Poole Harbour

[chrishull3]

Made with my FX-7 a few years back,from 9m45s the boat trip tp to wareham the cam was my HC-1.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCuk2nuJ ... r_embedded

[Doughie]

My comments Chris :
- I have a feeling that your work would really benefit from some color grading. take a look at these two videos, the first of which is ungraded, (basically more or less straight out of the camera, though edited as you can see) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl1g6SisLTM

and this is the same video but graded :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6EU4seVOrA

It certainly gives it (in my view) a more pleasing tone and a more cinematic look. It's personal preference, yes, but really i think your footage would look even better with this sort of thing done to it.
software used in the above example is Red Giant software's Magic Bullet Looks.

AUDIO:
- what mic and how far from that mic were you when you did the narration? you need to be within 12 or 18inches of a good-quality condenser mic, and i'd do the voiceover recording in a room that has lots of soft furnishings in it. Too many flat walls and hard-floors etc makes for that echo-ey hollow sound. Also i'd just try to talk in a normal way. I think the cadence of your narration was a bit staccato and unnatural. these are just my viewpoints Chris, i hope you're ok with that! I was last on Brownsea island more than 30years ago. --I heard the peacocks in your video, so its seems they are still roaming around!

EDIT:
One more thing i noticed (and I get the same problem too). you've got your cam on a tripod and it's zoomed in quite a bit - but when you press REC to stop recording, naturally that shakes the camera even though it's on a tripod. Example at 7m01s in the video. I would just edit out that final second or two or shaky video when you press REC to start or stop recording. Easy to do.

[Doughie]

even the Rode Videomic would make a good voiceover mic. It's only 85 quid :
http://www.warehouseexpress.com/buy-rod ... e/p1020155

I've used it for exactly that - it works fine. Just keep it close, around 12-18inches away, best if you used a pop-filter too, to stop plosives like "p" etc.

[chrishull3]

My comments Chris :
- I have a feeling that your work would really benefit from some color grading. take a look at these two videos, the first of which is ungraded, (basically more or less straight out of the camera, though edited as you can see) :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cl1g6SisLTM

and this is the same video but graded :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6EU4seVOrA

It certainly gives it (in my view) a more pleasing tone and a more cinematic look. It's personal preference, yes, but really i think your footage would look even better with this sort of thing done to it.
software used in the above example is Red Giant software's Magic Bullet Looks.

AUDIO:
- what mic and how far from that mic were you when you did the narration? you need to be within 12 or 18inches of a good-quality condenser mic, and i'd do the voiceover recording in a room that has lots of soft furnishings in it. Too many flat walls and hard-floors etc makes for that echo-ey hollow sound. Also i'd just try to talk in a normal way. I think the cadence of your narration was a bit staccato and unnatural. these are just my viewpoints Chris, i hope you're ok with that! I was last on Brownsea island more than 30years ago. --I heard the peacocks in your video, so its seems they are still roaming around!

EDIT:
One more thing i noticed (and I get the same problem too). you've got your cam on a tripod and it's zoomed in quite a bit - but when you press REC to stop recording, naturally that shakes the camera even though it's on a tripod. Example at 7m01s in the video. I would just edit out that final second or two or shaky video when you press REC to start or stop recording. Easy to do.

Thanks Doughie, as i said this film was made a few years back,i never bothered with grading as at the time most in the club were using old mini dv and the quality from the FX at the time on the projector looked good, this won the prize for that years documentary cup[that does not say much i know]the trouble was the fx had such a long zoom it showed the slightest shake which as you say should have been edited out better,

audio i have had a RSVM for years and used it for the filming and narration , the narration was about 18 inches from the mic, a condenser would have been better for this but i bought a RVM and tried one and hated the hum and buzz it gave so sent it back.regarding my narration i could practice till the cows come home and would never get better as often i had to do another talk as i cocked up,i dont make films of this sort any more since an illness but still like filming and showing bits of filming like i have been doing.you made me laugh mate when you said i head the peacocks in your video, Ha did you realy watch it there are plenty of peacocks to be seen as well as heard,
This is another FX film a couple of years old i dont know if you have seen it or not, it won another cup but is not perfect if we are talking real top quality.
http://vimeo.com/13148616

[chrishull3]

Sorry i forgot to say as you see most of the film is overexposed and slight shake shows on this film as well.but i had to get the footage from at least 2 hours of film and at least 3 days of filming at various times in that year.

[Doughie]

Ha did you realy watch it there are plenty of peacocks to be seen as well as heard,

yes ! I watch about half of it, heard the peacocks and then got a phone call so never got to see the later bit with the lady feeding the peacocks....

[chrishull3]

Just watched your links and personaly i prefer the strait off camera stuff[what cam]than the colour corrected stuff which is too vivid for my taste , to my eyes the bloke with a beard looked as if he had been roasted, each to their own though Dougie thanks very much for the feedback.

[Doughie]

Hi Chris - yep am pretty sure that Venice Beach video was Canon 7D mate.

[Doughie]

[audio i have had a RSVM for years and used it for the filming and narration , the narration was about 18 inches from the mic, a condenser would have been better for this but i bought a RVM and tried one and hated the hum and buzz it gave so sent it back.

HI Chris - the Rode RSVM (Rode Stereo VideoMic) is actually a condenser mic itself. it's got 2 cardioid condenser capsules, set at 90degrees to each other in an XY configuration. Maybe u did your recording in too 'live' a room or something.

Bit surprised to hear the probs with hum and buzz on the mono Videomic. i've had one since 2005 and it's always been almost completely noise-free when i've used it. maybe you got a bad one, or bad connection etc.