Steven Dempsey

Hi Marty, Did you choose to desaturate the footage to convey the sober nature of the subject matter? It seemed like it was a little too drained to me and actually dragged the pacing down a little. I'm very visual and things like that actually affect rhythm to me. Also, I felt like the narrator slowed things down a little too much. Actually, I think it was more of a choice of editing than the person himself. For instance, he would say something and then it would be reworded onscreen after the fact. That felt odd. If it were me, I would have chosen one or the other (probably the onscreen message). Are you using an adapter? It looks like it and it helped to up the ante on the production value. You got some nice shots throughout. Overall I felt like it dragged a little. The message of hope towards the end, even with the change in music, didn't transition enough for me to feel any real contrast. Although it's been done to death, a shift in the color palette to more vibrancy might have helped to convey the message better at that point. Anyway, looks like it's a really interesting project and I'm looking forward to seeing more. Steven

I'm a member of Exposure Room and they will host an unlimited amount of videos for free. You upload one master quality file and the site produces three different quality files: http://exposureroom.com/

Just got back from a gig that included a free day in San Francisco. A friend of mine took me on the breakneck tour and I grabbed some shots along the way. This is just a fun travelogue piece for myself but I figured I'd share it with you SF lovers...didn't have time to really work in some ambient sound, maybe another time. http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.a...de677e4b90f011/ Shot with a Canon XHA1

Although I have specialized in nature shooting in the past, I am now graduating towards documentary/corporate/music video, etc., etc. My nature reel wasn't cutting it because everyone wanted to see people shots, not animals and landscapes... With that in mind, I created a more suitable reel for the work I'm looking for. This is a constantly evolving reel and, if you check it later, you will probably discover lots of new shots :) http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.a...406f4fabc3f892/

Here's a little ditty shot with the XHA1 set to the B/W preset and the Letus Extreme...all shot using a Nikon 55mm f2.8 macro lens. Movement was achieved using an IndiSlider... No particular purpose to this other than I'm getting really interested in black and white and I was bored :) http://www.pinelakefilms.com/aftertherain.html

One more thing, if you haven't already read this, do it now...it's very useful info on what a reel should and shouldn't be: http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...st&p=217257

You can start by adding some contrast but you will have a lot more control using an actual levels adjustment. This will allow you to preserve your mid and bright tones while only adjusting black. I'm not sure what NLE you are using but they all have that particular adjustment available. I can't emphasize enough how important color correction is. It can make the difference between flat and ho-hum shots to showing the true potential of the original colors plus will make your shadow and light difference more obvious.

What I meant by creative lighting was not necessarily that the shots were too dark but there wasn't enough definition in the character's face or in the architecture of the scenes. A little lighting would add some depth and dimension to the shots. Also, regarding color correction, I'm really talking about bringing your black levels up somewhat. As it is, blacks that should be rich are milky. A slight adjustment will make everything pop better.

Daniel, I only had time to look at your reel and I have a few comments: 1. The opening shot of the smoking bullet held a lot of promise but none of the following shots came close to it in style or potential. 2. It did not play like a reel. The scenes were too long and the music contributed to dragging the whole thing. It felt like you have shot three or four shorts and that's it. Variety is key in a reel and it all felt about the same to me. 3. The shots you chose did not highlight any personality or technique in your shooting style and were about as plain jane as I have seen. 4. You could do with some creative lighting in your shots, most are pretty flat and many are underexposed. 5. In one of the shots (the crane down to the approaching car), you and the camera are visible in the car's reflection. 6. The whole thing is really washed out and seems to be in dire need of some decent color correction. 7. It's way too long. My overall impression is that it does not look very professional and needs a lot of work. I'm sorry to be so harsh but this was my reaction to it.

Based on comments of the previous edit cutting too fast, I made some adjustments and added some scenes.... Small version: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/short_reel.html HD version: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/reel_720p.html There is a longer version of this reel with longer cuts but I'm still working on it. The above is for those who have the attention of a gnat and, as we all know, they are many :)

Thank you Adam. Yes, all the moves were accomplished with the IndiSlider.

This is just something I put together while testing a new tool called the IndiSlider...basically it goes between the tripod head and legs and you can slide the head (with the camera on there, obviously) a total of 3 feet across, emulating a dolly tracking shot... http://www.pinelakefilms.com/snowmotion.html

Thank you Marc, I'm flattered. In my reel, I was using two cameras: Canon XLH1 Canon XHA1 Regarding settings, I developed some presets for these cameras to look more like the Panny DVX/HVX color gamut. Not sure what other info you wanted...I'll be happy to answer specific questions.

Thanks for the comments Brad. My experience to date has been largely in the realm of nature but I'm trying to break into the narrative world. As I get more experience with actual people, I will update my reel :) I agree on the cuts being too fast, that's why I included a longer edit (with different soundtrack) as a link below the short version.

Nicholas, I used Sorenson Squeeze to define the crop marks and then the overall dimensions of the frame.

Thank you. I added a 720p version: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/reel_720p.html

Hey Chayse, great to see you here...it's been a long time. Your reel continues to get better. The one shot that stood out as odd to me was the moon. It's very grainy and it just looks like bad quality instead of gritty or whatever you might have been going for. I also felt like there was not enough variety to my eye to sustain it for as long as you did. Seems like it would be way more effective at around 2 minutes. Basically, at the end of it, I felt like I didn't want to see more but if you shortened it, I think I would have been more intrigued. Does that make sense? Your shots and framing are beautiful and you have a great skill in conveying powerful emotions with your camera movements and compositions. Good luck. Steven

I just got laid off from an 8 year gig as a graphic designer although shooting has always been my passion. I'm looking at this situation as an opportunity to pursue my dream. I put together a reel of some of my best stuff in the hopes of getting some work. There are some jobs on the horizon based on this reel but I'm always on the look out for more stuff so let me know if you hear of anything. I live outside Seattle. http://www.pinelakefilms.com/short_reel.html All shot with XHA1 and XLH1 Canon HDV cameras. There's a longer and different cut available from a link below the movie.