Short B/W montage, Jam session at College... at DVinfo.net

Morgan Crossley · February 6th, 2008, 01:54 AM

some of my suitemates were jamming in our living room today and i thought i'd get the camera out and film some footage. unfortunately the light was awful, i should have manually adjusted the gain but i didn't so it's grainy, also the audio levels didn't pick up as well as i'd have liked them to, so i just put some of the decent clips to my own track.

used the B&WJECTA preset. next time i'll just shoot in color with a better preset for low indoor light and go B/W in post if i want to....

all feedback is welcome.

here it is:

http://www.vimeo.com/668122

Bill Busby · February 6th, 2008, 01:08 PM

I would think any priority "next time" would be an audio issue rather than using a particular preset. Being a musician myself, I quite honestly couldn't watch more than 30 secs or so, if even that... nothing is in sync at all here. For me, I would have chosen the original audio, no matter how bad (well, within reason ;) & edited well with some sense of continuity/sync. But then again, that's just me :)

Morgan Crossley · February 6th, 2008, 01:22 PM

yeah i know it's basically pointless without the original music. although, with what i did i dont know if you can expect much of it to be "in sync" considering the song was totally different than what they were playing. maybe i'll try to salvage whatever i have later on, but i basically just did it for the images.

Russ Motyko · February 7th, 2008, 11:47 AM

I felt that there was no punch to the B&W. The only reason I can see for someone to use B&W in the 21st century is to create a certain look and I didn't think that happened. Maybe if you'd increased the contrast it would have had a bit more "umph."

And then there was the issue that Bill mentioned. Try to use the original sound and see what you can get.

Overall though I thought you had some nice angles and did a good job of framing. It could have worked out really well if not for those couple of things.

Will Mahoney · February 8th, 2008, 12:56 PM

Haters can go to hell. Hey, man, I thought your footage was fine. Yes, a bit grainy, but some of the shots were great. I liked the tightness of some of the shots and it looked great. Keep at it.

Bill Busby · February 8th, 2008, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Will Mahoney

Haters can go to hell.

good lord. oye :-\

Morgan Crossley · February 8th, 2008, 02:24 PM

Thanks Will :-)

and thanks to everyone else for their comments. I'm always learning, and at this point i try to keep a strong outer shell when it comes to criticism.... but i always appreciate positive suggestions, so thanks.

i will see if i can do anything else with this footage. i'll take some of your comments into consideration. maybe something else will click.

Steve Kachocki · February 8th, 2008, 04:14 PM

Russ mentioned the contrast issue. None of your shots have any true black in them, and little white. Its all shades of grey. A great b/w photo consists of the entire range from black to white. In the absence of color you are looking for textures and contrast to make the image powerful. The close-up shots of the bass and the drums are nice, would have been nicer with some contrast.
I also like the grainy images. Its your art piece, however, and how you express yourself is your decision.
Oh yea, the sound thing matters, too.

February 6th, 2008, 01:54 AM	#1
Morgan Crossley Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 113	Short B/W montage, Jam session at College... some of my suitemates were jamming in our living room today and i thought i'd get the camera out and film some footage. unfortunately the light was awful, i should have manually adjusted the gain but i didn't so it's grainy, also the audio levels didn't pick up as well as i'd have liked them to, so i just put some of the decent clips to my own track. used the B&WJECTA preset. next time i'll just shoot in color with a better preset for low indoor light and go B/W in post if i want to.... all feedback is welcome. here it is: http://www.vimeo.com/668122

February 8th, 2008, 12:56 PM	#5
Will Mahoney Major Player Join Date: May 2007 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Posts: 259	Haters can go to hell. Hey, man, I thought your footage was fine. Yes, a bit grainy, but some of the shots were great. I liked the tightness of some of the shots and it looked great. Keep at it. __________________ http://exposureroom.com/members/WillMahoney.aspx/ www.youtube.com/truckaccessories

February 8th, 2008, 04:14 PM	#8
Steve Kachocki Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Salt Lake City, UT Posts: 49	I Like the b/w Russ mentioned the contrast issue. None of your shots have any true black in them, and little white. Its all shades of grey. A great b/w photo consists of the entire range from black to white. In the absence of color you are looking for textures and contrast to make the image powerful. The close-up shots of the bass and the drums are nice, would have been nicer with some contrast. I also like the grainy images. Its your art piece, however, and how you express yourself is your decision. Oh yea, the sound thing matters, too.

February 6th, 2008, 01:08 PM	#2
Bill Busby Major Player Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 959	I would think any priority "next time" would be an audio issue rather than using a particular preset. Being a musician myself, I quite honestly couldn't watch more than 30 secs or so, if even that... nothing is in sync at all here. For me, I would have chosen the original audio, no matter how bad (well, within reason ;) & edited well with some sense of continuity/sync. But then again, that's just me :)

February 6th, 2008, 01:22 PM	#3
Morgan Crossley Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 113	yeah i know it's basically pointless without the original music. although, with what i did i dont know if you can expect much of it to be "in sync" considering the song was totally different than what they were playing. maybe i'll try to salvage whatever i have later on, but i basically just did it for the images.

February 7th, 2008, 11:47 AM	#4
Russ Motyko Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 56	I felt that there was no punch to the B&W. The only reason I can see for someone to use B&W in the 21st century is to create a certain look and I didn't think that happened. Maybe if you'd increased the contrast it would have had a bit more "umph." And then there was the issue that Bill mentioned. Try to use the original sound and see what you can get. Overall though I thought you had some nice angles and did a good job of framing. It could have worked out really well if not for those couple of things.

February 8th, 2008, 02:24 PM	#7
Morgan Crossley Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 113	Thanks Will :-) and thanks to everyone else for their comments. I'm always learning, and at this point i try to keep a strong outer shell when it comes to criticism.... but i always appreciate positive suggestions, so thanks. i will see if i can do anything else with this footage. i'll take some of your comments into consideration. maybe something else will click.