50's Short film/Music video rough, need feedback

[Domenic Barbero]

Shot this video in July and its finally getting about done. Its due to go to a festival on the 27th and i would love a little feedback as far as the edit goes. This is a cut without final audio. More looking for feedback to how it cuts together, and if any effects could be enhanced. We have 5 days to get it done so this will need to be quick.tech specsRED scarletRPP 35mmRPZ 50-150Zeiss 14mmI wrote, directed, DP, Production design. Thanks guys

 

[Domenic Barbero]

anyone? pretty please

 

[Domenic Barbero]

anything would be great.

 

[Carlos Reyes]

I definitely think the explosions from the UFOs could be enhanced, but I dont think it necessarily hurts the piece. I think its awesome love the feel of it great art direction. Looks like you guys took your time with the right props, costumes, sets etc.

 

[Domenic Barbero]

great thanks carlos. I was going for a cheesy 50's mars attacks vibe. but do they look cheesy bad or like bad in a different way?

love the feedback

 

[Robert Hart]

From an end-user's viewpoint it flows nicely for me. I was a bit confused as to whether it is tasked as a short movie or longer music video for the underscore performers. It appears to serve as both.

Depending on how obsessive as to reproducing the authentic look and reproduction one wanted to be, my personal preferences might be :-

Initiate the movie inside of a 4:3 cropped frame, apply a soft crackly noise floor to the audio. If the "movie" is intended from the outset to be a cinemascope movie, then widen the crop out like the curtains on the cinema screen used to do when the cinemascope portion of the presentation commenced. My recall is that the cheesier creature feature B movies tended to be 4:3 frame and austere regarding production value adding like lateral and forward dolly moves. I think your indoors dolly moves might be a bit more generous than my recall of the times suggests to me but I could be wrong. I was then a consumer, not a maker.

( After old movies had done a few miles, there tended to build up a cyclic noise floor of about 2Hz repetition due to abrasion and stamping by grubby projector sound reproducer stabiliser wheels on the film over the soundtrack which would scratch little clear or dirty spots into the emulsion in a repeating pattern. It was generally audible in the quiet moments as a sort of rush-rush-rush-rush sound but subordinate to normal dialogue and louder sounds.)

I would not mutilate the image with variable density and scratch effects. My childhood recall is that image quality was fine, except for the odd jumpy splice and that only white spots from the odd mote of dust on the negs were muchly noticeable when they occurred. We also then benefitted from carbon arc lamps in the projectors which are better than the modern "cold" lamps. My recall is that the image was steadier in the well maintained older projectors than the newer ones.

Dialogue tended to be spoken louder to enable the recording systems of the times to "hear". I think much of it may have been post-recorded as there was an indoors ambience. The competing sound systems of the times had an individual character. ( I now forget which was what as this was my childhood. I did a bit of a Toto at our local cinema and poked my head into the biobox as much as I could get away with. )

My recall was that RCA seemed to be quieter but more faithful but you had to reach for the lower level dialogue. Westrex, a bit louder and muddier on loud voice peaks. Warners films had a sound character of their own and sometimes tended to distortion on the peaks. I thought Disneys then was the best of the lot for sound. Their musical underscore then did and still does have an individual character. Rank seemed to be almost as good from memory. RKO seemed to be the worst.

I might open with a blackscreen, circle cuemark in top right corner, a pop in the soundtrack as a "splice" goes through, a period censorship header, another pop as the splice to the "main" feature goes through, a prodco header and a cheesy period title. For the sake of keeping the running time short, I might ramp up the playback speed of the censorship header and titles then drop the speed back as the "movie" starts.

As for the visual effects. Don't change a thing except maybe the added colour in the fry-up of the couple towards the end but you likely had reasons for doing that which I missed.

At the point where the modern musical underscore commences, I might cease all degrading mutilation of the image and sound.


There you go. Just a few thoughts and probably way off the mark.

 

[Matthew Scott]

From a visual viewpoint, what a piece! More effort has gone into that than many short films I've seen....awesome work. Would love to see something feature length from you.

 

[Carlos Reyes]

Yeah thats what I figured that you wanted that old school VFX feel, like when they are driving in the car it also has that effect from that era (green screen?) i think it works great man.

 

[Brian Pascale]

Over all a very nice piece. I did find the driving shoots a bit jarring only because all the other effects where done well. Don't know if that helps.

 

[Domenic Barbero]

Thanks so much guys. There were some detailed ones in there for sure. Exactly what i was looking for. and yea the car driving stuff was supposed to be terrible like the older green screen car stuff with moving backgrounds. cool def want to add some more circle fades and the audio will be pro mastered with some foley here and there. any shots that looked weird or not needed? how about the heat effect at the end on the skeletons?

 

[Ivan Kovax]

Shot this video in July and its finally getting about done. Its due to go to a festival on the 27th and i would love a little feedback as far as the edit goes. This is a cut without final audio. More looking for feedback to how it cuts together, and if any effects could be enhanced. We have 5 days to get it done so this will need to be quick.tech specsRED scarletRPP 35mmRPZ 50-150Zeiss 14mmI wrote, directed, DP, Production design. Thanks guys

Hey there

For what it is worth, I think the intro is far too long and you may lose some audience as a result... you can explain the whole of the opening few minutes by tightening it up to a handful of shots.

1. the watchful dad.
2. Their hands touch, try to kiss
3. TV warning, with aliens bombing the town...
4. them running...
5. STart the music

Does that make any sense?

Also, I feel like the blacks are too crushed. Might be nice to use some very subtle vignettes to emulate the old world lens feeling.

Hope that helps.

 

[Domenic Barbero]

Thanks ivan, Trying to treat this much like a short film and every shot has a purpose in telling the story of the family and some backstory. I do totally agree with the blacks though. Ill dial those back. That was one of my comments to colorist. Thanks for the feedback. vignettes might be a nice touch also.