The Adventures of Baron Redding

[ExitSixTwo]

Hi all, this is my first post! I was hoping to get some feedback on our short film. We are trying to go for a dark, gritty look without contrasting the film too much, but the sun was so bright that even with a ND and polarizing filter stacked, we had to close the aperture all the way down into the 20s to keep it from getting blown out. Any suggestions for us? Our best and favorite shot was when Baron says, "Fine. Do you have a name?" How do we get shots like that more often?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UDTuv3RfTiY

[Murdock]

Hello and Welcome

[ExitSixTwo]

Thank you for the welcome. Does anyone have suggestions for how to get the shot in question more consistently? We got really lucky in a couple of places where everything just came together in terms of lighting, contrast, etc. Our problem is getting this type of shot consistently.

[dandevans]

Overall it looked pretty well exposed to me, in that you weren't getting too many blown out highlights or crushed blacks - can't you adjust the contrast and colors in post to get what you're after? It seems like you've got enough to work with.

Great location by the way

[rayw]

Originally Posted by ExitSixTwo

A) Any suggestions for us? B) Our best and favorite shot was when Baron says, "Fine. Do you have a name?" How do we get shots like that more often?

A) Wait for a thinly overcast sky to knock down a fair bit of the sunlight creating fewer harsh shadows and blown out highlights.
It'll give you something a lot like this:



B) First, it's an Over The Shoulder (OTS) shot, albeit modified with the near subject turned toward the camera. Second, You may have liked the camera's automatic refocusing shifting from the far subject to the near subject. That creates an interesting effect called Rack Focusing.

[DeJager]

I dig steampunk stuff!

[Ziggy]

You had me at red-scarfed steampunk antihero...

[HedgesPictures]

Interesting.

When can we see more?

[jrsmithson]

I second the comment about the location. The costumes were good too. You actually put effort into it, which is refreshing. I would work a little more on the after effects, I think the effects could be tightened up. Shooting on a cloudy day could also help the contrast issue.

[ExitSixTwo]

Wow, thanks for the feedback, guys! Sorry for not replying sooner, I didn't know if anybody was watching and I never got a message indicating you all posted. Am I supposed to get one?

As far as the overcast thing goes, I see what you mean. Our best shots came when a cloud covered the sun. And in many shots like the one we liked so much, there was a lot of material to play with. Unfortunately, in most of the shots it was either very dark or direct sunlight, so we were really limited.

As far as rack focus goes, that wasn't an automatic thing. That was me, and even managed to be on purpose.

Baron Redding is an ongoing series that started a couple of years ago as a totally non-serious and goofy post-apoc hero. The one you all are seeing here is a re-launch because Ben (aka Baron) wanted to expand the world in which Baron lives and give it a darker feel. Any suggestions would be appreciated, and please check out our youtube channel for more stuff. I just made a video about a gorilla with a trident and a laser machete wand. Olan Rogers fans will understand.

[ExitSixTwo]

Thanks for the compliments on the costumes, by the way. We've had the Baron one for a while, and we are fortunate to have friends who love steampunk. We're working on one right now that parodies Metal Gear Solid, and we're really excited about the accuracy of the Solid Snake outfit.