second hand- My New Short! Shot on hv30 with a Jag35st.

[akane2]

hey there , here is my short film entitiled "second hand." It involves a young man struggling with his thoughts while on a bus ride. He thinks back to a girl that he likes, but is overtaken by the thoughts of what he does to her, more specifically her fur coat.

This was all shot on my HV30 and edited\ color graded in Final Cut Pro. I also used a Jag35st Static 35mm adaptor, and a Rode Videomic.

Please leave your comments!

Thanks

second hand. on Vimeo

[ChaseBecraft]

I'm not really understanding the story/plot/characters?

I'm guessing the protagonist is anti-fur or something?

[akane2]

ya it is a triumph of the main characters morals (anti-fur) over his feelings of lust for the girl. That is the whole message from the film.

[Snazzy Flapper]

If humans failed to utilize fur you wouldn't exist today. Get over it!

Seriously though, the handheld shake-fest really stopped me from watching the past the first minute.

[akane2]

Thats an argument ive heard too many times. I dispell the use of fur for VANITY sake. These days fur is a trend that comes and goes, and unfortunetely many many animals live horrific and terribly short lives for someone to wear their skin. Dont act like fur is a vital component in clothing these days!

And as far as the handheld stuff goes... im sorry you cant handle it. But it was a concious decision to use handheld, not an arbitrary one

[SunsetUnlimited]

I thought the shots and editing were great. Good pacing for a short that has no dialogue.

[Snazzy Flapper]

Cool. Hope you reach your audience with the jiggly camera.


And the part about fur was a joke, but I guess you didn't catch that.

[azmyth]

I had a hard time watching it due to the shakyness. Handheld is not a problem, but stabilize it somehow. Even though we know the bus is not a smooth ride, I still think it could have been smoother. The editing was good, but I don't care for the Jag35st. I used to have one, and ugh.. just don't like how it degrades the image. But otherwise good job.

[Shaunp007]

How does the main character know that its not faux fur? He should have asked her! Make a sequel where the boyfriend beats the crap out of that guy for throwing paint on his girlfriends faux fur jacket...lol

Sorry for not offering any constructive critism, I guess Im not in the mood right now.

[Gillvane]

Thats an argument ive heard too many times. I dispell the use of fur for VANITY sake. These days fur is a trend that comes and goes, and unfortunetely many many animals live horrific and terribly short lives for someone to wear their skin. Dont act like fur is a vital component in clothing these days!



So? Kill baby seals and make some baby seal socks. My feet are cold.

Why should I care if that upsets you? You don't own the freakin' planet or all the animals on it.

[akane2]

So? Kill baby seals and make some baby seal socks. My feet are cold.

Why should I care if that upsets you? You don't own the freakin' planet or all the animals on it.

Thats pretty good man.

[zzddevilzz]

wow really good quality how do you get such good qualitly? check out my vids all shot with hv30 not nearly s good as yours!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDDVOmYnwns

[akane2]

wow really good quality how do you get such good qualitly? check out my vids all shot with hv30 not nearly s good as yours!
YouTube- GREENY 2 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDDVOmYnwns)

just shot it in cinemode and 24p. Did some color correction in final cut, and used a 35mm adaptor. Besides that nothing out of the norm.

[zzddevilzz]

Ok thanks!

[Fluffy]

I liked it in general -- the bus journey could've been shorter, but it was not tiresome at all. BUT the most important for me --and you won my heart immediately--was the theme: Anti-fur. I appreciated it very much since I dedicate a great deal of my life bringing awareness to the horrific suffering inflicted up on countless millions of fur bearing animals simply for vanity. I will post the video to all my groups!
Warm regards,
www.antifursociety.org

[tikishirt]

Cool. Hope you reach your audience with the jiggly camera.


And the part about fur was a joke, but I guess you didn't catch that.



oooh! Bitchy!

[tikishirt]

not feeling the shakyness too bro, i think it was the wrong choice- it didn't really suit the tone of the piece. maybe you could have cropped some of those shots in too, could see the top of the stair bannisters for example.

didn't really care about this guy, i didn't know who he was and to be honest got a little bored of waiting for something to happen after like a minute.

music SUCKED.

looked real nice though, edited kinda well.

peace.

[Shaunp007]

So? Kill baby seals and make some baby seal socks. My feet are cold.

Why should I care if that upsets you? You don't own the freakin' planet or all the animals on it.

lol....

[akane2]

not feeling the shakyness too bro, i think it was the wrong choice- it didn't really suit the tone of the piece. maybe you could have cropped some of those shots in too, could see the top of the stair bannisters for example.

didn't really care about this guy, i didn't know who he was and to be honest got a little bored of waiting for something to happen after like a minute.

music SUCKED.

looked real nice though, edited kinda well.

peace.


The "top of the stair bannister" was in there intentionally. Obviously you didnt notice the theme of objects out of focus in the foreground the entire film. This is a technique to give more of a sence of depth to these frame.

Im sorry you didnt like the story or the main character. And no the music didnt suck, thats just an ignorant statement.

[Almohada]

Shakiest video I've ever seen. Was the frame rate 15 fps? It looked like it =/ maybe it's Vimeo

[Snazzy Flapper]

I don't think the sound was too bad, but it felt kinda moody and generic. If I had to guess I'd say it was stock sound that you thought fit the mood.

One, and a minor nitpick.. the period in the title "Second Hand." seems wrong, as if it doesn't belong there.

[theBman]

the pacing was well done...

...the anti fur thing is ridiculous...some guy who day dreams about cuddling and nuzzling rabbits, while on his way to go vandalize some girl he thinks is hot... but doesnt follow his moral set. WHAT KIND OF MAN ATTACKS A WOMEN IN A PARK?!

aside from that a few minor issues:

first off, he's wearing a tshirt on a clearly nice day, while she's wearing a warm as hell fur coat makes no sense, and makes it seem forced.

the bus scene is way to long.

and lastly when hes watching her from the bench right before the attack it seems like he's about to straight up rape her...
....which leads into the end, which was played out like a murder... or maybe a "murder of CHARACTER!"

[jet]

Thats an argument ive heard too many times. I dispell the use of fur for VANITY sake. These days fur is a trend that comes and goes, and unfortunetely many many animals live horrific and terribly short lives for someone to wear their skin. Dont act like fur is a vital component in clothing these days!

And as far as the handheld stuff goes... im sorry you cant handle it. But it was a concious decision to use handheld, not an arbitrary one

With you all the way, sadly a large percentage of us animal species does not give a sod for the other species we are making extinct daily, slight downside some of the other moans were right includuding the film is a bit shakey at times :hv20-smilie03:

[Shaunp007]

some guy who day dreams about cuddling and nuzzling rabbits, while on his way to go vandalize some girl he thinks is hot... "

Its called "inter-species erotica"

[theBman]

lol

[theboofin]

So? Kill baby seals and make some baby seal socks. My feet are cold.

Why should I care if that upsets you? You don't own the freakin' planet or all the animals on it.

You know...... you're still a dipshit for joking about it.

[theboofin]

Ok, me again. My two cents.

Every shot should have a purpose. For example, what was the motivation of all the bus stuff?

You could have shown him at the store buying something but not showing what it was. Big payoff when we finally see that it was the paint.

Why show him running away like a little girl? He should have just moved away with new found revulsion at his girl.

Also, could have set up the relationship more so we see what a struggle it may have been for him.

More tension and release would have improved it. Good effort though.

Regards,
Steve

[Snazzy Flapper]

I honestly don't have a problem with man using any kind of animal for his survival and comfort, provided he engages in that action without unnecessary indifference to the life of the animal before its consumption.

That's how the animal world works. All species take part. Cats routinely hunt and catch birds, only to play with them, hone their skills, then leave them to die. To think humans "are above" all of that is foolish and consistently proven untrue. You can personally choose to believe that and act accordingly, but you can't expect the rest of mankind to follow. Its not in our DNA.

If you haven't already seen it, you should watch "Temple Grandin" on HBO. She helped improve the quality of life of the majority of cattle on feed lots before their ultimate demise. It's a true and inspirational story. http://www.hbo.com/movies/temple-grandin/index.html

And I think she summed it up perfectly... it's a whole lot better for a cow to be treated with respect and then killed humanely by man than it is to be ripped up and eaten in the wild.

[Shaunp007]

snazzy flapper,

Your post was interesting to me and made me think about the history of humans and how they, humanely or not, killed animals for our sustinance.

I was thinking when we were not technologically advanced and had to hunt in the woods with spears, it would probably take multiple spear hits into a large animal to take it down, and the animal would be running around with large wounds, in pain the whole time, not very humane, but what was the alternative.

Was there any alternative to doing it that way? Yes...the early human would starve. The choices were life or death, comfort or hardship...interesting to think about.

I'll have to check that movie out.

[Gillvane]

You know...... you're still a dipshit for joking about it.

you know, I'm not joking. I'm am sick to death of pc crap.

It's bad to wipe out a species. So regulation is necessary, so future generations can also enjoy baby seal socks.

Otherwise, I don't care about the bleeding hearts that don't like fur. If you don't like it, dont' wear. Dont be a Nazi and tell me I can't wear it.

[Snazzy Flapper]

I'm unaware of man having "wiped out" any species due to consumption of any part of the creature. Can you name a few?

Seals aren't endangered last time I checked.

And even before man starting waddling around on the earth the migration and adaptation of species led to the movement and ultimate demise of other species. That's part of natural selection, and no matter what tools you bring to the table, you can't eliminate it. It's organic and part of nature.

[akane2]

Hey if we can get conversations like this goin on then mission accomplished.

[akane2]

I would love to get some more comments

[liQuid03x]

...the anti fur thing is ridiculous...some guy who day dreams about cuddling and nuzzling rabbits, while on his way to go vandalize some girl he thinks is hot... but doesnt follow his moral set. WHAT KIND OF MAN ATTACKS A WOMEN IN A PARK?!


This.

I'm sorry, but the entire piece is melodramatic and ridiculous. The cinematography was nice, but it's hard not to laugh at how seriously the piece takes itself.

And running away like a little girl is exactly what these anti-fur people and the like seem to do - attack people and run away like little girls. Interesting. He should've stayed there yelling at her, but I guess he didn't have the balls to do it? I don't know.

Too over-the-top serious for me.

[akane2]

ya, it was supposed to be taken more like a joke. But i can see when there are moments of it being over the top. It was probably the music that made it that way. BTW HECQ is amazing. The music score is by them.

[Jergling]

And running away like a little girl is exactly what these anti-fur people and the like seem to do - attack people and run away like little girls.

Now that's just sexist.

Argument: ENGAGE!

Besides that, I liked the color, not the camerawork. Focusing on the background results in a headache, not a deep message.


Oh, and Arkane, bumping your own month-old topic that was already a flame-war doesn't really help anything...

[STUDIO32MID]

Well well well, i am not commenting on the subject matter fur or no fur. I noticed that the actual sequence seemed pale and the thought process seemed more rich in color. was that deliberate to go opposite to the usual style where the dreams/thoughts, falshback has a pale appeal?

Besides that the shaky shots was hard to ignore- were those handheld or monopod? Next time try a bean bag or the mini tripod. Hopefully that helps. Was interesting for a shot that had no audio except soundtrack if i can call it that.

On a lighter note at the end when the paint was poured on her coat i was expecting some kind of 'commercial like message' like 'tide removes the toughest stains' hahah just being silly.

Must have cost you a fur coat to get this done, also saw you deliberately avoided people on the bus etc for legal reasons? Great, was that you pouring the paint? Looking forward to another short.

[SilverEvolver]

I think people are a little warped on the whole "OMG it's not smooth" I seriously thought the hand held looked cool, you maintained the image you were shooting but had a lot of natural movement to it, it felt like you were on a moving bus to watch, which is good to me., it sets the scene. People are just so used to smooth cameras these days they think that excessive hand held footage is bad.

However, the whole ting just stank of boredom, I don't know what it was man... just didn't captivate me. Keep trying.

[alexenman]

Such a thin line between acceptable shaky and bad shaky - i think a little bit more stabilization would have helped make it more watchable. Play around with different degrees of shaky-cam. The jag, however, looks great!

[akane2]

thanks for the comments. Ya like i said it was intentionally shaky, i didnt think it was too much considering it was the natural movements on the bus. I just bought a glidecam 2000 so no more shakiness on my films!