what's the best format for delivering feature films over the Internet?

[ David Lean started out as an editor in Hollywood.]

And remained so throughout his career!

- Loren
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>{On the other hand, I can edit a trailer or promo myself, because I enjoy >doing it.}

Yes, we've seen and heard your solo efforts.

>{Imagine if Tchaikovsky or Beethoven had STP, my God, they would've >written a hundred symphonies each.}

I doubt it. These men were true composers in the sense that they wrote the music on paper note by note, from hearing it in their head before a single note was even played.

>{And if you're working with single notes, then you're putting music together >like any other composer.}

I'm beginning to think you are delusional.

>{I'm not a trained composer, but if I were STP would be my orchestra.}

More to support previous response!

>{I don't shoot slates btw when I do a no-budget movie, because I record the >sound myself. I prefer recording the sound myself ala Federico Fellini because >I can then direct the dialogue separately from the picture.}

Cant wait to see the sync on that one!

There's no "I" in "TEAM"...which is what filmmaking is...a TEAM effort. Your Wrap Parties must suck, Vic!



Post Edited (07-06-06 11:47)

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

> {Imagine if Tchaikovsky or Beethoven had STP, my God, they would've
> written a hundred symphonies each.}

They did have it.

It was called a piano.

You're talking about using Soundtrack Pro as an instrument. It's viable, but I guarantee you a musician/composer with a single instrument will be able to work much faster and better.

I'll just pick up my guitar right now and come up with a melody:

_____________________________________
_____________________________16v^v^__
15_16_13_______________16_13_________
_____________16v^v^_13_______________
_____________________________________
_____________________________________

Now, how long will it take for you to locate those six notes, in the right key, in those Soundtrack loops? It took me five seconds to move my fingers about on the fretboard. How long would it take you to find those "single notes" in Soundtrack? And where would you find the vibrato on the two notes above, the right vibrato for the feel needed for this melody, which is a French folk-song, mournful vibrato, rather than a wild George Lynch shake, or a B.B. King blues vibrato, or a "civilized" Eric Clapton vibrato?

You might be able to find these notes in Soundtrack Pro if you looked for awhile. But you'll never get the exact feel, and you certainly will not be able to "play these notes differently" just to see what it sounds like. The notes may be the same, but the feel is different, and any director or composer who doesn't see a difference between two takes, in terms of feel, will not be able to deal with film music appropriately. Loren mentioned above about Don Wilkins using Soundtrack loops, but you can bet that when it comes to the main themes of his compositions, he would still have to get someone (himself, or another musician) to play it, to get a unique feel.

<There's no "I" in "TEAM"...which is what filmmaking is...a TEAM effort.>

There's no "we" in TEAM either... which is why I always chuckle when I hear that misapplied phrase.



bob rice
frameworx media

>>> There's no "we" in TEAM either... which is why I always chuckle when I hear that misapplied phrase. <<<

Thanx for the thoughtful analogy, bob...but you've totally "misapplied" your point (LOL - ???). We are talking about an INDIVIDUAL ("I" not being on a TEAM. "WE" has nothing to do with it. Better to read ALL the posts thoroughly & understand the meaning of the phrase before responding



Post Edited (07-06-06 15:24)

When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

I'll quote Dr. Gregory House, M.D.:

"There's no 'I' in 'team'. There's a 'me', though, if you switch things around."

Ego is important. Ego is a by-product of experience, personality. The important thing is not to let ego override good judgment. Especially in the case of a director, who can take partial credit in the achievements of all departments by virtue of letting and inspiring them to do their best. Try to hog credits, and you'll end up either alienating your crew, or coming up with an inferior product, or both.

I still remember the director of a student short who split my editing credit without ever consulting or informing me, making a small (editor on a student film) credit even more diluted. To make it even worse, I found out at the screening. She will never get much loyalty from me.

Believe me I appreciate all your comments. I've learned a great deal, because we're arguing a major issue which concerns filmmaking and the creative process. I believe there is room for the solo artist in filmmaking as well as the collaborative film technician or craftsman. But I also believe that all filmmaking requires one vision, and a director is the person who has to provide that vision. For me it's the filmmaker when it comes to personal films, and the type I enjoy the most, namely one man or one woman crew. This is the great gift of Final Cut Pro to us artists. I think Soundtrack Pro is also a great addition. So far these are the only two tools that I've used in FCP5 Studio. I learn so much from reading the posts in this forum. It's just great. Thanks, Mike. This is really wonderful.

Tomorrow -- hopefully -- I'll post a new trailer on my website and I'll notify the phorum to check it out. I welcome your comments and criticism.

Okay, here is a new trailer:

[www.releasing.net]

I used the suggestions everybody made -- especially Derek's, who was the most critical :-) Let me know what you think.

I appreciate all comments... hit me with your best shot, fire away. LOL

Vic,

You didn't use the most important suggestion = get an experienced Editor / Sound Mixer:

* some of the cutting is non-sensical (ex: quick cut to funeral / slow dissolve to woman speaking / slow dissolve back to same shot?)
* the audio is way out of sync in places (doesn't match at all in places)
* audio cuts in & out with no transitions at all
* audio clicks / levels are up & down

This is a perfect example of just because a Director purchases FCP that it doesn't make the Director into an Editor. You need an Editor, Vic...period. Technically, the trailer is EXTREMELY rough. You need someone that is an EXPERIENCED EDITOR/ SOUND MIXER that can help you with a sense of timing / story telling. Experienced Editors can have great input to your scenes.

I still don't get it, bro...but that's just me.

- Joey



When life gives you dilemmas...make dilemmanade.

Adding to what Joey said and my previous comment about you doing seperate takes for the sound, it is way out of sync. It reminds me of a japanese film with a bad english dub. The movement and expression of the actors doesn't match their tone of voice.
Unfortunately Vic, your way of thinking is very detrimental to your "filmmaking" process. It's fine to have a vision for a movie, but by not hiring people who are good at what they do within the movie making process, you are not only depriving yourself of the chance of doing something to be proud of, but you are also letting down the actors who probably worked for very little money, or possibly copy, credit and meals, so they would have something to showcase on their reels.

>>Thanx for the thoughtful analogy, bob...but you've totally "misapplied" your point (LOL - ???). We are talking about an INDIVIDUAL ("I" not being on a TEAM. "WE" has nothing to do with it. Better to read ALL the posts thoroughly & understand the meaning of the phrase before responding <<

Uh, far as I can see Bob hit the nail on the head with the stupidity of the quote.

It says - there's no "I" in team, meaning, there's no letter I in the word and therefore there's no room for individuals in a team effort. Everyone must function as part of the whole.

But there is also no 'WE'. as in, the letters W and E are also not in the word team, and therefore, given the parameters of the concept, there is no need to act as a group in a team.

Not saying you're stupid for using it, just that it is a poorly thought out quote to begin with.

Better to understand the meaning of the phrase before responding.

I was always afraid of using the word team. But especially since Robert DeNiro made that speech as Al Capone -- remember the board meeting where DeNiro uses a baseball bat to club one of the mobsters to death? Everytime the mobster hears DeNiro mention team, he grins a little, until DeNiro can't take it anymore and approaches the mobster unawares, repeating, "team, team" and bludgeons him as he continues to say, "team, team". LOL

I think baseball is the perfect game because it combines the best two aspects of sports: team spirit and individuality. A player is required to sacrifice sometimes, but there are times when he's free to swing away and go for a homerun.

I've been enjoying the World Cup soccer tournament. Team spirit is also very important in soccer.Ronaldinho is the number one rated player in the world. His passing is what makes him great. He passes those balls perfectly for another player to score. Too bad Ronaldo didn't connect with one of those passes in the game with France. I hated to see Brazil ousted. I wanted to see Brazil play England for the Cup --the two most interesting teams I felt. The other teams were all playing the same way pretty much -- a dogged, relentless style of soccer that gets tiresome to watch...

Which brings me to the subject at hand. There are those projects that require collaboration, and the individual talents have to be sacrificed for the good of all and the story. But there are times when individuality must take center stage and a filmmaker must have a go at it; technical problems be damned if they mean you can't make a movie because of lack of money or prevelance of talent. And once I begin a movie I don't like to stip because I lack a synch sound camera or whatever gear that's not absolutely essential. Yes, foreign films are often dubbed and that detracts from their success at the US box office; but then I want to see even badly dubbed foreign films because they are better than the US commercial fare. But that's just me, as Joey says. And here's the shocker, Fellini films were dubbed even in Italian. He just wanted to do the sound separately. Synch was not a concern for him. He used actors of all nationalities. Sometimes he didn't even have a common language to communicate with them. An actor would ask him, "what shall I say?" He'd reply, "count, one two three." He dubbed what he wanted later anyway.

Hi guys. I've got to upload my videos onto a site at some stage. I've got a few 2 minute trailer, along with a few 5 minute sex talk show clips.

H.264 is a good quicktime format. But what if my viewers are gonna use windows media player, which format do i use then? Is it mpeg2?

> But what if my viewers are gonna use windows media player, which format
> do i use then?

WMV. Flip4Mac plugin recommended; Deb Eschweiler also recommends Popwire.

[www.lafcpug.org]

Guys, do a forum search. We just covered this a couple of times in the last few days.