My first video. Could use suggestions. [Forest Vid]

[Coldkilla]

On Sunday [June 5] I'm going out to shoot a small film in our towns forest. I'd like it to be a very nice video and not look amateurish. I'm willing to compromise and stick with simplicity in order to avoid this video looking sub-par. I have Adobe After Effects, Sony Vegas, and a fast computer. (I'm very new to After Effects so I'm not sure what I'll do with that if anything). I'm not experienced in developing a fast workflow and do not know what I should do in post production.

The girl I am filming this with had two ideas she asked if we could incorporate: [Don't know how to get these points across on camera].
-The bridges of the park
-To try & convey the trees as 'trees of life'
--Inc. Various development stages of the trees and stuff.

We don't want any 'humans' in the video, but somehow I would like to still tell a story. I feel that adding in a person will add yet another layer of complexity that may very well ruin the potential quality of the video. Plus this girl and I aren't very keen on being on camera, and I'd like to keep this project limited to just us two.

The forest has:
-5+ bridges
-A small pond
-Has a large stream running through the middle (6+ feet wide)
-Is near Lake Michigan & has a beach.
-Flowers, trees, trails etc.

I own:
-Canon T2i
-Stock 18-55mm lens, 50mm f1.8 plastic Lens.
-A indiSLIDERmini
-Tripod + Gorrilla tripod (Quality is sub-par on both).
-AT897 Shotgun Mic.
-DIY Steadicam

What I am asking yall:
1. What should I focus on in this video? How can I plan for it in advance rather that 'just going there'?
2. Based on this girls suggestions, how would you guys try to get those points across?
3. Based on the limited equipment I have, what type of shots should I try to avoid? What shots should I excel in using?
4. Should I use after effects for post-production? Are there some simple "must do's" in order to give the video that 'polished' look?
--4A. I once saw a video using these "Triple Exposures" where the video had "under/over" exposure and it just looked amazing. Idk what thats called or how to do that though.
5. Tips on workflow. Should I do anything with the raw video? Or just import it directly into Vegas?

I might try to put Magic Lantern on the camera, run on down to the forest before the weekend, and shoot a time-lapse of a Sunrise (but I've never done a time-lapse so I might have to practice with that! Plus this video's sorta a balancing act. I like the girl, she knows it, but is doing this video because she shares the same passion for photography. This is (for both of us) our first video so I wanna make sure it turns out right and ends up being really fun for both of us to shoot. I'll post it here afterwards.

 

[nboy22]

I would shoot your video as flat as possible, and use something like colorista plugin in after effects to do some nice color correction if possible.

since you have the 50mm 1.8 prime I would say stick with that for the majority of your filming. The fact that it's prime will just make everything look sharper. I can get video that's super sharp using the 18-55mm lens, but I have to have a ton of sunlight, stick it on f/22 or something crazy like that with iso 100-200.

I would also do some really cool rack focus shots of the bridges. Point the camera down the bridge, set one focus point close and then select another that is farther away and start shooting. Change the focus while your doing your shot and it will create a nice effect. If you are not sure what a rack focus is, just check out youtube or something similar, I'm sure there's a ton of tutorials and examples.

I would also shoot some video of water if there is water, get some really nice sound of the water too. You could use water sounds in your video combined with some really nice, soft melodic music (maybe the music could help bring the trees to life). I would try to find some shots of a stream and some tree roots going into the stream, then do some cool rack focus shots between the water and the tree root with your slider.

If you want nice audio, I highly recommend putting magic lantern on as soon as possible and getting yourself familiar with it's quirkiness and turning the AGC setting off. Magic Lantern is a little bit quirky and you'll understand what I mean once you install it.

Oh yeah, and as a general tip: If you want a "filmic" look, remember to always set your shutter speed to about double your FPS. Let's say you film this in 24 FPS, you want your shutter speed to be 1/50th of a second. Also, if you film in 30 FPS, you'll want your shutter speed to be 1/60th of a second. I would recommend shooting in 24 FPS, 1/50th shutter speed and it will give you as close to film as possible with your t2i.

 

[AkumaX]

You'll also have to shoot in Manual Mode for movies. Definitely do 24p and force your shutter speed to be 1/50s. Not sure how much bokeh you want on shots, but if you want 1/50s and say f/2.0 on shots, in broad daylight you might have to add on some ND filters to make it darker.

 

[Coldkilla]

Excellent suggestions guys I really appreciate it.

Any tips on workflow? Should I use my steadicam for any shots or will even that slight 'shakiness' ruin the video? Is there any conceivable purpose for using it?

I'll start working on prioritizing the thus far suggestions so I can get some practice in before the weekend.

 

[nboy22]

I would use your steadicam or slider on every shot. It will create a much more professional looking video in my opinion.

 

[Cattykit]

Magic Lantern is a must especially on T2i.
Check out this link: http://vimeo.com/23082874 (one thing that's not mentioned in the link is that while 2/3 ISO values produce less noise, it reduces DR. So, if DR is your priority, use static iso values like 100, 200, or so. If noise level is your main concern, use 2/3 ISO values.)

Use ND filter. For video, fater ND filter is way to go.

Use Technicolor Picture Style. http://www.technicolor.com/en/hi/cinema/filmmaking/digital-printer-lights/cinestyle

Don't worry about sharpening. In fact, you want it to be 0-2. Anything over 2 is way too much.

Try Premiere Pro CS5 or above. It gives you much more headroom and it is so damn fast with CUDA engine (10x faster encoding time with enhanced visual quality.)

 

[Coldkilla]

I would use your steadicam or slider on every shot. It will create a much more professional looking video in my opinion.

My wonder is creating a seemless video using tripod/steadicam/slider shots in combination. Idk I guess I'll just have to find out when I get there.

 

[nboy22]

My wonder is creating a seemless video using tripod/steadicam/slider shots in combination. Idk I guess I'll just have to find out when I get there.

One of the things I've learned is to just do research on the type of shots I'm looking at achieving. In this case I think you should get your hands on the Planet Earth series and get to a forest episode. They have some interesting camera moves in those documentaries.

 

[finbarqs]

instead of using 24/50, use 25/50 to simulate 180 shutter angle more accurately. Also, you can shoot 30p/60, and change it to 24p in Post. ND filters. Buy a crap load of ND filters, so you can get that really shallow depth of field in broad daylight.

 

[Coldkilla]

I practiced creating a timelapse with Magic Lantern today. Worked out great. Before I make my forest film I'd like to go out and film a sunrise [I don't have any filters other than the UV filter]. After watching some videos online I figured I'd run in Av mode, Landscape, and Daylight WB. I'm not sure what the aperture should be however, or the ISO. When I start the Timelapse it will be dark out, then brighter and brighter until the sun appears.

I received my slider in the mail today. When I attached it to my tripod, I noticed two things:

1. The entire slider shifted up and down when the weight of the camera slide from side to side.
--A. Example: http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/4511/sssbzl.jpg
[Upside down Triangle: Tripod. Black Line: Centered Slider. Grey Lines: Shifts in the slider once the camera [Red Circle] moved from the center.

2. The screws under the slider provide no centered area to screw in the camera mounting screw.
--A. Example: http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/8383/asdaky.jpg
[Far Left: Provided Camera screw, Left My Camera screw, Center - the baseplate of the slider]

I'm assuming my tripod is of subpar quality (Have had it for 5 years and bought it for $20) and the additional weight is too much to handle. If I were to get a new tripod it could not be expensive, I hardly could afford the slider. Perhaps I could make this video using the slider on the ground etc.. idk.

 

[finbarqs]

post some samples!

 

[Coldkilla]

post some samples!

I will! Just having some troubles with this slider, workflow, and figuring out settings for a sunrise timelapse Friday morning.

 

[Coldkilla]

I shot a timelapse this morning. It looks like an old film! I just uploaded it. [No Audio]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnUiQ9grRk0
This timelapse SUCKS. Tips?

Settings:
1. Av Mode
2. Daylight Setting
3. ISO: 800

Time: 4:30am to 5:30am, 603 shots. 1x every 5 seconds. Time posted on forum: 7:39am.
Sun: Yea I missed it, it showed up slightly to the left and it was already too late to move the camera.

Still shot of left of camera @5:44am (in manual mode) http://img802.imageshack.us/img802/8744/img56012.jpg

Edit: Changed filming day to Sunday @ noon.

 

[finbarqs]

looks a bit under exposed... I'm guessing it needs to automatically adjust for exposure?

 

[Coldkilla]

In Av mode it automatically adjusted the shutter speed. I could have set the ISO to like 3200 or something so it would have been brighter, but even at ISO 800 you can see a ton of grain [and flickering but I dont know if its related]. I just don't get it. The F-stop was like @ 9, maybe I should have brought it down to 1.8 and then moved the ISO down. Ugh I could go out for another Sunrise tomorrow morning but I'm stuck on what to do for settings.

 

[nboy22]

Yeah, move your fstop to 1.8 and move ISO down quite a bit if you can. It will reduce your grain at least. Downside is you'll have more depth of field which might not be desired in a timelapse shot.

 

[finbarqs]

confused? Don't you WANT more depth of field in a time lapse shot?

 

[nboy22]

confused? Don't you WANT more depth of field in a time lapse shot?

I wouldn't want a lot in this case. For instance, in a sunrise shot, I would want to be able to see the landscape clearly, with no blur. I should've clarified that. Other time lapses are okay for depth of field, depending on what the subject is.

 

[Coldkilla]

So if I can't bring the fstop down so I can have more depth of field.. um, what can I do? It'd take 15 timelapses to figure it out lol. I guess this video will have to make do without one. Aw well.

 

[finbarqs]

I wouldn't want a lot in this case. For instance, in a sunrise shot, I would want to be able to see the landscape clearly, with no blur. I should've clarified that. Other time lapses are okay for depth of field, depending on what the subject is.

I think you're confusing the definition of Depth of Field. MORE depth of field means just that. You get more DEPTH in your FIELD. some people like to call it Depth of Focus.

if you have More depth of field, you have MORE in focus. If you have Less Depth of Field, you have Less in focus.

3 main factors affect DOF: Aperture, Distance, and focal length.

 

[Coldkilla]

For my next timelapse, could yall recommend some settings to try in order to get better results? [Starting the timelapse at 4:15 at night, ending at 6:00 in the morning]. I wont be able to catch the Sunrise for this video I'm shooting tomorrow, but for future reference.

If yall still have any tips on workflow, or ways I should focus on making this video, etc. I'd very much appreciate it.

 

[finbarqs]

timescapes.org I think will help you out... Tom, I believe, is also very active on this forum.

 

[nboy22]

I think you're confusing the definition of Depth of Field. MORE depth of field means just that. You get more DEPTH in your FIELD. some people like to call it Depth of Focus.

if you have More depth of field, you have MORE in focus. If you have Less Depth of Field, you have Less in focus.

3 main factors affect DOF: Aperture, Distance, and focal length.

You're right.. well I guess what I was going for is that he doesn't want a shallow depth of field effect.

 

[finbarqs]

honest mistake

 

[Coldkilla]

Video is up: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vg-v2rLF7qo&feature=channel_video_title

Sorry for the near month long delay. It's been up, I just forgot to post the link. I hate this video, sure it technically was my first one, but I really revolt it. Some points I'd like to make:

1. A "real life" timelapse was originally supposed to be the opening, but since my first two failed (for reasons I don't understand), I created a fake sunset in after effects. Original failed timelapse link here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnUiQ9grRk0&feature=channel_video_title

2. My slider (Indislider mini), was too heavy for my tripod (it kept tipping over from the weight), so it was never used.

3. The video lacks camera movement because: A. The girl I filmed with never filmed before and was more comfortible with still shots. B. All attempts at even creating movement failed because no movements were smooth (Slider, panning, tilting). Had to fake movement in the editor.

4. I don't understand even very basic color correction so none was used.

5. No "workflow" extras are in the video, the raw video was directly imported to Vegas. I didn't see the point if the raw video preformed fine in the preview window.

6. Music choice (imo) seems overdone, didn't know what would do a better job.

If anyone has tips on:
-Beginning color correction in ether Vegas or After effects
-A cheap tripod that can support the weight of the slider
-Tips on camera movement, etc.
-Possible music replacement.

I will go back and edit this entire video again using tips and suggestions posted here.