"The Package" - Action Film Look

krotoflik

krotoflik

Active member
Here is my latest video! It's my first stab at getting an action based film look and style shooting. I hope you like it and feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think.

 
Some of the shots were held way too long. Like the tight shot on just the pistol as he's doing the painfully long 3 minute walk with nothing happening. The whole sequence could be cut drastically and would feel tighter.
 
I can agree with that. This was mainly for style building purposes and experimentation as for the nothing going on part ;). But I do hope to build off of this for the next part to have real action. Thank you for your feedback.
 
Snazzy Flapper said:
Some of the shots were held way too long.
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For a sequence that long, you should have intercut the opponent's POV or something, to make it cat&mouse chase. Other than that, the actor didn't portrayed the most believable performance I've seen, but not the worst at the same time. He looked too kind for what he was doing there.
But it was great I think, it was a first try?

If I can point another video as a reference to what I mentionned (even if it was very similar to yours!) here's one I've done with a friend a couple years ago, on a Digital8 camcorder, without a real script and shot within 1 hour:
 
Like it. When it comes to the grade/look, you did a great job. I agree with the others that you should edit it down a bit. As for constructive criticism: I would stop down the lenses quite a bit: on bigger productions, these scenes would not be shot as wide open (more like f.5.6) , this is a bit of a dslr-giveaway, since we tend to go overboard with our shallow DOF - because we can :)
Keep it up, could have used your help on my last project -> http://www.vimeo.com/29210445 :)
 
I really liked that, you captured a very cool tone... how you moved the camera, your framing. I liked the color look of the image. Those light reflections from the window were really cool.

I didn't really care how long it was, I wasn't expecting to see a short film that had a story, it was just like your title said.. and action film look.

Good Job
 
Good.

Now add a small amount of plot, so the long suspenseful shots you want to have will feed us new information and keep everyone from getting bored... with good storytelling, you could keep those shots that are too long and make them longer.
 
Hey thanks for the feedback guys! To answer a few questions drapeama: there was no opponent in this short, the actor isn't really an actor as he is my brother, yes it was a first attempt at this kind of thing. Antizeit: for the darker part of the video 1.8f was the only option as there were only one open door and three small sources of light, but when I did get more light I did notch it up to 2.8f for one shot I think and you may not have noticed it but most of those shots ranged from 800 ISO to 3200 ISO. Imaginate: Yeah I wasn't sure how I felt about the reflections myself as my filter on the lens seems to make that happen, glad you understand the reason behind no story/plot :). reaktor: For the next one when I hope to have actual shooting scenes and more plot, one of the reasons I had behind having longer shots was because I didn't want to feel like he got from point A to B in no time.

Thanks everyone for the great feedback!

Random info, this whole thing was thought of, found clothing/gear, test shot, mapped out, story boarded, and finally shot in two hours total. Make sure to give the video a like if you could, that would be awesome sauce! :D
 
antizeit said:
Like it. When it comes to the grade/look, you did a great job. I agree with the others that you should edit it down a bit. As for constructive criticism: I would stop down the lenses quite a bit: on bigger productions, these scenes would not be shot as wide open (more like f.5.6) , this is a bit of a dslr-giveaway, since we tend to go overboard with our shallow DOF - because we can :)
Keep it up, could have used your help on my last project -> http://www.vimeo.com/29210445 :)
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Simply not true. Many many films are shot with very shallow dof. For you to even say that just tells us you are not watching enough movies. Way before dslrs ever thought about shooting videos we were see shallow dof through these film cameras.
 
Of course you´re right about that in general. All I´m saying is that most DPs wouldn´t shoot handheld action stuff this wide open. I´ve been fortunate enough to work with some great DPs over the years, so this is firsthand knowledge not random speculation. But in the end, it all comes down to the scene and personal preference of the DP. There is no right or wrong, but in my opinion we (and i´ll include myself here, guilty as charged) often tend to go overboard on DoF, where DoPs on big shows would often be much more conservative.
 
For some scenes you do have to watch out for over doing the dof. Like the over the shoulder with the gun focused in I think I was at 2.8f. Which it probably would have been better if I was above at least 3f so more of the gun was focused in, but oh well. Live and learn. At the moment I have been getting people offering to donate BDU clothing to me so I can make the next one, which is awesome! Just not sure how long it will take to get it to me. I just hope I can start getting more guns now. I wonder if people donate old airsoft guns for things like this?
 
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