Star Trek ~ Project Potemkin "Holding Pattern" S03-A NOW ON-LINE

S03-A "Holding Pattern"
http://youtu.be/6bhRE47Vdks

Till death do us part... Ensign T'Noshi awakens in a strange bed, in a strange house, on a strange, rainy world. Strangest of all is the man sleeping beside her. A man who claims to be her husband.

Starring Jeffrey Green, Aaron Renfroe and Christin Woods. Written by David Eversole. Directed by Randall Landers. Edited by Randall Landers. VFX by Chris Cameron and Randall Landers. Music by Tony Lunn. Co-Executive Producer: Rick Foxx. Web Series Creator/Executive Producer: Randall Landers.

Running time: 12 mins 13 sec

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bhRE47Vdks[/yt]

 

Very nice! I really like the story. Unfortunately, there are many technical flaws that make it look unpolished and rushed.
- the sound is sometimes not understandable
- the greenscreen is really badly composed
- if you film in a hotel room, at least paint out the "house" rules on the door...
- why is it raining? And if it is raining, why are the clothes of the actors all dry? I guess this is part of the story or the setting, but it does not come across very well.

It shows a lot of potential, but it could have used a couple of more weeks of finalizing.

 

Actually this episode spent more time in post than any other.

The sound problem was worked on by four different folks in post production, and two different ADR sessions failed to produce a solution. Finally, our IT guy went through the entire sound gear and found that one adapter (a 1/8 to 1/4 adapter) was not functional. That one adapter apparently has caused most, of not all of our problems. It's been replaced, but its use has been greatly damaging to our production.

The green screen was our first attempt at such, so we learned a lot from it. Frankly, I don't think it's "badly composed," but your mileage and all that.

We actually did paint out the hotel rules digitally, but it still looked like a hotel room. So we decided to make it a part of the production. They're in their starter apartment.

It actually was raining the entire production. We augmented the rain digitally, but it's also supposed to be part of Perez's breakdown.

 

Spoiler: My Review of "Holding Pattern"

PROJECT: POTEMKIN

"Holding Pattern"

Ep #S-03A

Written by David Eversole

Directed by Randall Landers​

There's a lot to like in this latest outing from the crew of Project: Potemkin. And while nothing's perfect, I found this latest adventure to be the most satisfying of all the shorts and episodes they've produced thus far.

Technically, there's tons of room for improvement.

Almost immediately after the main titles, the audio leaps out and calls attention to itself. It's certainly better done here than in previous shows, but there's definitely also much room for improvement. The sound mix seemed to be haphazard as well. Perhaps its just the settings on my laptop, but while some audio was indiscernible, the music cues would be blaring, particularly the Vulcan "horn" tracks.

While some of the dialogue is inaudible at times, the major crime here is really how distinctly the ADR'd lines come across, particularly in the beginning of the show. I'm not sure if later, when Grigory first appears if his voice is supposed to reverb/echo the way it does (all signs point to the actual location where Grigory, Perez and T'Noshi are being outdoors) but it doesn't stick through his scenes either, so I can't be certain if it was intended, or just a side effect of Jeffrey Green's scenes being shot against a green screen and apart from the others. The point is, I applaud the improvement in audio but also encourage and hope that the production team will continue to work to improve their sound design in these shorts. As Maurice always says (and whole-heartedly agree with him), "Sound trumps picture!"

Framing an composition in this episode were all over the place. Too much head room:



Not sure why there ever would be a shot like this in a Star Trek fan film:



And here, there's just so much wasted space on the right of the screen:



None of these are egregious; just noticeable and could be easily remedied with a little more planning, perhaps even storyboarding beforehand so you know what shots you want to get, and how to block out your actors to best suit what you're trying to capture with the scene.

Other minor technical nitpicks:

--The lighting is obviously mismatched between T'Noshi and Geronimo (on location) and Grigory (on the green screen). After years of watching Hidden Frontier and their various spinoffs, it's nothing new but still, something to look out for in future installments.

--I'm not altogether sure why T'Noshi and Geronimo go for their stroll in the muddy swamp/forest. Too, and perhaps more damning, the audio is really difficult to understand here.

I get that it's for all intents and purposes a dream sequence, and the rain adds to that, but the sudden jump from the hotel/apartment to the forest and then back again without any explanation or reason was a bit jarring. More so, because even though the clear intention here was to show it was raining, both T'Noshi and Geronimo are clearly dry in these scenes :







(Also worth noting the continuity error here -- T'Noshi starts on the left, then after we see Grigory, suddenly she's on the right. Easily fixed by planning ahead and having a continuity person with you to track these sorts of things)

Later, it's even more obvious when T'Noshi wakes up and converses with Grigory about what's really going on:



---...whereas Grigory looks like he's been in spin class all day when he finally has his scenes with T'Noshi:



Again, nothing major, not anything that ruins the overall parts that I liked, but these minor things, this "inattentive blindness," so to speak, to such minor detail can take you right out of the film.

--The character of Geronimo is entirely nonplussed through the entire piece. I don't know if it's just Aaron Renfroe's performance, or if he was directed this way, or if he's just not as experienced or naturally talented an actor as Woods and Green, but it sticks out like a sore thumb here. About the only real emotional response we get is when there's the slightest hint or reference to sex the night before (in the dream sequence.) The rest of the time it's hard to tell if he even really cares about what's going on.

--The "jump-cut-as-visual-effect" attempt here is admirable, but it's not edited quickly enough to not call attention to itself. It's certainly executed well enough that I get what was being attempted, but the cuts are sluggish enough that I can plainly see these shots would have benefited greatly from an edit that's just a smidge tighter.

* * *

On the complete flip side of that last point, there are several shots that hold on for a while. I'm not convinced this is a bad thing. In some cases, it's quite brilliant. Too often, I've noticed some editors and directors who just don't give their scenes and actor's performances "room to breathe" and it's frustrating because those extra moments, those little bits that aren't scripted but just the actor or actors reacting in their own way to what's going on, sometimes those moments are entirely worth keeping. Really, the only shot like this I think that went overboard was at the end, when the camera stayed on Grigory for so long before the end credits began. (Quick fix: move the "Directed by" title to the end of the guest titles after the main title sequence.)

Ok. If you've suffered through this review to this point, I have good news: the rest of the review is about what I liked:

First and foremost, we are treated to a marvelous, shiny new opening title sequence by Chris Cameron. There wasn't really anything wrong with the old one, but this new version was a pleasant surprise and quite delightful to watch. The visuals are striking and work well to set the tone of the show. More importantly, it presents a real feeling and vibe more akin to Star Trek: The Motion Picture than the later TOS films, which I also dig. Bravo.

The production has retained Andrew Morgan Smith's main theme for Potemkin, which is also fine by me. Dammit if I haven't tried, but no matter what I do, I can't seem to get that theme out of my head sometimes. It's quite catchy (but dramatic) and memorable which is a good thing. My only gripe with it would just be that it becomes readily apparent the brass section of theme isn't a real brass performance, but like the themes from Starship Exeter and Star Trek: Intrepid, this one sticks with you. I like it when that happens.

The episode title credit over black before the action begins is a nice touch as well, reminiscent of the old Battlestar Galactica, Knight Rider, and Buck Rogers shows from the late '70s and early '80s I grew up watching and loving. It's a simple effect, but one that really carries a lot of weight.

Christin Woods' performance in this piece starts out as her performances usually do, but I found her ultimate choice and reaction to that choice to be quite effective and affective. It's certainly a new experience for T'Noshi, and I'll be very interested to see how this character progresses in future episodes because of what happens here. The effortless switch in the mind meld scene from the joy she clearly feels describing the long and fruitful life Geronimo and "Tina" have together as he passes to the utter devastation she then feels is heartwrenching to behold. Well done to all for that scene; it sells the piece entirely and makes the rest of the episode worth the experience. The only way it could have been better would have been to give us a closeup of T'Noshi in that moment but as it is, it's exquisite.

Overall, as I said, I enjoyed this outing. The idea of a device that lets you recreate your perfect reality as you are dying is hardly a new one but is nevertheless used quite effectively here and more importantly, used well to advance and develop one of the main characters of the show. The strength of this piece is absolutely in the writing and while there's room for improvement on the technical side, you guys are consistently doing better with each outing on this front.

Well done all, and congrats on a successful episode!

 

Thanks, George, for the review! Yes, we know we have some short comings on the technical side, but we hope the story and the acting are compelling enough to help folks get past those flaws. Christin, in particular, did an amazing job with her performance, and problems aside, I'm very proud of this production.

R

PS: Chris Cameron's new opening sequence was based on feedback we received here that our opening credits sequence had been dragging. So we are listening. We just have a long way to go.

 

As always, thank you, George. A refreshingly honest critique from you is always to be desired. It has already been copied and transferred to my file of select reviews.

Sir Rhosis

 

Kudos to people who produce things. Time, energy, money, stress. Thank you.

 

Thanks, Plynch! This one was a very stressful production.

 

Since sound seems to be a recurring problem for Potemkin I'm going to stick my neck out here in hopes of being helpful.

The biggest issue with the audio other than the levels and the mix (seriously, the music needs to be dialed down or out if the dialog is hard to hear), is the on/off nature of the sound which plagues the opening scene. There's a saying in the recording biz that goes "did he make the edit?", meaning, if you can't hear the edit, it's good. Conversely, if you can hear it, it's wrong. Sadly, here the audio comes on and goes off like a switch.

The fix to this is to use "room tone" to fill in the gaps and get a consistent sound across the scene. Yes, you'll hear the same hum as in the audio when the people are speaking, but that is a lot less distracting than repeatedly hearing the sound switch on and off. You learn to tune out the tone if it's consistent, but when it's inconsistent it keeps hitting you in the ears every few seconds and you can't ignore it.

If necessary you can lift such sound from the dead-air spots in the dialog scenes if you didn't record room tone.

Hope that helps.

 

Like I said, it was a faulty adapter. A $2 adapter. It's been replaced. But we had several folks take a stab at cleaning it up, and believe me, this was the best result. The reason it sounds like there's at least 4 ADR sessions is because there were. The final result is a compilation of the best takes of the sessions.

 

Understood, but the audio still could have been evened out using the method I suggested.

 

Understood. That's another reason why the rain background sound is ever present.

BTW, the video is now up and running on Vimeo:
http://vimeo.com/111675623

 

It´s a decent approach for a first time, but seeing the green outline in the final composite is a no-go. If you do it again, try to match the light from the scene you´re going to put it in and use some spill reduction to well, reduce the green spill. Greenscreen done right is still a laborious task - sometimes it´s easier or cheaper to film on location or build a set.

 

First off, I have to say that I am NOT a "professional sound guy" when it comes to video production. I have zero experience in running a boom and very little in handling a mixer. That said, I DO have decades of experience in radio and in figuring out how to get someone's voice onto a recording medium. One thing that should always be avoided whenever possible is the use of adapters. Unfortunately, as Randy and Company have learned the hard way, adapters can fail, go bad or be broken. They can also break off inside a mixer. It's taken as an article of faith in audio production circles that using adapters also increases the amount of noise in the feed and a loose connection can cause a hum that can range from barely audible to enough to wreck an entire recording session. The solution is pretty simple: buy a cord with a plug that fits to begin with. The preferred plug is a three-pin XLR connector. It's rugged and provides solid connection. The next would be a 1/4 inch "phone plug", followed by a 1/8 inch "mini plug" (like the ones that connect headphones to iPhones). There's also the perception that making a connection by one or more adapters looks amateurish. (No reflection on Randy and Co. who make no bones about the many lessons they've learned the hard way). Not that there's anything wrong with having plenty of adapters in your kit bag. Better to have it and not need it, than...well... you know. Please keep in mind this is all my opinion, albeit one that is born out of many years of trial and error.

 

I went and looked at the YouTube version and saw what you meant. That was not visible in Adobe CC 2013. However, it apparently popped up when I transitioned the footage to CC 2014 last week. It was a threshold incompatibility, and I corrected that yesterday and uploaded the revised version to Vimeo.

That structure is actually a public bathroom at dog park in Alpharetta Georgia, 220 miles from Albany. Christin and Aaron were on-location in the rain. (They don't get wet because they're under an overhang.) Jeff was added in much later using the green screen at our studio.

 

The new adapter goes from 1/8 to XLR. Pricier but definitely better results.

 

I rather enjoyed this. I thought Christin Woods was very good in this outing.

 

Thanks! I thought she was too!

 

I have a written a story about Potemkin, which you can see here.