TRACKING and COMPOSITING

[mackdadd]

nice work! I entered this contest as well! ;)

my only comments on your greenscreen pulling is that in one of the shots, there's a ton of green spill on the table.

What did you shoot this on? HD?

[webhead]

nice work! I entered this contest as well! ;)

my only comments on your greenscreen pulling is that in one of the shots, there's a ton of green spill on the table.

What did you shoot this on? HD?
Thanks for the reply, Mackdadd. There are some really terrific entries - I've seen a few that really stand out. Which entry is yours may I ask?
Yes, it was filmed in HD. Could you tell, or were you just curious? I did have a problem with the spillage on one of the shots -do you know how the best way to avoid/correct such problems? I know staying as far away from the green screen as possible is one way, but we were very cramped for space and could only get so far away from it. The local cable acess studio I belong to has a nice big green screen set-up, but anything you create there has to be shown on the local access channel. It hardly ever gets used -such a waste!

[mackdadd]

Could you tell, or were you just curious?

I could kinda tell, cuz that looked better than most DV keying.

do you know how the best way to avoid/correct such problems?

well, in the shot I noticed it in, there's a big open area of the table on the lower right portion of the frame that's reflecting the green. It would be very easy to make an adjustment layer with a roto around that area, then throw a Hue/Saturation on it and go into the green hue, and start messing with it. Desaturate, shifting it to another color, whatever.

hahaha, yeah, that does seem a waste, the cable access greenscreen! you should make movies there anyway - and then air them all on public access! :)

here's my entries (the one with the kid was impossible to shoot, so it's not up to par):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdQG5ulI5mk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcsRtdEtjQQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7iZiVCOd1w

[webhead]

Yeah, "Angry Wife" is definately my favorite of your three entries.
I made a Heinz commercial with kids, myself. I also had trouble getting them to focus, but I still managed to squeeze a commercial out of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-j2DzUm7EY


Thanks for the advice on the green screen spill. I actually did some masking on other shots.
Particularly, any shots with the Heinz bottle, because the green in the label would key out with the background.

[beenyweenies]

Here are the issues I noticed:

1. Color correction - The shots of the two different main actors are not consistent color-wise. From shot to shot the color changes (for both actors) from orangey to bluish, and sometimes oversaturated orange. In one shot, the "criminal" loses most of his color and looks very blue/colorless. It seems to be different every time the camera cuts, which makes this even more pronounced. I would spend some serious time color correcting this piece, and maybe even color correct to give it a more moody look that enhances the whole criminal interrogation feel (more of an overall blue/green pallette, akin to Matrix etc.). If you keep this color correction from affecting the plate of food, it's warm tones will stand out much better and look very pleasing/tasty.

2. Audio - Audio is freakin' hard, especially when you have to work with an on-camera mic or a crappy room. But the rules of film-making dictate that audio is, to the average viewer, 75% of the quality equation. In other words, if you have bad audio even a perfect picture will not make up for that. I would spend some time in post working on your audio, maybe even re-record it foley/ADR style with your actors in a more controlled environment. It's not as hard as you might think, and would really add a lot of perceived quality to your video.

3. Maybe it's just me, but the font you use for the end tag could be better.


Overall it's a great idea, the actors did a good job and I hope one of you guys win!

[webhead]

Beenyweenies, thanks for looking at my work and taking the time to tell me what you thought needed some attention -I appreciate your input.
Yes, I did want more of a cooler blue color look to the commercial, but I was afraid of taking away from the appeal of of the food. Perhaps, I could have avoided that problem by using an adjustment layer, as was suggested earlier for something else. That might have helped the food stick out even more to the audience. As far as the color correction, I tried to use the same settings on each shot, so, I'm not totally sure where I went wrong there.
Yes, audio has always been one of my weaknesses. I bought a boom pole to improve on that, but, at the time of the shoot, had no one to hold it, so I had to place the mic on the table near the actors - not something I wanted to do. If you notice a slight echo in the sound, that was added in post to give the impression that they were in an interrogation room and not in my livingroom.
And, yes, I wasn't entirely happy with the font either, but with the contest deadline closing in fast, I didn't have enough time to tweak the font anymore, and had to go with what I had.
Unfortunately, my shoots always feel rushed because, I have no crew, and I usually have to work with people who aren't really actors, and can only give me so much time - which is one reason I may miss details. I think I need to spend more time in pre-production, so as to make my job that much easier in post-production.
At least, I've gotten some useful advice and experience working on this project.

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