Easy Water Films presents "Urashima, Inc." [Archive] - DVXuser.com -- The online community for filmmaking

krestofre

03-28-2008, 04:08 PM

Old promotional materials have been moved to an archive at

www.easywaterfilms.com/urashima.html (http://www.easywaterfilms.com/urashima.html)

BTS Pics.

http://www.easywaterfilms.com/timefest/village.jpg

Our Video Village, as it were. And, by George, what's that ZombieFest DVD doing there? I wonder.... :)

http://www.easywaterfilms.com/timefest/directing.jpg

Me directing Bryan Fitzgerald, the lead in Urashima, Inc. Note the Coppola-esq beard. Yes, I grew it only to get cool BTS pics of me looking "directorial."

http://www.easywaterfilms.com/timefest/sal.jpg

The dolly that we used for the shoot, hand built by our very own Nathan Pope. We call him Sal for short ... er the dolly, not Nathan. Sal doesn't make a lot of sense as a short name for Nathan.

http://www.easywaterfilms.com/timefest/golf.jpg

That ball kept screwing up his lines.

Ted Arabian

03-28-2008, 04:10 PM

Welcome Back! Good luck and happy shooting!

-Ted

Matt Sconce

03-28-2008, 04:11 PM

Cool! Glad you are in the fest!

krestofre

04-01-2008, 12:04 PM

Thanks guys!

One of the things I want to do with this Fest entry is to make it as much an excersice in Marketing as in Filmmaking. Ever since they started allowing promotion of the Fest entries I've always wanted to have the time to really attack that. Most of us are in positions where we have to sell our work or our talent and we don't just get things handed to us, so using out own little thread of DVXUser is a phenominal way to experiment and see how things go.

I'm also particularly fascinated with viral and social network marketing. I think the Fat Monster thread was brilliant in how much attention it generated by masking the title of the film and offering something to those who deciphered it. Fantastic! So how much of their attention is generated by their great ideas, and how much of it is generated by their personalities, and how much is generated by their continued BTS updates? As I try to figure this out for myself I'll be creating and posting as much ancillary marking material as I can without it becoming a strain on the film itself. Aside from the teaser poster, I've added a piece above. I'm not sure I'm crazy about the all-white background motif. Originally I thought that it worked, but now I'm not so sure.

Anyway, thanks for bearing with me and letting me think out loud. Tell me what you like, what you don't like, etc.

On the film front, the rough draft of the script is complete, working on polishing it. I'm talking to a potential lead actor now, and will look at a location tomorrow. Perhaps dangerously, the script was written for a very specific location, so I hope it all works out. If not I'll have some tweaking to do.

Simon Höfer

04-01-2008, 02:11 PM

Welcome to the fest! The postcard is definately a good one :) I like it, but there has to come alot more to create a buzz like the Fat Monster :D

jasonthewho

04-01-2008, 04:57 PM

Love the postcard!

I like the all-white look, but it does evoke a very specific feeling/mood. So since I know nothing about your project, I really have no idea how appropriate it is.

Best of luck!

krestofre

04-03-2008, 12:36 PM

Small update:

It's interesting to see how things change, at least for me it is. So, due to some unexpected changes in the script, the direction I was going for many of the promotional images is no longer accurate. I've updated the teaser poster, combining the two previous elements. This is more representative of the piece and less specific to a central aspect of the script, so I like how things are coming together.

I've moved the old images to a private archive page ... well, private in the sense that this is the only place the URL is published.

Thanks for wandering along with me as I think outloud.

hungrych

04-03-2008, 08:47 PM

Love the poster, good luck:D

krestofre

04-27-2008, 07:55 PM

Small update:

Leandro Gardini has agreed to compose the score for Urashima, Inc.

Shoot dates are May 16 & 17.

Mark Harris

04-27-2008, 09:10 PM

Ah sweet, I thought you had dropped off. Good luck!

Brandon Rice

04-27-2008, 09:43 PM

Just checked out your thread, looks cool! Good luck!

krestofre

04-27-2008, 10:37 PM

Ah sweet, I thought you had dropped off. Good luck!

Not getting rid of me that easily. :)

I've been putting a lot of polish on the script, and I've been more swamped with new clients lately, so I haven't been able to do as much ancillary material.

I've got a full BTS crew scheduled for the shooting of the short, so I hope to post some cool stuff after production wraps. First thing on my list: a banner. My signature feels naked at the moment.

krestofre

05-12-2008, 06:07 PM

Funny update ... well, funny now.

We thought that the lead actor in Urashima, Inc. broke his ankle. The diagnosis today (after waiting a week to find out) is that he just badly sprained it and is on crutches. But the best part is we're pushing forward with the shoot with him still in the lead role, and no, we're not rewriting it for the main character to be on crutches. That's dedication people!

Brings new meaning to the term "break a leg." (Yeah, I used the joke first so that no one else could.)

krestofre

05-28-2008, 01:14 PM

Time for an update.

Urashima, Inc. is the first film I've shot that has changed dramatically in the editing room. Everything I've done before has more or less stayed the same from script to screen. Urashima gave me a bit of a scare when I laid down everything on the timeline as written in the script and ... it was awful! It just did not translate from page to screen at all.

Suddenly I was filled with thoughts that I'm a sham. I have no filmmaking talent. I've been deceiving everyone around me and finally I'm going to be found out and relegated to a fate of "click here next" software training videos. My life is a lie!

And then I tossed the script out the window, pulled myself up by my bootstraps (even though I don't own a pair of boots, let alone a pair with straps), and started to recreate the picture in the editing room. Now the film is leaner, better paced, and I'm happy with it. All good things.

As a huge fan of Walter Murch, and having read as many accounts of his editing work as I can get my hands on, I had always wanted an experience where the film became something new in the edit. A film that takes on a life of it's own away from the script, as a living, breathing, thing. Urashima has done that in a sense and on a small scale. I can now say that I hope it never happens again. Please stick to the script from now on. Thanks. :)

BTS pics have been posted at the top of this thread. Thanks for reading.

Brandon Rice

05-28-2008, 02:13 PM

Yay! Editing rocks!

Can't wait to see this film!

Mark Harris

05-28-2008, 02:13 PM

Wow, talk about being in the rough. I'm buying you a lawn mower for X-mas:

http://www.easywaterfilms.com/timefest/golf.jpg

:)

Yeah, it's the thing about a screenplay that doesn't really hold true for any other written form(not even plays), is that it's only ever really part of the story. It's pretty common for the thing to take on its own being only when you have the footage. Glad you're not a sham.

krestofre

05-28-2008, 02:29 PM

Wow, talk about being in the rough. I'm buying you a lawn mower for X-mas:

LOL. The tall grass was originally a plot point, but it didn't survive the cut. :Drogar-KnockedOut(D

krestofre

06-16-2008, 12:56 AM

In the home stretch!

Leandro Gardini sent the final score to me about two hours ago and I've been doing the final pass on the mix with the music. Let me say that Leo wrote a score for this film that will break your heart. It's so perfectly beautiful that I'm in awe. I cannot thank him enough for his contribution to this film. Anyone out there who hasn't worked with him is missing a great opportunity

Exporting now. Will begin encoding shortly and then upload.

Matt Sconce

06-16-2008, 01:05 AM

Let me say that Leo wrote a score for this film that will break your heart. It's so perfectly beautiful that I'm in awe. I cannot thank him enough for his contribution to this film. Anyone out there who hasn't worked with him is missing a great opportunity

I understand! He wrote the score for Stricken and is amazing! Good Luck!

krestofre

06-16-2008, 02:17 AM

Done and done!

Uploaded. Going to bed now. Good luck to those still working.

This is going to be a great fest everyone. Enjoy it!

Postmaster

06-16-2008, 02:52 AM

Note the Coppola-esq beard. Yes, I grew it only to get cool BTS pics of me looking "directorial."

Dammed! I forgot to grow the beard.
Now I have to start all over again.

Frank

Mark Harris

06-16-2008, 09:18 AM

Wow, awesome. Great feeling, huh?

leogardini

06-17-2008, 08:27 AM

kurtmo

06-20-2008, 05:00 PM

I thought this was a well crafted film. The story was interesting and the reveal at the end was nice. I liked the audio and the music especially well.

A couple of things to think about. It seemed like the drinking writer would have a messier place. I thought the acting was a little stiff for the supporting roles, though the lead was very nice. You might also have cut one of the trips to the typewriter once the mode was established.

Overall a solid film!

Thanks for posting!

pauly_the_hitman

06-21-2008, 03:40 PM

were can I get a watch like this would be especially useful for these competitions. Good story and well acted I dug it.

Susanne G.

06-21-2008, 08:48 PM

The time mashine subject I saw a little bit often in this fest, but I like your film. The idea is charming that he needs the time for writing a script. You put in your film some humorous details like how the MC kills in his script the croccodile - very nice, I loved it. The end was completely a surprise and very good. I felt a lot of sympathy for MC. Nice work.

Susanne

(PS: I found your thread!)

Zim

06-21-2008, 09:04 PM

Well done and yes the ending is not was I thought would happen.

joshreluctant

06-21-2008, 09:12 PM

As a huge fan of Walter Murch, and having read as many accounts of his editing work as I can get my hands on, I had always wanted an experience where the film became something new in the edit.

as an editor, and also as a huge walter murch fan, this brings a smile to my face.

we had similar problems with our film. We had, what felt like necessary expositional dialogue, and when laid into a timeline, it was stagnant, boring. There was no boom boom, it seemed like 5 minutes of waiting for boom. So we trimmed all the fat we could, tried to keep it as fast paced as possible, to hold everyone's attention, and we're much happier with a film because of it.

So jolly good show!

krestofre

06-21-2008, 09:35 PM

Thanks for the comments eveyone! I'm glad that the film is being well-received. Thanks for taking the time to watch, and to chime in on this thread. It means a lot to me to get the feedback!

Kurt, interesting comment on trimming down the film some. I spent a lot (and I mean a ton) of time balancing the film so that it was paced well and got the message across, so I'd be interested to hear at what point going back to the typewriter became too much for you. Getting your perspective on that would be very valuable.

Pauly, just dial 1-800-555-TIME. :)

Susanne, thanks for the comments, and for the effort in finding the thread. :)

Zim, glad I could surprise you with the ending.

Josh, Walter Murch is a marvel. I'd listen to him eat a sandwich if I could. :) Glad to hear that your film worked out for you too.

Thanks again everyone!

Michael Anthony Horrigan

06-21-2008, 09:37 PM

I had a few thoughts about this.... wouldn't the world around him have changed so much in 25 years that he would have noticed before arriving at the publishers?

So many other questions as well.

Still, intriguing story, nice score and I loved the camera movement.

Cheers,

Mike

krestofre

06-21-2008, 10:56 PM

wouldn't the world around him have changed so much in 25 years that he would have noticed before arriving at the publishers?

This calls to mind that scene from Austin Powers 2 when Basil turns to the camera and says "You shouldn't worry about it either." :grin:

ZazaCast

06-22-2008, 06:44 PM

Good story. Good camera work and the actor was believable. It was a bit slow on pace and dragged in the middle for me (...of course 25 years is a long time). I would think there were a lot of issues with that time frame and the character would have noticed something was up sooner. Go back and look at a picture of yourself from 25 years ago (assuming you're of age...)...checkout that hairdo! Those clothes...the cars...not to mention golf club technology.

krestofre

06-22-2008, 06:52 PM

Thanks for the feedback Zaza, but your comment confuses me. Why would Rick notice anything was different? For him, it wasn't.

Mobie540

06-22-2008, 07:48 PM

Must of been a coincidence that the book and our timefest entries were due at the same...time. Anyway, loved the ending, spot on. The middle however drug on and on but you probably were going for that as I found myself twiddling my thumbs along with your character. Good job.

Matt Sconce

06-22-2008, 10:53 PM

Good film. I liked the twist, I also liked the simple concept of having too much power and what laziness can cause.

alex whitmer

06-22-2008, 11:29 PM

A few small issues ...

The watch took like half a day to arrive. One could only dream of such efficiency. Second, it looks like you used the same corner for the writer as for the publishing office. Venitian blinds gave it away.

Love the concept, but maybe 25 years was really pushing it.

Other snags ...

In 25 years he would had to have gone shopping, paid bills, taken out the trash, contacted family, etc. If nothing had changed for him, one would assume the world, including TV programming, had stayed the same as well. That would also mean his publisher would still be working at the same company.

If the world did not wait for him, then the company staff / room should have appeared as if it were 25 years into the future.

What I really like was the writer's work habits having remained clearly stuck in the past, juxtaposed against his publisher's modern digs. I felt some kind of set up coming there, and that same kind of 'time warp' would have been great at the end as well, but even more extreme.

Again, love the concept, but a few details need to be addressed to really kick this one over the top.

Tech wise I think it looked pretty good.

krestofre

06-23-2008, 07:42 AM

Thanks for the comments.

mobie540, June 16th is a very popular deadline. :)

msconce, I'm glad you addressed the laziness aspect. I didn't realize the uderlaying themes as I wrote this piece, but as I was cuting it together I was like "Man, we've ALL been in this situation." Metaphorically speaking anyway.

Alex, thanks for your comments. The shipping on the watch was overnight. Rick paid for the best. :) The writer's office and the publishing office were seperate locations, very far away from each other. But you're right, the blinds are surprisingly similar. Rick didn't need to go shopping, pay bills, etc for 25 years, because he was really reliving days. Notice that for 25 years he didn't change clothes or take a shower either. Rick lived in a bubble. Now it would have been interesting to see the world evolve around Rick and the effects that the watch had to someone say watching Rick's house from the outside, but that perspective is for another film.

Regarding the look of the publisher's office 25 years in the future, yes, you're all right. But that's a balance I had to strike in order to get the reveal shot at the end. If Rick had walked into the publisher's office and been greeted by a robot, you guys would have been ahead of me. Urashima, Inc. has its roots firmly in Rod Serling's work, and as such I was comfortable taking a few liberties for the payoff of the story.

The contrast between Rick's office and the Publishing Office is an interesting comment, and well taken. Even though they were different locations, having them be a starker contrast would have helped.

Thanks all!

conrad_johnson

06-23-2008, 10:11 AM

Hi there,

I thought this was a good piece and didn't think it dragged along at all. (maybe I've been watching too many Iranian films, nothing happens, and I love it!)

Review:

Wonderful opening shot coming off of TV. That was cool and in made me fall right into the scene.

The first shot of the calendar had a moving shadow on it, I love that , It gives you a little "handle" as far as where you are in the scene and that there is somebody sitting at the desk, instead of just a static shot of the calendar.

The first actress I didn't buy, kind of clunky.

Nice lighting in the TV watching shots. The TV effect was very believable.

I don't think the "it worked" line worked, kind of just told you what one would already assume.

HA! Crocodile shoelace thing, Funny.

I liked the ending, It was well acted and good to me.

Nice job, I really enjoyed watching it.

Thanks,
-Joe

Duff

06-23-2008, 08:53 PM

Overall, I liked this film, but a few things stuck out at me.

Firstly, I think the watch should have been acquired by some other, more mysterious means -- a latenight TV ad seems too ludicrous. (As an aside -- that's the exact same pocket watch I have in my film, though it isn't featured as prominently, haha).

Some of the calendar dates confused me, as every time you showed the longer shot of him at the typewriter it was two days before his deadline -- I found it odd that he would repeatedly come that close to the deadline as opposed to keeping a safe distance. I was confused as to how many times he had actually turned time back and how far, if we were seeing events from his linear perspective, etc.

For clarification -- was his house contained in a time loop, but everything outside progressing as normal? So he actually spent 25 years turning time back and procrastinating on his back? Or did time just get messed up in a general sense when he used the watch?

Overall, story-telling ability is strong, cinematography and audio didn't stand out (which is a compliment), and the musical score was great. Acting was a little weak, but not so bad that it took away from the piece overall. Nicely done.

Mark Johnson

06-24-2008, 10:23 PM

Great score. Enjoyed this story very much. Little things like the golf shot in the back yard and the late night watching TV/Solitaire were superb. Really set up the plot point and the mood.

I think I picked up a continuity problem with the calendar. 3:51 its marked right up to the last day and then at 4:51 its got two days open.

I loved the twilight zone aspect of this one!!!

Mark Harris

06-25-2008, 04:41 AM

I saw someone posted earlier they didn't like the late night tv idea. I had no problem with it in itself, but it did strike me a little as too charlie kaufman. I mean, you probably would have seen something like it in the twilight zone, but in modern times...it's a little of a hit on the story to me though.

there were some extraneous lines: "Damn I'm never going to finish this thing" and "I'll try anything once." Those lines should've been cut. We get it.

I thought there was a time faux pas in ordering and getting the package before his deadline. The calendar says he is already on saturday. he calls them no earlier than LATE saturday night. The next day is sunday. And monday is his deadline...how did he get it so fast? I only bring this up because it was a super simple piece of sloppiness easily cured with a new shot of the calendar. I mean, I guess he could have overnighted it, but his excitement about it didn't seem to warrant that. He was just like: "Eh, okay."

I like the overall idea though, of a guy who's own procrastination is his downfall.

Directing-wise, I felt like the publisher's acting was horrid. But also, I don't think you helped her any with that unmotivated blocking. When I have an actor who's not really an actor, or not really great, I make them do NOTHING. Which most actors have a hard time doing anyway. On camera, fake is fake. But nothing can read as good acting. Know what I mean? A little more difficult to handle here because she had to be motivated to get on his case. But overall as a director, I think it's important to learn how to spot that stuff and fix it on set before it hurts your film.

I wondered along with someone else, how he could not notice some differences in 25 years on his way to the office. I mean, from 25 years ago to now...I guess a self-involved person might not. meaning you might get away with it...I dunno, it's a question I think you need to address in something like this even if how to justify your choice to have him NOT notice.

As to the guy's character...I dunno what to think. Like I said, I like the idea of a man undone by his own procrastination, but on the other hand, I just thought this guy was a loser. I guess, if I had a watch like that I would have been exploring every possibility or something, not just watching TV. Maybe that is the right feeling to have; that he is a loser. Dunno.

Which brings up another thing. Was what he was seeing on TV NOT changing in 25 years? I am a little unclear about the rules of the world and it's time-travel, I guess.

Thanks! I am pretty harsh on this, because in scriptfest, I felt like you had such a solid entry, that you set your own bar pretty high :)

krestofre

06-25-2008, 06:34 AM

Thanks for the current batch of comments everyone! Some specifics:

Duff, the idea is that his house is contained in a bubble so, yes, he spent 25 years procrastinating and turning back time. Once he started he just kind of lost track of ... ... time. *Insert Dr. Evil Smiley here*

Mark J. Thanks for the comments. I'm glad that you liked the film. That's an especially nice comment coming from the Dude responsible for one of the powerhouse films this time around. Regarding continuity, any date shuffling was intentional due to the idea that the audience really isn't privy to how many times Rick turns the watch back. I was actually going for a bit of confusion with the idea that once the reveal happens the audience will go "Oh, now I see." It's interesting to me that it was perceived as a continuity thing.

Mark H. I have no problems with harsh criticism. It's the only way I'm going to grow as a filmmaker and it's better to come from you than from Variety or Roger Ebert. :) I'm also glad to hear that I'm setting my own bar pretty high.

I mean, you probably would have seen something like it in the twilight zone, but in modern times...it's a little of a hit on the story to me though.

Interesting. That's exactly why it's a late night TV commercial. I'm interested in older stuff. I like the fact that this is more of a throwback to the Twlight Zone and not an updated modern reinterpretation or what have you. Now I'm wondering if it's just a preference difference or if I am personally too stuck in the past.

Directing-wise, I felt like the publisher's acting was horrid.

Some other people have commented on this as well. I'm happy with her performance because as a character she's on edge. Rick's failure to deliver his book on time not only means his career, but very likely it means Stacy's as well. I tried to convey that through the dialog, and perhaps I didn't quite get the job done. But anyway, I personally thought that the anxiety of that moment came across in the actress's performance. If I am wrong, blame me, not her.

I will take full responsibility for the blocking. We had that location for an hour and it was sloppy because of it. The walking up to the window shot I'm happy with, but the getting up from the desk shot is terrible. Thanks for calling me on it.

I thought about going into a lengthy explanation of the rules of the universe and the inner workings of Rick's character, but decided against it. If I couldn't convey enough of that in six minutes to put your mind at ease, then I needed to work harder in those six minutes and going point by point in a post isn't really helping my skills as a filmmaker.

Thanks again, Mark, for not pulling any punches in your critique. I'll try to set that bar even higher for Scriptfest II and whatever DVXFest is after this one. :laugh:

Edgen

06-28-2008, 01:09 AM

I really dug the short here and it wasn’t too bad. I think the execution of how much time has passed could have been improved. I could see perhaps a few days, but the passing of all those years just didn’t hit me.

How did you get your image compressed down so much? Please do tell your compression trick.

Congrats on entering the fest.

totitefilms

06-28-2008, 02:28 AM

Very cool story. Acting and directing are also very nice. Everything else fits very well with the theme. You did a great job! Congrats!

Shawn Philip Nelson

06-28-2008, 11:05 AM

I enjoyed this! Great twist at the end. One small issue, wouldnt tv have kept changing as well? Or was his entire house in the loop? Apparently the vodka was eternal as well :-).

Good technical aspects and good acting by the lead.

krestofre

06-28-2008, 01:06 PM

Thanks Shawn! The idea is that the entire house is in the loop so the TV would not change. Given how often cable channels rerun things I was personally comfortable taking the leap. The vodka ... Yeah, you might have me there. :)

Don, thanks for the comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the short.

Justin, I'll post my compression settings and techniques later tonight when I can get to my editing machine.

jasonthewho

06-28-2008, 04:57 PM

I thought this was a very solid entry. Some very nice shots, and a good story. I liked the concept, and although I figured his laziness would catch up with him, I didn't see the exact circumstances of the ending coming.

I thought the editing in the main chunk of the film where he has the watch is really good. The ideas and story beats are communicated well.

I agree that it seemed odd he would get the package so quickly.

I think it's a little easy for the receptionist to find out that Stacy had worked there 35 years ago (watched it a few days ago, just guessing at the amount of time).

Maybe it would have been cooler if she had been like, "Yes, she's here, just a minute." And then brought out a 60 year old woman.

Very cool entry and you integrated the theme on many different levels. Good work!

Noel Evans

06-28-2008, 06:24 PM

I liked the story concept. I thought he did a good job on the dialogue.

Some of the shots were nice. Some didnt do it for me so much. Couple of examples.

Dolly pan from TV to him at the Typewriter. Didnt think it was necessary, he is insular in this piece and I dont think showing us his surrounding was needed. In fact I would have tightened it up a lot with all the shots in house house.

Book on shelf - fine it has a message about his plight. But a whole shot for it? Maybe on the work desk in shot?

The zoom in the publishers office made me feel like I was watching a telecast. And the light wasnt bad, as in felt motivated, but just no contrast and when she is sitting a couple of not so attractive half shadows from her on the wall. Nothing wrong with a shadow, it was about the shot contrast. Then she walks entirely out of frame and we hang on the shot for a moment. Then when we cut back to her she approaches a window, and the shot is across the line.

That fridge cutaway, with the cigarette sticker was nice, but we only saw him with an unlit cigarette once.

I thought you lit the lounge scenes well, but I would have still used some kind of kicker, motivated by a very dim lamp etc (you could have used a dimmer on that one in the back corner and then used a light to kick) - not so the light effects the front of him.

I saw some people said the package arrived fast - didnt have any issue with this at all. But you may want to transition to, to demonstrate passing of time. Watch cut aways - very clean, and fit well.

And to final shot in reception - a little flat. And the end voiceover not needed IMO.

Your sound was pretty good, not sure I liked the mic acoustics a great deal, but the dialogue was good. Maybe this could have been spiced up with some background overlay, like birds outside, occasional passing car etc.

This was a great story concept, keeping him insular etc I thought it all worked. I just felt the pacing was a tad slow, and there could have been a bit more happen.

I think its pretty hard to do a piece where most of the action is just one person, but it never bothered me in the least in this piece. Nicely done.

krestofre

06-28-2008, 07:38 PM

Maybe it would have been cooler if she had been like, "Yes, she's here, just a minute." And then brought out a 60 year old woman.

That would have been cool. I wish I'd thought of it. :)

Thanks for the other comments, Jason.

And thanks Noel, for the very detailed and thoughtful comments about the film. I'm sincere when I say that I've taken them all to heart. Two things off your comments though:

That fridge cutaway, with the cigarette sticker was nice, but we only saw him with an unlit cigarette once.

Not true. He's also actively smoking a cigarette while hitting golf balls in his backyard. Not that it matters, but the annal retentive side of me had to clarify. :)

And the end voiceover not needed IMO.

Needed? Not for informational purposes, but I wouldn't remove that VO for anything. It's the final brush stroke on the film and was something I knew I wanted to do with the piece from the jump.

Thanks again.

Now, on the compression side of things, I'm afraid anyone interested may be a little disappointed. Compression isn't just settings. In most cases I would not have been able to keep a six minute film in 720p resolution under 50 MB and make the image worth anything. Urashima, Inc. is an exception because there's very little motion in the film. As a result it can be compressed with fewer bits and still look good. There's still trade off. There's a lot of pixilation in the blacks, but overall the image holds up pretty well in 720p, and it's just cool to upload your fest entry in HD. :happy:

I shot the film in 1080 24pa on an HVX. Edited in full res in FCP. Exported a DVCProHD 1080 24p file from FCP and loaded into Compressor. Even though I use Compressor, I think all of these settings can be obtained in Quicktime Pro.

H.264
"Current" Framerate
Keyframes every 150 frames
Multipass Encode
Data rate restricted to 1000kbps

Pretty boring, right? This encode looks tremendous when played back on an SD TV. It's looks pretty good on a computer screen, and looks just OK on an HDTV. If doing a real encode for an HD deliverable, you'd crank the bitrate by a lot, and probably increase the number of keyframes to get the best quality. But the trick to a good encode is to test your video before doing a final encode because everything about your film will affect encoding, the types and intensity of colors, the amount of motion, transitions from dark to light. All of these things will change the way you encode a project. It's more like alchemy than science.

I hope that was beneficial, or at least entertaining to read.

iSTy

06-30-2008, 05:58 AM

I thought this was one of the best films I've watched so far. The twist at the end, although I kinda saw it coming, was still brill.
The publisher was a bit disbelievable, but all in all I really liked this short.
Thank you.

Danielleus

07-01-2008, 09:52 PM

Hey,

Just caught the flick. I enjoyed this one. I thought the production value was really nice and I thought the acting worked pretty well, especially the lead. The pacing worked for me, as well as the editing.
The thing I like best about this piece in the story and the fact that you made the ending fit thematically with the idea expressed here. This guy is a lazy bum and it's just desserts for him to have missed out because he's essentially cheating with his life. ANd we see that in the film. It's not told to us, it's shown to us. And I really appreciate that.

Nice work. Enjoyed it. Hope to see more from you.

krestofre

07-01-2008, 10:27 PM

Thank you iSTy and Danielleus. I'm glad that you both enjoyed the film.

krestofre

07-02-2008, 11:37 AM

Since this is the last day of voting for the first round of competition I wanted to take a moment and publicly thank those who helped make Urashima, Inc. a reality.

Thanks to my long-time colaborative partner, Bryan Fitzgerald for playing the lead role of Rick Shelly with a nearly-broken ankle, and bringing poise and drama to the role. Bryan, you really upped your acting in this short and I thank you for putting that much into this role.

My wife, Quillen, for not only covering several behind the scenes rolls while in production, but for also being patient with me while writing, producing, directing, and editing the film.

My other actors, Amie, Rebecca, Al, and Crystal. Your contributions are appreciated and serve to make the film a whole piece.

Nathan, my DP. You really have a top-notch skill in lighting and camera placement.

Ryan, who held a boom mic for hours on end and always pushed the edge of the frame to make sure that I had good dialog while in post production.

Leandro for writing what is, in my opinion, one of the finest scores in the entire festival. I love the score to Urashima, Inc. so much that it's in constant rotation on my iPod.

A big thank you to the behind the scenes crew and everyone else who contributed to the making of this film!

And thanks to everyone who viewed, voted, and commented on the film. Your comments help us all to impove our craft, and that contribution is invaluable.

Horncastle

07-02-2008, 12:20 PM

I enjoyed this film. I thought the story worked well, cinematography, score and acting of the main character were good. Maybe the publisher exec lady needed to be a bit more "high powered"?

I really liked how the film started with the cheap late-night TV ad. For me this gave the film a bit of a feel of being a take-off on advertising and how products can supposedly change your life as well as the more obvious theme of wasting ones life away. I don't know if this was intentional or not, but it worked for me.

Thanks for an enjoyable and light-hearted film.

Jason