Hey everyone! I have recently completely redone an older fan film I created back in 2010, called "The Ulysses Incident". Every shot in this film is brand new, but the script and story concept are pretty much the same. Please check it out and let me know how I did, and be sure to let me know if you have any questions or comments. Enjoy! PLOT: It is the 24th century. Following a disaster which has claimed the lives of his entire crew, Captain Victor Clark of the starship Ulysses discovers that he and his derelict ship have drifted near the planet Delta Vega, where a Starfleet outpost is located. Due to severe damage to the ship, Clark must make use of a shuttlecraft to abandon ship, and make an attempt to survive...
Congrats on getting it made. Some suggestions for next time: Adjust the audio levels for the different audio sources. The music and sound effects tended to step on the dialog. Try not to shoot people in profile because you can't read expressions. It'd have been better to see the Captain from a more head-on angle, which is more intimate. Shoot the models from more angles. The shuttle appeared to be tipped relative to the ground and looked like it landed on the starboard corner of its nose. Keep it up!
Wow, that plot synopsis is more complete than I expected! Glad you managed to get it redone. I liked the shot of the colony.
Thank you for the words of encouragement! I do want to address your suggestions, and please keep in mind that I will implement them in future films, I just wanted to explain why things came out the way they did. 1. This was a tricky one. I tried comparing the audio in my headphones to the audio on my computer speakers. For some reason it sounded a lot louder in weird places on my headphones, so I tried to correct those loud parts, such as the captain's log, by lowering the volume. From now on, I'm going to just trust my speakers, since apparently my headphones can be a bit deceptive. 2. This I will definitely try to work on. I should know better, I used to be a stage actor, and they are always adamant that you always face the audience, as long as no eye contact is made. 3. This will also be addressed in future fan films. In the case of this video, I am rather unhappy with the shuttle landing, but I actually didn't have a shuttle model on hand, and had to use old stock footage I'd shot months ago. As always thanks for the suggestions! Believe it or not, I actually do listen to them.
Seems like it was only during the editing process that the volume sounded all outta wack. It's possible if I'd have just left it alone, it would have had better results. Oh well, ya live and learn.
Well, I learned the hard way that you always watch and listen to your final output before sharing it. Better safe than sorry!
If you have either 'smart' headphones or 'smart' speakers (which try to adjust levels on the fly to promote voices <--- And they can be easily fooled depending on how many sources and the frequency range of said sources); you can run into that issue. You always want to be sure of your reference speakers when mixing audio, and it can be tricky.
Yeah, the headphones I was using originally came with the PS4 VR headset, of all things. I'm guessing that qualifies them as smart headphones? As I mentioned earlier, I will definitely be listening to it via my computer's built in speakers from now on, just because that seems to be the best way to do it.
I find I have to adjust the levels throughout, dialing up the volume for one word or down for a few bars of music. Basically, think about what's the most important thing to hear at any given moment. Ambient sound effects are usually the last thing that matters, especially if you have music and you want it to come through, Dialog is almost always the top priority. Just make sure not to accidentally spike the meters doing all this mixing.
This was good but too short! It was just getting interesting when it suddenly ended. Keep up the great work!
Interesting angles - compared to your Allegheny fly by piece, both for actor and the shuttle, I would also like to see you walk as opposed to just sitting and maybe get a friend to play along and not make it a solo adventure. The sound was screwy, Audacity is a decent free resource.
I've actually been meaning to get some friends to help me with some of my fan films. I haven't been very successful yet, but I will keep trying!
Keep on keeping on, also I am sure you post an audition on here, I got to do some VO work for Star Trek Aurora just because the director asked for help http://auroratrek.com/