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The Filmmakers Thread
I thought, as a young, amateur film-maker myself, we should have a thread where we could discuss everything indie film-making. Things like gear we use, video editing, cameras, lights etc.
I also thought that this would be a great place to post any short films and videos that you've made to, as a sort of opportunity to receive feedback etc. I am aware that their are in fact a fair few filmmakers on this forum, so post away!
I'll start us off by posting this, an artsy sort of test video I made just before christmas, shot as a test to try out some colour correction....:D
I also thought that this would be a great place to post any short films and videos that you've made to, as a sort of opportunity to receive feedback etc. I am aware that their are in fact a fair few filmmakers on this forum, so post away!
I'll start us off by posting this, an artsy sort of test video I made just before christmas, shot as a test to try out some colour correction....:D
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Here's our only successful video. The story is his idea, but the direction was done by me.
Pretty amateur, I know. But I like it :)
I have tons of ideas for films, and Bond films I plan on writing out some day.
That was pretty darn good, music is incredible, creates a lot of tension. I thought it was going to be a horror for a minute. Was it from 'The Wolfman' By danny elfman. I thought I recognized some of the notes. Overall, very good!!! :D
What do you think of mine, the artsy one?
James,
Thanks for posting this thread.
@JWESTBROOK That was weird, haha, but I watched it, was put together well too.
I started out wanting to be info Film, isn't not easy to get into. I ended up getting into advertising, which I also love because I do commercials, haha..
Here is my old demo reel before I started doing more professional work.
and here was a funny skit for a country musician I did a while back, you may not like it if your not into country.
these next 2 are parodies of the films "Office Space" and "Clerks" I directed for the Cleveland International Film Festival.. i used these parodies to help explain FAQs of the festival, such as: "purchasing tickets online", and also "single tickets vs. vouchers"
and here is some exploration i've done using After Effects.. enjoy..
and more recently, here is the first trailer for the short film i wrote/directed called "The Harvesters"... i want to do another trailer, grindhouse/70s horror style, but this one will do for the time being..
This is the trailer for the first feature film I made over the last 9 months. Had a cinema premiere for the cast, crew and a few interested stragglers last week but hoping to invest in new equipment and get another feature up and running in a few weeks!
I loved the tune, and the trailer got me really interested.
And don't worry about your equipment so much. I think the most worthy investment is what you use to record sound. Video quality is pretty good compared to price no matter what you use these days. Your trailer had me interested, and I hardly noticed the quality of the shot.
Again, what bugs me the most is sound. If I can hear the noise of just the room, and the dialogue sounds muffled, it brings me farther from the story than the quality of the video. Better sound guarantees better quality, while better image quality, as long as its decent, doesn't take too much from a project.
@James
Thank you! Yes, it was Danny Elfman. I love his soundtrack for Wolfman. We actually threw that video together in under a day, planning in all. He said, "I need a video for my class in two days.." So he came over, we sort of copied a sketch done by a YouTuber we follow, and filmed. The cinematography was last minute, his camera couldn't focus properly worth a junk, and it was turning night so I rushed to save the continuity of the sky light. We filmed in under an hour, and I edited it all in Windows Movie Maker by the end of the night. Posted it to his YouTube, his class (and school) loved it.
Its the only one for his class I've helped him on, but we have a TON planned that he has due to film. I've just been busy with work. This week we'll probably knock a few out, and I'll be sure to post those here as well.
Your artsy video had some lovely cinematography. The color correction on most of the clips really aided the video. On some, like when you were shooting the tree-tops against the sky, the trees were blacked out. Thats something that is difficult to work with, but messing with some setting on your camera (depending on what you have) could fix that.
Also, the way I like filming things is always from a steady platform, whether its a rail, wall, table, or a tri-pod, in my opinion it makes the shot look.. smoother.
@Jole
Thanks. Weird was the goal, and like I said above it was done in a rush. 'Well put together' I feel is more 'kinda well put together'. At :40 he walks SOOO slow, but he was being a smart ass because he was walking too fast the first take, the camera was ghosting as I followed him. Also, the cut where he looks at the tree after it moved is a bit rough. And the ending bugs me. It was rushed, a last minute thought (even though the whole thing was, really).
The music could have been louder, and I wish I had a program for color correction.
But other than that, I like it. Haha.
Thanks for your excellent feedback, it is much appreciated :D
I think the problem with the trees being blacked out was me "crushing the blacks" too much when color correcting, a bit overkill. Since I have got better at color correcting, really takes time to get the hang of it, but haven't got around to editing anything together yet. Probably will do next week, got a bit more time then :) ....
I'm using after effects for color and premier pro for editing, both xmas presents. But your short, didn't even notice it was cut on movie maker, usually you can tell, but yours seemed to flow really well.
And if there is anything you want color correcting, let me know, will be willing to offer my services to you, for free of course. Want to get as much practice as I can with this software before I try and shoot something 'major'
James,
jamesh101- loved your shots! what camera are you using?
jwestbrook- your movie made me laugh! haha good job. Im going to be terrified next christmas.
jolearon- looks like you get a lot of local work! any tips? and what kind of advertising do you do now?
haserot- loved your stuff too! You definitely have some after effects skills- there are a lot of jobs that use after effects. And did you have something in the Cleveland Film Festival? and i look forward to your short- looks good!
Blond- your trailer is definitely intriguing! Very impressive you did a feature. Is it very stressful? This summer I might be doing a big independent feature- we'll see. How did your premiere go?
I have some older movies online, but none of my recent stuff..
But here is a quick demo reel of some of my work from the past 5 years or so.
:D
Thanks. Hah it's actually a detective who found The Man with The Yellow Hat's hat. (The guy from Curious George). The movie is a detective trying to find Waldo.
@0BradyM0Bondfanatic7
Thanks. Some of the material has been deep. Haha but yeah I did a short for a 3 day film festival at school a couple years ago and it was basically a cop chasing a robber (major lack of a story) but it was basically a big fight in this warehouse which led to a bathroom *cough* CR fight.
@Jamesh101
Can you change your picture settings on your camera? If you change the image settings so there is little contrast and not much saturation- it leaves a lot more room for manipulation in color correcting. What program are you using for it?
i am still a newbie, when it comes to operating a camera - so, for The Harvesters, I had a buddy of mine shoot - that way (much like an actual film) I could focus on directing.. and same goes for the Office Space and Clerks videos - the Clerks one wasn't hard as you can see.. but the Office Space parody i had another friend shoot, so I could focus on directing the actors, as well as my buddy doing the shooting... but the Social Awareness video was all my camerawork lol..
I have a couple more short 3-5 minute video ideas that I want to do, as well as my own short tribute to The Twilight Zone tv series that I want to shoot this upcoming year... but other than that, myself and a buddy are spending a lot of time writing out the story/script for a couple feature films that we want to see if we can actually shoot... one of them is a feature length adaptation of The Harvesters.. the other is a zombie flick.. and the last one is spy/thriller/action piece (sort of my tip of the cap to Bond and his influence on me wanting to make movies lol).
while attending school - and conversing with other students on what influenced them to want to make videos or films.. it seemed like every answer was some sort of obscure Independent film that I barely heard of - and that if you didn't like those kind of movies, then you would fail as a filmmaker (at least that was the vibe i felt)... and while I opened myself up more to the world of Independent film over the past few years, there is no denying the fact that reason I want to make movies, is my love for the James Bond and Indiana Jones films... and every time I start to have doubts - i can pop in From Russia With Love or Last Crusade - and it serves as a reminder and reafirms that that is what I want to do for a career...
so while other students/classmates have their endless library of indy flicks that inspired them, I have no shame in saying I am influenced by James Bond and Indiana Jones, by Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.
i like a lot.. but my go to directors, whenever i look for inspiration for shots, or how to handle certain scenes, are:
Hitchcock
Spielberg
Scorsese
and yes, sometimes M. Night Shyamalan - simply because I love visually artistic directors, and he creates a lot of beautiful looking stuff.
The older i get though the more appreciation i have for independent movies though- they usually have more story and character than Hollywood. Though i want to be like Christopher Nolan and have both.
as have I.. I have nothing against Independent movies at all... nowadays, they are better than 90% of what Hollywood turns out.
lol speaking of Indiana Jones, in one of the scenes (in the background) of my short film The Harvesters, sitting in the fireplace is the golden fertility idol from Raiders of the Lost Ark.... but i am not sure if it made it on camera or not.... i plan to throw little easter eggs like that in my all my films - to pay homage.
- Finally a thread where i can talk my interests and hopes!
I am 15, and have been into film making for almost six years (In february).
As many on this thread will want, i have hopes of atleast going somewhere in the future with something to do with films. Of course i would love to become a pro. but i would be almost just as happy filming just independently.
I am currently working on a 'mini-series' that originally was planned as a short film, but became far too much for one film to handle. And in which, if i get done, may upload here. Part by Part.
"professionally". I am actually working on a short feature (about an hour long) horror film!! Good luck with your mini series! :D
it would be an interesting exercise lol.
Do it. You have until March, I demand!
I've thought about that too but if the one does make the movie and its half way decent, EON and the Flemming Estate will be all over you. (not in a good way probably)