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watch Fish Food, short film, shot on a canon 7D

J

jamesgwall

Here is my latest short film FISH FOOD.
We shot on a canon 7D, This is my first proper short with the 7D and it is truly a great camera for the price!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vhsMz9smuxc

I'd love to hear what you think of the film, and if you like it please subscribe to my channel as I have a few more shorts on the way over the next few months.

THANKYOU!
 
Nicely filmed, and very well acted (by the lead especially).

Tell me, what is it with the out of focus, walk into focus shots? Do you not have a follow focus? Why do so many films shot on DSLRs do this nowa'days. It's distracting. Sometimes it works, don't get me wrong...but when it becomes a 'thing' (like over-use of rack focusing), it becomes distracting.

Am I the only one noticing this?

You can either follow focus (with rehearsal) or pick two or three focal points and move through them.

Is it a style choice, or lack of skills and/or equipment? I'm not at all being a dick...I'm really wondering. Your film is great mate...I like a lot of it quite a bit...just wondering.
 
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Worth watching. I agree on the focus issue, a lot of people brought that up on youtube too.

I like the way the titles come in at the end and you realise what they mean. I also I liked the way the peaceful scene and bird sound contrasted with the violence.

I think the ending needed more. Something else needed to happen. It's like you didn't finish the story, somehow. It's fine to end on a cliffhanger but there was something a bit unsatisfying about how you left it. If you didn't want to add a conventional twist, maybe his Mum could ring up and he could chat with her as he kicks the body into the lake. Some sort of tension.

Anyway, another win for the 5D/7D...
 
Yes, I agree about the ending...something else needed to happen...something...anything. It felt lacking, I don't know. It's not bad don't get me wrong...it just feels like something is missing.
 
The focus issue was kinda off-putting, the acting was good.

I didn't initially notice the ending, so i watched it again and have to agree with the other folk, it needs something else to show us WHY this guy can be so damn cavalier about killing two people, he's a 'regular Joe', I wanted to see a little more of that.

The scene @Positive suggested would work, the mothers a nice touch, i could see your character in that scene and believe it would add what's needed to the ending.

Overall it was a good watch, kudos man!
 
I commented on youtube since OP only has one post. I watched it without sound but the fact that 3/4 of it was out of focus really bothered me.

Plan on watching it with sound when I get home though :)
 
Sorry about the lack of communication. It's been one of those weeks.
Thanks for the comments guys, I'll answer you all, here we go...

@M1chae1
Out of focus stuff. Some of it was intentional, like the struggle, but the walk into focus shots were a technical decision. We didn't have our focus ring with us (check list needed next time, ha) and we were shooting guerilla style, had no permission, so we shot quite quickly, which meant we didn't have much time to rehearse. Finally we had no monitoring, due to having no generator to power the mac book we use to monitor. That made it difficult to make sure we were hitting the focus marks. We ended up picking one and using the expanded focus to get it right.
So a bit of both, not having the equipment yet and needing more practice.
Cheers M1chae1.

@PositiveFuture
Thanks for the comments, I tried adding a lot of contrast between the nature and the theme, glad you liked it.
As for the ending I played about with a few ideas, but always liked the bleak ending more. I originally had his girlfriend ring back whilst he was laid next to Joe, and he, Alex, was really fed up and annoyed that he'd got two bodies to get rid of.
I've had a few emails asking me to make a second one, and one person came up with a really good idea, so maybe I will.
However I do like the open end, leaves it open for discussion. Would you want to see a second Fish Food?

@Papertwinproductions
Oh I'm glad you liked the acting, I'm being terrorised by someone on youtube through PM's about how she thought the acting was terrible and how much of a bad director I am. So it's nice hearing that, thankyou!

@Dreadylocks
I replied to your comment on youtube, thanks.

So in conclusion, Focus was a bit of both. Ending? Should I make a part two?

Really appreciate the comments, thankyou.
 
@Dreadylocks

Oh I like that idea, maybe I'll do both and make a little trilogy. :)

I've just seen your other comment on youtube, the user Ifuhaveto, didn't work on Fish Food. However I have worked with him in the past. I think he was just sticking up for me and didn't mean any harm, he's a good guy.

A Prequel, I do like that.
 
jamesgwall said:
@Dreadylocks

Oh I like that idea, maybe I'll do both and make a little trilogy. :)

I've just seen your other comment on youtube, the user Ifuhaveto, didn't work on Fish Food. However I have worked with him in the past. I think he was just sticking up for me and didn't mean any harm, he's a good guy.

A Prequel, I do like that.
Click to expand...

Oh no worries. Youtube is an aggressive place :)

I mean to ask, too. What is your sound set up? It was solid quality. I've heard the DSLRs aren't the best for sound and don't have audio input jacks.
 
@Dreadylocks

The 7D does have a jack input, but it's not the best. The sound the internal mic records isn't bad, just a bit tinny, but fine for reference or rehearsal sound.
I recorded my sound separate. Using a device, the name I've forgotten (I'll find out for you), which recorded high quality wav files. I was lucky enough to lend a good shot gun boom mic, phantom powered. I synced it up in post, which was rather simple.

Most of the ambience and foley I recorded afterwards.
 
I'm intrigued by the price of these accessories - the rigs and all.

I liked the filming of the short too, but I agree that something else needs to happen at the end to make it more interesting.

It was nicely shot though. And actually, I didn't mind the focus issue THAT much. Sure there were parts out of focus, but it didn't look dreadful or unbearable. Now you know what to watch for when you're filming next time!
 
jrhmy said:
I liked the filming of the short too, but I agree that something else needs to happen at the end to make it more interesting.

It was nicely shot though. And actually, I didn't mind the focus issue THAT much. Sure there were parts out of focus, but it didn't look dreadful or unbearable. Now you know what to watch for when you're filming next time!
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Thanks man, really appreciate it!
 
Hey,

I really liked your short. It convinced me by the way of editing and camera work, which made me feel standing maybe on the other side of the sea and observing them. Moreover I am a fan of longer shots, without many cuts, because it shows the acting, without manipulating it later in the cut.
The story was easy, but I like these kind of stories.
Good job! :)

Maybe you can tell us more about the used equipment?
 
Like many said, the focus bothered me to no end. I'm an AC, and it distracted me to the point I stopped watching.

It's a big problem with amatures using DSLRs.
 
It's a big problem with amatures using DSLRs.
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Give them time. Most of us are young and unschooled trying to figure this shit out together. This guy makes a focussing mistake, we notice it and he never makes it again- neither do we. In 6 months time he'll know his camera inside out and be a pro, technically at least.

Would you want to see a second Fish Food?
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Yes, sure. The atmosphere was good enough to watch it again.

However I do like the open end, leaves it open for discussion.
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Yes, it's difficult for me to explain what I mean. Open endings (like the end of Lost in Translation and many X-Files episodes, for example) are good, but you need to see a couple of, uhhhh, themes, trajectories, character arcs, and wonder where they're going. Breaking them off early is fine, but we need to be left wondering which way will they go, how will they collide. You need to have at least two elements that are going to smash together in unpredictable ways. In your film I didn't see that, but it wouldn't be hard to insert something.

For example, what if the handicapped guy's hard big brother, and his mates are going to come and pick him up in 20 minutes? You've just added some easy tension. Maybe he sends the main character a vaguely threatening video message on his Iphone, telling him not to manipulate his little brother or he'll smash his fookin head in. A factor X that'll leave us wondering. It's not like you have to insert an extra scene at the end, an open ending's fine, but it'd be best to insert an extra element or two, so we're properly left hanging, instead of half scratching our heads half shrugging.
 
Alexxx11 said:
Maybe you can tell us more about the used equipment?
Click to expand...

Not much to tell! Canon 7D, with a 50mm and 20mm lenses. Standard tripod.
I cannot remember what the boom mic or the recording device are called, but I'll find out, because they did a great job, and I'd like to buy them.
In post, I edited, titles and sound levels in Final Cut Pro. I colour graded it in Magic Bullet Looks. For sound, Sonic Forge to clean it up and Cubase to record atmosphere.
I wrote a blog of the entire productionhttp://www.atinyadventure.com


CDCosta said:
It's a big problem with amatures using DSLRs.
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I don't think it's a problem with using DSLRs, I've been using them for many years for photography. Before the 7D we used the Sony XD range to film and struggled somewhat to follow focus with that. It's a technique that needs a lot of practice, in time we'll get it.


PositiveFuture said:
an open ending's fine, but it'd be best to insert an extra element or two, so we're properly left hanging, instead of half scratching our heads half shrugging.
Click to expand...

First, cheers for the backup.
Second, Completely agree. A few people have been a bit dissatisfied by the ending. Something to consider if I make a second one, or on future projects.
 
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