U.S. of A mustang - Wolf Star Pictures

**Airwolf** · 05-09-2011, 05:29 PM

Hi everyone

This has taken me a long time to get the way i want and im quite proud of the final result for my first attempt at a proffesional film for this year. Considering i was armed only with a handheld and very cheap tripod in the states... i think i did not too bad at all. This year is going to be bigger, more action packed and more variety of things to come (not just cars)

special thanks to Tim and Midnight Blue for giving me the encouragement to do this, and for help and advice on which camera to buy!
I still have plenty more to learn, theres still a few things in vegas i need to ask about which ill post up in the relevent forum section.

So please sit back, enjoy and hopefully you can feel what i felt in making this film.

thanks,

**Midnight Blue** · 05-09-2011, 06:53 PM

Nice first attempt. You got some nice shots. You had a narrative. Cut to the feel of the music etc.. So you have all the right ingredients BUT I the main problem with this piece is the editing needs to be much tighter. The titles go on for far to long for a piece like this. It's not that you have done anything particularly wrong. Just a lot of not quite right. I'll try and explain what I mean. An example is the tracking shot that starts at 1:23 it's a nice shot but there is a bit of wobble on it and it goes on for to long. So it's not something you did wrong just not quite fully right. If that makes sense.

Another example is the start of the movie. We don't get to see a car until over a minute. It's good that you put in the flying across to the states as a beginning to the movie, I liked the shot of the shadow of the aircraft on the clouds BUT the whole things goes on to long, the stretching out of the opening titles going on for nearly a quarter of the movie is to long.

I hope you don't feel too down about my comments You have made a nice car movie with some nice shots etc. So, be pleased with it but note there is room for a lot of improvement.

**Airwolf** · 05-09-2011, 06:58 PM

thanks midnight, yeah i do understand what you mean, that was a walking shot and had no track and dolly to hand :(
im quite surprised you didnt give more critism, watching it myself i spotted quite a bit more faults lol. But thanks man.
The reason for the opening titles being so long is because its made in america and my film will mostly be seen by scottish/british audiences, i wanted to emphasise the fact i was in another country and the differences in scenery etc.

**Midnight Blue** · 05-09-2011, 07:02 PM

Oh believe me, I spotted a lot more than I said BUT one, I didn't want to overwhelm you as that wouldn't be fair and two, I like to leave some things for others to comment on. I could have said about the colour balance being off on some shots.

**Airwolf** · 05-09-2011, 07:09 PM

Yeah i forgot to color correct, even tho i set up a note to remind me to do it. Doh! What scene did u notice the colour being off?

**Midnight Blue** · 05-09-2011, 07:14 PM

Quite a few, especially the opening clouds are very blue. If you look at white objects in your shots and see if there is a reddish or bluish tint to them is the best way to spot it. You could if you need help put a piece of bold white text overlaying the whole video so you can stop it at any point and see the difference between the white of the text and the white in your video.

**TimStannard** · 05-10-2011, 12:21 PM

It's quite a nice vid, but I'd be careful before throwing the word "professional" around. Especially if you don't spell it right - that looks exceedingly unprofessional!

Apart from the useful comments that Midnight has given you, the thing that leapt out at me and screamed "amateur" was your tendency to "hose" in a few shots. Worst of all, you do this in the very opening shot.

It is never a good idea to pan one way and then the other. Your film should take the viewer on a journey and so should each shot. If you pan from A to B, you are taking the viewer from A to B. If you pan backwards (especially in the same shot) from B to A you are taking the viewer backwards, which gives the impression (a) you don't really know what you're trying to show me and (b) you've sort of wasted my time. This is probably a load of old armchair phsychology, but that's the way I seee it anyway. Look for this in pro films / TV programmes- you'll rarely, if ever, see shots going one way and then the other.

To clarify: It's perfectly OK to pan back and forth if you are following some action on the screen (ie a car moving left to right then left again) as the viewers "journey" is the journey made by the subject.

Also check out your reflection just before 3:00 and your shadow in the shot immediately following

Like Midnight, the intention is not to put you off, but to indicate just some of the many things that distinguish us amateurs (and I am definitely in that category) from professionals.

**Andy Lockwood** · 05-10-2011, 12:57 PM

Agree with all thats been said. One thing though - you needed a 'stunt co-ordinator'? Like the professional tag try to refrain from attempting to appear more than you actually are. It has the opposite effect.

I liked your film though - even allowing for everything that's been pointed out. If you take those points on board for the next one - you'll soon have it honed nicely. I'd suggest a re-edit of this and see where you go.

**Airwolf** · 05-10-2011, 08:09 PM

the stunt co-ordinator is a bit of an inside joke with the people i filmed with, the film itself is a bit of fun but with a "professional" style to it compared to the way i usually edit films. Thanks Tim for the pointers, yeah shadow's were easily noticeable even during editing, but nothing i could do... all the filming was crammed in one day due to crappy weather :(
atleast you guys liked it... i guess lol
I could do a re-edit, i have ridiculous amounts of footage taken, some of which are ontop of the tallest structure on the world looking at some chicago sky scrapers.
However i dont have it all in sequence so it would be a jumbled up mess of random action shots, drive by's and stills etc.
Even with the imagination i have its hard to think of a re-edit that would properly take you on a sequence journey, sure i could take all the action shots and some stills throw in some really crazy music and go nuts with the editing... but anyone could do that. :(

All my attention is turned on my "project diablo" film which ive been planning on paper for 5 months now. You guys will be getting a special mention in it. Especially if you help me figure out how to make a few of these shots so i can edit it correctly.