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watch "Axis of Action" - action comedy web series

Wow I was shocked at how funny and original that was!

The one thing I must ask is the obvious difference in production from the "real life" and the "movie life". It seemed a little too different for me. Was that intended?

Besides that I loved it, the corny humor and good effects.

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Wow I was shocked at how funny and original that was!

The one thing I must ask is the obvious difference in production from the "real life" and the "movie life". It seemed a little too different for me. Was that intended?

Besides that I loved it, the corny humor and good effects.

Subscribed!

Thank you! I'm glad you enjoyed it:)

Yes, it was intended to greatly differentiate the feel of real life to movie life, however I hear what you're saying and may have gone overboard, especially with some sequences.
 
The writing was really funny. There are obvious technical issues, but it was really enjoyable.

I was a little confused by the parallel scenes happening. The 'higher' concept scene wasn't as funny, and the first time I watched it, it was just a bit confusing cutting between the two. I realise there were parallels being drawn between the two scenes (at least, I think so?) but I thought the domestic scene was much funnier and more enjoyable. I felt the other scene weakened the episode.
 
Hmm, interesting. A relatively sophisticated concept, intercutting between the two realities, which certainly has a lot of potential. However, the sound design (inc. music) was far less sophisticated, to the point of being extremely basic/non-existant. The sound does no more than just support some of the visual movement in the frame rather than help to tell the story and because of this it actually creates a contradiction which confuses rather than helps the storytelling. For example, two different realities would by definition sound different but they don't in your short, which leads to a contradiction and will cause confusion in your audience.

If you are going to use a more sophisticated concept like this in your filmmaking then you are going to have to carry it through all the aspects of your filmmaking, not just apply it to the visuals. It's a shame, a good idea, executed well (or well enough) visually but dramatically weakened overall by not applying anywhere near the same attention to detail or artistic intent to the sound side of the filmmaking equation.

G
 
The writing was really funny. There are obvious technical issues, but it was really enjoyable.

I was a little confused by the parallel scenes happening. The 'higher' concept scene wasn't as funny, and the first time I watched it, it was just a bit confusing cutting between the two. I realise there were parallels being drawn between the two scenes (at least, I think so?) but I thought the domestic scene was much funnier and more enjoyable. I felt the other scene weakened the episode.
Very interesting! I can see what you're saying. Thank for the feedback. Hopefully this imbalance is a little better in the coming episodes.
 
Hmm, interesting. A relatively sophisticated concept, intercutting between the two realities, which certainly has a lot of potential. However, the sound design (inc. music) was far less sophisticated, to the point of being extremely basic/non-existant. The sound does no more than just support some of the visual movement in the frame rather than help to tell the story and because of this it actually creates a contradiction which confuses rather than helps the storytelling. For example, two different realities would by definition sound different but they don't in your short, which leads to a contradiction and will cause confusion in your audience.

If you are going to use a more sophisticated concept like this in your filmmaking then you are going to have to carry it through all the aspects of your filmmaking, not just apply it to the visuals. It's a shame, a good idea, executed well (or well enough) visually but dramatically weakened overall by not applying anywhere near the same attention to detail or artistic intent to the sound side of the filmmaking equation.

G
Hi AudioPostExpert, I'm sure you're much more knowledgable than me in these fields. Honestly, and this isn't an excuse, this is the first project I've done the full sound mix for. I worked on the real world and movie world audio separate of each other, and used slightly different EQ's/limiters, but you're absolutely right. More planning, and a more skilled hand, would have improved the sound noticeably. But believe me the lack of sound sophistication is not a symptom of lack of care, but a lack of money and skill.

Coming episodes handle this better. Thanks for the feedback!
 
I worked on the real world and movie world audio separate of each other, and used slightly different EQ's/limiters, but you're absolutely right. More planning, and a more skilled hand, would have improved the sound noticeably.

Just to be clear, I wasn't talking about audio equipment, equipment settings or any aspect of "sound quality". While more planning and a more skilled hand would improve the sound quality, as you have mentioned, it would not address the underlying issue I was talking about which is the artistic side, how you use sound to aid the storytelling rather than just support some of the visual movement.

But believe me the lack of sound sophistication is not a symptom of lack of care, but a lack of money and skill.

Hmm, lack of money and skill would obviously affect the quality of how well the sound design was executed but it wouldn't affect the imagination or artistic/storytelling concepts of the actual design itself. I'm not suggesting you spend a disproportionate amount of your time or budget on sound design, I'm suggesting you spend an appropriate amount of time/budget so that the sound design compliments the other aspects of your filmmaking rather than detracts from them. In other words, creating a more sophisticated script and visuals is a waste of time if your sound design turns that sophistication into confusion!

G
 
Just to be clear, I wasn't talking about audio equipment, equipment settings or any aspect of "sound quality". While more planning and a more skilled hand would improve the sound quality, as you have mentioned, it would not address the underlying issue I was talking about which is the artistic side, how you use sound to aid the storytelling rather than just support some of the visual movement.



Hmm, lack of money and skill would obviously affect the quality of how well the sound design was executed but it wouldn't affect the imagination or artistic/storytelling concepts of the actual design itself. I'm not suggesting you spend a disproportionate amount of your time or budget on sound design, I'm suggesting you spend an appropriate amount of time/budget so that the sound design compliments the other aspects of your filmmaking rather than detracts from them. In other words, creating a more sophisticated script and visuals is a waste of time if your sound design turns that sophistication into confusion!

G
I understood what you were saying, and I wasn't talking about audio quality either. I did put a lot of thought into how to differentiate the two worlds on the audio side, but only did what I knew, which in your opinion (and likely accurately) came up short. There's a kung fu episode coming out in a couple weeks, and we ran the kung fu sound through a guitar amp, it sounds totally 70's. In an extreme case like that, I knew how to make the real world and fantasy worlds sound different. In the case of the Spy, I only thought of a few tricks. May I ask how you would have made the Spy stuff sound different?
 
May I ask how you would have made the Spy stuff sound different?

You're kind of missing the point and latching on to the single example I gave rather than the underlying issue. There are an almost limitless number of ways to make the Spy stuff sound different, which particular way or which combination of ways depends on the story you are trying to tell. So to answer your question I would need to know a lot more about the story. As the Sound Designer I would need to have a much better understanding of why the Spy stuff exists, what you are trying to achieve/make the audience feel, how is it going develop, is it going to become more from one character's POV, how much of how it's going to develop or why it exists do we want the audience to understand at this stage (ep. 1)? These would be my initial questions and then there would probably be another batch of questions which arise from the answers to these initial ones. Each answer narrows down the number of possibilities or suggests directions until eventually we would arrive at a "design" which tells your story or rather, which most effectively tells your story in combination with the other filmmaking crafts.

G
 
I had your first episode playing in the background while playing Candy Crush and although I wasn't watching it, I was chuckling just by audio alone. Just says a lot.
 
I'm enjoying the series guys! Is there a fb page or anything?

I had your first episode playing in the background while playing Candy Crush and although I wasn't watching it, I was chuckling just by audio alone. Just says a lot.
I think you intended this as a compliment. But - film is a visual and aural medium. If the story and comedy can be told with only one or the other, then it means one element isn't doing enough work. If the story and comedy can be communicated aurally alone, it may as well be a radio show - you might be "telling" rather than "showing" (a tired cliche, I know). Try to find ways to make your films more visually comedic. This is a decent video on the topic (spefically referring to Edgar Wright a lot) - https://vimeo.com/96558506

I do think you use visual comedy, but Shortboy's comment kind of set me on a tangent about filmmaking in general. Perhaps something to consider.
 
I absolutely did mean it as a compliment. I listen to a lot of podcast and I believe it's an art form in itself to relay a message just by vocals alone. And this being a comedic short, it wasn't that hard for me to get a chuckle out it since that's all comedians do; talk. I only say this because I just clicked their video and had it playing in the background. What I heard did make me want to go back and actually watch it.
 
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