HD For Indies

High Definition Video for Independent Filmmakers
A How To Guide for Digital Filmmakers
Welcome all! This is my blog to share my latest research,
thoughts, etc. on utilizing HD for independent filmmaking.

YES, I am available for consulting
Contact me at mike@hdforindies.com

All content copyright 2004-2007 Mike Curtis.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Hey! It's Up! 622 Paint Bombs are NOT wrong

OK, it's up, and even as a 720p H.264 QuickTime! (Use the download button for that res.)

622 paint bombs in action, all shot with high speed film.

It's fun, but doesn't have the magic of the balls. Ah... the balls....

-mike

PS-play it backwards, it looks like Retreat of the Paint Monster.

UPDATE - my editor friend Frank Reynolds is in town, and we're talking about how this one doesn't measure up to the balls ad - is it not Big Enough? The paint disperses so fast, and the sense of scale doesn't hold up -they'd need 5 times as much paint to have the visual presence. The paint disperses so fast, but the balls have an ongoing life, bouncing faster down the hill. Plus, the delicious whimsy of the balls - you could almost picture yourself dumping a big box of them down a hill and shooting it. And the paint is messy - you wouldn't want to be under it. As well as the tone of the two pieces is entirely different - so smooth and slow and languid and childishly wonderful in the first, and this new one so realtime and aggressive and TRYING to be high energy, but not quite getting there.

So what would be better?

Frank suggested a zillion brightly colored construction paper airplanes - that's better than anything I've come up with so far.

He specifically said some Apocalypse Now type shots - helicopter view with them all flying in waves underneath.

We talked about getting several schools' worth of kids up on rooftops, all with several to throw in color coordinated waves, and I'm thinking one of those camera on a wire type things to swoop by....

So, a contest - come up with something better, and maybe I'll shoot it on my Red next year if it is possible to pull off...

...Frank said if he wins, he's not making the planes...

-mike

Posted by: Mike Curtis / 10/18/2006 03:42:00 PM

Comments:

Great concept, aweful timing & even more aweful music. The wrong director I reckon, should have been someone who didn't want to put you to sleep.

# posted by

Anonymous : Tue Oct 17, 11:47:00 PM CST

Ha ha ha. Brilliant! Gotta love the timing. Well done indeed. But as you said, the balls... :-)

# posted by

Massimo : Wed Oct 18, 01:49:00 AM CST

Yeah, Beethoven sucks, Kubrick was a moron for using that same track in A Clockwork Orange... and Jonathon Glazer? Couldn't direct traffic.

# posted by

Ruairi Robinson : Wed Oct 18, 06:53:00 AM CST

And "aweful" spelling.

# posted by

Jeff : Wed Oct 18, 07:29:00 AM CST

The Slow motion wasn't nearly slow enough. It looks like it was shot 50i then slowed to 25p rather than shot on film in a high speed camera. And it looked....bland. It looks like it wasn't even graded. It looks like it was something out of thunderbirds in parts. For an ad who's tag line is "colour like no other" the colours were very flat. I think the concept could have worked but it was badly implemented.

And seriously, what's with the clown?

# posted by

Thomas : Wed Oct 18, 05:20:00 PM CST

Ya, the clown drenched in the shot would've been alright. Maybe he ended up looking like satan or something.
Astute commenst all around, guys. They should've shot on film or color graded. PLus the motion seems slowed down by an amateur editor. The saving grace of the commercial is its heart and soul which is somewhat reminescent of the good old sony days.

# posted by

Anonymous : Wed Oct 18, 06:35:00 PM CST

Personally I preferred the paint ad. I feel it was better edited and to me, the sense of scale was a lot better and more impressive than the balls. Also, I disagree with the statement that it was too bland and flat as far as how it was shot. I think if it had been shot with more colour to the image as opposed to just the paint, it would have made the image less "true to life" which would be a misrepresentation. Yes it was flat but anything else I feel would have just distorted the idea. I think the music actually worked very well on the contrary for the paint one. Both I think are very good but I preferred the paint one. Also, I felt the paint one built up better to fit with the music. My two cents.

# posted by

Yash Keough : Wed Oct 18, 07:08:00 PM CST

I agree, the shots needed better color correction... it did look a little flat.. furthermore, the paint seems to disperse too quickly after the explosion - soooo I don't know if paint was a good enough idea to use... but overall, I've never seen something like this - so it was still cool to watch :)

# posted by

Michael Ryde : Wed Oct 18, 08:46:00 PM CST

indeed I was disappointed with the paint one. the concept is too forced, too contrived. the balls one is a very simple premise (like all good ads) - 1 million balls + gravity = what happens? this one is ~600 paint bombs, arranged in god knows what patterns, for no particular reasons, now lets see if we can cut it together in some meaningful way. and thats where it fails, it tells no story. the clown is just annoying, makes you think maybe there could have been a story but they chose not too. also the shot selection and editing is terrible. too many wide shots with no scale. there is one cool sequence with the paint exploding in the hallways and the last shot of it coming down on the playground is cool. the rest comes off as strangely banal. ditto on the transfer, it looked like they didn't even bother to enhance the colors in post.

# posted by

Anonymous : Wed Oct 18, 11:13:00 PM CST

I guess the only shot i liked was the final one with the sound and the changing colors of the rain over the playground.

In my opinion it could be better with just some children and adults playing together under the color rain, because it´s what i liked about the first one; i just wanted to run there and do the same (throw gazillions of them) and play with those balls.

Awful music too. The original was perfect.

And the clown... Just one shot and gone? Better without it. I rather see the making off with the people clapping and the team smiling. Much better.

# posted by

Mr. Guiyotinne : Thu Oct 19, 12:53:00 AM CST

They should've just cut to the aftermath instead. Raining colour - simple idea that could look good with the proper lighting and scenery.

The balls were better by far. This looks to "dangerous". Ditto for the soundtrack.

# posted by

Anonymous : Thu Oct 19, 02:01:00 AM CST

Sheesh. Too many freakin' critics.

# posted by

Anonymous : Thu Oct 19, 07:41:00 AM CST

I agree that the 'Balls' was stronger, I really liked the raining paint, but that shot was poorly operated (handheld?). They should have planned for that shot. I get the feeling that they did not have the coverage that they should have had and tried to fix it in the editing room. Also don't like the grading, though it may be because of the location and not because of the colorist. The location is so bland compared to the textured city-scape of the 'balls'.

# posted by

Anonymous : Thu Oct 19, 08:04:00 AM CST

To many cuts to make you enjoy the motion, everytime you think.. hey cool its gone. A 5 minute cinema version would be cool.

# posted by

Anonymous : Thu Oct 19, 08:15:00 AM CST

# posted by

Anonymous : Thu Oct 19, 10:08:00 AM CST

I hate to pile on, but it's not even in the same league with "balls". 80% of it is the music. The Gonzalez piece was moody and engaging. It went well with the slow mo feel of the bouncing balls.

No knock on Ludwig, but that piece is way past played for video montages. It's what the guy in Promotions at the local news station reaches for when he wants to "class it up" a little bit. I hear the 9th (?), and I immediately groan. Or assume it's being used sarcastically.

# posted by

Ron Rodenmeyer : Thu Oct 19, 12:59:00 PM CST

If you wanted to add a political bent to it... you could make it a thousand cranes instead of planes. There is an old story about how making a thousand cranes (from oragami) would grant you a wish. After the bombing in Hiroshima, a woman was dying of radiation and decided that she had to make a thousand cranes so that she could wish this would never happen again.

She died before she reached 1,000. Some modern day Quakers will make cranes on the anniversary of Hiroshima in August to remind themselves and others of this wish.

Might be nice to produce something with a little context to it. You could make it a PSA even - a reminder... maybe win a few awards.

The "shots" might not be as obvious - but that would be precicely something that would make it more interesting and unexpected in the long run.

Also - if you could convey the story in your short 30 seconds of color, you could possible touch people's heart which is about a hundred times more direct way touching people than a spidercam shot.

As for the compairson between paint and balls... I think balls had more curiousity and started slower, ended bigger and went where we were not expecting. Paint doesn't have nearly as much of a progression and you also "get" where it is going to head right away. They need to change their paradigm if they want to create a similar effect not repeat the formula with a different stunt.

# posted by

Mark Allen : Thu Oct 19, 02:12:00 PM CST

Jeez.. I liked it better than balls... :( I'm feeling lonely... :D

# posted by

taubkin : Thu Oct 19, 04:02:00 PM CST

y'all really can't get enough BALLS can you.

maybe glazer shoulda put his johnson in that shiv

# posted by

zak forrest : Mon Oct 23, 12:49:00 AM CST

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Wednesday, October 18, 2006

Hey! It's Up! 622 Paint Bombs are NOT wrong