watch Invitation - Short Film

I am fairly new to filmmaking, only been involved with it for 3 years now (the first two of which were focused mainly on screenwriting). I just completed my first ever short film, it is a 3-minute narrative with no dialog. It was shot on a consumer 3-CCD Panasonic PV-GS65 and edited with Sony Vegas Video 5.

You can view the film here: http://www.narrowroadentertainment.com/films/invitation/invitation_final.wmv

Thanks for taking the time to view this, I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts/comments/criticisms so I can grow as a filmmaker.

Thanks,
Larry

Wow, it is beautiful.

This is your first??? Puts me to shame. And you shot this on DV.

Everyone here who claims, "filmmaker" status should watch this, for you truly have the right stuff.

Sure, there are some bobbles in my opinion- Some of the shots held a bit too long, while others (particularly the hands crumbling the invites) weren't held long enough. At least once, and I think twice, your young actress looks directly into the camera when walking down the lane. It moved a tad slow, but I didn't mind because the images were so lovely and the music a perfect match.

Truly, I am not just schmoozing you here. This is great work. Others will have other opinions, but I loved it. Get it out on the festival circuit- you have a great piece here.

yeppers...very nice. Great piece of narrative.

Thank you for the kind comments, they are greatly appreciated. Thank you also for the constructive criticism, it gives me things to think about as I prepare to shoot my next short piece.

Thanks,
Larry

I liked it. Can I ask why you did not use small amounts of color? They would have jumped out due to the large amounts of brown. I liked it! Great job.
Chan

In the early edits of the film I tried about 15 different color schemes before I settled on the one I ultimately used. The choice was fairly subjective in that I applied the different looks, burned them to DVD, sat in my living room and watched them. I finally decided on the one I used, but decided to add the glow to it.

Along with that there was some subconscious decision process also. I originally wanted a more dreamy look and wanted the story to really stand on its own. I felt that the muted color scheme turned the viewers eye away from the film itself (which is good since it was shot on a consumer DV camera) and focused the viewer more on the story. The glow/dreamy look was to add to the concept of it being a "parable".

I'm glad you liked it and I agree color would have worked too, but it didn't fit with my internal vision of the film.

Thanks for the question, it gave me a chance to really think about why I chose to make it the way I did...and that is a good thing as I want to learn from each film I make.

Thanks again,
Larry

I am pretty impressed what you were able to do with the Panasonic PV-GS65. I have the 120 (previous years model) plus a Canon XL1-s and on occasion have gotten better pictures with the 120. ( The XL1-s is just too much camera for me I guess).

Great job with the overall look of the film.

I was also impressed with the final result, especially considering I was using a consumer camera. I've seen the raw footage out of an XL-1, so I know it would be MUCH better than what I got with my GS65. You just have to plan your shots, make sure everything is properly lit and then spend some time in post working with the footage.

I wish I could get my hands on a decent prosumer camera, it would make my films that much better. Gotta' keep dropping those pennies in my penny jug I guess

I'm glad you liked the film.