DVC3 - How we did it
 

Thought it was time to get a thread going where we can talk about the trials and tribulations of making our shorts for the #3 challenge.

SPEED CAMERA KILLS

As the theme was "Cameras", we toyed with a few different ideas as what would work well but also be original. The idea of a camera taking your soul was one of the first, but we decided to go with the idea of a Speed Camera that developed an attitude and started shooting at cars passing by.

Shooting took up most of a morning and was done in one road in Brighton, UK. We had to look around for a speed camera as the one we had in mind to use, had been taken down, now that was confusing !.

During the shoot a Police Car past us 3 times to check out what we where up to, I just had to blow it up in the film. I`m not anti police or anything like that, just seemed like a good idea.

It was great to get the soundtrack from Chris and lay it in the timeline. It gave the short a whole new feel to it. Its amazing how much difference a sound track can make.

Editing work went quite well until it came to render time. For some reason the Quicktime render kept making loud noises in the final movie. Ended up rendering in Windows Media and Real Player to get in by the deadline. Apart from many other things I`ve learnt this week, I have learnt that "its not over untill the render`s done"

Equipment & Software Used :

Canon XL1s
Pentium 2.4, 250 gig H/D, 1 gig memory
Adobe Premiere Pro
Music - Not sure what software Chris used, but it was done on his PC

Hope you all enjoy the movie and I look forward to your constructive criticisms. This was my first comp and was really enjoyable, i`m looking forward to the next one.

if you've nothing better to do...
 

....here's something to pass the time.

“Last Words”

If there was improvement at all this time from my last two DVCs, there’s a reason. In DVC2 Dylan posted a movie called, “Secret Confessions Of A DVInfo Moderator.” Right away I was struck by the huge differences between his work and mine (besides the shocking and disturbing part) ;). So I studied his work. Not long after that I stumbled across a thread where Charles Papert had given a link to his DP and Steadicam reels. I studied those, too. Obviously, my work doesn’t resemble theirs, but it was nice getting inspired. Thanks, guys!

We shot “Last Words” with my most trustworthy XL1s—the one purchased after reading the Watchdog Skinny way back on Aug. 31, 2001. (Gosh, after four years you’d think…oh, never mind.) Used a 6’ Cobra crane that I bought from DV Info member Jaime Valles. Edited on Vegas 5, a purchase I made because of what I read here. And that’s just a fraction of all the things I’ve bought and used thanks to the folks and sponsors on this board!

In private e-mails, two people asked me how I recorded the audio for this movie. I hooked up the XL1s mic to a homemade cable and clipped it to the arm of a mic stand. Wind noise near the end was horrible, but thankfully, parametric EQ in Vegas saved the day. Next time I’ll try to rustle up more help and maybe block that infernal wind if it’s going to be a problem. Overall, I was pretty happy with the audio. For an onboard mic, I think Canon's is pretty good.

“You ‘n yer big ideas.” That blasted Handycam. Thought I’d be so smart and use footage from it to really get into the camera theme. I didn’t get my hands on it until right before we left for the desert. Wouldn’t you know, the battery was full. So, after Mason used it I said I’d take the camera home, let it run until the “low bat” came on, then shoot the screen and try to lay the signal over some of the scenes. (Like I could pull that off.) I don’t rewind my tapes until I’m ready to capture, so it never occurred to me that Mason would rewind the tape in the Handycam. The next day I turned it on and shot all kinds of fun stuff with my dogs at the ditch. When I saw what I’d done, before I could shoot something to get even one believable-looking shot (by putting on one of my son’s big tennis shoes and shooting “Mason’s” foot against the dirt) the battery went dead. All that’s left from the shoot is my friend and me on top of my Tahoe with the tripod/crane for the “HEP” shot.

As usual, we had lots of fun. And I just want to tell everybody that this was just the most






:)

You mean the subtle alcoholism? :)

You mean after all the studying I did, THAT's your secret to making good movies? Pfffft----

(Maybe I'll have to give it a try. ;)

You mean the subtle alcoholism? :) (Dylan)

I already am...after noting that I didn't even make the cut - it's working so far - think I'll have another.
j/k

I absolutely loved EVERY single one of the movies. Having followed each of the challenges closely, I am awestruck at the amazing level of growth in everyone, and the expert craftsmanship that has gone into so many pieces. It make me feel very honored to be involved in this profession. I have watched each of the entries, most of them several times, and I still haven't finished writing up all my reviews and well-wishes to each of the entrants, I hope to finish that tomorrow - but man, I would have hated to be an official judge this time around - some amazing and very stunning work. Good job everyone. Goodnight (sip)
-Jon