Greasy Lake + Reel

[Spencer Houck]

Hey all,

A large amount of our par-t-com team has joined forces to go at a few Ohio University TCOM 419 Projects this year. This course is the capstone of OU's video production sequence, challenging students to create 30 minute short films in just two quarters of college.
One of the three projects is entitled Greasy Lake, based on the short story of the same name by T.C. Boyle. We recently wrapped principal photography and in celebration I cut a sort of teaser trailer for the project. It is by far the most ambitious project I, or any of us have ever had the chance to work on and I think that the countless hours put in by our wonderful crew all payed off in the end.

http://greasylake.par-t-com.net/greasy_trailer.mov
right click + save as (7 meg file)

Then, head over to http://greasylake.par-t-com.net to get more info on the project.


Also:
I, like Devin have also created a demo reel of my work which can be downloaded here:

http://spencer.par-t-com.net

For greatest compatability, I have provided both quicktime and windows media player options to view my reel. Please let me know what you think of it, as I really am confused as to what an editor/effects reel should look like.

Thanks for watchin',
Spence

[Spencer Houck]

I've recently re-encoded the trailer and it is now half a meg bigger in file size but much cleaner in appearance.

Find the trailer either by going through http://greasylake.par-t-com.net or by right clicking this direct link and saving as:

http://greasylake.par-t-com.net/greasy_trailer.mov

We're looking forward to getting some feedback,
thanks

Spencer

[Yang Wen]

Your underwater sequences looked great! did u use an underwater housing for that or did u make use of the side window in the pool?

As far as the trailer goes.. the audio is way too hot. I had to crank down my volume quite a bit.. The actors' names at the end were questionable, considering no one would know who they are. I guess it really depends on who you're showing the film to.

[Spencer Houck]

Yang, thanks for the response. I think when I re-encoded I forgot to normalize the audio track to bring down the volume, I'll get on that.

To answer your question, we did make use of a side window in the pool. It was shot in Ohio University's Aquatic Center which has about a 4x4 foot window on one of its side walls. I forget if the window was meant for diving photography or water testing and maintenance, possibly both. We also used a fish tank to get a different sort of underwater look. The camera was put into the tank and it was partially submerged in the lake on location. This gives the horizontal line separating that above the water with that below.

As for the actor's names, it was definitely an ode to how much work our actors did for us. Regardless of anyone recognizing them by name, I think it is only fair to recognize them for the amazing work and time that they put into Greasy Lake's sometimes 16 hour long exterior shoots...plus it just happened to fit with the music in my opinion.

Keep the comments coming!

[Alex Taylor]

Very nice. A well edited trailer! You have some beautiful shots too.. I love the shot you end the trailer with. June 3rd fast approaches!

[Rob Lohman]

The trailer was amazing indeed. Good work! I liked the reel as
well. Showed of some good skills. Nice work!

[Nicholi Brossia]

Very good work. I've really been impressed by how far your productions have come in just a short time.
I actually liked that you used the actors names in the trailer. In addition to being an ode to the actors and their great work, the names help wrap up the trailer, providing a much more professional feel. Along with the great music choice and excellent editing, you've created a very good trailer.

[Spencer Houck]

Thanks Nicholi, Rob, and Alex

Alex:
Our June 3rd premiere approaches indeed, final cut should be locked by the 19th (four days!!) and then go to the post audio man and the scorer. It's a mad dash from here.

(The beautiful shots are care of Devin Doyle)

Rob:
Thanks for the compliment, and especially thanks for the feedback on the reel.

Nicholi:
Our productions have been growing in size and quality exponentially for sure. The biggest reason would be that our crew is quite big now, its not just Devin and I anymore, now it's delegated to the nth degree, leaving everyone to do the best they can do on their specific job. This will hopefully be apparent in the professionalism of "Greasy Lake", which we came into with hopes of making a festival-worthy piece, not a short for school.

(Having great acting, a sweet DVX100 in 24p, and a devoted director doesn't hurt either.)

More comments are welcome!