Trailers for feature edited in Vegas

sumitagarwal wrote on 9/22/2004, 11:43 AM

Hi guys, I was hoping I might be able to pry some feedback from all of you on my editing/photography skills. I'm nearly the completion of photography for a feature I'm writing/directing titled 'The Person in the Pixels'. So far I've cut together two demo reels for the project which are available at:
http://dmedia.ucsc.edu/~sagarwal/PiP%20teaser%201.mov
&
http://dmedia.ucsc.edu/~sagarwal/pip-samplereel2.mov
the first was cut together when we only had 10% of the movie shot. The second was made when 75% of it was shot. They are (of course) very rough edits as we have not even completed shooting yet. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
-Sumit

Comments

Spot|DSE wrote on 9/22/2004, 11:47 AM

I'd love to see them, but since they're quicktime...
{edit} decided to bite the bullet, but after waiting for 25 mins..decided to give up. got the first few seconds, cinematography looked good, but it ended at the beach scene.
No chance of a real stream, huh?

stormstereo wrote on 9/22/2004, 12:37 PM

Well, I can tell you this: I want to marry Leia! :)

I like the idéa and the style of your upcoming movie. The outdoor footage and it's colors really rocks. Indoor is not as good but I understand why. Are the actors beginners? It's of course very hard to judge their performance from watching a trailer but I got the feeling some of them are not as comfortable as others in front of the cam. Maybe it's just me.

Basically there's only one thing wrong with these teasers. They're too long. Try making a 30 and 60 second version. Despite that, they made me want to see the whole finished piece.

Let us know when it's ready!
Best/Tommy

hugoharris wrote on 9/22/2004, 12:40 PM

Wow.

I know you're looking for constructive criticism, but you're so far ahead of me all I can do is admire. As a viewer, you're trailer is effective. I would be enticed into seeing your movie...I'll even look for it when it comes out!

Was it shot on DV, or was it a film transfer? Which camera(s) did you use if it was DV?

Good luck,
Kevin.

hugoharris wrote on 9/22/2004, 12:41 PM

By the way, the music fits perfectly. Just great.

sjlocke wrote on 9/22/2004, 12:56 PM

Hi,

Yes, I think they are way too long. You lost me after about 30 seconds of people typing on keyboards at the beginning. It needs to be really tightened up. I would lose some of the repeated keyboard shots as well.

sj

sumitagarwal wrote on 9/22/2004, 9:42 PM

yea, it is too long... these are essentially demo reels to show the cast/crew what they are working on. The movie is being shot on DV with a Panasonic DVX100. Glad it can pass for film =)
As far as Leia, she's wonderful and definately my favorite for working with. Very cooperative and on top of things. Several of the actors are quite experienced, but mostly with stage theater. Some of the actors are first-timers.
-Sumit

hugoharris wrote on 9/22/2004, 10:25 PM

I think it depends on when the trailer is being shown. I just returned from seeing "Garden State", and 4 movie previews were shown prior to the feature. All of them were longer than your trailer. That being said, I can't stand it when the trailer basically tells me the whole story condensed into 90 seconds, and 3 of the 4 tonight did just that.

Kevin.

busterkeaton wrote on 9/23/2004, 5:50 AM

Love the shot with the Grado headphones. I recently found out that Grado headphones are made in the neighborhood next to where I grew up.

I really liked the look of the movie. Did you use Magic Bullet or Zenote?

I may not be the target audience for the movie, but I am too much of a cynical wiseass to respond well to a tag line like "What Does Love Feel Like at 67,000 mile an hour?"

sumitagarwal wrote on 9/23/2004, 8:20 AM

yea... gotta love those Grados =)
The '67,000' miles per hour thing is sort of a joke. Its basically like saying "what's it like to be human?". 67,000mph is the speed at which the Earth circumnavigates the sun. If you're a cynical person, this movie is for you (though you may not be able to tell from these demo reels). I know I'm quite the cynic ;)
-Sumit

sumitagarwal wrote on 9/23/2004, 8:21 AM

oh yea, about the Magic Bullet thing: yes, I used MB on this with the 'filmic' preset. The final gloss on everything is a MB + slight film grain. In addition to that most clips have a fairly heavy load of processing on them consisting mostly of color corrections and glow.
-Sumit