6" 45RPM EP by Matty_g and Mr. Vegas

[Matty_g]

WATCH IT

http://www.dvxfest.com/lovefest/loader.php?id=90022

GRABS

I did not have time to color grade any of my film. Here are a few grabs from it. Let me see what you can do with them!

http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/6inch3.jpg

http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/6inch2.jpg

http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/6inch6.jpg

http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/6inch5.jpg

http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/6inch4.jpg



http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/6inch.jpg

[Matty_g]

http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/poster.jpg



The other day, while Zach Sheehan and Matt Garrett were
at the Sabi Studio putting the finishing touches on their first
cut of 6" 45RPM EP, I took the opportunity to ask them
a few questions about making their short.

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/1461/rpmbtsbuttonsd1.jpg (http://www.sabipictures.com/rpmbts.mov)

Click the banner above to view (http://www.sabipictures.com/rpmbts.mov) it.
check it out!


Music Provided by:
Steady Ups (http://www.myspace.com/steadyups)
The Dynamos (http://www.myspace.com/thedynamos)
The Debonaires (http://www.myspace.com/thedebonaires)

[Matty_g]

You may remember Braden from Luis and my Heinz Commercial (http://www.mushyproductions.com/heinz.mov)


Cast:
* Adam Lash
* Allyn Rachel
* Braden Lynch
* Oliver Noble

Crew:
Zach Sheehan // Director
Matt Garrett // DP
Alexander White // Producer
Tim Hyten // 1st AD
Luis Sinibaldi // 1st AC
Sam Kruger // 2nd AC
Mike De Hart // Audio Mixer
Ben Crutcher // Boom Op
Sam Falconi // DIT
Mark Johnson // DIT

Special Thanks:
* Zak Forsman
* Bruce Allen
* Dave Sakover

http://www.mushyproductions.com/OnTheFloor2.jpg

[Marlon Ladd]

This sounds real interesting. Good luck with it.

[Zak Forsman]

This sounds real interesting. Good luck with it.

mmmm, i don't know... Matt and Zach are good friends, but i have very low expectations.

hey, can a MOD add the keyword: "SEX" to my thread title? I want more google hits.

[Matty_g]

Like "I FUCKING HATE YOU" isn't a controversial enough title to get you views.

[Kholi]

Like "I poo pooING HATE YOU" isn't a controversial enough title to get you views.

This is hilarious. And then MORE hilarious because it says poo pooING and not the actual word; owlstanding.


Way to hide the title. =\ Did you start cuttin' yet?

[Zak Forsman]

just want to say that i'm envious of the cast and plan to steal them for future projects. they're a very talented, nimble, quick-witted bunch.

This is hilarious. And then MORE hilarious because it says poo pooING and not the actual word; owlstanding.

it is. it's owlstanding.

[Kholi]

just want to say that i'm envious of the cast and plan to steal them for future projects. they're a very talented, nimble, quick-witted bunch.


it is. it's owlstanding.

Don't steal my termage, Forsman.

[mentatDUKE]

haha. Can't wait.

[Matty_g]

Way to hide the title. =\ Did you start cuttin' yet?

The title is a WIP and has caused much heated debate.
Rough Cut is DONE. Took about 9 hours.

[Zak Forsman]

Don't steal my termage, Forsman.

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3462/dsc04587nx4.jpg

[Matty_g]

BTS interview with my goofy ass and mr. vegas coming soon.

[Tom Marshall]

:undecided

[Mark Johnson]

All I got to say is !!!!!!!!!!! damn! You guys rock. Matty G. you know what I'm talking about.

[Matty_g]

Why the sad Face Tommy?

[Mr. Vegas]

Bye the bye Zak, thanks for making me look waaaaay cooler in the interview then I could ever be in reality. My friend Alexa totally has the hots for Matty G now too, so all in all way to go!

[Zak Forsman]

The other day, while Zach Sheehan and Matt Garrett were
at the Sabi Studio putting the finishing touches on their first
cut of 6" 45RPM EP, I took the opportunity to ask them
a few questions about making their short.

http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/1461/rpmbtsbuttonsd1.jpg (http://www.sabipictures.com/rpmbts.mov)

Click the banner above to view (http://www.sabipictures.com/rpmbts.mov) it.

[Matty_g]

New Title, and finishing the second cut tonight.

[Zak Forsman]

When is Zach Sheehan (aka Mr. Vegas) going to jump in here and explain the title?

[Mark Harris]

I kind of don't want them to, actually. This one kind of has the most mystery about it and I'm super curious.

[Zak Forsman]

hint: it's the name of robert duvall's character.

[siniarch]

Hey Matt,

What day of shooting was this cast on. Not any of the days I worked.

Though I'm sure by now, all the guys have manboobs and the girls, well they are just not looking the same as they do in this picture, I bet.


Info coming soon...
http://www.mushyproductions.com/AmericanGladiators.jpg
Thanks to the following dvxuser's for their help:
Tim Hyten, Mark Johnson, Zak Forsman, Luis Sinibaldi

[Mr. Vegas]

well golly guys, I'm getting mixed signals here. Define the title, don't define the title. Here's what I'll do... if anyone (other than Zak, cast, or crew) can guess the true meaning behind the title... well they can have Matty G for one night, no questions asked. Kinda like indecent proposal, but less boring.

[Zak Forsman]

like half this board hasn't already.

[siniarch]

Hey Big Zak,
Nice BTS.

[Mr. Vegas]

Too true. G is a man-whore.

[Zak Forsman]

Hey Big Zak,
Nice BTS.

thanks luis. it was totally impromptu. just started asking them some questions. had about an hour of material. cut it that night. graded and mixed it the next day and voila!

[Marlon Ladd]

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/3462/dsc04587nx4.jpg

WTF????

[Zak Forsman]

WTF????

ask kholi.

[Kholi]

Owlstanding!!!

[bosindy]

The BTS video was great, good luck finishing up, it seems like a good one.

[Mark Johnson]

I saw the rough cut and .... DAMN!!!!!!

Seriously .... this f*cker is a contender. ......

My hat is off to Matty G. and this kickass film!:

http://www.archivisuals.com/MattySteamRoller.jpg

[Geoff_R]

Hey Matty, you realize you have banners for both other films but not your own...what gives?

[dvpixl]

that was a great doc video. very watchable. looks like tons of fun.

[Matty_g]

I don't have time to make a Banner for my film. Maybe sometime tomorrow.

[Blaine]

Hey Matty, you realize you have banners for both other films but not your own...what gives?I see you only have WTHL for a banner...:evil:

[Geoff_R]

Maybe if I have time tomorrow as well...

[Slimothy]

So, counting Jack's entry, this is at least the second LoveFest shot on the RED. The frames I've seen from this one are awesome. Man, that latitude sure looks good. Rock on Matty G.

[Mark Johnson]

Matty, that RED ONE is SICK!!!!!!!!!!! I can't wait to shoot on one for ourselves some day soon. Congrats on pulling everything together and especially for putting together such a nice edit on the rough I got to see.

You guys are going to kill in this fest.

[mentatDUKE]

Just watched the BTS and loved it. A lot of great insight into the creative process. Well-shot too. All BTS should be shot in scope. :)

Looking forward to this film even more now.

[Matty_g]

what's funny is the film isn't even in scope.

[Zak Forsman]

what happened yesterday? kevin said zach was coming in yesterday to do some sound work, but he never made it in?

[Matty_g]

I had to get the picture lock done before he could start sound.
Maybe we can come in tonight?

[Zak Forsman]

yeah, just give kevin or jamie a heads up. i'm back in adam sandler hell today -- working off site.

[Mr. Vegas]

Sorry dude. Hey, you should just augment it with footage from Heart of Now!

[Matty_g]

We had a pretty big breakthrough in the edit today.
Simplicity is key.

[Geoff_R]

Nice new banner! :)

[Matty_g]

it's what came out at 2a.m. last night.
I wanted to have SOMETHING for my own entry.

[Mr. Vegas]

Now that we've been outed on our use of the Red I think its time to show our little Matty G in action.

-never mind, that picture was way too big. More on their way.-

[Mr. Vegas]

Sorry about the size. I'm a dumbass.

[Zak Forsman]

Sorry about the size.
how many times have we heard that? i have some pics, i'll email some forum friendly versions to you to post.

[Marlon Ladd]

Will def. check out the BTS when I get away from work.

[Kyle Stebbins]

i love the banner's font treatment, matty. freakin SICK!

i read that you were "outed" on your use of the red... so it's a no-go, huh?

[Mr. Vegas]

No we got to use it, it just wasn't talked about until recently.

[Mark Johnson]

So post a friggin' picture of the damn thing. I'm going to give you 12 hours and if I don't see Matty with the RED I'm going to post one of mine and it won't be Matty holding the sucker, either!

[Zak Forsman]

if you look closely at my behind the scenes, you can see some still images loaded in the Final Cut Pro windows.

[Matty_g]

We're recording a few wild tracks of audio today and are starting the sound mixing!

[Mark Johnson]

We're recording a few wild tracks of audio today and are starting the sound mixing!

I know the perfect track for your opening ...

[Matty_g]

If we can't get the rights to the one we really want can i just record you singing it Mark?

[Mr. Vegas]

Actually, can we just re-shoot our film so it's just a loving music video tribute of Mark singing?

[Matty_g]

Yes, yes we can Zach.

[Mark Johnson]

I've been doing that f*cking ".... eah ..... eah......eah ....... " all day you bastards. It won't get out of my head!

[Matty_g]

We're having trouble coming up with a kick ass soundtrack for this puppy.
Still trying to contact any bands that fit that might be interested in helping out.

The sound work did not get done tonight but i'm going to be testing out http://www.redhax.net/wiki/RedTrip
generating a xlm in final cut and processing the r3d files a lot faster. Here's hoping.

[jenningsp]

you know i play guitar and keys and am pretty bored. i could nock up something pretty quick and dirty just for lovefest if you're interested.

[Matty_g]

Rendering footage.
12 hours.
Time to take a nap.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Rendering footage.
12 hours.
Time to take a nap.Seriously??

Holy crap! Why so long...?

[Matty_g]

we're doing the batch conversion from the 4k r3d files to 1080 prores for the color correction.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Damn RED camera... :evil:

[Slimothy]

Well, i was doing it wrong.
Turns out it only takes 9 hours, and I need to find somewhere else to do it.

[Matty_g]

^ that was me.

[Tom Marshall]

^ that was me.

[hunter richards]

ouch, the inconvenient truth about the RED work flow. TRANSCODING TIMES! I feel for you.

[Zak Forsman]

^ that was hunter.

[Matty_g]

it's 20 hours of rendering on your computer zak :/

I'll have to finish at mark's tomorrow.

[kevinkshah]

i'm useless without my bay

ok, it's for a good cause

kevin

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Good luck with the render guys.
:beer:

[Mr. Vegas]

Kevin we love you dearly for all the bay usage.

[Zak Forsman]

it's looking grim here... it's going to be very, very tight... down to the wire... please send positive energy Matt's way... he could use it.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Get'er done!!

Sacrifice a chicken if you have to! A rat will do in a pinch.

[Zak Forsman]

how about a bucket form KFC? does that count? wait, matty is vegetarian.... who's got some tofurkey?

[kevinkshah]

I've always said there's always ultimately one person that pushes a film foward to the end, that keeps the candle lit in the darkest hour. This man on 6"45RPM EP is MATT GARRETT. He is a true filmmaker in every sense of the word. May the powers of the processors and the production gods grant this hero among men a reprieve. Let this man finish is Lovefest entry! Sorry to slow you down with my calls "is the bay free yet, etc." I wasn't going to come in until you finish...!
good luck holmes

[Mark Johnson]

Matty stands erect when others cower. He embodies vituperative violence when others display only the pretense of temerity. When the doddering curmudgeons (like Blaine) stand in confusion waving their arms to the heavens imploring for mercy from the mods, Matty looks coldly and without the heart of those who eat protein. Indeed, he delivers the raison d' etre for going forward. he picks up his fish and says calmly, "Let me eat cake!" How can you stand in the way of a man like this?

[siniarch]

God Speed!!!!

[Mark Johnson]

Satan Speed, Matty

[Matty_g]

I lose submission chicken.
The first render we got was 49.7 MB!

[Mark Johnson]

Go f*ck yourself Matty. (Tim asked me to say that)

[Matty_g]

28s upload :P

[siniarch]

So you got it in. NICE WORK.

[Matty_g]

Hey Luis, can I stay at your place tonight?

[siniarch]

that was our little secret. (hahahah)

[siniarch]

just kidding. yeah man, don't drive home all sleepy and crash.

[Matty_g]

grabs going up as soon as I get home.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Looking forward to your work.
I guess we are the only RED comrades this fest.

[Zak Forsman]

please post them in full 4K. i can take it.

[Matty_g]

Please give me your intel mac so I can do so.

[Slimothy]

Cool banner Matty. Looks good.

Tim.

[Blaine]

grabs going up as soon as I get home.Waiting (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXGhvoekY44)

[Zak Forsman]

matt, all of those files you need from last night are up on the idisk. snag 'em!!!!

[Mark Johnson]

So, the word on the street is that Matty G has been talking some serious smack about how he's gonna walk away with first prize. Pretty cocky, Matty Man. Hope you can deliver on that big talk. We shall see.....

[siniarch]

Well Mark,
I think it has something to do with me being on his crew during all his shooting days, where as, I was only on one of your days, and on none of the other contestants crew (that I know of).

[Zak Forsman]

i've seen it. not a chance. he should be embarrassed. i'm surprised he bothered to upload it, frankly.

[Matty_g]

GRABS

I did not have time to color grade any of my film. Here are a few grabs from it. Let me see what you can do with them!

http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/6inch3.jpg

http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/6inch2.jpg

http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/6inch6.jpg

http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/6inch5.jpg

http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/6inch4.jpg



http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/6inch.jpg

[Dustin R. Rogan]

excellent grabs sir

[Matty_g]

thank you sir

More updates, CHECK IT (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=123864)

[bosindy]

hey hey grabs. oh sweet red one, how I love the shallow depth of field you capture.

[Matty_g]

We tried not to get too shallow.
One, because I was handheld and pulling focus at the same time and two because of improv. no marks. We did have a ff with a speed crank set up.
We mostly used a 24mm and 40mm lenses.

Also, we used luis's Carrion monitor on board for focus. That with red's 2x magnification made focus by eye pretty easy.

[Kholi]

hey hey grabs. oh sweet red one, how I love the shallow depth of field you capture.

Looks kinda... professional... doesn't it?

Tally it up for a perfect example of proper framing and use of selective focus.

[Mark Johnson]

Looks kinda... professional... doesn't it?

Tally it up for a perfect example of proper framing and use of selective focus.

Matty is the sh*t. It was amazing watching him work. Seriously. I got so worked up I had to take a nap.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Excellent grabs. Love the flava of the piece. Looks quirky, real, original. Nice location too and everyone in the cast has a great look.

Pretty interesting.

[Mark Johnson]

and everyone in the cast has a great look. ...

At least two of the actors were recent transplants from New York, Jack. Maybe that's why you like the look so much.

[Tom Marshall]

Matty, your grabs look like crap. You should be ashamed of yourself...

[Slimothy]

Also, we used luis's Carrion monitor on board for focus. That with red's 2x magnification made focus by eye pretty easy.

Dude, that monitor was friggin awesome! Need to get me one of those.

[Tom Marshall]

Dude, that monitor was friggin awesome! Need to get me one of those.

Is that the one you used on the Nude shoot?

[Blaine]

They shot nude?!? :shocked: Gross...:zombie_smiley:

[siniarch]

Hey Tommy,
Naw, they used a Marshall for the shoot (on camera) and my Samsung 23" lcd for Video Village.
I had my 8.4" monitor mounted on Brians crane, but they never used the crane.
ps: what happened to you guys for Super Bowl. I invited Brian and told him to bring you?

[Tom Marshall]

Hey Luis,
What Video Village thing are you talking about? Did I miss something? :huh: I remember your 8.4" on Brian's crane (which he no longer has).

As for the Superbowl thing, I sent you a PM.

[siniarch]

well, what I mean is they had the marshall set up on the camera on the dolly, and then they fed a cable to my 23" LCD screen which they put to the side. So Tim was watching the 23"LCD away from the camera. (video village)

My 8.4" was on the crane that didn't get used. :(

No worries about the superbowl.

[Marlon Ladd]

Really like the grabs. At first I was trying to figure out where it was, but didn't take long to figure it out. Good luck.

[Mark Harris]

Grabs look great guys.

[Matty_g]

Thanks!
I want to see people's take on the cc!

[Mark Johnson]

Matty G. , I read your book you sonofabitch!!!!

[Matty_g]

i don't even know what that means.

[Mark Harris]

Hey, can you throw up one 1080 grab, super high quality? For me? Please?

[Matty_g]

sadly, I don't have an intel mac (or even my hard drive with the footage on it) right now.
Those grabs were actually pulled from the quicktime of my entry.
If there's one you really want to try let me know and i'll get you a 4k tiff of it ;)

[Mark Harris]

well mainly I just wanted to get a gander at RED dynamic range in a better a higher-res image. So anything in some darkness, like the guy standing outside the record shop, would be awesome.

[Danielleus]

Yer grabs scare me they're so awesome. What're you shooting on again? I really look forward to it. And I really love your title. Can't wait. You have time to CC the film or was it just the grabs that got left behind?

[Matty_g]

haha i don't think we were trying to scare anybody but, thanks.

the grabs arn't cc'ed and neither is the film. wound up not having ANY time to touch that stuff.
We shoot on the Red One.

[Mr. Vegas]

Good choices on the grabs man.

[Zak Forsman]

Thanks!
I want to see people's take on the cc!

here's my pitch, more or less... i don't remember what y9u said your original intentions were... before/after...

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/8854/6inch2ccmc5.jpg

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/7761/6inch4ccvl8.jpg

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/1184/6inch6ccsn1.jpg

[Danielleus]

Beautiful.
So what did you like about the Red one? I was reading on one of the threads somewhere about how it might just be overkill to shoot with the Red and then have to compress to 50mb. What's your take on it? You feel like it was worth it (for here. Obviously probably worth it for our own overall consumption).

Zak, nice work with the still.

[Zak Forsman]

Beautiful.
So what did you like about the Red one? I was reading on one of the threads somewhere about how it might just be overkill to shoot with the Red and then have to compress to 50mb. What's your take on it? You feel like it was worth it (for here. Obviously probably worth it for our own overall consumption).

Zak, nice work with the still.

I don't it was overkill -- Matty expects this short to have a life beyond LoveFest.

[Matty_g]

Beautiful.
So what did you like about the Red one?

Like Zak mentioned, I'm hoping to submit this to other festivals.
Not only that but I would like to get more jobs with the red.
What better way to do that than show people what you've done with it?

Not only that but it really increased the speed on set lighting for 320 asa instead of 100 asa at night.

http://www.mushyproductions.com/6inch/6inch4graded.jpg
playin' around

[dvpixl]

I was trying out some grading for these as well, and pretty much came up with what Zak did- it calls for some yellowish grime look with the record store n' all.

it does look compressed however but still holds details. no adapter fuzziness. I mean right off the bat, you can tell its not any other camera out there. even at this size. I cannot wait to get my own and cannot wait to check this film out.

[siniarch]

Danielleus,

I think Matt didn't stress the Light qualities enough. I mean we pretty much shot with available light and used some Kinos to just brush some light here and there. With an HVX, we would have needed a huge light to bounce into the room to bring the ambiance light up and then more light for key and fill. I mean this saved on setup cost and time. Huge Huge Huge.

(on a night shoot, you might consider renting a red. the money you save on generators, Hmi, stands, and extra grips could cover the extra cost of the red so it could be a wash. but you would save on setup times and be less noisy. Just a thought)

As the 1st AC, I liked all the possibilities of the red. I mean this fricken thing has so many ways to set it up with so many mounting holes that it lets you adjust it to your heart's content. We were able to get the monitor in a really good spot for the Operator (Matty_G) and also so the director could see it.
When we were in tight spaces, the battery module went from behind the camera to on top of the camera. (that dual rail system works great)

The sucker's heavy though and both Matt and I felt our old arch enemy at work all night "Gravity"

Another thing that was great were the lenses. I mean this was my first time with real Cinema Lenses. I know they cost an arm and a leg, (more than the red for 5 lenses) but what a pleasure to pull focus with these. The marks on the lens are dead on accurate, and the lens has so much travel and is so smooth, it really makes the pulling focus a lot easier in comparison to a Nikon still lens. (I didn't end up pulling focus. Matt is so awesome that he did that while having the camera on his shoulder)

And finally the thing about the size of the image is great because you can zoom in and re-frame in post, and if you have ever shot RAW files from a high end Digital Still Camera, you know how much controll of the image you have when you bring it into your computer. That is similar to what Red does. (although I haven't been involved in post, its what I've been told)

[Slimothy]

echoing what Luis has said, the lighting achieved with so little was pretty damn amazing.

[Matty_g]

it does look compressed however but still holds details.


These grabs are not a good example of what the camera can do

4k r3d > 1080 prores > 50mb quicktime > pict. grab > resaved in photoshop because i couldn't get jpg's out of the quicktime

you have much more leeway further up in the chain.

[dvpixl]

no, seriously. I know. I believe you. I've seen some RED footage up and close myself.

The RED is all I think about these days.

[Robert Eldon]

Great location guys! Did you use the CARRION monitor? I'm looking forward to seeing this and good luck with the 'future' ventures that this may create!

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

SPOILERS:


Really nice movie guys. I loved the music and the location, very sweet. The image looked fantastic as well.

The actors were VERY good and seemed perfect for each role. The framing was also excellent. There was a pretty big continuity error with the headphones when he first takes them off but I'm assuming you had no choice and had to use the following shot.

The time flew by as well, which is a great sign!
Nice work guys.

Mike

[Steve Strickland]

With the cool BTS clips and intriguing title, this was the first LoveFest short I watched.

I really enjoyed the story and it brought back good memories of working in record stores. The characters were believable and the bet was something I could have seen my co-workers and me doing during a slow shift.

The music selections were great, and they added a playfulness to the film.

I kept watching the film to get the secret behind the title. I'm a record hound and have several hundred 7" eps, but not one 6"er. Is there a secret meaning to the title? If so, clue me in.:laugh:

Techinically, besides a couple of continuity errors, it was superb. I think I read that not much additional lighting was used. Whatever you did, you nailed the record store vibe.

[disjecta]

Matty, I want your Red :)

This kind of humor is difficult to pull off but I thought your actors did a great job.

Some of the framing felt off to me but given the nature of the shooting style, I think it worked well.

Nice work :)

[Matty_g]

Hey, thanks guys!

The 6" is a reference to how it is supposed to be a six min. short.
Nothing too clever or anything.

[Steve Strickland]

Hey, thanks guys!

The 6" is a reference to how it is supposed to be a six min. short.
Nothing too clever or anything.

Ah ha! Thanks, I never even thought of that.

[dvpixl]

great work people. I was impressed overall and I think you can take this short to places. Being that it's a RED shoot, I have the impulse to over criticize. But I wont. The images were beautiful, great location, simple, easy to wrap around story. Great sound. fantastic. There were couple of times when focus was off but still... great all around short film.

nice.

[Kyle Stebbins]

OMFG

hey guys, great work on this. totally loved it.

your actors were phenomenal and TOTALLY believable. (something i havent seen in any of the fest entries yet.)

great location, awesome actors, and hilarious story.
you guys have got talent that i can only dream of.

keep it up.

[Brandon Rice]

My reviews will be made up of three separate categories. One for technical, which includes cinematography, lighting, editing, sound mixing, and score. One for performance which includes the acting. One for writing which includes the script, and story. And then I will summarize up my thoughts in the overall section. I plan to do my best to review each film like this in detail.

6” 45rpm EP

Writing
Well done. Everything felt natural, and even though this story was really simple, it really worked. I loved the scene where he’s trying to get her out of the store. Great stuff!

Acting
Perfect! Your actors nailed these characters! Wow!

Technical
Loved the look! Very natural. Nice. The editing was well done overall, other than the headphone continuity error. But overall it flowed perfectly! I loved everything!

Overall Thoughts
Definitely one of my favorites this time around. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen anything you’ve directed before, but this was just fantastic! There isn’t much to say, because everything worked so well for me here! Great way to use one location, a simple story, and some quirky characters to make a dynamite short!

[Slimothy]

I'm biased since I worked on this sucka, but I've been too busy to actually see the final version and I really think you nailed it! The characters were funny, Oliver is a fu cking animal. That dude is going places.

Loved the cinematography, seriously think it's some of the most cinematic yet. This is def. in my top 3 so far.

Tim.

[Jared Meyer]

I keep finding new favorites. This one is it so far. An excellent short.

The Red shines and this looks so very cool. Straight out of the big leagues.

Every one of the actors was awesome. Never missed a beat and they had me the whole way. It's rare in these fests, so far, that there's nothing distracting in one actor's performance, let alone four of them.

Story was simple, funny, effective. I laughed out loud at a few parts and I had a warm fuzzy feeling at the end, so good work :thumbsup:

Soundtrack really helped the record store vibe. Sounded great.

I'm sure you realized this in the edit but there's a continuity issue with the headphones going back on his head. Besides that, I really can't think of anything to critique. :)

[Ted Arabian]

Cool freakin' Film, Matt! I loved the feel of this a lot!

So well executed. The camera moves felt perfect, the editing was right on, the color was appealing (except for the stuff in the bathroom. Seemed like there was some lightening done in post or something. The picture there wasn't as nice as the rest of this film to me.)

I really enjoyed the story. Very simple and entertaining.

Performances were dead-on!

Sound design and soundtrack was awesome!

Well done!

I'll be watching this again!

Congrats,

Ted

[Mark Johnson]

Matty G., you know what I think of this one ....... .... you RULE!!!!! To be real honest, when I was on set (well, when I wasn't sleeping under the record racks) I was skeptical. Turns out that you were getting gold, my man. I like to mess with you sometimes but I can't say anything but seriously good stuff after seeing how well you cut this one.

[Gohanto]

Amazing, my favorite one that I've watched to this point. Reminded me a bit of High Fidelity for obvious reasons.

Perfect performances, great sound, everything here just works.

Having one of the employees throw stuff at the other guy yelling at him was my favorite part.

Honestly, I can't even find a new suggestion on how to improve. Awesome job.

[Noel Evans]

The acting of the guy with headphones and the nerd shone for me. Matty your focus was spot on... a critisism Id probably have of some of the entries, so thank you for taking the time. Looked great, acting was very enjoyable - the simple "help" by your nerd was absolutely perfect. Great job!

[Erik Olson]

That moment where he went to get the kid out of the bathroom was perfect in pitch. A great transitional moment. The RED certainly brought something to the piece even though there was nothing in the lighting design that called attention to it.

Story is king and your actors delivered it perfectly.

e

[Zak Forsman]

I think that's what I admire most about this short, Erik. It wasn't a "showroom piece" for the Red One. the story and characters were pushed to the forefront.

[kurtmo]

I liked the cinematography. Well chosen shots. The location was well chosen. I liked the characters and enjoyed the story. It was simple idea, but you took it and ran. I enjoyed the way the characters ignored one another at time; makes it natural and organic. The music was also well done.

[Dustin R. Rogan]

Fantastic!!!

[Mark Harris]

Hey guys, obviously great work. I agree with Zak, my favorite thing about it was that you did not labor to show us how great the RED is. You just told your story, simply, honestly, and directly. The performances were loose and natural, and the story sweet and human.

Nice work.

Oh yeah, as much as I liked seeing you guys sitting at the editing station, I would love to see some BTS about working with RED in a handheld shoot.

[Jason Ramsey]

Wow. This piece just felt very comfortable. Acting was superb from everyone in the cast and that's not something you often see.

I dont' have much to say about this one. Another piece that was just quite simple and highly effective, and didn't try to tell too much story within the given format. A perfect fit for the fest, and an excellent job.

Thanks for sharing.
Later,
Jason

[MDCFILMS]

Loved it! Our Favorite!

[Matty_g]

Thanks so much! We really did luck out with our cast. We had VERY short notice and the selection choice was a no brainer.

Noel - you can hide a lot of focus issues at 720 x 360 :lipsrseal
But really, we shot this piece VERY loose and I'm very happy with how it turned out.

Mark - Sadly there aren't many pictures from the set. I'll double check my 2nd AC Sam Krueger's pics.
With going hand held the red grips were OK, but because of time issues I was pulling my own focus. I had one hand on the 19mm rods and one on the ff. After each take i'd pretty much dump the camera to Luis. Sam Took care of all the cards/lens swaps.
Any other questions just let me know.

[dvpixl]

even if this wasn't shot on a RED but with a decent 35 adapter goin on, it would've been one of my top picks.

[Cliff Wildman]

i enjoyed this one. nice, light, playful. looked great, sound was good. acting was pretty solid. ***potential spoiler***

i do have to say i thought that the story didn't pay off like i thought it would. i was expecting some kind of twist, some really creative way that the store clerk would push the two together. i felt kind of let down that he just pushes him out and says 'go talk to her.' i don't have anything concrete to suggest as an alternative, but thought it was going to go one more step that it didn't.

still enjoyed it very much. it had a kind of 'it's always sunny in philadelphia' meets 'high fidelity' feel to it. well done!

[Robbie Comeau]

Hey man,

I loved this. The RED camera really is something. You going to post a high res version up?

The acting was great, and the music was great. Location, and sound was awesome as well!

The story really didn't do anything for me, though. That's the only negative response I got for ya. Everything else was superb!

Robbie

[HBlack]

That was really cool, one of the top few I've seen so far. It had it's own distinct feel to it, which I liked. The music fit it so well I barely noticed it. Lighting, cutting, camera work, sound, all seamless.

Only thing that got me was the blatant continuity error at :56 with the headphones. Really too bad about that.

[mentatDUKE]

Matt and Vegas, this film was a lot of fun for me. My favorite romantic comedy of all time is Hi Fidelity, so I was very curious to see what you guys would do with a similar setting. I think you all did well. This felt like a scene from a feature. The acting was really great. The guy with the headphones was especially great. The record store had nice, built in production design. The clothing and the colors that each character wore lent itself to the visual style also.

My only gripe is the ending. I HAD to know how the shy character finally got through to the girl and what special advice headphones guy gave to facillitate this. I was disappointed that these questions weren't answered. But you definitely had me care about the world and characters you established, so that says a lot.

Looking forward to more from you guys. I think I can honestly say this was a beautiful movie.

[Matty_g]

The continuity error with the headphones is because a whole little scene got cut out to make the piece more simple. I showed it to a small group of people and nobody caught it so I just ran with it. It actually took me quite some time to catch it.

We intentionally left it up to people's imaginations to wonder what he was told by store clerk and what he was telling the girl at the end.

[Kholi]

6" 45RPM EP -- Zach and Matty haz musiks and hookupz for us -- Spoilerish

You already know what I think. You already know what I said. If I'm wrong I'll eat a shoe, f00. With that, here comes a public review... for all the "love birds", y'know?

Organic. This is the perfect term for this short. It is, in every way, organic. From the natural pace, to the acting, to line delivery (HALP!) to the damned image itself. This is an all A+ grade piece and I'm glad that you two put it together.

Dynamic performances really, seriously, completely stomp all over all other attempts. I can't believe you two found such great actors. Every single one of them nailed their character portrayal, lines and emote VERY well. Their delivery times out. Ugh. It's disgusting how well the acting is here. It's above and beyond and only rivaled (from the ones I've watched, I'm going down the list) by one other. Truly great.

And whoever wrote the dialog (I know h00), hats off t'ya. It works in this cut. There's no lingering on the unimportant. Each and every line moves the piece toward an ultimate end. Yum. If I had anything to say about the actual story/tale itself it would be the end where she stabs him with a kiss. It's very visual, I just am still not sure if it feels "tacked" on. It works in some ways, in others (if I think too hard about it) it's off. Either way, it doesn't HURT anything. A straight-forward no-twists-needed example of short writing. =( Why can't I do this?

And when can I take some camera operatin' classes from Matty_G? Handheld all the way AND pullin' your own focus. Too sick for television. It's so nice to see compositions that are not comprised of hyper-shallow backgrounds. Well used wides and tights, and pretty friggin' spot-on focus marks bein' hit. The racking wasn't gratuitous by any means, in my opinion. It all just worked.

And to that end, everything coalesced incredibly well. Take it beyond this, you guys.

Wish I could've driven south that weekend to help out!

[Matty_g]

Hey Kholi,
We did shoot an alternate ending where she kicks him in the nuts and then curbstomps him.



not really

[Kholi]

Hey Kholi,
We did shoot an alternate ending where she kicks him in the nuts and then curbstomps him.



not really

You got me excited. =\

[Chris Messineo]

I thought this was great. I especially loved the actors. The whole thing had a great vibe to it. The music was perfect

I wish there was a little more of a twist at the end/climax (but that is a small complaint).

I really enjoyed this a lot.

[bosindy]

This was one of the better films in the fest. It had very good acting, the guy also in Mark's film was a find. The handheld worked well for the story.

any one that worked a few months in retail realizes how the unsupervised boredom can make these bets happen. The story didn't do too much, preferring a less is more approach. I thought it could of had a greater payoff at the end, but I haven't really thought about what it would be, without going over the top.

Overall really nice work. congrats.

[Bernie Hipos]

I love this movie, great actors...they're natural. Great image quality, it's RED ONE of course but the main thing here is the content. The story is really great. Two thumbs up on this one.

[Billy Pilgrim]

Wonderful film. The acting was great, very natural and believable. The story was very original, and simple, but engaging, and funny. And the end didn't seem contrived or unbelievable, and it worked well, considering the time limit. It could have been rushed, but it really flowed naturally. I dug the music and photography too.

[Brian Parker]

Great film guys and it had an almost warm fuzzy nostalgic air because of my love/hate relationship with those old retail days. Liked the cast and the whole presentation brought me into the location. Awesome.

[wartez]

great work matty g, one of the top films in the fest for me. i'd never seen any of your work before this and i am more than impressed. it's clear you had a major role in the look and design of 3 of the fest's sexiest films and i imagine i'm not the only one that has noticed this. i very much look forward to seeing your future work.

thanks and congratulations brother!

[MattinSTL]

Dude this is very good. I mean really good. It's GREAT in fact. This is almost perfect on nearly every level... the pacing... the casting... THE ACTING... the story.

I think that momentum is everything in these fests... you get thread count early on and if the flick is good then the snowball is already rolling. I'm not saying that the top thread count flicks aren't great, because they ARE... but this is right up there with the best man. This is incredible... I could watch these guys every week.

OK... literally if I had to try to find ONE thing that I could criticize (watched it twice) is when the guy flicks on the other guy's headphones and proposes the bet... the headphone guy looks up and then the two cut comes in with him looking down again instead of still looking at the other guy... which many people wouldn't even think about anyway... I'm just saying... that is ALL I could criticize about it.

Even the sound was first rate... I mean FIRST rate. In at least one of the other films that I raved on... the sound is good at times and actually kind of bad at times... like dialog fading away from mic placement... but this one is spot on. ALL spot on. I love everybody in this... it's great... all simply great.

9.5 out of 10.

I hope to see this flick gaining some momentum soon... we have some great films in this fest, but man... this is 100% commercial right now. I guarantee that you will have this on the Sundance Channel or in a lot of festivals... and I'll further that by saying that I'll be surprised if somebody doesn't contact YOU before you have to shop this project around. It's very very good. Even the DOF control is nearly perfect... no wandering and no "interpretive" shots... simply virtually perfect DP on this.

Wow. Just wow.

[Matty_g]

Chris - thanks a lot man. One of the things I was really worried about was the music. We contacted quite a few bands to get festival rights to their songs and we were turned down a lot. Maybe it because I could only show them the rough cut and back then, it was rather rough. I asked a few local ska/reggae bands and they were MORE than helpful. The middle song I even got the lyrics taken off of. It was such a great experience. If you ever need anything like it contact these bands. They're listed on the 1st page.

bosindy - that is such a great description of the short. Next time you're out here let me know man.

Billy - I was really looking forward to your entry man. If you ever need a camera op a little closer to l.a. let me know.

Champloo - that is awesome. I've never worked retail, and i'm not sure about zach. Good to know that it rings true.

wartez - dude, i really liked winter lilacs. It's my favorite visually of all of the entries. The other entries I worked on are good friends of mine. They both had clear visions of what they wanted accomplished and I believe we made that happen. It's such a good feeling. I haven't really done a lot of my own work since I moved out to l.a. from kentucky a year and a half ago. I think I'm going to start doing more. What really helped was having such a great group of people to help out. All friends working for free to get this puppy done.

MattinSTL - This means a lot from you man. I always loved reading your posts about lighting and it has really taught me a lot.
The sound was one thing that totally surprised me. Originally we were going to shoot sgpro + hvx and i was just going to run the sound through there. We did it on mark and tims shoot and it worked just fine. Then we had our auditions at SABI and i heard some of the audio from I F*ucking Hate you which used the sound devices external mixer and a sennheiser 416. I was blown away and immediately went to get a similar package. My old friend Ben who I used to work with at stupidvideos.com was the boom op and he did a great job. Booming is not really his thing but he is such a well rounded man on production. Mike did a great job mixing too. I think they were both kind of pissed to be working on sound hehe.

The headphone again! haha. yeah, it's there. It doesn't bother me. I was more concerned about the guy in green's (adam lash) hand because that is where my attention in. Like I said, we cut out a good 30seconds-1min. of dialogue there to make the whole piece more steamline. I'll live with the headphones thing :)

dvpixl - my hvx+sgpro rig was the backup! But lighting this store to get a 2.8 at 100 asa would have taken a lot more lights, time, and cars to haul all the lights around in that we didn't have. It was my first time working with cine primes too and I don't ever want to go back to my nikons (i know i will but these were sooooo nice)

[mentatDUKE]

Hi Matt. Regarding the Sennheiser 416. I thought conventional wisdom was "use a shotgun mic for outdoors and a hypercardioid for indoors". This is due to reflections and such. Have you found that the Sennheiser is a good all-purpose mic suitable for indoors, and found no need to get a hypercardioid mic?

Thanks for all the interesting info.

[Matty_g]

We had a hypercardioid also, but the store was a pretty big place and the shotgun worked well.

[hunter richards]

Great sound, nice music, This looks like a commercial type thingy you would see on mtv2 or something.

Anyways, great piece. Red or not.

My only question was, what was that guy really doing in the bathroom?

[Matty_g]

Do you really want to know Hunter?

[Jeremy Ordan]

Lots of talk thus far in regards to the camera used... I'm just going to talk about story.

This is a great tale, short, sweet, to the point and right away, my top pick. Great cast of actors, fun banter, and just a really nice witty piece.

My top pick of what I have seen. Great job.

[Darkline]

This was very well exectued. The writing was very natural and the story was simple but engaging.

Good acting, good techincal execution and all the best bits of High Fidelity. 11. 11. 11 right across the board.

[hunter richards]

Oh no, not that!

Did that have to be in the script? Is it required to transcode footage in redcine?

[MattinSTL]

I was going to post that the dopey guy couldn't have been cast better... but really the entire cast was absolutely perfect. There was nothing which caused one hard to believe moment... even the comedic break at the bathroom confrontation was perfect. I like the headphone guy... really both guys orchestrating this moment were spot on. The "hidden" motives in each of them were so well played... each guy kicks it up simply to win a stupid bet right after this philosophical conversation about long-term possibilities in a chance encounter. Even the girl was great... definitely attractive enough... to justify the dopey guy's various "issues".

You should be really proud... I've been talking about this short all day. I think it's under-rated at the moment. I'm really surprised that there isn't more buzz on it.

[Matty_g]

Hunter - the sound in the bathroom was totally an afterthought. We recorded some wild track of oliver mumbling to himself and I just picked one and threw it in. It just happened to sound like something else...

Jeremy - Thanks a lot man. I think the camera stuff keeps being brought up because i'm more of a technical guy and I feel more comfortable talking about that kind of stuff.

Darkline - I did look to high fidelity in terms of lighting a record store at night. Turns out, they didn't have one night scene inside the store!

Matt - Zach Sheehan did a great job of translating my one page outline into a cohearant script, and working with the actors. There was a lot of improv going on to help things feel a big more natural for the actors and I think it really payed off.

[hunter richards]

Oh ok that explains it...

[sean90291]

Hey. Great film. Excellent direction. Great look. Definitely one of the best dvxuser shorts I've seen in ANY fest.

[Matty_g]

Wow. Those are some VERY kind words sean.

Also, I just want to state that I did put the wrong title for the Steady Ups song. It's called "Just Looking"

[siniarch]

Hey Matt,
Well, it seems that your short is a hit. :)
Congrats man. I'll take a look at the final version and give you some thoughts.
Keep up the good work.
Luis

[Geoff_R]

Dude, I love this. Awesome job. As someone stated earlier, this is definitely one of the best films to come out of any fest. What's most amazing to me is just how well rounded it feels; very pro with such a clear, easy to understand story. Great cinematography, Matt, and big props to your director; it just works.

[jmc]

I really loved this one; great work! The characters and acting were spot on, and the camera work was terrific. I'm very impressed.

I took a shot at ccing a couple of grabs. I wanted it warmer, but I'm kind of sick of yellow, so I took it more towards red. I guess it's fitting, given the camera used :laugh:

http://www.mcclureart.com/photos/colorized_6inch.jpg

[KenV]

*Spoilers Coming*

Being a "sound guy" in filmaker's minds, this film stood out to me by name alone. At first the setting reminds me of "High Fidelity" and "Empire Records" and from seeing this short I automatically set my standard to those films. But, this short is also worthy of being up there in those films by production standard alone.

This seems to me like it could be a mini-series of the adventures that these two characters share in this records shop. A comedy if your will, in my mind at least.

But, on the grounds for the fest, I thought it was a good, but not that "awe" most would be looking for. I liked it sonically. Sound levels were spot on in my opinion.

Again I might be wrong about the visual element, but I'm only a lowly sound guy.

Make more films,

Sincerely,

KenV

[Zak Forsman]

*Spoilers Coming*

Being a "sound guy" in filmaker's minds, this film stood out to me by name alone. At first the setting reminds me of "High Fidelity" and "Empire Records" and from seeing this short I automatically set my standard to those films. But, this short is also worthy of being up there in those films by production standard alone.

This seems to me like it could be a mini-series of the adventures that these two characters share in this records shop. A comedy if your will, in my mind at least.

But, on the grounds for the fest, I thought it was a good, but not that "awe" most would be looking for. I liked it sonically. Sound levels were spot on in my opinion.

Again I might be wrong about the visual element, but I'm only a lowly sound guy.

Make more films,

Sincerely,

KenV

as a "sound guy", i'm sure you'll be thrilled to know it was mixed in Final Cut. :2vrolijk_08:

[MattinSTL]

This seems to me like it could be a mini-series of the adventures that these two characters share in this records shop. A comedy if your will, in my mind at least...

...But, on the grounds for the fest, I thought it was a good, but not that "awe" most would be looking for...

Make more films,

Sincerely,

KenV


I'm in total agreement with this... for my tastes this short is darn near perfect. I can't get over how solid it is. To build on what I said earlier... the casting is so spot on... the girl has a little of "Ann" from Arrested Development going... and the guy, ironically, is a lot like George Michael from the same show... coincidence that part of the bet was Wham!?

Anyway... I've carried my laptop around today showing all my local film buddies why we suck and you guys are the kings... it's only been you and a couple others who I feel worthy of such adoration.

True story. I was downtown today and this guy was going to jump from a window in this office building... I just happened to be a floor down... so I rushed in there and told him to just give me 5 minutes before he did... I stood there and played your short for him on my laptop... by the end we were both laughing and he came in off the ledge saying "life is good man... life is good".

OK well that may be a total lie, but I know that life is good when people are making stuff like this. Keep life good man... make some more films. :happy:

Previously I rated this at 9.5... it may well be a 10. If you win one of the prize packages be sure to do something nice for your actors and crew. Maybe you're already kicking ass in the industry, but if you aren't... you will be.

[Zak Forsman]

Matt IS kicking ass but if this short proves anything, it's that he should forego the AC gigs and go after DP jobs.

[Matty_g]

as a "sound guy", i'm sure you'll be thrilled to know it was mixed in Final Cut. :2vrolijk_08:

haha yeah, also, in about two hours. The sound was totally rushed and I could not be happier with how it turned out. Zach and Zak did an amazing job.


" coincidence that part of the bet was Wham!?"
That was a one time improv line. If only we could get the rights to WHAM to play for the song at the end. mannnnnn that would be great.

I'm definitely not kicking ass in the industry but I'm trying. Still trying to get this freelance thing to pay for my rent. Thanks for all your support matt.
If you're ever in l.a. lets do it up!

[Jeff Anderson]

I just watched this and it just may be my favorite. As other have stated its just solid in every regard. I watched it twice just to see if there was anything I could complain about and found one tiny thing - when the two employees are behind the counter, one takes his headphones all the way off and then in the next scene they are half off. Thats it. That's the only thing I could find. The music was great, the sound was impeccable, the acting was great, the look was great, the cinematography perfect, the story was good (fit the 6 minutes very well I thought) I wasnt left asking alot of questions and the story never dragged. I felt like I should be paying $14 to watch this or something.

OK someone explain the title to me. Yeah I know what an EP is and I know what a 45 is and that this one is a 6" one, but is there any signifigance beyond that I'm missing out on. A quick google showed that there are no 6" 45 RPM EP's (at least on the first two pages) - is this a comment on the rareness of true love?

[Matty_g]

a 7" EP is a 7 min. long set of songs.
a 6" EP is a 6 min. long short set in a record store.

[J.R. Hudson]

This was rad.

The talent, the story, the atmosphere. Completely loved this short.

I can see an entire movie out of this one. The two leads were fun !

Very nice !

[Geoff_R]

Matty, maybe this was answered somewhere else, not sure... but how was the production sound recorded? Straight into the RED or on a separate system? Also, what kind mic was used?

[J.R. Hudson]

This was a RED ?! agggggggggggghhh

me so jealous

[Mark Harris]

Matty, maybe this was answered somewhere else, not sure... but how was the production sound recorded? Straight into the RED or on a separate system? Also, what kind mic was used?

I think he said elsewhere that it was recorded separately with lavs. I think after seeing Zak do it on his short.

[Matty_g]

Thanks a lot Hudson!

Geoff - I still don't trust the red for any important sound. I wanted to get the sound devices mixer/recorder but we were rushed on time and got whatever cf recorder indie rentals had. That with either a sennheiser 416 and a scheppy mic that sam has.
I'm not much of a sound guy and went off some good recommendations.

[Jeff Anderson]

a 7" EP is a 7 min. long set of songs.
a 6" EP is a 6 min. long short set in a record store.

ahh 6 minutes - now I get it! Thanks!

[Geoff_R]

Thanks a lot Hudson!

Geoff - I still don't trust the red for any important sound. I wanted to get the sound devices mixer/recorder but we were rushed on time and got whatever cf recorder indie rentals had. That with either a sennheiser 416 and a scheppy mic that sam has.
I'm not much of a sound guy and went off some good recommendations.
Cool. Thanks, and let me know about that 85mm when you can :)

[Kegan]

I liked it. I thought the cinematography was excellent. I had to watch it a second time to really get into it though. Ending was funny, but a little cliche.

What a RED...

-Kegan

[J.R. Hudson]

Here's my CC attempt

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/1097/cccccccccchp9.jpg

[Matty_g]

Yeah, we did plan on shooting a few alternate endings but weather/time was not our friend. It would be a pretty complicated reshoot too :/

[William_Robinette]

Matt, Great job.

I actually loved the ungraded look you have going on. I would love to see more stories in this world with these characters.

[Matty_g]

Thanks a lot william.
I don't plan on doing anything too crazy cc wise. I do want a somewhat vintage look for the piece. I mostly want to fix a few exposure issues and add a gradient here and there.

[siniarch]

(JR Hudson) probably the best attempt at CCing that I've seen. Just maybe a little too yellow on the flesh tones. But Pretty close to what I would have done. the problem with the ungraded shots is that its to flat. You almost have to handle the skin tones separately than the rest of the shot.

The previous CC attempts seemed like they didn't fit the story. Though I like them, not quite the happy mood of this film.

[J.R. Hudson]

Tks Siniarch

I felt the same vibe off the skin tones. Good call.

[Kholi]

CoughcoughwhatItellyoucoughcough

[MattinSTL]

About the whole CC issue... I never would have looked twice at that had you guys not mentioned it... I thought the flick looked FINE, but since I don't want this to be a meaningless post I will grant you guys one of my very most important "secrets" that my local buds don't know about... almost 100% of my footage gets a bump in Vegas with contrast center pushed somewhere between 60-100% and the contrast itself being bumped SLIGHTLY... sometimes just a .08-.10 on the scale... you can see it plain as DAY... then hit unsharp mask and touch it with a feather. Trust me... it brings sh*t around QUICK... after that part coloring becomes a matter of taste because everything looks good. Try it... you'll be surprised. You're tempting me to post my own little CC trick... because there's nothing to it and it usually looks great.

http://elpricko.com/images/6_cc.jpg

[Drew Ott]

Matt I just tried that technique. It works well.

I don't mean to try to uncover all of your secrets, but what settings do you use for the unsharp mask?

I see the appeal of using it but I'm afraid that bringing up the sharpness too much might give my footage a video look.

Sorry for the thread hijack.

[MattinSTL]

That's why I said "touch it with a feather"... the unsharp works in conjunction with the contrast adjustment... you aren't trying to SHARPEN the picture detail... you're only sharpening the gradation of contrast. Either look at edges to be sure you're not over-sharpening... or else look at the total image with a loose eye and feel it... we're talking minor percentages here... "touch it with a feather". The slider never moves more then 10% or so... the only major move happens on "contrast CENTER". That will get the shadows deeper and pop your layers of light... as you see above. That was a rush tweek.

OK... back to the great flick at hand.

:-)

[Beat Takeshi]

This is the first movie I watched and I love it. The actors did a great job in this. The hand held was smooth enough not to bother me, I thought the lighting looked good and didn't need to be bumped any more. Yeah that trick looks good too but I thought it didn't need anything.

[Maximus]

"Great job, yeah. Congratulations." to quote your film.

Easily in my top three. Very assured filmmaking. Everything worked for me. Let me count the ways.
Story. For me this was an excellent example of a Cupid story without resorting to any fx at all (if there were fx, then I'm even more impressed, because I didn't see any, as it should be). Great writing.
Actors. Very well cast. Great performances. For me this had a bit of that Kevin Smith, Juno, McLovin, Napoleon Dynamite... mashup. Worked really well.
Music. Perfecto.
Cinematography. Excellento. I noticed some comments about cc work. Don't need it IMHO.
Climax of film, Kiss on cheek, and reactions, very good. Tag, short and sweet. Sweeeet!
I can't really think of any negatives, worth mentioning.

Excellent use of location. Everyone has access to at least one cool, unusual location, a laundromat, convenience store (Clerks ), garage, whatever. If you got it, flaunt it.

Great job! :thumbsup:

[Maximus]

A brief postscript.

After reading through the thread, I just realized your film was shot on the Red. Cool!

I'm convinced, however, that the fact that you used the Red, had only a miniscule effect on the overall quality.

Reds don't shoot movies, people do. :happy:

[Matty_g]

Thanks a lot Aram and Maximus (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/member.php?u=29533).

I was actually having trouble coming up with a story because there were no restrictions, and then my friend Dave said we could shoot in the record store.
Narrowing it down to a location like that really helped the story appear for me.

[J.R. Hudson]

A brief postscript.

After reading through the thread, I just realized your film was shot on the Red. Cool!

I'm convinced, however, that the fact that you used the Red, had only a miniscule effect on the overall quality.

Reds don't shoot movies, people do. :happy:

Agreed, 100%.

:beer:

[Marlon Ladd]

This was a very simple, been done before story, but even still it was excellent. Everything was good. I liked the cinematography, the acting was very real and believable and it was funny when it needed to be without going over the top. And the whole atmosphere of the store was too cool. I could see a whole movie being done in that store. The records, the posters. . .man, that place was artistic without trying to be. Very well done.

[Beat Takeshi]

I didn't know this was shot on the RED either and never thought about the quality at all watching this. Yes it looks good but I was actually thinking about what adapter you were using. :P The story pulled me right in with the natural acting and the location and it was only in a few places i had time to think about the image. Yup, I agree 100% also with John and Maxi.

[Chris Messineo]

I've been rewatching some of my favorite films and just wanted to say that this one continues to grow on me and I like it more and more with each viewing.

The performances are great and the end always puts a big smile on my face.

[MattinSTL]

I knew this wasn't an adapter job... at least based on all the adapters I've used... Redrock M2, Brevis, Letus... no way.

There was way too much control on the DOF... for the lighting to be so balanced without looking forced or fake... I don't think the RED made the movie, but I think it's a pretty good sales pitch for one. There was one rack that may have been slightly behind... but the DOF transition was gentle enough that nobody would notice... had it been a DOF adapter then you'd have to argue that it was an artistic choice or else be realistic about what DOF adapters do. Watch the flick again and notice the DOF control... it's excellent... because it's always right... there's no avoiding a video look or pursuing a film look... the short just happens... and looks right.

So far this is my top pick.

[Beat Takeshi]

I will go back and watch again and look at it for the image this time.

[Robert Eldon]

6" 45rpm EP
I liked this one a lot. Very cinematic and easy to watch. My favorite shot is near the beginning, two guys behind the counter with the rain in the background outside (I like rain). Lighting was consistent throughout. Good job on securing the location.

The acting was great. You did a good job of establishing the characters early in the film. Both of the store clerks were strong. My favorite dialog is when the guy offers 50% off, the girls says 'Are you serious', then he says 'No...absolutely, I'll give you...'. That was my favorite scene. The sound was excellent, not distracting in any way.

I have no technical critique, and I'm not in a position to offer any.

Complete story and well paced. I was interested in the outcome from the beginning. Fun to watch. Very well done. In my top 12.

[Matty_g]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to check this out.
I'm glad the camerawork doesn't pop out at you.
Everyone saying they just get sucked into the story is one of the best compliments ever!

[Shawn Philip Nelson]

Wow! Game over, this film won. I'll be watching others, but mostly as a dog-n-pony show to be fair, blah blah. Not just to be nice to the Red brethren, but because this movie would have been the best even if shot on a stock DVX100. Great story, great casting, great acting, great direction, great cinematography.

But above all, it felt right and I loved watching it!

[Matty_g]

Glad you enjoyed it shawn!

[Matty_g]

I found some bts polaroids in my room.
I'll scan them and throw them up later tonight.

[Zak Forsman]

i've got three... from Sam Krueger...

http://www.isarapix.com/pix88/1203320365.jpg

http://www.isarapix.com/pix31/1203320418.jpg

http://www.isarapix.com/pix81/1203320444.jpg

[Matty_g]

Checking lighting on the tripod. aww yeah.

[Shawn Philip Nelson]

Who's Red was this shot with?

[Zak Forsman]

Who's Red was this shot with?

shawn, try to think back to the week of January 12th. kinda fuzzy isn't it? i bet that whole week is just like a big black hole in your memory...
:2vrolijk_08::2vrolijk_08::2vrolijk_08:

[Kholi]

LOL. Mad stolez.

[Matty_g]

Shawn,
We used Sam Druckerman's number 81x.
It was it's inaugural shoot.

[Kholi]

Druckerman's RED will be used plenty this year, I predict. >:D 40mm please.

[Danielleus]

Hey just caught your piece. Loved it. Fantastic art direction. Good choice of location. It just lends itself so well to the colorful feel of this one.

Acting is great, direction is great, story is great. Really loved it. And, of course, it looked amazing. Nice work.

[KenV]

as a "sound guy", i'm sure you'll be thrilled to know it was mixed in Final Cut. :2vrolijk_08:

Final Cut, is a force to be wreckoned with. An even bigger force when combined with the right plugins.

But great sounding recordings always make for a better record. A mix engineer can only do so much, something I've learned along the way.

[Zak Forsman]

But great sounding recordings always make for a better record. A mix engineer can only do so much, something I've learned along the way.

Zach Seivers is a personal friend and the most talented sound designer I know... he would agree with you...

http://www.sabiforum.com/showthread.php?t=124

[Herman Witkam]

Most of all, I thought parts of it were pretty funny.

I liked the visual style.... Not too much cutting, but moving the camera instead.

0min 40sec sounds like a bad music edit. Or is it the record hanging? ;-)

[Matty_g]

Whatever you're hearing is in the song. We don't cut the songs at all. just fade them in and out.

[Herman Witkam]

Whatever you're hearing is in the song. We don't cut the songs at all. just fade them in and out.

hehe - ok. Well, it's sounds like there was an error in the original file then, cause musically it doesn't make sense. :)

[Zak Forsman]

hehe - ok. Well, it's sounds like there was an error in the original file then, cause musically it doesn't make sense. :)

herman, i know exactly what your talking about. i heard it too as i was mixing and it is, oddly, how the song was performed.

[Matty_g]

Reggae is CRAZY

[Texture]

Its a stretch, but these guys reminded me of Puck and his buddies working their magic.

I love the mischief and the record store setting brings me back to Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity" which I greatly enjoyed.

You've created something light and fun without veering to the saccharine.

This film catches the true spirit of the fest closer than any I've seen.

Its my favourite so far.

[SilverWolf]

I took a crack at the CC
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/9357/1203393200.jpg