As with most things Star Wars related, I simply get an overwhelming urge to look and it has to be said that I was pleasantly suprised. I'm not convinced by the western music, for the want of a better description, but the rest of it looks promising.

i really enjoyed that, looks very well produced. I would have liked to have seen less text in the begining though but other than that i thought it was excellent.

I really enjoyed that, the quality was very nice too. Bloodtsianed moth is still my fav tho :p I wish i heard about this horror competition, sounds like fun. Was it just a one off do you know?

Hi Mark,

I really enjoyed that, and I can see what you were getting at when you said that you didn't spend as much time on it.

In my very humble opinion, it would be even better if you did the following:

- Loose or change the 'shine' type effect. It looks bad, and devalues all the hard work you've put in, and the obvious talent that you have.

- Spend a bit more time on the skin displacement. It's looking good, but I honestly think YOU can make it better. You done a great job on the end effects in Bloodstained Moth, and are more than capable of doing it.

- Eye replacement at the end would seal the deal. From how you shot the piece, I certainly was expecting it and was suprised when it didn't happen.

These are only my suggestions, but I seriously think they would enhance a good piece of work.

cheers,

James.

Need opinion on commercial
 

Well we typically stick with real estate tours but one of our clients needed a commercial shot (very low budget) and I had the time, let me know what you think.

http://videomemoriesinc.com/kriegel/...20edit%201.wmv

Just looked at the wmv myself and I noticed my voice at the end is out of sync, I will look over that, it also doesn't look as smooth as the original. Hopefully a web thing.

Comments on the shoot would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Todd

I thought the video was a good, I've watched a lot of your videos and have seen you progress. How did you get the letters to swing like that, very cool effect. Keep it up!

Hurricane Gustav damage
 

Hurricane Gustav Aftermath on Vimeo

Nothing special or fancy here. Just a collage of damage footage shot on a Canon HF100. Shot it on the lowest setting and used just a B&W and brightness/contrast effect on it in Vegas. Very simple.

This was more about getting footage of it rather than making something really spectacular.

I was just there last week shooting a doc on the aftermath. Spent a couple days on location in Baton Rouge. I can't share the work because I don't have the rights to it. In one shot, I have a traffic light dangling a few feet off the ground.. twisting in the wind.. with the red light flashing.

-gb-

The radio station WJBO was really all we had to get info. Phones and power were out, along with the net of course. We got hit exceptionally hard and it's the worst I've ever been through. Worst our area has had.

President Bush was landing at the Baton Rouge Metro airport when I was waiting in line for 6 hours to get MREs from the national guard equipped with fully-automatic machine guns.

Sounds fun, eh? =/


Let's hope you won't have to come back for Ike :|

Thanks for all the comments. I’m really pleased you enjoyed it.

Daniel, this is the second year of the competition. The first was two years ago. The organisers have stated that there will be another.

James, thank you for all your points. They are all on the money and I completely agree. In particular, I intended to add some special fx to the eyes but I ran out of time. Maybe now the deadline has passed I will work on the fx.

Nicely done.
 

I agree that the sci-fi theme stopped kind of suddenly. But you definitely have an eye for shots. And nice work with the letters, I assume done in After Effects.

I thought generally it was very good, however there were a few things i would change if I could. The first thing is the opening shot of the bar where u zoom out from the tv to the bar, i feel it ends to abruptly which ruins an otherwise nice looking shot. I'm not quite sure but i think i see the brightness changing on the shot of the live performances which isn't major but it is noticible. But on a whole i think you captured the life of the bar very well and i like the variety in shots to match the description, i know you've mentioned the audio out of sync so i'm sure you'l sort that but again i think if you tightened up some of those shots you'd have agreat looking ad. I genuinly enjoyed viewing it.

I'd reverse the zooms out from the sign and from the television so that they read as zooms in. I'd avoid mixing the crane downwards shot with the two pans.Just pans will do.
Hire a food stylist or study some TVC's. The food probably tastes great but it looks very amateurishly styled. Finally, even though natural & ambient light are nice to be in, for a TVC it helps to help nature a bit. Some rim lights here and there would have added a bit of sparkle to otherwise rather flat looking shots. Also, I try to shoot for mood. Rarely between the hours of 10AM and 2PM for outdoors stuff.

Thanks for the input it is much appreciated

Thanks Lori, glad you liked it.

Thanks for the replies.

Daniel I agree with both of those items, I change the zoom out from the tv to have a definite ending. Also I inserted another clip where the brightness wasn't changing on the band. Thank you for the feedback!

Paul thank you also for the feedback. I reversed the sign shot so that it would zoom in as the name is said. I realize a food stylist would be great, but for the price I was paid ($350) I probably could not even afford to talk to a stylist on the phone. And to boot the owner wasn't making anything special for the commercial; everything was shot before it left the kitchen. Yes I am serious, as food was ordered that night it was brought out to the counter and I filmed it before it went to the table.

That night no one ordered a burrito while I was there so the kitchen made one for me, after I was done with my shot I saw the cook take the burrito apart and put the rice back with the rice and shell back in the container.

I agree the outside shot could have looked better, it was later in the day around 7:00-7:30 but it was a dreary day with no clouds or bright blue skies.

I had my tota light set with me that night and used it for all the shots, any idea on how to get the shot to not look so dull? Maybe I need to look over in post, or maybe I am approaching the limits of the gl2?

Here is the updated version:
http://videomemoriesinc.com/kriegel/edit2.wmv

Thanks all,
Todd

I don't do commercials, but I liked it a lot. Considering as you say, "low budget", I thought It was great.

My Reel for 2008 (oppioonss please )
 

Its posted below. I know its kinda long but I dont care ;)

Giuseppe Palumbo Reel 2008 on Vimeo

I'm not sure whether it's about the shooting or the editing.
 

The editing is snazzy in some ways, but you aren't giving me anything to sink my teeth into. since I don't know what you do, it's hard to tell if you can tell a story from that reel. The images collide beautifully, but I don't know where they go and they aren't enigmatic enough to hold my attention as it is.

I think I see technical skill, and certainly some artistry, but I don't see storytelling skills. And I think focusing on communicating your ability to tell a story, might enhance our perception of your technical skills.

For what it's worth.

you couldntve said it better :)

I liked it very much too, nice colours and overall cinematography.

"FALLOUT" new short from the Diary of the Dead Short Film Contest Winners
 

Please check out our latest film FALLOUT. From the GRAND PRIZE WINNERS of The Weinstein Company’s/George Romero’s “Diary of the Dead” DVD film competition comes our latest film, FALLOUT.

Director Paul Del Vecchio's Blog: Horror-Movies.ca Article on FALLOUT!


Click on the link for information and CLICK ON THE THUMBS UP TO VOTE:


Thanks for the support!

My first "crime" with the Jvc HD200
 

Hello,

I've got this cam around one month ago, and until now was making tests. This is finally something "complete".

The idea was to make a really quick cake recipe, and make it look dinamic. There are issues with the focus on some shots, and maybe some weird movements, but hey, it's my first work...

Beside all the errors, I hope you like it!

Fast.Breakfest on Vimeo

All comments are welcome!

Jordi.

Agree with pretty much everything said already - overall good for low budget (I know how that goes!). My main critical comments would be:

- the food presentation was very uninviting. It was lit fine but tinfoil and plastic sauce pots look kinda cheap and nasty. To be honest, it was the initial pizza and sandwich shot that looked extremely weak to me and that made me want to find fault in the other shots! (Sorry!!).

- personally I like quiet bars, but this place looked almost morgue-quiet - especially the early shots - the garden was empty and the pan from 0.02 to 0.04 only had a few clients in shot. As the v/o is describing the unique atmosphere at that point it kinda suggests 'unique' = 'empty'. I think the issue was shooting during the day - I appreciate you can't always control these things but if it were me I would have looked to shoot at night. A bit of ambient bar noise foley (glasses clinking, laughter etc) would also lift the atmosphere somewhat.

But again, overall impression was good for a low budget commercial.

Updated version
 

http://www.videoit.uk.com/client_vid..._v502avnet.wmv

This is a slightly updated version that is being used in the UK (the other version is for the US and Canada). There are a couple of other improvements, mainly timing, colour and foley corrections.

Would welcome some criticism! One comment that a couple of people have made is that the 'white office' section is a little too long. I fully agree. Client decision I'm afraid. I managed to cut 70 seconds from the original version, after much debate, but they wouldn't agree to further cuts. Hey ho, I got paid . . .

Advice/Comment about Promotional Video for College Kids Camp
 

Hey all,

I recently produced/filmed/edited a 10 minute Promotional Video for this UCLA kids camp that I volunteer for every year, using a Canon XH-A1, Rode NTG-2 microphone and edited on Final Cut Pro. The target audience are potential donors (from college students, families, to corporate sponsors)

My big problem is this: The people I would generally ask to give me constructive feedback are actually a part of this organization, so it's difficult to be objective about it having gone through this experience.

The main areas I feel I need to develop include the pacing, the ability to convey the themes clearly to an audience with no prior understanding of the camp, and overlaying of general footage over the interviews.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated, from detailed comments to high-level thoughts. This is an extremely important organization to me and the people involved with it, so I want to do whatever I can to portray this camp as accurately as possible.

Here's the link: Promotional Video : 9/14/08 edit on Vimeo

Thanks so much!

Randy, it's nicely done.

I would have approached the opening a bit differently. I mean, there are many ways you can do this, and everyone will have their own approach.
I always want to grab the viewer in the first few seconds. get their attention, then hold it.

I might have started with the closeup of the stream and the nat sot, then clashed that with a downtown shot of noisy traffic, and done that for a couple of quick shots, then gone back to the serene woods and use the soundbite about "it's so quiet here, you can hear the river..." and gone into it from that perspective.

I think the interviews are woven together nicely, I might leave a bit more space and nat sot in between some of them. One interview says something about the campers having fun, but the shot is a large group of them standing around. I would replace that shot with something that matches the voice a bit better.

Beautifully shot, I think you have captured the serene, natural area perfectly. I have a meeting so I have only been able to watch about half of it. will watch the rest later.

Thanks Bill! I agree about leaving more space in between some of the interviews. Let me know your thoughts on the rest of it. I'm interested in getting as much feedback as possible.

Nothing? I'll like some comments, even if they're bad.... :_

Too many calories. I enjoyed it, but it made me hungry. :)

Enter the Trojan Horse
 

Here's a little short film I made originally for the Chiller Channel's Dare2Direct contest. Let me know what you think. Shot with a Canon HV20 with no adapters (and no budget) and soundtracked by myself using Finale 2008's Native Instruments.

Movie Teaser - Vimeo 720p less than a minute


Enter the Trojan Horse - Vimeo 720p 11m07s

Okay Froyo..;)

I got to watch the rest. You got a lot of great soundbites, maybe too many. I know we all want to keep all the good stuff, but sometimes there might just be too much good stuff. LOL, so take a good hard look at that and be ruthless in the edit.

Heard a good deal about what the camp means to the counselors, the warm fuzzies they get, but what's missing?

The kids. What does it mean to the kids? Now I realize this is all in the can, but one of the best ways to illustrate a point is to profile someone affected by what you are talking about. I wanted to hear from the kids. I wanted to hear them laugh. I heard talk about laughter but didn't hear it, except for one short bit of sound mixed way down under an interview. I know the one counselor said they dont have any empirical data etc, but did any of those counselors go thru the camp when they were younger, was anyone on staff a former participant? I want to hear from them. Those that have experinced the camp and what it meant to them.

Those are my thoughts.

Hey Bill, thanks for your comments on this. I agree with you on many of the points you brought up. The amount of soundbites was also a concern for me and I will definitely take a hard look to cut them down since it’s probably the right approach.

Regarding the inclusion of kid interviews, I luckily DID interview a good amount of kids in the same style as you see the counselors being interviewed. I found it difficult to find a point where I could cut to interviews with the kids, but I’ll admit I gave up a little too early on that portion and just kind of stuck with this style. I’m definitely going to take another look at that tonight.

Thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it.

If anyone else has any advice, please let me know!

Well, I'd like to watch the film. The trailer is intriguing.

But you have the film password protected.

I don't have the password.

(Sigh)

I liked it...well paced (although I thought the first scene lasted a bit too long), well timed edits, nice shots. Told the story of making a nice breakfast, quickly. About the only thing I think would make it a bit better is work on the exposure. Some of the scenes were over exposed and that also contributes to focus issues. Aside from those two things, very well done!

Sorry about that. I fixed it.

Fake iPhone 3G commercial...
 

Hi,

in Belgium an Apple Premium Reseller and a mac forum donated a new iPhone 3G (cost in Belgium: 525 euros). You only had to make something digital about the iPhone.
We choose at the last minute to make a fake commercial about the iPhone 3G.
And... we won!

Shot with an EX1, a dolly and edited with Final Cut Studio 2, color correction with Magic Bullet.

The commercial's text is in Dutch, but what it says is:

"If you only had... your own music.

If you only had... your own GPS

If you only had... your own camera

If you only had... your own phone

If you only had... your own iPhone 3G".

It was shot in a rush job, I had the idea in the evening before the day of the deadline. Quickly shot in a couple of hours (transportation included between locations) and edited in a couple of hours. So editing could be a bit tighter, it's a tad too slow to my liking. It was made with a couple of friends, as a fun thing to try.
The first and last music you hear in the commercial is a famous Dutch song, which is a very old fashioned love-song, people funningly think it's only for old people.
The last sentence your hear in the commercial, from the same song as the beginning, is, translated: "Because I love you so much...".
Rest of the music was quickly made in Garageband.

Feedback is very welcome.

Best regards,

iPhone 3G contest : our submission on Vimeo

I enjoyed it. Pretty funny commercial.
I think you could have tightened up the edit a bit but other than that I liked it quite a lot.

Cheers,

Mike

Had to password protect the link: "formula" is the password.

Any other thoughts?

New Short 'Zielsveel' (Dearly) - 2min - shot in The Netherlands
 

Hello!

Just filmed my first project for filmschool. It's about...well, see it for yourself. It cost me about 5 hours to make, but everything was storyboarded and well prepared.
Shot on Canon Xh A1 with SGpro
Cut with FCP on an iMac in HDV (yes, iMacs does the job perfectly)

Have fun! Any criticism is more than welcome!
Zielsveel on Vimeo