Cinematography Critique

[PearTree-Prod]

I made a video from this past summer and this video I probably spent more time on than any other video in the past. That being said I am always looking for ways to improve whether its sound design, color grading or just overall flow. If there was something you didn't like or think could be improved let me know and as always thanks.

 

[tcrandall7]

hey Eric -- damn nice drone shots! here are a couple things I noticed if you're looking for feedback:

- looks like your video is 30fps, instead of the normal 24fps, meaning there is less motion blur and things look a bit too crisp, like a soap opera feel

- exporting/encoding for 24fps will help make things look more movie-like, and the norm for other videos/TV/movies

- sound wise, I liked the bird sounds but found them too much toward the end, and it seemed like you re-used some which distracted me from watching

- I think more footsteps in the woods parts could have helped to round out your sound design (if you wanted to add more)

- while I liked the transition effects you used, I think you didn't need as many, and they got too predictable/repetitive cutting to the beat of the music too often -- I think just sound bridges with normal cuts would have worked fine for my taste

- for the drone shots, they look a bit grey and could have used some contrast to blend with your other camera

just my personal thoughts and taste -- good luck on further videos!

 

[ObjectMocked]

First off great job! The transitions were cool and the shots were nice. I think you could work on making the sounds a bit more natural sounding. For instance, the bird chirping was to repetitive and loud rather than adding unnoticed atmosphere. Also, there isn’t much of a storyline here other than just cool forest cliff diving stuff. Overall good work, but adding more layers of subtle sound could take t to the next level.

 

[PearTree-Prod]

Thanks guys appreciate the feedback a ton. Sound design is something i just started incorporating into my edits/films/whatever you cant to call them so i was kind of experimenting with the layering and volume. Me personally I've never been a fan of 24FPS it just doesn't look right to me but maybe ill try it on the next video and see how it turns out. Once again thanks for the feedback!

 

[LukasSchroeder]

Me personally I've never been a fan of 24FPS it just doesn't look right to me

it's just science, thats what works best for the human eye. especially when following the 180º shutter angle rule. Every film you see these days is exported and shown at at either 23.976 or 24 fps. That being said, its your project and you do you!

I would write up my own critique but the other guys covered everything. Definitely look at colour grading of some sort!

 

[tcrandall7]

First off great job! The transitions were cool and the shots were nice. I think you could work on making the sounds a bit more natural sounding. For instance, the bird chirping was to repetitive and loud rather than adding unnoticed atmosphere. Also, there isn’t much of a storyline here other than just cool forest cliff diving stuff. Overall good work, but adding more layers of subtle sound could take t to the next level.

-- yeah agree on more storyline, it makes such a big difference, even just reactions after each cliff jump or more lead in

 

[cg.99]

I could be wrong on this but it seems like you found the music afterwards, and forced to clips to fit the music. I feel that if you chose the music ahead of time you could then have more of a vision while filming and then incorporate more of a storyline like the other guys were saying. One last thing is that the color on some of the drone shots seemed a little bland. A tiny bit of color correction can go a long way. overall, great job tho

 

[PearTree-Prod]

I could be wrong on this but it seems like you found the music afterwards, and forced to clips to fit the music. I feel that if you chose the music ahead of time you could then have more of a vision while filming and then incorporate more of a storyline like the other guys were saying. One last thing is that the color on some of the drone shots seemed a little bland. A tiny bit of color correction can go a long way. overall, great job tho

I actually found the song first, that was probably the most difficult part about making this video but I was in a way forcing the clips to fit with the music but also going with what I felt lined up and made sense with the tempo and beat with the music. I do agree that there needs to be more of a story which is something that I want to focus on for the next video. The drone clips I really struggled on color grading because they were shot in a log format and I am not completely comfortable with premiere's lumetri color grading option so if you have any tips for using that with drone clips please let me know!

 

[LukasSchroeder]

The drone clips I really struggled on color grading because they were shot in a log format and I am not completely comfortable with premiere's lumetri color grading option so if you have any tips for using that with drone clips please let me know!

just use a d-log to rec709 lut, on one adjustment layer or in basic correction, and then use whatever other lut/ curves to go from there. My friend is a colourist and typically will just "convert" to rec709 on his first colour pass, then change the look on the secondary pass

 

[PearTree-Prod]

just use a d-log to rec709 lut, on one adjustment layer or in basic correction, and then use whatever other lut/ curves to go from there. My friend is a colourist and typically will just "convert" to rec709 on his first colour pass, then change the look on the secondary pass

thank you I’ll look into that!