here's a direct link to the movie:

http://www.terraform.tv/videogallery/video/demo.mov

That's looky pretty nice! Those skateboarding scenes might
look a bit nicer with some good slowmotion (not too much)??

Other then that it looked nice!

Teaser? OK or Bad?
 

Hello friends.
I'd like to have some opinions about a teaser I made for
a upcoming DVD.

Comments, thoughts or "what ever" are most welcome.
I know this might not be your personal interest, but I'd like
to know how you recive it. Did you get interested in the DVD
and so on?

Mac version:http://www.fernbrant.com/saltomortalez%20-%20teaser.mov
PC version: http://www.fernbrant.com/saltomortalez%20-%20teaser.wmv
Bigger Mac/PC: http://www.fernbrant.com/saltomortalez%20-%20teaser.mpg

/Andreas

Hi Andreas, here's my initial impressions of the teaser before going to your website:

Overall very nice and smooth and it drew me in. It made me want to find out more about what those guys are doing. My impression is that this is a sport video for gymnasts, but I wasn't positive - it made me wonder if this might also be a documentary.

Notes:
Your branding was way too subtle for me:

- I kept wondering what the name of the DVD was if I wanted to look it up? It's not clear from the teaser.

- The website did not stick in my head during the 1st and 2nd viewings because I was busy watching the action.

- I missed the branding/info at the end because your jazzy music, which drew me in, stopped, and I thought the video was over. I only saw the ending credits the third time around because I was busy doing something else and let it play through.

- Personally I'd move the Atashami logo. Maybe to the very, very beginning or end of the teaser, or overlay it onto the opening tage line sequence so it's associated with your tag line. The reason is that the beginning sequences: WARNING, tag line, and guy on the beach all drew me toward the subject of the video but the Atashami logo is just eye candy it doesn't have anything to do with the subject of the video and feels out of place.

Once again though, very nicely done.

Get Goosed!
 

No... I'm not being naughty or trying to get anyone's hackles up. "Get Goosed!" despite what it may sound like, is the title of my family, feature film that premiered two weeks ago here in Colorado. It's about an elderly Native American man and his best friend, a Canada goose. The old man lives in a rest home and has pretty much given up on life until he meets the goose. The spark of life returns... he checks out of the rest home and buys a ranch, which he intends to share with his new friend. But a federal bureaucrat has different ideas and tries to confiscate the goose. In the end, the people of the old man's mountain community rally to his support... the bureaucrat gets goosed, and the old man rekindles his relationship with his son and granddaughter.

We had two scheduled performances. Both sold out, and we did a carry-over the following day (the house seats 350). We sold 180 VHS tapes and 80 DVDs at the premiere.

Two cable networks and two distributors are now talking with our Executive Producer. Things might happen.

Which is good, because I worked on it for three years... during which our human star suffered a stroke that nearly killed him (21 days into a 28 day schedule), and a malfeasant teenager killed our goose star. I also spent a lot of money learning some lessons the hard way about some editors' integrity. Everyone on the film, except me, has been paid (I wrote it, directed it and wound up finishing the editing). I'm ready for a paycheck. Top Ramen is really starting to suck.

I mention all this because the film is a hybrid. Most of it was shot on 16mm film; but about 1/3 (scenic and wildlife shots) of it was done with a Canon XL-1s in the frame movie mode with a 1/2 black promist filter. Except for one interior that wasn't lit well, I defy anyone to tell the difference. I'm really impressed with that little camera and what it can do... so was my son-in-law, whose father just happens to own Foto-Kem in Burbank. Michael (my son-in-law) said Foto-Kem is building a new facility just to do digital fimmaking postproduction.

I'm not saying film is dead. But as far as I'm concerned, it sure has been kicked in the...

Rally is here!
 

Rally Round The House had its world premiere last Monday. It airs daily on Discovery at 12 & 3 p.m. eastern. Occassionally, you will see the PDX10 at work with the families in their houses as they are held captive for 48 hours. You will see its POV and it being used from another POV.

In the earlier post a PD-150 was used for alternate footage for production purposes. After producing 2 shows this way, it was replaced with another D-35 Betacam so production footage would match better with the Digi-Beta camera. The PDX10 is still used for the family footage.

That was a nice story, thanks for sharing. Sounds like you are
a lot of experiences richer <g> now! So I assume the audience's
reaction was good as well? That must be a real good feeling when
so much interest is going on in something you worked so hard
and long for.

Any chance we can ever see some footage or a trailer online?

Good luck with the rest!

Well done Charles, it's good to hear that your 3 years of suffering dodgy ramen is starting to produce some goods.

Get Goosed
 

I'd like to post a trailer or clip somehwere, but I don't know how to do that and I have really slow dialup service, anyway. There are some production photos at http://www.centralcolorado.com/newcomb, however.

There are a few VHS and DVD copies of the film left at Pak Mail (719) 539-7085. I'm not getting anymore made once they're gone, because from what I'm told the distributor will bite that bullet from now on.

The thing I'm most proud of about this film is that I finished it. There were so many times I could have easily justified throwing my hands up and quitting, but I didn't. It isn't going to win any Oscars, but it's a nice little film and has some absolutely beautiful scenic footage in it.

charles...

i'd like to have a copy on DVD. Can I buy one by calling that number(pak-mail)?

Get Goosed
 

Bill:

Yes, you can call Pak Mail and they'll ship right from there. I spoke with them this morning and there were still some left.

Thanks!

Charles

nice
 

Charles,
Glad to hear that your story(s) turned out for the best.

I'm also hoping you make some money so you can reduce your sodium level via eating some real food <;~)

North of England anyone?
 

Hi all

If anyone's interested, some of my DV work can be seen on the Politics Show on BBC1 this Sunday, but only in the North.

The piece was shot in and around Blackpool at the Tory conference, using a PD150 and edited on a laptop in a grotty hotel room using Avid Xpress DV. Comments and criticism would be appreciated.

PS If anyone watched the news last night and saw someone sticking a PD150 in Iain Duncan Smith's face after his speech, that was me!

Cheers

Damian

Newcastle...home of "Brown Ale"...

Welcome to the boards, Damian. I had the pleasure of spending some time in your city. The old church ruins on the cliff make a wonderful setting for filmmaking. That was also the very first place I ever had "fish 'n chips" in a newspaper cone. Lots of good memories there.

Keep us posted on your future shoots with BBC1 (BBC2, BBC3, BBC4, BBC5, BBC6, BBC7, BBC ei-ya-ght).

Overall I enjoyed it. It definitley draws you in and makes you want to find out more. From watching that trailer, I would definitley be interested to see the movie, so...mission accomplished. Well shot and edited.

I agree with Michael's points. I had the same feelings, especially
about the music ending and the branding was too subtle. One
small thing, usually "1 st" is written as "1st" I think. Looked odd
with a space in there.

Atom films of I films
 

Hey every body I would like to pose a question, has anybody that YOU know every had their films shown on Atom films or I films or etc.

When i finish my short i was thinking about sending it to Atom films.



do you think this is a good idea?

AtomFilms.com, iFilm.com and TriggerStreet.com are all great places to get new audiences for your film that you otherwise wouldn't be able to reach. They're all very popular sites, and in addition to the attention you may get for your work, it can be a great networking opportunity with other filmmakers.

I would defintely start with Trigger Street. It took a few months, but we've received a ton of feedback on our recent short. And most of the reviews are coming from filmmakers, so they comment on all aspects of your film. It's also free.

I'm not sure if this is still the case with Atom or Ifilm, but I believe they have to choose your video, otherwise you pay a fee to have your movie online. Also, I find a lot of the comments on films at those sites are from trolls who will just say "this movie sucked" and other one-liners. At Triggerstreet you will get paragraphs of feedback and constructive criticism.

Hi Stacy,

One of my shorts has been on Atom films.

Check it out:

http://atomfilms.shockwave.com/af/co...rwars_prologue

I agree with Brad, if you are looking for constuctive critisism Triggerstreet is the way to go.

-Nori

Sunset
 

http://members.cox.net/numericatroph..._palm_tree.jpg

Just a frame grab I took here in las vegas during sunset. Thought It looked really good, so I wanted to share it. Wanted to know what others thought.

Thanks.

I imagine actually being there would have been beautiful. The colours look like they would have been amazing.

Composition wise, with video as with stills, avoid composing a subject, especially in this situation, directly in the middle of the frame. When you have an obvious subject in a shot you should use the rule of thirds, divide your shot into equal thirds along the vertical or horizontal axis and place your subject in either the left or right third. Take a look at any professional shots and you'll rarely see the subject in the center of the shot.

That is very much appreciated advice. I am really new at this, so any advice at all is very good to get. Thank you.

Since this was video, and I was panning around, I was able to get a shot with the tree in the left third of the picture. However, you could also see a lightpole in the picture. The original shot above, had no cg work, but in the new one, i removed the light pole.

Thanks for the advice.

After

Before

(now if only I had remembered to turn off interlacing :-p )

Thanks Again

Good job Bryan.

Can you see that with the tree off to the side it's more pleasing to the eye, you see more of the sunset than just seeing this big black tree.

Unfortunately, video camera still functions are still lacking, they're getting better but your still better off with a still camera for stills and a video camera for video. If only we had the cash for what we need ay?

* * Autobiography Of A Suicide/Breathing Shadow * *
 

Good Afternoon All!

I've been very busy, but I thought I would post a few RAW shots from a short that and an upcoming feature that I'm working on.

The boards have been a fabulous resource of technical knowledge and contacts.

I will let you know when the endeavors are completed in their final forms...

I hope you enjoy them. They are untouched, with exception of the shot of New York, which was desaturated, the contrast up slightly, gamma increased nominally.

All shot on the XL1S. AOAS - - Frame Mode(16:9) Breathing Shadow - - 60i/4:3

Let me know:

2002-2003 (AOAS - Copyright by Derrick Begin, LOC)

http://www.dpbegin.com/Gallery/AOASIntro.jpg
http://www.dpbegin.com/Gallery/AOAS-Signs.jpg

2003 (Breathing Shadow - Copyright by Derrick Begin, LOC/R. Crafford)

http://www.dpbegin.com/Gallery/StatueBS.jpg
http://www.dpbegin.com/Gallery/ShadowBoxBS2.jpg
http://www.dpbegin.com/Gallery/ShadowBS.jpg

Please comment... (The stairs, jaggies, in the photos will be taken care of at a later date.)

Cheers!

Derrick

Made them links to save the ctrl+c ctrl+v keys
 

2002-2003 (AOAS - Copyright by Derrick Begin, LOC)

http://www.dpbegin.com/Gallery/AOASIntro.jpg
http://www.dpbegin.com/Gallery/AOAS-Signs.jpg


2003 (Breathing Shadow - Copyright by Derrick Begin, LOC/R. Crafford)

http://www.dpbegin.com/Gallery/StatueBS.jpg
http://www.dpbegin.com/Gallery/ShadowBoxBS2.jpg
http://www.dpbegin.com/Gallery/ShadowBS.jpg


You have to add [url ] before and [/url ] afterwords (minus the space inside the brackets) for it to be linked, even though in the FAQ I believe it says it will do it automatically.

Cheers,
Huey

Thanks, Huey!

Cheers!

Nothing, huh?

Composition?

Use of lens flare as an effect?

Anything?

Action?

Well...

Hi Derrick,

The shots look very interesting and moody, but what kind of feedback do you want based on a couple of screenshots? To me they are as mysterious/unclear as the rest of your website.

Anyone else?

Peter

Peter,

Your input is appreciated. Both of the pieces are very moody and I will intentionally deepen shadows to strengthen their look.

Your right. Posting photographic images does not represent the story in it's world and omits the motion picture aspect from the photo. I will post some rolling images in a short period of time which these images are a part of. (I lack the speed at the moment to upload *.mov)

However, I am looking for a person(s) who have a strong still photography background and/or cinematography background to possibly point out things that I can learn from. Or some suggestions... If you have seen or/ one of the photo reminds you of something or someone, artist, photographer, style, or other, please point me at the artist...

FYI - -

"Autobiography of a Suicide" was first introduced to this board a year ago based on improvisation and a poem. Experimental.

"Breathing Shadow" is a feature which I am working on, as cinematographer/dp, right now. E. Munch, the color palate he uses, and his paintings are being worked into the production.

My website is currently in conversion. The site is geared toward my professional acting career, as of the moment. Its being changed.

Cheers!

Thanks!

Here are some more:

http://www.dpbegin.com/Gallery/AOAS-Sid.jpg
http://www.dpbegin.com/Gallery/AOAS-Jen.jpg

I really like the first shot, the AOASintro. Great colours, and you've got a strong foreground and background.

My second favourite would have to be StatueBS, that's a really epic shot. It reminds me of something out of Shakespeare.. I'd love to see this in motion, with the birds flying every which way!

The second AOAS shot (with the silhouette against the window) is interesting, but I would like to see a bit more light on the figure. Maybe a strong key light from the same side as the window, just to bring out the features a bit more.

Alex,

That shot of the statue with the birds flying was an opportunity I took. I had it story boarded, but the pigeons was an added bonus. (Just before the pigeons launch, the main character steals and a chase ensues through Central Park.) I asked the director to follow me over to the statue, after setting up and locking the shot, I had him jostle the pigeons softly. I've got some great sounds of the birds in flight as they rush off the statue. I'll clip some off of the sequence and post it.

Yes, the figure infront of the window. I see what you mean by keying high from the window. Maybe even a slight hair light fill also... I am working on getting a light kit (I need to paint).

That first shot, AOASIntro, is the opening shot.

AOAS is giving me problems on the editing side. Sound issues and lack of perserverance that I now have. Because it has been so long, I am in the process of just cutting it together and leaving it as it is. Linking together all the pieces is and shall remain the obstacle with this experimental short.

Cheers!

Well, by JUST looking at the photos, they seem very blocky, as if they were de-interlaced. Other than that, the pics look good, but it's kind of hard to say how they fit the mood of your final project until I can see them in motion.

Ted,

I am exporting from Avid Express DV, Single Field. That may be what is causing the blocks. In addition to my, reducing the quality so that the images weren't large.

The footage has not been de-interlaced at all. Post production houses told me that if converting the feature, "Breathing Shadow" to 35mm film, they would use their own log to deinterlace the footage on their end.

I will make a separate version for television 1.85 letterboxed.

OK.

I'll post some moving images sometime this weekend.

Cheers!

Thanks for your input.

WeeklyDV.com
 

WeeklyDV

This is a site run by a guy named Jason Zada called WeeklyDV. He had it going for awhile last year and earlier this year, and then his wife had a baby and it stopped. But it's back starting this week.

The idea is there is a topic posted and you have a week to create a 4 minute or so short. They are all submitted by midnite (EST) Wednesday of each week. And then everyone gets a chance to view them. This week the challenge is to use a piece of music he created in Soundtrack as the BG music for your video.

More info on the About page, and Rules are on the Submit page (down the page a bit on the right hand side).

Check it out - it might get your creative juices flowing. There are a lot of good videos that were created the first time he did this, and I look forward to many more.

Sounds like the reason for the blockiness. I'm sure it looks much better when viewed full frame instead of single field. :)

Interesting idea! I'll definitely be checking this out.

do you post on the r1-forum?

i've seen this link posted there before, and possibly elsewhere (lurk so many places at times it's hard to remember)

Hi Adam,

Yes, I think either myself or the shop owner has posted this video or a link to it on the R1 forum or Hayabusa.org site...it was done with a cheap Palmcorder as it was all i had on hand at that moment and sadly it was sold the day after for $28,000 to a fellow in Georgia who had seen pictures on our site.

(Thanks Andreas for the compliments- see our main site www.bronxpowersports.com for new projects- we are in preliminary talks with the Discovery Channel about doing a regular series on the work we do- but right now everything is tight lipped and it's too early to know what's gonna happen for sure- but we have our fingers crossed!!!)

What a GREAT idea!

The music is good too! but can I chop it up and use it in different parts of the movie, or does it have to be played all in one shot?

I cant play this week but maybe next week.