Critique Invited... Bentley shot on RED

[Nic Spencer]

Just starting to use the Red for all our corporate gigs, huge overkill I know, but wanted to get all the work flow issues ironed out for when the EPIC arrives...

shot on non-MX R1 with nikon 17-35mm ED f2.8, iso 640, no lighting except down lights from showroom and wally dolley

Criticism or suggestions welcomed:

http://content.bitsontherun.com/prev...85fea9cf9b839d

[Brian Ferguson]

The link did not work.

[Ian Laurie]

for a video that size, it looks fairly blocky. Did you do a full res debayer?

[Nic Spencer]

Hi Ian,

No only half... I am still trying to get the h.264 link to work, it doesnt look quite as blocky... the .swf is the only one that is letting people access...

[DCC Erickson]

Not a RED user yet, but my micro indie 2 cents- it's a Bentley, there's an awful lot of effects stuck on for a car that pretty much speaks for itself. The camera movement's nice and smooth (though a little fast), but all that clatter transitioning between shots really distracts, not to mention the soft vignette seems extraneous. I'm watching with the sound off (kid's asleep) so maybe it works with the audio. In any case, it's an editing thing and perhaps you're looking more for shot quality comments. Not qualified there, at all. Thanks for inviting the look-see.

[Nic Spencer]

The camera movement's nice and smooth (though a little fast), but all that clatter transitioning between shots really distracts, not to mention the soft vignette seems extraneous.

I'm passing this onto post... :) and tend to agree with what your saying. Thanks for the feedback.

[Randall Nott]

Nice footage. The visual effects aren't in sync with the music. There is a strong double bass drum down beat that should push the visuals - they all happen whenever instead. Save the vignetting for the opening and closing title graphics - everywhere else it unnecessary because the action of the shot already directs your eyes where to look. Just my opinion.

[Radim Schreiber]

Nice try but I don't find it professional looking. I will be glad to go into detail why I think that way if you are interested.

[Gunleik Groven]

Nice try but I don't find it professional looking. I will be glad to go into detail why I think that way if you are interested.

Lighting, set-dressing, post-zooms, grade, effects?

[Joel Kaye]

I'm passing this onto post... :) and tend to agree with what your saying. Thanks for the feedback.

I thought all the VFX were pretty weak. The opening title is simply bad. Looks dated, the font is unrelated and doesn't embody "Bentley" at all.

The vignette should isn't helping. It makes the white paint look dingy yellow which is totally unappealing.

Off the top of my head I'd say roto out the showroom and drop in a sound stage or alternative environment. Match the edit to the music if you've only got canned music. Maybe pick new music or get a musician to make music to match your edit. A couple of the edits were pretty rough (:15-:17). If you're going to use the camera speed/strobe trick (dubious) then use it on the beat to move into a feature, show the feature, use it on the beat to seamlessly morph into the next feature in rhythm. So you get 2-3 seconds of each feature. Don't repeat the same feature. And move around the car point to point... don't jump from a steering wheel to a tire - make it look like one continuous camera move for the entire duration. That would be pretty cool.

I think :23-:26 were almost right for the feel you're going for.

It does currently feel like a local commercial done by the cable company as opposed to a national spot.

But that's just off the top of my head.