Don't Cry - Short Film (Sharing for a friend!)
I had to share this.
I had absolutely nothing to do with this film in any way, this was something my friend did. I have no real details, all I know is that it was shot on a Canon budget camcorder in 24p (with the wrong shutter speed for our countries light frequency...).
Thought I'd share it, you guys might like it!
Goes to show. You don't always need a crew to help you shoot your films
- Dan
(sniff...) Mummy makes me wear these dorky pyjamas, and I hate these Ugg boots!
And I wanted some Milo but now there's no milk!! Waaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!
Sorry, Dan, but that just cried out (no pun intended) for satire. To be perfectly honest, I kinda lol'd at it.
But yes, it does show that you don't need a crew. (But it also shows that you do need an idea.) Has your friend made anything else?
Is this the friend you do your films with?
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call me a sour grapes, but I think a $20 on-camera light from your local wal-mart equivalent would have quadripled the production value of this.
I did cry.
Last edited by blondandfun; 2012 June 12th at 00:34.
Why?
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Maybe he didn't cry because of jamas or the spilled milk, but over the fact that there was no beer in the fridge.
BnF, the light was ok (somewhat).
"It is dark the other side. Very dark!" - "Oh, shut up and eat your toast!"
Yep.Originally Posted by Almohada
I'll be sure to pass this onto him. He hasn't yet learned how to tweak levels, which I'm sure would have brightened this up somewhat.
Hehe... He's not a drinker.
There was absolutely no seriousness meant by this. It was a lead-in to the 'punchline'.
My personal review of this was that it needed more light, and a lot of the shots could have been shortened. It was however a clever little idea, and I'm actually happy he's doing stuff to pass the time and get content produced.
You/he got a strong point there.he's doing stuff to pass the time and get content produced.
"It is dark the other side. Very dark!" - "Oh, shut up and eat your toast!"
Yep... He's practising his craft, and honing his skills. You guys might call this video crap, I call it "progress"...
Besides, we've all done "crap" videos before... unless your name is BlondNFun, then your ego doesn't allow you to see your own stuff as anything but the best(just poking fun Blondy, don't get worked up).
Yeah, I wouldn't want to discourage anyone who's making films, Dan. After all, my own output is conspicuous by its absence. Just that I first thought it was an "emo" thing, and emo things make me want to punch somebody...
The ending made it clear that it was a "visual adage". Cleverish idea. There are lots of adages and sayings that might lend themselves to short films.
It shows that with minimum ambitions you can get something really nice! I would have pushed it a little further: make some dialogs (talking to God or something like that) about life being cruel or something. Just to make it more "extreme" from being a very serious & dramatic drama to a very light funny comedy! But the idea is there!Goes to show. You don't always need a crew to help you shoot your films
1) I've done my first short for the contest, all alone. I had to position lights, microphone and setup'd the camera all alone. With a minimum of preparation you can make it great.
2) The idea was there, unless you haven't watched until the end!
3) That's Bart Riley, friend and film partner of Dan. That's the guy that was in the car yelling alone in Dan's last short! I enjoyed it!
1) Yeah! I was like, it's a bit long...maybe too much, until the end! Then I fully enjoyed it!
2) I thought the lighting wasn't the worst I've seen. Ambient lighting that is. But the Levels were too much boosted, probably due to a very low-light footage. It was all grey.
3) At least, he's doing/producing some stuff. I have all what's needed and I'm currently running on the idle with my videos...not better.
A very strong one. I'm the first concerned!
1) Exactly. The more you do, the better you're becoming. (Unless your name is Uwe Bowl)
2) We have all done some, that's for sure. You can't make your first video and have it near-perfect! I've done one a couple years ago for a friend (haven't posted it myself) but it wasn't the best video ever. Still, we got out for a Mountain Bike ride and did that video. But the most important thing: we had fun doing it! The moment you're doing/producing videos and you don't have fun anymore, then it's the beginning of the end...
Yes. Maybe, after all the angst and tears, he could have shown the guy tipping his coffee powder back into the coffee jar, while still sobbing tragically.That would have been funny.
Yes indeed!
Short Films: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...1&feature=plcp
Stuff he did at Film 'class'/TAFE (He was my classmate, it's how we met): http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list...3&feature=plcp (I recommend watching "Multiplicity"... He got top of the class for that end of school project).
He's a talented guy (in my opinion), he's a lot funnier than me and thats why we get along so well I think. He's also got a face and knack (I believe) for serious acting roles. I've got him lined up for a feature film role if I ever finish writing it. See: THIS THREAD.
Don't beat yourself up too much, nowadays I don't bother shooting anything alone... I wait for the holidays to come and Bart will come down here to collaborate on films together. Share the directing credit, one of us edits and the other does the writing or something similar.
I'm going to share this thread with him, as he enjoys hearing criticism on his stuff. I don't even think he realises have the time that I share a lot of his videos on here.
This looks like crap. I mean, even a 5 year old with a consumer camcorder bought in the last 5 years should be able to capture some better footage than this. I could barely tell there was a person in the video.
Something you can learn from this piece is editing. This happens to a LOT of directors. You get caught up in your shots thinking how awesome they are, while you are boring the audience.
This should be cut down to no more than 60 seconds, INCLUDING opening and closing credits. That's all the pay off at the end is good for. 60 seconds might get you "ha ha" but in this case over 3 minutes gets you "WTF? I waited 3 minutes for that?"
"beautiful girls are the cheapest special effect"
- Roger Corman
You might be right... but:
Take it as defending a friend if you will, but you own a T2i... right? you're being critical of a guy who owns a sub $200 camcorder that he's only had for a month when you get really no better shots than this with your DSLR.
You keep saying "You". I DIDN'T FILM THIS. IT'S NOT MINE. It belongs to my friend, and even I said it was too long.
Right, I disagree. A little longer is fine, but I do agree the length was way too long.
Again, you're targeting (agressively I might add) someone who's starting out... has done a few really neat videos and a few crap videos, but is out there doing it. He's still new to editing techniques, and isn't an editor by nature. He produces content, usually gets someone else (namely Me) to edit it.
And I'm going to be critical of you, because I understand criticism... what you are saying isn't criticism at all. "It's Crap". Thanks, that'll help the film maker understand! "A 5 year old can do better"... yep, that's just as good. Give this guy your DSLR and I bet he'll get better shots than you. You're lucky you have money to buy that DSLR, he doesn't. He's making do with what he can. He doesn't have lights, he doesn't have a highend computer and he doesn't have many people to be his crew. Instead he has a *useable* camcorder that he saved to get, a less than average laptop that barely allows him to edit 720p footage and doesn't have access to an internet connection.
I mean, christ... your idea of a good video is anything that has a "beautiful woman" in it. No, a good video is a quick pun or a good solid story with solid editing and pacing. This video doesn't have good solid editing or pacing, but it has a quick pun. Your "beautiful woman" ideas actually bore me to tears.
Righteo, so moving on. Who actually wants to give this friend of mine some useful criticism? Something that won't insult him, discourage him and make him feel useless.
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