Film - This is Me
 

This is Me – A very personal project, inspired by real events in my life played out by London actors Anna Keeble and Stanislas Torikian. Shot in 7 hours at a frantic pace but helped by advanced planning, script, and storyboard and brought in just over budget. My thanks to everyone’s help and support during this time.

Shot entirely on location in London in a boutique hotel Suite on Sony XDCAM HD. In association with the Philip Bloom film festival, my thanks to him for his support in making this short film and his tireless efforts for all film makers everywhere.

Let me know you feedback and comments

Can be found at

http://www.londonmarkfilms.co.uk/
under the films section

or

http://www.vimeo.com/1501835

Blood and music - My HD reel
 

Hi everyone, and thanks for a great forum on all things HVX/EX1

Thought it would be cool to get some feedback on my recent work. Ive uploaded everything to my website www.hkarlsen.no/eng, but my reel is also avaliable on http://vimeo.com/1112698

A recent musicvideo I shot with HVX200/mini35/Zeiss primes has just been released at C+C records. Im not sure if this is the final grade, so I have not posted it at my site yet. Ill keep you posted. Here it is http://www.ccrecords.com/hmk/fantasy.mov

In may, I spent a month shooting a crazy actionpilot, handheld with up to 3 EX1 in action. I DPed it, and shot it on EX1 (standard lens) with an Easyrig. Warning: This trailer is a very rough cut, no cc and very poor audio. I might post a workblog on this, because we have very talented people onboard for grading, fx and music. This was made only days after we finished principal shooting, during one night. Turn up the volume!!! http://www.hkarlsen.no/actiontrailer_rough.mov

On another note, the pilot is shot using Bill Ravens and the other guys Picture Profile, found here http://dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=110902&page=16

Im interested in pursuing job opportunities in the US. Do you think thats possible with this reel, and if so, does anyone has any tips on where and how to start?

Thanks again guys!
Regards
Håvar
www.hkarlsen.no/eng
havar.karlsen@gmail.com

Hi Howard, I just downloaded the EX1 trailer and was very very suprised at how well you managed to pull it off with only the stock lens and no CC. The action is spot on, the editing is well paced and the effects and stunts are very well executed. I really like how you made use of different focal lengths to simulate different lenses, it worked really well and most of all it jus stands out as a very professional trailer, one which if i saw anywhere i think i'd be intrigued. Well done.

PS. Do you mind giving a low down on any useful technical setups you had during the shoot, i.e. lighting, camera setups etc Thanks

Hi Daniel!

Thanks for great feedback! I cant take much credit for edit, my director Morten Sommerland did this over one night. Together we had before this produced commercials and videos with much higher budget then what we had for this, and now we had much higher ambitions. Theres not of lot of action work beeing done in Norway, since its probably beeing regarded as to expensive/commercialized and the true "artists" stay away from it. Ofcourse, they dont know what they are talking about...

Therefore its actually pretty easy to get people onboard for lower rates, sinces its a chance for them to show more of what they can. Our stuntguy, Tyrone Wiggins, has worked on Bad Boys 2, but mostly stunt coordination here in Norway. He plays a central bodyguard role in this film, and creates some amazing carscenes. Together with his companion Kai, both professional stuntmen working in Norway, we got great footage, coordination work and fx on set.

With Morten, the director, I talked alot about finding a common ground with regards to look and coverage. And it wasnt easy. As ambitions raised, the budget for light and grip lowered (actors/fx fee to the most of it). So, after a while I understood that I was left with a basic lightpackage (3x200 fresnell 3x800 redheads 1x 4bars kinoflo), a focusdollie and an Easyrig. But it is amazing what decent grip equipment can do (Magic arms!!) We also had a smokemachine and a big reflector (which we rarely used). Im really inspired by the framing and timing of "24", and Morten is really into fighting coreography and coverage from the "Bourne" films, and I believe that we ended up somewhere in between, also adding some of our own flavour.

Close close close! Thats the keyword for this. Laying on a long lens, even in totals and mediums is what Morten wanted and I adapted as a style throughout. It gives ofcourse low DoF, but it hardens the operator-job. Luckily, our brand new EX1 has a VERY nice focus highlighting feature, enabling me to know if I nailed it straight away. The easyrig enabled also to perform better on closeup actionframing..

I should perhaps go deeper into what we did sometime soon. Theres a ton of BTS pictures, and we did use some custom equipment (handheld shoot from the back of a griptruck). As I mentioned, this film is going to have a completley new look and feel than in the trailer. Were getting tons of goodwill from fx-houses and composers in Norway, so this is going to be cool. Stay tuned here and on www.hkarlsen.no/eng

Music Video + Shoe Review
 

Here are two of my most recent pieces. Both were pretty much made just for fun, all natural lighting.

"We Had A Good Run While It Lasted" Music Video for Alex Parker

http://www.vimeo.com/1328818

I made this video for my friend Alex, it was very impromptu as I was using the shoot to learn how to use the new sony HD1000 i picked up. Edited very quickly as well in FCP, and I bumped the colors up a bit.


"Jug Shoe Review With Hawke Trackler"

http://www.vimeo.com/1470849

This video was just for fun and made for the shoe company, my friend is reviewing the Chris Haffey Pro Shoe for Juggernaut Shoes. Shot with the sony V1U and edited in FCP.

It was great, you really seem to have the documentary style down nicely. I'm not the type to watch bodybuilding competitions on TV, but with the way your were telling the story, I was disappointed when it ended. That's how you know you succeeded.

Great! I feel like I am on the right track now. I will continue. Thanks for your help.

not black swans
 

http://www.vimeo.com/1158931

This is a short entitled 'Prick' (it shows as black swans due to vimeo uploading problems)

It's a rough cut and I don't really like it but before I redo it myself I thought I'd get a few opinions.

Notes:
the audio levels need fixing and there is some repetition, also we need to sync more with facial expressions.
The end is not really an end at all - she's supposed to pause in the hallway say "Prick" again.

it took 4 packs of chocolate biscuits and I can't even look at them now

shot with the XH-A1 and LEx

Flash lightning in slomotion. PAL DV
 

Hi! I had luck when i pointed my camera at some dark clouds. Some impressive flashes happened. I have slowed the video down from 25p /sec to 1p/sec.

It is encoded as ogg theora, because that is the only format allowed on wikipedia commons.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Im...slowmotion.ogg

You can use it for whatever you want. I release it into the public domain.

greets
Stefan

com'on guys - 77 reads, 24 have watched the short and not ONE comment?

If it's that bad fine, just let me know what needs changing?

Hi Paul. What i thought worked well were the camera moves, the story (i like how the documentary commentary kind of ties in to the emotion of the film) and the comedy, it's so hard to make people laugh but i think you managed to do that no problem. What didnt really work for me was the pace, i felt as if i was waiting for a climax that never really came and so it left me expecting a big finish or punch line. Anyway theyre just my personal opinions, i really do like the concept and i think with a bit more attention to pace and maybe throw in some sort of punchline or climax this would be a winner for me. Congrats on getting it complete, must have taken some work :)

Pacing on this kind of thing can be difficult to manage, although the pacing may have a lot to do with setting the mood.

Paul, just a few suggestions on the audio for similar projects. The tv soundtrack overpowered the dialog for the most part. I try to get a mic in close to the actors, not always having a boompole person I usually use a sturdy lightstand with a boom attached and suspend the mic over and just in front of the actors, keeping it just out of view (and I learned the hard way you can't count on the viewfinder or LCD to show you this due to "overscan"). So a quick "test" shot played back on a laptop may be required. Shooting AVCHD on flash memory makes this a tad easier as one can just pull the media card out and run the file with a software player.

The background audio (tv documentary soundtrack) can be brought in and synched as a separate audio track and the level brought down as needed until the dialogue dominates.

Just my ideas.

The camera work and acting seemed to work well.

The Bloodstained Moth
 

Hi,

I have used some elements of one of my posts awhile ago, "A Blade for the Dead", for a 2 minute short, entitled "The Bloodstained Moth". This was for a competition on the Horror Channel, which restricted the running time to 2 minutes. As such, the plot was revised, which completely changed the tone, and required some additional filming.

Anyway, I hope you like this new reconstituted version.

Stream:The Bloodstained Moth on Vimeo

Download:Free file hosting by Savefile.com

Great film Mark! I love that you managed to pack a lot into just two minutes. I really liked the lighting (especially in the bedroom) and the sound was awesome too - good luck with the competition!

Canyon Pathway
 

I put together a short video montage with some footage I've been filming down in a small canyon not far from where I live. The canyon itself contains a trail that leads down to the beach and this short video reveals the scenery one sees from within the canyon.
Shot with a Canon XH-A1
Carrotkid Films - Canyon Pathway

Spooky Promo
 

Ok - plucked up the courage and posted my first 'short'!

A friend of mine asked me to put together a short promo for his company at short notice, so I had to utilise footage I've collected over the past view years from various locations. We didn't want to scare clients so I went for a more mysterious tone.

The colour and B/W footage is shot with my XM2 and VX2000 (still can't decide on my favourite!), and the IR shots on Sony single CCD cameras. Because of the nature of the work a lot of shots have to be handheld, and lighting is, er, what I can carry!

Just over 3MB .WMV

Constructive feedback appreciated!

Short promo

update
 

After the awards last week this film won best acting and best writing. It finished 2nd out of 36 teams.

Trailer for my Documentary "Inside the Indie"
 

Congrats on the awards Jeremy, that's great! Just checked out the film and thought it was awesome - hard to believe you managed to put all that together in just 2 days!!! That is talent indeed. It had a very polished look to it and kept my interest throughout.

Say, what mic did you use to record the audio? I'll be in the market to buy a new mic soon and I really like the sound in this film.

We used a Shure boom mic. I don't know what model though sorry. It was about 3 inches out of frame at a 45 degree angle. We ran it to a mixer than out of the mixer into the camera.

The Watermelon just got accepted into the San Diego Film Fest.
 

I'm happy and excited. The writer, the executive producer and the lead actor are all from San Diego so I decided that it might be good to submit and hit the road locally. Anyway, here's a trailer for those of you who haven't seen it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAcG9qtYN48

McCainiac 08 - Stephen Colbert Green Screen Challenge
 

Hey Everybody,

Here's a short, 1:45 video I created for Stephen Colbert's "Make McCain Interesting" Green-screen challenge!

Recorded with Canon XH-A1

Edited in Final Cut Pro

Composites created in Motion3

Credits in Vid

Let me know what you think! It was a decent amount of hard work :-)

Thanks,

John


McCainiac 08 on Vimeo *Vimeo*

YouTube - McCainiac 08 *YouTube*

My First Music Video
 

Started this 9 months ago... my first baby, I suppose...

The Beauvilles - Snow

Looks interesting indeed - when do you plan to have the film complete?

Wow, nice work. Footage quality was excellent, nice shots, smooth camera movements. I liked the ambient sound as well - very clean track.

Thanks for the reply! I hope to have it finished sometime in November.

A Door in Between
 

This is a short film I made this summer with the help of a few friends.

"A young couple can't seem to find the right words to say to each other."

High Quality available:
YouTube - A Door in Between

DVX100A - 4:02

Feedback is appreciated. :)

very nicly done. I like the concept you were getting at with the first date. I think we all can relate to that. well quality is very nice and the audio sounded good. shot selection was okay. i think you could hVE DONE little better with a few shots like the one with her leaving the bathroom. i think you stayed with it a little to long. and maybe the last shot of them driving way. would have liked to see them get into the car. maybe show him opening the door for her being even more of a gentleman since he got the rose for her..

But overall very good short film i liked it

i like the shots. looks like it going to be an intresting film. is it done yet

"The Scribe Catches Up"
 

Just a bit of gentle fun for a client. The brief was to make a promo for a piece of scanner software - not the most interesting of subjects. Well, you can't say we didn't try!

http://www.videoit.uk.com/client_vid...final_v500.wmv. Around 10Mb in WMV. V Lo res!

Canon XL2. Sony Vegas to edit. Cakewalk Sonar for music and some foley.

I liked it. The tracking shot was my favorite. I like the two different color schemes, whether it was on purpose or not. I know you probably hated the wind conditions, but it also added a sort of human nature effect. I agree with the bathroom opinion, but that's not a major issue. The sound was good except for outside, but it wasn't a big deal. I like the concept a lot. great job

CME

Thanks Derrick - this was just various shots I've collected over the years ... have a couple of projects completed and in the pipeline ...

Thanks for the comments. I didn't get anywhere in the competition which was a real disappointment. But I'm very happy with the quality and tone I achieved.

My First Music video
 

some background: former TV news anchor/reporter now working in government video, most of what I do is training, education, PR type stuff with the occasional documentary thrown in.

I recently contributed a sax part to a Canadian artist's song called "I'm that Man." We bouth thought it was ripe for a video, and he wanted to enter it into a contest, so I found a bit of time. Since he is in Ontario and I'm in NJ, I gave him ideas of what to shoot ( I have no idea what he used but a consumer mini dv camcorder) He sent me the tape, I found some public domain footage, shot a bit myself and dug into my archives for a few shots. I put it all together in Vegas 6, with one tweak in Aftereffects 5.5. It's up on youtube.

I'm That Man

um wow, the quality is greeaat. It's not very different, but hey why would it have to be? I liked it a lot, the soldiers playing the tamborine were off just a tad, but other than that it was very professional looking, sure this is your first one?

Yep, enjoyed that.

Particularly liked:
- the set up at the very start ('any last words' - nice touch)
- the authentic look (costumes, locations)
- the shooting segment - very nicely done
- the cinematography - some great shots and movement

Not so keen on:
- the tambourine playing soldiers (immediately removed their menacing quality, for me anyway), likewise the toe tapping.
- the sub plot with the girl etc didn't quite make sense for me - I expect I need to watch it again to fully get the story.

I would have:
- perhaps put a dialogue scene in during the middle eight - like when the case is being delivered to the man behind the desk - some menacing words then would have been great. I really love dialogue like that in a music video.
- considered using an old film stock look that would better position the piece in the 1960's Soviet Union. (or whenever/wherever it was supposed to be set!). You know, that desaturated cine film look that you see on clips of nuclear missiles being moved around Russia during the cold war - or the famous old yeti clips! Nothing wrong with the look you applied to your film, just observing what I might have done differently.
- I always think out of focus works well to increase the menace appeal of a person or people - I would have kept the firing squad out of focus every time (with the exception of the captain, perhaps).

Anyway, regardless of all the above (which are all subjective observations and not criticisms as such), I enjoyed it and will watch it again. I'm guessing that while this may be your first music video, this probably isn't your first time making a film?

Care to share some 'making of' info - which camera, NLE, size of crew, special kit you used etc etc?

Cheers,

Ian . . .

Lighting, sound, cinematography - all great. Nice and creepy. Didn't quite follow who did what to whom and why but who cares? It was still effective!

What NLE did you use?

Thanks!
This is the first music video I've directed. The band and I came up with the concept.

Tambourines and toe tapping were the band's idea... to let people know they don't take themselves too serious. The people playing the soldiers pretty much had no rhythm, which the band and I thought was hilarious. We shot that and the toe-tapping a few times. I figured since we thought the poor rhythm was funny, then we'd found what we were looking for - a little levity.

The last shot tends to be missed in the compression... but the blood soaks into the shirt, forming a broken heart... then a solid heart (lyrics "...nothing worse than a broken heart"...). I went for subtle, dark humor there.

The structure of the story is broken up so that all three "climaxes" of a larger story happen around the same time in the video.
Chronological order:
1. Guy and girl (spies?) running through forest with bag (full of secret documents?).
2. They are chased by soldiers.
3. They are caught by the soldiers.
4. They end up in a cell with the rest of the band. No one is in any serious trouble yet (they're given a couple of bottles of "Russian Whisky" - heh), they were just in the wrong place or something.
5. The bag is dumped out on the Commander's desk and he finds the secret documents.
6. The Lieutenant shows up at the cell with one of the secret documents. He orders the guards to get the girl out of the cell. Then all hell breaks loose.
7. The band, now kind of beat up, faces the firing squad...

- We talked about putting dialogue and other sounds in during the music, but decided it would distract from the music (the whole point of the project).

- I actually have a shot of the tambourines in the background, out of focus, from behind the lead singer as he's playing/singing. But we decided not to use it (the section in the video where the shot synced up would've thrown off the pacing of the video).

- As for the look of the video, I was aiming for a slightly warmer version of the look from the movie Behind Enemy Lines.

BTS:
- The firing squad scene was shot in a recently burned-down building in Tampa's historic district, Ybor City
- The jail scene was shot at the old trolley barn just down the street in Ybor
- The snow scenes were shot in Vermont/New Hampshire, in the area around Dartmouth
- HVX200 w/ Brevis35, Nikon primes
- Spider dolly/flextrak for jail; Matthews dolly/fixed track for firing squad scene
- Edited with Final Cut
- 11 man crew for the firing squad sequence
- 3 man crew for the pickups at that location
- 3 man crew for the jail sequence
- 1 man crew for Vermont

Thank you very much for taking the time to watch my film. I agree with your comments - the one thing I regretted most was the ending and how the boy wasn't as well mannered as he had been the rest of the film. Another shot of the car would have helped as well. All I had access to during the shoot was a shotgun microphone so the audio didn't stand much of a chance outdoors.

Thanks again :)