by the lake - ML Fashion Underwater Test / grading

[sebble]

Hey everyone,

I'm so lad this whole ML community exists.
I've been testing with ML RAW for some months now and this recent shot is the first that I wanted to show.
It's not about the story as there is no story at all. I just wanted to see how far I can push the colors in post.

Oh and I wanted to find out how my DIY underwater housing would perform.
What do you think? 

It's a pleasure to work with those files in davinci resolve.

What do you think about my first test?
I shared some more insights on my fb if you'd like to follow: https://www.facebook.com/sebastiankubatz.de

- Sebastian

[Africashot]

Nice! DIY underwater housing sounds adventurous, can you tell us more on how you went about building it?

[sebble]

Nice! DIY underwater housing sounds adventurous, can you tell us more on how you went about building it?

hey man,
thanks for your comment.

the underwater housing is more like a "underwater" housing. it's a plastic box that I cut a whole in on one side and attached an acrylic glas to. the glas is fixed to the box with screws and hot glue.
on the inside bottom there is a quick release plate attached.
I just put in weights or sandbags to get it below the surface of the water.
I tested it in the bath tub before I took it to the lake. But I'm really impressed of how simple of construction it is and how good the results are.

There is still enough place in the box to mount a external monitor and add a wireless follow focus system.

If you like I can show some pictures of the setup.

cheers mate

[Satis]

Hey man, a picture of your construction would be great, sounds like a pretty daring and successful diy project!

As for the video: I love the concept, good to see you don't mind getting wet for a cool video. I really like some of the compositions, while some others not so much - she was missing headroom fx - is this due to shooting in crop mode? Also, I think you should try to put some attention to getting some smoother moves, sure having your camera underwater is quite a challenge I imagine.
I love the grading you did, powerful look!

[sebble]

Hey man, a picture of your construction would be great, sounds like a pretty daring and successful diy project!

As for the video: I love the concept, good to see you don't mind getting wet for a cool video. I really like some of the compositions, while some others not so much - she was missing headroom fx - is this due to shooting in crop mode? Also, I think you should try to put some attention to getting some smoother moves, sure having your camera underwater is quite a challenge I imagine.
I love the grading you did, powerful look!

Hey Satis,

yeah I know it's kinda shaky in some parts. Didn't had my glidecam with me .. just handheld.
What are compositions you don't like? Can you point me to the min/sec in the video so that I can look it up.

If with "missing headroom" you're referring to this one than I have to say this was intentional:

more on my tumblr: http://sebastiankubatz.tumblr.com

Thanks for your help!

Here are some quick snaps from the "underwater housing" as promised earlier:

[Satis]

What are compositions you don't like? Can you point me to the min/sec in the video so that I can look it up.

If with "missing headroom" you're referring to this one than I have to say this was intentional:

more on my tumblr: http://sebastiankubatz.tumblr.com

We are talking composition now, which can get pretty subjective, here is my take on it:
I think some shots "cropping into" the actress is fine, but generally this composition gives me a somewhat claustrophobic vibe.. and lacks the release with the openess (it's not only that hear headroom is missing, but her head is cut)
In the timeline just see the 0:26 -  0:42 period, I was keep waiting for some space and it did not happen..
Not sure what emotional charge you were going for but I think this 4-5 different cuts with the same crop thing is bringing it too far.

Could you share some lines about the grading you did here? I really dig it and I'm just about to get to learn resolve / proper raw processing.