Autumn in the Woods

ClaptonsGhost · Oct 19, 2015

I posted a video a while ago and no one responded but I don't care. I just love the cinematography on this. I shot many angles and made a longer video but this one clip is just beautiful to me.

scoop2622 · Oct 20, 2015

I like the idea of this. If you don't mind id like to suggest a couple things to think about. Get rid of the lighter fluid bottle. Maybe a slow push in. its also very dark.

ClaptonsGhost · Oct 20, 2015

Thanks for your reply. When I shot this I just wanted to get footage to play with in Premiere Pro, color correction and grading, etc. I shot a variety of angles and this one stood out. I wasn't planning on doing The Hobbit Part 4, so I didn't think to move the lighter fluid. Again, no thought went into this other than just shooting. It's hard when it's just you alone. When I purposely try to shoot something I will give consideration to things like slow push ins, etc.

The one comment that bothers me is that it's too dark. My head got all screwed up by this one guy who told me my very first attempt at color grading was "too dark", yet I've seen stuff done by professionals that was way darker than this, with crushed blacks and stuff. I use a flat screen HDTV as my monitor, the whites are white, everything is set perfectly, been using this as a tv for years. The way the video looks is the way I want it to look. Personally I can see detail in my black hoodie. In what way is it too dark for you, if you feel like responding again?

scoop2622 · Oct 20, 2015

It doesn't have anything to do with color correction I mean lighting wise. The first little bit has the sun coming through on the top of the screen than the sun moves behind the trees so your light source is gone. Its just the time of day mixed with location. I know you said its the hobbit 4 but you also said it was part of a longer video. its just my opinion on things to look for. If you train yourself now to see things like the lighter fluid you wont miss them later.

ClaptonsGhost · Oct 20, 2015

No, I knew the lighter fluid was there, I was just creating some video I could play with, and the original is much lighter, I didn't shoot dark, I purposely darkened it. That's why it annoys me a bit when someone says my video is too dark but I see scenes on TV all the time that are much darker. I was going for a just before sundown look. I get your point, but do you get mine?

Here's the longer one. You can skip through it. As you can see there's no rhyme or reason to it, I was just collecting video from different angles to play with.

scoop2622 · Oct 20, 2015

yea I def. get that! I wouldn't get to annoyed though, you got to remember when you see dark scenes on TV your watching the whole show but when we just see a clip there is no context to it. And I wasn't trying to talk down to you at all and I hope I didn't come across as I was.

ClaptonsGhost · Oct 21, 2015

No, not at all. And I get your point about only seeing one scene and not getting context. For future reference, the context is I'm trying to create interesting atmospheres using color grading. It's for my own amusement, I'm not planning on shooting a movie or trying to get a job in the industry.

As for annoyed, I just meant that that first guy totally threw me off my game for months because my perfectly acceptable color grade which depicted Fall, my favorite season, was too dark for his tastes. Anyway, enough about him. Thanks for responding. I try to critique videos here as people ask but hardly anybody else ever responds!
Cheers.