When you hear the word “art,” you immediately think of paintings in a museum, because that’s where a lot of art is. Art is a beautiful thing. However, it is also very deep and complex, and sometimes, it’s more than a person can handle.
How many times have you looked at a painting and just thought “what the hell is this?” or “what does this mean?”
This applies to film too, but in the indie film department. Indie films are where it’s at because it’s where a lot of experimentation and randomness occurs. Also, many famous movies are art films—movies that totally redefine how a movie is made. But sometimes you come across some art film that looks absolutely stunning, but the meaning of it all completely escapes you.
Let’s switch gears.
Entertainment should not need an explanation. Just go to the movie theater and watch one of the movies that are showing. Friends With Benefits, for example. These movies are pure entertainment; they tell a story and entertain the audience with love, scandal, explosions, and excitement. There’s a reason why the movie industry is so powerful: Entertainment sells.
But it doesn’t mean the movie is always good.
The difference between a movie and a good movie is presentation. There are a lot of movies that have little to no artistry to the way it’s filmed. Nothing in the way it’s filmed dazzles you, save for some CGI backgrounds. I mean, who cares about the way lighting is used? Who cares about the camerawork or the depth of the story? Who cares about stupid things like that?
Well, I do.
One of my goals as a filmmaker is to balance art and entertainment in a movie. I know people like to see exciting things. But it doesn’t mean I can’t be creative with how I frame things, or how I light the set. I want to make pretty pictures, but I want it to sell. I want to be able to entertain others while being proud of my work. It’s a balance between earning money and just being happy with myself I guess.
That’s my rant.
8/29/11
7/3/11
The Hitman
The Hitman
Video is up! Check it out!
Most of it is just of Jared walking, I know, but that’s how I wanted it. Building off of what I started kinda in The Red Scare, I experimented with tracking shots, Steadicamming, and dolly shots. I figure I’d rather experiment with a short video like this than completely blowing it on a bigger project y’know?
Please, give me feedback! It helps a lot more than you know!
Video is up! Check it out!
Most of it is just of Jared walking, I know, but that’s how I wanted it. Building off of what I started kinda in The Red Scare, I experimented with tracking shots, Steadicamming, and dolly shots. I figure I’d rather experiment with a short video like this than completely blowing it on a bigger project y’know?
Please, give me feedback! It helps a lot more than you know!
7/2/11
Color Correction Rocks
I like editing because you can change the way a video looks. Everyone has their own opinions on how a video should look. I personally think color correction is especially crucial because it can make your video look very pretty or very amateurish. That's why for this video I spent extra time color correcting.
Here's what a raw piece of footage looked like:
It looks okay I suppose, but the contrast between the dark colors and the bright colors is definitely not distinct enough. Let's increase the brightness and contrast:
Not bad, not bad, but the colors are a tad bright, don't you think? Let's desaturate it a bit:
This looks much better, but it's still missing something... Let's add a blue tint and see what happens:
Okay, so this is something that I think looks great. The darks and lights are nicely contrasted, the colors aren't too bright, and the slight blue tint is like the cherry on top to bring it all together. This is how much color correction can do, and it's astounding.
This is not at all the right way to color correct because you could really do anything. You could increase the contrast even more or tint it green or something. You can do anything. And this is an introduction to the magic of video editing.
Here's what a raw piece of footage looked like:
It looks okay I suppose, but the contrast between the dark colors and the bright colors is definitely not distinct enough. Let's increase the brightness and contrast:
Not bad, not bad, but the colors are a tad bright, don't you think? Let's desaturate it a bit:
This looks much better, but it's still missing something... Let's add a blue tint and see what happens:
Okay, so this is something that I think looks great. The darks and lights are nicely contrasted, the colors aren't too bright, and the slight blue tint is like the cherry on top to bring it all together. This is how much color correction can do, and it's astounding.
This is not at all the right way to color correct because you could really do anything. You could increase the contrast even more or tint it green or something. You can do anything. And this is an introduction to the magic of video editing.
New Video Screenshots
Like I said in my last post, my new video won’t be anything fancy or anything. It’s just my attempt at making something aesthetically unique and pleasing.
Here are some photos of what it looks like right now.
As you can see, I was experimenting a lot with different angles and camera techniques. I spent extra time with the color correction to make sure the colors look bolder and more contrasted. Note to self: if you want to make a photo or a video look pretty, add contrast and brightness.
I’m using an original song made by my friend Richard as the main theme for this video. He made the song just for this video and it makes the video look great. It’s like the cherry on top of the cake of awesomeness.
On a more negative note, HD has become a bit of an annoyance for me, as it took multiple days just to get my footage ready for editing. When rendering the footage into a file, the audio de-synced with the video and I had to redo a lot of things. Rendering HD also takes a while, if you haven’t guessed. Also, I haven’t been editing much lately either because my computer has been having problems and I’ve been playing games. It hasn’t been a strenuous editing job though.
It’s basically done, so I’ll post it soon.
Here are some photos of what it looks like right now.
As you can see, I was experimenting a lot with different angles and camera techniques. I spent extra time with the color correction to make sure the colors look bolder and more contrasted. Note to self: if you want to make a photo or a video look pretty, add contrast and brightness.
I’m using an original song made by my friend Richard as the main theme for this video. He made the song just for this video and it makes the video look great. It’s like the cherry on top of the cake of awesomeness.
On a more negative note, HD has become a bit of an annoyance for me, as it took multiple days just to get my footage ready for editing. When rendering the footage into a file, the audio de-synced with the video and I had to redo a lot of things. Rendering HD also takes a while, if you haven’t guessed. Also, I haven’t been editing much lately either because my computer has been having problems and I’ve been playing games. It hasn’t been a strenuous editing job though.
It’s basically done, so I’ll post it soon.
Stylish
My next video will be what The Blood Exchange wasn’t.
- In The Blood Exchange, almost every scene was shot from a tripod. This time, the tripod was never deployed.
- Because of this, most of the scenes from The Blood Exchange were static. This next video has almost all dolly/Steadicam shots, so motion will be a motif.
- The Blood Exchange was completely scripted and thought out. This one was shot without any planning, scripting, or writing, so really, I didn’t know what I was going to do.
Moar Filming Tomorrow
Tomorrow I’ll be filming a short video. It’s gonna be pretty experimental and avant-garde, but it’ll have a simple storyline to accompany it. My goal with this one is to make it look PRETTY.
Well, once again, the most difficult part of the whole film process is the pre-production. Originally we were going to film at Roger’s house with Roger as one of the main characters. Not anymore.
It’s not that I have a problem with people who can’t make my dates. It’s how they tell me. The people who can’t make it wait until the night before or the day of to give me the news. They tell me they can make it, and then tell me otherwise within 24 hours of the actual filming. One time, one of my actors bailed 5 minutes before our planned start time. Literally, every single time I film, someone bails at the last minute.
It happened a number of times with The Blood Exchange. In fact, it happens almost every single time I try to film something. It pisses me off beyond belief and it makes getting a replacement ridiculously difficult.
The least they could do is have the decency to tell me ahead of time that they’re busy. Then, I’ll be okay, and I’ll have time to seek out a replacement and to make final plans. Don’t tell me you can make it and then bail out the last minute. Who does that anyway? And don’t expect a callback any time soon.
Other than that, I’m pretty stoked for tomorrow. I’m breaking out my new dolly for her maiden flight. Since we’re gonna take our time with this video, I expect something that looks awesome. Anyway, I’ll post pictures when I get to editing.
Well, once again, the most difficult part of the whole film process is the pre-production. Originally we were going to film at Roger’s house with Roger as one of the main characters. Not anymore.
It’s not that I have a problem with people who can’t make my dates. It’s how they tell me. The people who can’t make it wait until the night before or the day of to give me the news. They tell me they can make it, and then tell me otherwise within 24 hours of the actual filming. One time, one of my actors bailed 5 minutes before our planned start time. Literally, every single time I film, someone bails at the last minute.
It happened a number of times with The Blood Exchange. In fact, it happens almost every single time I try to film something. It pisses me off beyond belief and it makes getting a replacement ridiculously difficult.
The least they could do is have the decency to tell me ahead of time that they’re busy. Then, I’ll be okay, and I’ll have time to seek out a replacement and to make final plans. Don’t tell me you can make it and then bail out the last minute. Who does that anyway? And don’t expect a callback any time soon.
Other than that, I’m pretty stoked for tomorrow. I’m breaking out my new dolly for her maiden flight. Since we’re gonna take our time with this video, I expect something that looks awesome. Anyway, I’ll post pictures when I get to editing.
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