Know something that would be great for “Critics”?

CriticsRotatingPosterBanner-210x300You may have seen the first three episodes (episode 4 is out Wednesday) of the show “Critics” where myself and Steve Weiss watch and talk about a bunch of eclectic clips/ films/ shorts off of Vimeo. The way we chose the last batch was by hard graft from myself, Tom Guilmette, Joe Stunzi, Joe Shaw and many others (Steve found one clip I think and we know which one that is!)

We are going to be recording our next bunch of episodes in about 4 weeks or so and would love to get more suggestions of things you would like us to review. Please don’t just send the most perfect amazing films, yes send those in too, but we want eclectic as much as we want amazing. Something that promotes discussion. Perfect is great and a show that just shows one perfect film after another would be great but “Critics” is not that show. We want to see interesting, experimental stuff that can polarise people or just promote a discussion. We want to see stuff you think needs to reach a wide audience. Oh, and Stuff that is going to make Steve cry like the girl that he is 😉 Kidding, but we really want stuff that make us think, make us discuss, basically make an interesting show for us and you!

There are a number of more episodes of the current batch to air so stuff you send in may already be coming up. Sure, send me links to something you have done but don’t send too many as the more you send in of your own work the harder it will be to wade through them all, so send in something you are most proud of and PLEASE send in work from others that grabbed you from people who are too modest to submit their own. But remember if everything is like “A Thousand Words” then Steve and I will just be going: “That was awesome, what about you Phil?”,”Steve…I thought it was awesome”. Yes the weird foot fetish one was an odd choice but it was put in (by Steve) as it was silly and made for an entertaining segment, but I think we don’t want to see any more clips like that thanks!! We want to make the show entertaining to watch and much as we want to show interesting clips. If it was two guys in suits going “here is the next film etc” then you what is the point!?

The Show is not about gear, it’s about content. Interesting, eyebrow raising, contentious, fascinating, unique, amazing, weird, inspiring content. So if there is something very interesting shot on an iphone we don’t care that it isn’t shot on a RED or A 5dmkII or a Phantom. Content is king as we always say.

PLEASE make sure you write something about what it is you are “nominating”, why, if you made it, etc…

Thanks!

Oh, and make sure the video from vimeo can be added to collections as if it can’t then we can’t put it in our folder. We want to use Exposure Room stuff too but I don’t think the setup we have can take both sites just yet. So Vimeo please and NOT youtube!

76 comments

  1. Hey Phil,
    I’d like to suggest 2 videos. One is from myself. The other is one I’ve found on vimeo.

    First – mine. It’s a teaser for my second short “Gegensprechanlage” (written/directed/filmed/edited by me (and friends) Really a product of the whole dv-rebel/hv20.com/vimeo/bloom-web-world … ;))

    Link:
    http://vimeo.com/6346804

    The other one: A Bathtub IV. I really did not like all those tilt-shift-videos until I saw this. Short, creative and funny.

    Link:
    http://vimeo.com/3156959

    Best regards
    Hannes

  2. Hi Phil,

    I’d like to submit this Video for your consideration:

    http://www.vimeo.com/6709810

    Thanks for your time

    Congrats for your work!…

    Jean-François Després

    PS: When will you and Den launch “The F-Stop Academy” for us poor souls that don’t have the time or means to attend your Workshops and Master Classes?

  3. I am a new filmer with DSLRs really and just got the GH1 a while ago. However I am deeply into it all now and Philip you have been my inspiration. This summer I made a film in Norway called Faces Of Norway

    http://vimeo.com/5929436

    It is made up of people I know and those I did not! It was inspired by Sophia’s People of course and though in the few weeks since I made it I feel I have improved alot …I think the film is worth reviewing!! Steve has seen it and liked it! Thanks, Julian

  4. Hey Philip,

    We’re in the process of making a short film at the moment and I thought instead of putting up just the finished product, I’d post a few ‘making of’s as well. This is ‘part 1’ and if you check back within the next few days ‘part 2’ may well be up. Peruse at your leisure, may be suitable for ‘Critics’!

    Cheers, James.

  5. http://vimeo.com/669427

    Superhero (3m 25s)

    This is a short film which was made as part of a 24hr film competition. Later it was selected to play in the Short Film Competition at the Orlando Music Festival. We didn’t win anything.

    Afterwards we were told by the event organizer that there was no way we could have won, because there’s no way he’d “give an award to a butt fuck joke” (his words).

    I’d be interested to see what you guys think of it. If you find it offensive or funny. Cleverly written or inane.

    Anyway, thanks.

  6. I would love to see more solutions to what you think could change.

    Example:

    STEVE:
    “I think this that and the other things could be better”

    PHIL:
    “Yes I agree. If you applied this technique and that angle, maybe add this feeling using this trick”

    Telling us what is wrong or just ok is one thing. But I would love if you took it to the next level and shared (in detail) how you would do it dipping into your experience and expertise so we the viewer can walk away and try it ourselves.

    Thanks!!!

  7. I’m an artist and climber who works for The North Face. It’s been fun doing “video dispatches” for our remote expeditions as episodic shorts sent from the field with satellite modems direct Vimeo.

    These are edited frenetically because everything is run off solar and weather is an issue. The compressed post-production in hard conditions is kinda its own art-form…

    This is the last video of a series posted from a 13,000ft ridge-top of Malaysia highest point: http://www.vimeo.com/4290596

    thanks for your consideration, all your great resources and creative posts!!!

  8. Hi phil.

    Im Matias Rispau, i allways check your blog for news every day.
    I got this short film called “hidden in the shadows” that maybe you guys will like to check out. It take like 11 minutes, i know it maybe to long for the show but if you can can give a look it will be an honor for me to be commented. Im from argentina (so my english it´s not perfect) and indie films are very low supported here. As i say before it will be an honor for us if steve and you can check out our film.

    here is: http://vimeo.com/6783789

    Bye, Matias.

  9. I did this project with a group of friends as an extra-curricular activity. We scraped together whatever gear we could get our hands on.
    As you can see from the comments, this observational documentary has caused a little bit of a stir (which curiously I did not anticipate). The interesting thing is that for the most part, the two sides of the “argument” fall along continental lines (North Americans thinking it’s great, Europeans thinking it’s everything that is wrong with the States.)

    http://vimeo.com/5306782

  10. Hey Philip,

    I’d like to suggest my documentary “Every Step You Take” which deals the omnipresent video surveillance in the UK.

    The film itself is unfortunately 65 minutes long, but I edited a very insightful trailer which covers some of the main topics:
    http://vimeo.com/644875

    It was my diploma film project in film school, but I started it during my exchange semester in Southampton, England. It was just something I HAD to do – when I came to the UK, I was just struck by the sheer amount of video surveillance cameras on every corner of every street, and I asked myself: why? Why so many? What is it good for? Is it effective? Etc.

    So I started researching, reading many books, doing lots of interviews – and thereby, step by step, created this film. After I returned to Austria I was still feeling that there was more to this than I had already found out, so I went back to England in 2006 for only a week or so, to do some of the most revealing interviews in the film, and made a 65-minute diploma documentary as my final project. I didn’t have any funding support or the like, everybody worked for free. The film was shot on my Panasonic DVX100A, the good ol’ days 🙂
    I even wrote my thesis about video surveillance in Britain.

    Spent most of 2007 and some months of 2008 flying around the world to film festivals where I was invited with this documentary. It was really a surprise that there was so much interest in the topic – but the continuous loss of privacy is something that is becoming more and more relevant in these days, I guess.

    It was really a lot of work and by far the biggest I’ve ever done. I’m proud of it, but I unfortunately didn’t manage to get it on British TV, which was my ultimate goal, I know there are maybe too many talking heads and 65 minutes is an odd length for a documentary, but as everybody kept saying ‘This should be on TV!!’, I was trying to reach that goal.

    I have a blog at http://www.everystepyoutake.org where you can find lots of reviews, news and other related stuff to the film. Of course it’s also possible to order the DVD there. Philip, if you’re interested, I could send you a preview DVD right away!

  11. Hey Phil,

    Here’s a short film i made earlier this year called ‘Ash Wednesday’ http://www.vimeo.com/4600442 password:unitednations

    Set in Bosnia in 1992 it follows 2 United Nations aid workers, who on the outbreak of the Bosnian War travel across the difficult terrain. That is until they stumble upon a group of Serbian rebels, hellbent on war and destruction.

    It would be great to get your thoughts on it.

    Thanks,

    Jordan Barrett

    jordanbarrettfilm@gmail.com

  12. Hi there Philip and Steve,

    First of all, love the webisodes. Keep it coming, cant wait for the fourth.
    Sorry to bother you with my own videostuff, but I really like to know what you think of it.
    I went with 2 friends to the beach (Holland) for a photoshooting day. I have a Nikon D90 since some time and i wanted to test it out, so i put all my lenses on it and just shot the whole day. Later i editted with After effects. Hey Steve how do you like the beginning, middle and the end. haha
    It’s my first real test with the video of the D90. Hope you enjoy it although its a bit too long, so forget the intro.
    see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPsh9Z1sALM

    remco

  13. I have just seen http://www.vimeo.com/6429328 / One Minute Soundsculpture and I’m still sitting with a happy smile on my face. I simply cannot tell what it is, that make me feeling happy by this film – I could never make it myself. Please take a look at it and judge for yourself

    Thank you for so many hours looking happily on your film. I do learn a lot from them, simply by looking. Furthermore you chose music which I like very much. Beethovens 7. has become one of my favorites since I heard it on your film as has the music in windsorwaltz.

    Michael M
    Denmark

  14. Almost a shopping list but, as you are in the same Vimeo groups as me (you even moderate 2 of them), I am hoping there is at least one you might have missed or have forgotten about. Given what you and Steve have been experimenting with recently, most of these fall into the category of taken with compacts/phones or time-lapse

    Sunday Morning http://vimeo.com/6114426
    Music Video Shot on iPhone http://vimeo.com/5393865
    The Walk from Withypool to Tarr Steps – Exmoor http://vimeo.com/6486599
    Evolution http://vimeo.com/6636389
    Tilt Shift http://vimeo.com/5893159
    One minute Apple pie http://vimeo.com/6454513

    This ones for the awww factor
    Friday I’m in Love http://vimeo.com/5318742

    Love this for the vibe but don’t know whether commercials are allowed
    Model Campus http://vimeo.com/6690556

  15. I don’t mean to self promote, but here it goes anyway…

    I’m a high school student and through a series of events that still have my head spinning, I was able to secure a Red One for a weekend and shoot a project that I have had cooking for several months.

    The movie is very abstract and makes you think (At least, that was my intention!). So I feel like it fits your criteria. Also note that my mom cried, so Steve Weiss may follow, I don’t know… plus, it was my mom, so that doesn’t even really count…

    Anyways! Here is the link…

    http://www.vimeo.com/6569237

  16. Hey Phil,

    I have two suggestions for ya:

    First is my friend’s newest music video, and I think his use of lighting and color are fantastic and very noteworthy. He proves that in conjunction with nice equipment, you need to work with other aspects of film.

    http://vimeo.com/5112275

    The second is my production company’s, and I think is noteworthy because even though it looks great and has the basics down, it definitely boasts an interesting concept. Very interpretive; it’s interesting to see how different people perceive its meaning.

    http://www.vimeo.com/6104586

  17. OK here’s my chance at becoming famous. Pick me pick me! 🙂

    It’s a 90 second short film, it’s funny and here’s why you should have it on the show: It was filmed entirely within a 30 MINUTE window.

    So hopefully a good example of what can be done with really tight time constraint (tight deadlines and budgets are a commercial reality, so good practice for the real world).

    This was fun to make and challenging given that these guys are not actors.

    http://vimeo.com/6798043

  18. I would like to suggest a slightly different idea. Instead of reviewing random videos, please consider reviewing videos submitted for the Dorito “Crash the Super Bowl Contest”. I just happened to stumble upon it and found there were a few good ones and many bad ones. You can also search vimeo and find submissions by camera type. For instance, the one I found shot with a Red was not in the same league as last years winner, and supports your ongoing comment about technique and content.

    The official website is: http://www.crashthesuperbowl.com
    The Herbert Brothers one this year and they talk about their effort and show their ad in this video:
    http://vimeo.com/6646967

    They created this one 3 years ago: http://vimeo.com/129205

    My favorite is: http://vimeo.com/6840611
    It combines Steve’s beginning, middle, and end plus humor, fantasy, T&A

    I think this one starts off great but finishes a little weak:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip1jbGCulBo

    Funny and campy: http://vimeo.com/2355150

    And since you talked about using high speed cameras, here is one that has a good kernel of an idea but needs to be fleshed out:
    http://vimeo.com/3580697

    Here is the one shot with a Red:
    http://vimeo.com/2977196
    You can come to your own conclusion in comparing to this one on a Red:
    http://vimeo.com/2828094

    Having an EX1 and a 5D MkII: http://vimeo.com/4054816 I think has a weaker story then the 3 following shot with a Canon HV.

    Now compare it to this one shot with an HV20:
    http://vimeo.com/4401684

    Or even this one with an HV20 that I think starts strong but…:
    http://vimeo.com/2265246

    Or this HV20 one:
    http://vimeo.com/4603086

    Maybe you could conclude the Webisode with ideas or suggestions for people entering this year.

    Thanks for your consideration!

  19. I know you want more than just amazing footage, but I saw this and immediately thought of how you loves to shoot faces and how you might enjoy this. There are a number of shots in this video that are simply breathtaking. The playback speed is perfect for this story. Not sure of many of the details on the type of camera or rig used, but apparently several other photographers including Zack Arias recommended watching it.

    http://vimeo.com/6917566

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