The Circle - deedive

[deedive]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1193327996.jpg

Dped by Dvpixl
Music by Justin R. Durban
PAed by John Hynn
Written/Directed/Produced by deedive

Location: LI
Equipment: Sgpro + Canon A1 + Redrock FF + Bruce Allen Monitor + Zeiss 28.50.85.135

[deedive]

BTS
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1192721991.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1192722015.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1192722040.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1192722062.jpg

[deedive]

CLICK HERE FOR "THE CIRCLE"s title sequence (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=112239&page=11)

screenies...

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1193325701.jpg (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=1079851#post1079851)


http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1193325729.jpg (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=1079851#post1079851)

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1193516970.jpg



EDITING ROOM FLOOR SHOTS

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1194059113.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1194058969.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1194058993.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1194059012.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1194059032.jpg

CLICK HERE FOR "THE CIRCLE"s title sequence (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=112239&page=11)

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1193325754.jpg (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=1079851#post1079851)

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

I want to see some stuff! :)

Cheers,

Mike

[Brandon Rice]

Looking forward to your film dude! :thumbsup:

[Joops]

Good luck!

[deedive]

:) workin on some "stuff" this weekend. should wrap. cool posters guys.

[MOVIE STUNTS]

Looking forward to "stuff"! Good luck bringing it to us!

[tmnt]

A cult movie?

[deedive]

A cult movie?

actually i don't know what it is. its kinda off like my last dvxuser movie.
I had a huge movie in mind (huge for me at least) but when i realized i couldn't do it in time, that was that.
but out of nowhere a story came to me. So BANG! Shooting tomorrow!

[deedive]

wrapped on sat! did a poster and banners on to editing.

[Jason Ramsey]

Man. There are some really nice posters that I'm seeing. I hope it is indicative of the quality of films we are going to see too.

Nice poster and banner. Looking forward to your entry.

Good luck to you,
Jason

[MOVIE STUNTS]

I likes the new poster, Very cool!

[dvpixl]

chiming in here... nice poster Dee. Love the sense of mystery you've added.

Anyway, it was a good shoot. great directing!

Nice font choices and color! Almost gives me a nostalgic feeling of sci-fi's like Alien, Solaris....

[deedive]

Man. There are some really nice posters that I'm seeing. I hope it is indicative of the quality of films we are going to see too.
Nice poster and banner. Looking forward to your entry.


thx, jason, i hope we dont let your down


I likes the new poster, Very cool!
:)


chiming in here... nice poster Dee. Love the sense of mystery you've added. Anyway, it was a good shoot. great directing!

Nice font choices and color! Almost gives me a nostalgic feeling of sci-fi's like Alien, Solaris....

great cinematography dude. it was a great shoot. and the footage looks good.

[Maximus]

Nice poster - even nicer banner! A real eye catcher... (pun not intentional, but, I might as well be the first to comment on it.):)

Look forward to seeing your film.

[Cool Lights]

Good job and congratulations. Can't wait to see the final entry!

[dvpixl]

Hi Richard. Your lights were primary sources on this film. They are very very good stuff. Thank you.

[Brandon Rice]

mm... love the poster. Can't wait to see your film... any grabs?

[Ben Sliker]

this looks great guys, the design on the poster is simple but striking, I hope to see another quality entry from you guys!

[deedive]

Nice poster - even nicer banner! Look forward to seeing your film.
thx dude, looking forward to yours also.


Good job and congratulations. Can't wait to see the final entry!
The DVD should have a stamp on it "this film was powered by Cool lights"



mm... love the poster. Can't wait to see your film... any grabs?
i will try, the banner is actually a screenshot.

[deedive]

BTS added to first (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=112239) page

[Cool Lights]

The DVD should have a stamp on it "this film was powered by Cool lights"



Of course manufacturers love to hear this stuff. It's what we live for to get stuff out there thats usable and a good value. What'd you do when you needed a hard light?

[Glideshot]

Of course manufacturers love to hear this stuff. It's what we live for to get stuff out there thats usable and a good value.

I'll second that!

[dvpixl]

What'd you do when you needed a hard light?

Cool lights were hard enough for what we needed. Everywhere else we softened up by using mylar paper... And the director wasn't looking for anything harsh.

[mentatDUKE]

This looks really great. Great design aesthetic and the grabs seem to indicate that the shots are well designed also. Looks good!

[deedive]

This looks really great. Great design aesthetic and the grabs seem to indicate that the shots are well designed also. Looks good!

thx, we try:thumbsup:
your films look pretty pro also.

[Cool Lights]

Cool lights were hard enough for what we needed. Everywhere else we softened up by using mylar paper... And the director wasn't looking for anything harsh.

So all you used were the two 255 units for the entire production? No larger areas to light I guess. And didn't use any cucaloris patterns or anything like that?

[deedive]

So all you used were the two 255 units for the entire production? No larger areas to light I guess. And didn't use any cucaloris patterns or anything like that?

We had 3 in total. More then one of us is a customer of yours:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
It was a moody piece and dvpixl did a good job at sculpting the light.
We use a couple flash lights. When u see the short u will know which scene we used um.

By the way guys Edgen is down to do the music!

[deedive]

locked the edit!

[Brandon Rice]

Looking forward to it, and good work!

[Aculag]

I haven't been very active in the fests here, but I just watched "Check" the other day, and bloody loved it, so I'm very much looking forward to this one.

Good luck!

[deedive]

Looking forward to it, and good work!

:) thx, lookin forward to your too. this should be a great fest.


I haven't been very active in the fests here, but I just watched "Check" the other day, and bloody loved it, so I'm very much looking forward to this one.

Good luck!

wow, thanx, hope we don't let you down. I have to admit this one is a bit different also. Really wonderin how people will react to it. On to CC now.

[TimurCivan]

Screen grabs DAle..... Screen Grabs......

[Brandon Rice]

Yea, I agree!

[MOVIE STUNTS]

Anything new?

[deedive]

Screen grabs DAle..... Screen Grabs......

Yea, I agree!

Anything new?

peer pressure! :)

screenshots (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=112239)

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Ooooooo... Nice grabs!
I like what I'm seeing.

Mike

[Brandon Rice]

mmm...yeah. nice!

[Kholi]

Great lighting! Very nice images.

[deedive]

Ooooooo... Nice grabs!
I like what I'm seeing.


mmm...yeah. nice!


Great lighting! Very nice images.

thx, Dvpixl did a good job, got a pretty moody look. scrambling to finish. will upload tonight.

[deedive]

running up against the wire. did a Big CC job but after the 6 hours of rendering it looked like crap. The version that im puttin up is 95% no CC (changed 2 thing in the QT conpressor). dvpixl does a pretty consistant job so i think it still looks good.

[MOVIE STUNTS]

Your movie must be pushing the limits... Still waiting for approval!

[Justin Kuhn]

That differing eyelight is freaky cool. Was it intentional or accidental?

[deedive]

Your movie must be pushing the limits... Still waiting for approval!

That differing eyelight is freaky cool. Was it intentional or accidental?

maybe to both questions, you will see..
:lipsrseal

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

What happened? Your movie wasn't accepted... exhibition only.

:(

[Jay Rodriguez]

oh man, did you guys shoot this in NYC? Would of loved to jump aboard to help out!

Looking forward to this movie...

[deedive]

What happened? Your movie wasn't accepted... exhibition only. :(

yeah, my bad. hope u like it.


oh man, did you guys shoot this in NYC? Would of loved to jump aboard to help out!

Looking forward to this movie...

yeah we shot 15minutes outside queens. We shot the last fest uptown.
yeah we should next joint.

[Jay Rodriguez]

yeah, my bad. hope u like it.



yeah we shot 15minutes outside queens. We shot the last fest uptown.
yeah we should next joint.

aight... do u have a site with any of your other work?

[deedive]

aight... do u have a site with any of your other work?

you want my resume? jokin
i am redoing my website. the old one has stills on it.
i entered "spyfest", movie is called "Check", link is in my signature

[Jay Rodriguez]

lol, you got jokes! lol

I'll check out your spyfest entry....

[MOVIE STUNTS]

I loved your Spyfest entry, my little girl did too she wouldn't stop saying "check" for like 5 minutes!

[deedive]

I loved your Spyfest entry, my little girl did too she wouldn't stop saying "check" for like 5 minutes!

WOW, that has to be the greatest compliment ever. THX!

[Dmitry Yun]

Can't wait to check out your entry Dee :) I'm sure it's awesome, shame to see you're not competing but who cares you get the exposure right? That's the reason I did mine just wanted DVXusers to get some taste of my filmmaking abilities :)

[deedive]

Can't wait to check out your entry Dee :) I'm sure it's awesome, shame to see you're not competing but who cares you get the exposure right? That's the reason I did mine just wanted DVXusers to get some taste of my filmmaking abilities :)

:) i cant wait for yours too.

someone hates this thread the stars are down to 2. I still dont know how the stars work anyway.

[bosindy]

I just gave you 5 to average up, looking forward to the circle dee.

[deedive]

bosindy! great to see you. There isnt many people from spyfest entering this one. glad to see a familiar face. hope u like it!

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

bosindy! great to see you. There isnt many people from spyfest entering this one. glad to see a familiar face. hope u like it!I resemble that remark...

SpyFest was my first time... :D

[deedive]

I resemble that remark...
SpyFest was my first time... :D

me 2. there isnt many, u are one of the few, one of the war vets.
we are the old timers. with bum hips and old bullet hole scars.

i didnt survive this fest. you have to win for the oldtimes.
but my ghost will haunt it.

gary french
hybridtheory
defcon

are still alive too.
also there are bts dudes from spyfest involved in this one.

[Brandon Rice]

Don't forget the sci-fest, and horrorfest vets ;)

[Ben Sliker]

Don't forget the sci-fest, and horrorfest vets ;)

lol, that's me too.


i just wanna say goodluck to all the spyfest war vets.

thanks ... check ... check ... check ... :grin:

[deedive]

Don't forget the sci-fest, and horrorfest vets ;)

sci-fest, horrorfest, never heard of it.

jokin, props to u guys too. You guys got me first excited about the forum. But extra special super props to my spyfest old timers. may your dentures never fall out.

[deedive]

maybe we can have names for the vets of each fest. like gangs.
ex:

sci-fest = "the time machines"
horrorfest = "the bodybags"
spyfest = "the retired"

im sure u guys can think of ones better than this.

[Ben Sliker]

lol.

sci-fest - "the anal probes"
horrorfest - "torturepornorific" or "the gornos"
spyfest - "holy sh*t ... keystoned is JDS?"

wait ... what were we talking about again?

[Matt Harris]

What up DeeDive, just got your PM. Dude, Check was a serious highlight in SpyFest.
You won creative vision if i remember correctly, and rightfully so.

What gives with the disqualification? Eh, it doesnt matter. the spirit
of DVX is not the prizes, althought they are much appreciated, the key is just to make a
damn movie and improve on your craft. Can't wait to see yours.

[deedive]

What gives with the disqualification?
i think this one is even more of a stretch then "Check". It was a crazy idea i had, that we shot in a day. Probably get mixed reviews also.



sci-fest - "the anal probes"


lmao

[mikkowilson]

*** SPOILERS FROM THIS POINT ON!! ***


I LOVE IT!


When it first started, I was "WTF? where's the start? what was that first line? Whatever..."

The film was very well shot, great sound design, fantastic set (had a very "The Shining" feel to the location), and very sincere feeling acting.

Then it to got the end, and just stopped and looped. "Hey! Where are the cred... oooOOOOOOHHH :shocked: WOAH! AWSOME!!!"


A fantastic film, with one hell of a twist. I'd love to vote for this one if I could. I had to watch it a 2nd time, which is awesome. :thumbsup:

Technical note: I watched the film in Quite Time Player. Out of curiosity I tried VLC media player and it didn't loop. I probably would have missed the whole point.


- Mikko

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

This sounded fantastic! I'll comment more later....

EDIT: Why the DQ btw?
You make some of the most interesting stuff to watch.

Kudos to Justin as well.... great score!

Cheers,

Mike

[Mark Harris]

Yeah, I got it, finally. I was watching it in QT player, but it just did not make sense to me.

I liked the sense of tension built up at the first moment when she goes to the door.

But beyond that, it felt very quickly slapped together with little thought put into it. I was a little let down by the Finnegan's Wake gimmick. I think, given the fact that it was less than two minutes, that other three-plus minutes might have been used to get us to care about this person some before seeing them go through this...um...circle.

[deedive]

wow, i can understand someone not liking a movie but saying i slapped it together with little thought. lol your a funny dude. I make the movies i wanna see, something tells me we look for different things in a movie. my movies always get mixed review. i think its a good thing

[Dmitry Yun]

Awesome idea Dee :) Very original, At first I was like watta!@#> and then it hit me and I smiled and was like that's genius! :) Congrats

[Matt Harris]

No this is a serious little piece here, this is the work of someone thinking outside the box. i've only watched a few films (and so far so good) but this one has a mature
look and feel. im impressed. deedive is the dvx david fincher. i didn't see anything slapped together at all. I see a film that warrants discussion. You should have thrown in a glass of wine and some credits man, you'd be in like flynt. my 2 cents.

[Luis Caffesse]

Damn.
JUST finished watching it - I have to say, so far this fest is kicking ass.
This one really got me.
Nicely done - well shot, well paced, nice payoff....

Great work, great concept.
:thumbsup:

[Edgen]

Dale! Ha! Something stuck me as different..OOOOooo.. You flipped it. :)

Glad it got you guys too. When I first got the film from Dale to score, i watched it 2 1/2 times. After the 2nd time around, I was thinking.. "wait a second... did something change? Was it the same? I know something changed..." *took it out of full screen*


..

F. Me.

/j

[deedive]

Dale! Ha! thx again dude, u saved my ass again:)

[Billy Pilgrim]

quite an interesting concept. I kept trying to figure out what was different. There was a certain sound I didn't notice the first time around. For the sake of the ambiguity of the thread, and so as to not spoil it for people who are still going crazy trying to figure out what they missed--I won't say any more.

[Matt Harris]

The whole movie's a circle! soylent green is people! it's just that simple. I'ts so simple its beyond genius. It's officially a travesty you are only exhibiton, i would have surely voted you top 5. ah well, next fest.

[Ben Sliker]

deedive,

you clever bastard ...

but seriously, it looks like you and your team are really settling into a look for your films and I really dig it. The soft lighting, the sort of darkness that spills on to everything. It works perfectly, had that place been lit up like a christmas tree, it would have destroyed the whole thing. I guess you'll just have to keep making films that fit the mood, and with that said, i hope you do. nice work.

[mentatDUKE]

Great job, guys. I loved everything about this. The actress felt like a "movie" actress if you know what i mean. I LOVED the cinematography. Becoming a huge fan of dvpixl (loved your dramafest entry). The score was great. Very subtle and moody.

Your film totally embraces the medium and uses it to its advantage. This could only work as a short and I love that. Kudos guys.

P.S. dvpixl can you come in here and talk about your lighting and shooting techniques for a bit? I think it's great that you were able to accomplish that with DV. I would think muted lighting is difficult to pull off in that format. Makes me wanna try it. :)

[cinealma]

Dale Bryant, sir, you've really got a gift. Forget the fact that you didn't clear customs because this one is above and beyond.

BRILLIANT! "Check" was my number one pick for SpyFest. I can already tell that this WOULD have been my top pick here.

Technically, you could slap a title on the front and then looped through it three times and end it at the front of another loop. People would have been thinking, "what's different?" or "what did I miss" or something. It would do away with the simplicity that I like, but at least you can do something with it as far as viewing.

You can always put this on your first DVD as the menu movie or something. That'd be way cool.

Anyway, I truly admire your work and I am definitely a fan.

I'll be keeping my EYE on you.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!

[Brandon Rice]

this was pretty genius dude...

more later :)

[dvpixl]

Your film totally embraces the medium and uses it to its advantage. This could only work as a short and I love that. Kudos guys.

P.S. dvpixl can you come in here and talk about your lighting and shooting techniques for a bit? I think it's great that you were able to accomplish that with DV. I would think muted lighting is difficult to pull off in that format. Makes me wanna try it. :)



It's great to see positive comments from everyone as Dee and I didn't know what to expect. But he had no qualms about it - which is cool. He wasn't out there to win prizes.... even though i was.

As for lighting and shooting techniques, it was really the director calling the shots-as he should- and I took cues from that. Dee is an accomplished photographer and he has a distinct taste for imaging that is mature and subtle.

I focused on not using any yellow lights. We replaced all yellow light bulbs in that place to daylight compacts. That was mostly my goal: to put out lights that make you feel sleepy. That gave the chill and washed out the scenes as that location was really warm and welcoming originally.

And oh yeah, this was HDV, not DV. I have no HDV/HD experience and I had a hard time really understanding what I was getting as a result. But I didn't think it was a big deal of a difference.

It was a difficult shoot. As simple as it was in terms of blocking the actor and placing cameras, we wanted the images to have some weight on them. We took a lot of time setting up and didn't roll as much for the sake of efficiency.
I think Dee values rehearsals and that paid off for the actor to get it right in conjunction with camera work and lighting.

Also, I definitely learned the lesson of not assuming anything about a shot until you have tried it.

[Luis Caffesse]

dvpixl - if i didn't say it in my last post....congratulations on some great work.
This piece looks wonderful

[bosindy]

Dee, you know I am a fan, I thought this one looked great. I am glad to see the minimalistic lighting keeping it natural. I get what you were trying to do, but I wanted a little more meat on the bone as far as the action of the character. You can really create mood though and it shows here. I liked the soundtrack as well.

[dvpixl]

Thanks Luis.

[Joops]

Clever - very clever. Looked great.

[gabrielflorit]

Oooooh, very clever. This is .... really smart. More of a puzzle than a movie...

I really like your stuff. It makes one think. Like "Check", this was more than eye-candy or a conventional beginning-middle-end story.

Congrats.

[mentatDUKE]

Thanks for the info, dvpixl!

[deedive]

sorry if i havent commented on this thread or others. Tomorrow i have off and is offically ALL HALLOWS DAY! i downloaded everyones movie and i cant wait.

dvpixl, am going to start calling you modestpixl. Great work dude. and it shows. I think anyone who saw "Not The Same" can see your style at work here too. very sensitive lighting style.

[deedive]

Super big THANK YOU TO
mikkowilson
Kyser
Dmitry Yun
Defcon
Luis Caffesse
Billy Pilgrim
hybridtheory
mentatDUKE
cinealma
Brandon Rice
bosindy
Joops
gabrielflorit

and all the other hallo-heads.
also thanks to the people that didnt like it, thx for watchin.

I CANT WAIT FOR TOMORROW!

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

just got home from the sweatshop i call work, doing my 10+ hour days. I got in trouble for being on the forum in the past. now i goota sneak. Whenever my boss is tryin say im not workin hard enough he calls me deedive. thats bastard

sorry if i havent commented on this thread or others. Tomorrow i have off and is offically ALL HALLOWS DAY! i downloaded everyones movie and i cant wait.

That sucks!

Looking forward to your reviews though...

Cheers,

Mike

[MOVIE STUNTS]

I loved the neverending twist this one achieved, truly original and cool! I think it sucks that it was DQed. Thanks for putting it out!:thumbsup:

[Justin Kuhn]

Hmm, perhaps you could have hidden the title, credits and DVXuser acknowlegements throughout the film in art direction and subtle text animations?

I like the idea but somehow I doubt you'd think it would have worked. Good show in any case, great movie. That's commitment--willing to be DQed for the sake of the film's integrity.

[Brandon Rice]

Buddy!

Hey man! Great flick... great great great twist! At first I too was like "huh?" but then I realized and it was awesome!! :) hehe... great short short dude!

Lighting looked good, actress was good, some of your frames I didn't particularly like, but that's a style thing... they didn't look "bad" :)

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

BWahahahahah!

You bastard!

Perfect.

I was your perfect sucker too.

I hit open apple / F to watch full screen on my laptop. So I had no idea the effiin' movie was looping. I even thought I was seeing different things for the first couple of passes. Finally I went back to actual size to see how long this friggin' thing was and saw the play head jump back.

Hahahah. You bastard. Brilliant.

There's two things here.
1) You managed to give me a cool little Halloween prank.
2) You made a piece of art that interacts with the viewer in a new and innovative way.

and you did them at the same time. But yeah I think that's a characteristic of real art, something that goes beyond enertainment a bit by (as one example) challenging the way the audience interacts with the medium ... which definitely happened here.

plus it lines up on another level - we kind of get put in the same position as the main character, which is sort of the goal of filmmaking, not SYMPATHY per se - often it is but not always, but almost always we want EMPATHY ... to feel what they are feeling, we don't always have to like the character or see them pet a dog for a film to work, especially a short film. But we do wanna feel what they feel - feer, lust, joy, whatever and I definitely lined up with the character with a feeling of WTF is going on here.

Beyond that. You definitely put thought into the look and aesthetic of your film(s). I think the subtle muted look serves the lost in headspace vibe you created in both shorts.

I thought it was a fresh prank / concept and well executed.

[MOVIE MASTER]

Halloween prank.
HA! HE GOT ME! I THOUGHT I HAD MAD COW DESEASE! 666

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

I get your point. But I don't know if the two are necessarily mutually exclusive ... him getting you and you having mad cow disease.
:cheesy:

[MOVIE MASTER]

TUPPERWARE! MOOOO! lOL!

[deedive]

Looking forward to your reviews though...


I'm going to steal you pushes and pulls. and i love the shot of the people on there doorstep.


Thanks for putting it out!:thumbsup:
Thanx for watchin it.



Hmm, perhaps you could have hidden the title, credits and DVXuser acknowlegements throughout the film in art direction and subtle text animations? I thought of the subtle text animation but im not good enough to make it work well. your idea about the titles hidden in the art direction is a friggin great idea. that could have been cool.



At first I too was like "huh?" but then I realized and it was awesome!! :) hehe... great short short dude! Lighting looked good, actress was good, some of your frames I didn't particularly like, but that's a style thing... they didn't look "bad" :) dvpixl was great. he has a very organic style. tammie was cool too. Always ready to go, and was always adding to her character.




1) You managed to give me a cool little Halloween prank.
2) You made a piece of art that interacts with the viewer in a new and innovative way.


trick or treat or both! Jack:)

[Justin Kuhn]

I thought of the subtle text animation but im not good enough to make it work well. your idea about the titles hidden in the art direction is a friggin great idea. that could have been cool.

Just brainstorming on it 'cause it sucks you had to be DQed for the film to work.

[Bill Clar]

I'm a little slow, so the twist went over my head. Any clues would be appreciated.

I liked the score and it's dreadful tone. I didn't understand why the lady walked to her door? Did she hear something that I didn't?

I liked the framing, but the lighting was too dark for my taste. The lighting in your stills is excellent. Did you lower the pedestal or do some post correction on it?

[deedive]

interesting. on my screen the screenshots are darker then the video. the screens where taken command+3 right out of FCP.

Did u watch the movie with quicktime player?

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

The screen grabs are darker on my setup as well. The QT is noticeably brighter.
Maybe the settings for his video card are too dark.

Mike

[deedive]

Originally i wanted to do this idea in flash or dvd. so i could have the titles in the beginning so that u would only see the titles once and the loop would be after.

Here are some of the ideas i had for title. Which include the shots we got for the title sequence.

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1194026280.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1194026303.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1194026332.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1194026351.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1194026370.jpg

[deedive]

and the wide shot beginning
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/16107/1194026917.jpg

[deedive]

EDITING ROOM FLOOR SCREENSHOTS (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=112239)

[sean90291]

I loved this. The twist is really cool, and I had to watch it twice to get it, which in this case didn't bother me. "Figuring it out" is sort of part of the fun. And when you do, you get sort of an "aha" moment. Intelligent, thoughtful, thought-provoking. I could watch more films by you, without a doubt.

[Beat Takeshi]

The download took so long that I came back and read some posts while waiting and they blew the surprise for me. Oh well. Cool idea though. Me thinks you like to see feet walking down stair cases ;)

[deedive]

thx aram and sean90291, definitely have more films on the way.

[Darkline]

Deedive you have a thing for the cyclical event! :-) But here you took it to a really interesting place, and actually used the medium to be part of the piece.

I think that elevates it above a typical short film, almost the kind of piece I'd expect to see in an art exhibition. Since 'check' I was hoping you'd provide one of the better films of the festival and I think you did.

Very refreshing.

[Cool Lights]

Cool. I just saw this. You definitely got me and didn't see the "twist" coming (pun intended). Finally someone found a great use for the loop feature.

Hope to see more inventive stuff from deedive and dvpixl in the future. (So it was the lack of titles that DQ'd it is what I understand?).

[Herman Witkam]

I loved it!

It's like a Lost Highway halloween prank :D

The dutch angles in the camera work look really great (but hey, I'm Dutch :grin:), used in a subtle way, and I thought that the score was very effective (Justin > Great work, man! - Is that Cubase's Embracer synth btw? :))

[Maximus]

Very clever. Well put together.

Look forward to your next one.

[deedive]

Deedive you have a thing for the cyclical event! :-) But here you took it to a really interesting place, and actually used the medium to be part of the piece.

I think that elevates it above a typical short film, almost the kind of piece I'd expect to see in an art exhibition. Since 'check' I was hoping you'd provide one of the better films of the festival and I think you did.
Very refreshing.

THx, your film "Halfway" was one of my favorite from all dvxuser fest. I dont know, i keep doing the circular stories. we will see how the next one goes. Do u have any new films in the works. can i see.:)



Hope to see more inventive stuff from deedive and dvpixl in the future. (So it was the lack of titles that DQ'd it is what I understand?).

yeah that was the reason for the DP. but since i have the title sequence on the 11th page (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=112239&page=11) i should be ok now. lol jokin



I loved it!
It's like a Lost Highway halloween prank :D
Thank. lost highway is one of my favorite movies. thnx again

your work in a little mouth to feed was fantastic!


Very clever. Well put together.
Look forward to your next one.
I'm look forward to another one too. i wonder what the next fest will be.

[Blaine]

This one worked a lot better in theory than in practice. It fell a bit flat for me because the setup didn't put me where I needed to be for this to work. When this started over I found it more disappointing that "a-ha!" and I think a little more work on the setup would have sucked me in deeper and put me on the edge of my chair...a place I wasn't at.

The concept, though, was unique compared to all the other entries. I'd love to see you take some time after the fest, go back and remake this with a more engaging setup.

[Matt Harris]

deedive, theres a movie i just saw on showtime called REEKER, a straight to video sort of movie. However it actually has very high production value, is shot well and has some nice effects. its horror, and its pattern is circular so it reminded me of your work.
go check it out, the movie starts off great, gets lost in the middle, but has a cool ending
reminiscent of our stuff.

[deedive]

This one worked a lot better in theory than in practice. It fell a bit flat for me because the setup didn't put me where I needed to be for this to work. When this started over I found it more disappointing that "a-ha!" and I think a little more work on the setup would have sucked me in deeper and put me on the edge of my chair...a place I wasn't at.

The concept, though, was unique compared to all the other entries. I'd love to see you take some time after the fest, go back and remake this with a more engaging setup.

interesting, when u say "more engaging setup" do u mean scarier? more peril? more backstory? dont exactly understand. interesting comment. and thanx for the input.


deedive, theres a movie i just saw on showtime called REEKER, a straight to video sort of movie. However it actually has very high production value, is shot well and has some nice effects. its horror, and its pattern is circular so it reminded me of your work.
go check it out, the movie starts off great, gets lost in the middle, but has a cool ending
reminiscent of our stuff.

yeah, i gotta work on my middles.
this reeker. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0393635/
I'll look for it. :)

[Blaine]

I guess I never felt her peril. Particularly, if she was terrified enough to drop the candy but still left the safety of her apartment to investigate. For me, the endless time loop left me a bit flat.

As I said, you had one of the more interesting concepts. I would have liked to seen more done with it. On the other hand, one actor and an apartment makes it easy as far as low budget goes.

[J.R. Hudson]

I too was slow in figuring this one out.

It was not until I read some of this thread that I realized what I was seeing. Very clever ! Very effective and very fun. At first, when it re-started, I was like 'Huh ? That's it?' But it was not it !

Genius !

Technical comments:

I found the contrast off and wonder if this was a MAC/PC thing ? Was it a choice ? I think bringing the levels up (Using my Scopes as a guideline help it out a bit more:

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9624/levelsbh5.jpg

Overall, I found your camerawork pleasant. Most of the compostions seemed just right for the mood you were setting. No need for Post effects to ramp up the imagery or distort it. It just felt contemporary in a good way.

I got waaay thrown off when you crossed the line; at one point she is above the stairwell in the hallway and then the camera moves onto the stairs and we are seeing her walk 'stage left'

If this was intentional, I think it really broke the rule hard and did not work at all.

I loved that you stayed mainly with locked down shots but actually would have liked to have seen all of this way; the hand-held look tends to not mix well IMO. I see a lot of folks doing this; mixing hand-held and sticks. I don't know. It does not feel motivated, but lazy.

I also see many many many shorts NOT moving the camera while on the tripod. I'll keep preaching until someone gets it; panning and tilting are great visual techniques and no one ever seems to use them.

Overall; I really enjoyed this. Another film that shows what the imagination can do and that simplicity can be creepy and fun.

One of my favs so far.

[deedive]

if she was terrified enough to drop the candy but still left the safety of her apartment to investigate.

ok, i see your point. Yes, i thought alot about that part, dont know how well i succeeded, thinkin about how terrified u would be if you saw yourself on the other side of the peephole. How much of u would be scared and how much of you would think "nah, i didnt see what i just saw. it was a reflection or something"

hmmmm, tryin to convey that was tricky. Also wondering how to work a 3 act story to infinity. Tryin to put as many little things in so u dont get bored right away.

thnx again for your comments.

[deedive]

first like to say thanx, for takin the time to watch and comment

At first, when it re-started, I was like 'Huh ? That's it?' But it was not it ! Genius !
thanx!



Technical comments:
I found the contrast off and wonder if this was a MAC/PC thing ? Was it a choice ? I think bringing the levels up (Using my Scopes as a guideline help it out a bit more:

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/9624/levelsbh5.jpg


I tend to like low contrast, where the black bleeds. This was done on a mac and some PC people experience problems too, could be that.



f this was intentional, I think it really broke the rule hard and did not work at all. wow, i didnt see it at all, now that i looked for what u said i see it. she walk screen right then 2 steps left. and the left make the screen right weird. I think if i cut before the switch it wont be hard. But i have to say it didnt bother me.




I loved that you stayed mainly with locked down shots but actually would have liked to have seen all of this way; the hand-held look tends to not mix well IMO. I see a lot of folks doing this; mixing hand-held and sticks. I don't know. It does not feel motivated, but lazy.
I definitely agree about not seeing alot of panning and titling in film. They are great when used properly.
To not appear lazy let me explain my idea about why i used handheld and sticks.
My original idea was to use flash or dvd technology to do this project but i though it could be done in quicktime too, but would be a little more difficult. "The circle" is basically me going circle crazy.lol I wanted the main character to walk in one big clockwise circle. when she tried to go back (against the circle) she only ends up restarting it. So i wanted the loop to have several loops within it. all shots are on stick, with a few tilts. there are 3 handheld shots. there is the one looking around the corner, at the front door. (i just couldnt do this shot without moving in my opinion) the other 2 major shots are shot in circles with a move at the end. i mistakenly thought i could shoot the whole thing in moving circles but i could not figure that out.
so....
in the original version the movie would start out with the superwide shot (sticks) on the bottom of page 11 (post 104), then cut to the washing of the dishes. aka title sequence also on page 11 (post 104) of this thread. then she would say trick or treat outside her door. the version of her inside would hear this, blah blah blah. but when it looped it would go back to the "trick or treat" line. like this version does. i try to put alot of stuff in that isnt nessesary apparent and to some extent not important at all. But they make it fun in the writing process. And it really fun when people catch it. maybe thats my problem, lol

that was my idea. for the good and bad of it :)

i was actually scared that the handheld rig would be way to shaky. so we shot the entire movie on sticks as well (just in case). I should edit that too, i will call it the hudson version. :)

thanx again for your comments and i hope this shines more light my what i was tryin do. If it worked. that depends on the person.

[MsManhattan]

You just rocked my world, Dale. Very clever -- reminded me of the Usher "My Confessions" album. But I guess what I liked most was the way it has your imprint all over it -- to me, it was very much a DeeDive film, and I love seeing the further development of -- and commitment to -- a specific aesthetic/style/vision/etc.

[Darkline]

awww thanks deedive. The only other things I have right now are my short from last year 'Eddie Loves You' and a new short 'Vacuum' which is currently in festival submission status. Send me a Pm and I'll send you a copy of Eddie, if you like. But its nothing like halfway, just a bit of fun.

Dont take my comment as a bad thing, most people spend all their lives trying to find what interests them, you seem to have a knack of creatng really interesting pieces on this theme. I really look forward to seeing what you do next.

[deedive]

You just rocked my world, Dale. Very clever -- reminded me of the Usher "My Confessions" album. But I guess what I liked most was the way it has your imprint all over it -- to me, it was very much a DeeDive film, and I love seeing the further development of -- and commitment to -- a specific aesthetic/style/vision/etc.thanx leslie. Never heard that album, i gotta take a listen. It was great workin with u on "Check". I learned alot from u and in general. Helped alot on this film



awww thanks deedive. The only other things I have right now are my short from last year 'Eddie Loves You' and a new short 'Vacuum' which is currently in festival submission status. Send me a Pm and I'll send you a copy of Eddie, if you like. But its nothing like halfway, just a bit of fun.

Dont take my comment as a bad thing, most people spend all their lives trying to find what interests them, you seem to have a knack of creatng really interesting pieces on this theme. I really look forward to seeing what you do next.

PM sent. look forward to seein your films. And i didnt take your comment as a bad thing, im the first to admit i like circular stories. Maybe with this film i will be all circled out. but probably not.:)

[Chris Messineo]

I loved this film.

Phenomenal style and pacing. I really liked the actress. The way it all loops is brilliant. So simple and yet so effective.

Extremely well done.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Deedive, did you think about going so far as to having her standing outside the door looking at the note, only to hear the bowl of candy drop on the other side of the door?

Maybe too much?

Mike

[mikkowilson]

Deedive, did you think about going so far as to having her standing outside the door looking at the note, only to hear the bowl of candy drop on the other side of the door?

Maybe too much?

Mike

That would have implied overlap though .. the idea is that there isn't any, we jump right back in on her line.

- Mikko

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

That would have implied overlap though .. the idea is that there isn't any, we jump right back in on her line.

- MikkoYah, that's why I thought it might be too much. Might have made for a cool moment, but not for "the Circle".

I really do love this one, one of my favourites in the Fest for sure.

Cheers,

Mike

[deedive]

I loved this film.
Phenomenal style and pacing. I really liked the actress. The way it all loops is brilliant. So simple and yet so effective.
Extremely well done.
THANX DUDE.



Yah, that's why I thought it might be too much. Might have made for a cool moment, but not for "the Circle". I really do love this one, one of my favourites in the Fest for sure.

yours is one of my favorites too. Hopefully they will let u put my favorite banner back up.

[dvpixl]

That would have implied overlap though .. the idea is that there isn't any, we jump right back in on her line.

- Mikko

right. I thought about this too and just brushed it off thinking it would be too hard to loop something like that. Unless the loop doesn't actually take place at the door but somewhere in the middle where you couldn't tell. That would have been more fascinating-where the "two" characters actually almost meet.....But there we must deal with space time continuum and it can be a headache.

[dvpixl]

gasp! .......




LOOP FEST!!!




:D

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Yours is one of my favorites too.
Quite the compliment coming from you!

Thanks,

Mike

[Christopher Barry]

That would have implied overlap though .. the idea is that there isn't any, we jump right back in on her line.

If she sees herself through the peep hole, does that not connote some overlap, if but for a split second? jk :D

Deedive, brilliant! You had me, infinitely, at "trick or treat". :thumbsup:

[deedive]

I was hoping when people realized this they would stop the loop. but i think most of the time it was when they saw the loop or got bored

[Christopher Barry]

I am not sure of what you are saying, deedive?

My comment was not intend to pick a potential flaw. Glitches of some kind happen every day of my life, my matrix. IMO, this is the most brilliant entry of the fest, if you get what I am saying...

[deedive]

I'm not saying u where saying that at all. I tend to pick apart my films. Always very hard on my work. Don't take my comment that way. :D I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[Christopher Barry]

I see what you mean, deedive, thank you.

For me, and I am not suggesting that anyone should think like this, the most important part of picking apart a film is to analyse your own initial interpretation of the first viewing of a movie, as you can only experience that once, be it the the twist, the deception, what ever. After, analyse the movie as much as one likes, but I like to reflect on the initial impact it had on me as a gage of movies I like, especially clever ones, with some kind of twist.

Again, the impact of the first viewing and figuring out 'The Circle', that is what grabbed me with your flick. This may be difficult for you to do, as the film maker. :D

[davide]

Great idea and nice execution too. I really dig the ambient music too. I was wondering if you could have done the background music as one long piece that looped as well but at a different point than the movie. So when you watch it for the first time you think that what you're hearing at 00:01 is the beginning of the song but actually it's the tail end of a piece that begins around 00:27 or so and loops. Since the music you're using has an ambient feel to it I bet it would lend itself to something like this without feeling jarring when it repeats.

It would make for another subtle hint to the circularity. I don't know if you think that would make the whole thing too overt.

[andoguru]

Hey deedive,

I really dig this short. I like the whole concept overall. When she dropped the bowl of eyeballs, I flinched...when she went outside...I said don't go out there! Going down stairs...don't go do there! The surprise at the end was cool. Short and sweet. The sound was eerie and simple. Actress was good. I liked the peephole shot. The shots were simple and told the story. It did what it needed to do and got the heck out of there. Good job.

Laters,
Ando

[deedive]

Great idea and nice execution too. I really dig the ambient music too. I was wondering if you could have done the background music as one long piece that looped as well but at a different point than the movie. So when you watch it for the first time you think that what you're hearing at 00:01 is the beginning of the song but actually it's the tail end of a piece that begins around 00:27 or so and loops. Since the music you're using has an ambient feel to it I bet it would lend itself to something like this without feeling jarring when it repeats.

It would make for another subtle hint to the circularity. I don't know if you think that would make the whole thing too overt.

no, thats a cool idea:)


Hey deedive,

I really dig this short. I like the whole concept overall. When she dropped the bowl of eyeballs, I flinched...when she went outside...I said don't go out there! Going down stairs...don't go do there! The surprise at the end was cool. Short and sweet. The sound was eerie and simple. Actress was good. I liked the peephole shot. The shots were simple and told the story. It did what it needed to do and got the heck out of there. Good job.

Laters,
Ando

thanx, this film was made for viewers like u

[deedive]

just wanted to thank all the people who watched it, made comments, or made films in hallowfest!

[TimurCivan]

i liked the look dale.

[deedive]

cool, i liked the look too, dvpixl did a great job.