here they are folks, all of the entries for the gateway contest. take your time to check them out and cast your vote for your favorite film. the SM team will thoroughly review all of the entries and our top pick gets the free spot to IN[FOCUS]2011 as well as a private 1-on-1 workshop while there (a $1,000 value). second place receives a $300 voucher off registration for IN[FOCUS]2011. you have until september 7th to check them out and cast you vote!
because jet used unlicensed music, we can’t host it on our blog (sorry jet). it is certainly worth yor trouble to wander off to vimeo and check it out.here is a direct link to their film.
oh bretts and paul/jordans was good also but Ive already said my fav!
Colin - August 31, 2010 9:32 am
My favourite was “speak of remarkable things” those guys nailed the compelling story, composition, light, colour, sound (especially) it was perfect. Made me think for a long time afterward.
I enjoyed Paul & Jordans film. The epic story & the way it’s been graded, shot at night, reminds me of Nocturne. I love the scene in the thumbnail, great silhouette. Can’t wait to read the reviews on these films!
Shoe - August 31, 2010 5:08 am
It needs more boobs, guns and explosions.
Yvonne - August 30, 2010 11:07 pm
A nice variety of ideas and some really beautiful shots. I really enjoyed the story that Jared & Danielle presented in such a short amount of time.
Really impressed with these entries. Solid cinematography coupled with really engaging storytelling. I won’t share my favorite…but my do think there is some stiff competition here. Congrats to all the entrants!
Nik Kuo - August 30, 2010 9:15 pm
Really inspired entries this time around. I really enjoyed a ton of the footage being shown. Some of Stephen’s and Brett’s shots were stunning IMO.
For the representation of the theme though, combined with really telling a story, I love Danielle and Jared’s entry. That was really creative and kept me engaged all the way to the end.
[...] he believes happens when as person passes. We hope you enjoy the short; please help us by voting here or on the poll just below the video. We’d love to hear your feedback! [...]
six two day workshops. eight powershot cameras. four people per team. four script options. one four hour shooting exercise. each team to produce one 30-60 second commercial. SM as art director.
the four script options; fashionable, smart shutter technology, HD video, tilt/shift and fisheye features.
what is on the table:
- each member of the winning team receives a Canon EOS T21.
- the editor of the commercial wins a spot in either our sold out evo experience this november, or the ‘y’ experience next april.
the fine print:
- each team was composed of a director, camera A, camera B, and a grip/gaffer. stillmotion acted as art director and challenged their lens choices, composition, camera tools, and the look and feel they were achieving.
- every person in the team had the chance to edit their own version of the commercial. so each team could have up to four entries. the editor wins the workshop spot. the deadline was one week from the respective workshop.
- when you vote, please keep in mind who this camera would be targeted at and try to consider how effective it would be to that market. think about the lens choice, composition, camera movement, color, light, audio, and storytelling and how each was used to further the message being made.
we’ve selected our top 5, now it’s your turn to determine the winner!
Hello!I saw your videos these days and became interested in you.I emailed you but has got no reply.I’m eager to comunnicates with you,cause I really admire your talents and skills.Please log in your mailbox and you’ll see my letter，thank you！
brought to you by canon live learning. despite doing our best to minimize the wind (running the transmitter really low and running a big windscreen on the lav) it was so strong that it still interferes in certain parts. being that this piece is much more raw we wanted to leave it as-is (we also thought re-shooting the VO in a pristine location just wouldn’t jive.)
a couple things we couldn’t add in due to time. you can also record a frame in video, then playback and use the indicator that shows you what is blown out by flashing, or ideally the histogram to check your exposure. this works on the 7D, MKIV, and MKII and is great when you don’t have a z-finder and you need to ensure your exposure is spot on.
thanks also to zacuto for providing the z-finders and tiffen for providing the ND filters.
we have a couple related questions this week, all about what we offer in our full wedding films.
‘Your work is divine!!! We are such huge fans. We would be so happy if you all are able to answer a few questions of ours? Are the trailers you have on your website and blog just a sneak peek to the bride and groom’s actual wedding video? Do you provide full video coverage? Since my husband and I are starting out in this business what piece of equipment would you recommend for our next purchase? The equipment we currently have are the Canon 7D, EF 28-135 and EF 70-200. Your advice and guidance would greatly be appreciated.
Thank you-Erika’
‘Hi from France ! First of all, we love your work ! We have the same question as Erika and Joe : how long lasts the final wedding video ?
Bonjour chez vous !
Olivier & Anseaulme’
We would be so happy if you all are able to answer a few questions of ours?
sure. that one was easy.
Are the trailers you have on your website and blog just a sneak peek to the bride and groom’s actual wedding video? Do you provide full video coverage?
we offer different collections and they have three different portions. every collection comes with a ‘basic film’ which is a documentary edit of the speeches and ceremony. this gives us the creative freedom to make shorter features and to include only things that pertain to the story. the second part is the same day edit or highlights. we only offer one of the two with most collections. our larger collections then also include a feature which is generally 12-25 minutes, often ending up in the 15 minute range. we feel it is a more thorough story than an sde, but it is still has the same approach in terms of shot length, diversity, layering, etc.
most couples opt for a same day edit, the feature, and the basic film, and i feel that gives them a very well rounded interpretation of them and what their wedding is about (with something thrown in there for the parents as well, in the doc edits).
Since my husband and I are starting out in this business what piece of equipment would you recommend for our next purchase?
the first thing i would look into would be a couple nice primes. if the 50 f1.2 is our of your price range, look at grabbing the 50 f1.4 and the 28 f1.8. both are good stepping stones and more middle range glass that get you thinking in the world of primes, which inevitably make you a better cinematographer. being that the 7d has the 1.6 crop, i would start off with a 34 f1.4 if you can make the investment. it is a great all around lens that lets you get both wide and tight shots by manually zooming (ie walking).
let me explain the primes vs zooms a bit more. zooms have a tendency to make you lazy – as opposed to actually moving or thinking, you have the ability to just zoom in and out but a prime forces you to place yourself in the situation, think of what your trying to say and how you can best convey it through your viewpoint. we did this tutorial on vimeo about lens selection which should hopefully help as well.
http://vimeo.com/13140360
i hope that helps! if you have any questions you would like us to look at for an upcoming week, please leave them here in the comments. at this time our travel schedule keeps us much to busy to try and reply via email, but anything left here will definitely be seen and we will work our way through the list.
Hi, guys?
I watched the video about different lenses, and I learned that you use 135mm f2 for prep a lot. How do you come about changing lenses? I think you have to get some medium shots time to time, right?
I own 2 7D and 1 T2i. My 2nd shooter takes 1 7D, and I use combo of 7D and T2i. I usually have 24-70 L for 7D and either 11-16 Tokina or 70-200 Sigma on T2i (to go either wider or close than 24-70).
Now, do you simply carry around a couple of primes with you and switch as you go, or do you carry another set of camera with different lens (sort of how I do)? Going back and forth to grab different camera is cumbersome when I am alone during the bridal prep.
Thank you again so much as always as you share so much with everyone.
best,
JJ
Louis - August 25, 2010 12:30 pm
How do you guys ensure that you get perfect focus while running around a wedding while at the same time maintaining such shallow dof?
Hey Patrick, thanks for the uStream chat tonight! I forgot to ask this question there, so here it goes: Is the ‘basic film’ (being doc of speeches & ceremony) including the entire ceremony & speeches? or is the creative shorter feature the ‘basic film’, just a shorter version of the 12-25 minute feature? Sorry if question sounds confusing.
Hey Daniel,
In my experience, having worked with both the Glidecam & Steadicam, there is a huge difference in the build quality of the Steadicam as well as how it performs. I’d personally recommend even the Pilot, although the Flyer would let you apply more to the rig, for weight distribution and comes with the better supporting vest. I haven’t used the Zephyr – I’d have to let someone else share what it has to offer over the other two.
You guys are such an inspiration to filmmaking and I always enjoy your work.
I recently purchased a Glidecam 4000 HD for my 5D MKII and 1D MKIV. Its great for what it does but I might have enough money soon to get a Steadicam.
I know the new Zephyr is good but I’d imagine its gonna be in the £5,000 range…should I get a Vest and Arm to fit my Glidecam (Smooth Shooter), or should I get the Steadicam Flyer or the Zephyr?
we have some great, and diverse entries this week for isolation. i hope everybody is getting geared up for’ gateway’ due by august 30th. we will be sharing those films as they arrive. following the feedback of many of the voters and contestants, we (sm) will also be posting more feedback and critique on the short films entered. i’m interested to see how the feedback interacts with the voting process. check the comments below if you want to read more.
Yaundis ftw. Was interesting and creative. Not played out like being alone in a parking garage, venturing into the woods, or walking with an ipod on. Created a phobia and put forth a story of how it isolates someone. Well shot, well done.
Kevin S - August 21, 2010 12:49 am
Great work guys! All around awesome.
CD - August 20, 2010 12:23 pm
“The Isolated” was shot very well, the color grading was good, as was the audio!
IMO…
It seemed like their could have been a better story. I couldn’t tell if some other person told him to “run” or if it was in his head… at the end, I think the last shot was supposed to be someone running after him, but it wasn’t very clear. I thought it was funny he couldn’t find the push bar on the door :) I guess the isolation theme was supposed to work because he couldn’t exit a parking garage? Why was he taking a cat nap on the floor?
When you have a short amount of time to get a point across, use it wisely. Either way, it looked/sounded amazing!
Patrick, i’ve really enjoyed reading your comments on the submissions. i’m a still photographer with a camera that can shoot video. fascinating, but boy do i feel lost most of the time i hit “record”. i’m learning a lot from the education section on this blog. thanks :-)
isolation by jared and danielle // i love the application of the theme. the use of sound here is one of the strongest storytelling aspects you leveraged but i think you left a little bit on the table. what about starting with no soundtrack, he steps out, we hear the traffic noise, we see/hear the skateboarders, and possibly another couple quick cuts, then he puts the headphones on, the ambient sound dies away and the soundtrack cuts in. the rest of the piece where you don’t hear any nat sound was very effective and really conveyed the isolation within each of them that i felt you were trying to show.
the shots at :25 and :36 were great storytelling pieces but, again, i think you left a little on the table. specifically the shot at :36 we kind of saw it coming. what about tying the shots together so that you track the character from the front, he stops to cross the road perhaps, and then you pan over to the girl on her laptop (a random character that builds on the main idea). you then cut to the shot at :36 but your tracking from the front instead of back, so we don’t see what is cutting. at first it looks like another random person in their own world, then the main character walks into frame at the side and you pick them up and start tracking him again. such a subtle difference in the edit but i think it would convey much more surprise and tie in your second layer of the other characters more.
i thought the shot at :51 was very effective. seeing him talking really hit home. the one thing i don’t think you leverage much was composition. it all felt rather safe and standard. taking your exact concept of social isolation through technology i can imagine a massive wide shot, like a 14mm or 16mm with the main character very small on the bottom of the frame (shot from across the road perhaps). that one from would show how small he is, how much is going on around him, and how much he is unaware of.
lastly, and this is getting a bit long now, but it felt like you did have a social message, and an interesting one at that to me. without getting too political, it would have been neat to try and tie in some of the irony (sites like twitter or face book) showing somebody on their cell on these sites being so ‘connected’ yet so disconnected to everything around them at the same time. the ending tied into the beginning but it felt like you went a little soft, like you didn’t really want to say anything too strong, and i think with the idea, visuals, and story, you could have made a stronger point had you chosen to. thanks for sharing. i thoroughly enjoyed it, love your visuals yet again, and look forward to seeing what is next from you guys. hopefully we get to meet in person in new orleans :)
Those 3 videos are brilliant… I love the isolated version in overall… into the wild video also great… I love the shots from the small spot… it’s challenging… the yaundis seems very original story. I love the text[motion] shown plus the bold thats great.
These are all very unique and well done. And I loved reading your comments Patrick…so much of cinematography is subjective, but much of it is also paying close attention to every little detail in the frame and what it’s saying and communicating…maybe distracting! Simply incredible. Yaundis was may favorite…great and original idea…well executed…beautiful shots!
Hey Patrick, we really appreciate the opportunity again. Thanks for taking the time to provide feedback/critique. It’s very refreshing seeing these entries for every contest. I’m impressed with what paul & jordan came up with. 3 very different types of films :)
[...] photos here. This short film has been entered into Still Motion’s short film contest. Click here to vote for us! Thanks to the team at At First Sight for creating, directing, and producing this [...]
[...] to create an entry for Still Motion’s latest short film contest, under the theme “isolation“. We came up with the story in just a few short minutes, and went from story to a finished [...]
The Isolated // probably the best entry from the paul and jordan crew. you can see paul’s love of the horror genre shine through on this one. great color. the muted bleached look felt very cold and alone. i felt the opening sequence was very strong, but i wondered what shot two added. shot three started out of focus and was a very strong pull on the audience, and shot one opened the piece and revealed the scene. i think i would have cut shot two (which you also return to in shot 4). interesting application of the merlin. making it feel hand held-ish without being too shaky really helped convey that rawness of him trying to run. the POV shot at :32 lost some of it’s effectiveness for me as you could see the operator focusing. it would have been interesting to try the same shot with a lot of in focus/ out of focus, or perhaps even a tilt/shift, to show confusion and hysteria and trying to sort the scene out in his head. certainly the best entry from you guys – congrats.
into the wild // i was really torn by this one. a lot of tight detail shots with lots of foreground and shooting through things really made us feel like we were in the car and there, ye the lack of any ambient sound from the wheels on the gravel, the shirt in the wind, or just nature, then acted to disconnect us from the scene – so it was an odd push and pull. following up on your entry for resistance ‘guerilla days’ you can see a similar style emerging with a focus on visual storytelling through more static composition and moments vs camera movement or audio. i really enjoyed the application of the concept and the use of the light. the ending shot, though simple, was a very effective close for me. i am excited to see what you can put together when you sit down and plan a short film vs just shooting something as it comes up. perhaps that is your ‘gateway’.
yaundis // i loved the concept and thought it was a brilliant idea and very well executed. since it was such an unusual idea, i think it really lent itself towards less safe color, composition, soundtracks etc. i thought the greenish tone really helped to set the mood and give it a feeling of disease or illness. that was the first thing i noticed. i would have also tried a thick blueish tone to tie into the tiredness and isolation.
being that the main character sounds very alone and isolation, i think i would have tried some more unbalanced compositions and wider compositions showing the vast emptiness around in, and/or having him more looking out of frame to create tension/anxiety in his isolation. the shot at :10 would have been a perfect fit to have him looking right out of frame.
on a technical note, the opening interview show has a really bright pillar right behind the subject, which pulls your eye away from him and your attention off the story. i would have worked with the light or angle slightly different to minimize that distraction, especially in the open.
i loved the sound up at the end with him drinking the coffee too. great simple and effective piece.
i promised our next sm short film contest would be a big one, and here it is. we have partnered up with IN[FOCUS], mixed up the rules a bit, and we are set to unveil our biggest competition to date.
you have until august 30th to submit your short film with the theme ‘gateway’. we will have two prizes for the ‘gateway’ films. the first place prize will be determined solely by the sm family and first place receives a free seat at IN[FOCUS] 2011. second place will be determined by popular vote (the poll your used to) and the winner receives a $300 voucher towards a seat at IN[FOCUS]. from stillmotion, first place receives either two licenses from withetiquette, a $500 voucher towards anything on stillmotionexperience, or a 90 minute one-on-one consultation at IN[FOCUS]. the consultation can involve shooting in the field, business, branding, storytelling, philosophy, or anything else you would like to discuss.
we will be posting the entries as they come in, which is a change from the past, but voting won’t start until the 30th. if you have any question about IN[FOCUS] specifically, check out infocusvideoevent.com or email jones AT infocusvideoevent.com. please upload your entry to vimeo and send a link to shorts@stillmotion.ca to have it published here and on the IN[FOCUS] blog.
so get your ‘gateway’ films in by august 30th and win a free spot at IN[FOCUS] 2011 plus some great prizes from the sm team.
P.
the fine print:
one // while the sm crew will be creating their films individually, you may create your entry with friends or your others from your studio. just let us know who was involved when you post it up.
two // we are only willing to feature content on our blog that features soundtracks which have been legally licensed. you may use soundtracks that you composed, music from any stock music site (such as triple scoop or with etiquette) or no soundtrack at all. if your film features music that is not properly licensed, it is still eligible to win and will be mentioned on the blog, but only a link will be posted (as opposed to embedding the film itself here)
three // we are asking the sm crew to spend three hours or less in producing and shooting their spots. they are free to spend additional time outside of work hours, and you’re free to spend as much or as little time as you would like.
four // entries are to be from thirty to sixty seconds in length, including any logos, watermarks, titles, etc.
five // feel free to incorporate your logo into your film however you would like.
six // while the theme for the period must be incorporated somehow into the film, you may make that interpretation as loose or as literal as you would like.
seven // the stillmotion gift certificate may be used for anything offered by sm, but it not valid for events in which sm is participating but is not hosting (such as the Canon Cinema Caravan, which is hosted by Canon). gift certificates (stillmotion or IN[FOCUS]) are not transferrable to a third party. if you choose the two free with etiquette licenses, you will be sent promotional codes that may be entered at time of checkout.
eight // the deadline for each entry is 1PM EST, the day that the period ends. entries must be uploaded by that point and an email sent to shorts@stillmotion.ca with a link, your name, studio name, and any other thoughts you wish to add. the entries will be posted as they arrive and voting will commence on august 30th.
I can’t wait to see all the entries. I sent mine in!! Please let me know where to see them. My email is m.b.r.1@comcast.net phone: 815-721-5061 FB: Maribeth Kocimski Ratajczyk Twitter: @MaribethR
When/Where/How do we ask friends to vote? When does the voting begin and end? When is the winner announced?
Thank you.
(please contact me directly, if you just comment here, on my comment, I won’t be notified that you replied.)
[...] with this one initially, another Still Motion short film contest entry for the theme “Gateway“. We wanted to try something narrative and dramatic at the same time. After about a week of [...]
now that we are back in the studio we can get back to our regularly scheduled programming :)
“How do you back things up?
Back when I shot with AVCHD, I could backup just my FCP file and then the raw files off of the card. In the future, if I ever needed to re-edit the footage, I could just open the FCP file and reconnect things by recapturing the raw files. Basically, just a few clicks and let it process over night and you are back in business. This worked great, because I would only need to back up maybe 50-75 GB per project as opposed to 250-400 GB per project.
In a DSLR workflow, how do you keep backups? Do you just keep the whole project file?
How many backups do you keep for your current projects that you are working on? And then once you are finished with those projects, how many backups do you keep then?
Hopefully that made sense. Any help please?
Thanks!
-Braden”
our post-production backup process is considerable but fairly straightforward. for all of our current or pending projects, we will back them up to two separate locations. one onsite drive (1.5TB desktop drives) and one offsite drive (750gb bus powered drives). this way we can store one copy at the studio and another in a different location just in case anything ever happens to either of them. by having two offsite drives for every onsite drive, the sizes match perfectly so onsite 1-1 always matched up with offsite 1-1 and 1-2. the project folders on each drive will be identical in size and will have all the raw audio, footage, converted footage (from an SDE), and anything else that pertains to the project (ei: SDE files). the total backup usually run anywhere from 150-400 gb depending on the collection.
when we edit, nothing changes aside from their now being a third copy. ideally we edit of a raided drive for portection.
archiving completed projects follows relatively the same process. we usually store them on a new drives specifically for archiving which we will also have an onsite and offsite copy off. these are 1TB drives and we then have archive 1-1 and 1-2 which are identical. we store everything from the final edit though in the future we may implement the media manager function to just store what is used in the edit.
as you can see you will require several hard drives for this process but do to the importance of all this data, it is well worth the investment. right now we probably have 60 TB at least, on separate drives.
Hi from France ! First of all, we love your work ! We have the same question as Erika and Joe : how long lasts the final wedding video ?
Bonjour chez vous !
Olivier & Anseaulme
Hey Patrick, have u tried the 100mm f2.8L macro? what is your opinion compared to 135mm? which one do you prefer actually?
Erika and Joe - August 17, 2010 12:29 am
Your work is divine!!! We are such huge fans. We would be so happy if you all are able to answer a few questions of ours?
Are the trailers you have on your website and blog just a sneak peek to the bride and groom’s actual wedding video? Do you provide full video coverage? If so, how long are the wedding videos you provide?
Since my husband and I are starting out in this business what piece of equipment would you recommend for our next purchase? The equipment we currently have are the Canon 7D, EF 28-135 and EF 70-200. Your advice and guidance would greatly be appreciated.
Thanks so much for answering my question! I value the importance of the data, I just wanted to make that all the money I’m spending on drives is justified.
Thanks so much for addressing this issue! Backup / archive is a huge issue for everyone it seems ( as it should be ). Glad to know were not the only ones piling up LaCies on our desks :)
well folks, EVO is officially sold out to the general public. what’s even more amazing than that is nearly 50% of the attendees for EVO also attended cinema caravan workshops!
with that being said, we still have 1 more EVO spot reseved! it’s reserved for the winning caravan commercial contest editor. voting begins real soon (after the san fran workshop, keep reading). we’ll be sure to post the info here on where and how to vote. for now, you can check out the already submitted entries here.
still want to get in to EVO for the full on 3.5 days of intense learning? visit us in san fran on our last canon caravan stop, soak up the 2 days of information, and then submit an amazing contest entry and you could win free admission (and the final spot!) for our EVO experience.
hello everybody. because of our crazy crazy schedule this month with the cinema caravan, the nfl workshop, and then veronica and neil as well as raheleh and sina’s wedding in toronto, we have had to push back the short film contest for isolation until august 16th. those who sent in their entries already, we will hold them to announce with the rest. everybody else, you now have a couple more weeks to get involved and send something in. following this one we have a big announcement for our next contest as we are partnering with a great video organization to offer some bigger prizes and a tougher contest. stay tuned and please join us for ‘isolation’ due by august 16th.
brought to you by canon live learning. thanks to sennheiser and zoom for providing the wireless lav sets, shotgun mics, and field recorders for the cinema caravan. san fran was voted in as the last stop and registration opened up today. check it out here if your interested.
I had a couple questions regarding the zoom H4N. What batteries are you using in the zoom? I am using Energizer rechargeable AA’s and I only seem to get about 3 hrs of life from them. Do you record in stamina mode? Also, do you record your audio in MP3 or WAV? And at what bit rate?
Thanks for your always helpful input!
Trevor
Migs Cruz - July 29, 2010 6:29 am
Very helpful! Keep it up! I really look up to you guys and i’m starting my own freelance videography soon. peace out!
IN[FOCUS] 2011
Great job everyone!
haha p-
I already am going to inFOCUS because I’m a blogger on the site. Time to let someone else have the riches and glory.
WOW!!! So many great entries, it is so hard to choose. I have it down to 3.
I love it!!! Great job!! :)
holy crap ’speak of remarkable things’ was amaaaazing what a good video. i cant believe the quality its a winner.
Great video
great video looks like an add for a vacation!
Definitely love SugarLeaf’s!
oh bretts and paul/jordans was good also but Ive already said my fav!
My favourite was “speak of remarkable things” those guys nailed the compelling story, composition, light, colour, sound (especially) it was perfect. Made me think for a long time afterward.
I enjoyed Paul & Jordans film. The epic story & the way it’s been graded, shot at night, reminds me of Nocturne. I love the scene in the thumbnail, great silhouette. Can’t wait to read the reviews on these films!
It needs more boobs, guns and explosions.
A nice variety of ideas and some really beautiful shots. I really enjoyed the story that Jared & Danielle presented in such a short amount of time.
hey mr kmawesome – where are all of your crazy skills in these contests? P.
Really impressed with these entries. Solid cinematography coupled with really engaging storytelling. I won’t share my favorite…but my do think there is some stiff competition here. Congrats to all the entrants!
Really inspired entries this time around. I really enjoyed a ton of the footage being shown. Some of Stephen’s and Brett’s shots were stunning IMO.
For the representation of the theme though, combined with really telling a story, I love Danielle and Jared’s entry. That was really creative and kept me engaged all the way to the end.
Well done everyone!
[...] he believes happens when as person passes. We hope you enjoy the short; please help us by voting here or on the poll just below the video. We’d love to hear your feedback! [...]