Action Project: Unstoppable (My After Effects Workshop) - General

I was editing this for a month and a half. I shoot this in Russia just for After Effects practice and that's how it came out! [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4oXQOmiSmw[/media] Just letting you know, we decided to film that very randomly. The sun was almost gone. I came out with everything like shots and stuff during the shoot. And again, that's not about acting or story, I just wanted to mess around in After Effects and increase my skills.

Great work, but next time work on dulling down your muzzle flashes. They normally aren't that dramatic (at least not for the guns your using).

The timing and colour is good, but they look a bit too small - on the muzzle flashes. I also don't really like the title font. The gun fight seems too long, mainly because it's pretty repetitive, a bit more action needs to happen rather than just shots of people shooting. I like the slow motion bit with the cases flying out. The music is good, 28 days/weeks later? I liked the little run up slow motion fight thing. The bullet coming out of the gun in slow motion into the guys head, although looks smooth and nice, I find it very cheesy. You've got good after effects skills, just that actual action happening on screen is a bit...meh. I mean, it's not awful, it's just nothing special. But if this was just to test out your after effects skills i'd say it's a good effort :)

Much good, but here's what I'd suggest doing (in this order) 1) No matter what, a plot is always a good idea. Random action may be cool but a plot adds no matter what. Start with a challenge and make the main character overcome the challenge. Make it make sense. 2) Acting - much of it was decent, but no one flinched in your movie, and much of it looked choreographed in one try. Your recoil was also insanely overdone. If you want proper recoil, don't move your hand up and down, just twitch it suddenly. Your stunts were pretty decent, but I saw a lot of egg. People just stood around and 'received' their bullets and punches. There's a lot in stunts that involves moving the right steps and such. 3) Audio - your sounds sound like something taken out of CS 1.6. Everything needs more umph. Make your own sounds - if you can't record 'em, mix stuff like punching sounds and such to get it right. Same goes for your music. Taylor it to the movie. Here's an example I mixed up in FL studio; [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sLvQ3MIpokA[/media] Not the best example but it definitely adds to the experience. Oh and also, make sure to add the audio from outside the frame. (E.g. gunshots from people you can't see - didn't hear any of that) Audio is a third of the movie. 4) special effects - hate to say it but they were sketchy many of them. Sparks showed up in odd places, there were long delays between gunshot and bullet hits. The muzzle flare were very small and looked odd. They also nearly didn't affect the environment around them. The blood didn't match the focus. If you want it Hollywoodesque then check out youtube.com/freddiew2's tutorials. If you want it realistic, copy videos of people firing on gun ranges and such. Your color correction was also kind of pointless. And you overused slo-mo a bit. 5) Light - many harsh shadows made it hard to see people's eyes which is surprisingly important. Either wait 'til there's a cloudy day and the sky is one huge softbox or invest in some studio lighting and reflectors. I suggest MX brand lights and a portable gasoline generator. What you did right: Cinematography was very nice many places. I liked that. The run & stunt scene at the end was also simply put cool. Much was good, and I know it's hard to make a film, quite a demanding thing. I once had to make a full short quite similar to that in a week with only two actors, nearly killed me. Overall, good job. That's what you got to work on.

A Winner for you for killing your friend.

I think Mac338 sums it up quite nicely. The bloodsplatter and muzzleflashes should blend in more(When a gun goes off, most of the time there isn't a visible muzzleflash) I did quite like the slowmotion effects and the camerawork+shots were also very nice and didn't bother me. Acting wasn't the best and I don't believe there was a storyline or plot. Overal pretty decent job. Oh and a good tip if you are going for realistic effects: Less is usually better. If you overdo effects than people will focus more on them instead of the actually scene. Unless your intention is to create over-the-top effects, it's usually best to numb them down where they support the scene but don't 'control' it.

Also, keep in mind real bullets don't have muzzle flashes. They do in the movies because they use blanks and the flash is cardboard burning up. Just look up shoot out scenes with pistols in movies for reference.

[QUOTE=dava147;30848063]Also, keep in mind real bullets don't have muzzle flashes. They do in the movies because they use blanks and the flash is cardboard burning up. Just look up shoot out scenes with pistols in movies for reference.[/QUOTE] Some do. [IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5c/Muend1.jpg[/IMG] Low powered handguns only have a small 'fuff' though. [IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Glock_17_%289mm%29_Muzzle_Flash.jpg[/IMG] And most of the time you don't even see it. All you see is the smoke. But I believe he's going for Hollywood style. IF he's going for Hollywood style he really should have muzzle flares, it's more visual and appealing to the target group.

[QUOTE=mac338;30847699]Oh and also, make sure to add the audio from outside the frame. (E.g. gunshots from people you can't see - didn't hear any of that)[/QUOTE] I did that actually, check again. Just letting you know, we decided to film that very randomly. The sun was almost gone. I came out with everything like shots and stuff during the shoot. And again, that's not about acting or story, I just wanted to mess around in After Effects and increase my skills.

[QUOTE=dava147;30848063]Also, keep in mind real bullets don't have muzzle flashes. They do in the movies because they use blanks and the flash is cardboard burning up. Just look up shoot out scenes with pistols in movies for reference.[/QUOTE] Thats's very true. I've tried to do those muzzle flashes in hollywood style... I know they are not realistic.