Halloween Short

So, it is my first video of the kind. Have done a couple of others in the past but they were more like nightclub promo (fast clips or random stuff).

Well, it was on a low (£0) budget except for my time with 2 actors who have never acted ha.
Had 4 hours to shoot it all so yeah, single or maybe 2 takes per clip.
C&C Welcome.

https://vimeo.com/1096​93153


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Hey,

I am very new to "movie/film" style video. I have done some like events video with a quick turnaround so basic edits and little playing with porifle settings.

I am making a short film. More like a 5 minute film.

I have a Sony A7s witha 35mm f2.8 and a 5D mk III with a 24mm f1.8, 35mm f2 IS, 50mm f1.8, 85mm f1.8 and also some old FD lenses (a 50mm f1.4 and a 28mm f2.8).
I have an FD-E mount converter on the way, so will have a 35mm f2.8, 28mm f2.8 and a 50mm f1.4 for the Sony A7s pretty much.

I have been playing with the s-log 2 option in the A7s and have been somewhat successful in grading the footage.

I am more concerned about workflow. Would you do it in the following way?

• Place clips and trim so you have a single sequence with the scenes of the entire video ready and in place.
  
• Then export/dynamic link the sequence to SpeedGrade for grading.
  
• Finally then exit Speedgrade with the graded sequence and add any last adjustments (Neat video NR and letterbox mask).
  

I don't use speedgrade, but your workflow seems to make sense.
The big difference between your cameras will be latitude/DR. Cutting from one to the other in a carefully lit and exposed scene could be easy, but if you're messy and lose highlights or shadows, the 5D3 won't keep up. I'd also be surprised if the 5D3 looked sharp enough next to A7s footage. Unless you're shooting with the RAW hack, which is definitely sharp.

Be a little careful of shooting 8-bit log on an overcast day or in low contrast. There's only so much contrast you can add to 8-bit files before they get bands or make skin look like clay.

Given your kit, I'd shoot exclusively on the A7s, unless you needed two cameras at once.

I'd also consider selling the 5D3 while you can still get a good price for it, and pick up a metabones EF to NEX adapter/speedbooster. Unless the bulk of your work is stills, anyway. The speedboosters are the kind of tool you'll wonder how you shot without.

Thanks.

I wanted to use the Canon for the low DOF shots as I only have the A7s with a 35mm f2.8 at the moment, but that will be perfect for my more usual shots such as following behind someone and like a general scene lens.

I would only use the Canon for a few bits like on close cut aways.
Looking forward to playing more the the A7s 120fps mind! It still looks alright blown up to 1080p in post...

Is it better to scale up 720p footage to match the other 24fps 1080p rather than export a whole video at 720p? The 720p 120fps footage is only a few short cuts...

I don't think there is a 100% correct workflow for all circumstances but maybe consider doing any noise reduction before or as part of the colour grade. You may not even need it if you are going for filmic and adding some grain. When you start messing with colour correction you can often emphasise noise or even reduce it, it makes sense to take this into account and not just slap NR on at the end.

I really must try Speedgrade, I've never bothered taking more than a casual look as I pretty much feel like between Premiere and After Effects I have it covered but there must be a reason Adobe put it in there?

I'd scale up a few shots rather than output the whole thing at lower quality.

StayFrosty wrote in post #17219127
I don't think there is a 100% correct workflow for all circumstances but maybe consider doing any noise reduction before or as part of the colour grade. You may not even need it if you are going for filmic and adding some grain. When you start messing with colour correction you can often emphasise noise or even reduce it, it makes sense to take this into account and not just slap NR on at the end.

I really must try Speedgrade, I've never bothered taking more than a casual look as I pretty much feel like between Premiere and After Effects I have it covered but there must be a reason Adobe put it in there?

I'd scale up a few shots rather than output the whole thing at lower quality.

Thanks.

Well I have shot 2 stops over on the A7s and when brining the luminance down it has essentially gotten rid of the noise and I am going for a filmic looks so I do not need to do any horrible NR .

Just having error messages with my AE CC 2014 now...wont even start urgh.

So, it is my first video of the kind. Have done a couple of others in the past but they were more like nightclub promo (fast clips or random stuff).

Well, it was on a low (£0) budget except for my time with 2 actors who have never acted ha.
Had 4 hours to shoot it all so yeah, single or maybe 2 takes per clip.
C&C Welcome.

https://vimeo.com/1096​93153

Good effort with your vid by the way, pretty nicely graded IMO.

I think it was screaming out for a twist at the end. I've no experience doing anything story based so take that suggestion with a pinch of salt.

StayFrosty wrote in post #17228563
Good effort with your vid by the way, pretty nicely graded IMO.

I think it was screaming out for a twist at the end. I've no experience doing anything story based so take that suggestion with a pinch of salt.

Ha thanks yeah, it is my third ever video and first with a "sort of storyline" so you may be right. It was a rush job with only having actors for 4 hours max.

It was pretty gruesome as advertised, but I thought it was well done. I think a twist ending of some sort would have been a great touch but c'est la vie. Nice work for such a short time frame to work with!

This was very well done considering you made it with no budget.