The Poet - A Kurt Jewell Film

[kurtmo]

Filming has begun on The Poet, a teenage love story.

Synopsis: A boy is enamored by a gal from school and takes a more traditional path to catch her attention.

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/22838/1199498090.jpg

Poster created by Eric Gerecke

[kurtmo]

Cast and Crew Info.

Cast is set:

Michael -- Lucas Judd
Eric -- Pete Stone
Peyton -- Katie Martinson
Kelsey -- Autumn Kovach
Friends -- Abby Colehour & Caroline Doherty

Crew:
Audio/Boom Operator -- John Heitzman
Script supervisor -- Jill Jewell
Grips -- Andrew Jewell, Trevor Nikrant
Story, DP, Driector -- Kurt Jewell

Screen Grabs (2/1/2008):

[kurtmo]

BTS and other filming shots from our first shoot. More to come!

[Luis Caffesse]

Welcome!
The more the merrier.
:thumbsup:

[kurtmo]

Thanks for the welcome! I don't like to start a thread too soon, just in case things don't pan out. But this one's gonna go.

Half of the filming is "in the can" already and the next shoot is this Sunday! The tumblers are clicking into place. My only concern (same one as always) is pulling the score together. Audio isn't my passion (nor my skill) and being low budget doesn't help!

I'm really jazzed about my cast. I'm working with teens and they really pulled off the first shoot. They held up well with under the repeated takes.

Great to be back in the Fest!

[Alex Jeffery]

Lookin forward to it!

[kurtmo]

Filming is done....I think. Always a few doough! How could I have done that! Just one or two "I'll fix it in post!" activities.

[Marlon Ladd]

Good luck! Great poster! Who did it?

[kurtmo]

A old buddy of mine from HS was in town over the holidays. He's a graphic artist in Indiana. His name is Eric Gerecke. We tossed a few concepts back and forth and finally came up with this. I have to say that adding the texture was my idea.

[Marlon Ladd]

A old buddy of mine from HS was in town over the holidays. He's a graphic artist in Indiana. His name is Eric Gerecke. We tossed a few concepts back and forth and finally came up with this. I have to say that adding the texture was my idea.
It's really good and very professional. Hope my artwork for my short comes out as good.

[kurtmo]

leenewton - I haven't seen a thread for your lovefest entry. Have you started one yet? How is production coming?

[kurtmo]

I've been delinquent on status updates and BTS photos. Filming completed on the 6th as planned. We had to rush out of our local as they were closing up shop. I did a no-no, I cut out second angle shots two shots. I've been able to "cut around it", but it's another 'note to self' for next time. I also found a few focus faux pas on my part. On the bright side, I got a chance to enhance my After Effects skills. For me each new film project is all about learning.

Audio turned out better than in the past. We were shooting in a local coffee shop while it was open, so I'm glad I got acceptable audio. I also found some nice music to go with the story.

I will get BTS photos up soon, now that I'm wrapping up edits.

[kurtmo]

BTS photos of first shoot posted on page 1.

[ZFarms Productions]

looks good. where'd you get to film at?

[kurtmo]

We filmed at an old high school that's now a community center. The policy for getting permission involved $300K worth of insurance and a 4-6 week approval process. instead, I stopped by on the sunday prior to our shoot and casually discussed our plans to film with the retiree who was in charge of the building and got his OK. Filming went off without a hitch there.

I also filmed at a Caribou Coffee shop. I talked the manager into it one morning, but when I came back she back peddled a bit, wanting to get an OK from the corporate office. Surprisingly, after 2-3 emails with a regional manager got an email saying they'd "love to have us film". They were very accommodating. The only issue was that we had 2 hours for the shoot, once cast and location were tossed in the pot.

ZFarms - Where are you shooting?

[kurtmo]

I think it's done and ready for the upload. Got a cut that comes in at 42M.
Of course, I could continue to tweak forever. Only one thing that I may still change.

[kurtmo]

I used a few dolly shots in this movie for the first time.

So here's a question. I've always heard that zooming was "bad", due to the lack of perspective shift. I've been watching some feature films and have noticed that the do zoom periodically. So, when is it OK to zoom and when should you truck(dolly in)?

[Marlon Ladd]

BTS looking good. Looking forward to seeing some grabs.

[kurtmo]

Thanks. Screen shots coming soon!

[kurtmo]

Screen Grabs posted on page 1!

[mentatDUKE]

Looks good. Nice BTS stills. I like the way you socially engineered your way into getting locations. Good job. Looking forward to seeing it.

[kurtmo]

Looks good. Nice BTS stills. I like the way you socially engineered your way into getting locations. Good job. Looking forward to seeing it.

Thanks. Finding a way to film in a real school is tough. I've heard that chocolate sometimes does the trick.

[Marlon Ladd]

The grabs are looking good too. Yeah, that whole insurance thing is kind of crazy. Glad that worked out. I'd also like an answer to your question about when to zoom.

[Robert Eldon]

Very cool to use a school. I like the 'texture' of your banner. It looks somewhat like a little notebook.

[kurtmo]

The grabs are looking good too. Yeah, that whole insurance thing is kind of crazy. Glad that worked out. I'd also like an answer to your question about when to zoom.

I'm still wondering about the zoom thing. I've been too busy to try search the forums.

[kurtmo]

Very cool to use a school. I like the 'texture' of your banner. It looks somewhat like a little notebook.

When we got int eh school with all our gear I was worried that the building mgr. might change his mind, but he was cool with it.

It was funny about the notebook comment. My second option for the poster was a cool torn notebook sheet of paper handwritten. I thought it was cool and appropriate, but this one has a little more class.

[Robert Eldon]

It looks like you had a number of shots in the school hallway? What aspect ratio are going with on this one?

[kurtmo]

It looks like you had a number of shots in the school hallway? What aspect ratio are going with on this one?

Yes we filmed a lot in a school hallway. I dropped my squeeze footage in a standard 16:9 Sony Vegas NTSC widescreen timeline. The screen grabs do come out a weird pixel ratio (873x480), but the renders are true 16:9. For my quicktime render to submit, I was able to render out to 576x324 using QT Pro H264 at high quality. It comes in at 42M. Another advantage to keeping my story tight, I can get away with a slightly larger size than if it were the full 6 minute.

[Marlon Ladd]

Hey, Kurtmo, so how long did it end up being? Looks like you got a pretty good file size.

[kurtmo]

how long did it end up being?

In the end it is around 4:30...not exactly sure. I was under the limit by a ways. It was nice to not have to have to work hard to cram stuff in. I ended up not filming a few intermediate pieces. Mostly cause it was too freakin cold outside. I think the week I was filming it didn't get over 10 degrees out.

So what's your status? Have you had a chance to finish your piece?

[kurtmo]

My rockin dolly. Actually it has a bit of a vibration to it. I think I need more wheels or better wheels. Got the wheels off kids rollerblades at the rummage sale. Oh, and it has two handles now too. Oh, and it has an eye hook in the middle to secure the tripod.

Think I need more wheels or just better wheels?

[Marlon Ladd]

In the end it is around 4:30...not exactly sure. I was under the limit by a ways. It was nice to not have to have to work hard to cram stuff in. I ended up not filming a few intermediate pieces. Mostly cause it was too freakin cold outside. I think the week I was filming it didn't get over 10 degrees out.

So what's your status? Have you had a chance to finish your piece?
I finished the part for the fest, but I'm still working on the entire thing, which has 4 chapters and now I'm thinking it will be 12-15 minutes long. I was hoping to have it finished by the fest, so everybody could see the whole thing.


Dang it. I want a dolly like that. Been telling myself to make one.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Nice dolly work! This movie was pretty good. The outcome was seen coming a mile away but it wasn't bad. Maybe I would have had the girl at the locker not turn around as he walked away.

Still, pretty nice camera work. The audio was sketchy in areas but it must have been tough to film in some of those locations.

Good job.

Mike

[Kholi]

THE POET -- Spolerisms Ahead, Mate!

Two prime locations, man. School and a Coffee House. THAT is impressive. Along with havin' the go-ahead to work with young actors. It's hard. The overall image is great. I don't want to get into that, though, because there's something here in the execution that's good, could be stronger.


I am FINE with a linear story. That's great. Guy's after the hottest girl in school, most popular what have you, then realizes that there's something that's been there all along. Got it. I think where it gets lost in itself is that this "quiet girl" barely gets any real screen time.

She's an integral cog in the story, but played too small (to me) to really help move the rest of the machine. It isn't in the dialog, but it's actually the time she's allotted as an actual character on screen as opposed to a background element. Until the end, she just doesn't exist as more than a locker girl or counter girl.

For somethin' that's character driven, each integral character should get screen time in a way that lets us know that they're part of the main story. You have it with the main character, and although it's about him, it's also about the girl in the background.

This is what got to me the most. Other than that it's actually pretty solid. I'm not thrilled about the music, but locations and composition I like.

Good job!

[kurtmo]

Kholi - Thanks for taking the time to provide some substantive feedback. What can I say other than "you're right on". The story is this love trianglish thing and I didn't explore the third point. Coulda, shoulda! I see it now how it would have been easy to do and would've developed her character. I like your point about balancing screen time on each character. Yo, where were you when I was reviewing the script?

[Kholi]

Kholi - Thanks for taking the time to provide some substantive feedback. What can I say other than "you're right on". The story is this love trianglish thing and I didn't explore the third point. Coulda, shoulda! I see it now how it would have been easy to do and would've developed her character. I like your point about balancing screen time on each character. Yo, where were you when I was reviewing the script?

LoL. Well, you know where I'm at now! If I had to say something about it, though, and really give "advice" it would be directorial: dig in.

If you know that she's a part of the story, find her. Bring her to the forefront to let me (audience member) know that hey this chic is part of the story. It's okay to do that if you find a way to balance it out with the rest.

It could've been as simple as finding a medium on her at the locker, seeing her evesdropping on the conversation at the lockers? I don't know, those are just thoughts.

I think it definitely shows A-Grade effort, though. And, like everyone else, it's LEARNING.

[ZFarms Productions]

Finally got around to seeing The Poet. I liked it man. Well done. There were a couple of audio problems like when he said "I can do this" it was hard to hear with the sound of the music. Other than that, I liked the performances. It reminded me a lot of my high school. Good job!

[Ted Arabian]

Hey kurtmo, checked out your film! Well done.

I like the simple and poetic story. It works.

Dolly shots worked, too! (nice!)

And your titles... wow! Well done.

I feel that you could work on framing. Your subjects appear smaller than they should. (at least to me.) Also, the camera placement reverse on the friend seemed to low and too far away. I know that I don't know the rule on reverses... I seem to spend too much time trying to find what looks best. And maybe I am wrong about what you did. As I said, I really don't know the golden rules.

I felt that the girl that was eventually the love interest was too "staged" looking... not natural. I would like to have seen her fumbling through her locker in the hallway scene and in the coffee house, I would like to have seen her back as she was buying coffee or something. She just looked "placed" until her stuff came up. Do you know what I mean?

The audio could use some work. I felt that the background noise in the coffee shop was too loud for the dialogue.

I see that you have some skills here. Keep at it! (and watch those lights in the reflections! I know I was and I didn't want to be! :grin: )

Great job!

-Ted

[kurtmo]

Hey kurtmo, checked out your film! Well done.

I like the simple and poetic story. It works.

Dolly shots worked, too! (nice!)

And your titles... wow! Well done.

I feel that you could work on framing. Your subjects appear smaller than they should. (at least to me.) Also, the camera placement reverse on the friend seemed to low and too far away. I know that I don't know the rule on reverses... I seem to spend too much time trying to find what looks best. And maybe I am wrong about what you did. As I said, I really don't know the golden rules.

I felt that the girl that was eventually the love interest was too "staged" looking... not natural. I would like to have seen her fumbling through her locker in the hallway scene and in the coffee house, I would like to have seen her back as she was buying coffee or something. She just looked "placed" until her stuff came up. Do you know what I mean?

The audio could use some work. I felt that the background noise in the coffee shop was too loud for the dialogue.

I see that you have some skills here. Keep at it! (and watch those lights in the reflections! I know I was and I didn't want to be! :grin: )

Great job!

-Ted

Thanks for the comments. I know what you mean about framing. I felt the same way...after we had finished the shoot. I also thought about trying to "correct the reflections in post." Ya right next time, just shoot it the right the first time. both could have been re-shoots, but I think I learned a few things even without re-shooting. We'll find out on the next film!

As to the other love interest I agree. I'd originally intended another scene at the begining with all the mains in a classroom going from A watching B to B watching C. I also to get better framing in the hallway to get her overhearing the guys. I just dropped the ball.

Thanks again for the comments! I'm still working my way through all the films, not to "Love" quite yet. I

[Ted Arabian]

but I think I learned a few things ..... We'll find out on the next film!
I like to think that is why we make these films here!

Learn and apply!

Good for you.

Ted

[Chris Messineo]

I thought this was very sweet.

I thought your cast looked great. They seemed a little nervous at times, but their charm won me over. It probably helps that I used to write poetry in high school - I even wrote a girl a sonnet once. :)

I loved the end credits. Very cool. What did you do that with?

[KenV]

Good audio levels overall, and i thought the concept was cheasy but it worked for the majority of us out there, although it didn't work in real life for me, so this story is fantasy unless someone was lucky enough to experience this. But it doesn't hurt to dream right? Even though those days are long and gone. I still like. . .

[kurtmo]

I thought this was very sweet.

I thought your cast looked great. They seemed a little nervous at times, but their charm won me over. It probably helps that I used to write poetry in high school - I even wrote a girl a sonnet once. :)

I loved the end credits. Very cool. What did you do that with?

When I was younger I was never much of a poet, maybe a haiku or two, but now my 11 year old is. He inspired me to write the poem for the poet. I thought it worked well as a teen poem. If the guy was sappy enough to write it he might just be crazy enough to read it to a gal.

BTW, when I was in HS I sang to my girlfriend, now wife of almost 20 years, in physics class. The teacher couldn't believe it!

I did the credits in After Effects. I wanted to have the credits write on, but no dice for 15 seconds or less.

Thanks for your comments!

[Mark Harris]

Now that is a guy.

GUY: Hey baby, like my poem/
GIRL 1: You're a freak.
GIRL 2: I like your poem.
GUY: Girl 1 who? Let's party, baby!

I thought this was really great. Some of the blocking felt a little clunky in the coffee shop, and I kind of wished you'd used more OF the coffee shop, since you got hold of it.

The only other thing I think is you might have been able to take some more time with the build-up. There is one central event in this short: "Ask the hot girl out." So I felt like you could have given the guy some more to overcome leading up to the asking out. As it is, the drama of the situation is a little breezed over.

But I thought that lead guy was really good at leaving himself alone on camera. He seemed pretty natural and not self-conscious as an actor.

Nice Riot Gear.

[kurtmo]

Now that is a guy.

GUY: Hey baby, like my poem/
GIRL 1: You're a freak.
GIRL 2: I like your poem.
GUY: Girl 1 who? Let's party, baby!

...

The only other thing I think is you might have been able to take some more time with the build-up. There is one central event in this short: "Ask the hot girl out." So I felt like you could have given the guy some more to overcome leading up to the asking out. As it is, the drama of the situation is a little breezed over.

...

Nice Riot Gear.

LOL! Niiiiice summary! Yup, I rushed. I had a few more build up scenes planned but we had a tight window of time to film at the shop. Still, I should've just pushed the envelope and done it the way I'd intended. I gotta stop rushin things!!!!

And yup, I'm a videocopilot.net junkie! No Riot Gear, but I am a customer. They rock!

Thank you, thank you for the comments!

[Mark Harris]

Yeah, it's the reason I wasn't able to make a comp fest entry. Right or wrong, my gut told me not to compress it into 6 min, and I knew I had to live with the short after this fest.

[Robert Eldon]

Kurt,

Awesome opening title sequence. Someone is very talented here. I like the energy of the music at the opening. Well done.

Good use of camera movement and the editing was nice. I thought the acting was a little stiff at first. The concept was charming and I really like the story idea. It may a little cliche’, but I’m a sucker for those ‘hopeful’ stories.

Technically not too bad. The most trouble I think was seeing the lights reflected in the fireplace when the two friends are sitting down.

Favorite shot was at about TC 00:21, dolly shot while he’s writing.

Overall, good job and congratulations on making a movie! :)

[kurtmo]

The concept was charming and I really like the story idea. It may a little cliche’, but I’m a sucker for those ‘hopeful’ stories.


Between this and my SpyFest film I think I get the most likely to be labeled "charming" award. I think I got 3 Charmings on my last production and here it is again.

Thanks for the comments and review.

[mentatDUKE]

Cool film. I was impressed with the fact that you were able to get an actual high school location. The shots were nice and the acting from the friend seemed pretty natural.

Interesting subject matter. I think almost everyone can relate to unrequited high school love.

[hoz]

good film
maybe a little typical subject matter and story. good locations in high school and shop. lead guy was a bit stiff but as the story got going he came across as that sort of kid naturally ( did that make sense?) . his sort of possessed attitude towards the cute girl made it a bit hard to believe he'd turn around in a second to grab a chance with another girl. i read up top that you were crunched for time in the shop, brutal, that all out battle to get the goods in time before the location dies... good stuff though! congrats!

[Bryce A]

Hey, your film was nice and sweet. The main felt natural and at ease. Here is what stuck out at me: The hallway in which the main is discussing with his friend is the quietest high school I've ever heard. It really needed some ambient sounds to fill out the reality of the scene. Sure there weren't many people around, but no school is that silent. If you're looking at revisiting this project, that wouldn't be hard to touch up. Just a suggestion.

[kurtmo]

The hallway in which the main is discussing with his friend is the quietest high school I've ever heard. It really needed some ambient sounds to fill out the reality of the scene. Sure there weren't many people around, but no school is that silent.

I definitely thought about that. All the ambient in the coffee shop was added. I just never found the ambient school that was quite right. Most were too noisy for my scene. I probably should add a few locker sounds at the very least.

Thanks for the review!

[Luis Caffesse]

Kurt - Just watched this again and I have to say I was overall impressed.

The opening is really strong - well lit, well cut, looked great.
Then you go into the school...and I have to admit, the first time I saw it my initial reaction was "here we go, nice opening and now we get into a really bad dialogue scene with kids who can't really act" (sorry, but that was what I was expecting from past experiences). Well damn wasn't I surprised when the dialogue started and it was snappy, natural, moved well, and delivered great - that guy playing the lead's friend did a killer job as well with his comedic lines that can so often fall flat:

"Hi I'm nobody, woudl you like to go out with me"
and
"What, to her house so she can laugh at both of us?"

Both those lines got a laugh out of me - and made me feel for our main character...
which is great. That first scene was well conceived and well excecuted.

The coffee shop scene was well shot also - given that you were in a practical location.
The thing that held me back on this one was the girls reaction - she's so mean to him from the beginning that it's obvious to me that she's going to shoot him down, so when it happens it wasn't nearly as painful to me as I think it should have been.

But overall - the scene worked - all I'm saying is it may not work as well as it COULD have (in my opinion anyhow).

The only other thing I would say is that the final montage of them chatting went on a bit long for me - honestly you could have ended it wiht him walking off screen at 3:50.
By going into that montage I kept expecting the montage to end and for us to hear some of their dialogue...I thought somehting else was going to happen...but instead they chatted for 25 seconds. I could see ending with a shot of them sitting, chatting, laughing... but I dont' see a need for a montage there. Just my 2 cents.

The closing credits also kicked ass by the way - they look killer - my only gripe there would be that they don't really seem to fit the mood of the piece. But there is no denying they look cool.

Overall nice work - well constructed, nice and sweet story.
Your lead was good, and your dialogue was natural for the most part.
You're way ahead of the game from where I was at that point.
:thumbsup:

Congrats - and I hope to see you in the next fest.

[Curugon]

I'm gonna give you another "charming" label! Can't help it, I had a big grin on my face the whole time. Great work here man.

Biggest needed areas of improvement I see are sound design (both on set and in post), and a little looser camera work. The framing sometimes felt constricting.

Sorry if you already answered this, but was there any improvisation? The actors looked like they were a bit too locked in to the dialogue, and would have benefitted from the freedom of improvisation (while adhering to what the script required). Just spitballing here.

Again, really enjoyed this.

[kurtmo]

Luis - Thanks for your detailed comments. I agree about cutting the ending. I cut both the opening and the closing montage. The more I watched it, the more I did want to cut off a section at the end. I didn't consider dropping the montage altogether, but you're right the story is donw there. Combining that with your credit comment, perhaps I could have overlaid the credits on the montage....next time. Thanks for your encouragement! I'll be back and hope that you will too. I learn alot from making my own and seeing what other gifted folk do with theirs.

Curugon - Thanks for the comments and encouragement. Sound on this is better than my last production, but admittedly need more work. I need to get some help to learn some better techniques. And no, we really didn't allow for improv. The teens weren't experienced actors (though they did a fine job) and I think giving them something to work with made them feel more comfortable. With more experienced actors, I could see giving them some leeway.

Thanks again for the great comments!

[Marlon Ladd]

Kurt, OMG, man!! Your credits were off the freakin' chain! We need to talk - that was impressive. I love the story. I actually didn't know what was going to happen once he got shut down. Nice ending. You had some good shots in here and lighting, especially when he was writing in the library. Very cool. The only suggestion I would make is with the music and background stuff. The music seemed too loud in places, like before he went in to go talk to the girl and then while he was talking, the music and other voices seemed to kind of drown him out. That's the only thing I saw. A very good short and some kick a$$ credits. I'll have to pm you about that. Sorry it too me so long to get to your film, it was one of the first ones I tried to watch, but the download didn't work correctly the first time. Good luck and looking forward to see what you do next.

[Brian Parker]

Nice sweet film. Good casting, especially the main character's friend. You kept everything moving nicely. The sound was a little iffy and I was a little distracted by the music in the coffee shop but other than that, it was a well done piece. Good job.

[tmnt]

Good job dude. Your end credits were seriously nice. You crossed the line when the dude's reading the poem on the reverse and the ending montage was too long but all in all, great. Nice locations too.