My second short film attempt... at DVinfo.net

Matt Portwood · September 23rd, 2010, 06:31 PM

Hello Everyone,

I am very new to video as I only jumped in about 3 months ago and have been teaching myself the ropes. I have a background in audio and decided to move into videography and see where that goes. That being said this is video is only my second time shooting and editing a video...ever. So, I am really looking forward to whatever comments, praise, criticism you might have.

This is a video of my fiance painting a parasol for our wedding. She asked that I show as little of her as possible as she is a little shy so the shots are a little confined. OK...nuff said...let the comments flow.

Also if you look at the other vide on my vimeo page it is actually my first ever attempt at filming something and editing. So comments are welcome on that as well.

Thanks!

Andy Graham · September 24th, 2010, 03:57 AM

I like it, you have some nice composition there. Its not always quite so easy to get nice images in the real world though, if you're moving on to shoot films you'll be dealing with directors and time consuming actors.....just tell them if they want it to look good they should listn to what you say and never be afraid to pipe up and tell them you need another take no matter how many people are on set or how important they are, dont ever be intimidated, and id say you have a good enough eye to know when you've got what you need.

Btw congrats on getting married

Andy.

Matt Portwood · September 24th, 2010, 03:01 PM

Thanks for the reply Andy! I have always secretly wanted to work in film and hopefully that will one day be a true reality. In the meantime I am having fun learning and I am very interested also in wedding videography, marketing and promotional video, etc.

Im a little surprised that no one but you has chimed in so far. Any one else out there with any advice or critiques? Anything will help!

Andy Graham · September 24th, 2010, 07:18 PM

Dont be surprised , there are a lot of talented busy people on this forum, you have to understand than making a short with you're fiance is one thing but making that leap to film is another.

there are guys on here from the highest hollywood experience like charles pappert, This forum is a link to guys who do it for a living, i reckon if these guys charged for their experience and time it would be a lot.

Andy

Matt Portwood · September 24th, 2010, 08:56 PM

Thanks again Andy. That all makes perfect sense. No worries. I have no illusions of doing anything overnight. I will take what I can get and be grateful for it.

Lorinda Norton · September 24th, 2010, 10:58 PM

Very nice, Matt! As Andy said, you have a good eye for composition. Loved the shot starting at 1:24. The first long fade to black surprised me and pretty much took me out of the trance I was in, but it wasn't long before I was back to being mesmerized by your fiance's work. Wish I could paint like that... :)

How about joining us upstairs for the DV Challenge? It would be a great way for you to practice!

http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/dv-chall...ml#post1572642

Matt Portwood · September 25th, 2010, 08:31 AM

Thank you Lorinda! I just signed up for the challenge and will eagerly await its kickoff. Hopefully it will really pull me out of my comfort zone.

Andy Graham · October 1st, 2010, 05:22 AM

Matt i dont suppose you could do me a favour, Im having a hell of a time uploading my promo video to vimeo, It wont maintain the 2:35:1 aspect ratio and the quality is really poor, could you tell me the settings you used to export your video and if there are any tricks to uploading to vimeo, I mean yours plays perfectly and its high quality i dont understand why mine isn't working.

Andy.

Matt Portwood · October 1st, 2010, 06:25 PM

Well I don't know what software you use, but I can tell you what I use and how I do it. I edit in Final Cut and so my sequence settings were 1920 x 1080. Once I had my mattes in place and all my clips adjusted the way I needed them I exported that file using current settings as my preset. The resulting file is a 1920 x 1080 video that is letterboxed. I then opened up Compressor and dropped in that file.

Now the key to getting Vimeo to encode the file correctly is on the "Geometry" tab. In the top part of the tab I set the "Crop to" box to Panavision 2.35:1. This will effectively crop out your mattes. For "Frame Size" I select 100% of original. Finally the last and most important part to Vimeo is to select "Preserve Source Aspect Ration" at the bottom.

Doing those three things should result in a properly cropped 2.35:1 file that Vimeo should encode correctly. Try that and let me know how that works for you. If you don't use compressor the same thing can be achieved with Quicktime Pro.

Hayden Hoyl · July 16th, 2011, 03:07 PM

Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but I really loved these shots! How did you get the floating type shots that looked similar to dolly shots? I'm still learning and I'd love to know! Thanks

Matt Portwood · July 17th, 2011, 09:41 AM

Its no problem at all! I shot this entire video on a Glidetrack SD which was on a tripod the entire time. So the dolly shots are just slider shots. Depending on how you position the frame and the head on top of the slider you can get all sorts of "unique" shots that work very nicely.

Hayden Hoyl · July 17th, 2011, 03:26 PM

Very cool! I need to look into buying or building one.

Jeff Murray · July 20th, 2011, 03:42 PM

Great job, nice edit. Love the macro work. Sensitive treatment to the music as well.

September 23rd, 2010, 06:31 PM	#1
Matt Portwood Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Danville, IN Posts: 54	My second short film attempt... Hello Everyone, I am very new to video as I only jumped in about 3 months ago and have been teaching myself the ropes. I have a background in audio and decided to move into videography and see where that goes. That being said this is video is only my second time shooting and editing a video...ever. So, I am really looking forward to whatever comments, praise, criticism you might have. This is a video of my fiance painting a parasol for our wedding. She asked that I show as little of her as possible as she is a little shy so the shots are a little confined. OK...nuff said...let the comments flow. Also if you look at the other vide on my vimeo page it is actually my first ever attempt at filming something and editing. So comments are welcome on that as well. Thanks! Thank You on Vimeo

September 24th, 2010, 03:57 AM	#2
Andy Graham Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Lanark,Scotland Posts: 736	I like it, you have some nice composition there. Its not always quite so easy to get nice images in the real world though, if you're moving on to shoot films you'll be dealing with directors and time consuming actors.....just tell them if they want it to look good they should listn to what you say and never be afraid to pipe up and tell them you need another take no matter how many people are on set or how important they are, dont ever be intimidated, and id say you have a good enough eye to know when you've got what you need. Btw congrats on getting married Andy. __________________ Actor: "where would that light be coming from?" DP: "same place as the music" -Andrew Lesnie-

September 24th, 2010, 03:01 PM	#3
Matt Portwood Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Danville, IN Posts: 54	Thanks Andy! Anyone else out there? Thanks for the reply Andy! I have always secretly wanted to work in film and hopefully that will one day be a true reality. In the meantime I am having fun learning and I am very interested also in wedding videography, marketing and promotional video, etc. Im a little surprised that no one but you has chimed in so far. Any one else out there with any advice or critiques? Anything will help!

September 24th, 2010, 07:18 PM	#4
Andy Graham Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Lanark,Scotland Posts: 736	Dont be surprised , there are a lot of talented busy people on this forum, you have to understand than making a short with you're fiance is one thing but making that leap to film is another. there are guys on here from the highest hollywood experience like charles pappert, This forum is a link to guys who do it for a living, i reckon if these guys charged for their experience and time it would be a lot. Andy __________________ Actor: "where would that light be coming from?" DP: "same place as the music" -Andrew Lesnie-

September 24th, 2010, 10:58 PM	#6
Lorinda Norton Wrangler Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Southwest Idaho, USA Posts: 3,066	Very nice, Matt! As Andy said, you have a good eye for composition. Loved the shot starting at 1:24. The first long fade to black surprised me and pretty much took me out of the trance I was in, but it wasn't long before I was back to being mesmerized by your fiance's work. Wish I could paint like that... :) How about joining us upstairs for the DV Challenge? It would be a great way for you to practice! http://www.dvinfo.net/forum/dv-chall...ml#post1572642 __________________ Lorinda

September 24th, 2010, 08:56 PM	#5
Matt Portwood Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Danville, IN Posts: 54	Thanks again Andy. That all makes perfect sense. No worries. I have no illusions of doing anything overnight. I will take what I can get and be grateful for it.

September 25th, 2010, 08:31 AM	#7
Matt Portwood Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Danville, IN Posts: 54	Thank you Lorinda! I just signed up for the challenge and will eagerly await its kickoff. Hopefully it will really pull me out of my comfort zone.

October 1st, 2010, 05:22 AM	#8
Andy Graham Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Lanark,Scotland Posts: 736	Matt i dont suppose you could do me a favour, Im having a hell of a time uploading my promo video to vimeo, It wont maintain the 2:35:1 aspect ratio and the quality is really poor, could you tell me the settings you used to export your video and if there are any tricks to uploading to vimeo, I mean yours plays perfectly and its high quality i dont understand why mine isn't working. Andy. __________________ Actor: "where would that light be coming from?" DP: "same place as the music" -Andrew Lesnie-

October 1st, 2010, 06:25 PM	#9
Matt Portwood Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Danville, IN Posts: 54	Well I don't know what software you use, but I can tell you what I use and how I do it. I edit in Final Cut and so my sequence settings were 1920 x 1080. Once I had my mattes in place and all my clips adjusted the way I needed them I exported that file using current settings as my preset. The resulting file is a 1920 x 1080 video that is letterboxed. I then opened up Compressor and dropped in that file. Now the key to getting Vimeo to encode the file correctly is on the "Geometry" tab. In the top part of the tab I set the "Crop to" box to Panavision 2.35:1. This will effectively crop out your mattes. For "Frame Size" I select 100% of original. Finally the last and most important part to Vimeo is to select "Preserve Source Aspect Ration" at the bottom. Doing those three things should result in a properly cropped 2.35:1 file that Vimeo should encode correctly. Try that and let me know how that works for you. If you don't use compressor the same thing can be achieved with Quicktime Pro.

July 16th, 2011, 03:07 PM	#10
Hayden Hoyl New Boot Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Brooklyn, New York Posts: 16	Re: My second short film attempt... Sorry to resurrect such an old thread, but I really loved these shots! How did you get the floating type shots that looked similar to dolly shots? I'm still learning and I'd love to know! Thanks

July 17th, 2011, 09:41 AM	#11
Matt Portwood Regular Crew Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Danville, IN Posts: 54	Re: My second short film attempt... Its no problem at all! I shot this entire video on a Glidetrack SD which was on a tripod the entire time. So the dolly shots are just slider shots. Depending on how you position the frame and the head on top of the slider you can get all sorts of "unique" shots that work very nicely. __________________ Matthew Portwood - http://www.matthewportwoodfilms.com --Sony A7s, Premiere Pro CC, iMac i5

July 17th, 2011, 03:26 PM	#12
Hayden Hoyl New Boot Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Brooklyn, New York Posts: 16	Re: My second short film attempt... Very cool! I need to look into buying or building one.

July 20th, 2011, 03:42 PM	#13
Jeff Murray Regular Crew Join Date: May 2007 Location: Glasgow, United Kingdom Posts: 176	Re: My second short film attempt... Great job, nice edit. Love the macro work. Sensitive treatment to the music as well.