"Wake" -- my first short film

[JacksonArcher]

Haha, thanks. I actually wasn't that impressed with the outcome of the RED camera -- and neither was my DP -- but the image is certainly very, very crisp. I'll admit that.

Interesting. I must admit I haven't seen anything shot with the RED yet, but I had heard good things about it. Have you ever considered moving to 16mm or 35mm film at some point, or are the financial concerns too great? I'd love to see you and your DP work on celluloid. But I suppose I'm getting ahead of you--you haven't even finished your second film yet.

My DP, Brian Levin, actually shot a feature with the RED entitled Cyrus incidentally produced by the same line producer who co-produced Fallen for me, a talented guy by the name of Sean Miller, starring Lance Hendrickson (Alien 3), Danielle Harris (Halloween), and Doug Jones (Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, Hellboy, Hellboy II). Steven Soderbergh also recently shot The Girlfriend Experience with the RED, and both projects I thought looked good, but my main problem with the RED is that it looks too much like digital. The Canon we used on Wake at least gave us a picture that resembled film.. The RED was obviously digital, and I didn't like the hyperealistic look.

Funny you mention 35mm, because I am using that for my next and last short, an assassin thriller entitled Hit or Miss. That will also be shot in scope and I just love the clean, polished look based on the tests so far. I'm really liking it.

 

[JacksonArcher]

I should also note that for Fallen, I wanted a hyperealistic look, so the RED did deliver in that regard, but I still feel it resembles video too much and it kind of highlights colors too much. For instance, if you have two dominate colors like orange and white, those colors will be the ones that saturate the picture, leaving all else dim and faint.

 

[Harvey]

I see what you mean, JacksonArcher. I hope to see The Girlfriend Experience sometime soon to see what Soderbergh did with the RED Camera (didn't he shoot Che with that package as well?). As for shooting your next short in 35mm--I'm jealous, man. I've shot on 16mm, and it was beautiful, but 35mm is another world.

 

[JacksonArcher]

It says Soderbergh used the RED and 16mm Panavision. Weird.

I've never shot on film before so I'm excited.

 

[Harvey]

Film makes me as nervous as hell, because you have almost no idea what to expect from until it's processed. But with an experienced DP at the helm, and a strong plan in place before you shoot, celluloid looks beautiful.

Shooting 35mm right out the gate is certainly ambitious.

And speaking of a combination of film and video, I found out that The X-Files: I Want to Believe was shot with a mix of formats (HD for the urban chase scenes, film for the rural snow scenes) and for all the complaints you can make about that film, I think it looks great. I didn't even realize it watching the film the first time. Perhaps it's not as unusual to shoot with both as it appears.

 

[JacksonArcher]

Fortunately Brian has shot with 35mm before so I'm a bit more at ease than I would had he not. I'm doing some test shoots to get comfortable with the format. Brian and I also really like to have a strong shot list before we shoot, so we know every shot beforehand, and I think that helps.

I have not seen The X-Files: I Want To Believe but from what I've seen in the previews it looked good. I guess it would be acceptable to shoot with both formats when you want a certain look for particular sequences. I never have thought of that before, though. I'm interested now.

 

[JacksonArcher]

I don't mean to resurrect this thread from the dead, but I have uploaded an HD version of Wake.

You can now watch the film in 1080p high-definition. I also tried to fix some of the audio problems, so this is literally the highest quality version of the film yet.

I didn't change anything in a story or editorial sense, so you don't have to worry about Max suddenly screaming "Noooo!" toward the end of the film.

For those who haven't seen the film, well, here's your chance. Thoughts and comments are welcome. You can watch the film here on Vimeo.

Recommended viewing is full screen with the volume up to take full advantage of the high-definition.

 

[Admiral_Young]

Another excellent audio commentary JA...you have pretty much have these nailed down I think. Also gave me another chance to see Josh's excellent performance after I listened to the commentary track.