an introduction by way of video

[DesignByPete]

Hi folks. here's my second foray into filming, editing i'd done before, but this is the first time i've had anything with better video than a mobile phone/basic compact camera
i will point out that i've been an enthusiastic photographer for several years, so the jump to video on a DSLR (Nikon d5100, sigma lenses and one ancient but awesome nikkor fully manual pre-ai 55m 3.5 lens) wasn't that hard to make..

precursory notes:
a: yes, i needed a tripod with a pan head. yes i now have one
b:shaky-ass hand.. building a home steadycam rig as we speak
c: overcompressed. due in part to my elderly macbook throwing a fit when i try and render much higher bitrate (who has 18hours to render a sub-5 minute video?)
would relish some feedback.
cheers
Pete

[TimStannard]

I thought that was really quite evocative - there was some real joy showing thorugh.
I loved the concept for the opening titles and "The End" although you recognise the compression problems with the opening ones. You can expect me to plagiarise.
Last days of summer - yes, but what it lacked was "where"? The epilogue clearly showed the derelict West Pier at Brighton (which I guess is enough of a landmark for many people), but was the rest of it shot in Brighton? If you were showing this at a local video club/cinema, then location might not be important, but if your films are going in t'internet, and location is important (as I believe it is here - the last days of summer will be very different in Toronto or Melbourne or Tokyo or Rio), I think it would be nice to give that location away in the film.
Some nice shots, but now you've got a tripod and are building a steadycam rig, could you please invest in a spirit level? There were some rather dodgy horizons visible.

[enc]

[QUOTE=TimStannard;169528]I Last days of summer - yes, but what it lacked was "where"? QUOTE]

I think St Ive's harbour sneaked in there

enjoyed it. kinda reminded me of one of those 8mm cine camera holiday films from the 60's .... i'm guessing that's the feel you went for.

nice opening with the pebbles.

[Midnight Blue]

He did say where the locations are in the end credits.

A good start, a good middle and a good end. By no means technically perfect but nice happy, fun content. A good feel good movie.

A pleasant change from "shoot 'em up's".

[DesignByPete]

i agree, a spirit level is in order.. however, due to being on holiday, wonky horizons MAY, just may be the result of a different kind of 'spirit' level
i'm bummed about the compression, i will admit, but i really don't have the machine time (or reliability) right now for renders that long..
i was going for a 60's handheld vid feel, hence the total lack of motion stabilising (though i'll admit i did shoot at 1080p and compose/render at 720p to allow a bit of give and take in the cropping) and the grain overlay/ slight warming filter.
most of it was straight as it came out of the camera, except for a couple of occasions where i had to compensate for the camera's wilful changing of exposures.. god i wish there was a full manual mode on this thing, it would be PERFECT if it was.
i'm also annoyed to have to use solely music for now, i like the ambient noise to come through in videos like that, to give more of a connection, but due to not having an external mic yet, the onboard one was unusable, i stuck to manual focus for most of the shots, but even so, the slightest wind noise makes every clip sound like someone's dry-humping a bag of doritos in the background...

[enc]

where i had to compensate for the camera's wilful changing of exposures.. ...

i have the D3100 it has an exposure lock setting. the setting is buried deep in the menu but it is possible to do. its just a matter of adjusting the settings to enable one of the buttons at the back to switch it on or off.

I'm pretty sure you with your D5100 being newer and a better (than the D3100) its possible to do.

[DesignByPete]

i have the D3100 it has an exposure lock setting. the setting is buried deep in the menu but it is possible to do. its just a matter of adjusting the settings to enable one of the buttons at the back to switch it on or off.

I'm pretty sure you with your D5100 being newer and a better (than the D3100) its possible to do.

seriously, i'm all ears. look at me. nothing but ears.
gimme detailed breakdown of it. i heard it wasn't possible, and i researched it a bit.. the only thing that swayed me to nikon really was already owning two and a election of lenses, and knowing they've never changed their bayonet fit, so my old kit still works.
if there's a workaround, that's me stoked.