The follow on from my work in Africa...

jamesoliverstone

jamesoliverstone

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Well, after months of hard work with the final 300 images from the Africa trip, we are now working on the video and getting the pilot together for our 1 hour DVD / TV programme.

I would be interested to see what you guys and girls think of the first draft of the introduction to the program... after watching this, would you want to watch more? Is there anything glaringly obvious that I have missed, or something about it that puts you off?

Any thoughts, critique and comments are gladly accepted :)

I hope you all like it, we have shed loads of video and voiceovers to edit now, but I think the final production will be a great story.

Thanks guys and girls :D

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJCb-bEyF4c
 
Think you've highlighted the main problem - the lack of stabilisation. Makes some of the clips a little hard to watch in places. There are software solutions but they don't always work that well, and obviously they will end up cropping a bit so losing a little resolution. At least having a decent tripod/fluid head would have made a big difference imo, too late now I know.

Personally I would be tempted to add some of the stills in to the video - you can do 'Ken Burns effect' pans and zooms on the pictures without losing quality as they are much higher than HD resolution. The stills are very powerful from what I've seen.

Also, I am bit of a sucker for it generally, but adding a subtle vignette can help give video a nice 'filmic' quality imo.

I am no video expert either but have been making a few videos recently and researching it quite a bit. Overall though it looks an interesting project from the video, and I would certainly be keen on seeing more.
 
Excellent.

I just acquired the 60D for the same purposes, and you realy do need some kind of stabalisation. A steadicam would make things a lot easier! :D Especially within the HDSLR indie community. Unless you acquire a video camera designed for purpose like the Canon EX-3, which has enough weight to balance on your shoulder.

My only criticism, coming from a film background, is to include more emotional close ups. The entire thing feels a bit too distant, but that is a challenge. The editing doesn't quite reflect the visceral sensation of an inter-connected sensation of the oral tradition. More extreme close up of hands, and of fast cuts.

Although, journalism may expect a less constructed approach. :P
 
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responding to the techie-y stuff:

A steadicam would make things a lot steadier, but not easier! You ever balanced one? ;) They also give a particular type of movement that isn't always actually needed or wanted - it's much more a glide than just 'steady'.

Take a tripod, or a lightweight shoulder stabiliser, or even VR lenses - working on a film recently we were amazed just at what IS (canon lenses) does. A monopod might work, but chase jarvis uses one for all his live shows and it looks like arse, so you'd at least want to test it before! I'd imagine for short cuts it'd be good.

Also, I am bit of a sucker for it generally, but adding a subtle vignette can help give video a nice 'filmic' quality imo.
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occasionally, but don't overdo it pleaaaase :P
A colour grade would be the next step really, with the existing footage :)


Back to the original question:

Mr "joey" Oliver Stone, looks class, can't wait to see the rest :D Good voiceover, as someone else said, more cutaways and extreme closeups might be good to throw into the teaser :) Looks good though :)
 
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I'm not really into music, but I'll certainly watch this when it appears, even if there are technical "shortcomings" (I'm not qualified to say). It's just Africa, the people, the red earth, the bush and the memories. Home. Thank you.
 
Thanks all, thats some really good advice :)

I will be editing in a lot of stills into the actual production, I just left them out of the introduction as I couldn't find a suitable place to put them...

I have thought about using software to reduce jitter, but as grum said, some of the results don't look particularly good (imo).

I will start to look into some colour edits too to give it some balance... dave, any ideas on this front?

Thanks for the help guys :)
 
jamesoliverstone said:
Thanks all, thats some really good advice :)

I will be editing in a lot of stills into the actual production, I just left them out of the introduction as I couldn't find a suitable place to put them...

I have thought about using software to reduce jitter, but as grum said, some of the results don't look particularly good (imo).

I will start to look into some colour edits too to give it some balance... dave, any ideas on this front?

Thanks for the help guys :)
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you editing in final cut? If so, and you've got final cut studio, open up Colour and have a play with sliders :) plenty of really good tutorial sets online.
 
James when you are colour grading make sure you keep the really vibrant colours in this video. They really make it look nice imo. Don't be tempted by the often overused "magic bullet" type of looks.
 
Excellent work so far, James. Your father and you must be so excited by it all even though I imagine that the road feels long. A 1 hour doc is such an undertaking but, when finished will be greatly rewarding.

The two minutes that you’ve showcased so far have achieved the most important aspect of documentary filmmaking which is to reveal the story. The successful musician, with the nagging feeling of there’s something more to life, in a search to discover his/our place in the world and to add understanding to it. A little further on and we find out he is not alone on this journey. Through the commentary and an important story cut away is his son, the filmmaker. The Tanzanian tribe(s) curiosity, (probably due more to your fathers dancing:),) and opened armed spirit to except others in is draws more interest to how this will play out. This definitely has a feel to teach and to learn on both sides. It has my interest and I look forward to watching the rest.

On the technical side of it I would only use stills and/or cut-away if you feel it to be absolutely necessary to the story. What you have so far is fine unless you feel that something else will inject more substance into it. Sometimes less is better.

It’s not overly jerky (imo) and the little movements there is just adds to the dancing, singing, clapping etc. It has a feel that equipment and complex set ups are second to the discovery of the story. And that is fundamentally importance to me. We’re all different, though.

There is though a couple of sound issues. Around the 58min mark: “a dream to go and share music in a far more pi……” I lose the last word to this sentence and the beginning of the new sentence due to the shouting tribe.

And at the 1:58 mark the soundtrack belts up which is a little too much. Just be aware too that the soundtrack should never overpower the commentary but add to its drive. It’s a perfect soundtrack, by the way.

Good luck with the rest.

Roger.

ps, do you have a title for it yet. I'm not asking you to reveal it of course, but just knowing the title can help keep things on track. Just a thought!
 
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Thanks for taking the time to reply, thats some really good advice on here.

@roger, I am glad that the emotion and feeling behind it shows through as that was the main point for us, to try and get the viewer to understand the underlying story in a far more visceral way than with stills :) Thanks

I am re-editing this cut to even out the audio and top and tail it with the titles... I will post up the results in a few days. Thanks all :D
 
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