Watch the movie! 7D BIKE MOVIE

Really gotta watch out for the lighting type, the video was on location so there's probably no alternative (I think the rule is keeping the shutter at 50 for these types of lights but that may be just for the general shutter rule instead), but some shots it's pretty noticeable the yellow banding. It doesn't really hurt this video though, the shots where this happens most in your video tend to have a rustic feel anyway, so it's less noticeable. A couple other things to watch out for is keeping the prime lens stable so that the watery-type of jitter doesn't happen, and keeping and eye on the white balance and picture style so that the skin tones always look realistic and great, and so that the outdoor shots really look very true and real. Overall there's tons of looks to try for so it's all up to you the look that you love, but the thing to keep in mind is keeping the footage 'consistent' I guess, I saw some skin tones that looked truly great, and others that were too red or orange for the taste IMO. Also, bike shop intro truly had a great, deep 'city feel' to the atmosphere, where the outdoor bike shots seemed to look very camcorder-ish. I mean again, all stuff you could have been trying for purposely, I'm just sorta pointing out what I feel seems to disrupt the tone with each shot, in case this was more of a 'throw it together' project. Keeping the tones consistant I guess is just a big thing for me, it might not be a big thing to everyone though.

Writting and story wise, I really liked that the interviewee's didn't move their mouth while they talked, it gave more of a personal, in-my-imagination touch, although I possibly would have had the people smile or change their expression every few seconds for a little interest and to keep things just a bit less akward. It seemed to truly pack the punch though for what the documentary is trying for, and it turned out pretty nice! Haha I can't say I'm a huge bike fan (I never learned to ride one, they hated me) but impacting documentaries for Youtube and small website purposes is truly great practice that everyone can enjoy, and it seems like you have a knack for it already!
 
sorry, but I shut it off after about 30 seconds, I can't stand it when people pick up a 7D and a 1.4 lens and think they need to shoot everything wide open and be constantly pulling focus.
 
I think it really shows, too, I think there's many layers to this video and I think the outdoor scenes, the shop scenes, and the interview scenes together take it a bit higher and show off the effort. I think it'd be a good time to ask the forum as any:

Are there any specific tips for shooting skin tones of different hues? Is it more of just manually white balancing each time correctly and using a picture style that truly gives universally great tones, or are there different methods of making each hue look as flattering as the next? Above all, I think that's the main thing I notice a majority of the times, is if the skin just doesn't seem flattering or real...I'd love to know any tips as I like working and filming olive skinned actors myself; I tend to think of roles based on some of my own heritages - native american, italian, hispanic, and any mixed skin types. And the red, yellow, or orange hues of white skin individually also tend to seem diverse and hard to manage as well, making me wonder if there's any picture styles out there optimized for skin colors or if there's any small white balance shifts that have to be done for each subject.
 
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Hey Nate,

Constructive criticism
The Good
1) awesome outdoor bike shots. (the only thing is I wish you would have framed a much wider to throw in variation and to show off the biker going through the city streets. Would have been kind of a visual beat too)
2) good overall concept and nice way you put together the documentary

The Bad
1) shooting open DOF gets in the way of the doc. Meaning it's to the point where shots just don't feel right. It's ok to use it sparingly but it is quite overused. This I would have to say is the biggest thing that stands out to me.
2) cut it down - feels like you could have tightened up the pacing especially on the interviews. Feels like you can loose several minutes off this doc and still have the same or better impact. For example - if one person says they got into an accident you don't have to show all saying that. We get the idea that it happens when biking.
3) framing in the bike store - feels off at times. Might be because you matted for 2.35 but I kind of wish this doc was 1.78. You're opening shots in the bike store are artistic but quite honestly it feels like you fell in love with the artiness of it and didn't realize we need a slightly wider shot which included more of the surrounding bikes.
4) throwing things out of focus and bringing them back into focus - gets annoying after a while especially because you brought things into focus too slowly in some shots. Sometimes it's like ok we get the effect you're going for now can we see the shot in focus now. Basically if you're noticing the effect over listening and taking in the story then there is something off.
5) skin tones (didn't really bother me that much and I know it's a doc, but hey we're all here to give feed back to make our vids look pro right?) So as mentioned above.

I think all this is constructive because they are changes that can be made with editing and color correction.

Overall thanks for sharing. I think in the big picture of things it is a cool doc you put together.
 
I learned a lot from making this flick and I do not intend to make the same mistakes twice. I'm moving on to shooting some new projects that will be stellar.

Nate
 
Loved the bike shots. Aside from the color correction issues that have been pointed out, I thought it looked great, and the characters were an endearing bunch. It's definitely a learning experience, and I have a lot to learn before I could create something that looks this good. Keep on ragin'.
 
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