movie site launch/crit
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- nonerpants
Just went live with this site for a feature length film shot in Richmond, VA called Border Town:
Any feedback/comments on design/functionality/etc. would be great. Thanks in advance.
Had a little trouble producing a smooth .flv for the trailer, so if anyone has suggestions there, I'd appreciate it (and can go into greater detail about settings we used for compression)
- tasty0
I was excited to see a design/crit thread today, but the time it took to load that six shooter i was already dead.
Once it finally loaded i LOVED the navigation. And i like the idea of the short character clips on the cast page - better than a still shot.
- tasty0
Is the load long because the whole site is self contained?
- we made the decision to embed the gallery photos, but the videos are all externally pulled.nonerpants
- nonerpants0
hah. thanks tasty - the site load is about 2.3 megs but the intro and six shooter animation can add time depending on your line speed. i'm assuming you're on some form of broadband and still found it too slow loading?
really glad you enjoyed the navigation and character clips! thanks for taking the time to check it out; hopefully we can bring you back to life with a 'skip intro' button or something :P
- mikotondria30
very nice, I like.
One thing - as the barrel spins round and makes the clicking sound, I get a 'non-zero' thump, as if the sample starts or ends on a non-zero - have a look at the waveform in something like cubase or soundforge and draw it down to zero at the start to stop the thump.
Nice work- great, thanks miko! good ear! we tried to prevent this but will notify our resident sound nerd :)nonerpants
- sprdpnut0
loaded perfect for me... very smooth. love the nav. great job!
- rson0
Load time is way to long!
- noted - any other feedback, ron? would love to hear from an art director such as yourself!nonerpants
- nonerpants0
p.s. really enjoy your work, Paul! lou reed! woo!
- pr20
On one hand it's nice that the intro explains the premise of the movie right away and in one sentence, on the other it's something of a cover up for an amateur trailer that doesn't do that.
I like the 6-shooter, but adding the whole page spin makes it look like there won't be anything of value in terms of content -- the whole thing looks like a gimmick.
It's just another low budgeter that most likely will go nowhere (sorry, i've shot so many of those and see so many of those shot, it's just reality of life) so i'm not sure going for a polished site look it's the best approach here. I feel you might have gained thousands if not hundred of thousands of new viewers if you added behind the scenes photos, videos, a blog describing the experience of making an "ambitious" movie for very little money, etc. There is a few hundred thousands of filmmaker-wannabes in this country so that could give us something to feed on.
- appreciate your perspectives here - thanks for taking the time to post.
nonerpants
- appreciate your perspectives here - thanks for taking the time to post.
- CALLES0
wow... we would try to rip you apart.. But it is very well done good job
- VectorMasked0
No probs here with the loading time.
My only suggestion would be to make the menu items stand out more.
Add shadows, or something to add some depth to the menu. It looks rather flat as if you just typed those words and were done with them.good job
- thanks for the feedback - was going for an 'on-the-texture' look and feel the menu is pretty clear :)nonerpants
- erikjonsson0
it took 5 seconds to load? apart from that i would have liked to see a tighter interactivity between the 6shooter and the actual navi. and it all felt abit too big for my taste. too big squares, too big graphics etc. 50% scale probably takes away the biggest chops in the look.
- moamoa0
I like the background.
don´t dig the fonts.. especially itc blair from the intro..
- cool - thanks for checking it out!nonerpants
- sorry was just a short comment, but I was watching soccer :)moamoa
- rson0
I like the look and feel of the site. Although, I think your preloader is not caching. It was like a minute load each time I checked it out. I would like to see the "six shooter " as the persistent navigation as opposed to the line list. In the gallery section, I would fade the images in out between translation. Take another look at the typography in the sections. I feel like it could be integrated more into the concept... meaning less "interfacy" and more like a wanted poster. Also, I am getting a horz scroll on 1024.
Good job looks great :)
- nonerpants0
wow, really, a minute load time Ron? that seems far too long if you're on any kind of broadband; i don't think anyone else has had a minute load time.
all of your direction about animation and typography are great suggestions and i wish we had more time to spend on this (and every) project . . . which leads me to the next question for everyone/anyone - how much would you/your firm bill for a comparable site?
- Well not a min but long. My place would bill about 100K-200k. I would bill about 10-20krson
- awesome - thanks for answering that question directly and honestly. great to know :Dnonerpants
- ifeltdave0
Site looks good. One comment I have yet to see here is to customize your video controls. Those pre-canned Flash ones are ugly...like really ugly. It reeks of shortcut, when everything down to the last button should match the theme you have going on.
- those controls are modified templates of the flash ones - haven't had time to make fully custom ones yet.nonerpants
- i should also mention we're working on our own video player, just not ready yet :Dnonerpants
- and that the defaults ARE really ugly. and thanks for your time!nonerpants
- cashface0
website- looking good
movie- looking bad
- Imposeum0
nice transitions. dress graphics up behind the logo. Doing that might push it along to feeling more big studio. maybe thats what you want.
- pushing it as a 'big budget indy' was definitely a goal - thanks for the suggestion!nonerpants
- Iggyboo0
Felt really original. I agree about the movie comments wish this was for a bigger movie. Greatwork!
- i know a guy who knows a guy who could get you a screener ;) thanks for the compliments!nonerpants
- dirtydesign0
The bullets should be the navigation.
I dig the site.
- jonatne0
I approve it.
Film looks interesting too.- This, by the way, was my 1000th comment in 6 years.jonatne
- Well congratulations to you!dirtydesign
- yes congrats! and thanks for checking out the site. and for your approval! :Pnonerpants