Aetuts+ Weekend Workshop #11 -《K-1945》aka “Kazumikaze”

Aetuts+ Weekend Workshop #11 -《K-1945》aka “Kazumikaze”

on May 5th 2012 with 20 comments

We’ve recently started a new weekly community project where we’ll be posting a video created by one of our wonderful readers, then ask you all to offer constructive feedback on the work. It’s a great way to learn more about video, express your viewpoint, and have your own content critiqued! Submit your own videos at the bottom.

Quick Ground Rules

  1. Play nice! We’ve deliberately chosen videos that aren’t perfect, so please be constructive with any criticism.
  2. Feel free to offer any type of advice – movement, lighting, color, pacing, etc.
  3. You can also link to videos that you feel offer a great example of this type of content done exceptionally well.

Without further ado, here is this week’s candidate for critique!

《K-1945》aka “Kazumikaze”

Story Behind the Project

We really didn’t know if we’d do anything with it or how it would turn out in the end…

“K-1945″ is a short video shot in one hour at the China Army Museum in Beijing. When we went there we didn’t have any plans to shoot something… we really just went there see this amazing and crazy war plane we had seen before. It worked out well because there was nobody around so we could do whatever we wanted. I used my Canon T2i and we shot a very simple action sequence with my friend Kazu Tang. We really didn’t know if we’d do anything with it or how it would turn out in the end…

We had a fun time trying to make it feel as though the plane was actually flying. We relied heavily on sounds to convey the setting.

I spent about two days editing and compositing and I used Trapcode Particular for the clouds and view of the land from the air was just a stock image. I just did some basic rotoscoping (because the camera doesn’t move a lot and the shape of the plane was easy to roto) and some motion tracking for adding the propeller.

I’d say my biggest regret was that we didn’t have anything to blow his hair to help sell that he was in a moving plane.

Hope you guys like it!

Check out a side by side comparison to see what I added to the original footage:

“Before/After”

Please let us know what you think in the comments – how would you have approached this project or done things differently?

Interested in submitting your own video? You can do so here!

Adam Everett Miller is everettoptions on Videohive
 
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I am the editor of Aetuts+. I also run Hello Studios as my 9-5 job. I'd love any feedback about Aetuts+ so don't hesitate to drop me a line. ae@tutsplus.com  

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  • vijay

    his hair doesn’t move a single bit in the whole scene,…..

  • kkehoe5

    Not sure what the idea of jumping on the wing would achieve, but it was really well shot.

  • George

    Sorry, but I didn’t really like it :(( it looks fake.. for instance, your hair should be moving when you’re on top of plane during fly, or when you opened the door wind came out from the room?! O.o

  • david

    um, did any of you guys read the part where he said, “I’d say my biggest regret was that we didn’t have anything to blow his hair to help sell that he was in a moving plane.”?

  • David Fabian

    I think they did a really good job.
    Did you guys who commented not read the article he wrote with it? They know they should of made his hair move. Everything else was really very convincing. The propellers, clouds, and ground for instance.

  • Tobin

    The hair is a bit annoying, but forgivable for this exercise. I think the last shot, after he jumps and is shot out of the plane, needs work. The guy goes up too quickly. Also, the plane isn’t rattling around enough in the air. I would expect a wiggle or something to give it more life-like movement in the air/turbulence.

    Some of the shots in the plane are a bit too noticeable. They draw attention to themselves, instead of letting the story be told uninterrupted.

    But you did a nice job of conveying good movement and effects. I’d ramp up the sound volume and also put more wiggle motion into the whole composition.

    Otherwise, great job!

    • http://weibo.com/zhouchaou zhoule

      Thans for your feedback Tobin, i will keep in my mind for the next (when i have time :P )

  • Alvaro Roque

    That was hilarious! I loved the fact that you just filmed it during a visit to a museum while no one was watching. I loved that fact and that should be part of the vid. Maybe a blurb at the beginning or end. I think the story was quick and good. I even loved the payoff. Bah with the hair! It was great. If I had to be nit-picky, maybe making the steering wheels move. That shouldn’t be too hard to add since you don’t have any other actors in the cockpit. Maybe take a snapshot of the cockpit. Extract the steering wheels, animate them, track your footage, add the animated steering columns after you erase the static ones. It might be time consuming, but i think it would really sell the effect. Like i said, the story and pay off is genius! So funny and really great effects.

    • http://weibo.com/zhouchaou zhoule

      argh >_<, i never thought about the steering wheel…. -_-.. thats a good idea!!!!

  • david

    read the description he wrote before commenting negatively about the one thing he pointed out. i thought it was awesome.

  • http://www.creativedojo.net VinhSon Nguyen

    Pretty neat, I like how the shots were executed considering the plane was stationary on the ground. Also, pretty nice job on the clouds and environment.

    The only thing I would’ve done differently aside from what you mentioned above is maybe a better job at color grading. It seems like you only applied a contrast boost. Also, perhaps maybe add a bit more “blue” in the clouds or sky, everything is pure white. Maybe you could’ve also added a flare for some sun or some sort, the pure white seems like you’re in a cloud vortex :P

    Great job!

    • http://weibo.com/zhouchaou zhoule

      hahaha, yeah i just boost the contrast :P
      im not good at color grading and you are right for the cloud… now i watch it again its too white…

      thanks

  • vijay

    i thought this platform is about criticism,.. where we should point out the things tht r not good,…

    • http://weibo.com/zhouchaou zhoule

      well, except about the hair blow, you are welcome to critic the rest ^_^

  • Kai

    Nice work. A fun piece and it looks like it was fun to make. Most of the FX shots were totally believable. Personally, I liked the blown-out, all white sky. It The only thing I would tweak was some of the outside shots, the clouds/smoke weren’t coming from the right perspective. This could be accomplished with Particle Playground or Particular.

    Overall, job well done!

    • http://weibo.com/zhouchaou zhoule

      not in the good perspective? argh! Sorry about that :P

      thanks for pointing out ^^

  • hani

    It’s good that you were able to turne it into a short film, i think if you filmed every thing inside the plane you could have got away with the “Hair” problem, also if you can add wiggle or more shake on the plane” i notice that the door is open which usually makes the plane move unstable” so shaking the footage could have added that feeling. overall this is great personaly i wouldnt be able to turne unplaned footages in something cool like this. i think if you plan your films you can do great staff. all the best

    • http://weibo.com/zhouchaou zhoule

      Thanks for your advice!
      i appreciate!

  • http://weibo.com/zhouchaou zhoule

    Hi, everybody,
    sorry i didnt answer to you all. i got some issue with my house while i wasnt there…

    im glad that most of you like that very short video and i keep in my mind your criticism and ideas (which some i didnt think about that :D)!

    Thanks again ^^

  • xandercorp

    Wind – it’s a force of nature. Read about it.