Redemption

Redemption is Done!

redemptionfilm — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 00:07:49 +0000

Redemption is a western that tells the story of the outlaw Jesse on the run from the lawman Sam and his deputies. Jesse is trapped by the lawmen in a little cabin inhabited by a starving woman and child. Their plight forces him to consider his own struggle for survival and the motives behind his life on the run.Shot in three weekends in March of 2007, this film represents over a year’s work of a small group of Virginia Tech students driven beyond the classroom by their passion for filmmaking.Cameras used: Canon HV30, Sony Z1USoftware used: Final Cut Pro, Motion (for visual effects), After Effects (for color correction using the process in the DV Rebels Guide), Illustrator (for graphics).

more about "Redemption on Vimeo", posted with vodpod

End in Sight

redemptionfilm — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 01:10:04 +0000

Fall semester killed my time, so I’ve been working hard over winter break to bring Redemption to a finished product. Music is the only thing left to add, and I’ve been working with one of the producers on the film to find or compose what we need. In the meantime, I’ve begun work on the DVD – covers, menus, and special features.

This is the DVD cover so far. I finally found a visual style that I really like for the film. It features a wood background with images burned onto its surface. Text floats like light above it.

Onlining Complete

redemptionfilm — Thu, 25 Sep 2008 00:46:40 +0000

Good news, the longest, most tedious portion of the entire production is done. Onlining comes after the final cut is locked and is done to give the film a unified, polished look. This primarily includes color correction and color grading to match a disparate array of shots from different settings and different cameras and combine them under a stylized color palette. Another part of onlining is combining any visual effects shots, fixing lighting problems, and any compositing.

I used After Effects CS3 with scripts from the DV Rebels Guide. I followed the process described in the “Onlining” chapter of the book and am very satisfied with the outcome.

For the look of the film I pushed the shadows towards purple, the midtones towards an orange and the highlights to a pale yellow. This is a much less stylized example of color grading because I loved the colors of the location that we had to begin with and wanted to do just enough tweaking without losing them completely. The final look has a more stretched range of color and a more rustic, weathered feel. My goal was to mimic the look of a movie shot on film as much as possible. The DV Rebel’s Guide was great for unlocking the secrets behind achieving this in some of the tools in After Effects.

As a result of these past two months of work, the movie is a visual whole and not an amateurish hodge-podge of shots.

So where does that leave the film now? Well the only thing left to do is audio: effects and soudtrack. Keep checking back to stay posted on where the project is going.

Final Cut Locked!

redemptionfilm — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 02:41:15 +0000

I just locked the final cut tonight at 21 minutes 52 seconds and 25 frames! I’ll post some color correction tests and examples as I move into the onlining stage. I’m very excited now because it feels like most of the “real” work is done. The story has been told essentially, its just time to make it easier to watch. I know that’s not completely true, but there is still the satisfaction of accomplishment.

Wish me luck as I dive in to After Effects.

Teaser Trailer

redemptionfilm — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:55:29 +0000

Incase you haven’t checked it out yet – see the teaser trailer:

Are We There Yet?

redemptionfilm — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 01:21:14 +0000

I’m still procrastinating locking the cut. I have reviewed the film multiple times and made a few revisions. I’ve shaved about 3 minutes off the run time, mainly in the dialogue heavy scenes. I’ve also been working on a few visual effects shots – primarily adding smoke to the gunshots.

I hope to post a discussion between Richard, the executive producer, and myself about the film’s initial creation process, as soon as I find time that won’t take away from progress on the final editing stages. So keep checking back, more is coming soon.

Also, I want a couple extra test screeners. Comment on this post and let me know if you want to see the rough cut and I will include you in the limited-time screening of the film.

My $15 Camera Mount

redemptionfilm — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:52:51 +0000

I just wanted to show off a camera mount I built for a movie I shot this spring. It is based on a design I saw online for alot more than I wanted to spend. It is made out of PVC pipe and joints which, including the glue to hold it together was about $15. It has a simple threaded bolt that goes through a hole in the middle X joint and a thin piece of wood with bicycle intertube to better grip the camera base.

I heated the longer section of pipe in the oven until I was able to bend it in to a curve. This allows you to press forward with your hands to stabilize the rig against your neck, like you could with a camera strap. I don’t have the footage on this computer, but I’ll post some shots soon that I did using the mount.

It has been very helpful in shooting actions scenes, allowing me to get a very steady shot while still having much greater flexibility than a tripod. I also shot an interview in an art gallery with it.

I’ve used it both with the compact Canon HV20 and the larger Sony HVR-Z1U. Let me know what you think and if you have any questions – I’ll be glad to give you more details!

Second Cut Complete

redemptionfilm — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 03:33:37 +0000

The second cut is complete – that is most of the edits are final and the film just needs sound and visual effects! As I add these in, I’ll be refining this cut even more. Over the next week I’ll focus primarily on the visual effects, in particular the credits at the end and the logos at the beginning. I am just starting to get my feet wet in After Effects, so I’ll see what I can do in terms of animating those logos.

Look for a few more posts over the next couple days. I may post some pictures of the $15 camera mount I created for the film and some demo footage. I just got the DV Rebel’s Guide, which I am very excited to read. And hopefully I’ll post a review of it once I complete it.

Stay tuned.

Rough Cut Complete!

redemptionfilm — Tue, 27 May 2008 00:41:52 +0000

I just finished the rough cut of the film! Overall it looks good and the story makes sense. It is still very disjointed and I’ve found a few places that I didn’t get exactly what I wanted in the footage. To me the rough cut is always the most discouraging because it is such a shoddy telling of the story. All the way through shooting I’ve had a image of the film in my head.

Editing presents the biggest challenge to this concept. Its disappointing for the film to not turn out exactly the way I wanted it. This is partially a result of being too locked in to the concept during production – I didn’t let my concept change and adapt enough to fit the location and action I was working with.

Editing becomes a process of breaking down the old concept and rebuilding a new film. The more objectively I can approach it the better. I need to edit to tell the story, not just to match the concept in my mind. This makes the rough cut useful. It shows me a general sketch of the original way I conceived the film and reveals how this helps or hinders the story.

I can now break into the parts that do not work and experiment with different fixes. Without this rough cut, trying to generate the entire movie one polished bit at a time, I would be constantly trying and failing to perfect the original concept rather than focusing on the story as a whole.

The next step, as soon as everything finishes rendering, will be to review the cut and note changes to be made. I’ll then work scene by scene until I get the right shots and timing to better tell the story.

Rough Cut – 80%

redemptionfilm — Tue, 20 May 2008 02:33:08 +0000

The rough cut is about 80% complete. I have most of it spliced together except for the end of the third scene and end of the final scene. It will be about 25 minutes long. The rough cut should only take another two hours to complete and I should be able to wrap it up tomorrow.

The rough cut means that all the clips are in general order but lacks sound work, color processing, and fine tuning.

I am working on a short teaser trailer which I want to complete by the end of the week. I’ll be working on an animated logo for my pseudo-production-company, October Films.

I still have a little bit of footage to get. One is of a sunrise and then I still need a shot from behind the cabin.