This shoot had a lot of first for me.

I did this with mostly all family, not a first. The actor playing Grandpa is my brother-in-law who has had some acting adventures of his own. The boy is played by his grandson, and really was quite good and natural in front of camera. The daugher was played by his daughter, of course.

Firsts in this shoot include: My first use of the Sony VG20, my first adventure into full digital sets, my a first use of green screen to the extent use here (over 50 % of film), and my first adventures in After Effects ( I forced myself to try to start learning AE in this edit).

Poor light for the green screen was my primary editing challenge. It resulted in some less than consistent results.

The Life and Times of Grandpa Don Coyote on Vimeo


You Tube: The Life Times of Granpa DonCoyote - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6eJRdFN0og)

That looks like it was a ton of fun to make! I'm sure everyone involved enjoys watching it. It made me feel like a kid again remembering all the things I did with my Dad growing up. Both my Grandpa's were gone before I was old enough to get know them.

I think this piece is great fun!

There seems to be something odd about the video while I'm watching it and I can't place my finger on it. It seems like maybe an odd framerate leading to motion blurring or bad compression or something. I see it throughout the whole piece so I'm guessing its not in your original edited piece. And @3:48 there's a black hole.

Five minutes Star wars with Grandpa!
Chris, you impressed me this time with your story and use of effects.
The charming toothless boy steals the show. What a bunch of good actors you have in your family.
I like the end of the story. Very good.
What sort of frame rate do you have in the uploaded version? It seems a bit slow on my screen.
I am convinced that your collaborators had an enjoyable recording time.
I had an enjoyable time watching grandpa and the grand child.

HI guys..

Jeremy, I know what you are talking about. I seem to always get that look when I transcode to mp4 1080. I don't in mp4 720. Maybe I needed up the bitrate.

I shoot most of my stuff in 24p. I was doing some experimentation with this camera, in a first time use, and I could have slipped it into something else at some point, and not returned it to 24p. The other thing is that Cineform or Vegas may not have been updated to fully use the Sony ACVHD 2.0 on that camera yet, so there could have been a transcode issue there.

Chris,

Pretty adventurous undertaking with the digital sets. I'm venturing into AE now too, and it is amazing how much time can be sucked out of your life playing in that digital world as it can always be made a little better. Nice story. I like the granpa, grandson relationship, and the young boy was indeed a good actor. I liked granpa too, and the enthusiasm he had for his mission. When the Force surges, you got to get up and go with it.

Your lighting and camera work are excellent. I like your camera angles during the dialog scenes. The music seemed a little overpowering on the laptop I am using to watch the video. May be just the small speakers, as I am away from my desktop system and headphones. Fun entry to watch.

Dick

Hi Chris,

Really creative approach to the theme that paid off very well. The relationships between the characters were beautifully observed and a real sense of the wonder of childhood imaginings permeated throughout.

Henry

Kudos for getting started in AE - I have tried and failed many times.

I like this charming story, and the relationship between the Grandpa and Grandson. I have a child a bit younger than your character so I can appreciate that imagination is everything with kids.

I especially like the laser canons made from bits of pvc piping! Oh yeah, my kid makes weapons out of just about anything he can lay his hands on!

In the next mission I hope they get to use the laser swords!

Liked the idea of grandpa fuelling the kid's imagination.... And, yes, kudos for you getting stuck into AE. I've long been tempted to attempt a sci-fi piece against greenscreen backdrops.

The kid seemed at ease, so that's probably thanks to you, the director.

But really, I'm just picking apart your greenscreen shots, seeing how they could work in future videos..... Well done.

Just one of the things I like about you, Chris--you use these challenges to try new things. It's the best way to learn and we've seen what happens when you get busy with a new toy or concept, former DVC/UWOL Champ. :)

Dick's ears heard correctly in that the soundtrack overpowers the dialog in a spot or two. Also, the motion blur is significant. But this is what happens when experiments are going on! You'll get it all figured out--you always do. Your AE effort is inspiring!

Loved the tiny "OK" from our hero Luke, who had to enjoy seeing himself do all those cool things once the episode was complete. Got a kick out of the bucket helmets on the enemies, as well.

Did I hear a teaser tempting us to go on an adventure next week with Cap'n Jack, as in Jack Sparrow??? I'm there!

Thanks all..

And Lorinda, you got it ! ---> "as in Jack Sparrow??? I'm there!"

I see Don Coyote as a modern day Don Quixote, a book I happen to be reading right now on my Kindle....

Hi Chris,

This was fun! I think you incorporated the digital effects real well, especially since it was a first.
Learning more than just very basic AE is a mission of mine too. Good luck to both of us for that one. :)

Wow Chris – what a huge amount of hard work you gave yourself with this one. Did you use the ‘keylight’ keying effect in AE for this?

A fun video to watch - good family fun.