Urban Exploration: Don Valley Brick Works

[Shervin Mandgaryan]

Hey guys,

Me and my friends/production guys went off to an abandoned brick factory near downtown Toronto and took some photography and I shot a quick video.

I will be posting the photos later as one of the guys with me has yet to upload them.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ckshooting.jpg

http://www.pasarprod.com/videos/DVbricks_highdivx.avi [ Requires Divx Codec - 76mb ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHiO_sSrKnE [ Youtube ]

Shot with a stock XL-2 and a Tiffen Steady Stick.

Cheers,

[Shervin Mandgaryan]

No comments or anything? ...I'm still waiting! :-)

[Shervin Mandgaryan]

I need some constructive critism, PLEASE guys! :-)

[Michael Fossenkemper]

looked freaky??? coool?

what town was this in?

wow, nice duds to be working with! i really like the audio choice. theres alot of nice tension that you have created in editing...i was waiting for something "bad" to happen. Nice variety of shots to keep the veiwer interested. has a nice documentary style...i like how the audio was carried smoothly through the different shots. (many ametures fail to do this resulting in a disjointed film). This is excellent, though id like to see it taken further in terms of plot: beggining, climax and resolution. ex: id like to see the entering of the building and the end of the exploration.


wellllllllll done!

[Shervin Mandgaryan]

It's in Downtown Toronto, one of the few remaining abandoned treasures that this city has, and great part about it is since it has become a heritage site, its never going to get torn down!

Thanks for the input guys!

[Anthony Hong]

Looks good! really creapy feel

[Cal Johnson]

I definitely have a really critical eye, meaning I'm picky, so please don't take this the wrong way. Some of the things I would point out is that for one, its very random. To me, its just a bunch of random images without really any rationale with where the "film" is going. Another is that you're zooming a lot. Newer shooters have a tendancy to use the zoom in an effort to be "creative". You really want to have a reason, a motivation for any zoom. Don't just zoom in or out just for something to do, and really try to avoid the "zooming back and forth" that you have in a couple of shots. Watch your video with the audio off, do the images still engage you? I think if you're really wanting to improve you're skills, you have to be brutally honest about your work, and for me it just didn't look like anything more than what someone could have shot with the camera on full auto.
If I were you, I'd go back and shoot again with some of the following ideas in mind:
-work with the light, us it to your advantage... like where those skylights were, shoot something on the ground that is lit, surrounded by creepy darkness.
-get angles, go low, go high, get your camera right against a wall or railing and follow its lines.
-compose your shot... watch a movie like "Road to Perdition" and see how many of the shots are still, but well composed letting the subject matter tell the story. If you don't have a tripod, take an old blanket that you can use as padding and shoot off the floor, the stairs, a raised platform.
-use depth... get objects in the foreground, the background, and play with your depth of field.
I've been through a two year film program, and we'd have to swallow some pretty harsh critques, so please, don't take this as a negative. I think its just getting too easy for people to shoot stuff and have other people just say "awesome" or "amazing" when really it could be so much more. A fellow student of mine did a shot once that I thought was awesome. He shot a frozen river in Calgary, were the ice was flowing, so you could see into the water as well all the ice floating. The temperature was such that there was a fine mist moving over the river. So from his high angled shot from a bridge, you could see the water flowing, the ice flowing in the water, and the mist flowing over the water and ice. The camera was locked off and the shot was static. Now get yer butt back to the warehouse and kick some ass!

[Shervin Mandgaryan]

Cal I really really appreciate your words of critiscism, the actual first and true criticism I got on this video. I agree with many of the points you said and I will prepare better for next time. Since then I aquired a tripod, shotgun microphone and a bunch of different lenses and filters. The roof of the brick works has holes in it and many of them are pretty big which gives it that effect. I've heard from other photographers that morning is the best time to go because you can get the sun light rays from the tiny holes which gives it a very nice atmosphere. Again I really TRULEY appreciate your words.

This video was intended to have no real storyline or flow as it just was a exploration video with some twists. Next time I go I will make sure I make it more of a short film/documentary look.

Cheers guys,

[Cal Johnson]

Looking forward to it Shervin... you'll be surprised how quickly you improve. I think you have some good instincts, so trust your gut when you're shooting. One final piece of advice that I'll give because it really helps me is that as you're starting out, you may have gear that isn't ideal, especially the tripod. If you find yourself wanting to do some pans and tilts, but the tripod seems iffy, get a "safety shot" first. That's what I do now when I'm shooting nature stuff. If I see a nice waterfall or something, I'll shoot a really nice static shot of it, then try some pans or tilts. That way back in post I always have that nice static shot to fall back on if my pan or tilt was goofy. This can work for exposure too. Just like photography, you can shoot something that is "safe", meaning you're pretty sure the exposure is good, then try some slightly underexposed shots just to see how they turn out. It all depends on what you're shooting and how much time you have to get the shot. Sometimes you have only one chance at it. Look forward to seeing you're next film.
Cheers,

[Shervin Mandgaryan]

Originally Posted by Cal Johnson

Looking forward to it Shervin... you'll be surprised how quickly you improve. I think you have some good instincts, so trust your gut when you're shooting. One final piece of advice that I'll give because it really helps me is that as you're starting out, you may have gear that isn't ideal, especially the tripod. If you find yourself wanting to do some pans and tilts, but the tripod seems iffy, get a "safety shot" first. That's what I do now when I'm shooting nature stuff. If I see a nice waterfall or something, I'll shoot a really nice static shot of it, then try some pans or tilts. That way back in post I always have that nice static shot to fall back on if my pan or tilt was goofy. This can work for exposure too. Just like photography, you can shoot something that is "safe", meaning you're pretty sure the exposure is good, then try some slightly underexposed shots just to see how they turn out. It all depends on what you're shooting and how much time you have to get the shot. Sometimes you have only one chance at it. Look forward to seeing you're next film.
Cheers,

Thanks for the solid advice again! :-)

Regards,