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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Les Miserables - Technically flawed?

Daniel Stilling said:
Brandon, no matter what the budget is, Chemistry and "magic" can happen with a take that's not technically perfect. It happens all the time. Again, to nail a full take with the depth of field provided, is no easy feat. That focus puller did an amazing job. It's not digital auto-focus after all.
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Or they could just anticipate the obvious problems with their original choices and select a more forgiving t stop.... just saying.
 
You never know what happens behind video village. there could have been that nagging producer that said: "The background is too much in focus, it needs to be fuzzier!" or the director could have said: "the set is too bright, I need less light!"
Not all decisions on a set are technically derived, sometimes the technical aspect takes a backseat to other issues.
 
BRANDON JAMESON said:
......and question those who make a paying audience watch four minute takes of tight close-ups with wandering focus.
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As much as I teach "technical good" stuff, actually THAT does often not intrigue me a lot...
When things are done out of choice "despite", to achieve something (hopefully more than) technical perfection, interesting stuff may happen.
I agree, though, there is a difference between sloppyness and concious choice.

Haven't seen Les Mis, but from the other comments, it sounds like they hit a nerve on a few others.
That is NOT to say you don't have the right to be annoyed, just that others may see it differently...

Cheers!

G
 
Amazing Film. It was a bold move to lens the movie as they did. I think the unconventional framing and wide angle closeup served the narrative really well. It definitely made me feel uncomfortable at moments, but I think that was the intent by bringing us closer to the performance. For better or worse, would it be interesting to see this style filmed in 3D? Clearly Les Miserables is doing very well.
 
Gunleik Groven said:
That is NOT to say you don't have the right to be annoyed, just that others may see it differently...
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The fact that the audience I saw it with, was screaming"FOCUS" pretty much through the entire film, indicates IMPO that unless you have a magic pair of glasses, everyone saw the very same thing.
 
BRANDON JAMESON said:
The fact that the audience I saw it with, was screaming"FOCUS" pretty much through the entire film, indicates IMPO that unless you have a magic pair of glasses, everyone saw the very same thing.
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Sure... I haven't seen it, so my comment is more general than specific to this movie. But I think that everything that stretches the concept of "how to make a movie right" and succeeds is good. Film is still the youngest of art forms, but in many ways the most "rule and formula" ridden, which sometimes makes them very predictable and dare I say... boring.... ? :)
 
BRANDON JAMESON said:
Les Miserables would do very well if it were shot in someone's basement with a DVX100..the franchise is huge globally with or without a filmed version.
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I've seen it in New York and the audience here was enjoying the film. Certainly, nobody screamed FOCUS during the screening.
And the occasional missed focus was totally fine for me - it didn't distract from the story/performances/singing at all.

Brandon - sounds like maybe a projector problem as far as your particular screening is concerned.
Or - you have no artistic sense at all but a hugely overinflated technical side...
Just joking. I'm betting on a projector problem.
 
BRANDON JAMESON said:
The fact that the audience I saw it with, was screaming"FOCUS" pretty much through the entire film, indicates IMPO that unless you have a magic pair of glasses, everyone saw the very same thing.
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That was YOUR experience at YOUR screening. No one screamed focus at my large, packed screening in suburban Denver. I was spared the kind of assholes who were yelling at your screening (that must have sucked, btw).

BRANDON JAMESON said:
Les Miserables would do very well if it were shot in someone's basement with a DVX100..the franchise is huge globally with or without a filmed version.
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Brandon, come on dude. This movie is getting critical acclaim and has been nominated for BEST PICTURE. To suggest it could have been shot on a GoPro or HVX and the outcome would be the same is being harsh. Mr.Hooper CHOSE to film it this way. He wasn't TRYING to be hack (even if he comes off that way to you). He was TRYING to not do the normal MUSICAL/GLEE approach (soaring cranes, dramatic closeups on shallow portrait lenses...85mm...135mm...200mm). He was trying to honor the wrenching emotions in the musical...and convey them...expressively.

And I agree...sometimes the technique called attention to itself, sure. But I admire a guy willing to make bold choices and buck convention. Guys like that get nominated for Best Picture. Terrence Malick is one of those guys too.
 
BRANDON JAMESON said:
How do you think they recorded the actors singing live, without hearing the sound of 4000 feet stamping around the set?
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Lots of careful costume choices, including foam rubber pads on many of the actors' shoes and on the horse's hooves. (Not a joke -- they actually did this.) In some cases, sound mixer Simon Hayes said they used over 30 in-ear monitors and up to 26 tracks of mic recording on set to get the soundtrack for the film. An incredibly complicated sound project, to say the least.

http://filmmakeriq.com/2013/01/sound-mixer-simon-hayes-on-les-miserables/

I think it's fair to say that the shallow depth of field -- only a couple of inches, from what I saw on some close-ups -- was a deliberate choice between director Tom Hooper and DP Danny Cohen. I saw quite a few close-ups where one eye was in and the other eye was out, so as far as I'm concerned, this is the look they wanted. No question, a few shots were dodgy, but given what they were up against, I think it was very good overall.

Tons and tons and tons of visual effects in this movie, too. And it was pin-sharp: when you can start counting the individual hairs and pores on people's faces, that's close enough for me. (I saw it on a Sony 4K projector, but I assume it was a 2K DCP.)
 
Marc Wielage said:
Lots of careful costume choices, including foam rubber pads on many of the actors' shoes and on the horse's hooves. (Not a joke -- they actually did this.) In some cases, sound mixer Simon Hayes said they used over 30 in-ear monitors and up to 26 tracks of mic recording on set to get the soundtrack for the film. An incredibly complicated sound project, to say the least.

http://filmmakeriq.com/2013/01/sound-mixer-simon-hayes-on-les-miserables/
.
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Thanks, Marc,

That's the kind of technical info I was looking for!

Much appreciated.
 
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