First Day - Primo Giorno: I need some help

Hi!
I created this video because we are shooting a mini series about a mysterious girl who travels through Sardinia, Italy, looking for some interesting places. We are shooting it for a website (this video it's just a start).

Nothing impressive, artistically. But I need some help from you (with color grading, for example). I appreciate if you have some time to give me your opinion. What's wrong and what's fine?
(do not listen to the initial audio, I recorded it with a zoom H2n, but I haven't edited it yet)

Password: annwoods
Link: vimeo.com/50893519

I shot the video with a Sony A55 with a Tamron 17 - 50 2.8 and a Sony 50 - 300 (I want to replace it with the Sony 85mm 2.8 to have some nice bokeh when I shoot the girl. I am also considering to invest on the Sony A57).

Eventually I was able to have a look, though the Vimeo security measures were such that I went thru three browsers to find one that could enter this top secret realm. (you’d think they were protecting missile launch codes!)

Anyway, I quite enjoyed your project, which definitely shows promise. I’m sure many here will be eager to watch your story unfold with the various episodes you alluded to.

There are some real colorizing experts that frequent these forums, perhaps some of them will chime in also, they can advise you more on the technical aspects of these adjustments. Ultimately color grading is really an area of personal taste, or perhaps a better way to describe it is there are certain looks people are striving for. Your overall theme can be accentuated by the emotions that certain colors elicit. You’ll see the futuristic dystopian sci-fi movies with a kind of bluish grey hue, scenes with drug use or murder often add a bit of a green tint. A dull brown orange tint over a city gives us a feeling of heat, pollution & stagnant air. Since we don’t know what your overall direction with this piece will be, we can’t really offer colorizing suggestions as a plot device. However, that being said, most of us these days appreciate the cine look that is now achievable with video. There are many tutorials on youtube on how to accomplish this, essentially bringing up your greens & blues a bit while darkening your shadows, or “crushing the blacks.” as they like to say.

You could also try this offering, a cine-style plugin posted by RobM ... I haven't tried it yet.

fcp.co/forum/9-free-fcpx-plugins-and-tem...tyle-effect-wvl-cine

It will take a bit of an eye for colors & details to get scenes the exact way you want them. There are so many tremendous color grade effects you can audition in FCPX, all kinds of cine style filters & color grades. Also a great feature I’ve used is the color match device. When two scenes are mismatched, you can choose the one you like, then make the other’s color match. It’s amazing.

So far, from what I’ve seen of your first episode, the allure of the girl & the lovely scenery could do well with the cine effect I’ve described above, it’ll bring up the colors nicely. Definitely you don’t want a sci-fi look or any of the weird psychedelic filters available. A lot of color grading is subjective, but keeping within certain parameters lends a more professional look & feel.

Your opening lightbulb shot as well as the still frame of the white hoodie at the beach, both look a bit over exposed to me, too much light, too much white, which is cold. Adding a bit of warmth might be nice. Actually, the more I think about it, the less I like that lightbulb shot. The bulb is hideous & the wall not much better. I’d much rather see a fade from black to a rising warm glow coming thru curtains in a window. It’s clear our girl is starting her day, but it’s not morning when we’re outside, the lightbulb implies she lives in a pitch black dungeon & gets up at noon. The next shot with the hands & the dish rack goes on a bit long, after that you get into a nice cutting rhythm that fits the music. If you could add one or two cutaways in the dish rack shot, a close up of the hand on the tap, or preferably the water coming out of the tap, then off to a drop. It’s an iconic image. Love the blue flame, that whole section with the coffee works for me.

Next we get our only real look at your girl in the entire piece. I get it, mystery, like you said. Yes, we see her a bit later on at the castle, but it’s at a distance. So, here we have her close up, imperfections & all (remember the eye is drawn to imperfections). The director makes the choice on the overall look of the film along with the production designer, then you meet with makeup to decide how you want your girl to appear. In post you can soften skin quite nicely with filters, you might want to experiment with those, to see if you like it better. There is a glamour filter that softens pores & blemishes to an amount you specify, this is completely independent of color, so it won’t effect those color grading filters at all.

All of your scene one shots are static, no camera movement, that’s an acceptable choice. However, since we have this mysterious woman, I wouldn’t mind if on that one shot with her drinking the coffee, we had a very subtle slow zoom & perhaps a slight pan to the left. Again I will recommend the excellent plugin by Alex available here …

( fcp.co/forum/9-free-fcpx-plugins-and-tem...e-lifetime-of-a-clip )
You’ll hear me continually touting the benefits of Alex’s zoom plugin, it’s one of the few camera moves the editor can add in post. A slow mechanized zoom feels like a dolly shot which adds substantial value. Since this shot starts pretty tight, we don’t have a lot of room to play with, but if you only zoomed in… say 8 to 10% over the length of the clip, it would psychologically add something for the viewer. Experiment a bit with more or less on the zoom until you get the precise amount, it has to be subtle. Because all the preceding shots are impersonal, zooming on this one sets it apart as having emotional significance. Another place to add this effect in scene one is when she is leaving the house. We want to feel we are going with her, zoom that shot towards the door. Also, the shot is held a frame or two too long, we saw the door close, we don’t have to wait around for the curtain to close. I would rather see a lens flare effect thru the gap as she opens the exterior curtain, then we have a flash of light transition to take us to the beach. You already have some light shining thru playing across the door glass, this will help sell your flare.

Scene two, beach shot, here you have this amazing set with the awesome castle, zoom this shot slowly too. We’re going there with her, how exciting.

The feet on the steps doesn’t thrill me, it’s passable, but not that compelling. If you had camera movement with out of focus foliage in the foreground, I might love it more. But your next shot, hand on the railing, is one of my favorites in this piece. Once you color grade, this will really pop. Of course your next shot is classic; rule of thirds, outstanding set, multiple rustic textures, beautiful. Then we have the only camera movement in the piece, a nice smooth pan of a gorgeous location.

The next shot is your still. If you chose to use filters instead of the simple three step cine look hint I gave earlier, you will find there are certain filters that will be able to really do something with that white washedout sky. The sea view next fits with her POV so I would add another gentle slow zoom here. Then what you’re doing is adding another dimension to our relationship with her. You zoomed her in scene one twice, & at the beginning of this scene, bonding us to her. But by zooming a bit thru her POV we are forging a deeper bond by you placing us inside her mind, we’re seeing what she’s seeing, beginning to feel what she feels.

The last cut is too abrupt for me, I would have preferred a slow dissolve or crossfade, evoking a passage of time, then instead of fading to black to close out, we go with a sunset effect which then fades to black for nightfall.

Hope that gives you a few ideas to experiment with.





J. Matthew
Global•Watch•Media•Consulting
www.GWM2.com

Dear TrixTrax9000,

thank you so much for your reply. I am so sorry that you had some issue with Vimeo.

I'll follow your suggestions. Do you suggest to use some zoom in post production, using a Ken Burns effect?

No real issue with vimeo, AndyAndreas (AA) ... don't worry, I was just being a bit facetious.

Yes, in those particular places, apply a gentle zoom in post. The link I posted for Alex's FCPX plugin makes it easy, smooth & provides precision adjustments. You need those adjustments to get the percentage of zoom exactly right for each clip. The coffee shot can only take a very slight zoom, perhaps with a little pan left. The walking clip towards the castle, we should zoom at about the speed she's walking, or perhaps a bit slower, this might add a sense that we need to catch up... experiment, find out what works best. Her POV out to sea, a slower zoom, it's contemplative, setting up the nightfall.

Alex's plugin is like Ken Burns perfected... in fact, from now on I'm nick-naming it "KBP" (Ken Burns Perfected). I hope he doesn't mind.