The Twenty-Third Letter

Robert Sanders · May 31st, 2006, 11:49 AM

We recently wrapped production on The Twenty-Third Letter trailer. We put the XLH1 through it's paces and in different production scenarios.

I chose to show off Scene 10 because it has many different production qualities that hopefully many on these boards would find interesting. Low light. 3x SD lens on some shots. Jib arm shots. Special visual effects. Color correction. Etc. We also had a blast shooting this scene in downtown L.A.

You can view the Quicktime versions here:

http://starwaypictures.blogspot.com/...-scene-10.html

With a little luck I can offer WMV versions later today or tomorrow.

There are some noticable compression artifacts introduced by H264. It's always a tradeoff between picture quality and file size.

Forrest Schultz · May 31st, 2006, 12:44 PM

That is freakin awesome. how did you get 24 fps , in camera or did you shoot 60i and convert in post?

Robert Sanders · May 31st, 2006, 12:47 PM

We shot the film in 24F. Imported the footage and converted it to DVCProHD.

Steven Dempsey · May 31st, 2006, 01:30 PM

Looks very professional, Robert. Really nice job. Just one thing, the cut at 24 seconds seemed forced to me and a little disorienting mainly because I didn't really see the point of it given that you already established the scene.

Luis de la Cerda · May 31st, 2006, 02:54 PM

Great stuff...

Steve beat me to it. At 24 seconds into the clip, I would've let it stay at the two shot until the wider shot at 30, unless the performance is a composite of different shots, in which case an insert of onlookers or something like that could help mix and match the different pieces while keeping lip synch.

Luis de la Cerda · May 31st, 2006, 03:51 PM

I took the liberty to take a shot at some color work for one of the shots in your scene...

http://www.js-films.com/test/noncc.jpg
http://www.js-films.com/test/cc.jpg

I tried to keep the greenish cast of your original, while getting rid of the milkish bluish shadows. What do you think?

Robert Sanders · May 31st, 2006, 04:12 PM

I think the problem might be that in the shot prior to the reverse we see her inhale to deliver the next line and when we cut there's a pause. I was trying to slow down her delivery a bit.

I'm going to work on it some more to see if I can smooth it out. It seems to be bothering everyone.

Robert Sanders · May 31st, 2006, 04:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Luis de la Cerda

I took the liberty to take a shot at some color work for one of the shots in your scene...

http://www.js-films.com/test/noncc.jpg
http://www.js-films.com/test/cc.jpg

I tried to keep the greenish cast of your original, while getting rid of the milkish bluish shadows. What do you think?

Nice. Thank you.

Luis de la Cerda · May 31st, 2006, 04:46 PM

The problem in the edit at that point is that you're breaking the axis (at least that's what we call it in spanish). In the shot prior she's on the left and he's on the right, and the next shot their position is reversed. Visually, you should keep continuity of each actor's position onscreen unless you use some sort of transition shot or insert to pull it off. When they walk away it works because you're revealing the rest of the scene so the attention is diverted, but when they're static it doesn't.

By the way, love the hidden detail of the cardboard betacam tape box.

Pete Tomov · June 1st, 2006, 03:13 AM

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2933/11cc6jc.jpg
I was just testing something and it would've turned our better if I had the uncompressed file but I still think it's pretty good.

Jonas Nystrom · June 2nd, 2006, 02:51 AM

Great work!

Q: What do you gain by converting to DVCproHD?

Q2: Is the whole clip shot with 20x Stock lens and 3x Wide SD?

Small Q: Is it 2,35:1 format?

Robert Sanders · June 2nd, 2006, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jonas Nystrom

Great work!

Q: What do you gain by converting to DVCproHD?

Q2: Is the whole clip shot with 20x Stock lens and 3x Wide SD?

Small Q: Is it 2,35:1 format?

A1: DVCProHD is much better codec to edit with. I think of HDV as an aquisition medium only. Plus FCP is optimized to work with DVCProHD.

A2: The bulk of it is the 20x lens. The opening shot and the close-up shot of the detective looking at the body is the 3x Wide.

A3: 2.35:1 baby! My favorite aspect ratio. My home theater enthusiast buddies HATE that I letterbox everything. But, oh well.

Jonas Nystrom · June 3rd, 2006, 12:31 AM

So the film is captured to/from cassettes (and not HD-SDI)?

And I must ask you, how did you do the wall? Is it done on location? Is it greenscreen?

Really nice work!

Robert Sanders · June 5th, 2006, 02:28 PM

All captured to tape (HDV). Exported via Firewire using DVHSCapture and then converted to DVCProHD via MPEG Streamclip.

The wall was done in post. It was a matte painting added to the original wall with all foreground elements (actors) rotoscoped.

Jonas Nystrom · July 6th, 2006, 05:43 AM

When you export from FCP (to film-out), which codec do you use?

May 31st, 2006, 11:49 AM	#1
Robert Sanders Starway Pictures Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Studio City Posts: 581	The Twenty-Third Letter - Scene 10 We recently wrapped production on The Twenty-Third Letter trailer. We put the XLH1 through it's paces and in different production scenarios. I chose to show off Scene 10 because it has many different production qualities that hopefully many on these boards would find interesting. Low light. 3x SD lens on some shots. Jib arm shots. Special visual effects. Color correction. Etc. We also had a blast shooting this scene in downtown L.A. You can view the Quicktime versions here: http://starwaypictures.blogspot.com/...-scene-10.html With a little luck I can offer WMV versions later today or tomorrow. There are some noticable compression artifacts introduced by H264. It's always a tradeoff between picture quality and file size. __________________ http://www.starwaypictures.com http://starwaypictures.blogspot.com/

May 31st, 2006, 12:47 PM	#3
Robert Sanders Starway Pictures Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Studio City Posts: 581	We shot the film in 24F. Imported the footage and converted it to DVCProHD. __________________ http://www.starwaypictures.com http://starwaypictures.blogspot.com/

May 31st, 2006, 01:30 PM	#4
Steven Dempsey Disjecta Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Seattle, Washington Posts: 937	Looks very professional, Robert. Really nice job. Just one thing, the cut at 24 seconds seemed forced to me and a little disorienting mainly because I didn't really see the point of it given that you already established the scene. __________________ Try my Digital Therapy: http://www.pinelakefilms.com/digital_therapy.html Films on ExposureRoom: http://exposureroom.com/members/disjecta.aspx/videos/

May 31st, 2006, 03:51 PM	#6
Luis de la Cerda Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Mexico City Posts: 181	Color I took the liberty to take a shot at some color work for one of the shots in your scene... http://www.js-films.com/test/noncc.jpg http://www.js-films.com/test/cc.jpg I tried to keep the greenish cast of your original, while getting rid of the milkish bluish shadows. What do you think?

May 31st, 2006, 04:12 PM	#7
Robert Sanders Starway Pictures Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Studio City Posts: 581	I think the problem might be that in the shot prior to the reverse we see her inhale to deliver the next line and when we cut there's a pause. I was trying to slow down her delivery a bit. I'm going to work on it some more to see if I can smooth it out. It seems to be bothering everyone. __________________ http://www.starwaypictures.com http://starwaypictures.blogspot.com/

May 31st, 2006, 12:44 PM	#2
Forrest Schultz Major Player Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Atwater, CA Posts: 246	That is freakin awesome. how did you get 24 fps , in camera or did you shoot 60i and convert in post?

May 31st, 2006, 02:54 PM	#5
Luis de la Cerda Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Mexico City Posts: 181	Great stuff... Steve beat me to it. At 24 seconds into the clip, I would've let it stay at the two shot until the wider shot at 30, unless the performance is a composite of different shots, in which case an insert of onlookers or something like that could help mix and match the different pieces while keeping lip synch.

May 31st, 2006, 04:46 PM	#9
Luis de la Cerda Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Mexico City Posts: 181	The problem in the edit at that point is that you're breaking the axis (at least that's what we call it in spanish). In the shot prior she's on the left and he's on the right, and the next shot their position is reversed. Visually, you should keep continuity of each actor's position onscreen unless you use some sort of transition shot or insert to pull it off. When they walk away it works because you're revealing the rest of the scene so the attention is diverted, but when they're static it doesn't. By the way, love the hidden detail of the cardboard betacam tape box.

June 1st, 2006, 03:13 AM	#10
Pete Tomov Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 106	http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/2933/11cc6jc.jpg I was just testing something and it would've turned our better if I had the uncompressed file but I still think it's pretty good.

June 2nd, 2006, 02:51 AM	#11
Jonas Nystrom Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Göteborg, Sweden Posts: 306	Great work! Q: What do you gain by converting to DVCproHD? Q2: Is the whole clip shot with 20x Stock lens and 3x Wide SD? Small Q: Is it 2,35:1 format? __________________ Jonas Nyström, DoP :: HOT SHOT® SWEDEN :: www.hotshot.nu :: RED #1567, RED 18-50mm T3 :: XL A1, Letus Extreme :: XL H1, 20X & 6X lens (for sale) :: www.vimeo.com/nystrom Last edited by Jonas Nystrom; June 2nd, 2006 at 05:00 AM.

June 3rd, 2006, 12:31 AM	#13
Jonas Nystrom Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Göteborg, Sweden Posts: 306	So the film is captured to/from cassettes (and not HD-SDI)? And I must ask you, how did you do the wall? Is it done on location? Is it greenscreen? Really nice work! __________________ Jonas Nyström, DoP :: HOT SHOT® SWEDEN :: www.hotshot.nu :: RED #1567, RED 18-50mm T3 :: XL A1, Letus Extreme :: XL H1, 20X & 6X lens (for sale) :: www.vimeo.com/nystrom Last edited by Jonas Nystrom; June 3rd, 2006 at 02:51 AM.

June 5th, 2006, 02:28 PM	#14
Robert Sanders Starway Pictures Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Studio City Posts: 581	All captured to tape (HDV). Exported via Firewire using DVHSCapture and then converted to DVCProHD via MPEG Streamclip. The wall was done in post. It was a matte painting added to the original wall with all foreground elements (actors) rotoscoped. __________________ http://www.starwaypictures.com http://starwaypictures.blogspot.com/

July 6th, 2006, 05:43 AM	#15
Jonas Nystrom Major Player Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Göteborg, Sweden Posts: 306	When you export from FCP (to film-out), which codec do you use? __________________ Jonas Nyström, DoP :: HOT SHOT® SWEDEN :: www.hotshot.nu :: RED #1567, RED 18-50mm T3 :: XL A1, Letus Extreme :: XL H1, 20X & 6X lens (for sale) :: www.vimeo.com/nystrom