"last rolls" music video. first cut.

Post by **mattias** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 8:15 pm

hey,

here's a first cut of the video i shot with my last rolls of k40, mentioned in an earlier thread. your feedback is very welcome. i know many of you will want "more variation" but this is what we got. no more no less. ;-) we can change the order, shot selection and tempo, but not the general content. oh, and it's obviously not been fully graded yet. we did a best light with kent.

http://www.mattias.nu/stuff/dust061113.mov

/matt

Post by **reflex** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 8:27 pm

Thanks for making me grin like a kid - it amuses me to hell that you found a way to use your last reels indoors under artificial light... and even had the audacity to hang light bulbs everywhere.

Post by **anitasanger** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:03 pm

nice man, i really like it. how did you synch the sound it seemed perfect!

Post by **jimmyking** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:04 pm

Great stuff Mattias!
Which camera/s did you use?

Post by **Uppsala BildTeknik** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 10:33 pm

Looking good! Much more fun to see the video with the music synched a bit better than we had while scanning. ;)

Have you checked if the frameline will be visible in any shot, or is it outside the safezone? Or do you want it to be visible?

Post by **Evan Kubota** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 10:45 pm

Nice work.. the first shot with the light bulbs reminds me of a part from something I did about 10 months ago:

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

Were you using a camera with a macro ring to get the rack focus effects?

Post by **steve hyde** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 11:11 pm

...The photography and cuts are really nice. This is good "show reel" material too, because it is very obvious that you understand the language of the medium and are a skilled camera operator. The lighting is obviously well thought out and imaginative too. I'm sure she will love it.

Steve

Website · Post by **BigBeaner** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 12:10 am

I really freaking like this. I'm jealous I can't believe just how good it looks I can't believe it's K40. The only problem I have with it is well, the end I would make the crossfade last a little longer or have the fade out slightly earlier/slower, if you get what I mean. I know it's that the two lights go out but nothing draws my attention to that area of the screen so it went unnoticed most viewings and was just an odd cut in my opinion untill I realized the lights.

Post by **mattias** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 1:34 pm

Thanks guys. Any other comments on the editing? I'm fairly pleased but it feels like that extra something is missing. Not sure what it is. Too many or too few sync cuts perhaps? Too "even"? /matt

Post by **mattias** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 1:58 pm

anitasanger wrote:how did you synch the sound it seemed perfect!

my camera runs at a very steady and reliable 23.5 fps, so i simply played the song 6% slower when shooting and when transferred at 25 fps it all synced up like crystal.

Have you checked if the frameline will be visible in any shot, or is it outside the safezone? Or do you want it to be visible?

i want it to be visible. i think. not sure yet. easy to correct if i change my mind.

Which camera/s did you use?

canon 814e.

Were you using a camera with a macro ring to get the rack focus effects?

we used macro on the extreme closeups. then we shot most of the video on a very long lens to get as shallow a dof as possible. and i had a focus puller, ivica zubak, who was great not only at following focus but also at creatively and selectively racking everything to a blur at times.

/matt

Post by BK » Thu Nov 16, 2006 2:58 pm

mattias wrote:Thanks guys. Any other comments on the editing? I'm fairly pleased but it feels like that extra something is missing. Not sure what it is. Too many or too few sync cuts perhaps? Too "even"? /matt

Thought some of the cuts were rather too "quick" and repetitive, would like to see more of the singer on camera.

Maybe some effects ( eg. subtle film flash, grain, colour change, etc ) here and there to "spice" things up a little bit, it looks dull after a while when you have got used to the visuals.

Just my personal opinion, congrats and good professional work!

Bill

Post by **drsanchez** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 4:52 pm

mattias wrote: i want it to be visible. i think. not sure yet. easy to correct if i change my mind.

/matt

I had no problem with the frameline showing, but it seems to only show up on the medium closeup of her looking directly in the camera-- at the very beginning and very end. Maybe it happens more, I just watched it once, but if it's only happening on certain shots it feels like a mistake. If it happened on other shots as well, it'd be fine.

Now you know it's not a mistake, and we know it's not a mistake, but the audience might not.

Aside from that, I'm in awe. All my stuff is one tiny step above drunk uncle charlie's home movies; yours makes people look beautiful (maybe it's just the singer).

Post by **StoneBuilder** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 8:20 pm

It's a strong song - turn the bass up, perhaps. The close-ups could be diffused/softened. Bright subliminal flashes, from outside the room, added at strategic points ?

Post by **npcoombs** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:25 pm

Firstly, good work, all looks nice and well done.

I agree with your intuition that you could somehow play with the tempo of the editing. Tricky, because the song's tempo is quite flat and the lyrics and singing are pretty uninspiring. But changing the rhythm of the shots to build up somehow might work.

Post by **reflex** » Thu Nov 16, 2006 10:49 pm

Just watched the video again with some others in the studio. The general consensus was that it gets a tad claustrophobic about 2/3 of the way through... you feel like you're trapped in a room, yet she's singing about windows and dust. It's screaming for an intercut B&W outdoor sequence of her playing in a sandbox or letting a dirt dribble through her hand like an hourglass.

The trouble as it stands is that you could watch almost any 15 seconds of it and come away with the same impression.