Why not look around this forum? Lot's of short movies posted here (in the
DV for the Masses forum your post is in as well).

Summer Camp Promo
 

Hello,
I am very new to the world of video editing, but this site has been a great resource and i'm beginning to learn a lot. I made this short video for a camp that I work for and I'd like to get some constructive criticism for you all. Please tell me what you think! Sorry about the poor compressed quality.
http://www.mtcross.org/ Go to this site and in the middle of the page towards the bottom you can download the video. Thanks.

Short Sequence for school (:28s)
 

www.glennchan.info/EFP1.mov

Still thinking of a title for this short piece... anyways, a little background... I go to Ryerson University of Radio and Television Arts and here's a short piece I did for schoolwork.

I applied strong color correction to it in Vegas. Color/gamma curves, saturation adjust, diffusion, "digital ND grads" in the wide shots. You can see a side-by-side comparison at:
Side-by-side color correction demo

Any comments and feedback would be appreciated.

You did quite the amazing job with the color correction. I loved this short! Only thing, dunno though it might be just me cuz it's quite late, is the girl seemed a little bit stiff. Other than that though, good short! I really liked it!

I thought it was nice as well, pretty funny!

Houston Members, see our film at WORLDFEST
 

"After Twilight" will screen at worldfest on Saturday, April 30th at 1 pm. See it at AMC Meyer Park 16, Digital theatre C 4730 West Bellfort, Houston Texas 77035

Admission is $6. The Program is "Shorta Thrillas" (I didn't name it)

#1. "Birthday Present" - 21:17 - USA - Peter Zhmutski, Director
#2 "Diamonds, Bullets & Fate" - 23:35 -USA - Peter Razal, Director
#3 "Ray of LIght" - 7:14 - Houston, Steve Ellis -Director
#4 "AFTER TWILIGHT" - 33:48 - Houston, Gary L. Watson, Director
#5 "The Light of Eons" - 15:55 USA -David Rogers, Director
#6 "Tears" - 7:30 - USA - Steve Wire, Director.

See our trailer at www.nu-classicfilms.com

"After Twilight" has already screened at "Freedom Festival" at Park City during Sundance and "Sedona Film Festival" in Arizona.

I won't be there, but Gary will.

Regards,
Richard

no feedback eh? okay

Hi Riley,

Here's some simple feedback for you. I loved it.

Took me a few seconds to realise it was all in reverse - in fact, first time round I didn't realise until he was at the fridge. For me that added a nice twist, but you may think I was just being dumb. It certainly made me want to watch it again.

As with all good stories, I was intrigued from the beginning.

There was a very striking moment when your man was leaving/enteringh the house, with the fan slowly spinning. Very cool. Was that a special effect or do you just have a very slow spinning fan? Also, when he's first arrived home, the dark figure running across the picture from left to right was perfect.

Soundtrack was great and fits perfectly (windscreen wipers were superb). I liked the transisitions from monochrome to colour and the rain added a nice image. All in all very cool photography.

If you want me to offer any constructive criticism (and I'm struggling to find anything really wrong!) I would say that there were a couple of compositions that I might have changed, for example there's a shot where your guy is sitting in a chair and we are viewing from his left side, across (I think) a table. There are a couple of objects (look like packets of some sort) right in front of his nose. I think I'd have tried to lose them. Also, by the time we get to the end, we know that the story is about someone breaking in and clubbing our hero to death - I don't think you need to add the dialogue to spell it out. I found myself wondering 'who is he shouting to?' and why didn't they get involved earlier?'. What would be great (for me) would be if the camera (looking down on the scene from directly above) was to very slowly pull up as high as possible and view the scene from a real high angle. But hey, we don't all have the luxury of cranes and jibs, eh?

Look forward to your next piece.

Ian . . .

I loved it as well. Brilliant way to tell the story so that it was not obvious what was going on until near the end. I would have stoped when you saw him breaking in though as I didn't think what came after that added anything to the story, but this is really nit picking. Great job I look forward to seeing more of your films.

I liked it as well!

Nothing to add as far as changes, it was your story and it worked for me. The fact that I didn't stop watching in the first 6 seconds is a good sign, far too many I see never make it to 7 seconds. ;)

Dumb question but... Did you shoot "all" of the scenes of walking forward and then reverse them? The only reason I ask is that some of them look as though you actualy walked backwards, not sure why it looks that way in some.

Have any others?

EDITED:

I had to add... I just watched it again by dragging the slider in reverse the whole way, HA! pretty cool.

The Glove
 

If someone is interested here is a small version of the 7 minute short titled "The Glove". All your critisicm and ideas will be welcomed, Some of these will be forwarded to my editor Mike.
http://www.otestudio.com/theglovepreview.html

Cheers from Vegas

Al

Anyone...please take a few minutes to help a rookie out. Thanks.

Matt,

I downloaded and watched it. You have some compelling images in it. I get the overall feeling that the camp is a place that you can have a lot of fun at.

The End.

Here's my take on how it could be better. Take what you've got and cut it in half. As a visual montage it was too long, too repetitive and lacked structure. It was as if someone handed me a stack of photos from their vacation, and it was all out of order. Try and tell a 'story' in the three minutes. Make me care about what's happening. Draw me in to the sequence. As a music video montage, it was too disjointed... both internally from image to image, and musically - it didn't connect with the music. (Which, I assume you have the rights to?)

All of that might sound harsh, but it's the sort of thing that turns "What I did last summer" into a movie that people enjoy rather than endure. I assume you don't have any testimonial to go behind it? Voices saying "It's the best summer I ever had." "Not only was it fun, but the fellowship was inspiring" "My kids were entertained, and uplifted throught the experience." "It brought our family closer together" etc.etc.

Maybe I missed your point. Maybe it was suposed to be a sort of random collection of smiling faces? If so, like I said, the overall impression was a nice place to visit.

Hope this helped.

Thanks Richard for the feedback. That all makes sense to me, and I agree that it is pretty disjointed. Thanks. Anyone else?

a shorty
 

Here's a little short we shot right when I bought my XL2. It's nothing special, just kind of an exercise for use to get to know our new friend.

If you do watch it, ignore the voice-over.. :)

-Lon

http://www.tigerfilmsonline.com/MovieShort.html

Spy Training - Espionage Action!
 

Finished a little shortie this weekend. Inspired by the Splinter Cell and Metal Gear Solid games i shot this 3 minute short in 2 and a half hours with my trusty Canon XM2 and edited it together with premiere 6.5. I wanted to experiment mostly with camera angles. Check it out and comment on this little piece dear dvinfo people.

http://www.sprocket.se/media.php?id=526

First XL2 Test Movie
 

Hey all, We just got done with this little short that we filmed right after we finally got our XL2. Its a nice little test shot movie please check it out and tell me what you think!

http://www.tigerfilmsonline.com/MovieShort.html

You got a bum camera man, nothing plays.

if it doesn't work... and it didn't for me...

Try
http://www.tigerfilmsonline.com/XL2%20Test%20Movie.mpg

Nice job indeed! I think I would also have ended with him entering the house,
it feels a tad like you are trying to explain it too much. However, if you do
cut there it might not be picked up by everyone. I got it at that point, also
the reverse was obvious (for me) from the moment he stood up after being
hit by the baseball bat.

It was okay, but I felt it you showed too much, which in turn dulled my
interest a bit. The dressing for example might not be needed?

Didn't I see this somewhere else here on the board as well?

I thought it was okay, especially the beginning. The "hiding" and fighting part
felt a bit too slow though, could use a bit more speed and cutting in my opinion.

It was a nice little movie. It was way too small though (resolution wise).
I'd imagine your actors weren't too pleased with that frozen river?

Thanks for watching it. Strange, from other replies i've got they said the exact opposite. That the beginning was too long and the espionage and fight scene was too short. I guess i can't please everybody. But this was just an experimental little short with no script. Im gonna start working on a 10min short with a script in a few weeks, im gonna post how that turns out. Anyway, thanks for the reply.

Color Guard Ad - 1 minute
 

For entertainment purposes only... ;)

The color guard instructor wanted a 1 minute teaser ad to recruit for next year's guard. Used No Survivors from FreePlayMusic as the background.

http://versatilemediasolutions.com/Files/DerylsAd.wmv

Vid with VX2100(except last, which was a Sony 520 D8 cam). Liquid Edition 6.1 edited.

Gemberling Episode 4!
 

Hey guys...

The latest installment of our no-budget sci-fi comedy epic, "Gemberling" is up for viewing on our website, www.cowboyandjohn.com

We filmed on XL2, edited on Premiere pro and did the effects in After Effects. We're well aware of the cheap-o quality....it's (mostly) intentional!

It's in the media section, episode 4. Check it out if you get a chance!

Thanks!

-Curtis

I wasn't the one that came up with the idea of filming this during winter. It was the writer's; the guy who plays James (the rober). I tried to convince him to do this during spring or summer but he couldn't wait. Both of these guys are climbers and they love the thrill of danger. The editor made the small file so I could preview it over the internet. I'm still waiting on the bigger version.

I'm very prouds of the shots I was able to get in top of the river, hopefully you cought that!

Al

If anyone uses triggerstreet.com...
 

I have my first short film on triggerstreet.com called "Just Before Noon". I shot it on an optura xi and edited it on FCE. Super simple, but that's what I wanted my first short to be. Any reviews would be great (I already have one on there that is blunt and harsh so be honest)!

Film Festival in CT
 

Not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this, feel free to move it if necessary.

All next week (Monday May 2-Friday May 6) there will be a film festival held at Western CT State Universtiy in Danbury, CT, featuring screenings, presentations, and lectures. Admittance for the general public is just $5 for the day.

Highlights include special guest Robert Drew, pioneer of cinema verite, who will be screening his latest film, "From Two Men and a War," which is premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival. Selected works from him will screen all day Wednesday May 4, with his "From Two Men and a War" playing at 6:00pm followed by a Q & A session.

Full schedule is as follows:

Monday May 2nd: Adam Abraham, Slamdance Winner
7:00pm ‘The Business of Independent Filmmaking’

Tuesday May 3rd: Scott Lehane & Carina Bandhauer
6:00pm Screening of "El Pueblo Unido"
http://salvaide.ca/ElPuebloUnido.htm

Wednesday May 4th: Robert Drew, Pioneer of Cinéma Vérité
10:00am Continuous screenings of his award-winning works
6:00pm Screening of From Two Men and a War
http://www.drewassociates.net/

Friday May 6th: ‘The Current & Future Place of Independent Film & Video’
5:30pm Industry Panel Discussion featuring award-winning
producers, directors, writers, and editors.

see www.wcsu.edu/com for more info

Lon, congrats on the new camera!

Overall it was clear of the effort involved, good job!

It's not necessary to have created a short to know what is entertaining on the viewers end, it only educates one as to the amount of work involved. You put some time into it, that was obvious. Cleaner audio and a fresh storyline is all I saw, your camera work and editing looked fine.

I sort of agree with Rob. There wasn't enough story/action in the first part. The fight was OK, but too short a payoff for watching the beginning.

Oh yeah..
The fight sound effects... Don't steal sound effects from video games!! :)
They are really bad, and drew me right out of the movie (unless you are going for comedy). Cut them out, make your own, they'll be much more natural.

And *poof*.... we are back on topic.

A note to people who post criticism, please post within the context of the media. Saying something is crap is not criticism, it is being an a-hole.

I can't really recall those shots (but then again, I do see a lot [of movies]).
Let us know (in this thread please) when a larger version is up and I'll take
a second look!

Would you happen to have a direct link? Time is limited for most people and
I doubt you will get much if any viewings this way. If that is not possible
you may want to consider putting it up somewhere where you can link directly
to the movie (or the page it is on).

Triggerstreet, eh?
 

Hey Riley,

I watched your short. I liked it. Interesting camera angles and the split-screen worked too.

It was nice and short and mundane. Until the end. hehe.

Keep it up. I look forward to seeing what else you can do and it was nice to see what that little Xi is capable of.

sincerely,

ian

There were some nice touches. Overall pretty good.

There were some focus problems, and some of the effects where a little too abrupt. Like the tossing of the cigarette. The time remapping could have been smoother.

I liked this video. I REALLY would love to see what it would look like with a film filter effect on it. Are you able to do that?

awsome video. all it needs is a film look, and your good. i really like it. reminds me of Shadows Fall - What Drives the Weak video. same concept.

streaming
 

hey,

i like your video. the colors are very clean and crisp. though i do think it's too dark at times.

the early shots of him in the house, looking at the picture frame: it's not clear what he's doing. moments later, we see the picture frame on the bed.

i would communicate right away that it's a picture frame and that he's in his girls' home.

otherwise it kind of feels like when your watching a play and you can't hear the line that the actor said because they weren't loud enough. you feel slighted.

just my thoughts...

Where to post videos?
 

I would like to start posting some of my work. Does anyone know where I can upload videos for free?

Thanks,
Nick