Gardens of Tomorrow: DVinfo Challenge #2
 

In case you missed it, there's more information about the making of this short on this link:

http://www.sayremedia.com/Making%20of%20Gardens.html

Here's a short version
* Shot with Sony HVR-Z1U
* 15 green screen scenes--first time ever working with green screen
* Mattes and animations done in Bryce 5.5 and Photoshop
* Edited in FCP

I had problems with my new dedicated serve--QuickTime Streaming was not set up properly. It appears to be fixed now. I will put up higher-quality versions tomorrow.

You're comments and suggestions are welcome!

WOW! Really well done. Green screen worked well.
Good script. I enjoyed reading the making of the film. This is a great way for others (me) to learn and get ideas. Surprising all the actors didn't have blue lips (yum, berries)

Thanks, Chris.

We are very happy with the way it turned out...and actually, since I ate the most, I had a very blue tongue for awhile.

my favorite film of the competition. Makes me want to learn how to incorporate digital animation.

Chase, I aprpeciate your comments!

10-days ago, I did not know how to incorporate VFX into movies. This is the first movie short I've produced and the first time I've worked with a green screen and CGI.

If I can do it, you can. :)

Jeff,

Complements on a nice piece.

I like the "silent running" meets Jules Verne esthetic.

It has a nice calm pace.

I also like the silent film-like acting of your lead, when he sees the visions.

The only thing that doesn't really fit in, in my opinion, is the "fight" scene. That could have been more passive, and would have fit in better with the films mood, IMO.

Good work, definitely keep it up.

Seems like everybody beat me to the punch on this one, but I'll copy Chase and say I'm very jealous of your VFX. Nice!

Daniel:

I appreciate your compliments and comments and am impressed you understood the feel I was after! This challenge has allowed me to explore a different side of my creativity. I had fun and am motivated to continue exploring this type of esthetic.

Your are absolutely right about the fight scene. It does seem out of place and maybe even contrived. This scene was scripted in a different way but we had to come up with something on the spot since I realized that, if we shot it the way we had intended, it would make the piece too long. However, now that the challenge is over, we may consider reshooting several scenes and adding more detail.


Thanks, Mitchell. It was a challenge to figure some of the VFX out. I realize that they are simple compared to what expert CGI practitioners can do, but it was a blast to learn and experiment. I already have new ideas on how do improve them and make them more realistic when needed or more surreal when beneficial.

Really liked the world you created in this one, but the story suffered around the last 30 seconds. With only three minutes, it is hard to pack a good story in, but I feel like I was left behind at the end. Can you explain to me exactly what happens in the last 30 seconds? The biggest problem besides that I found was a lack of interest in the characters. They came off as mostly faceless without any real depth.

That's the bad stuff. And the good stuff, well, you get an award for it, it was that good! Fantastic effects!

It is hard to tell a story, possibly even harder a SciFi story, in 3 minutes.

We had a better ending scripted but realized that it would take too long to explain in the time we had left. So we went to a very abbreviated version which left out some important dialogue and build up.

Basically, we learn during the intro that Thomas Brin thinks he is a machine, At the end, when Dr., Crick injections him with the nano particles, Brin learns the truth--that he's not a machine but an organic-based life form (a biotic). That is what is supposed to be conveyed by the quick imagery behind him at the end.

New Version of Gardens of Tomorrow
 

I've worked out the kinks with my QuickTime Streaming Server and have posted new versions of Gardens of Tomorrow on my website. They are better encoded versions that are faster loading and higher quality than the ones submitted for the challenge.

You can see them here: http://www.sayremedia.com

I left one of the originally-submitted contest versions so that you can see what was judged and compare it to the newly encoded versions.

Also, I have created and posted a "Making of Gardens of Tomorrow" movie commentary. Go to the "Making of..." page and click on the appropriate link. I have included a lot of details about working with green screens on the webpage. So after viewing the "Making of..." movie, please read the webpage.

If you have any questions or comments, please post them here.

How to Encode High-Quality QuickTime Files for Web Delivery
 

During DVC2, I learned a lot about media mastering high-quality video files for web delivery. I have posted my insights and techniques in a developing thread on the topic. You can find it here.

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=47730

For questions or comments about Gardens of Tomorrow, please post them within this thread.

For questions or comments about encoding QT for the web, please post them in the thread link above.