Short Film shot on HV20

[numbir9]

Hello all,

This is my first post, and I wanted to let you all know about a short film contest in which I am currently a finalist.

I wrote and directed the film, and I shot it entirely on an HV20.

Please have a look, its only 5 minutes for my film. If you think its the best of the bunch, please give me a vote!

Here is the direct link to my entry ‘Prom Season’

http://ugo.com/prom-night-film-conte...id=prom-season

You can view the other entries here, again, my film is called ‘Prom Season’
http://ugo.com/prom-night-film-contest/

Thank you, I look forward to being a member of the forums, sharing info, and having a lot more work to show in the future

-Mehran

[brockraum]

Wow great job man! nice story line, i loved alot of the shots. The only thing i think that could use improving was the lighting. It seemed to me like the downstairs scene with the mother, daughter and date was lit by one source, a hairlight (backlight whatever you want to call it) i think would of evened out that shot nicely, but then again lighting is completely subjective. I loved it though!

[numbir9]

Im so glad you liked it! Yes, I agree with you on that scene. the lighting would have been greatly helped by another source.

Lighting seems to be my biggest thing to learn, but this was only my first movie. I am sure I can improve in this aspect.

So please give me your vote of confidence by casting a vote for me!

thanks,

-Mehran

[Erik Bien]

Hi, numbir9, and welcome to the forum!

Nice work, it plays like more than a five minute short with suspense, a twist, even a red herring suspect. It looks so nice, at first I almost found myself doubting you shot it with an HV20 (but then there's a rolling-shutter artifact near the end, where the blue police strobe only partially illuminates the frame, so I guess you did!)

My only suggestion would be to avoid all that black wardrobe (mom, mom's date, the girl's shawl), a little art direction is cheaper and easier than a bunch more lights.

[Banacek]

Eyy... that was cool, man.

Maybe if her was in the floor, full of blood was better than stairs..
but was a nice Shortfilm, really. So fun to see.

[numbir9]

Its great to get new people seeing the film.

Your comments are well taken Erik, I will have a bit stronger art direction in the my next flic.

What did you all think of the other entries in the contest? I am interested because it is hard to be unbiased, and you can't trust family to tell you if your work is better than others.

oh, and please pass on the link to your family & friends!

[numbir9]

Yes, Prom Season was shot entirely on an HV20.

I am currently looking into getting an RNG35 for it. Anyone here have experience with that combo?

[brockraum]

yeah I'm no lighting expert by any means. As I said lighting is all subjective, there isn't an exact science on lighting any particular scene, its all about what looks good to you.

[sci-fi-guru]

I thought this was awesome. The timing of music is great.

Not to demote it in any way, but I thought the only thing missing was some foley work - if the audio was redone in a studio, that would send this clip over the edge.

When will the theatrical version be released?

[orchidsofwrath]

wow that was really good. Held my attention well and all the shots contributed to the story well. great idea with great execution!

[DimmyDams]

An enjoyable watch...

Good story - perhaps a little predictable.

Lighting perhaps a little flat.

Good music/fx cues.

But...

When Tom arrives and we have the 3 way conversation - oh dear - repeated head turns to start with - then crossing the line rather badly - watch those eye lines - some of the shots of Dana are from the wrong side and her eye line is totally wrong for Tom and Mum and cut-always of his umbrella.

The phone conversations are inconsistent in their perceived sound. When the boyfriend is heard off towards the end, we no longer have the eq'd telephonic effect - feels like this was hurried through post.

As I say - enjoyable watch - but some elementary inconsistencies and some poor technical shooting /editing let it down.

[numbir9]

Dimmy Dams,

Thanks for the critique. Yes, it was hurried through post. I actually thought the contest deadline was march 12th, when in fact it was march 5th. so i had to run home from work on the 5th to do the edit... the upload to the contest website was finally done about 30 minutes before the deadline. it was a wild ride.

I would like to go through and do another pass on the sound, but now ive got another project lined up, this one may have to stay as is for the time being.

[numbir9]

Sci-Fi-Guru

Thanks for the kind words
Oh, and I can start on the feature as soon as you can get me some startup capital

[thelostduck]

Cool video. Nice job. How do you like the HV20? I think I might buy one.

[Seraph0000]

That was pretty good... I enjoyed it. I'm glad you didn't make it too gory. I prefer suspense. Everything seemed to fit together really well... the acting the music... The lighting added to the film too, although I felt it was a little more mellow than it should have been.

The only thing that really bothered me was that the cut aways seemed too abrupt sometimes.

[numbir9]

In response to thelostduck...

I like the HV20 quite a bit, but this is the first 'real' thing ive shot with it.

Its great that its so small, but the lack of manual features keep it a bit limited. Image quality is amazing when lit well.

I'm getting an RNG35 adapter any day now, if my footage comes out looking like any of the examples I've seen, I'll be very happy and will shoot with the HV20 for a while.

I hope you guys are all voting for me

[dcmhutch]

numbir9

When you shot the scene with Jack talking to Daina while he was in the car what did you use so the shot wasn't "grainy"?? With my limited experience I've always had a "grainy" picture during night shots or dark places. Did you use a certain setting on the HV20?? I've never used the HV20 though. I still waiting on my HV30 online purchase.

You did a great job for your first time. Keep up the great work!!

[numbir9]

dcmhutch,

all i did was set the camera on auto, pointed it at jack(the kid in the car), and when it was properly focused and exposed, i locked the focus and exposure.

we didnt have any lights on that shot either. we turned on the headlights of the car, and used a reflector to bounce light back at him from off camera.

truth is, in terms of grain, i think we got a little lucky.

[numbir9]

Just wanted to let you all know, I didn't win the contest.

But now the video is up on vimeo, and you can see it in hi rez and unsquished as I intended.

http://www.vimeo.com/857205