Promo for Quartet San Francisco: Recording session at Skywalker Ranch

I just shot (along with two others), and edited this video over the past few weeks.

I used the CrumplePop film grain V2 on all the shots, and ToneGrade on like 2 or 3. I also used the SugarFX movie credits.

Any feedback is appreciated.

Nice work, Julian. You've displayed a high level of professionalism throughout. The calibre of the musicians, training & location demanded that, & you've delivered comfortably. A few outstanding points which I greatly appreciated;

First - Your sound levels are perfect, the quality as well. Something as seemingly simple as audio levels is often inferior in a lot of productions, or not showing the attention to detail you've applied. Not only do we have the engaging music supporting your visuals, but it never overpowers the narrative. Your talent is mic'd, captured & mixed to perfection.

Secondly - The tone grade you applied fits the genre, the warmth of the wood works wonderfully here & for the most part the skin tones & lighting support the piece without getting in the way.

Finally, the editing, pacing, composition, focus work & variety of framing, contribute to a nice flow of information, entertainment, sights & sounds, in a brief but engaging little film.

So, did I perceive any negatives?

A couple of very minor details. The shot of what looked like a road case with Skywalker Sound emblazoned on the side, after we pull focus there, I don't think we really need to hold that shot for much longer. Consequently it's about twice as long as it needs to be. There's a very subtle subconscious implication in an edit like this. It's one of condescension, where the audience is thought to be so dim that it takes them twice as long to read two words. Less is more in a situation like this, we'd rather be teased with a glimpse of something that we strain to catch, rather than linger on something that is drummed into us. Why do I go on about a minuscule aspect of seeming insignificance? Because masterpieces are tuned by the tiniest of increments.

This next one may well be out of your control, but I wasn't too enamored with the opening title credit's colors. Perhaps that's the branding of the Quartet, but the color combination isn't that appealing or attractive. I enjoyed the text's gliding movement though. We see the same color scheme in the closing credits & as it appears in your youtube freeze frame film identifier pic. The colors look like something one would see associated with cartoons or comical whimsical fare rather than this subject matter. So to some degree, they detract from the weight or legitimacy of the piece.

When we're behind the mixing console & rise up in what looks like a jib shot, I'm not sure if there is some kind of cross fade there as we move into that next shot, but it doesn't come thru as smoothly as I would have liked. This may be caused by the youtube resolution, but I was left wanting a touch more grace there.

Some of the faces during the interviews are a little too evenly lit, bordering on overexposure, which leans a bit towards video flatness. Perhaps you used the room's existing lights, but an assistant with a reflector or flag just out of frame could give us a slight caress of light or shadow on one side of the face, bringing out more contour, thus raising interest & emotional connection.

On a personal note, I loved the large sound deadening blocky baffles behind the musicians, would've enjoyed a rising shot coming up over one of their squared uneven side surfaces as we rack focus to the contrasting round smooth shape of a cello's head with fingers at work.

All in all, very impressive work. Depending on your output resolution, from where I'm sitting, it certainly appears broadcast ready.


Thanks for sharing, Julian. Looking forward to your next film.








J. Matthew
Global•Watch•Media•Consulting
www.GWM2.com

@GlobalWatchM3


PS - Love your bottle cap production company logo bumper at the end.

Thanks for the feedback! You are always on top of watching these videos we all post and you give great feedback, so thanks for taking the time!

For the sound I have to credit my boss for that. I work at a recording studio doing all the video production, so the sound better be good!

Getting the right look is something I've been working on and I'm glad you like it. I still have a long way to go and some issues to work through (i'm red/green colorblind).

The editing, pacing, composition and framing are probably what I've put the most work into learning as that's what my school really focused on. Specifically for this one I'm really happy about the natural masking I used with the sound baffles. While they could have proven to be an obstacle that prevented me from getting some good shots, I used them to frame the subjects and focus the viewers attention on a smaller part of the screen. I like doing this more than a really shallow depth of field. One of my favorite shots of natural masking is at 1:57.

As for the skywalker road case, I left that shot longer to cut with the musical riff that happens at that point. So while it might be long, it was an intentional decision and not just negligence. So while I agree that it's a little long, I do have a big weakness for keeping the edits at pace with musical movements.

While I gave my boss credit for the sound mixing, I'll give him credit for the color of the fonts. Like I said, I'm colorblind and I always defer final color decisions to someone else. I guess it's kind of supposed to match the colors on the album cover that you see at the very end, but I don't think it looks good either now that you mention it.

The transition shot from control room with the fade to the other room was shaky, I'll credit my boss with that one as well. I had to apply image stabilization to that and when you throw a transition into two clips that have been stabilized, it doesn't always workout well, but I needed those shots so I could get us out of the control room and back into the live room.

I would have loved a rising shot over the baffles too, but I personally did not mess with any camera movement shots for this piece. Our slider is a little rough and the jib is a little wobbly, so I just need a lot more practice before I do something like that. Nothing worse than bad camera movement... well other than a 1" DOF.

Thanks again for the feedback, I've got a few other pieces coming up to post soon.