MattC

Hi All, I almost didn't post it because I feel I've learned so much more about the camera since I shot this (six months ago) but here it is... I know I screwed up in a couple of places and the audio could have been better, but for most of this little ditty, I was the only crew. This isn't going anywhere it was simply done for my own learning and amusement and I don't think I could secure the music rights even if I wanted to. Just wanted to post it and see what you guys think. Be warned, I also need to learn more about compression! This is 5 minutes long and is about 64meg... Please right click and save as: http://www.birthofthecool.com/Movies/theconfession.mov Comments are of course, not only welcome, but mandatory.. Matt

I have the Vocas 350 and love it. Matt

I think he's thinking about having a "true" widescreen file to display on the web. In this case, I just make it with black bars and then crop the quicktime file so that it displays on the computer without the black bars. Matt

Thanks, I'm sure I'll be doing some promo pieces and will certainly try to incorporate your suggestions. For those I guess an ideal length would be three minutes? Also, I guess my terminology was wrong, this probably isn't a "promo" piece - what would you call it? Matt

Thank you very much for the feedback. This video was made for a group of investors in North Carolina to watch while eating diner (because they couldn't make the press conference). The press conference was held in NYC and I had three days to put this together. It was very successful in raising capital though (they raised the whole $1M that night). But if I do regular promo pieces in the future I will try to incorporate all of your suggestions. Thank you! Matt

"One World" was a promotional piece I did for the Worlds Fair For Kids. This group is putting on the first worlds fair for kids and families. I shot, edited and did the graphics for it. http://www.birthofthecool.com/films.html Let me know what you think - this was my first time doing anything like this. Matt

I used a tiffen warm diffusion 1/4 on this. Cinegamma and cinecolor on, master ped dropped a bit, sharpness down a bit (could still go down more) and that's it. There has been no color correction at all - this image is straight from camera. Still getting used to manually focusing with a real lens - believe it or not it takes some getting used to. Also, I did not set up an studio lights. I did this all with practicals and then white balanced the camera. I went for a bit of a grainy/gritty look. Let me know what you think. Matt

Mark, Which mattebox did you get? I'm looking to get a two stage Chrosziel but I'm wondering if two stages are enough? Also I was going to buy the 16X manual but someone was just telling me that they were using macro EOS lenses with the EF adapter and felt that it offered far superior results. What are your thoughts on that? Then again, with the HDX debuting at NAB, I may wait before I purchase anything else for this camera. Matt

Hmmm.... Ok. Well I like the blue, but I'll probably bring it down a bit. I did maintain the same f-stop through out. Here are uncorrected grabs:

Ok so some of you saw my lighting test. Well I shot this scene and have been playing with color correction. Obviously I'm going for a (wait for it..... wait for it.......) "film look". Now bear in mind that this scene should be lush looking and have some punch to it (that doesn't mean that I did this well, but if you offer suggestions please do so with that in mind. The earlier part of the short will be shot more drab getting progressively more "beautiful" (think joe versus the volcano)... Ok have at, what do you think? I'm wondering if the images are too saturated? Thanks, Matt

DOH!

Alright guys, again I'm going to ask for your help. I'm trying to fake 35mm depth of field in post. I started with the easiest clip (no idea how I'm going to do it to all of them yet, but I'm trying to see if this is possible. Now, I've stripped away ALL color correction so this is raw footage, done so that you can see the DOF effect better. The compression (Sorensen 3) affects it somewhat but not so much that you cant see the effect and, I hope, judge it for realism. The clip is 3.5 meg so it shouldn't be too much of a strain. http://www.birthofthecool.com/Testing/dof_test.mov Please let me know what you think, and if it sucks, why so. Matt

Thanks Brent, I know you're right. I did all three of those in about five minutes making a very quick mask and applying a couple of levels of blur. When I do it for real, I will certainly take your advise! But, uh, what did you think of the lighting? Matt

Since I'm scheduled to shoot this scene this weekend, I sure hope so! Ok, here's the gig, The first set of three photos I took directly from my editor with some post work done. They're still brighter than I wanted but I want you to see what I'm working with. I decided to go with mixed color temperatures, moonlight/candlelight and have to say I do like the effect. The second set looks too red in my browser but looks just right on my spiffy new production monitor so that's what I'm going with (just try and imagine a little less red if it seems to much, LOL!). Also, for the second set I experimented with making some quick masks to simulate DOF. You will see some uglies around the candle, it's not the camera, it was me doing the effect very quickly with a mouse instead of a tablet. Ok, here it goes. First set: Now the second set which has had more work and the simulated DOF: Let me know what you think! Matt

By the way to see the space I have to work with you can check out my first "short". It's not really a short, it's just a lighting experiment, that I wound up editing together and scoring. http://www.birthofthecool.com/films.html I did in in black and white so I wouldn't have to worry about color.... I know I'm obsessing about this, but it's my first actual short film and I don't want it to look really bad. Matt

I don't have a lot of room to work with here but I'll try it. I actually do have to lights above the candles pointing straight down at them, but they are regular track lights (150watt flood lights). Do you think I could put photofloods in those? I gelled them with a rosco orange gel, maybe that's not good? I'll definitely flag off the wall. I have a small spot shining up on the plant to try and bring out the color. Is that ok? Matt

Three more. These seemed good in my editor, but when I exported them to Photoshop to post, they were darker.... Tomorrow's another night...

Still not there yet, but maybe I'm closer? Maybe it's still to warm? Not dark enough on the wall by the plant? I think I went to far in the other direction. Let me know what you think. You can see the old ones at: www.birthofthecool.com/testing.html

The table will be set and they will be eating...

You guys are all amazing! I am SO glad I found this forum! Michael, your image is beautiful, but I probably should tell you more of the story so that what I'm trying to do makes sense. This is a candlelit dinner gone wrong - a black comedy. Something strange/bad is going to happen - that's why I was going for a darker look, but maybe that isn't necessary. I keep looking at your image and I must admit, I'm drawn to it. I'm going to try putting some candles on the hutch. I'll post more grabs later. Matt PS: Does everyone spend three days lighting a shot? LOL!

Thank you guys so much for your responses, and Rik I'm going to order that book. I'm relighting the scene tonight and will post another round of grabs, hopefully you will continue to let me know what you think. Thanks again!!

Hello all, The main scene for my next short takes place at a dining room table over a romantic candle lit diner. I'm trying to figure out how to light this scene in a dramatic, romantic way (there may be a bit of foul play coming up). I'm waiting for a production monitor to arrive so some of my problems may reside there. But I'd like for you to take a look at some grabs from some early test footage that I've been experimenting with and tear them apart telling me what you would do differently. For the record I shot this with an XL2 and lit with lowel lights.

I would second, "Grammar of the Film Language" - GREAT book. Matt

I've been doing a bunch of storyboarding for the past week and the best book I've found is "From Word to Image" - Storyboarding and the Filming Process by Marcie Begleiter. Matt

WOW, You guys are GREAT!!! I go away for a few days and look what I come back to - wow!! I have decided to flesh out this story into a full blown film noir short. I have developed a script and am now storyboarding how I would like to shoot it. It will start basically the same way, but I'll try to incorporate all the fantastic suggestions mentioned here. Yes, I only have the one light kit and I can't really afford to buy another, but I might rent a few more lights or maybe buy a "pepper or two". Really, thank you all so much, this has been a great experience. Matt