I'll look into whether there's a non-competitive category or not. The festival will be held on the downtown danbury campus (the one on white street). I'll keep you posted.

As for local productions, I'm always looking for stuff to work on- sounds good!!

Thanks Marc. Now that's what I call constructive criticism! I appreciate it.

As for the Opera: I agree with you, but the song is timed, and the spot was based on, the fact that the laugh is exactly 15 seconds into the song so you hear it as it is. If I had a found a different song, yes, what you mentioned would have worked well. But the gimmick is based on the structure, so I guess it is what it is.

Starbucks: Yeah, the rack focus could have been earlier. The smell the aroma and happy bit? Well, yes, perhaps a big client would have wanted it that way, but that idea's a bit cliché' for me and I wanted to do just a little dissection of someone’s morning that turned into a spot. We had initially planed to do a shot of him at an actual Starbucks but couldn't get in one long enough to get the shot. Maybe that would have helped though. Thanks very much for your ideas and comments though. I'll keep them in mind next time out.

For the time lapse: It's just regular speed ramps done in post. I didn't have a cam that did interval recordings, so I just sped up the footage that was shot for a few minutes on a good steady tripod. That was it. Hope that helps.

Good luck to you too!

Sorry for being a downer Jim. I re-read my post and it came off harsher than I wanted. I think I felt cheated because I expected a bevy of bouncy busty beauties bonking boobies.

It does need to be shorter though.

Riley,
I agree wit Rhett, do you want this to be solemn or inspiring? In many cases, music can decide that. Something from a technical point...the general rule of thumb on opening titles like yours is to keep it up there just long enough for people to read it - if you end up recutting this, tighten up those titles and I think you will like the result. Another approach some might take is to have students reading them while they are on screen.

Nice look to the piece...keep up the good work.

-Robert

art installation
 

www.thedunesproject.com

to sample video element
click on photos -> video

warning: do not try to decipher

just sharing, dave.

1 - Aargh, not that music again! :)

2 - The first girl that speaks just gets faded out - This looks crude (if not rude). Allow her to finish a sentence and then cut to the next student. If she goes on and on for a long time, include someone else on the promo!

3 - Nice work, liked specially the part with the people moving at high speed in the corridor, while you track smoothly towards the student's back.

me and buddies 1st film
 

Hi

Here is a link to my film. Any insight on what I can do better next time would be helpful.

http://zed.cbc.ca/go.ZeD?POS=1&CONTE...nt&user=wpetti

It was shot with a sony vx1000 (with a broken viewfinder) and edited using iMovie and Premiere 6 but mostly on iMovie. It is approx 5min in length.

Willis

I shot this for Photonics West
 

I was hired to shoot several interviews down on the convention floor for different venders at the 2005 Photonics West Convention in San Jose CA. It was a one camera shoot. So I had the tallent go through the interview 3 times and got 3 different angles. I used a single Arri 650 and 2 wired lav mics. This is the best interview, in the other interviews the B roll was scarce. I should have shot more. I'm always surprised though when I see the final video...the xl-1 viewfinder is really sketchy.

http://spie.ndgo.net/exhibitcast/pw05/continuum/index.html

Bryan,
Looks good. Pretty utilitarian, but I'm guessing that is they are looking for - well lit, good sound, and the editing was generally seamless. Can I ask what lav mikes you used and if you like them...I'm in the market for some new (wired) ones and they sounded good.

-Robert

mics used
 

Thanks Robert,
Both of my mics I found on ebay. The mic on the interviewer was a sony ECM 66-B...the mic I used on the person being interviewed was a sony ECM-77B

Hello Dave and welcome aboard DVInfo.net!

For what it is I thought it looked good, professional. Artsy though,
but that was the whole point I assumed.

Very nice
 

I liked it quite a bit, especially for a first film! At first with the phone call I was a little worried, because it was reminiscent of the beer commercials with the "wazzzzzzup" but that's ok. I laughed really hard at the scene where he was getting his hair ready for bed, as well as getting into bed! Very nice. I really liked the mood shift as well. For the most part I was pleased with the night time lighting, except when the burglar is entering the house... it looks like dawn/dusk a little bit, again no biggy. Lastly I didn't like being able to see the strings attached to the main characters hair when he was frightened, perhaps fishing line would have worked better? The confrontation scene was also very funny. All in all I had a wonderful five minutes, thank you! Great work!

What would you change in this demo reel?
 

this is a demo reel I made awhile back for a doc that is still in production. I'm getting ready to rework it for more funding and would like any suggestions for changes

http://homepage.mac.com/koreaboy/iMovieTheater1.html

bests

Hi Tony, this is going to be a very powerfull documentry.
Here is some contructive critisism:

1. I would open up with an interview with one of the women. As it is now the trailer is a bit of mystery for the first third. By opening with an interview instead of the old footage it will make it seem more relevant to today and more personal. Maybe use the same scene as the ending but with a voice over of a woman.


2. I am interested if this documentry goes into the women getting an apology from the japanese government. If it does I would make that more clear.

great job/ noble subject/ style cheers,

Thanks for viewing the movie.

The scenes in the night time footage were actually shot during the day and with some canadian tire flood lights and we put the blue light effect in post-production (hence the use of Premiere 6).

The strings on the hair is something we struggled with as well, but at the time we shot it, we couldn't find any fishing wire, so we have since justified it by saying it adds to the cheesyness of the movie.

I am glad you laughed at all the right spots.

I finally got around to watching your movie (busy busy). I was a bit
lost on the story to tell the truth. I have no idea why the shooting
suddenly started. I also thought the beginning moved to slow and
some talking there could've been cut etc.

Some additional thoughts:

- it usually feels more natural if people are interrupted while talking (ie, the gun shot happens) instead of when a line is (just) finished (looks a bit staged)

- during the conversation at the card game you cross the line of action, which looks confusing

On the latter see the following thread for more info:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...threadid=38334

As Rob said, the 180' line was crossed in the scene right before the climax.

I'd like to hear the chip spinning on the floor at the end. That would add some dramatic atmosphere.

As for the story, I can't tell if the main character is trying to be a hero in the end or if he's just suicidal. Maybe it's like that ER episode from a few years ago where an intern or resident ended up dying on EL tracks, and it was left as an open question whether he jumped or was pushed.

thanks Rob,
It was my first project using my new vx2100 and magic bullet. I had been using a trv-17 for several years so it was hard to show restraint with my cam.
it is "artsy", but a lot less artsy than most of my work.

* * Bert Prentice Ceo - - Online Film Fest * *
 

DVi Community,

Hey Everyone,

Hope you are all well! "Bert Prentice, C.E.O." is in competition in Cinequest Online. Below is the link for our film, you can vote, review and watch the film there.

http://www.cinequestonline.org/2005/...view.php?m=429

Here is the page for the full online Viewer's Voice festival.

http://www.cinequestonline.org/2005/...wers_voice.php

Please send the link to all your friends as well, write a great review and vote "Bert Prentice, C.E.O." as best short film!!


Unfortunately for some crazy reason the festival could not get the films to play on Macs. Sorry for this inconvenience.


"Bert" will also be screening at the DC Independent Film Festival in March.

I will have exact dates and more details to pass on soon.

Enjoy the film and let me know what you think.

Thanks for your support.

Derrick

training supplement video for presentation
 

Here is a video that was for a multimedia presentation at my work, olive garden.... where I'm a waiter....

Anyway, some of it might not be totally clear but it is mildly entertaining.

http://3ffilms.com/html/films.htm Just click on the red word Training.

Nice little short...
 

Dude,

Pun intended.

Seriously. Goofy, cheesy but funny. Not bad for the equipment you had to work with. Is the music your own? BTW the interior night lighting looked like a TV had been left on as opposed to the moon shining in a window. Not complaining. Just observing.

I'm going to email my brother-in-law about your short. I think he'll like it and hopefully we'll be doing our own shorts soon.

FWIW, you are to my brother-in-law as I am to your friend except my brother-in-law has about 10 inches more hair than you and we're both about 10 years older...sigh. I wish I was younger.

Good job.

Oh, and please put some clothes on. Damn, I need some bleach for my eyes. ;-)

sincerely,

ian

Oppression.
 

Hey Everyone,

This is the first video I've ever posted on these forums. It's a "Public Service Announcement" for my youth group at church, because we are studying oppression and injustice in the world. We also have a funraiser campaign that we started about a year ago. You can check out the fundraiser here: http://www.cbcoc.org/oppression

The video is actually our attempt to immitate the style of James Woods' recent Stroke Awareness Shorts. They were shown on Larry King Live last week, and we were greatly impacted by them.

http://www.cbcoc.org/oppression/psa_1.wmv

I apologize for the low-quality compression, but we need to save bandwidth on our server. You know how it is...
I'd appreciate any input/comments/suggestions. Thanks!

Allen

Looked nice. Good feel to it.

What was it shot with?

Keep up the good work!

Yeah.

I don't know what to make of that. It was obviously filmed in that "camera glasses" spy sorta way so I can't critique it. I also can't tell which I would be more annoyed by: the waitress who didn't know jack or the really annoying waiter (IF I WANT A GLASS OF WINE I'LL ASK FOR IT PROFESSOR!).
I know the SIE though. That came across (in beautiful 10pt arial).

The sound design was really nice, but the voice was a little too low. You might try pumping it up. Really good, creative video work.
The semicircle lights in the bg were intriguing.

This was shot with a GL-2. It was a really spontaneous project that just popped up on us, so we quickly shot it.

Ian, Thanks for the tip about the voice being a little too low. We'll take that into consideration. I appreciate it.

LOL yeah I totally agree with you!! They make us say all that crap but most of us realize how obnoxious it is so we only do it when the manager is watching. Thanks for the feedback!

Joy Ride
 

Hello All,

This is my second attempt at a film. I'm learning by trial and error and would love to hear some honest critisism.

The film is a romantic tragedy and is meant to present a harsh view on the world.

http://zed.cbc.ca/go.ZeD?CONTENT_ID=218502&page=content

Thanks in advance.

Regards,

Geoff

One Last Kill
 

Hey, Guys...

I just put the website online for my next project. If you have a chance, would you drop by and take a look and let me know what you think?

It's at http://www.onelastkill.com

Thanks a lot!

-Rusty-

Not real big on using flash intros on sites.

But overall I guess its decent. Try adding some more info, maybe a blog for your progress on the film.

Do you have a trailor? That would probably be better than the flash intro.

Actually, I'm doing a little guerilla marketing, in that I'm creating the online presence in the guise of this being actual footage.

Of course, I realize that anyone with minimal sleuthing abilities can easily determine that it's a production, but I like this angle for the initial interest.

The website will grow to give more details about the "event," until the joke is finally over. Then I will turn the site into a real movie site, with information on the creation of the short, the production, etc.

We shoot the rest of the piece on April 9th. After that, the trailer and all the goodies will be posted.

Interesting movie. I enjoyed it.

Not much for her accent though.

Overall a good production though.

trailer for my new full length feature...
 

Wow.
 

Amazing work. The guy in the bear-head-thingy seemed ... so lost. Lost in a big place. A place with bushes.

Is it because he's going through an existential crisis of some kind? It's all so ... open to different interpretations. Does he shy from the new because he's afraid of life? Or it is that the furry hat blocks his peripheral vision?

You've obviously been studying Antonioni. I detect a healthy dose of Murnau's influence too, especially in the Pirate's sudden appearance. Why does he dance? Why do any of us dance, when death and destruction threaten the world on a daily basis?

I need to just take a moment and let this very subtle work sink in ...

There. Thanks. I'm better now.

Good movie, but I think the story was a little bit dry. Other than that, good editing, music matched well, but the other thing, the opening shot with you talking on the cell phone, that was one shot... and it lasted quite a while. You might want to do some different angles for that scene where it is just your mouth. Those are my 2 cents!

I thought it was funny! The only critique I would have is that the sound difference between cuts is noticeable/slightly distracting...
so different cuts of the same scene have different "noise." Perhaps you can use some low pass filtering to smooth it out...
But I liked it... acting was pretty good too!

Thanks guys for the comments.

I agree Swiss German speaking English leaves much to be desired. But Swiss German on its own has a Gaelic quality to it, as you might hear in the Scottish highlands, that I really like the sound of.

Regarding the film I was trying to evoke in the beginning that feeling that someone has when they have a strong crush on someone. When that person is saying "sure I'd like to go out with you but ..." you don't hear the "but ...". To everyone else it is obvious they are rejecting you. And I guess that is what I also saw in the film afterwards that it was obvious from the beginning what was happening.

I'm wondering if perhaps a video stutter on the positive statements of the girl might help emphasise what my character is hearing. But I realise it is difficult to make this story have a surprise ending.

Thanks again. I figure I need to work on the suspense elements in my stories a bit.

Once again I appreciate any comments as it is a learning experience for me.

Best Regards,

Geoff

First I would center the flash on the page. Second I would at least (!)
cut the time in half by speeding up the words (they are too slow)
and/or combine them so there are less "pages".

Also the design of the text etc. on the "more" page isn't that great
in my humble opinion.

Also it may be wise to add a skip button in the intro for if someone
has seen it already etc. etc.

p.s. it might be worth it to know how to craft HTML with hand or
get a better editor than Frontpage. For example, dump the larger
fonts on that "more" page and add something like:

<table width="100%"><tr><td width="10%">&nbsp;</td><td width="60%">
.... text ...
</td><td width="10%">&nbsp;</td></tr></table>

To line it out better in the center. You could then add a style
section to the head block of HTML to nicely justify the whole text:

<style>
p { TEXT-ALIGN: justify; }
</style>

Music Video I did for a contest...
 

I did this video for the yellowcard breathing music vid contest, I didnt make it in the top 5 because i didnt have enough votes. I am curious to hear what everyone here thinks about it.
http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2659341?htv=12

The main camera used is the optura xi w/ a bunch of accessories and for the "home video" footage I used a canon zr45

Nice music video. Put together nicely and fairly coherently.

Had a good proffessional feel too it.

Good work!


Plus anytime I see a girl with her lip and/or tounge peirced....oh god.... ;)