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How would you grade this?


mercer
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3 minutes ago, mercer said:

@Matthew Hartman and I can appreciate that. But this is an enthusiasts forum more than a professional one. I can count on one hand the amount of professional narrative filmmakers that visit this site and their visits are usually infrequent.

I am not afraid of critique, I welcome it. I’ll post the worst image in the world if I think I can get useful information by posting it. But there are a lot of people that look at the this forum and are afraid to post because they don’t want to suffer the backlash. And that kinda sucks.

I think it will be hard to quantify how many professionals as opposed to enthusiasts frequent these boards. Professional doesn't always mean acclaimed. I'm a professional in the world of corporate work, but a rookie in terms of narrative in the sense that I'm not making income from it...Yet. 

Again, I don't want to scare ppl away. I have two children (ages 19 and 13) that are hella creative and skilled and I understand age appropriate tact when critiquing their work. At the same time, lying to them does them no benefit in the long run. I like to believe giving them alternative views on their work broadens them over time. When they get to the professional world, they will definitely need a thick skin and be able to justify their creative direction when asked about their process. 

I don't want to hijack this thread nor exercise with my opinions so please carry on folks. 

Is it possible to get a new grab? 

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EOSHD Pro Color 5 for Sony cameras EOSHD Z LOG for Nikon CamerasEOSHD C-LOG and Film Profiles for All Canon DSLRs

It’s cool. I always ask for critiques. I’ve been told that my images are horrible on a number of occasions. I live and learn. It’s like Ed Wood said... the next one will be better...

But I am a hobbyist who decided to try and make a movie. I shoot run and gun guerilla style, using backyard DIY techniques. There is little about my method that is traditional.

But in reality, this is a tech forum... so technical perfection is top priority and that’s cool too... a lot of knowledgeable and talented people around here and if one knows themself as a filmmaker they can use what applies to them. 

And yeah, I can share another grab. I’m away from the computer, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. Plus I am trying to figure out how to calibrate my MacBook Air without purchasing software. Zero budget filmmaking is expensive and I have to budget expenses based on the phase of production.

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4 minutes ago, mercer said:

It’s cool. I always ask for critiques. I’ve been told that my images are horrible on a number of occasions. I live and learn. It’s like Ed Wood said... the next one will be better...

But I am a hobbyist who decided to try and make a movie. I shoot run and gun guerilla style, using backyard DIY techniques. There is little about my method that is traditional.

But in reality, this is a tech forum... so technical perfection is top priority and that’s cool too... a lot of knowledgeable and talented people around here and if one knows themself as a filmmaker they can use what applies to them. 

And yeah, I can share another grab. I’m away from the computer, so it will have to wait until tomorrow. Plus I am trying to figure out how to calibrate my MacBook Air without purchasing software. Zero budget filmmaking is expensive and I have to budget expenses based on the phase of production.

I can assure you even professional sets use plenty of DIY gear, maybe not when they're pitching the budget to a client, but it ends up in there, trust me. ?

I think a lot of enthusiasts make a self defeating assumption about their own work. "Professional" in practical terms means a lot of different things to different people, and I suspect some enthusiasts undervalue the quality of their work and that the term "professional" holds some secret magic sauce.

In my view, professional to me means passion and work ethic. The dictionary definition says it means those that exchange currency for a good or service. But in practical terms I think that means very little. 

So I'm here to say if you're an enthusiast and have this idea that small budgets and DIY gear means "unprofessional", you can think again. Then rewind and repeat.  

If I'm short a hair or kicker light, I'm not going to order/purchase another $700 Aputure frensel, instead I'm going to the nearest Home Depot and getting a shop LED with the highest CRI for $50. Not uncommon at all. The client won't likely even know the difference, and the grips won't be complaining either, one less trip to the truck. 

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Anyway, here’s my latest attempt, and final, after trying a few in computer calibration and color profiles. It seems to represent itself the same in the editor as it does on my iPhone. But for all I know it could be off?

Honestly, I don’t love the shot anyway due to lens choice. The bokeh is intentionally busy and chaotic but it is a little harsher than I was originally going for. Thankfully, the luxury of being a hobbyist gives me the ability for reshoots. 

6F0AFDB2-9098-4F1C-98B5-58655397B814.jpeg

Ehh... a little too saturated... ugh. 

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2 minutes ago, mercer said:

Anyway, here’s my latest attempt, and final, after trying a few in computer calibration and color profiles. It seems to represent itself the same in the editor as it does on my iPhone. But for all I know it could be off?

Honestly, I don’t love the shot anyway due to lens choice. The bokeh is intentionally busy and chaotic but it is a little harsher than I was originally going for. Thankfully, the luxury of being a hobbyist gives me the ability for reshoots. 

6F0AFDB2-9098-4F1C-98B5-58655397B814.jpeg

Your pulling out smoother gradients in this grade. Me likes. ?

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  • 2 weeks later...
21 minutes ago, andrgl said:

reeheehee_1.1.2.thumb.png.ce3f17f63e7549c467d17cfceb7cb485.png

look ma no hands sharpening or grain necessary!

I like the desaturated background.

Are you saying that the shot is too sharpened and noisy to begin with, or commenting how ML Raw turns off sharpening?

Of course, I think I left sharpening at default in Resolve before I converted to ProRes.

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33 minutes ago, mercer said:

I like the desaturated background.

Are you saying that the shot is too sharpened and noisy to begin with, or commenting how ML Raw turns off sharpening?

Of course, I think I left sharpening at default in Resolve before I converted to ProRes.

Oh no, haha, I was being snarky. :) A few of the grades on this thead had pretty aggressive sharpening. Too much and it looks like video and you have to hide it with grain.

Grain is really good at hiding artifacts and blown highlights.

 

You have to cheat somewhere in your grade and I like to do it with skin. Pump up the contrast and you can pop the talent without messing with the rest of your image. Love doing it with 8bit log. You can keep all that dynamic range and still have great colors and skintones. Makes the shot look really expensive. Like you had a whole crew and cinema camera.

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