wedding intro
 

Please view this video on Vimeo

I have seen other video samples on this site. Most of them show the prep work like make-up, the chruch, the brides house etc.

This video is more of a preview. Is it considered to be more novice work? Also, I have noticed that not many video intros have any special effects, but this one does. Are special fx novice also???

(video not finished. in the beginning where the high heels and other b-roll is shown there will be titles)

suggestions and criticism are encouraged

It would help if the video wasn't encoded as private. We can't see it.

fixed
 

Here is the link on Vimeo

sorry about that.

I don't generally do weddings so I won't comment on the content but what I did notice effects. I think the blur frame was too strong. Softening the edges will help. You also have great variations in lighting which you'll need to fix as best you can.

I did like the moves at the very beginning over the shoes and the like.

I agree re: the blur around the edge of the frame. I'm not against a little vignetting, but it goes quite a bit into the frame and is distracting. When I use effects like that the point is to draw the attention of the viewer to the centre of the frame, and when it's that strong it draws the viewers attention away. The movement in those shots is good, though.
In response to your original post, I don't consider effects novice. In fact, 99% of shots that wind up in my stuff is effected in some way, if even a little white balance correction. Cheesy special effects are a different story. I wouldn't say the effects you used are cheesy, just need a little adjustment.

The shot that begins at :40 - I wouldn't include it since there are some heads cut off and I'm not quite sure what the focus of the shot is supposed to be. The camera then just drifts off to nothing. If you include the shot, I would cut away before the movement at the end. Maybe slow it down a bit as well, along with a few other clips. I like realtime footage but I often find myself slowing my own stuff down to as slow as 25 percent if there is very little movement. Let's you cut a little bit of the shakes out.

Finally, I recommend paying a bit more attention to the storytelling part of the edit. It looks like when you finish this is the introduction to their main feature? The shot choice seems random. Here's a shot from the photo shoot - here are some detail shots of the bride's shoes - here's a shot of the couple posing. I'm not sure what to suggest since I'm not sure what you shot the day off, so I suppose I can just suggest that you consider how each shot ties into the other in terms of the timeline of the day and the timeline in your story. I really wish I could find the words to describe what I'm trying to say better, but until then I'll leave it as a vague statement :)

One more quick thing - I noticed some combing in the video near the end. It's not a bad idea to deinterlace your video when you're exporting it for web use. On the DVD that won't be a problem

Sorry if I sound discouraging in any way. You said this video is a novice piece of work and my first couple of weddings turned out much worse so you should feel proud. :) I do encourage you to keep at it.

Rally Webisode
 

9 Minute webisode from Lake Superior Rally last weekend, and the build and debut of our new rally car.

Let me know what you think!

YouTube - Matt Johnston Rallysport Webisode #1

In the clouds - short film
 

Hi everyone,

For filmschool I had to make a short film about passion, this is what I made:
In de wolken on Vimeo

Please let me know if you liked it or not!

Kind regards,
Ivo

I liked it. A little predictable as I knew where the storyline was going. But it was still a nice story and filmed very well.

Wow, that was great Ivo! You have some really nice shots in this film, the ending was perfect and I love how the title has a double meaning. It reminds us of what it is like to be a kid again and to dream the fantastic which I myself did a lot of when I was young.
Great work!

If its not one thing its another
 

I did a little vlog on the last minute happenings on the way to the film festival-- you can check it out here :-) Hope to see you tonight if you're available!

There’s always a last minute thing-isn’t there? Witt’s Bits

Carole

Sara & Suzi Movie
 

Well, shot my second and last SD movie . . "Sara & Suzi"

Would love to have some people watch this little 9 min 8 sec movie and at the end, click the "Click Here" link at top of the movie page to rate the movie anonymously or ID'd . . your decision.

The link: From Trimedia Pictures "Sara & Suzi" (Then Click "Watch The Movie")

BACKGROUND

The movie was produced for film festivals and has already been entered in several, none of which have ended judging yet.

The movie was shot with one DVX100B camera in 16:9 Squeeze @ 24p and edited on Avid Liquid Pro. An upconverted HD version was also produced but basically is just an SD image in HD size. I figured that's what we'd see but hey, it was fun thinking it might work :o)

For those who check the movie out, thank you in advance for watching it, and we hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it.

AND, please rate the movie and don't feel you have to be kind, if something is amiss, I'd love to know it. I want to be a better Director and Producer and I will when I correct my weaknesses but to do so, I have to know where they are.

you better sit down for this Rodger
 

Okay so I watched it. I must confess it didn't choke me up. Since you've already completed it I guess there's not much point in suggesting any changes, so I'll just comment on what I personally felt about the short.

Firstly, its commendable that you actually went out and got something done. I know most of us (including myself) just build castles in the sky most of the time. But perhaps its because whatever we take out, we want it to be perfect - and sometimes perfection is not what's required, sometimes its more important to communicate what's on your mind.

I thought the story could have gone deeper. I didn't see any sibling rivalry though, I saw more regret and self-blame. I liked part where Suzi removes the crust of the bread, its a little characteristic that helps identify with the character more.

Overall though, I thought the story felt more like a road safety public service message. I'm sorry if that sounded harsh, but you did post your film up for comments. I'm just being honest.

Technically, the camera brought too much attention to itself. There were too many zooms which always makes any production look like a vacation home video. Some places it felt like you'd used a NG take, in others it felt that you're still adjusting the camera while the story is progressing. These aren't good filming techniques. Editing could have been a lot slicker too.

Rodger, I just think that you can still learn a lot. I admire your drive and interest in this field but I would hold back on tags such as "award winning", "dramatic narrative", "film festival", "starring...", etc etc. They're just Hollywood buzz words that won't improve on an otherwise mediocre production. I would have enjoyed it so much more if you'd been a little more humble about this short and used it as a learning experience, seeking constructive criticism to build your portfolio and your experience to make better and better productions. I just felt that its presentation was too pompous. I'm sorry, but that's what I feel.

I would love to see your next production and sincerely hope that you haven't been deterred by my seemingly harsh criticism. Believe me, I'm much harsher on myself about my own work. I think it just helps to make on a better person and professional.

On an ending note, I thought the young lady that played Suzi did an outstanding job :)

Cheers!

music video up for comments and criticism
 

Hey guys. I thought I should get some feedback for this music video I've done. I won't say much to influence your judgment, just see and let me know what you guys think.

Sailing Fast on Vimeo

Once you're on my Vimeo page do feel free to browse through all my other work. Lemme know if something catches your eye.

its only fair
 

Rodger, I'll tell you what. Just to be fair I've posted up a music video that I did and have invited everyone to offer comments and criticisms on it. I'm looking forward to your post as well. God help me!

No comments?

Very nice :) I love how it doesn't try too hard to drive a point across. I'm sure all kids have such vivid imaginations, and this short reminds us how it was to be a child again :) know its predictable but I'm guessing it was never meant to be a suspense film in the first place! Plus, I enjoyed knowing what was going to happen, THAT's the whole charm of the film isn't it?

Excellent shots and framing. Everything draws into the story. Please do tell us what camera you used and what you did your post on. Where was this filmed by the way? Love the location and the sets.

All in all, nice work :)

Comments from a WRC fan.

Loved the photography. Liked the editing.

However, you need way more music to keep people's attention and energy through some of the spots where there is no dialogue. I think you could cut about 50% of the footage too, down to what the viewer NEEDS to see, rather than all the good footage you shot. It was very slow, to the point where I started skipping forward a minute at a time. After more than 5 seconds, in car driving footage is boring as sin unless you are going through some ridiculously twisty roads at terminal speeds with cliffs around every cornoer.

Having said that, I think you'll have a really great piece if you chop it down and speed up the scenes where stuff actually happens. And pumping music.

Thanks for the words. I wanted to ad lots more music, but I don't violate copyright and don't have that much $$ for licensing. The 3 tracks I did use were licensed from Rumblefish BTW.

Point taken on the length. It is too long.

Thank you all for the posts!

I'm glad my intentions worked! This was shot on a Sony Z1 (the DP I worked with has his background in television) with some minor color grading in post on fcp. The location was in Holland (I guess you could see that :p) just outside the city of Breda.

I'm glad you all liked it!

I liked it, it cheered me up

Andy.

FYI-

This video was shot in HDV with a Canon XL H1. I used the 6X Canon lense. Also, the green screen keying was all done with Ultra-2. I edited the skit with Premiere pro CS3 using Cineform AVI files.

Some interesting facts about the video.

1) Contestants and judges were shot on seperate days

2) Cowboy interview in front of the doors was actually done on green screen. I a frame of video of the doors and used it under the key.

3) Some of the intro shots were from 2007 and were shot with a Canon XL2.

Intervention - Stephen
 

This weekend we decided to have some fun and make a spoof of the popular A&E television show, Intervention. In this 'episode', Stephen, a die-hard World of Warcraft player, is faced with an intervention from his friends Nick and Taran.

YouTube - Intervention - Stephen

We created this short video for a youth film competition at a local church. Please send any feedback, keeping in mind that this is a bit of a rushed project. Thank you.

UPDATE:

November 6th 2008 - Official Selection to the High Desert International Film Fest.... Visit our site for more info!

Congrats!

That's an impressive amount of work for a small crew and $2000!

The Carved Pumpkin
 

Hello everyone,
Well I managed to complete my latest film just in time for Halloween - it's called 'The Carved Pumpkin' and I hope it gets you in the Halloween spirit!
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Ni4f7omHg7A

I love it! Thanks for the holiday cheer
If you don't mind my asking, about how much time was spent on this project? I am considering a similar style non-Halloween video, I would like to know what I am getting into first

another rock music video
 

Here's another music video I want some comments upon. The first one I put up got no comments yet so I'm hoping this one might evoke SOME words!

Boundaries Broken on Vimeo

Little Skiing edit from the october storm
 

October Edit on Vimeo

Here is a quick edit i threw togeather last night. lake placid got 14 inches of snow so we ran out and filmed. This if my first work with my XH-A1.

Happy Halloween!
 

I thought this was appropriate for today: Orange Moon on Vimeo

Thanks. Glad you liked it!

That was a damn fine video there.
I enjoyed the concept. I thought it was well executed. The touches of humour were nice.
I loved how it was filmed.
My only criticism is that I would've liked to have seen a bit more of the band performing in it.
Sweet!

The lota in the video
 

Hey, thanks dennis :) i appreciate the feedback. Yeah, even the band wanted to see more of their performance in this video! By the way, i realised that most people won't really get the premise of the 'lota' which in the muslim world and south asian culture is a spouted pot filled with water and used umm... Instead of toilet paper. The end shot shows the more modern 'muslim shower' which is like a mini shower-head used... Instead of toilet paper :) you get my drift right? It'll just make more sense knowing these cultural references.

Thanks Allen, glad you enjoyed it. This film took me about 3 weeks to make - one week filming, one week editing, and about a week of the sound. Good luck with your project, would love to see it when it's done!

Just a note to anyone wanting to see 'The Carved Pumpkin', there is also a high quality version on Vimeo at:
The Carved Pumpkin on Vimeo

Great shot!

That is cool Andy. Have you shot video of the northern lights? If so, what kind of shutter speed and iris settings? I have a different camera, but curious.
Thanks. I'm in Anchorage too, BTW.

Roads less traveled...
 

Took the long way back home throught the secinic byway, nothing special just playing around with the video camera.

YouTube - Roads Less Traveled...

Oops, I'm no longer in Anchorage. Forgot to change this forum...

I have shot the aurora with my old VX1000. Its pretty tricky. Open the iris all the way and even with the 4 second (?) shutter speed its still dark and noisy.

But that's all you need to know: it is really dark to a camera. Use the longest shutter and widest iris. Using 24 fps will give you a little advantage as well. Given the nature of most aurora, using a multi-second exposure is not a problem--kinda adds to the effect.

New Music Video
 

New music video for the song "What Was" by the Irish based singer Brian Hanlon.
Feedback and comments very much appreciated. Enjoy! YouTube - "What Was" by Brian Hanlon

Cool song. Nicely filmed.
What gear did you use?

fantastic.