An attempt at making a cinematic, sweeping, autumn video...

[MKurr]

Points that I would like feedback on:
Music (I added wind and goose sound effects)
Editing/cutting to music
color grading
Anything else you would have changed!

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[Skybuyer]

Really really nice job. Great flying. Color grading was great. I have only a few, quite minor suggestion and perhaps a small criticism.

As you come into 1:07 the exposure isn't there as you reveal the surroundings from the water shot (which was great). I would recommend cutting from 1:04 to about 1:10. I think a transition rather than a reveal might be more visually powerful anway (JMO). Then there is the transition into 2:03. You go from a lush saturated scene to one with exposure issues because of the dynamic range involved. I would advise to either do some masking and color grading to increase the contrast and possibly drop the exposure a bit in the highlights. I love the reveal coming after 2:10, so perhaps trim the start. I think some color grading will really help coming into this scene. A simple curve on that section should help, with or without masking the shadow area. I did a quick mock up to illustrate what I'm saying (photo below).

I love the traverse at 2:27. I'd recommend cutting around 2:36 or a second or so later. The vertical motion to the dead stop stopped the flow in this clip.

Sound effects:
Personally I thought the goose sound effects were A bit hoky, at or perhaps just overdone. If you use them at all, find a spot where they sound the best, fade them in for 2-3 seconds... then fade out- no more geese. When you over-do a special effect it's no longer special. A few short quiet moments with the geese will have the effect and it would have been a subliminal enhancement that the viewer wouldn't even be aware of. That's what you're looking for; your special effects not to go noticed.

Also, I would do something similar with the wind. Try fading it in gently for effect, then fade out and leave it. You'll have planted the message without having to linger.

Again it looks great. Really cinematic. You captured everything and told the story and I think there is so little you need to do to refine it. Congratulations on a fine piece of work!

 

[Jack43]

Points that I would like feedback on:
Music (I added wind and goose sound effects)
Editing/cutting to music
color grading
Anything else you would have changed!

Hi MKurr,
My jaw dropped! What incredible fantastic colors, wow!! The music fits very well with the amazing shots
As for the editing and color grading I am with vindibona!
cheers Paul

 

[Jet skier]

Points that I would like feedback on:
Music (I added wind and goose sound effects)
Editing/cutting to music
color grading
Anything else you would have changed!

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Beautiful video don’t you love it when the clouds and sky are perfect

 

[Jet skier]

Beautiful video don’t you love it when the clouds and sky are perfect

The only thing I might change is like the previous reader already said illiminate the overexposed sky part where the drone rises from the water and I think shortly after that you’re high up in the air in the sky in the back does look over exposed also aside from that I don’t think I would change anything

 

[dozzn]

I really like this! I just kept waiting to see some ducks. You did an excellent job!

 

[Dale D]

Points that I would like feedback on:
Music (I added wind and goose sound effects)
Editing/cutting to music
color grading
Anything else you would have changed!

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I liked the film very much. I do think the goose sounds were a bit overdone and I would have "let them go" after a few clips. Perhaps I'd then substitute some bird chirping sounds. All of these sounds can easily be grabbed from the internet.

In the the first clips I felt that there was a bit too much over-saturation of the reds in the maple trees. The music track was appropriate and pleasing. The editing and transitions were smooth. The flying was smooth without jerking yaw corrections so often seen in these forum videos. They should be edited out. Yours had none. As always some shortening of each clip could have made it more viewable but I stuck it out to the end.

Dale
Miami

 

[Yogi27]

Very nice, really enjoyed your video and music selection. For me the geese were a little over done. I agreed with with post about bringing up exposure in shadows. I really liked the closeup work among the trees. The only real (little) suggestion I would make is the video motion just abruptly stopped at the end sort of a shock to the viewer.
over all very nice!

 

[Skybuyer]

Very nice, really enjoyed your video and music selection. For me the geese were a little over done. I agreed with with post about bringing up exposure in shadows. I really liked the closeup work among the trees. The only real (little) suggestion I would make is the video motion just abruptly stopped at the end sort of a shock to the viewer.
over all very nice!

I liked the closeup work in the trees too. I think I'd be too afraid to get that close. When he got close to the treetops one time I thought it was cool. Not sure that I'd be brave enough to get that close in a forested area where recovery could be sketchy in a crash.

 

[TS_Thomas02]

Great video. I'm learning from all of you.

 

[MavicAir2Marc]

Great flying. I'm with Dale and Vindabona, I would say when you went up from the water to the sky, it looked like it was compensating the change in exposure. If you leave it in manual (that can be tricky as well) exposure, you won't get that compensation. Some of the scenes were tricky to color grade and there was one point at around the 50 second mark where the hill in the background starts with a blue cast then saturates as it reveals. That might have been a planned effect on your part but I think it's kind of distracting because the darker bluer shade draws your eye away from the reveal too early IMO. Perhaps don't saturate it until the reveal but keep it lighter and balanced...Try and make it a consistent feel and look throughout. If you have scenes that have different lighting conditions, try and group them together so it doesn't go back and forth from dark to light etc., etc... It definitely shows that you're a good pilot and editor. Keep flying, filming, and editing.

 

[Skybuyer]

What are you editing with, if I may ask?

 

[MKurr]

Really really nice job. Great flying. Color grading was great. I have only a few, quite minor suggestion and perhaps a small criticism.

As you come into 1:07 the exposure isn't there as you reveal the surroundings from the water shot (which was great). I would recommend cutting from 1:04 to about 1:10. I think a transition rather than a reveal might be more visually powerful anway (JMO). Then there is the transition into 2:03. You go from a lush saturated scene to one with exposure issues because of the dynamic range involved. I would advise to either do some masking and color grading to increase the contrast and possibly drop the exposure a bit in the highlights. I love the reveal coming after 2:10, so perhaps trim the start. I think some color grading will really help coming into this scene. A simple curve on that section should help, with or without masking the shadow area. I did a quick mock up to illustrate what I'm saying (photo below).

I love the traverse at 2:27. I'd recommend cutting around 2:36 or a second or so later. The vertical motion to the dead stop stopped the flow in this clip.

Sound effects:
Personally I thought the goose sound effects were A bit hoky, at or perhaps just overdone. If you use them at all, find a spot where they sound the best, fade them in for 2-3 seconds... then fade out- no more geese. When you over-do a special effect it's no longer special. A few short quiet moments with the geese will have the effect and it would have been a subliminal enhancement that the viewer wouldn't even be aware of. That's what you're looking for; your special effects not to go noticed.

Also, I would do something similar with the wind. Try fading it in gently for effect, then fade out and leave it. You'll have planted the message without having to linger.

Again it looks great. Really cinematic. You captured everything and told the story and I think there is so little you need to do to refine it. Congratulations on a fine piece of work!

View attachment 114859

Thank you for the in-depth reply! I'll try to take all your points into account and continue the quest for improvement!

 

[MKurr]

What are you editing with, if I may ask?

Filmora 9 Very good software, but not free....

 

[MKurr]

I liked the closeup work in the trees too. I think I'd be too afraid to get that close. When he got close to the treetops one time I thought it was cool. Not sure that I'd be brave enough to get that close in a forested area where recovery could be sketchy in a crash.

Yeah, the closeups are tricky, but not so much when there is little wind and I am standing right under the drone....

Also sometimes, as ironic as it may be, I switch to sport mode when filming something like that, just to keep the sensors from "intervening" at the wrong moment... ( I don't think I did that time)

 

[Skybuyer]

Filmora 9 Very good software, but not free....
Yeah, the closeups are tricky, but not so much when there is little wind and I am standing right under the drone....

Also sometimes, as ironic as it may be, I switch to sport mode when filming something like that, just to keep the sensors from "intervening" at the wrong moment... ( I don't think I did that time)

Those sensors can be pesky when needing to get close to something and you have it under control. I don't have the dexterity to use sport mode when I need my drone to more slowly and smoothly. You'd think that you'd need sensors less on tripod mode when the thing is only moving 3mph. When I use sport mode I give everything a wide berth because it all happens so fast.

I saw a review, actually a comparison of Filmora 9 vs DaVinci Resolve. You may want to give Davinci a try. It's free and lacks for nothing in any area. The learning curve for the basics is no big deal if you're already editing video as you are. It's just learning where the tools are and a few of its idiocyncracies.

 

[MKurr]

Those sensors can be pesky when needing to get close to something and you have it under control. I don't have the dexterity to use sport mode when I need my drone to more slowly and smoothly. You'd think that you'd need sensors less on tripod mode when the thing is only moving 3mph. When I use sport mode I give everything a wide berth because it all happens so fast.

I saw a review, actually a comparison of Filmora 9 vs DaVinci Resolve. You may want to give Davinci a try. It's free and lacks for nothing in any area. The learning curve for the basics is no big deal if you're already editing video as you are. It's just learning where the tools are and a few of its idiocyncracies.

I've heard allot of good reviews for Resolve, I think it has many features that I would never use though... And might just slow down my computer more with little gain... Although then again maybe it would be worth the try...

Generally I think many things that we try to fix in post-processing could be avoided with more careful filming...

 

[SpitFire]

Great Video, everything has been said.

 

[Skybuyer]

Generally I think many things that we try to fix in post-processing could be avoided with more careful filming...

You're right about that. But I think much depends on how you define "fix". If you shoot D-log, color grading isn't an option. You at least have to throw on a LUT, and sometimes canned LUTs just aren't optimal. I had one of those situations just this morning and am creating my own color grade for the project. Now I have to learn how to save it as a LUT for future use.

However, it is my limited film shooting experience, particularly from the air that makes many aspects of efficiency and precision difficult. Many times we're in an area that we're unfamiliar with and cannot return to for a second try, or conditions don't lend themselves for blending a re-shoot and you have to look at what you have in the can and piece it all together.

 

[MKurr]

You're right about that. But I think much depends on how you define "fix". If you shoot D-log, color grading isn't an option. You at least have to throw on a LUT, and sometimes canned LUTs just aren't optimal. I had one of those situations just this morning and am creating my own color grade for the project. Now I have to learn how to save it as a LUT for future use.

However, it is my limited film shooting experience, particularly from the air that makes many aspects of efficiency and precision difficult. Many times we're in an area that we're unfamiliar with and cannot return to for a second try, or conditions don't lend themselves for blending a re-shoot and you have to look at what you have in the can and piece it all together.

Yes, the cases where you don't get a second try deserve separate consideration...

Also though, I have noticed that many shots just don't need practically any color grading besides just adding saturation and adjusting brightness... Although maybe I just haven't learned to use some of those features yet...