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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 :)

New Urban Plains advertisement shot on Red w/ Nikon Glass

Patrick Wynne

Patrick Wynne

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A local development has me making some advertisements (internet) for them. Tell me what you think! Nikon lenses were 20mm f2.8, 85mm f1.8 and 50mm f1.4. All of the audio was a rode nt3 (not ntg3) directly fed into the camera (no sound crew).

Thanks in advance for looking!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4tZvIKZ6Sg
 
Hi,

To be quite honest, the lighting is rather poor. I don't think you gained very much from using a RED One on this project.

Stephen

Patrick Wynne said:
A local development has me making some advertisements (internet) for them. Tell me what you think! Nikon lenses were 20mm f2.8, 85mm f1.8 and 50mm f1.4. All of the audio was a rode nt3 (not ntg3) directly fed into the camera (no sound crew).

Thanks in advance for looking!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a4tZvIKZ6Sg
Click to expand...
 
There were a couple of cute girls in there....

OK, I should make a constructive comment. Stephen is right about the lighting, not that good, and not consistent, take it to another level.

To be far, you can judge an early effort of a video casting I did. I had no clue back then how to do video or sound, but I used lighting I normally use for stills. http://gallery.me.com/vonthomas#100108
 
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I thank you for your comments. Most of the lighting is natural except for the interview scenes. I welcome any comments positive or negative, I've learned that it's really the only way one can improve.

Most of the shooting that goes on where I am is stuff done on the cheap (mostly news photogs that shoot a quick ad for local people who pay for the airtime and get the production for free). It's sort of hard to pick up on things when thats what you are more or less competing against.

Please people don't be shy, you definitely won't hurt my feelings.
 
Could you be more specific about the lighting than just bad lighting? I hear you on the editing of the sequence. They kind of wanted it to be like "The Office" and thats part of the reason perhaps... but then again maybe not.
 
Hi,

The light is just illumination, it needs to shape & separate. Reading some books on Film Lighting would help you greatly.

Stephen
 
Patrick Wynne said:
I thank you for your comments. Most of the lighting is natural except for the interview scenes. I welcome any comments positive or negative, I've learned that it's really the only way one can improve.

Most of the shooting that goes on where I am is stuff done on the cheap (mostly news photogs that shoot a quick ad for local people who pay for the airtime and get the production for free). It's sort of hard to pick up on things when thats what you are more or less competing against.

Please people don't be shy, you definitely won't hurt my feelings.
Click to expand...

So what was this shot for? Was this a demo so you could show how much better you want to be than (mostly news photogs that shoot a quick ad for local people who pay for the airtime and get the production for free).???

I know even the cable crews that shoot a quick ad for local people who pay for the airtime and get the production for free, usually light the scenes...
And by lighting it could be simple. You don't need a whole truck filled with lights to get the job done. Pay attention to white balance and when editing try to match the shot to shot color....

Audio was a bit weak on some of the shots as well. Audio is one area where people really notice.

Keep shooting and don't fall into the trap that you have to shoot for free because the "other guy does".
 
Hi Stephen and Mike,

Thank you again for the comments. Mike, I actually used to work as a news photographer and around here production quality is not very good to say the least. I did that for a few years and now I'm at Minnesota State University studying film production. This was done for free sort of to get me some more work under my belt. Unfortunately I don't have access to any real lights outside of the school. Stephen, as for books what would you recommend? At the school I have basically been going through two books and they don't touch on much more than 3 point lighting. The books are "Film Production Technique" by Bruce Mamer and "Directing" by Michael Rabiger. Anything you can recommend I'll definitely look at.

Thanks again guys.
 
Great, hey thanks guys for looking at my stuff and helping me out it really does mean a lot to me.
 
lighting was very inconsistent (blown highlights and windows in some shots, very flat lighting in others, heavy shadows on the actors face in some shots, etc)

framing and overall composition was not that great (next time try more hand-held and mixing in of some close ups of small details, watch more cinematic documentary styled films for reference... if you want a list, I can provide... otherwise google and the "internet" are really good resources)

inter-scene connectivity or "da flow" of the piece was off (for example one shot/edit that really kind of threw me off was the cut to the guy who was all centered up in terms of the composition and he was staring right into the camera, "yeah I'm reducing waste...etc"..... that shot/edit just didn't feel right. If you need a more in depth reason as for why it doesn't feel right, let me know)

other things that were bothersome..

when the guy with the baseball hat walks into the boardroom for the first time, bad lighting, poor framing

some of the overall structure of the edit wasn't helping the flow... try experimenting with laying VOs over action and read a lot more books on documentary filmmaking

these comments are just some really quick basic suggestions... it shows potential and practice is the only way to improve.
 
also, a quick word on using available/practical/natural light in interiors....

its hard as f**k.... so....

gotta be REALLY creative with your framing, shots, and editing.... and I don't necessarily mean uber-ADD'd rack focuses and a ton of roaming around and MTV editing.... it could be something really stark and bare and locked off... that depends on the story and the characters.

try looking at architecture and design magazines and photography mags for some inspirado
 
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