Dogs of Dover -- the movie
 

Long awaited and finally released!!!! Spits vs 109's, Ju88's, He111's in the defense of Dover. See if you can spot the never-before-heard dogfighting tip tucked inside this action-packed aerial combat Battle of Britain epic!



http://vimeo.com/26436708

:)

Hi,

Really fun. Good job. :-D

S!

it was an acquired taste, but I got into it and enjoyed it very much.
good job!

Nice one snapper!

:grin:

That's putting it mildly! LOL

It was put together with a wide variety of audiences in mind, as you probably gathered - but it was fun making it. Thanks for the comments!

Loved the intro with the modelplane. Very nice.

Thanks, Furbs! :-P

Thanks, Vengeance. I waited until everyone had gone to bed (Riley would've wiped out that low table AND the camera gear LOL) to film the intro, then actually dozed off on that very couch after putting stuff away after..... :rolleyes:

That was the idea, exactly. I'm now waiting by the phone for Spielberg or George Lucas to call...... LOL

Shelties are the best dogs in the world.

Can't argue there, W.O.! Riley and Nikki (seen in the out takes) are really good dogs. :)

At a couple of instances the transitions and montage were a bit rough, but the whole concept of it was brilliant ( i always like to start the critique with the cons and finish up on a high note with the good points :grin: )

Guy effectively going back to childhood while painting model airplanes, dreaming up of the encounter and coming back to reality, anyone of us can identify with that at some point in his life.

The fact that you also crammed three of your pass-times into it (model aircraft, dogs and flight sims) makes the main character easier to identify with as a real person, so it draws the viewer in. Being fond of dogs myself doesn't hurt either i guess :-P

Overall, i'd say that apart from a couple of minor editing issues, it's a top notch idea with a solid execution and it's clear you spend quite some time on it, you get a big thumbs up for the idea and effort alone as far as i'm concerned.

So cute...Thanks

Thanks for the feedback, BD - much appreciated. I still have lots to learn re technicals, but I really enjoy the challenge. Green screen is an exciting concept -- but I've found it's not so easy getting it to look good! Can't blame the tools - Adobe's Production Premium CS5.5 Suite is superb. Will keep at it, thanks again for your comments.

Thanks, LouisV. My wife loved when the two dogs switched unknown to me until I looked down! LOL

My Labrador would approve! Except for the licking part :-P

There's no licking in a dogfight!

Great! :)

Loved it snapper and Riley is a star!! :grin:

Very nicely done Snapper.

I think it showcases many people's childhood dreams. Definitely very uplifting and fun to watch.

I wanted a Lab -- or at least any dog that can see over the dash! I got out-voted by wife and daughter. It worked out fine, and we'll be in great shape if there's any unherded (is that a word?) sheep around. :)

One of my favourite Tom Hanks lines came from "A League of Their Own" - "Are you crying? ARE YOU CRYING??!?? There's no crying in baseball!". :-P

Thanks Tree! Already I'm getting stopped in the street by people asking, "Hey, aren't you that fat guy with Riley in that airplane video?". By Gawd, my dog's made me famous! LOL

Thanks for the kind comment, Bliss. I'm just hoping I'm not doomed for Cornball Purgatory when my time is up! LOL

That was the most surreal video I've ever watched - and very cool :)

Would like to see this in your next video:

- You could have a scene where you flat spin and Riley barks out some recovery instructions to you. Suitably subtitled of course :) (Like Mr Baxter in Anchorman)

- There's a German Shepherd or Rottweiler on the lap of a German pilot doing similar things!

:)

Haha, your dog Riley is under suspicion as being a Fifth Columnist for constant wriggling and licking in the face of the enemy. (And in the face of the pilot)

Well made, very amusing.

What a lovely little vid, and nice to see who put the 'dog' in dogfight :):)

Ha! Thanks, D.A.!

I read this to my wife saying, "See? Now we HAVE to get a German Shepard!" She didn't buy it, but it was a good try. LOL

I'm a big Ron Burgundy fan, but I don't think the world is ready for my impersonation of him in Cliffsof Dover. At least, not until the next patch! :grin:

No kidding, J.B.! He's a worse influence on my aim than Force Feedback! LOL

So, that's not saying my video was "a dog", right? ;) j/k!

Excellent Video. Very different, beautifully humourous, extremely ambitious & it all paid off.
Bravo Sir. :-D

HH

Hey everyone - just a sincere thanks for all your comments, jokes, etc. Obviously I'm not going to give up my day job any time soon (unless Spielberg actually DOES call - then I'm outta here!) but it's just a little hobby of mine that I was very glad to share. Actually I posted the movie this morning over in another flight sim forum which I habituate more often. After a couple of hours, 28 views, and nary a happy face icon I took it down. Can't be a winner all the time....... ;)

I got just as much pleasure reading your responses out to my wife - and giving smart-a$$ replies - as I did making this silly little epic. Have a great weekend, everyone! :)

Great work Snapper! I really enjoyed that!!!

Thanks, H.H.! Can't tell you how often during production I asked myself "Where am I going with this?". My wife nixed the idea of having a Spitfire Girl on my lap, so Riley had to do. LOL

Then it's "mission accomplished". Thanks for stopping by to let me know, sfmadmax! :)

I enjoyed the video very much Snapper. Congratulations!

You can tell us the truth... It was Riley who shot down the 109, hmm?

G'day Snapper,

Very original and clever work, got a good chuckle, however, our Dachshunds (Missy & Woof) were not happy about u flaming the '88.
When u got the 109 there were mumblings of " Gersplashen der 109 ist Verboten!!!" they then left the room.

Cheers Mate,
T_T.

That put a smile on my dial! ;) Thanks!

fun video Snapper! But someone has to say it - the head's too small :)

Great! Well done snapper. It's like the dog fanciers version of Spitgirl!

Yikes! You never want to pi$$ off a wiener-dog, much less TWO of em!!!! ;). Hey, I thought all you diggers had were Aussie cattle dogs out there!!!!! LOL

BUSTED!!! You must've noticed I kept the camera well off the gun button during the shooting sequences! LOL

The Spitgirl reminds me of the gal we all wanted to date back in high school, then at the first reunion turns out she's a real dog....... (ouch! Can't believe I typed that!!!! LOL)

Thanks, S.T. I should've included the out take of the green screen blowing over with me trying to hold it up -- THAT would crack everyone up! :)

Hahaha! You just HAD to say it, right? ;)

I wrestled with that very thing for some of the side shots. It's really easy to scale the size up or down; it's a little more difficult to keep it in one place as the Spit cockpit is jostling around. Finally, I just said "To he|| with it, I've always wanted a little hea.........(oops, might be kids reading this!). LOL

Love the intro; artistic filming; great job man!:)

Well done snapper. Great job!!! Great Crew!!!

haha, ok Snapper, btw, I hope you are already working in the second part? :)

Good, fun video. Managed to hold my attention and keep me smiling throughout. I liked the use of humour and the way you kept the story moving forward. Some of the technical aspects were a bit clunky, though it could be argued that just added to the charm of the piece. There were a lot of one-off elements in there too, which could make following up with a sequel difficult, so don't be concerned if you find you have to do something completely different next time just to keep moving forward. Keep doing what's fun for you, not just what you think you 'should' do based on the perceived expectations of your 'audience'. Wouldn't mind seeing how far you can take the dogs-as-actors angle though.:grin: Thanks for sharing.

Thanks again for the feedback. I had several video and audio tracks going to handle the green screen elements, music, CoD noises, and verbal dubbings. It was a bear to edit on many fronts -especially the scene-to-scene transitions- but a fantastic learning exercise both in filming and in the post processing. There are a lot of things I'd do differently knowing what I do now, but a reshoot was not in the cards. But it was a ton of fun all through! :)

I won't do a sequel, but will be making more CoD videos down the line. There are so many good CoD vids out there now that I have to think of ways to make things a little different perspective-wise. But this is definitely the place to premiere 'em! :-D

You're a genius! Jolly good job Snapper!

Very good job! Thanks for sharing.

Nice work :)

cool dog....loved the dialougue!

love it!:grin:

Holy snappers!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QTAJkFa8-g

vid was fun well done..:grin:

Some people go all out for their dogs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZmCEWK1ffI

Fan-freaking-tastic! Loads of fun.....I'm sending it to everyone I know. (most of them already know I'm crazy, so I'm OK on that front)

Good fun! I particularly liked the over the shoulder shot after shooting down the 109. Integrated the green screen live action into the scene very nicely without too much jarring.

You've also given me some more ideas for my own stuff. Thanks!

One thing, ya kinda missed a thank you/credit. 1C Maddox Games! :P You have it mentioned on the vimeo page, but I suspect people will be grabbing captures of this. Might be nice to have a recognition within the film itself.

Wolverine, thanks for the kind comments. If this has inspired you to make a video.....post it here! I want to see it! :)

Actually, I gave the boys at 1C special mention in the opening credits. Stutter-free, even! LOL

Thanks again for your input!

Thanks, KDF! :D

Thanks very much, Z!

Crikey, Stormcrow -- that was one wild ride!!!!! LOL

Glad you enjoyed it -- mission accomplished. :)

Ha! That video was brutal!!!!

One thing I like about MY dog.....if I talked that kind of shyte to him, he'd bite my kneecap! LOL

Two months late on the reply.....and I don't even work for Canada Post!!!

That intro was the hardest to do. It was shot with a Canon 5D Mark 2 and a Canon 180mm macro lens. Depth of field was only a few millimeters. I used a whip attachment to the follow focus to move the point of focus while shooting from the Spit's prop to my eyeball, but had to hold my head perfectly still to do this while blowing on the spinning prop. I used one of the paintbrushes that was in the coffee mug to hold my head in place by jabbing it into my chin while I was shooting. Needless to say, it took a LOT of retakes until I got it right. The model airplanes were Corgi cast metal which, of course, were already painted. I had bought the little paint jars and paintbrushes earlier in the day as props -- the paint jars were never even opened.

And Riley was actually a few feet away sprawled on the floor as I was shooting this -- sound asleep. I didn't want to risk waking him so I used my iPhone4 to shoot him lying there. Red Giant's Magic Bullet Quick Looks helped mesh the low-res Riley-sleeping clip into the the 1080p high-res dslr footage later.

Sorry for the delayed response - much appreciate your comment.

I've been called a lot of things, but genius doesn't immediately come to mind! LOL Thanks!

Thanks for the good word. :)

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it! :)

Thanks, diveplane. Fun was what it was all about -- glad you enjoyed it! :)

Thanks, Corto. I couldn't have done it without my highly-trained, low-paid crew! LOL

Thanks, BadAim. As you can probably tell from the out takes, we were laughing throughout the production. I wasn't even sure what the story was going to be when we were doing the shooting -- just a few ideas in my head. We just did a bunch of takes and later I incorporated them into the CoD footage and built a storyline around it....of sorts. LOL

hmmmm ... thinks, we could reproduce the classic Commando comic stories in video similar to your production.

Classics like "Clash of Aces" and "Aces Wild" ...

.

Nice video!

Ah, didn't see it for some reason (and I watched it twice!). Good stuff.

No worries, mate. I appreciate the feedback. Cheers!

You're right. There are already some masterful videos on YouTube (including a father-son duel in a Spit & 109 - can't find the link :( ) that approach your idea.

Ironically, a number of members have asked for a pilot figure in the aircraft for the in-cockpit view which would make it difficult for green screen video-making. However, this is a sim for everyone, not just wannabe moviemakers, so I've kept silent. If they do implement an in-cockpit pilot figure, I'm hoping they make it a selectable option in either the GUI menu or in the config.ini file. In an effort to preserve frame rates, of course! ;)