So what do I have to improve? A lot. Really, any thing I do can improve or change in some way.
Regarding The Blood Exchange, I need to remember to focus on the focus. Half of my shots were out of focus. It honestly pissed me off to see Carlos’ face so out of focused so often. There’s something I can fix.
Another thing I can do? I have to work on my audiowork. I don’t think it was as high-quality as I wanted it to be. I have to work on the balance between voice and music, because, I agree, Roger’s voice was sometimes overtaken by the music.
So, looking forward. I’ll have you know that my next film will be completely opposite from the Blood Exchange when it comes to style. I have no set script, only a storyboard and generally what will happen. I don’t know how I’m going to film it. I don’t know who I want to be in it. I don’t even know how it’s going to end. But I’m gonna film it, and I’m just gonna let things happen the way it happens.
My philosophy is that bad ideas are better than no ideas. Whether or not my future film will be good is completely out of my control. It could be complete crap, and I may forever remember it as a failure. However, doing it is better than sitting here and thinking about what could go wrong. What I’ve learned is that failure is sometimes better than achievement. It tells you where to go next.
As quoted from Paul Arden’s Whatever You Think, Think the Opposite, “IT’S BETTER TO REGRET WHAT YOU HAVE DONE THAN WHAT YOU HAVEN’T.”
Words to live by.
Showing posts with label blood exchange. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blood exchange. Show all posts
2/16/11
The Blood Exchange Reflection
And now comes the time for the post-video reflection. Let’s get started.
So what was good about this video for me? I am proud of how professional it looked. Honestly, it had this sense of formality and structure that made it seem less of an amateur video and closer to a professional video. Combining the awesome camera quality, the tripod, the lighting, and the overall presentation, you have a pretty solidly put-together film. I think overall, professionality was what I was most satisfied with in the end.
My actors were great. Though I think all my actors did a great job, I think the person who stole the show was Anthony, honestly. He was great, I won’t lie. I remember being behind the camera and seeing him yell at Roger with such intensity. He just got so into it, and it really showed in the final product. I enjoyed seeing Carlos pulling out his suave Christian Bale persona during the whole video. He pulled off being a cool dude really well. +10 for the sunglasses. Roger did a pretty good job too, though next time I will have to ask him to speak a bit louder.
This video followed the trend of my last few videos where it evokes a Tarantino feel. I think I’ve gotten pretty good and kinda conveying his style. Therein lies the problem: it’s too much like Tarantino. I’ve been following his lead for a while now, and it’s about time that I stop. Sure, the video looks great and professional. But I need to start exploring some new styles.
Other than that, I think this was a pretty solid video. Expect something different next time :D
So what was good about this video for me? I am proud of how professional it looked. Honestly, it had this sense of formality and structure that made it seem less of an amateur video and closer to a professional video. Combining the awesome camera quality, the tripod, the lighting, and the overall presentation, you have a pretty solidly put-together film. I think overall, professionality was what I was most satisfied with in the end.
My actors were great. Though I think all my actors did a great job, I think the person who stole the show was Anthony, honestly. He was great, I won’t lie. I remember being behind the camera and seeing him yell at Roger with such intensity. He just got so into it, and it really showed in the final product. I enjoyed seeing Carlos pulling out his suave Christian Bale persona during the whole video. He pulled off being a cool dude really well. +10 for the sunglasses. Roger did a pretty good job too, though next time I will have to ask him to speak a bit louder.
This video followed the trend of my last few videos where it evokes a Tarantino feel. I think I’ve gotten pretty good and kinda conveying his style. Therein lies the problem: it’s too much like Tarantino. I’ve been following his lead for a while now, and it’s about time that I stop. Sure, the video looks great and professional. But I need to start exploring some new styles.
Other than that, I think this was a pretty solid video. Expect something different next time :D
2/13/11
OFFICIAL -- The Blood Exchange
Here is the official release of The Blood Exchange!
After hours and hours of hard work, it’s finally here.
Please, comment and tell me what you think!
Watch Here
2/11/11
TRAILER -- The Blood Exchange
Here is the trailer for The Blood Exchange!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMAsUI-9uJA
The full video will be up within the next two weeks. Please be patient, I’m doing my best to make it the best video it can be!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMAsUI-9uJA
The full video will be up within the next two weeks. Please be patient, I’m doing my best to make it the best video it can be!
2/5/11
Making Better Movies
Now I’m not condoning that I make great movies. My projects still have a lot of mistakes that I need to fix. But over the years I’ve gotten better because I’ve focused on the small things.
In order to make a movie, or anything in general, you should never leave out the small things. When you think about it, all the small things will eventually build up to become one big conglomeration. You may not think it’s such a big deal, but it can become a big deal.
For instance, in my last post, I talked about editing audio. Today, on a second viewing at a higher volume, I realized that my “editing job” left a pretty noticeable artifact in between dialogue. You can’t tell when the volume is low enough, but when boosted, you know it’s there. I opted to go back and re-edit all of the audio clips I did yesterday. I finished half of them yesterday.
To go back and re-edit these clips, PLUS edit the rest of the movie audio, took the entire day (excluding going out to the mall). Some may not have opted to take on such a task, but I did because I knew that I’d be sorely unhappy with the results in the future. This artifact, while not so imposing, would have been present throughout the entire video and would have ruined the parts where silence was key to the mood. Taking it out of all the audio fixed a small problem that encased the entire video.
What I’m trying to say here is that the smallest details are sometimes the most crucial. There should be no shortcuts to making a good movie.
In order to make a movie, or anything in general, you should never leave out the small things. When you think about it, all the small things will eventually build up to become one big conglomeration. You may not think it’s such a big deal, but it can become a big deal.
For instance, in my last post, I talked about editing audio. Today, on a second viewing at a higher volume, I realized that my “editing job” left a pretty noticeable artifact in between dialogue. You can’t tell when the volume is low enough, but when boosted, you know it’s there. I opted to go back and re-edit all of the audio clips I did yesterday. I finished half of them yesterday.
To go back and re-edit these clips, PLUS edit the rest of the movie audio, took the entire day (excluding going out to the mall). Some may not have opted to take on such a task, but I did because I knew that I’d be sorely unhappy with the results in the future. This artifact, while not so imposing, would have been present throughout the entire video and would have ruined the parts where silence was key to the mood. Taking it out of all the audio fixed a small problem that encased the entire video.
What I’m trying to say here is that the smallest details are sometimes the most crucial. There should be no shortcuts to making a good movie.
2/4/11
Arranging and Audio
I haven’t been able to edit all week because of school, but guess what I started doing just as I got home?
That’s right. EDITING.
So, this is what I’ve done so far after importing everything:
1. Arrange the timeline: The first thing I always do is put all the clips in order as I want them to be. Considering the length of this video, this can take a long time. My first arrangement is rough at best, but it gives me a good understanding of the flow of the video. As editing progresses or during the final touch-ups, I’ll make the finer adjustments to clip length and placement.
2. Edit the audio: This is one of the most time-consuming aspects of my process. How do I edit the audio? Well I extract it to Adobe Soundbooth, boost the voices, and lower the background noise. How do I do that? It sounds very advanced but a single clip can take less than a minute. All I do is take an audio sample of the background noise and tell Soundbooth to eliminate all areas that match that sample. Soundbooth is AWESOME. Then, I just look for those glaring sound errors, like me speaking or screwing up the tripod work.
While it is easy to simply sample the whole clip at once, it keeps me from hearing the errors that I need to fix. This is why I arrange the clips first and then edit them—I can look at each individual area of sound and make sure they’re perfect. Also, it gives me a better understanding of how the clip should sound like in context.
How did I figure out how to do the audio thing? Well a long time ago, I was messing with Adobe Premiere, and I found an option that let me extract the audio to Soundbooth. Then the rest was more experimentation.
Anyway, I’ve only edited the sounds of the first scene. I think I have about seven more scenes to go? It’ll take a while, but the resulting sound quality is too good to pass up.
That’s right. EDITING.
So, this is what I’ve done so far after importing everything:
1. Arrange the timeline: The first thing I always do is put all the clips in order as I want them to be. Considering the length of this video, this can take a long time. My first arrangement is rough at best, but it gives me a good understanding of the flow of the video. As editing progresses or during the final touch-ups, I’ll make the finer adjustments to clip length and placement.
2. Edit the audio: This is one of the most time-consuming aspects of my process. How do I edit the audio? Well I extract it to Adobe Soundbooth, boost the voices, and lower the background noise. How do I do that? It sounds very advanced but a single clip can take less than a minute. All I do is take an audio sample of the background noise and tell Soundbooth to eliminate all areas that match that sample. Soundbooth is AWESOME. Then, I just look for those glaring sound errors, like me speaking or screwing up the tripod work.
While it is easy to simply sample the whole clip at once, it keeps me from hearing the errors that I need to fix. This is why I arrange the clips first and then edit them—I can look at each individual area of sound and make sure they’re perfect. Also, it gives me a better understanding of how the clip should sound like in context.
How did I figure out how to do the audio thing? Well a long time ago, I was messing with Adobe Premiere, and I found an option that let me extract the audio to Soundbooth. Then the rest was more experimentation.
Anyway, I’ve only edited the sounds of the first scene. I think I have about seven more scenes to go? It’ll take a while, but the resulting sound quality is too good to pass up.
1/29/11
New Video!
Announcing my new upcoming feature, The Blood Exchange!
No details on what it’s about yet, but I will say that it will star Carlos Cortes, Roger Lau, and Anthony Lucido. Filming went incredibly smooth, and we took our times to make it as awesome as possible. And I must say, even before editing, this video looks promising.
Here are some screenshots :D
They look pretty good in suits doncha think? Anyway, I’ll be releasing more information and development photos as editing comes along. It shouldn’t be very long before it’s done. Stay tuned!
No details on what it’s about yet, but I will say that it will star Carlos Cortes, Roger Lau, and Anthony Lucido. Filming went incredibly smooth, and we took our times to make it as awesome as possible. And I must say, even before editing, this video looks promising.
Here are some screenshots :D
They look pretty good in suits doncha think? Anyway, I’ll be releasing more information and development photos as editing comes along. It shouldn’t be very long before it’s done. Stay tuned!
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