The Hole

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santi
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The Hole

Post by santi »

Hi guys, it's been a long time.
I've finished "the Hole" few months ago but I didn't have time to translate it and make subtitles. Anyway, here it is:
<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QhAioxYHOKY"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QhAioxYHOKY" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Edit:
It gave me a bachelor's degree (A+). Now I'm looking for idea for my master degree film.

I guess you are not into polish situation and history but maybe you would find something universal in this story even if you won't catch every joke.
To be easier: this building at the begining is Palace of Science and Culture. A "gift" from soviets and tribute to Joseph Stalin (someone like Hitler but Russian). A quite symbolic and controversial building nowadays.
Santi

"Corpse of your enemy always smells nice"

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pdj
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RE: The Hole

Post by pdj »

Good to see your work again Santi..I love this short. Alot of this is going on in the Balkans so I understood your messages. Your chroma keying and animation is quiet clever.

I guess, a good question to ask regarding production is how long did the filming take? Did you make any tutorials as a result of this film? Really clever stuff there, you can tell it took you awhile to do. Congrats on your mark- any idea for your next flick? Maybe a theme/issue that will definitely capture a bigger audience?

Those of you who may not have much knowledge on Eastern European history will still benefit from watching this even purely from an aesthetic point of view.
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santi
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RE: The Hole

Post by santi »

Shooting actor took 3 days (2 scheduled and 1 for reshooting) plus 1 day for exterior backplates. Post took over six months. Some parts were cut, some redubbed or added as voice overs. Accidently it was like in film of Stanislaw Bareja - polish cult-director. He frequently used to shoot very wide shots so he could dub any lines later (because comunistic censors have always shreded his films). For example fishing guy was shot in full shot but was scaled to wide to hide that his lips are not in sync.

Generaly I found the sound is lousy but you know - time, time time.... I would like to ADR whole film and replace some effects.

The title theme is jazzy version of child song about sleeping bear. It was just a small joke in the middle of film but was promoted as a "clou" (the sleeping bear is a metaphor of course)

About chroma keying I could write a book titled "Chroma Key in 4:2:0 Sucks (Especially if you don't have enough lights)". Painstaking roto, lots of masks and mattes.

I found great trick to get nice black and white image. Instead desaturate try to use a RED channel as all other channels- faces would be brighter, black hair would be more... black. The minus is thet in DV 4:2:0 it is lower resolution.

Next flick...hmm... I was thinking about something cyberpunk where I could use similar visual style (something like Animatrix: Detective Story but with actors) I'm not good screenwriter and that's my pain. I got fistfullof ideas and general draft of the story. Maybe I'll do something completly different - comedy about men, women and stuff. I don't want to make any "artistic" s*** like my pals. "The Hole" is enough artistic for me.
Santi

"Corpse of your enemy always smells nice"

---------------------
http://sfx.com.pl/
maj_barnes
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RE: The Hole

Post by maj_barnes »

Nice. Really enjoyed it- the effects had a very hyper-stylized feel that made them look fake as hell but nice (except for the smoke from the building, didn't care for that).
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RE: The Hole

Post by pdj »

So for pulling the best b&w, you suggest cranking up the red channel and then applying b&w or...? Would love to know the steps you took as you never know when you may need it!
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santi
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Re: RE: The Hole

Post by santi »

maj_barnes wrote:Nice. Really enjoyed it- the effects had a very hyper-stylized feel that made them look fake as hell but nice (except for the smoke from the building, didn't care for that).
Well it was meant to be "fake". This is one big quote mark.
pdj wrote:So for pulling the best b&w, you suggest cranking up the red channel and then applying b&w or...? Would love to know the steps you took as you never know when you may need it!
Each channel is monochromatic map that shows how many R,G or B is in particular pixel. Human skin has mostly R with very little of G and B.
Image
If you display in photoshop B channel you'll se the face is dark but in R channel is
almost white (more red) and then correct it with Levels to get contrast.
RED
Image

GREEN
Image

BLUE
Image
(looks like TV in 50's)

The point is to "rip" the R channel and use it as B and G channels also so image in full RGB will be look like R channel. In Adobe After Effects you can do it with Shift Channels filter. As I said: when you work with cheap DV you can have som problems with sampling.
Santi

"Corpse of your enemy always smells nice"

---------------------
http://sfx.com.pl/
Matt
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RE: Re: RE: The Hole

Post by Matt »

I've split off the political posts because I don't want them to spoil the rest of this film related topic. The political posts have been moved into Social and Chatting.
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santi
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RE: Re: RE: The Hole

Post by santi »

Film was qualified to most significant polish indie and student film festivals. And ignored. So far so good ;) The most important in september (like Oscars but in our small, local scale).
Santi

"Corpse of your enemy always smells nice"

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http://sfx.com.pl/
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