SoundWorks Collection has been publishing videos to Vimeo.com to give not just some behind-the-scenes peeks, but insight into the efforts taken in sound design. By my estimation their efforts are quite lengthy and employ top-notch use of the world’s open spaces, objects, devices, you name it, in sound capture to give audiences the director’s intended overall experience.
“There are so many misperceptions about sound for film. SoundWorks Collection helps de-mystify the art, and show how pros in the trenches are really doing it. An incredible resource. I’m shocked there was nothing like it until now.” -Erik Aadahl, Supervising Sound Editor “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
This is an awesome initiative that I think places SoundWorks Collection way ahead of the game in how they are taking advantage of social media–simply put!
I don’t know what has gotten into me as of late but I have been on a roll with shooting and editing video. Summer vacation hit and suddenly I feel as though the world is my oyster. So I have literally been walking around malls, stores, outside random buildings, grass knolls and my home shooting all kinds of footage.
Following the 4th of July, we South Floridians have been experiencing some rather grey skies with long deluges of rain. On July 5th it turned out to be quite a dreary day and I slept for a good part of it, until I felt inspired to share that portion of my day with you as I envisioned it.
Okay, on with the technical aspects. Briefly, I think I over cropped this in the process of trying to achieve 2:35 once again. I’m learning as I go. I’m not a professional. Anyway I hope it’s effective artistically. This was edited in Final Cut Express, and graded in Adobe After Effects. I shot the majority of this video at 24 fps, and some at 60i fps (I did the latter so that for certain shots the time re-mapping would be more effective when slowed down). No I did not us Magic Bullet Looks. I just got lucky. … Actually I’m kidding. I customized some cool film presets in AE is all–that’s not too far off from what Magic Bullet Looks achieves for a video editor that has big bucks to spend. Finally, I added a gentle vignette to the edges for focal effect.
Well that’s pretty much it.
Trying to teach myself as I inch deeper into the video editing world. I love it!!
In usual Hollywood fashion, we are in for a franchise. I don’t mean to be a cynic on this one, but the first one did so well–with the help of social media, no less. This second time around will have this film set high above our heads on a pedestal to see if it can garner the same success as the first. And frankly, when you put aside the first films well-deserved hype, it’s demand, and strip away the fear factor, one is left with a formulaic and waning shaky camera found footage genre, that only succeeded based by reverting back to some classic fear-evoking film techniques. There were moving objects in the room, strange sounds, odd and peculiar character behavior and so on. All the special effects were gone…’til the end of course Personally, I love the shaky camera found footage film genre, and I don’t want to see it get stale again. We shall see what happens.
I happened upon this very beautiful short film called “Cart” after seeing his short video featured on apple.com on the iPad page called iPad + Velcro. It’s been online approximately 11 months now, but I had to share my “find” because goodies like this are hard to find. This particular film is a diamond in the rough.
Cart was written and directed by Jesse Rosten and the music with it’s beautiful leitmotif on, I think the glockenspiel, was written by Peter Lance. It was shot on RED ONE with Canon EOS lenses on the Birger lens mount.
Here are the production notes below and be sure to check out Jesse Rosen’s website to see still photos of the film shoot.
The idea for this film was hatched a few years ago. Lyn and I were driving through town and had Radiohead’s OK Computer on the CD player. As we drove by an empty parking lot, we happened to notice a shopping cart looking rather lost and disheveled. This visual, combined with Yorke’s longing melodies, had us both feeling like we were experiencing something dramatic and cinematic. So, naturally, we started laughing. The next few minutes were spent joking about “the little cart that could.” “Wouldn’t that be funny if…” “He’s got the heart of a champion.” Fast forward a few years and we hadn’t forgotten about the cart. When I learned that my hometown was hosting a film festival to showcase local talent, the idea of the shopping cart resurfaced. Can’t get shown up on your home court, right? A few beers with friends and many script revisions later and we had a story.
The film was shot with no budget, over a few weeks. The question I get asked the most is, “how did you get the cart to move?” Simple. String. Ugly Braid 40lbs test fishing line to be exact. We went through several brands before we found one that didn’t show too much on screen. Even so, when shooting at 4k it’s hard to hide anything and I ended up having to comp the string out of a few of the shots. Big thanks to Derek and Lyn for all their hard work on the production. Also, this film wouldn’t be what it is without the beautiful music composed by Peter Lance.
When I read this I sat up straight in my chair because I was partly in disbelief. But it turns out that this project is real, but is in serious need of financial backing. The project is on kickstarter.com and needs $12,000 dollars raised by July 15, 2010 8:02pm. As of the time of this post, $257 dollars have been raised and by my estimates, time is a-flyin’. I would love to see this film completed, so I will make a donation–a small donation, but at least I’ll be cheering it on with my monetary support. I will update this post once I have made the donation.
Here is some info on the film and and the camera setup with the iPhone 4:
About the Film
“I’m Going Home” is a short film that explores one man’s accidental discovery of the city he loves.
Film is slated to be shot on location in NYC mid -July. The film was written by Nathan Scott, co-directed by Philip Bloom (“Red Tails”, “People of” series) and Reece Brothers (“Fifty People, One Question”)
About the Production
Since the iPhone 4 launch, our team has devised a way to mount the iPhone 4 to rails, allowing us to take steadicam, dolly, and glider shots. It also allows us a level of control of exposure and white balance with the use of ND filters and gels. To see some of the test shots we have taken, see the trailer above. For more information, see Philip Bloom’s blog post.
I love it!!
