LBL ghost suicide

[knudsonmeister]

Hi! This is my ghost project for school. Its my third project. I had a great time making this. I created the sound design as well..not sure if I like it or not...the pacing isn't quite right...I got editing vertigo. Crits more than welcome. Thanks.


http://www.vfxtalk.com/portfolios/data/500/fast.jpg (http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=22010589)

http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=22010589

[t.fadrus]

Great work!!

Killer props and compelling storytelling. The vfx are marvelous. Especially all the details in the ghost scene. Love the cloud of blood comming out of his head and the bullet's shell escaping from the pistol. Did you put that in in post. Brilliantly made.

Some things directingwise I would've done differently e.g. would have had him running out of the ruin in the end, jumping into his car and squeaching off in the mud. I think it would also add some depth to it if you would have changed the grading inside the ruins and outside. Maybe give it a little bit more color and vibrance outside, while he is still enjoying himself and gradually change it to the murky brown when he enters the building.
Editingwise I wouldn't have given away all the locations in the intro. Especially the shot from inside the building is a classic 'something is watching him' moment, that shouldn't be in the beginning.

I think you've got heaploads of potential to be explored. Have fun at LBL. Thinking of going there myself. Mind sparing some inside information on how everything's going there?

Once again: All my thumbs up and also all the spare ones I got :D

Cheers,
Thomas

[gbenard]

Great job Nick. Your film really needs a title, and some credits. Interesting choice of final shot... after all that. I'm going to submit it to my filmmaker friend in LA for comments...

[knudsonmeister]

Hey Thomas, thanks for the complements and crits. I agree with you...the inner cave shot is a give away when done too early. Also I really like the idea of blowing out the colors and giving it a more lively vibrant feel when he's outside...Its kind of sepia dark all the way through as of now....thing is...it's Russia...so...I kind of want it muted and depressing the whole time. As for the end of the short....I got editing virtigo...I have about 7 different endings, three were as you suggested...I even had a David Lynch ending with time lapsed clouds and other weird shit. I chose this one because I think I wanted a more introspective ending for it...I don't want the viewer to know how Ivan feels about the whole encounter. Dunno if it works or not....can't tell anymore...seen it too many times.

The shell was done in post (MAYA) along with the sparks of the ejection chamber(afterFX). The cloud of blood was UV reactive ink mixed with cream ejected into warm water and shot under a black light. The slowmotion headshot is "poor mans slowmo"..(me acting in slowmotion while my 7 ft tall greek friend wears all black and catches me as I fall)


As for the school, its a creative heaven for me. Its going really well. The more you put into it the more you get out. Also, your never short on insperation here, there are guest speakers, studio tours, heaploads of tutorials, books, movies etc...


...they should pay me for writing that...

anyway


If your interested in VFX I highly recommend checking this place out...it's perfect for me...also...It's on an island...in Canada...so you won't get too distracted with booze and chicks and whatnot......a good thing for some.....


-Nick

[t.fadrus]

The shell was done in post (MAYA) along with the sparks of the ejection chamber(afterFX). The cloud of blood was UV reactive ink mixed with cream ejected into warm water and shot under a black light. The slowmotion headshot is "poor mans slowmo"..(me acting in slowmotion while my 7 ft tall greek friend wears all black and catches me as I fall)

Woah. Thanks for the insight. All this work really pays off. It's a superb shot.



...I got editing virtigo...


Yeah I guess you had a really tight timeframe for all this.

LBL sounds really intriguing and all the great stuff you people post from the assignments makes me want to go there even more.
Really have to make up my mind fast about this if I want to get into the next class.

Too many options!

Thanks again.

[damonholland]

Nick,

Damon Holland (Elizabeth's husband) here.

Incredible film. I know that the assignment was focusing on the fx component of the film, but it is obvious that your talent extends beyond designing great fx. Your ability to set the atmosphere of this film was perfect. The pace, the composition, the acting (I had no idea you could play haunted so seriously) were all brilliant.

You have an amazing cinematic eye, and are an outstanding storyteller and I look forward to your next project.

As for the ending, I really liked it. I liked the "lack" of reaction to what had just happened. It was disturbing in a way that either he knew what he was going to find when he went looking into his purpose or existence, or he was just indifferent or numb to the fact that he was basically "dead" already.

Two points of criticism, and they are just that, one person's opinion, but I had a problem with your hand held following shot. I think that your 3rd person or observer point of view was done so well and so brilliantly juxtaposed the internal "exploration of self" that the hand held shot was distracting, or what am I trying to say, broke the point of view when I though back on the story.

The other point is that I would have loved to have heard that song one more time, as he walked back to the rover/jeep and the film faded to black. (great sound design by the way, what was that song?)

Anyway, awesome job. I hope you are proud of what you did, it is really good.
I look forward to your next project.
Damon

[knudsonmeister]

Thanks for the kind words and awsome critiqes Damon. You've given me much needed energy for my next project(UFO's VS. snow ninja assassin)

The song is called "Soul finger" and its by a band called the "Bar-kays" Its a homage to a scene in the movie "Spies Like Us". For me Russians and soul music make for a very curios dynamic.

Any hoo!

Do say hi to Elizabeth for me!

-Nick