We Are The Walking Dead (Mini-Series) FANedit

[jedeitor]

Same here!

As I understand, Jerry is putting images to a song, so I think it is more a music video than a trailer.

I want to see it as soon as possible anyway!

[jerryshadoe]

Ok, so the video for the trailer is done and I think the audio is as good as I can do with the sources I'm using. Can I still adjust the audio a little bit? Sure. Will I? Hmmm, guess we'll see

EDIT: Video link has been removed until clip is fixed

[spoRv]

Well done, Jerry! Audio is good, maybe you should lower just a bit the difference of the volume between music and dialogs.

[jerryshadoe]

Some of it was very tricky to do due to the fact that one of the first dialogs (where Rick is pointing the pistol at Daryl) also contains lyrics in the music and the music even a little bit louder there, completely "drowned" out the dialog. I had a very hard time finding the right balance in volume to keep the dialog in-tact. Took me nearly two days to put together the video and over two more days to get the audio adjusted right.

Glad you like the trailer

UPDATE: I just watched it on my HDTV, listening to the 5.1 audio mix and it sounds relatively ok, BUT when I watched the downmixed 2.0 audio version (the youtube video) all of a sudden the audio levels are noticeably off and you're right that the parts with dialog could use an adjustment for slightly higher volume. I will have to fix this, but not now as I need to get a little bit of sleep.

[jedeitor]

Great song! Never heard that version, but is awesome!

OK, I like the trailer a lot but, with all due respect, I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say: "F*ck that additive dissolve effect or whatever is called!"

I just hate that effect, it's not cinematic at all.

As I was saying, I like the trailer. As spoRv says, the music totally drops down when there's dialog, but maybe that's because of the 5.1 to 2.0 downmix as you point out.

I knew you were going to use Rick's "title phrase"!

Oh, while watching it I thought it would be cooler if you could match the gunshots under the tank with the "punches" of the song. They are so close I think you could do it easily.

By the way, I think you say you must go to sleep in almost every post! LOL

[spoRv]

OK, I like the trailer a lot but, with all due respect, I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say: "F*ck that additive dissolve effect or whatever is called!"

Jerry, please don't hate me, but I second that... of course, just a personal taste, because the video is flawless... I'd prefer clear cuts over those fades...

About dialog volume: if the problem lies only in the youtube 2.0 version, leave it "as is" as it should be not so noticeable in 5.1

[jedeitor]

I also prefer clear cuts in the movie itself. For the trailer I think simple fades also work fine (there are some) but not that dissolve...

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Oh, as for the 2.0 mix, as Jerry is going to use the youtube video to promote his work, I think it should have the best professional "feel", so adjusting the audio is also important.

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AND, the "Jerry Shadoe and AMC Present" shot should last a little longer.

Jerry, I or can send you the isolated text over a blank background so you can use it over a shot at the beginning of the trailer.

I am re-hearing the trailer and I think the song volume can be lowered quite a lot when there is no dialogue and rised a little bit when there is. That would give a better effect (at least in my head!)

[jerryshadoe]

Great song! Never heard that version, but is awesome!

OK, I like the trailer a lot but, with all due respect, I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say: "F*ck that additive dissolve effect or whatever is called!"

I just hate that effect, it's not cinematic at all.

As I was saying, I like the trailer. As spoRv says, the music totally drops down when there's dialog, but maybe that's because of the 5.1 to 2.0 downmix as you point out.

I knew you were going to use Rick's "title phrase"!

Oh, while watching it I thought it would be cooler if you could match the gunshots under the tank with the "punches" of the song. They are so close I think you could do it easily.

By the way, I think you say you must go to sleep in almost every post! LOL

Happy that you like the song
I found out about that version when watching season 2 of a Kevin Bacon tv-show called "The Following" last year. I liked it the moment I heard it and purchased the CD. The artist name is Ki-Theory (pronounced "key"-theory)

The effect does NOT have to be cinematic because this is just a trailer.

The "effect" is actually "effects" because it's not just one type of effect that I used. Granted, some of them don't work and will be changed, but some of them DO WORK. For example, when the transition to the "shocked" Rick looking through the window happens, that transition is perfect. Also, in some cases a simple crossfade or "direct-cut" just doesn't work. I will go back through it and see which transitions can be changed and how.

The problem isn't just with the 2.0 (although A LOT more noticeable) but the 5.1 needs a little bit more work too.

Of course I was going to use "Rick's title phrase" But I (and my wife) noticed that the volume of the dialog at the very end when Rick is talking to Merle needs to be louder.

When watching the trailer I, too, noticed how close the "punches" were to the gunshots, but due to the length of the source footage couldn't align them any closer than they are there. I am actually thinking of adding the "gunshot" sfx to that scene from different footage and am wondering if I can add the "walkers growling" sfx from a different shot as well. The reason I excluded the original audio for that shot is because of the fact that there was pretty loud music playing in the source that didn't mix right with the music I'm using for the trailer.

I do mention the fact that I'm going to sleep in numerous posts BUT NOT all of them. The reason I do that is because I want people to know that's the reason I don't respond right away. Whenever I do NOT include that at the end of my post it means that I'm awake and can have an active conversation here about whatever needs to be discussed

OK, I like the trailer a lot but, with all due respect, I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say: "F*ck that additive dissolve effect or whatever is called!"

Jerry, please don't hate me, but I second that... of course, just a personal taste, because the video is flawless... I'd prefer clear cuts over those fades...

About dialog volume: if the problem lies only in the youtube 2.0 version, leave it "as is" as it should be not so noticeable in 5.1

Like I mentioned above, in some cases a "clear cut" is not possible due to limitations of the source footage.

The problem isn't only with the 2.0 version, it's just more noticeable there, but should be addressed either way.

I also prefer clear cuts in the movie itself. For the trailer I think simple fades also work fine (there are some) but not that dissolve...

---

Oh, as for the 2.0 mix, as Jerry is going to use the youtube video to promote his work, I think it should have the best professional "feel", so adjusting the audio is also important.

---

AND, the "Jerry Shadoe and AMC Present" shot should last a little longer.

Jerry, I or can send you the isolated text over a blank background so you can use it over a shot at the beginning of the trailer.

I am re-hearing the trailer and I think the song volume can be lowered quite a lot when there is no dialogue and rised a little bit when there is. That would give a better effect (at least in my head!)

Yeah, "clear-cuts," see comment above, LOL

Yes, I agree that since the "promoting" will be done using youtube, the audio HAS to be fixed.

I agree with you that the "Jerry...present" sequence should be longer but there was only 36 frames for me to use there and I did what I could with it. I'm wondering if the idea you have here to give me a image of just the text would work to incorporate that a little longer into the footage. If it's not too much of a problem, I would appreciate you sending me the png of just that text on a transparent background (like you did with the "WE ARE" earlier)

When it comes to the volume of the song, I might lower it a little bit (but I doubt it) but it really needs to be RAISED during some of the sequences where there is dialog. The difference is too big. The first version I made, the dialog could not be heard at all and, I guess, I lowered it too much and need to find a "happy medium."

Now, it's time to go back to work

Extra-comment: I also noticed that during the last "night sequence" when they are shooting walkers, there is a moment where Rick is saying something and I have to cut that dialog out because it sounds wrong.

Second-extra-comment: I deleted the "first version" of this trailer from youtube and the post above. It's inferior and I don't want it out there because "first impressions" to "newcomers" are very important to me and I will update the link (in a new post) once I have this re-edited

[jedeitor]

The effect does NOT have to be cinematic because this is just a trailer.

Hmm... I don't agree with that.

The "effect" is actually "effects" because it's not just one type of effect that I used. Granted, some of them don't work and will be changed, but some of them DO WORK. For example, when the transition to the "shocked" Rick looking through the window happens, that transition is perfect. Also, in some cases a simple crossfade or "direct-cut" just doesn't work. I will go back through it and see which transitions can be changed and how.

Of course there are a lot of perfect cuts, can't check the one you talk about but I guess if it wasn't direct cut or crossfade it must have been a faster transition and we don't get to see the effect. I think crossfades would work fine because the song is kind of "slow" and that effect fits well with that, but I guess you already have tried that.

When watching the trailer I, too, noticed how close the "punches" were to the gunshots, but due to the length of the source footage couldn't align them any closer than they are there. I am actually thinking of adding the "gunshot" sfx to that scene from different footage and am wondering if I can add the "walkers growling" sfx from a different shot as well. The reason I excluded the original audio for that shot is because of the fact that there was pretty loud music playing in the source that didn't mix right with the music I'm using for the trailer.

I forgot to tell you that same thing! You should add the gunshot SFXs.

About making the gunshots fit with the music, I think you could to this: If I remember correctly, he shots 2 zombies at one side of the tank and then he shots 2 or 3 at the other side. You could alternate shots (him shooting 1 zombie at his feet/cut to/shooting 1 zombie over his head/cut to/shooting another zombie at his feet). Maybe this will allow you to "play" a little with lenghts and let you fit the gunshots.

I agree with you that the "Jerry...present" sequence should be longer but there was only 36 frames for me to use there and I did what I could with it. I'm wondering if the idea you have here to give me a image of just the text would work to incorporate that a little longer into the footage. If it's not too much of a problem, I would appreciate you sending me the png of just that text on a transparent background (like you did with the "WE ARE" earlier)

Here you go: https://mega.co.nz/#!EEBkQQqa!EoDrcaRdho...DzIiB1J4Aw It is at the position of the start of that shot, at the far right side.

You could forget the original credits scene and lay the text over the car chase or some scene that gives you a little more tiem (adding the original text movement). I think you should also add the car crashing shot at some point of the trailer, since it's a powerful shot.

When it comes to the volume of the song, I might lower it a little bit (but I doubt it) but it really needs to be RAISED during some of the sequences where there is dialog. The difference is too big. The first version I made, the dialog could not be heard at all and, I guess, I lowered it too much and need to find a "happy medium."

I said you should rise very little the audio when there is dialogue because I think if you do it too much it will be messy with the lyrics and all that. I think you can lower the song near to the "dialogue shots". Maybe you think that's too low, but you can have that idea because now you are hearing it drop down, but a constant "low song" would sound right I guess. Again, I think that the slow starting of the song would fit right with a low volume audio.

Another thing: at the "night sequence" you cut just as Daryl is about to hit some zombie with the back of his gun. I guess there was a cut originally at that point and there's no other option, because it would be nice to see the hit.

[jerryshadoe]

Ok, well I have re-edited the beginning of the trailer (just the video for now) and have decided to include a couple of the shots of the "car crash" scene before the music starts, (funny that you mentioned that scene as it was in my original "scenes/shots" picked for this trailer) with the shot of Shane saying "Holy Shit" before I crossfade it to the beginning of the song and a slightly extended (by just a couple of frames) shot of that bad guy firing at Rick. I also re-timed to picture we see onscreen of Rick's family a lot better to him saying "wife and son" which wasn't right before.

Maybe you're right... the trailer should have a cinematic quality to it

on topic of crossfades: I tried numerous different transitions/effects/etc. for EACH transition and tried to match what's onscreen to the music as well as I could. It's a "mixed bag" of results. IMHO most of them are perfect (or nearly there) but there were a couple that didn't come out the way I wanted them to due to source limitations (here, I'm specifically talking about the LENGTH of some shots) and I did the best I could with them. For some of the crossfade, the result was so poor that I had to do a few replacements with other shots to get it to align properly.

I will see about re-arranging the shots of Rick under the tank to see if I can time them better to the music
Either way, I will add the gunshot shx, but I'm not sure if I will add the "walker growling" sfx as well. It depends on what sounds better with the music. This is why I didn't include the original audio for some of the shots because it didn't fit with the music at all and made it sound like a cheap production made by kids in pre-school, LOL

I did drop the original "...present" credit scene and placed the image you sent me (a HUGE thanx) over the shot of Shane saying "Holy Shit" and the next shot where the bad-guy is shooting at Rick. I tried to put it over the "car crash" scene but it didn't work because of the color of the letters, which made them blend/disappear in the footage. I am still debating whether I want them to move onscreen or just stay in one place (because that actually works real well)

On topic of Daryl and "night sequence": that shot ends three frames later than what I used and we don't see him hit that walker until the next shot. I actually kind of like that transition there, because it looks like Daryl hits the screen and it changes, plus it kind of matches the music there as well

Ok, I'll see what I can do with that "rick tank" scene and then encode the video. It should take about an hour and then I'll work on that audio. I will see how to make it work properly. Whether it's lower the overall volume of the music or changing the levels during the dialog or... well, whatever it is, I'll fix it. Hopefully, I'll be able to post in really soon

UPDATE: Nevermind, I just checked that scene and I can re-arrange it because it creates a continuity problem as there are dead walkers right in front of Rick and then we see him shot those same walkers that we just saw dead, so it will have to stay as is. I can kind of mask the fact that it's slightly out of alignment to the music "punches" once I insert the gunshot sfx, so I'm not worried too much about it.