Nice flow through the whole trailer. And depth of field looked great. Only complaint is that it's dark but maybe that's just my monitor + VLC setup? But some gain would be welcomed.

One question regarding the setup; how much light stop does that setup use?

Regards.
David

Thanks David,

Yes, on reflection it's dark on the computer screen. Looks nice and bright on a production monitor and on a TV but as this trailer is destined for the web only I will need to work on the levels. Glad you pointed it out, thanks.

Re the setup, I guess I should ask the DoP that question. I'm afraid he left for Switzerland today but will be back in a week.

Cheers,

Ian . . .

Thanks,

one other question; could you post some screen shots from the film?
I'm interested to see how well the Mini35 renders the detail.

Best.
David

http://www.film-it.net/client/montes...ler_v203-1.wmv

Hopefully this is a little brighter. I played wih the levels a little. Keep in mind the actual project is to be delivered on DVD so I'm not really looking to spend too much time tweaking the web trailer.

Re stills, sure, be glad to. Are you interested in seeing them as they come out the camera or after they've been through post? May not get around to it this weekend but would be happy to post some up soon.

Ian . . .

New one looked good. But I can't really tell the difference from each shot, but it's very nice looking.

Regarding the screen shots, I would appreciate raw from cam, so one can play with it in post. I'm very thankful for your work.

David

A pleasure Dvid, and thank you for your comments. As I say, when I get a spare moment I will put up some stills. This is SD video, hope that's OK.

Very best,

Ian . . .

Real good job Ian! Actually, I was curious how your project was going along. And it's been answered quite beautifully!

I agree with David that the pacing and flow to the trailer was well executed. On first viewing, I had thought that the background music didn't quite fit. (You mentioned you may not keep that score anyway.) I thought it was a bit somber (but certainly felt introspective which I liked). On second viewing, I guess I didn't mind the BG music that much. Hmmm...

I'm also interested in the settings used by your DOP; very much liked the look of it, from the depth of field, slow easy cam moves, and various angles.

I'm very interested in putting an adapter to our XL2 (maybe the Letus, if I can save up for one!) to achieve some of the things you're doing.

Best,

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com

Thanks Jeff, most kind. When Alvaro (the DoP) returns from his trip I'll ask him to comment on his choice of settings etc.

Some of the camera moves were added in post, specifically some of the very slow, very slight crawls in. I firmly believe that when you only have a minute or so to tell your story you need to get a lot of the emotion across with camera moves, as you don't have time to do that with words alone. Because of the nature of the shoot (ie very much observational rather than staged) we didn't have the luxury of being able to set the dolly up each time.

My favourite was the overhead shot of the table. I bought an indie level jib specially for that shot! Interestingly, it was the only shot of the entire project that did not use the cine lenses (because they were too heavy for the jib!!).

I also am in two minds about the music bed. It is indeed somewhat sombre (but I think it's the best piece offered in Cinescore). I may shake it up a little by playing with the settings in Cinescore. It certainly won't be the music used in the finished piece (where I will be using music sparingly) but whether we change it for the trailer is a decision I may leave to the client.

Thanks again for your kind comments.

Cheers!

Ian . . .

David, here's a selection of jpg stills from the Sony Vegas timeline at Best setting but with no effects. They are all shots used in the trailer and you can see that some are better than others! Hope they're of use.

Ian . . .

Thank you Ian, they are lovely, that DJ kid looks gorgeous.

And there are very easy to work with in post. Very nice, I know now if I should save up for a adapter.

Best,
David

Any time, David.

Of course if you can't afford to buy an adaptor you could do what I did - hire a DoP/Cameraman who owns one!

Cheers,

Ian . . .

Nice grabs Ian. Saw the second version as well, and this one seemed to "pop" out more. (As David said, maybe the brightness helped?) But I did watch the first version from my wife's laptop screen which is a bit toned down for her purposes; and I watched the second one on my 22" screen, which is a bit brighter.

Now, I don't know whether to save up for a 35mm adapter (like a Letus) or save up for the 16x manual lens?

Any of you kind folks who've had experience with both? Any preference, pros and cons?

Best,

--JA
www.madjavaproductions.com