Tons of Effects
- Thread starter kmfilmz
- Start date
New_Zealand
Veteran
I thought it was pretty good.
Probably because it sucks. It's a good example of why content is still king. There's no story here - just a bunch of Video Copilot tutorials strung together. Lame.
DVXUser is a community that provides helpful, constructive criticism rather than useless insults. Let's try to be a bit more helpful, shall we?
To the OP:
- It's a cute story. Not terribly deep, but cute.
- The camera work is shaky at times, which detracts from the quality. What are you shooting on?
- The lighting and exposure of the footage aren't quite right. I assume all the interiors were shot with available household light? Part of the challenge with your effects is that they look so drastically clean against some pretty rough source footage.
- Sound was inconsistent. On-camera mic? That's always the least desirable way to go, and bad sound can kill the project faster than bad pictures.
- The effects do come across as VC tutorials a bit, though part of that goes back to lighting and exposure. If you're going for an effects-heavy end-product, you need to shoot for those effects to make sure that they'll blend. More work should also be done on the compositing to match it into the color and exposure of the source footage.
- There are other rough edges, such as the time-lapse sky in the opening sequence. There's a painfully obvious edge around the tree tops that shows where you replaced the sky.
Making effects is easy. Making them look good takes lots of practice, and lots of trial and error.
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hey man, that was kind of mean. how can you say there is no story? I actually thought it was funny. sure, some of the effects are cheesier than others but overall it seemed well executed. for zero budget and a lot of time and no doubt sweat in after effects i think the OP did a nice job of putting together a fun little shoot-em-up. my favorite was the guy going through the wall.
Hawk Teflon
Veteran
I wouldn't say it sucks, but it needs some work IMHO (which means nothing, really).
There's no atmosphere in the shot or explosions. What I mean is it's just muzzle flashes or an explosion masked on top of footage. The colors don't match to me, and it isn't effecting (affecting? I always mix those up) the environment. In a dark-ish room, when when a gun is fired, it will produce a little light for a few frames. An explosion will make an area glow. Also, the charred spot on the back wall when he's coming back in was in front of the gun at one point. Always mask that out if they cross the plane.
Also, what's the point of shooting a guy the second time if the first barrage of bullets only knocked him down for a few seconds?
Why did you use a real looking grenade and Nerf guns? Why not keep it consistent with a Nerf grenade?
Also, that pistol looked (and cocked) like a shotgun to me.
I know that's not what you're wanting to hear. You'd rather hear, "LOLWUT? EPIC!!1! BEST VIDEO EVAR!" but this is DVXUser, not youtube. You'll get real comments here.
There's no atmosphere in the shot or explosions. What I mean is it's just muzzle flashes or an explosion masked on top of footage. The colors don't match to me, and it isn't effecting (affecting? I always mix those up) the environment. In a dark-ish room, when when a gun is fired, it will produce a little light for a few frames. An explosion will make an area glow. Also, the charred spot on the back wall when he's coming back in was in front of the gun at one point. Always mask that out if they cross the plane.
Also, what's the point of shooting a guy the second time if the first barrage of bullets only knocked him down for a few seconds?
Why did you use a real looking grenade and Nerf guns? Why not keep it consistent with a Nerf grenade?
Also, that pistol looked (and cocked) like a shotgun to me.
I know that's not what you're wanting to hear. You'd rather hear, "LOLWUT? EPIC!!1! BEST VIDEO EVAR!" but this is DVXUser, not youtube. You'll get real comments here.
Brian_Rice
Carbonite Member
Most people's short films aren't very popular (some really great ones too).
Going viral (which is what I'm assuming you're wanting?) has much more to do with the marketing and tags of the video than does it the actual content.
Going viral (which is what I'm assuming you're wanting?) has much more to do with the marketing and tags of the video than does it the actual content.
MattinSTL
Sound Modulator
Only my opinion here but... you could probably cut it down to 1:30.
1) start it at :40... on guy's goofy face... no titles, no nothing.
2) cut out the outside fridge door closing shot and cut right to CU on eating.
3) add "stupid gobbling" sound fx on the guy eating the muffin... make it a really quick cut also... about as long as the first two bites, 1 second.
4) cut out the few shots discussing what happened upstairs and "do you see me laughing"... go straight from "are those my muffins?" to "you ate my chocolate" (or dump "you ate my chocolate" altogether).
5) cut a few shots for the walk to the gun... kids line is decent and reasonably funny.
6) cut down the rest... the climb out of the cabinet isn't suspenseful, I'd just forget continuity and have the guy go in an empty kitchen then cut to the guy already behind him (comic dis-continuity).
7) total kitchen gun battle should go down in less then 10 total seconds.
8) end on "who wants pancakes"... w/o any kid reaction. (it's random, and more funny then adding "meee" from the kids)... [hey I just killed a dude...] "who wants pancakes?" (that's funny)
1) start it at :40... on guy's goofy face... no titles, no nothing.
2) cut out the outside fridge door closing shot and cut right to CU on eating.
3) add "stupid gobbling" sound fx on the guy eating the muffin... make it a really quick cut also... about as long as the first two bites, 1 second.
4) cut out the few shots discussing what happened upstairs and "do you see me laughing"... go straight from "are those my muffins?" to "you ate my chocolate" (or dump "you ate my chocolate" altogether).
5) cut a few shots for the walk to the gun... kids line is decent and reasonably funny.
6) cut down the rest... the climb out of the cabinet isn't suspenseful, I'd just forget continuity and have the guy go in an empty kitchen then cut to the guy already behind him (comic dis-continuity).
7) total kitchen gun battle should go down in less then 10 total seconds.
8) end on "who wants pancakes"... w/o any kid reaction. (it's random, and more funny then adding "meee" from the kids)... [hey I just killed a dude...] "who wants pancakes?" (that's funny)
Sun
Carbonite Member
I like it to be honest, it has lots of potential. I would have integrated the kids into the story! Made them Demon-Bots or flying Aliens seeing how you love the SFX. The less dialogue the better in this case. B&W Flash backs would have worked of the guy walking in on his wife and the bed sheets being pull over his head and him disappearing . Lets be strange. The toys guns are a little hammy. You could have used fruits or vegetables and made the guns fire burst of electric goo that turns you into a fruit! why not. The kids could morph into killer tomatoes with V sharp teeth. You can avoid all the blood stains and just have people jump back up to there feet with some smoke or electrified hair and boogle eyed.
I like stories that are unpredictable as most people do. Run wild with the ideas and do what you like post.
Keep up the good work, nobody starts of at the top.
I like stories that are unpredictable as most people do. Run wild with the ideas and do what you like post.
Keep up the good work, nobody starts of at the top.
Lliam Worthington
Active member
I agree with tightening it up in a re edit as being a good step... ESPECIALLY the muffin - fridge stuff... that sticks right out. I'd suggest making it much punchier with fast forward and zooming in - lock stock, snatch, crank style... and then continuing this rhythm throughout the piece. - which I talk about in a moment...
Some effects are dodgy it's true, but you can look to pretty much get away with it if your doing a nerf gun spoof...But as one user, ermmm, put it - content IS king... and the problem is that as currently your lacking in any really cohesive content or story depth - your placing more pressure on the effects being quality as per C2v - and also on the need for whip tight pacing, a clear consistent style and strong one liners/gags.
I think you can't really hope to succeed with anything less, in what otherwise amounts to a gratuitous entertaining style piece... Which I'm not judging btw.
So for me i'd focus on the pacing/rhythm and style of the piece - with a view to tightening and making everything punchier.
The standoff dialogue scene for example is too long and several of the shots lack the movement and style to marry it in with the rest of how you have created your piece. It slows down and the tension lessens just when it should be doing the opposite... so imo you need to tighten, jazz it up and or cut it right back.
It is what it is, but I do suggest that more work on the concept side of things would be of benefit for the future... particularly in working to be creative and not repetitive in your action - considering the nature of your piece I think this is essential... An example is the through the wall stuff, that was good I thought and stood out to me... Whereas all of the flame stuff seemed unintegrated and stood out, making it look as others have said - look like "look what i just learned" And the just walk up, stand in front of each other and then shoot them... I struggled with... seemed If in doubt... less is usually more.
Also developing your characters, like muffin man, into something more identifiable beyond the fact they just happen to be the guys that feature on the screen would be a great idea. At the momen, one if "Father" the other is hippy muffin man... Thats about the best I can get out of it... and this gives little for your audience to associate with or get attached too...
And finally creating or otherwise researching a bucket load of good one liners and then altering them to fit into your piece seems like a necessity.
(Note: I liked - "It's all about the muffins" or whatever it was")
Hope this is of some help
Best
LW
Some effects are dodgy it's true, but you can look to pretty much get away with it if your doing a nerf gun spoof...But as one user, ermmm, put it - content IS king... and the problem is that as currently your lacking in any really cohesive content or story depth - your placing more pressure on the effects being quality as per C2v - and also on the need for whip tight pacing, a clear consistent style and strong one liners/gags.
I think you can't really hope to succeed with anything less, in what otherwise amounts to a gratuitous entertaining style piece... Which I'm not judging btw.
So for me i'd focus on the pacing/rhythm and style of the piece - with a view to tightening and making everything punchier.
The standoff dialogue scene for example is too long and several of the shots lack the movement and style to marry it in with the rest of how you have created your piece. It slows down and the tension lessens just when it should be doing the opposite... so imo you need to tighten, jazz it up and or cut it right back.
It is what it is, but I do suggest that more work on the concept side of things would be of benefit for the future... particularly in working to be creative and not repetitive in your action - considering the nature of your piece I think this is essential... An example is the through the wall stuff, that was good I thought and stood out to me... Whereas all of the flame stuff seemed unintegrated and stood out, making it look as others have said - look like "look what i just learned" And the just walk up, stand in front of each other and then shoot them... I struggled with... seemed If in doubt... less is usually more.
Also developing your characters, like muffin man, into something more identifiable beyond the fact they just happen to be the guys that feature on the screen would be a great idea. At the momen, one if "Father" the other is hippy muffin man... Thats about the best I can get out of it... and this gives little for your audience to associate with or get attached too...
And finally creating or otherwise researching a bucket load of good one liners and then altering them to fit into your piece seems like a necessity.
(Note: I liked - "It's all about the muffins" or whatever it was")
Hope this is of some help
Best
LW
tmnt
King of Australia
There were some good moments in there. "Super fantastic" had me laughing. You missed out on what could have been an easy laugh when the guy is sitting in the wall, I would have shot the baddie from front on and have his head comically come up into shot, then Bam!
The grenade exposion wasn't too good but everything else was alright. With some cc the explosions would come out nicer.
It's not Amadeus but it's a good project if you were looking at upping your AE game. Nice job and I like your sense of humour.
The grenade exposion wasn't too good but everything else was alright. With some cc the explosions would come out nicer.
It's not Amadeus but it's a good project if you were looking at upping your AE game. Nice job and I like your sense of humour.
mainstreetprod
Veteran
It kept my attention for the entire thing, which is saying a lot. Most shorts here lose me in ten seconds. Plenty of room for improvement (I agree the muffin eating should be only a couple seconds) and effects could be less cheesy, but overall, for the budget, not bad.
thanks 4 ur guys input will help for my next one... check this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdSA3V1qmc0
Sorry, but this thread will be moved. Doesnt belong in the cafe. Where do you want it? What was it shot on / what did you do the fx with? Let me know and I'll pop it in the right place .
Mark Harris
Pain in the ass
About "no positive results," no one is obligated to go watch your video. You have to go out and get people to watch it.
Things can go viral, but this is far too long and not nearly amazing enough for that. It has potential, but it's not very original or different than what a lot of other people do. And I agree with others, needs a good trimming and some really slick hands on the edit. I think you can pull a lot more comedy out of the parts you're trying to make funny, with a pro editor. Or you studying editing for a lot longer. The timing is off just that magical hair in many places.
I was just watching this animated series Archer today. very very funny, and they really get timing. It's a very very hard thing to do.
You seem to have a pretty good handle on editing, as far as juxtaposing shots goes. But the VFX are not really good enough to be real, and not goofy enough to be Wile-E-Coyote. And given where you seem to be with effects, and the overall tone you seem to be shooting for, I think you should go full out Wile-E-Coyote.
But mostly, it looks like you are learning and making fun stuff along the way, so don't worry about who sees it now. Worry about who's going to be seeing your work after you've been making these for 5 years.
Things can go viral, but this is far too long and not nearly amazing enough for that. It has potential, but it's not very original or different than what a lot of other people do. And I agree with others, needs a good trimming and some really slick hands on the edit. I think you can pull a lot more comedy out of the parts you're trying to make funny, with a pro editor. Or you studying editing for a lot longer. The timing is off just that magical hair in many places.
I was just watching this animated series Archer today. very very funny, and they really get timing. It's a very very hard thing to do.
You seem to have a pretty good handle on editing, as far as juxtaposing shots goes. But the VFX are not really good enough to be real, and not goofy enough to be Wile-E-Coyote. And given where you seem to be with effects, and the overall tone you seem to be shooting for, I think you should go full out Wile-E-Coyote.
But mostly, it looks like you are learning and making fun stuff along the way, so don't worry about who sees it now. Worry about who's going to be seeing your work after you've been making these for 5 years.
snowleopard
Well-known member
It isn't a masterpiece, but it definitely doesn't suck. I'm sure any of us can fine 10 shorts on YT that are much worse. This held my attention at least.
If you're looking for more hits, I don't think quality is the big problem, it's promotion. Who is your target audience? What are you doing to reach them?
I imagine if you make more of these the quality will improve. Hopefully in the story and characters. I don't mind FX on this level in fun little movies like this. But what you need to do is market it. Get the word out. Reach people.
If you're looking for more hits, I don't think quality is the big problem, it's promotion. Who is your target audience? What are you doing to reach them?
I imagine if you make more of these the quality will improve. Hopefully in the story and characters. I don't mind FX on this level in fun little movies like this. But what you need to do is market it. Get the word out. Reach people.