Movie quality

[swisher321]

hey guys i need some help. from anyone. i have the visionlab editing software and the sony vx2100 camera. the problem is movies just don't have that "cinema" look or feel that other movies have (a good example is the short film "A Love Not Standing" on youtube) what is it that i need to make my movies have that better quality? is it lighting, or filters on my camera, or just using different grades in editing? i am struggling with this and i would be very gracious to anyone who helps me with anything. thanks guys. thanks again your the best!!!

[Poppyl90]

nice camera, mines a piece o' shit

[swisher321]

any suggestions. i get pretty good quality and sound with my camera its just my movies like that cinema look

[Globeversal Pictures]

What is vision lab? And if your not getting the look you want to perfect everything, lighting, in-camera settings, and color correction. do you have examples?

[koradin]

I suggest that you post a few videos you done, or at least a few clips. Because with out seeing what you are already filmed there’s no real way of suggesting way for you to improve. With out seeing any shorts or clips you filmed, its hard for people to guess at ways for you to improve. Otherwise you may just get generic answers that do not apply to you, so post a few clips and you may get some decent answers in return.

Visionlab (http://fxhome.com/visionlab) is a low priced compositing package designed for doing effects. So I hope swisher has some other software for doing the actual editing.

Koradin

[Shade2193]

what fps mode are you using?

[atomic9studios]

If you really want the cinema look, invest in a few ND filters, and maybe a 35mm adapter. I suggest the Jag35 Pro, the Red Rock Micro M2, and the Brevis MP.2

If you need any help with that, just PM me.

[SyxxGage]

You can also try a pulldown if your frame rate isn't at 24. But as others said, you will need to upload a sample video if you want more specific advice.

[Koolpenguin89]

You can also try a pulldown if your frame rate isn't at 24.

That makes absolutely no sense.

Dylan

[swisher321]

how do i upload on here

[TheResignation00]

That makes absolutely no sense.

Dylan

...how so?

i mean, sure, it's going to improve quality, but playing at 24 frames a second will definitely give it a SLIGHTLY more film-like look, even though the video would be interlaced.

[Koolpenguin89]

I think you guys should actually do some research into what the word "pulldown" actually refers to. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecine

When i said it didn't make sense, i meant it literally. The words he used make no sense together.

Dylan

[TheResignation00]

haha, well, he does kind of have it "ass backwards" but whatever. i know what he meant.

[swisher321]

help me!!!

[swisher321]

how do i do this 24 frames per second

[swisher321]

and how can i upload a clip on here for you guys to see

[atomic9studios]

Upload it onto youtube and post the link here.

[swisher321]

so atomic9studios what are those filters you were talkin about

[michaelbak]

Okay , to get a film look you have to bring up your production value. This means you have to have Good Camera work , Good lighting , Good sound , and a Good story.

Sound is the easiest part just buy a good microphone and make a boom pole and have your friend hold it over the actors head. Before shooting input the sound in to a mixer and set the audio levels so you can hear your actors but the other sound in the scene are lower and won't overtake the scene.

For story read some books and hire good actors or have your actors (which may be your friends) practice a lot to get better. For a script you could write a script , buy a script , or hire a screen writer. All of these may be done in a simple manor but writing may be your best shot. You could pay one of your friends to write you a script but they may not be the best of a writer so it may be better that they tell you a idea they have and work off of it in to your own script.

For lighting there isn't much i can cover in a small paragraph. The basics are 3 point lighting but you may mix up set ups to get a look you want. Search around the internet , read books , and just buy some lights and practice working with them.

And finally for camera work you need to have good composition and framing. The basics are the rule of thirds and using the different shot types. What most people where talking about with ND filters is a trick to add a little more "Depth of Field" to the shot. Doing this you open your camera's iris or aperture so that your footage is very bright. You then add a ND filter to cut down on the light so that you get a normal looking image. These gives you a shallow depth of field because the light feeds the circle of confusion in the lens and gives you a small depth of field. Note that depth of field is only a small part of a film look and everything else I've stated is actually more important.

The last thing is 35mm adapters which everyone keeps talking about but I'm not going to describe that to you because i wrote a long guide on them which you can read in my signature.

Also most older episodes of Indy Mogul cover these subjects so watch some of them.

[swisher321]

thanks for the help i understand lighting has a big part of it too but i just have a couple of high voltage work lights the video "A love Not Standing" on youtube is a perfect example of the look i want

[michaelbak]

thanks for the help i understand lighting has a big part of it too but i just have a couple of high voltage work lights the video "A love Not Standing" on youtube is a perfect example of the look i want


Work lights are fine. Just make some stands from the fluorescent light episode and make some DIY barn doors and your good to go.

[WesScog]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZfyP91YZnY

Here is the film he talked about who he thought had a "cinema-look".

Anyway, to answer your questions, it's a combination of factors. It's good camera, it's good lighting, it's good composition, camera work, editing, grading, output, etc.

There is no set formula, so post some links of your work (like how I posted a link to "A Love Not Standing" above) and let us see it so we can tell you EXACTLY what you need improvements on.

[swisher321]

okay how do i join the directors channel of youtube because it says my vids are too long for a normal account

[swisher321]

here is a clip from my movie seagulls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQjAeBxZ4LE
here is a clip from a short i did with my new camera (vx2100)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KemeJuIQpVs

[gonzo_entertainment]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZfyP91YZnY

Here is the film he talked about who he thought had a "cinema-look".

Anyway, to answer your questions, it's a combination of factors. It's good camera, it's good lighting, it's good composition, camera work, editing, grading, output, etc.

There is no set formula, so post some links of your work (like how I posted a link to "A Love Not Standing" above) and let us see it so we can tell you EXACTLY what you need improvements on.

That clip looked.. ok. There were some well lit scenes, and some scenes where the lighting was not so great. Getting to that quality might be a step up for the OP, but hardly "all that".

[SyxxGage]

okay how do i join the directors channel of youtube because it says my vids are too long for a normal account


You can change your account type under settings. However, even if you change it to director, you are still limited to 10 minutes for a video. Only people who had a directors account BEFORE Youtube instituted the time limit are able to upload longer videos. If your video is a little over the limit, they should still let it go up to 10:59

[Koolpenguin89]

here is a clip from my movie seagulls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQjAeBxZ4LE
here is a clip from a short i did with my new camera (vx2100)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KemeJuIQpVs

Im going to be completely honest about this. The first video is comprised of shoddy camera work, poor acting, cheesy effects, and kids with guns. The second video is very boring, 30-40 second takes of a talking head do not hold anyones attention, and the video appeared to be shot on a poor quality camera (either that or the compression was very bad). My first suggestion to you is to buy a tripod, no one likes to watch a handheld film. After that, start experimenting with different types of shots and camera moves. Also, try to find some real actors. Im sure their is a local acting troupe in your area that you can contact. This next part i can't stress enough: do NOT shoot a film involving kids with guns. Its not believable and no one will take you seriously.

Dylan

[gonzo_entertainment]

"no one likes to watch a handheld film"

Pet Peeve of mine. If in the first 5 minutes there is more than 1 minute of handheld without a VERY good reason, then I'm done, diving for the "stop" button.

[swisher321]

i have three tripods only the first part of the first clip is handheld. of course the second clip is boring it was a request from my pastor for church i had very strict instructions i just simply posted it as an example of quality i get with my new camera

[gonzo_entertainment]

With the kind of unknown quantity of the peformance of work lights, even more important than usual to play around and shoot a LOT of test footage at the locations.

[WesScog]

here is a clip from my movie seagulls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQjAeBxZ4LE
here is a clip from a short i did with my new camera (vx2100)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KemeJuIQpVs

The lighting in the first clip was decent. When you shined it on his face when he leaned out you needed to put some diffusion on it, but other than that it was ok.

The major issue, as was pointed out previously was the camera work, it was shaky and there wasn't great composition.

http://www.indymogul.com/post/4165/wesleys-weekly-how-to-camera-stabilizers
http://www.indymogul.com/post/4217/more-camera-stabilizers

There are tons of cheap stabilizers that people have come up with here. Take some inspiration from them, and learn to be a bit more careful with your camera work.

If you had glided around that first corner a bit more smoothly, it would have looked a LOT better.

Lighting and grading was less of an issue here, and the bigger issue was the camera work, actors, and sound.

For the second video, dig the guys costume, good job with that, but watching him sit there and talk is ultimately uninteresting. What would have been better is to have seen him acting it out with his narration over it.

Just watching him sit there and narrate it is not really all that interesting looking, and doesn't make a compelling video.

[gonzo_entertainment]

"Just watching him sit there and narrate it is not really all that interesting looking, and doesn't make a compelling video"

Very european! haha

I have a scene in my movie with a shot, maybe a minute long, of a doctor listening to a patient rant on a reel to reel recorder. I intentionally did it as only a continuous master shot. It drove my editor nuts have a shot that long with no edits. That's what I told him, "it's very european, could be worse, I could have given you a 12 minute shot of a guy looking out a train window!"

[michaelbak]

i have three tripods only the first part of the first clip is handheld. of course the second clip is boring it was a request from my pastor for church i had very strict instructions i just simply posted it as an example of quality i get with my new camera

Are any of those fluid? If not you should really save up and get one. I like the Manfrotto tripods as they really last you and some really great tripods for cheap. The 701HDV is a great little head for smaller consumer and prosumer cameras and a few other things like a matte box and 35mm adapter. I use basicly this and love except my tripod legs are a bit older since I've had it for about a year.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/567602-REG/Manfrotto_by_Bogen_Imaging__190XDB_with_701HDV_Vid eo.html

[swisher321]

like i said wes i understand the 2nd video was boring but the purpose of me posting it was to simply show the quality of my camera. my pastor just wanted the guy sitting there telling the story as if in an interview. trust me if i could have made it more interesting i would have

[swisher321]

but thanks for giving me pretty much the only positive feedback and i know i need new actors but my high school is really biased with sports so theres not many i know

[WesScog]

The quality of your camera looks fine, although it'd be more helpful if we could see it on something else other than YouTube.

[Zackmo92]

hey guys i need some help. from anyone. i have the visionlab editing software and the sony vx2100 camera. the problem is movies just don't have that "cinema" look or feel that other movies have (a good example is the short film "A Love Not Standing" on youtube) what is it that i need to make my movies have that better quality? is it lighting, or filters on my camera, or just using different grades in editing? i am struggling with this and i would be very gracious to anyone who helps me with anything. thanks guys. thanks again your the best!!!

I don't know if this has been said before but a 35mm Lens Adapter would probably give you the biggest improvement. But I honestly know less than shit about them, so you'll have to look for yourself. There is, however, a video on IndyMogul about them. All I know is that they're expensive (for me, somebody who has no job at this time).

[Westcroft]

I thought the second video (the first link didn't work so I can't comment) neede more light... bouncing some light while outdoors does the trick. Also I'm not sure if it was the colour correction or the white balance, but that dude's skin looked red.

You might want to look at secondary colour correction, Stu over at Prolost has a great entry on it: http://prolost.com/blog/2008/3/23/save-our-skins.html

Overall though you have to frame shots a bit better and stabilize your footage (handheld works, but you want to keep rotational camera shaking to a minimum).

I don't think a 35mm adapter is your best option, you don't seem to be in dire need of one and you can always do the DOF trick of zooming on your subject to get that shallow depth of field look..

cheers