The Double Date - William Robinette

[William_Robinette]

Grabs added 1/28/08 straight from the camera.

Time to finally throw my hat in the ring for one of these fests. I got in touch with John LaBonney here on DVXuser about a script he wrote and thankfully he is giving me a chance to bring it to life. So a big thanks to him! Currently assembling a team down here in Richmond.


http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/6259/1196741474.jpg

As it stands now:

Director
William Robinette

Producer/Music
Richard Autry

Director of Photography
Charles Bevan

Written By
John Labonney

Art Direction
Zane Bevan

We shot over the course of one weekend and all went smoothly. We used a single HVX with the Cinevate Brevis 1080/24pA.

Grabs right from the camera, no grading or correction.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b70/BennisHahn/Image0copy.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b70/BennisHahn/Image1copy.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b70/BennisHahn/Image2.png

[William_Robinette]

Bts.

Our Cast:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b70/BennisHahn/DSC_0119.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b70/BennisHahn/DSC_0111.jpg

Makeup:

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b70/BennisHahn/DSC_0136.jpg

Everyone sans our art director (he took the pics):

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b70/BennisHahn/DSC_0106.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b70/BennisHahn/DSC_0147.jpg

My car's security system only stops me from driving it. It died on the last location (thank God):

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b70/BennisHahn/DSC_0150.jpg

[Robbie Comeau]

Read the script, sounds pretty funny.

Goodluck!

r

ps, i took his other script!

[Mark Harris]

that poster seems to indicate that this is about a woman who has a date with a zombie. Is the script that promising?

[Kholi]

that poster seems to indicate that this is about a woman who has a date with a zombie. Is the script that promising?

LOL. That it does.

[William_Robinette]

Well lets still give them a reason to watch there Como...

[Kholi]

ROFL. mad spoiler included.

[Drew Ott]

Darn you Como.

Don't do that again...

You wouldn't want me spoiling your script.

[Robbie Comeau]

Huh? What are you talking about? I didnt do NUTHIN!!

hehe ok i deleted the message :)

r

[William_Robinette]

*wipes brow*

Good thing too that was close :D

*Slight update to poster. Just to really hook them.

[Robbie Comeau]

Sorry, I didnt think at the time it would ruin it, I just had to say it. But whatever, its gone now.

Im looking forward to yours, now that I've read the script!

r

[Mark Harris]

Don't worry Como, I did the same thing in my thread:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=1116197&postcount=33

[Robbie Comeau]

Where did you post that?
edit- nvm, found it :)..cute!

[Chris Messineo]

I like the poster for this film a lot.

This looks like it will be a fun film.

Best of luck with it.

[Luis Caffesse]

So what's going on with this one William?
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you've just been too busy with prep and production to give us an update.

How's it coming along?

[William_Robinette]

Yeah, way busy. We shot this weekend so look at my first post for grabs and such.

[John LaBonney]

Cool beans, I'm really excited to see it coming together!

[kurtmo]

I really like the shot of your actress on the bed. Has a mood to it. Gotta like that!

Too early to think about CC? Whatcha gonna do?

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Really great looking grabs guys!

Cheers,

[Mark Harris]

Grabs look really nice. I too like the one of the girl in the bed.

[smashedburrito]

Grabs look good. I like the wide look.

[William_Robinette]

Thanks guys. I put together a rough cut last night and I am really excited to see the finished product. Been a blast so far!

[Robbie Comeau]

I'm looking forward to see how you put this together.

[Slimothy]

I read the script for this one and I am really excited to see whatcha did with it Will. Have fun editing!

[mentatDUKE]

Hey William. This seems to be a clever premise. Great poster. Looking forward to seeing the movie.

[Danielleus]

Yeah, this one looks like fun. Good luck finishing, compressing, and getting er approved.

[Luis Caffesse]

Getting down to the wire, William - how's it coming?

[Robert Eldon]

William,

Interior and Exterior! Looks good. I like the 'character' of the exterior locations and the brick buildings.

Looking forward to seeing this.

[William_Robinette]

Ahhh.

Cuts done, audio is all cleaned up and finished with a sweet score :)

My cinematographer is grading the film and had a hangup saying he won't be able to get me the rendered files until tomorrow (Sunday) at 4pm. I'm compressing a cut right now in case something goes wrong so we will have something uploaded. It came together really well I think, but I need some fresh eyes on it.

Next fest I really want to team up with some DVXusers! If there are any in the Richmond area please let me know. Actually, I'll go all the way up to DC and Norther VA if there is a team up there.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

SPOILERS:



Nice work guys! Really well written, John did a nice job.
The camera work/movement was excellent. The girl with tourette's syndrome was perfect! Loved the wedding photo at the end as well. Buzz was also very good, tough role to pull off really.

Very nice!

[HBlack]

Really liked this one. I thought the tourettes would have been funnier if it were more realistic (they don't just randomly yell it), but with this sort of creative vulgarity and a zombie thrown in it's hard to go wrong. Well done.

[StefanHaynes]

How the hell did you get Evan Stone (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evan_Stone) to act in your film?

[Jason Ramsey]

This was a quirky little story and it was pretty fun to watch. All in all it was pretty well executed and the acting was pretty strong all the way around.

You really just have to let go and enjoy the film for what it is, as the circumstances are way over the top, but you did a nice job of not playing into the "over-the-top-ness" too much and just letting it take care of itself.

I noticed with this one as I have with a few of the other films shot with adapters, a bit of softness at the edges. Not really something that needs elaboration. You used the equipment you had available to you, and all in all, you were effective at telling this quirky "cute" little oddball kinda story, and it played out nicely.

I love the post wedding photo :)

Thanks for sharing your work with us.

Later,
Jason

[Charlie Anderson]

Great job! I laughed a lot on this one :D

[hunter richards]

That was pretty funny. Zomies + Terrets = What the?

The "What the?" part is what was funny. I really liked the final photograph too!

Keep it up.

[Robbie Comeau]

I couldn't wait to see how you shot this one, seeing as I read the script and I had to make a decision wether to pick this or Blind Date. (Well, you know the outcome)

I really didn't like the beginning, where it shoes the girl on the phone, and then it switches to the guy walking talking to her. Maybe because we couldn't hear his voice to start? When it switched to him I was like "What?" and it just looked funny. Maybe edit in the audio so we can hear him at the beginning.

Another small nitpicking problem I found was the "Really, let's go find out" and when he goes to get buzz, it's just a bad cut, that's all. He walks by the guy, and then you cut it and he walks by him again (sorry, just picking out the small stuff, not really a big issue, it's just what I noticed)

Other than that, I think you did a really good job. First off, the framing of the shots were great! I loved the cinematography. The color correction made it look really good as well, (really filmic).

Audio was another thing that went good as well. What did you use for sound?

The acting was good, an the story is cute and funny.

Overall, great job on the film man.

[John LaBonney]

Of the scripts I wrote for LoveFest, this was my favorite. It's the one that I wanted to see produced the most, and the one I was most worried about coming out funny. Turns out I had nothing to fear. The Double Date came out great! Nice work William. Thanks so much for making this happen.

Comedy is tough to do, and this is really funny, I think. I thought the acting was really convincing. Great casting. Everyone had the right look. I loved all the actors!

The score is appropriate, bouncy, and complimentary. How the heck did you get all those people for the church scene? Wow!

The greatest shot in the film is the wedding photo. Absolutely priceless. Came out better than I envisioned it.

Thanks to everyone on the cast and crew for their hard work. Great job!

Awesome!

[William_Robinette]

Thanks a lot guys. It was a blast putting this together and I have to say thanks again John for donating your scripts to the community.

It definitely has it's little quarks here and there, and could use another once-over for final polishing but I am happy. Como, I agree completely about the points you brought up and I edited the best I could with the coverage/footage I had.

Yes all adapters have soft edges. I like/live with it. This was also my first outing with the HVX and I have to say I was not "wowed." Nice pictures but it is a light pig and the footage isn't quite as sharp as I hoped. But hey, they are just tools.

The thing I was concerned about the most was the comedy and by the time production cam around I was pretty numb to it so I was worried it might not come out right. Glad to see it did.

Thanks for watching guys.

[wcs]

You did a really good job on the technicals, but I didn't really find myself laughing at the actual story. The acting was solid, the picture was good, but I guess the base funny hinged on the tourettes and it wasn't doing it for me.

But comedy is so subjective, and I think it was handled appropriately regardless of whether I laughed. You didn't fall into a lot of the technical traps that really kill comedy (you didn't slam the jokes in the audience's face with the cutting - the edit wasn't pleading for a laugh), and I think the actors weren't unnatural at all.

Nice job.

[Zak Forsman]

thanks, man. enjoyed it. PENIS!!!

[Blaine]

I F*CKING LOVE THIS! This was an very funny movie, perhaps the funniest of the fest. It was shot well and the acting was spot on. Is this your first fest entry? If so I really applaud you for a movie that was a lot of fun...TWAT MUNCHER!

This might be LaBonney's best written story. I'd love to see the script to see how you handled the material.

[William_Robinette]

Thanks guys.

Blaine, yeah my first entry and luckily John made it easy on us with some great writing. I am definitely missing no more.

[Slimothy]

Dude!
I just watched this for the first time. Great job. There is a billion different ways that zombies can go bad and only a few that work and this really, really kicked some ass. Start to finish, this was damn solid. I have to admit that I thought that the lighting was going to kind of suffer based on the grabs you posted, but was really surprised at how good it looked.

Great job Mr. Robinette.

[Gohanto]

Wow this was a lot of fun. Very original idea and well executed. I kinda wish more would've been done with the intro of the zombie brother though, like bringing him in on a chain or have him already chewing on an arm.

It had a nice look to it and I enjoyed it.

[jojopop]

WTF. But in a good way.

That was my first thought as soon as that friggin' zombie is brought on screen. That and I had "Chicken F*cker" echoing through my skull. Nice first impressions for a movie, so thumbs up to you!

Wasn't a fan of the handheld shots, but chicken f*cker...

And that wedding photo is awesome.

Good job!!

[Chris Messineo]

That was so wrong and so funny.

I didn't realize this was a Jon LaBonney script until the end. Very twisted in a good way.

I agree, the wedding photo is priceless. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

[Jason Adams]

Looked great and well acted. A bit too much handheld for my personal taste, but thats just my personal taste. Loved the dolly work and the Zombie family members at the wedding.

You should be very proud of this.

[Mark Harris]

This was a lot of fun and right up my alley comedy-wise. The wedding was definitely the best part. His reaction at the altar, the Zombie family members, the photo. That whole scene really stood out for absurd comedy. Good stuff.

[William_Robinette]

Thanks guys. Glad we could bring some funny into your day :).

[Zak Forsman]

can't stop thinking about this one. I think its the moment she blurts out something during the photograph, and then we see it on the mantle -- it's such a lasting image and i keep replaying that beat in my head. good stuff! this is a small note, but you title treatment and other graphics are a stand out here -- simple, clean, attractive, very nice. but when you fade them out, i wouldn't put the last frame of the fade right on the cut of the underlying picture. give it like half a second before you cut to something else.

[John LaBonney]

like bringing him in on a chain or have him already chewing on an arm.

Oh those are really good ideas. Wish I thought of that. Chewing on an arm would have been a riot.

[William_Robinette]

Believe it or not I did flirt with the idea of Buzz munching on his hand when they are waiting for Julie to come meet him in their apartment, but I agree when he is reveled it would have been great.

Zak, thanks again. I completely agree with you about the titles. I just tried it and it seems to work better somehow. nice observation.

[Zak Forsman]

i've got a new avatar.

[Marlon Ladd]

Wow! This was so dang funny, especially the picture at the end. Her outbursts had me laughing all the way through. Very funny, creative and different. The lighting was good and very motivated. Good job.

[John LaBonney]

i've got a new avatar.

That's the coolest thing since sliced bread. Don't ever change it!

[John LaBonney]

Okay, I'm dying of curiosity and can't hold it in any longer.

What's the Jackie O? Is it a club of some kind? I'm getting the feeling it's an inside joke.

John

[Robbie Comeau]

Haha. Didn't William mention that some of the jokes in this film are insiders?

I was curious about this as well.

[mcgeedigital]

REALLY enjoyed this one...one of my favorites...

[Arrik]

I had a chance to peep this today, William. This short was alot of fun, and ofcourse the pic is great.

Aesthetically, my favorite shots were during the wedding.

The only thing I wish I couldve seen a little bit from the double date. I mean, the short is called double date but we completely miss it. Granted, you only had 6 minutes so maybe you had no choice. In that case, her love-at-first-sight reaction worked well.

Great job.

[Zak Forsman]

I had a chance to peep this today, William. This short was alot of fun, and ofcourse the pic is great.

Aesthetically, my favorite shots were during the wedding.

The only thing I wish I couldve seen a little bit from the double date. I mean, the short is called double date but we completely miss it. Granted, you only had 6 minutes so maybe you had no choice. In that case, her love-at-first-sight reaction worked well.

Great job.

hey guys, i just wanted to point out that with a little selective quoting, you could have the totally rad...

"Peep this!" - Arrik

...as a review quote on your poster.

[Arrik]

Haha, do it!

[William_Robinette]

What's the Jackie O? Is it a club of some kind? I'm getting the feeling it's an inside joke.


Not really a joke per say. Collectively we agreed the "drive-in" sounded a little erm, dated. The Jackie-O is a house my friends own right down the street from my place and it is a general party/hang type of thing. Inside sure but not crucial. We just wanted a destination for them that was vague enough but also sounded plausible.

Again, thanks for the comments very much. I honestly didn't expect this much response. John, anytime you have a script you want to hand off I'll be more then happy to take it off your hands! Truly this was a great collaborative effort.


hey guys, i just wanted to point out that with a little selective quoting, you could have the totally rad...

"Peep this!" - Arrik

...as a review quote on your poster.

Done and done.

[mentatDUKE]

William, this was a really great film. I laughed out loud a lot. Turrets will always be funny. Especially when a cute girl has the affliction. Good acting, cinematography, and pacing. A real tight edit.

Nice work. Looking forward to more from you.

[Danielleus]

This was a funny, interesting take on the theme. Loved it. Some unsteadiness in the shots (shaky dolly action) but I'm sure others have mentioned it.

My only concern is that I felt like there wasn't much there. Like the story wasn't very expansive or it was more a funny idea then a narrative.

However, part of my complaint/critique is that I thought everything that was there (editing, script, acting, cinematgraphy, etc.) was so good I wanted to watch more. So gimme some more, man.

Really, loved it. Good work.

[KenV]

On the basis of comedy, as I like the South Park episode of similar comedic content (concerning tourettes syndrome), I thought it was funny.

But, I have to admit, I have seen a special on tourettes syndrome, and it's totally not what happens. :/ I guess I've grown sympathy towards, since seeing the special. . .

But I like "twat muncher" line . . .

[kurtmo]

And then there was a zombie…you had some nice makeup, something I’ve yet to comment about in any other film. I thought the acting was decent. I liked the opening dolly shot. And I enjoyed the final dolly of the photograph. An excellent ending to a unique lovefest production. Personally, I wasn't too jazzed about Tourette's as the topic, but beyond that it was well crafted.

[Maximus]

Technically your film was good. I really like your credit choice, the pink and blue fonts.

Story wise, it didn't grab me. It kind of felt like a weak Saturday Night Live skit. The premise was pretty far fetched, but I could have accepted that if there was some heart to the story. By that I mean, Simp is a film with a similar bizarre premise, and yet it succeeds at creating real character and real emotions. It's actually quite amazing that the filmmaker was able to do that in such a short period of time with such broad characters.

Pretty pictures is icing on the cake. Priority one for all of us filmmakers, is making the audience CARE. Emotional response from the audience is most important. Certainly my favorites made me feel first, which in turn made me think. A great example of that is Winter Lilacs. I can't get that one out of my head... and I don't really like it there because it's kind of a drag. LOL.

Look forward to your next film.

[William_Robinette]

Thanks for the response. You all have very valid crits against this piece that I can completely get on board with.

The way Tourettes is handled and expressed by our character in a movie-fied way, I kno. Problem is Tourettes isn't very funny in the real world and hey, this was a comedy so I am hopping most of the viewing public can let that fact go. Still, I am glad you brought it up.

As to there not being a reason for the audience to "care" about any of these characters, well, you are right there as well. I don't know what John's intention was when writing the script, but I wanted a light-hearted look on love with a few laughs thrown in for good measure. I am still learning this directing thing, and freely admit I am not very good at it yet.

Thank you all for taking the time to leave a comment. It only helps me/us make better work next time.

[Ted Arabian]

Hey William, just watched your film.

Dude, you had me laughing out loud at some of the stuff here.

I will say, that as a story, there wasn't a lot here and the leap from first date to wedding was pretty damn big! But I know that this is a 6 minute short and you have to make some concessions.

However, I really would like to have seen a development into their relationship vs. the wedding. I think that there was a golden opportunity here that could have provided more of your comic recipe.

Story aside, I will say that there was some wonderful filmmaking done here. The edits were seamless and crisp. Dead-on for me. Framing and blocking were another highlight. I see some really great direction going on here.

The opening title was perfect. I loved the pink and blue choice.

The sound was pretty good... a few times the voices got a bit hollow and echo-y but not bad.

The music was appropriate though it didn't do a lot for me. I didn't hate it... I just wanted it to do more.

Overall, a very enjoyable short!

Congrats to you!

-Ted

[John LaBonney]

As to there not being a reason for the audience to "care" about any of these characters, well, you are right there as well. I don't know what John's intention was when writing the script, but I wanted a light-hearted look on love with a few laughs thrown in for good measure.

Yeah, you kind of have to take this script for what it is, the way the characters do. It's meant to be light, farcical, and funny, and I hope that it is. Don't try to read into it too deeply. Tourettes most certainly isn't funny in real life, but (and no offense to anyone) you have to admit as far as maladies go, Tourettes does have a potential comedic element to it. I was a little worried that someone might get offended, but again it's just a comedy and I decided to risk it. Basically I was trying to juxtaposition some unlikely elements - a girl who had a hard time meeting guys with a guy that was totally impossible to date. I think it worked out pretty well; I'm really happy with the final film.

I agree that showing them on their date might have led to some really hilarious moments. I can see them out at a club and Buzz attempts to dance while drool pours out of this mouth, or all of them at a restaurant table trying to have a conversation but it all ends up totally awkward. But as has been mentioned already, there were only six minutes to work with, and I think they were used well.

:dankk2:

John

[Blaine]

Personally, I'm glad you didn't "waste" time with the date. In the short amount of time you had to set up your story for the punch line it was important AFTER the setup that you brought the punch line home...which I think you did with a vengeance...:thumbsup:

As far as offending people, that's definitely a concern. I'm surprised you weren't concerned about offending zombies, though. :2vrolijk_08:

[John LaBonney]

Thanks Blaine, I appreciate your comment.

Of course, there is the large zombie constituency to be concerned with, and hopefully undead of the world won't take it too seriously.

In seriousness, it actually was in the back of my mind that I would hear from someone who suffered from Tourettes or someone who had a family member or friend that suffered from it, saying how offended they were or how the affliction isn't really the way it is portrayed in the story. But again, that's the risk I took. I think it paid off. At least it did for me; damn I love this film. I've been running around work quoting it to people. "The Jackie-O? That sounds like soooo much fun!"

[Bryce A]

So, I'm not too sure what I thought of your film! The camera work and lighting were spot on. The acting as well. I suppose the story was just a bit too off kilter for me. Not that I don't enjoy a good zombie flick or politically incorrect sense of humor, but it was a veeery odd combination. Kinda seems like a horribly offensive parody of Robbie Comeau's "Blind Date." Or was that comment horribly offensive? Anyway, I was impressed how far you took the production (i.e. the wedding, the church, the extras, etc...). I might have mixed feelings about this one, but I am looking forward to your next project.

[William_Robinette]

Kinda seems like a horribly offensive parody of Robbie Comeau's "Blind Date."

Well, they are written by the same guy :).

Thanks for the comments though.

[Anthony Pierce]

This was fun to watch. The shots, lighting, acting and the story was great. Hilarious!

[Bryce A]

Well, they are written by the same guy :).

Ha. Written by the same guy? Didn't see that one coming. :D

[Dauthi]

Nicely done! I really enjoyed the phone conversation especially when you jumped across the street for one shot. That really worked for me.

I actually kind of like how we didnt see the date and went straight for the wedding, it makes the whole thing even more absurd and the work done on the wedding scene was pretty sweet.

If i had one criticism to give it would be during the moment where she first sees the zombie. It would have been nice to see some close ups of her face and maybe even a reverse shot of the zombie not reaciting but with romantic music played over it. I think that could have really put a punch on how rediculus it was.

Overall i liked it.

[Luis Caffesse]

William - well... you made me laugh, so it's a success.
:thumbsup:

First the techy stuff - nice shots, I really like the variation in the opening - going from the mids to the extreme wides, etc. Overall really well shot which is no surprise having seen your other work.

I really liked your slight camera moves - for example the slight track to the right as the girls run off the couch to go get ready. It kept it dynamic and lively without getting in the way. Same goes for your lighting - looks natural without being flat (which is always the tempation when doing comedy). I'm glad to see you didn't go for a really flat frame.

As far as the comedy - well handled.
You played it straight, which was the best way I think. This is the world they live in and so be it. My only gripe would be with the tourettes outburts, quite a few time in the start of the piece they seemed forced - not as though they were unintentional and involuntary. But that's a tough thing to play off.

My favorite thing about this whole piece is that the biggest laugh is in the last frame - that makes it a real winner to me. A comedy that is only 6 minutes long shouldn't give up the goods halfway through...and you did a great job with that. Her final outburst in the church was funny...but cutting to that photo was absolutely hilarious.

I showed the film to my wife and she burst out laughing at the photo as well.
Overall nice work.
I can't wait to see what you do next.

PS.
Oh - nice use of music throughout the piece - never felt like it was overpowering but it added a lot to the pace, mood, and humor.

[Brian Parker]

Great film. Really enjoyed this one. Shots were really good and liked your CC. Favorite shots were when she meets him for the first time and it zooms in and of course the last shot of the wedding photo.

No real problems with this one at all. Looking forward to your next project. Good job.

[Curugon]

Excellent work, this one had the most belly-laughs for me - especially the end church scene. First half was a little slow... not as tight as the 2nd half, but overall big thumbs up.

Tourette's or no, I'd marry her.

[William_Robinette]

Thanks a lot guys. Glad you all liked it and appreciate the critique.

[Norm Sanders]

Cute concept, and I liked your actress. For me, and this is only on a personal note, I would liked to have seen more of a three act story, set up, dliema, and resolution. Perhaps they were there, but they just aren't standing out to me.

My favorite, was the final ending shot, catching her in mid-burst for the wedding shot. Priceless!

[Matt Harris]

I liked this quite a bit, i thought it had style and solid direction.

[William_Robinette]

Thanks a bunch guys. Appreciate the time you took to watch!

[Jared Meyer]

William, this had me laughing pretty hard. It was a nice change of pace from the other entries. This was one of the last I watched, but now I finally understand Zak's new avatar. :) That outburst as they exit and the photo....loved it.

Great concept, great execution. This one's getting saved in my best of LoveFest folder.

[Gohanto]

I just showed this to a bunch of guys at a college party and everyone thought it was absolutely hilarious.

[robertwerden]

This film got my vote for first place im happy to say.
I would love to see a gag reel for this film, it looks like the shoot was fun.

GAG REEL!!!!!!