Hybrid Vigor Teaser (aka Confessions of a RED "fanboy")

[Brandon J.F.]

I received my Scarlet a little over a year ago. The first tests were crap (I posted them here), but I kept at it. The reason I got my Scarlet was to make a film on location in Latvia called Hybrid Vigor. Some of you know about it already. We shot the first scene March of last year on a frozen lake on the Russian/Estonian border. Last July we finished a very successful Kickstarter campaign which gave us the money to start shooting the film full time. Over 1,000 people from 33 countries have given money so that we can make the film. We've had donations as small as $1 and as much as $5,000 (total stranger). We have shot a little over half of the film so far and will not finish shooting until Spring.

So, that's the backstory.

Here's the teaser we released last night:

Watch it in HD (ideally 1080p): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOL-Jz07Ow0&hd=1

What do you guys think? Please don't pull any punches. I've been "beat up" here a couple times when sharing things and always learned a lot from it This forum has been a tremendous learning resource for me the last few years.

Most of film was shot on a monopod with a skeleton crew. About 75% of the time I've had a camera assistant, but I have pulled focus myself (rarely with marks) for all but 2 shots. A number of scenes were shot with just me and the actors and no crew at all. I just pack up the camera in a backpack and off we go. Hybrid Vigor really would not be possible without RED (and this forum). It could only have been shot with a Scarlet (I'm not interested in DSLRs). Only one of our actors has had any experience at all and he paid to be in the movie. The way I shoot scenes with them would cost a fortune on film. There are 5 minute dialogue scenes we spent 2 days shooting and it's not because the actors are bad. It's because I wanted them be as relaxed as possible and feel comfortable digging deep inside themselves for their performance.

So, is the teaser perfect? Far far from. But I've had hundreds of comments from people on Twitter, Facebook, etc. It does seem to connect with people and the people that gave us money to make the film love it. You can see some of their comments on YouTube, and here and here. So, I think it's quite successful. There are still a lot of areas to improve on though.

Thank you Jim, Jarred and everyone at RED. My life has dramatically changed because of what you guys are doing.

Oh, there's a typo in the titles that is driving me crazy, but by the time I realized the video was already online and people were sharing it all over

 

[Phil Holland]

It looks good image wise and I like the tone of the audio. I'm a fan of the genre though. The higher peaked "buzz" sound could probably stand to be brought down just a bit in volume.

If anything what it doesn't have is the hook that's common at the end of a horror teaser, but I don't know if that suits the mood you're after with it.

Again, visually, I think it's pretty nice.

 

[Bob Gundu]

Congrats on getting the project going. I know I've been there. I agree with phil on the buzz sound FX. I agree you need to accentuate those beats but they sounded to deliberate. Knock them back and mix them up a bit. Or perhaps go deep bass and not trebly. As for the narrative... again I agree with Phil on needing the hook. Perhaps a voice over? Good luck man!

 

[Andy White]

Hi Brandon

Nice trailer

Very intriguing and it doesn't oversell anything (which is good)... and leaves the viewer wanting more.

Only points that are of note (on a personal level!)... the edit is great - but the audio tone is a bit high pitched (it works on a level making you uncomfortable - but it's used as a percussive/cutting device too... and it hurts my ears! Then again, I am an old fart

Personally, I'd drop the shot with the girl and the axe... it makes it look like a slasher movie (presuming it isn't!) - and I'd look to have a more powerful end shot... the current one feels weak in comparison to the shots that have preceded it. One option would be to juxtapose the moving bag/ice lake shots to the end... obviously, I don't know the material, I'm just looking at what's there.

But, that's just my view

Glad you pushed on with the lenses (I remember the posting about backfocus etc)... you've got a nice look.

Job well done! Looking forward to seeing more.

 

[Nick Morrison]

Looks good! If you permit me to add my 2 cents (you seem to invite it)...add some title cards! Or at least consider it for you next teaser..!

Footage looks great though. Love the sunset shot with the girl freaking out.

 

[Jon Jones]

I think the reason the buzz sound sticks out so much is because there are really no other sounds to speak of that match it. If we could hear the voices of the actors in some of the shots, that I think might make it better, and then what Bob said about the bass undertones would sound good underneath the trebly buzz. Maybe a heeartbeat in the background that sped up as the teaser neared it's end. Maybe throw a little heavy breathing in, or asthmatic sounding breathing.

 

[Bob Gundu]

The axe reminded me of this trailer I edited back in 2005. Hee hee. I'm sure your film is going to be a million times better than this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9ihF6eqzcY

 

[dennys bisogno]

Brandon, how do you manage to operate the Scarlet on a -20 to -30F environment? How cold was it when you actually shot footage? I am asking because I recently bought a scarlet and live in the midwest (USA) and not sure yet what is "Too Cold" when it comes to shooting outside :001_unsure: The manual I believe states the lower range to 32F perhaps.

Many thanks!

 

[Brandon J.F.]

It looks good image wise and I like the tone of the audio. I'm a fan of the genre though. The higher peaked "buzz" sound could probably stand to be brought down just a bit in volume.

If anything what it doesn't have is the hook that's common at the end of a horror teaser, but I don't know if that suits the mood you're after with it.

Again, visually, I think it's pretty nice.

Thanks Phil. I'm going to play with the levels a bit and listen to it through some better speakers. I'm not really setup to properly monitor audio. I wanted it to feel uncomfortable, but it may be a bit much. For the next teaser/trailer I'll have a professional do the sound design.

I left the hook out purposefully. I played around with it, but it broke up the mood I was going for too much. Also, a large part of how I'm getting people excited about this film is by doing things a bit differently (for better or worse) than how most do it. A lot of indie low budget filmmakers try to make their films look like a bigger budget films and end up looking ridiculous. My strategy has been to just go a different route while at the same time doing my best to not make it apparent that this is a very low budget film. I also tease people a lot and leave them wanting more.

Congrats on getting the project going. I know I've been there. I agree with phil on the buzz sound FX. I agree you need to accentuate those beats but they sounded to deliberate. Knock them back and mix them up a bit. Or perhaps go deep bass and not trebly. As for the narrative... again I agree with Phil on needing the hook. Perhaps a voice over? Good luck man!

Thanks Bob. I really like the idea of adding a layer of bass to the mix. I like the idea of keeping the buzzing sound as well, but I agree it needs some work. The audio and titles are what I feel the least confident about in this teaser. There are other areas where I think there is a lot of room for improvement as well, but I have an idea how to go about it.

I'm avoiding going the voice over route right now. I have an idea for a future teaser that will involve voice-over-like dialogue. It may or may not work

Hi Brandon

Nice trailer

Very intriguing and it doesn't oversell anything (which is good)... and leaves the viewer wanting more.

Only points that are of note (on a personal level!)... the edit is great - but the audio tone is a bit high pitched (it works on a level making you uncomfortable - but it's used as a percussive/cutting device too... and it hurts my ears! Then again, I am an old fart

Personally, I'd drop the shot with the girl and the axe... it makes it look like a slasher movie (presuming it isn't!) - and I'd look to have a more powerful end shot... the current one feels weak in comparison to the shots that have preceded it. One option would be to juxtapose the moving bag/ice lake shots to the end... obviously, I don't know the material, I'm just looking at what's there.

But, that's just my view

Glad you pushed on with the lenses (I remember the posting about backfocus etc)... you've got a nice look.

Job well done! Looking forward to seeing more.

Thanks Andy. Yeah, that's exactly what I was going for.

I'm definitely going to tweak the audio a bit and next time around I'm going to have to call in reinforcements for the sound.

It's not a slasher film. There is definitely a lot more substance to it. A large majority of the people following along online as we make the film are very into slasher films though and most of our publicity is from horror genre sites. I think people that like horror films will like the film, but I think that a lot of people who normally don't will as well. The order of the shots was chosen deliberately. The order kind of tells a story that people won't really understand until they see the film. I agree that it may have been better to end on a more powerful note, but I couldn't find a shot I liked that I was willing to use (don't want to say too much) so I decided to kind of "bookend" it by going back to the sunset.

Yeah, it took a little while to get going (backfocus, etc). That feels like 10 years ago now I'm glad you like the look. I really have tried to keep an organic look to everything as much as possible.

Looks good! If you permit me to add my 2 cents (you seem to invite it)...add some title cards! Or at least consider it for you next teaser..!

Footage looks great though. Love the sunset shot with the girl freaking out.

Please do! I was hoping to get beat up more. You guys are being too nice

There will definitely be title cards in the next one.

The shot with the sunset and the girl freaking out is a funny story. We were shooting another scene nearby and I noticed the sunset in the field so we stopped and ran out there to shoot it. I literally had the camera in my hands with no handheld rig or anything. I think the ISO was set to like 1600 or 2000 and the lens was wide open.

I think the reason the buzz sound sticks out so much is because there are really no other sounds to speak of that match it. If we could hear the voices of the actors in some of the shots, that I think might make it better, and then what Bob said about the bass undertones would sound good underneath the trebly buzz. Maybe a heeartbeat in the background that sped up as the teaser neared it's end. Maybe throw a little heavy breathing in, or asthmatic sounding breathing.

Yeah, the sound definitely could be improved. I like the idea of adding some bass. I didn't want to include the actors voices in this teaser. That will come

Thanks for the feedback guys. I really appreciate it.

 

[Brandon J.F.]

Brandon, how do you manage to operate the Scarlet on a -20 to -30F environment? How cold was it when you actually shot footage? I am asking because I recently bought a scarlet and live in the midwest (USA) and not sure yet what is "Too Cold" when it comes to shooting outside :001_unsure: The manual I believe states the lower range to 32F perhaps.

Many thanks!

It was like -30C which would be around -22F and that was without the wind. The camera was fine. Keeping people warm was the problem There are issues with cables freezing and being hard to move and I had hand warmers ready to tape to the back of the LCD in case it started to freeze. Never needed them though. I posted here asking for advice about the shoot. There is a lot of good advice on this forum for shooting in cold weather.

 

[Daniel Pearson]

Eastern Europe is an amazing backdrop for gritty thrillers, looks like it has some great potential. Regarding the teaser, I agree regarding the audio mix, the buzz could perhaps be turned down a touch. I also felt as a teaser it was a touch too long - but I'm a little impatient. But in terms of the content, I'd watch the finished film.

 

[dennys bisogno]

It was like -30C which would be around -22F and that was without the wind. The camera was fine. Keeping people warm was the problem There are issues with cables freezing and being hard to move and I had hand warmers ready to tape to the back of the LCD in case it started to freeze. Never needed them though. I posted here asking for advice about the shoot. There is a lot of good advice on this forum for shooting in cold weather.

Thanks Brandon, you just made a guy from Wisconsin very happy

 

[Brandon J.F.]

The axe reminded me of this trailer I edited back in 2005. Hee hee. I'm sure your film is going to be a million times better than this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9ihF6eqzcY

Cool trailer. No one gets chopped up with an ax in this film

Eastern Europe is an amazing backdrop for gritty thrillers, looks like it has some great potential. Regarding the teaser, I agree regarding the audio mix, the buzz could perhaps be turned down a touch. I also felt as a teaser it was a touch too long - but I'm a little impatient. But in terms of the content, I'd watch the finished film.

Thanks Daniel. Eastern Europe is a great place to shoot a film. The teaser is like 1 constant tone so I was trying to keep it at 1 minute. The titles at the end added a lot of time to it and I think that part could definitely be improved.

Thanks Brandon, you just made a guy from Wisconsin very happy

Dennys, check out this post from Jeff Kilgroe:

I'm based in Colorado, I shoot a ton in the Rockies.... The EPIC handles cold like a champ. However, there are some precautions that must be taken with ANY CAMERA...

* Batteries operate sluggish in temps lower than about +22°F and the performance degrades the lower the mercury drops. Depending on conditions and battery formulation / design, they can eventually freeze enough where they don't work at all. Usually around the -15°F to -25°F range. As has been suggested above, keep them in a place where they won't freeze. A cooler or soft-sided thermal bag are great options. Throw in some hand warmers or other heat source or keep them in a vehicle.

* The sun is an excellent tool for keeping stuff warm. Vehicles, equipment cases, etc.. all get warm in sunlight. If you're shooting at night, bring a heater or something.

* Metals expand and contract in temperature changes. Always loosen all rod clamps, lens mounts or any accessory bolts before going from living environments to extreme cold! Same thing going the other direction. Let the equipment acclimate to the environment before tightening things down.

* Plastics get stiff and brittle in extreme cold. When you're out there at -20°F and below, be wary of cables or other rubber or plastic items, they can become brittle enough to crack or break.

* The cold air in the mountains is typically rather dry. However, humidity is very common in areas around living spaces or places with a lot of snow. When returning in from the cold, it's best to loosen all your stuff (already mentioned) and bag it while in the cold. Then let it warm up inside in the bags, it will help keep condensation away. The other option that I like better than bags is to allow the warming in an area you know is dry and has good airflow which cycles known dry air.

* Wind likes to blow in the mountains. Make sure you keep your camera protected from blowing snow and other debris. Keep you and your crew protected too. Cold is one thing, combined with high alpine environments makes it something else.

* Plastic bags in the form of trash bags, clear equipment bags, tarps, etc.. trap heat, especially solar heat. They are all an effective way of protecting gear from the elements and keeping things warm.

* At seriously cold temps, some lubes used in lens mechanics or other moving parts can become stiff, even freeze. Only had it happen once real bad, but a rental set of primes froze up on me once where it was near impossible to turn them. Couldn't shoot with them because I didn't want to force anything and potentially cause damage.

* Try to test all your gear and methodology in approximate conditions before the actual job starts.

* At -15°F or so and below, LCD screens can literally freeze. Serious cold can make them sluggish, cold enough makes them freeze and stop working, and very cold can cause damage. A hand-warmer packet replaced every so often on the back side of the LCD screen usually takes care of this problem. If you're in the sun, the sunlight usually keeps the camera and all this stuff warm anyway.

* Desiccant packets (silica gel packs) are handy to absorb moisture and possible condensation. If there is some humidity in the air when returning your equipment to warm air, it doesn't hurt to throw a few in the bags or cases. I keep a few in my lens cases at all times. You can buy them at Home Depot, Granger, Northern Safety, etc..

Over 4,000 views already https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOL-Jz07Ow0&hd=1

 

[Brad Crawford]

I love the look of the trailer, some really beautiful shots but I wish that there was some more build up of the potential story, I was left feeling lost and confused about what the film might actually be about.

I can guess, but I feel like my guesses are very weak with the limited information.

Also just a personal choice but I would like to see a really quick fade to black (like really quick) rather than just straight cuts as I think it would sell the transitions more, even if it was just a minor change in pacing.

Goodluck with the project! I know what it's like to have done something with crowd-source funding. We are about to release our documentary on the Japanese Arcades: http://vimeo.com/37710554

 

[Tony Reames]

very cool.

very cool.

Brandon, nicely done. excited to see this. i cannot wait to see the "morgue" footage.

 

[Brandon J.F.]

I love the look of the trailer, some really beautiful shots but I wish that there was some more build up of the potential story, I was left feeling lost and confused about what the film might actually be about.

I can guess, but I feel like my guesses are very weak with the limited information.

Also just a personal choice but I would like to see a really quick fade to black (like really quick) rather than just straight cuts as I think it would sell the transitions more, even if it was just a minor change in pacing.

Goodluck with the project! I know what it's like to have done something with crowd-source funding. We are about to release our documentary on the Japanese Arcades: http://vimeo.com/37710554

We'll more into the story when we do a trailer later. This was meant to just give people a taste of what we're up to. I like leaving people guessing about the plot.

The reason for the straight cuts was because it was more jarring.

I look forward to seeing your film!

Brandon, nicely done. excited to see this. i cannot wait to see the "morgue" footage.

Thanks Tony. Funny story about the morgue scene... We shot the scene and I didn't even look at the footage for like 3 weeks. I needed some time to be cleansed of the experience I guess I still get a little creeped out going through it now. For those that didn't hear about it on Twitter we shot in a real morgue surrounded by real dead bodies. They literally moved bodies off of tables to make room for the actors. Most of our small crew was drinking whiskey to cope and when we shot it was just me and the actors in the room because the crew was too disturbed. The production designer literally lost it at one point and nearly had a panic attack. Crazy night... Looks great though

 

[Brandon J.F.]

100,000 views!

Our teaser just reached 100,000 views today!

HD: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOL-Jz07Ow0&hd=1

Websites from all over the world covered the release of our teaser and the response we have gotten has been very positive. Almost all the top horror sites did stories on it. The international coverage online was surprisingly large. We made the news in Germany, Spain, France, Hungary, Romania, Russia, Italy, Brazil and more...

Just wanted to share. Exciting day!

Back to work...