both the DVX100b and Sony VX2100 on location in NYC. Shot in 4:3 and letterboxed to 16:9. Edited in Final Cut Pro.

Stay tuned for the next episode.
 
I actually liked it. That was definitely different. Did you guys use all natural light.. I see you didn't have any problems with the sun. Looks pretty good though..
 
Haha, I don't know if I'd call it a remake. We had to get this done really quickly (a few hours over 2 or 3 days) and there were only 2 of us. So yes, all available light. There are a lot of shots I wish we had just brought a piece of beadboard, especially the last shot. Be sure that this will be fixed in the next episode. Hopefully we'll have more time to be able to actually do some lighting, but I have a feeling that it will be just as rushed if not more so than the first episode.
 
This is a really good, exaggerated-concept film/show. Good framing of shots, fairly good acting, nice lighting, etc. The thief looks and acts like a Matrix agent! But there were a few mistakes that ought to be worked out in future episodes: After the thief breaks the first cyclist's neck, the victim falls to the ground facing left. Once his friends arrive he is facing right. Also, when they're standing over him and there's a CU of his face, he slightly blinks or moves his eyes or something. Actually those are the only problems I saw. One thing I wondered just after reading your blurb and before even watching is that you use a Panny and a Sony cam. I thought it was industry standard to always use cams from the same manufacturer, or else there's risk of colour problems. My admittedly untrained eye didn't see any colour problems. Did you somehow match them up pre-production or in post through MB or CC?
 
Congrats man. Yeah - Channel102 seems to have more 'high quality' videos than 101. Like whoever did that video about being the 5 year old kids agents was pretty pro. So was yours. But I have to tell you - my fav. channel 102 episode is Teen Homicide.

But yeah man, the best is that bicycle guys glasses and the big eyes. He reminds me of bubbles from a show called trailer park boys which is big up here in canada but never caught on in the states.

I liked the cut where the books suddenly drop on the desk.
 
tbagg said:
But I have to tell you - my fav. channel 102 episode is Teen Homicide.
Click to expand...


I'm friends with a lot of the people who made Teen Homicide; we all go to school together. They're a really talented bunch and it's too bad the most recent episode wasn't that good since the first ones were brilliant.


Regarding the remake comment, I was mostly kidding...
 
Hey, that was a fun short. Acting was good. Framing and shots were good. The office scenes didn't look as good as the exterior scenes. The glasses are great! And that character is well done and interesting.

Can't wait to see ep 2.
 
Firstly, I want to say thank you to everyone who's taken the time to watch it and posted some very nice comments. I really do appreciate it.

Mystico-
It's definitly industry standard to use the same camera types for color. It is also industry standard to use cameras with the same frame rate. We ignored both of these and got away with it. We started shooting on my DVX in 24p, one weekend I was away shooting something else (with my camera) and my partner Sam wanted to shoot something that weekend (because of actor's schedules) so had to use his VX2100 which shot in 30i I believe. I thought it would be a problem, but after a little 3-way color correct in FCP, I couldn't really tell the difference shot to shot or scene to scene. And thanks for posting the little fallacies. I actually didn't notice them until you pointed it out. Thankfully, I think the average viewer is not as meticulous as the average DVXuser and won't notice. I'll be sure to watch out for things like this in the next episode though.

Nik-
I agree that we needed more establishing shots. Someone on the Channel102 forum said we need more wide shots. I agree with you and not him. We need to establish the space better (which is often and most easily done in wide shots), but not all wide shots are establishing. I think the closeups work for us because, to a certain degree, the disorientation adds to the uneasiness of the scenes and also because its primarily viewed in a tiny window on the internet, which is a closeup medium anyway. We'll find a better way of establishing the spacial relations while still providing the functionality of the closeups in the coming episode(s).
 
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