"Epitaph" online premiere.

Post by **Evan Kubota** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 7:29 am

I've posted my most recent short film, "Epitaph." This was shot over Thanksgiving weekend with my R10 and 6 carts of K40. Everything except the sunset sequence was at 24 fps. The transfer was off the wall using my GL2 and a Eumig 824 projector. Comments are welcomed.

Save the file to your hard drive (it's not embedded in an HTML page).

http://plaza.ufl.edu/ekubota/EPITAPHf.mp4

Post by **freddiesykes** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 7:31 am

I've been waiting for this since the day you posted the short sample clip!

Post by **freddiesykes** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 7:41 am

Just finished. Evan, your work is inspiring to me beyond what you may believe. My current project has a similar theme; I may have to change it now! Thanks for posting and keep filming.

By the way, did you get the suit from army surplus? Some of the stuff looks like cold war Russian to me.

Post by **sooper8fan** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 8:58 am

Evan, it always seems like you've got nothin' but spare time on your hands

I'm jealous that you're always working on something.

I'm not really a big sci-fi fan at all, however, with regards to camerawork, this was such a huge improvement from Taco (no offense). I actually enjoyed watching this one. I liked that it was all Super8 (with the exception of that ending graphic I assume). I really liked the soundtrack as well....and all the audio elements of the film. Nicely done. I assume you're happy with all your footage from the R10?

Out of curiosity, was that last black & white shot originally K40 that you just made black & white?

My only other comment is that even though I say I'm much more impressed with the camerawork this time, if the film was starring you....then you must not have been shooting, right?

Hopefully one of these days I'll have something for you to critique me on

Until then, keep up the good work, Evan.

Post by BK » Sat Dec 24, 2005 10:48 am

Great work Evan! I enjoyed it.

However I thought the beginning was a little abrupt, it seems like it was part two of a story and I never had a chance to get to know the charactor well and share his feelings.

Would be nice if there was some more shots ( maybe with space craft models ) of the craft hitting the astroids at light speed and of astronaut's escape and landing just to make it more dramatic.

The audio is excellent with good music and sound effects.

Bill

Post by aj » Sat Dec 24, 2005 11:12 am

Well, indeed a nice piece of work. Good story line in such a brief time. I have to view it once more but I understand it has some Planet-of-the-apes morale in it.

The MP4 compression is somewhat coarse and doesn't combine very well with the handheld camerawork.

Post by **MovieStuff** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 3:11 pm

Looks great! Good job, Evan. Again, I am envious of anyone that has time to make any film, short or long.

Roger

Post by **Evan Kubota** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 6:10 pm

I was operating the camera for all the shots where I wasn't in frame... the others were operated by my brother, but I generally framed each shot very specifically before handing over the camera. He had some problems pulling focus, zooming, and panning at the same time... there's one shot where the focus is not great, but it was a long take and I couldn't repeat it.

I didn't storyboard anything for this project except the opening sequence (in the field, removing the metal shrapnel). Surprisingly, I thought this came together in a visual sense at least as well as "Survival Record," which was 90% storyboarded. My preference now when location shooting is to look at what's available and assemble the angles in real-time while shooting. I didn't encounter any real issues with mismatched cuts, weird angles that didn't edit well, etc. I'll probably continue to shoot this way in the future whenever possible.

I agree that the MP4 is not ideal. I'll run a better-looking version through Compressor at some point, but my webspace is extremely limited (25 MB).

Everything was K40 except the final photo, which is a JPEG from a satellite.

I also have a new tripod and a Miller head, which I used for this project ;) Taco was shot on a no-name tripod from the '70s with a friction head where the grease had dried out.

As for abruptness - this project was conceived really quickly to re-use the props and the set from "Silence," my earlier SF project. Kind of Ed Wood-like, I guess, in the sense that it had to be made quickly and using elements from other films. The opening shot in the space capsule, as well as the closing POV shot ascending into space, are actually directly taken from "Silence" ;)

The R10 has been a great camera - easy to use, reliable, good images. Some of the processing left the footage fairly dirty, but what can I do when it's the only place in the hemisphere that does K40...

I guess I do have quite a bit of spare time compared to most people, but it still takes a good 5-6 weeks to conceive, write, shoot, and edit a project. I only produced five projects this year (1 16mm, 3 Super 8, 1 miniDV). Next year will probably be 3 or 4, maximum, although at least one will be 16mm, in the 20 minute range.

Post by **teadub** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 7:51 pm

Evan, this is a great peice. The folly and sound track match super good. What was the total budget?

Post by **Evan Kubota** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 8:21 pm

I had the helmet and costume from another project, but if I included those, around $300 including film and processing.

The helmet is a Soviet high-altitude pressure helmet (GSh-6) and the costume is a set of US vehicle crewman overalls.

Post by **steve hyde** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 8:37 pm

....This is a mood-sustaining piece. Very well done.

Thanks for posting it.

Steve

Post by **HTTK** » Sat Dec 24, 2005 10:19 pm

Downloading and going to watch....just holding my place in line. I'll be back with a review! ;)

Post by **Film-0-Matic** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 3:09 am

MovieStuff wrote:Looks great! Good job, Evan. Again, I am envious of anyone that has time to make any film, short or long.

Roger

are you in prison? :?:

this film is super:-)
great atmosphere.. i love it.

Post by **scott** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 7:31 am

If you need some web space, I'd be glad to help you out.

Post by **Rick Palidwor** » Sun Dec 25, 2005 4:35 pm

Good work Evan.

Rick