we're still in editing mode. we're about 80% through the film in our looking-over-aaron's-shoulder-questioning-everything-he's-
done stage. it's amazing how long it can take to edit 10 seconds of film when you really start getting into the details of it. just a few frames (an 8th of a second or so) can make the difference between a cut that works and one that doesn't feel quite right.
meanwhile i've started work on developing the "look" of the film and the vfx work.
the visual design is a combination of color, saturation, contrast and film-look processes. we'll be going for a gritty look, so desaturation and film grain are in order.the vfx work is mostly repos (repositioning the shot for better framing), and camera moves (small dolly moves, camera shake, etc.), but we'll also be doing a depth-of-field pass to the whole film to decide which shots require a sharper delineation between what should and what should not be in focus.
since we didn't get to shoot with a 35mm lens package, many times items in the foreground or background are in focus at the same time as the main subject (the depth of field refers to the range of focused area). unfortunately this lessens the dramatic impact of the frame composition because the viewer's eye is drawn to everything at once in the frame, instead of to specifically what you want.
for example, here's an unchanged frame from the film (click on the image for a larger version):
and here's how the same image might appear in the final product:
notice how the central character is in focus and everything in front and back of him is out of focus. the image has been masked to a 2:35 aspect ratio - which gives you a more panoramic view, color-corrected and repositioned.
of course this is simple to do with a still frame - it's a lot more work on the moving image because your area of sharpness keeps moving with the actor. essentially you have to do this to every frame of the shot - which at 24 frames a second can add up!
so the work continues...
3 deep thoughts:
Were you unable to shoot with a longer lens on set or did you just want to keep your options open in post?
oh no, we wanted to use a 35mm lens set and even had one reserved, but a snafu at the rental house left us without a set (more specifically, the adapter for our particular camera), and too late in the day to find one anywhere else (at the time there were only seven adapter sets for the panasonic hvx200 in town to rent and they were all booked).
trust me, until it gets a hell of a lot easier to create roto you don't want this problem. i am not looking forward to that depth of field pass. we'll probably only use it on the shots we really feel need it.
of course there's a good chance i'll feel that's every shot... :)
Color correction is everything. I did a CC job on a short film recently for a friend and he couldn't understand how he didn't do this before. You can make okay footage look so much better and make great footage look amazing.
It will all be worth it when you're finished. Looking good!
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