Antman's Short Film Contest #22 - Re-enactment

[HueyNRolf]

Not sure if anyone would want to rewatch things, but I was trying to be faithful to the original source material in both of mine. Laughs, well for timing and shots anyway. The Mean Girls one, I could actually overlay the audio from the original on my scene and it would line up for the whole thing, except for one part near the end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJyyhNwdQz0

The Ferris Bueller one IS annoying. I've got a coworker that looks like Ben Stein, so we figured we'd go for it. Also Daniel, if you look at the tight shot in the original, you'll see that I'm not too far off. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NP0mQeLWCCo

And to Nick: Great job on yours!

Well there we have a problem when the judge hasn't seen any of the movies being recreated.

I was pleased to see those items put in there and used creatively.

I guessed I missed that bit too.
With all due respect, creativity in complying with the rules isn't the same as creativity which adds value to the piece.

[Daniel Rutter]

With all due respect, creativity in complying with the rules isn't the same as creativity which adds value to the piece

And yes Huey, we all know how creative you are... with all your absolutely stunning entries to this contest

[HueyNRolf]

Did I say I was more creative?
Non sequeter.

[Daniel Rutter]

Did I say I was more creative?

In that case, shut up and enjoy the contest videos.

[HueyNRolf]

I won't shut up. This is a forum. Get your own forum, if you don't like the way things are done here.

[Daniel Rutter]

I won't shut up. This is a forum. Get your own forum, if you don't like the way things are done here.

Good ol' Huey, you just don't know when to back down eh?

[Daniel Rutter]

I find it funny that my replies are being reported as "unsuitable for a mod", but nobody cares that Huey's baiting for a much harsher response? Come on people... you do realise all reports are sent to me as well, right?

[HueyNRolf]

I find it funny that my replies are being reported as "unsuitable for a mod"

Well how about that?
Interesting, thanks for letting us know.

[AJUK]

Randy Smith - Bueller? Bueller?
My Ranking Third Place

I like the way Randy has incorporated the items, especially the playing card, although the cigarette looked a little forced (no doubt because the actor doesn't smoke). The scene itself seemed strange because it's not actually a recreation of the scene in the movie, rather a recreation of a spoof of the scene (in the movie Bueller is only repeated four times).

The shots are nicely framed to recreate the original scene, the sound is a little rough, I like the use of 'Yello' over the end titles. As a direct recreation of the scene this entry misses the mark for me, so it didn't score as highly as it would have done.


Nick Royer - Int. Projection Room - Day
My RankingSecond Place

The items are well incorporated, the scene feels authentic, although I have to admit I don't own a copy of Kane and it has been at least 20 years since I last watched it. So I'm going on my memory of the film here. The shots are nciely framed and capture the formal composition and feel of 1940's filmmaking. I felt the acting was the main thing that let this down, as it is obvious that each character is reading a line, rather than having an actual conversation, many of the lines were delivered with a pause at the end, although the other character had not yet interrupted. It is this delivery that really detracts from the film for me.

It's a great idea to do a scene from a classic movie, and the black and white cinematography and lighting were well done. The devil is in the detail with this kind of scene, and it's a shame Nick wasn't able to produce a mock-up newspaper, as the text and headlines are clearly visible in the shot and detract from the effect. Other than that, the costumes and art-direction are very good and again the titles capture the feel of the vintage movie very well.



Randy Smith - Wait, those aren't girls.
My Ranking First Place

Again the items are incorporated cleverly, rewarding repeated viewing. This scene is played as a recreation of the movie, and I like the way that the female parts are played by male actors, but straight with no reference to the contradiction.

The shots are nicely framed to recreate the original scene, although the staging and locations have been changed somewhat from the original. The sound quality is a bit hard, especially in the last lines of dialogue, due to the kitchen location with all those reflective surfaces. Again the titles are nicely done, evoking the original film.

For me this is the most successful entry, despite featuring male actors instead of female, the sharp editing and strong delivery of the lines are what gave it the edge over Nicks otherwise excellent Citizen Kane entry.

So I vote for Wait Those Aren't Girls

[drapeama]

Randy Smith - Wait, those aren't girls. My Ranking First Place
[...]
So I vote for Wait Those Aren't Girls

Same here. All videos were good, especially Nick's entry: good work with the green screen.
Bueller was the one I not much liked, but as Randy said, that scene was annoying and Randy's re-enacted scene was very well recreated!

Only one thing I could add for all entries: the sound. Not that is was bad or noisy...but having only the dialog without "room tone" sounds like it's noisy. Add that little something in the background so it "blends" a bit better with the dialogs. Because in Those Aren't Girls, that guy in the upper left has some noise in the recording and it was noticeable with the "fade-in/out" at the beginning and the end of his dialog.
But other than this, good work guys!

[Vishus]

Thanks for the feedback guys! I've been working with the Audio limitations on the 60D, I have a beachtek adapter, but not being able to preview what is actually coming into the camera itself is a real pain. For the Mean Girl's one, I actually did the audio with my HV40 (at home) and the Canon XF305 here at work. I'd really love to figure out the sweet spot for audio on the 60D with the beachtek though, right now it is pretty frustrating since I can only monitor audio from the beachtek, and not the 60D. We've recently purchased the H4n for audio here at work, so that might be a solution, but having to sync everything could be a big pain in the butt.

[drapeama]

We've recently purchased the H4n for audio here at work, so that might be a solution, but having to sync everything could be a big pain in the butt.

Not much Randy. Be sure to clap your hands at the beginning/end of the scene, and be sure to say what scene it is (First time I didn't do that...so I had to search what audio clip had to match which video clip...) if you cut between each scenes (which will make several audio & video files).
And you always have your "on-board" audio, so you only have to align both tracks (on board & H4) and edit, as simple as that. Mute/remove the on board track.

[Playing]

Be sure to clap your hands at the beginning/end of the scene, and be sure to say what scene it is

What also helps in some circumstances is to just keep the camera(s) running. Then you can sync the audio once and afterwards cut out what you don't need.

[Royer Films]

Or try using PluralEyes for Final Cut Pro and a lot of other editing apps. http://www.singularsoftware.com/pluraleyes.html. It syncs it up for you and does a great job, but is a bit pricy at $149 so it kinda depends on what your needs are.

[Daniel Rutter]

So, congrats Randy for your first place win! I'll place your entry into the Antman's Winners archive, and the other entries into the Antmans Archive.
Be sure to check out the next contest, already up!: http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?4...23-Music-Video