See "John Melon" here.. at DVinfo.net

Alain Aguilar · June 2nd, 2004, 12:19 PM

They are green, and juicy!!

I've finally made a Quicktime version of my dark comedy short "John Melon". This project was shot with a XL1 and the P.S Technik adapter at my former employer's office space. I would be really happy to hear your opinion about it. The file itself is not that big so it should stream quick.

The short is 12 minute long, but they will be worth it (At leat I hope). Just don't fast forward because you will spoil it.:)

www.macropictures.com/melonwebquicksbig3.mov

Thanks

Christian Hede Madsen · June 3rd, 2004, 08:12 AM

The link does´nt work...

Alain Aguilar · June 3rd, 2004, 11:07 AM

I'm uploading a better version. The one I posted was vertically streched and had a rough contrast oversaturated look created by the modified Magic Bullet "Basic" look. It' will be up in about 2 hours.

Alain Aguilar · June 3rd, 2004, 06:47 PM

I think I made a compressing mistake with Sorenson before. I just uploaded the clip with the right aspect ratio (720-480). I still think the sound did not came up that great. I'm still learning much of what's required for post-production (editing, sound etc). Just as a note. I shot this in two days, but took me a few months to edit. (don't ask me why!!). Please let me know what you think, although this was not an ambitious project it helped me to become a bit more technical than what I used to be.

I need feedback!!!!

Rob Lohman · June 4th, 2004, 03:38 AM

I really liked the idea and how you played with certain things.
The two most problematic things for me are the length of the
"short" and the audio (especially dialog).

The first part in the "asylum" is pretty hard to listen to and I
must say I don't like the doctor character. He is really annoying
with saying the guys name over and over again.

This was shot with the mini35, right? Was the softness and
a lot of shots being out of focus done on purpose? Or is this
due to web compression? It was too soft for my taste.

Last minor things. The titles are perhaps a bit too flashy for me
in regards to the whole movie also I thought the main character
was over acting a bit for the first half of the movie. But perhaps
you wanted to go a bit over the top.

I liked the story (idea) and I loved when the character went
nuts and went after them.

How did you do the light flickering?

Christian Hede Madsen · June 4th, 2004, 05:05 AM

Hi.

Like Rob I liked the whole idea, but I don´t think that the film is "finished".

It is too long and a lot of the audio is either too high or too low( volume)

Also I really didn´t like the first scene with the doctor...

The music was great though and I also liked the opening credits...

Rob Lohman · June 4th, 2004, 06:47 AM

Opening was neat indeed!

Alain Aguilar · June 4th, 2004, 07:02 AM

Thank you guys for the input. When we set the days for shooting I had a few things that were supposed to go right. One was the script. Unfortunately, my actor did not memorize his lines (to my big surprise). I only had a crew for one day. During the second day It was me and two other guys. We had Kino Flos, Mini35, Dollies, cables all over, and of course melons that were rotting by the hour. The photocopy machine would jam during almost every shot. That whole doctor scene was improvised at the office because we didn't have time to go to the original location (by the way, I'm not happy with that scene either, and I hope you guys believe me "That wasn't on the script". These two days of shooting became a few months of editing, since I wasn't technically familiar with the postproduction process, (I learned After Effects in a month during editing). I could keep on going with all this, but you guys are right, I'm not fully done with this and not a very satisfied with it. But it was definitely a great learning experience.

Softness is caused by a mix of compression software issue and my obsesiveness to get rid of picture noise.

The light flickering was basically turning all the light off and on except one wich spot-lighted the actor.

I'm still working on the sound

Christian Hede Madsen · June 4th, 2004, 07:24 AM

Maybe you can still "save" it( it is not that bad at all).
I would re-edit it.
Maybe skip the scene at the beginning and just jump straight into the story...It would make it all more weird, but try it...
It would make the twist in the end even more powerfull...I know it sounds strange but try it.

Good luck
chr

Alain Aguilar · June 4th, 2004, 07:56 AM

Christian,

I already took a whole scene out. He actually talks to his girlfriend before he goes to work and tells her about his coworkers. He goes on by describing on how they put him down and how much better his is than everybody else. Well that made it even longer and boring as well. But I will experiment and see what I can come up with. I'll try without the doctor or with a cut down version of it..

June 2nd, 2004, 12:19 PM	#1
Alain Aguilar Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Bergen Posts: 170	Watch "John Melon" here.. They are green, and juicy!! I've finally made a Quicktime version of my dark comedy short "John Melon". This project was shot with a XL1 and the P.S Technik adapter at my former employer's office space. I would be really happy to hear your opinion about it. The file itself is not that big so it should stream quick. The short is 12 minute long, but they will be worth it (At leat I hope). Just don't fast forward because you will spoil it.:) www.macropictures.com/melonwebquicksbig3.mov Thanks __________________ Alain

June 3rd, 2004, 11:07 AM	#3
Alain Aguilar Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Bergen Posts: 170	I'm uploading a better version. The one I posted was vertically streched and had a rough contrast oversaturated look created by the modified Magic Bullet "Basic" look. It' will be up in about 2 hours. __________________ Alain

June 3rd, 2004, 06:47 PM	#4
Alain Aguilar Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Bergen Posts: 170	I think I made a compressing mistake with Sorenson before. I just uploaded the clip with the right aspect ratio (720-480). I still think the sound did not came up that great. I'm still learning much of what's required for post-production (editing, sound etc). Just as a note. I shot this in two days, but took me a few months to edit. (don't ask me why!!). Please let me know what you think, although this was not an ambitious project it helped me to become a bit more technical than what I used to be. I need feedback!!!! __________________ Alain

June 4th, 2004, 03:38 AM	#5
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	I really liked the idea and how you played with certain things. The two most problematic things for me are the length of the "short" and the audio (especially dialog). The first part in the "asylum" is pretty hard to listen to and I must say I don't like the doctor character. He is really annoying with saying the guys name over and over again. This was shot with the mini35, right? Was the softness and a lot of shots being out of focus done on purpose? Or is this due to web compression? It was too soft for my taste. Last minor things. The titles are perhaps a bit too flashy for me in regards to the whole movie also I thought the main character was over acting a bit for the first half of the movie. But perhaps you wanted to go a bit over the top. I liked the story (idea) and I loved when the character went nuts and went after them. How did you do the light flickering? __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

June 4th, 2004, 06:47 AM	#7
Rob Lohman RED Code Chef Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Holland Posts: 12,514	Opening was neat indeed! __________________ Rob Lohman, visuar@iname.com DV Info Wrangler & RED Code Chef Join the DV Challenge \| Lady X Search DVinfo.net for quick answers \| Buy from the best: DVinfo.net sponsors

June 3rd, 2004, 08:12 AM	#2
Christian Hede Madsen Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gudhjem Denmark Posts: 93	The link does´nt work...

June 4th, 2004, 05:05 AM	#6
Christian Hede Madsen Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gudhjem Denmark Posts: 93	Hi. Like Rob I liked the whole idea, but I don´t think that the film is "finished". It is too long and a lot of the audio is either too high or too low( volume) Also I really didn´t like the first scene with the doctor... The music was great though and I also liked the opening credits...

June 4th, 2004, 07:02 AM	#8
Alain Aguilar Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Bergen Posts: 170	Thank you guys for the input. When we set the days for shooting I had a few things that were supposed to go right. One was the script. Unfortunately, my actor did not memorize his lines (to my big surprise). I only had a crew for one day. During the second day It was me and two other guys. We had Kino Flos, Mini35, Dollies, cables all over, and of course melons that were rotting by the hour. The photocopy machine would jam during almost every shot. That whole doctor scene was improvised at the office because we didn't have time to go to the original location (by the way, I'm not happy with that scene either, and I hope you guys believe me "That wasn't on the script". These two days of shooting became a few months of editing, since I wasn't technically familiar with the postproduction process, (I learned After Effects in a month during editing). I could keep on going with all this, but you guys are right, I'm not fully done with this and not a very satisfied with it. But it was definitely a great learning experience. Softness is caused by a mix of compression software issue and my obsesiveness to get rid of picture noise. The light flickering was basically turning all the light off and on except one wich spot-lighted the actor. I'm still working on the sound __________________ Alain

June 4th, 2004, 07:24 AM	#9
Christian Hede Madsen Regular Crew Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Gudhjem Denmark Posts: 93	Maybe you can still "save" it( it is not that bad at all). I would re-edit it. Maybe skip the scene at the beginning and just jump straight into the story...It would make it all more weird, but try it... It would make the twist in the end even more powerfull...I know it sounds strange but try it. Good luck chr

June 4th, 2004, 07:56 AM	#10
Alain Aguilar Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Bergen Posts: 170	Christian, I already took a whole scene out. He actually talks to his girlfriend before he goes to work and tells her about his coworkers. He goes on by describing on how they put him down and how much better his is than everybody else. Well that made it even longer and boring as well. But I will experiment and see what I can come up with. I'll try without the doctor or with a cut down version of it.. __________________ Alain