Bad Religion

I thought the pkg was pretty good. It deffently was intersting. The only thing i thought was that the nats were two loud. For instence when the girl starts reading the practice or when she plays the insterment its hard to hear the reporters track. Other than that it was well done.
 
I have difficulties judging audio levels on this DV stuff...used to be that I could run general nats at -15 on beta and higher if need be, now I have no clue what the reference mark is with this -20=0db business. Couple that with a REALLY crappy set of speakers in the edit bays and some days you just can't tell. Toss in some compressed web video and i think that recipe for audio disaster is there. I'm considering starting to edit with my headphones instead.
 
I try and use my headphones whenever I can, expecially in the live trucks. I've got the dj style head phones that give me a really crisp sound. There good for finding nats. But I always keep my stuff at -20. Thats just how I learned things, but sometimes if it just sounds louder for whatever reason I bring that channel down. I know what your saying though, expecially if your in a rush just try and make sure its one of the last things you do. I know its easier for me when I do that. Good job I look forward to seeing more of your stuff.
 
Sprinkle

Well done. Your interview lighting was comfortable, but could have used a little depth.

Mostly, I was taken aback when I saw her playing the instrument... in the END!?! I would have "sprinkled" that a little more, but that's just me.

Not bad for a piece that required a good deal of file...
 
agree with newshooter. . .

your first pass at the story was very solid. i didn't have the audio problems nguyen had, i thought the mix was perfect (unless there was something you could have done to make your reporter sound like she was actually interested in the story. . . :D )

like newsshooter said, your interview shots were well lit, but you could have confortable gone a bit more high contrast. let some shadows fall. and you really could have used a few tight shots to vary the interview a little.

i liked the second pass too, the way you incorporated the instrument into your sound track. my only quibble with the second pass is that while you introduced the intrument audibly, you still didn't do so visually until the end. we see your interview subject dressed in her formal outfit as she's introduced (with music underneath) and then see her in that outfit again when her practice of the religion is introduced. think about replacing that first shot of her in the religious outfit simply with a nat pop of her playing and a shot of her strumming away on the intrument.

in the end, it's a solid piece of work, and it's admirable that you went back and tweaked it for the sake of critiquing. . .
 
For what its worth, it was a small apartment where I was limited in decent looking backgrounds. I couldn't really back up any more because of how her kitchen was laid out. I went with a simplistic lighting scheme due to size, time, and her comfort. I shot a bit varied in the interview, but she happened to pick the ones that were wide to use as bites. Thanks for the look.
 
Was there some sort of live intro with this piece? I ask because the intro provided in the package didn't really match the rest of the story. It blew any opportunity you had to open the piece with her playing that fantastic instrument. Using the video for the reporter's intro instead of including it (and essentially mismatching that specific element) in the package would've been a better idea.

To tell you the truth, the best shooting took place at the end of the package. The ending shot of her silhouette was great. As NS said, sprinkle the music throughout the piece. I'd take it a step further by suggesting what I mentioned above.

As for the small space of her apartment, do you have wideangle lenses or adapters available to you? Those work wonders in difficult-to-manage spaces.
 
yeah...i just watched the first version (didn't feel like waiting for the second to load) and I thought the instrument should've come in way earlier. The song she was playing was so somber and really could've helped set the mood throughout the piece.

Overall, I liked the concept of the story. It was obviously timely, but really addressed a lot of the issues that people have been talking about behind the scenes. Is China really cleaning up it's act or not? Definitely, a good olympic sidebar.

I know what you mean about the small apartment for an interview, but even tightening up the shot and getting those photos a little bit higher on her shoulder would add some depth.
 
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