Movie burnage.
My movie is complete! And, by complete, I mean burnt to CD more times than I could possibly need to. See, I wanted to ensure that my movie would play, so I ended up choosing 5 different export settings for the version to be played from CD. These are three different WMV standards, one Real Media standard, and an MPEG1 VCD standard. All stream faultlessly on my PC, and I can therefore only assume that at least one of them will work in the Games Lab and/or Architecture building theatre.
The biggest hurdle I had to overcome here was in choosing what to export as, as Premiere Pro has more WMV presets than you can shake a stick at! I thought about just choosing one and praying, but decided that discretion was the better part of valour in this instance, and instead opted for overkill. From a tiny version at 15 frames per second, to a smooth and large version that worked perfectly here, I think my samples are representative of 5 stages of quality. I plan to test all 5 in the Games lab tomorrow, and will make my selection as to which one I will attempt to play during the presentation based on the quality I perceive on the Games lab screen.
As for the high quality version, I have actually included 2 of these. The first is the Quick Time .mov file that I planned to submit to http://www.tensec.com The reason I didn't is that I found out that they only accept submissions on CD, that have been posted to them.
... What?
This is a website, that doesn't allow you to upload to them. Wow, I can't recall the last time I ever saw that. Odd, to say the least.
The second version of my movie is a Windows DV AVI, in full-screen PAL. With all requirements fulfilled, I can now reflect on the finished movie.
From an artistic standpoint, I am extremely happy with what I have accomplished. The look, the feel, the mood ... they are all exactly what I aimed for. The fade effect worked even better than I had pictured in my mind, and I was lucky to find a song that matched so well. I would have liked to have had a little more time to film, as in the end it was quite rushed, and I had to change the last scene to fit in with the new time constraint. Originally, I had wanted to take him to a park, and film him diving to save a football that had been kicked towards a goal. Sadly, the weather whilst I was in Winsford did NOT co-operate, and I had to improvise the shot of him running into my auntie's house.
I would also have liked longer to play with. 10 seconds is extremely limiting, and I think that I could explore this theme better with more time. Perhaps I will make another version, with more scenes. Or, something with a different actor, and some kind of shock at the end. There are possibilites to play, and if I find the time ... well, who knows?
Technically, I can not complain at all. As the movie is called 'Memories', I am glad that it is clear that it was all shot on a home camera instead of something more professional. The whole point is that it is what I am remembering, and slightly grainy home footage conveys this point so much better than some high-def polished wonder could ever hope to. If there is one fault, it is that the song ends ever so slightly too soon. This was also part of the plan, with the sudden lack of sound forcing even more focus into the 'I MISS YOU' shot, but I think I could possibly have allowed a fraction of a second longer. Still, what I have works very well, in my opinion. (An opinion that is shared by the few people I have shared my movie with, as it happens.)
I also decided against titles and credits in the end, as I feel they would diminish from the impact. To have "A film by Lee Weedall" plastered onto it would just look wrong, and I think that by not having names to put to the movie, people viewing it will draw their own conclusions. Everyone who has seen it knows that Josh is my son, so they all see the film as meaning one thing, but perhaps people who don't know might wonder what happens. Remember, the last shot is of a child running onto a road, without looking both ways first.
The biggest hurdle I had to overcome here was in choosing what to export as, as Premiere Pro has more WMV presets than you can shake a stick at! I thought about just choosing one and praying, but decided that discretion was the better part of valour in this instance, and instead opted for overkill. From a tiny version at 15 frames per second, to a smooth and large version that worked perfectly here, I think my samples are representative of 5 stages of quality. I plan to test all 5 in the Games lab tomorrow, and will make my selection as to which one I will attempt to play during the presentation based on the quality I perceive on the Games lab screen.
As for the high quality version, I have actually included 2 of these. The first is the Quick Time .mov file that I planned to submit to http://www.tensec.com The reason I didn't is that I found out that they only accept submissions on CD, that have been posted to them.
... What?
This is a website, that doesn't allow you to upload to them. Wow, I can't recall the last time I ever saw that. Odd, to say the least.
The second version of my movie is a Windows DV AVI, in full-screen PAL. With all requirements fulfilled, I can now reflect on the finished movie.
From an artistic standpoint, I am extremely happy with what I have accomplished. The look, the feel, the mood ... they are all exactly what I aimed for. The fade effect worked even better than I had pictured in my mind, and I was lucky to find a song that matched so well. I would have liked to have had a little more time to film, as in the end it was quite rushed, and I had to change the last scene to fit in with the new time constraint. Originally, I had wanted to take him to a park, and film him diving to save a football that had been kicked towards a goal. Sadly, the weather whilst I was in Winsford did NOT co-operate, and I had to improvise the shot of him running into my auntie's house.
I would also have liked longer to play with. 10 seconds is extremely limiting, and I think that I could explore this theme better with more time. Perhaps I will make another version, with more scenes. Or, something with a different actor, and some kind of shock at the end. There are possibilites to play, and if I find the time ... well, who knows?
Technically, I can not complain at all. As the movie is called 'Memories', I am glad that it is clear that it was all shot on a home camera instead of something more professional. The whole point is that it is what I am remembering, and slightly grainy home footage conveys this point so much better than some high-def polished wonder could ever hope to. If there is one fault, it is that the song ends ever so slightly too soon. This was also part of the plan, with the sudden lack of sound forcing even more focus into the 'I MISS YOU' shot, but I think I could possibly have allowed a fraction of a second longer. Still, what I have works very well, in my opinion. (An opinion that is shared by the few people I have shared my movie with, as it happens.)
I also decided against titles and credits in the end, as I feel they would diminish from the impact. To have "A film by Lee Weedall" plastered onto it would just look wrong, and I think that by not having names to put to the movie, people viewing it will draw their own conclusions. Everyone who has seen it knows that Josh is my son, so they all see the film as meaning one thing, but perhaps people who don't know might wonder what happens. Remember, the last shot is of a child running onto a road, without looking both ways first.
posted by CheekyLee at 4:27 PM
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