The Study of Leonard Hughes
8.25.2004
 

Commercial it up

I've posted my sick & twisted commercials. Brock and I don't want to get rusty so we're going to try and make them soon. Josh, want to play a character or do lighting?

I wish I had the patience to post the scripts in proper format.


Comments:
Yeah, I'm really looking forward to making them. We've got to stay in practice.
 
I'm in. You know me, I'm the tech guy. Show me the camera and I'll figure out how to get the most out of it. Lighting, no problem.

Now the lawyer commercial is kind of limiting since their is very little production value inherant. They are not high quality, not well acted, no well produced, not well lit. Laxative commercials vary, but are usually better because of the money behind them.

Regardless, count me in. I've picked out the camera I'm going to buy, but it isn't widely available yet. Another month or so, and I'll have it.

I'd really it if Brock would give me a shot at recutting "I'm Not Crazy". I have some ideas about color correction and sound design to put the final polish on this tour de force of a short film. Is that rude to ask? I'm sorry.
 
All right, I'm totally glad to have you onboard. We need someone to take care of the tech stuff; camera man, lighting, and so on... Josh can be like the grip (the jack of all trades on a movie set).

If you've got some ideas and stuff, then I don't have any problems with you re-editing 'I'm Not Crazy'. I'm not sure what the film's editor, Kevin Ross, would think though. That's something we can discuss if you've got some ideas you really want to try.
 
And you can ask pretty much anything.
 
Yeah, Kevin has all the footage. I'll have to see if he can get us a copy.
 
Oh yeah, what camera are you getting?
 
Yeh, it's probably insulting to Kevin. Editing-wise I'd probably just shave six frames of the whole thing, the few at the end of some edits where smiling occurs.

Really, I'd just like to do some color correction and sound design. For instance, I think you guys were going for a clean and sterile waiting room setting. I think we can enhance that, make it seem more like flourescent lighting and throw in some diffusion to smooth it out a little.

In regard to sound, some of the levels were off to my ears. The fish tank, for instance, was way too loud. More importantly, we could add a couple layers of atmosphere to place the scenes in the desired setting.

All of this is stuff no one would have time for in a 48-hour time frame, so it's no knock anyone, seriously.
 
All of this is stuff no one would have time for in a 48-hour time frame, so it's no knock anyone, seriously.Exactly.

Like I said, it's no big deal to me at all. Talking to Kevin would simply help to give you the footage and such. I don't think he'd take it as a knock or anything. His pride out of the project came mostly due to his speed in editing it I believe.

We did want that bland, waiting room look. And some of the noise levels are out of whack. These are all changes and things I'd be fine with.
 
I am going to buy a Panasonic PV-GS400. It's supposedly out now, but in limited supply. If I wait a month or two, I can get a better price and not have to deal with questionable vendors.

The camera is really a break-through in manual control when it comes to prosumer models. It's a 3CCD model with a decent CCD size. It has a multi-function ring that is used for zoom, focus, shutter, iris, and white balance, and all accessible without going into menus. The manual control and really having to think through shots is what interests me the most.

Also, great lenses, optical (not digital) image stabilization, great color reproduction, mic input to run outboard audio. Has built-in ND filters, so it's forced to open the iris and get a narrower depth of field, more like a film camera. Lots of room to tweak.

List is $1500, probably will end around $1300. I plan to get some nice filters as well.

Second runner up was the Canon Elura 40. Canon makes great lenses and this camera (though single CCD) has a 1/3.4" CCD, which is pretty big, for around $600. Ultimate value, but most of the manual controls are through a menu. That was the key point. But I'd recommend it for someone in that price range.
 
Brock, I'm all about helping you achieve your vision. Better living through technology. I'm all about that.
 
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