"Elapsed", a short by Narrow Way Studios

[Existentialist]

We're shooting and running against time, no pun intended.

"Elapsed" is a movie about Michael Sparks understanding the value of time spent with people. But it's more than that.



http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/poster2.jpg


Cast:


http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/Jacobpic-1.jpg
Jacob Turner as Michael Sparks

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/randypic-1.jpg

Randy Allsbury as Mac Mcnerney

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/JonWisefordvxuser-1.jpg

Jonathan Wise as Robert Sparks


http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/sherripic-1.jpg
Sherri Allsbury as Mrs. Sparks

Austin Allsbury as Tony McNearny


================================================== ================================================== ======================================

Crew:

Written by Sherri Allsbury

Produced by Glauce Silva, Sherri Allsbury, Randy Allsbury and Tony Siva

Music by
http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/WeatherInside.png (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/www.myspace.com/theweatherinside)

The Weather Inside: www.myspace.com/theweatherinside (http://www.myspace.com/theweatherinside)

Edited and Directed by Tony Silva.

[Mark Harris]

Wow, welcome latecomers!

[Existentialist]

Some grabs:

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/Bowlingpic1.jpg




http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/Bowlingpic2.jpg

Some BTS pics:

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/IMG_0313.jpg

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Cool grabs! I especially like the closeup of the ball.

Cheers,

Mike

[Existentialist]

Cool grabs! I especially like the closeup of the ball.

Cheers,

Mike

Hey thanks!

[Matt Sconce]

Hope everything goes smoothly and you get this done in perfect time!

[Mark Harris]

man, I wish I had a bowling alley to shoot in...

[Existentialist]

man, I wish I had a bowling alley to shoot in...

I was surprised how the manager was so cool to help us out. He gave us two free lanes, turned the music off for us (to which the other bowlers weren't all too shiny about), let us put lights in there and lent us an employee who could hit some strikes for the scene (because cast and crew sucked at hitting the pins).

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

I was surprised how the manager was so cool to help us out. He gave us two free lanes, turned the music off for us (to which the other bowlers weren't all too shiny about), let us put lights in there and lent us an employee who could hit some strikes for the scene (because cast and crew sucked at hitting the pins).That's awesome! Not that you guys suck at hitting pins... well, you know what I mean. :laugh:

[Zoidoid]

Welcome to the fest and keep us posted on progress! One of my favorite diversions lately has been keeping up with everyone's TimeFest entries. So this is actually a very selfish request.

[Existentialist]

Some BTS pics:

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/IMG_0313.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/IMG_0275.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/IMG_0267.jpg

[Existentialist]

And some more grabs:

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/screengrab20383119.png

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/Joninrestaurantstill-1.png

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/joninrestgrab.png

[totitefilms]

Some BTS pics:





http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/Elapsed/IMG_0267.jpg

Hey Tony,

It's nice to see you and Grace entering this fest. By the way, I like the look on your face :D

[Existentialist]

More stills

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/MacII.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/RAndyandLeahIII.jpg

[totitefilms]

Nice grabs. Have you got everything done yet? I'm almost done, just working on the music right now.

[Existentialist]

Nice grabs. Have you got everything done yet? I'm almost done, just working on the music right now.

Hey Don
yeah, i'm nearly done. just have one more scene to shoot.

[totitefilms]

One more scene and 4 more days. It should be doable ;-). Good luck!

[Existentialist]

Movie is done, editing complete, just finished uploading it.

Here are some production stats:
___________________________________

Shot on DVX100A.

Edited on Final Cut Studio.

Total days of shooting: 3 weeks.

Budget: $95.00 (excluding gas) :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG) Cheapest short I ever done.

Total number of locations for the 5 minute story: 14. That was nuts.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Awesome! Can't wait to see it.

Cheers,

Mike

[totitefilms]

Nice to see that you finished the movie on time. When did you switch to Mac? I thought you were using PC before :-).

[Existentialist]

Nice to see that you finished the movie on time. When did you switch to Mac? I thought you were using PC before :-).

Hey Don
Yeah, I switched to Mac, bought one here as soon as I arrived. I'm really loving it.
FCP is a long process, but I've been studying pretty hard.

[Existentialist]

A couple more grabs/pics:

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/DSC_0343.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/jacob.jpg




http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/DSC_0274.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/DSC_0335.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/IMG_0294.jpg

[Susanne G.]

Hi Tony,

do you used really 14 locations for the film?! You must be crazy. We used four different locations and it was a lot of work and costed a lot of time to move from one to an other.
I can see also that you have a swimming pool - I'm very jealous!
I am looking forward to seeing your film.
Best wishes and much luck.
Susanne

[totitefilms]

A couple more grabs/pics:

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/DSC_0343.jpg


http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/DSC_0274.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/DSC_0335.jpg

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/IMG_0294.jpg

Those headphones and the aloha shirt look really familiar :laugh: Did you do any special appearance like in the Atheist also :shocked:?

[Brandon Rice]

Hey... I really enjoyed this.. def. a different kind of entry...

It felt honest.

[Existentialist]

Hey... I really enjoyed this.. def. a different kind of entry...

It felt honest.

Thanks Brandon!

[Drew Ott]

Cool short.

I liked what you were trying to say in it.

Nice locations. Bowling alley and school bus both seem hard to get. Good job.

[Mattykins]

and rolling and reviewing.

Audio sounds good so far. Footage is nice. A little red in the face though upon first roll. Highlights blew out the speakers face a tad.

And it is a nice story idea. Interesting concept. Kinda sad as well. The locations and the extras did a great job at adding everything to the story. I especially liked the pacing at the bowling alley. Nice pickup shots of the bus and garbage truck.

It was a cute story. Very nice idea.

Overall, it is a great speech. It's very real.

I think my only thing was the blownout highlights on the kids face. :)

[Existentialist]

and rolling and reviewing.

Audio sounds good so far. Footage is nice. A little red in the face though upon first roll. Highlights blew out the speakers face a tad.

And it is a nice story idea. Interesting concept. Kinda sad as well. The locations and the extras did a great job at adding everything to the story. I especially liked the pacing at the bowling alley. Nice pickup shots of the bus and garbage truck.

It was a cute story. Very nice idea.

Overall, it is a great speech. It's very real.

I think my only thing was the blownout highlights on the kids face. :)

hey, thanks matty,
good eye.

[Existentialist]

Cool short.

I liked what you were trying to say in it.

Nice locations. Bowling alley and school bus both seem hard to get. Good job.

Thanks!!

[Gohanto]

Like it a lot. Interesting message and well structured. I really liked the half blown out face in the speech with the colors behind him. The dad's acting seemed a little weak imho though.

Well cut together and a good score as well. nice job.

[Mobie540]

This had an afterschool special feel to it. As a former latch-key kid I can relate. I loved your concept, great break from the other entries. I thought your main actor could've used a couple more run throughs with the dialogue but it made it a little more endearing. The other actors did an excellent job. Great work.

[ZazaCast]

Excellent! I loved the message...and it's so true...we can only SPEND time and I really enjoyed spending my time watching this movie. It was well thoughtout, nice camera work, good edit, good music. This was a breathe of fresh air tonight, an angle I would have never thought of myself.

Great job to all involved.

[bosindy]

film had a lot of heart. nice cautionary tale, sort of Cats in the Cradle meets Rich Dad Poor Dad.

[Existentialist]

film had a lot of heart. nice cautionary tale, sort of Cats in the Cradle meets Rich Dad Poor Dad.

Had to delete the scene where the main character is sitting in the john reading Rich Dad while listening to Cat Stevens.... we just couldn't get the rights. :happy:

Thanks for your comment :) I really appreciate it.

[Danielleus]

Hey,

As others have mentioned, the message is a winner. I love your take on "time" here. I like how that moment (HS graduation) is so important for those kids and it works so well for your movie/theme of the fest.
Also dug the music and the cinematagraphy, especially during the ceremony. Not sure the rest of the cinematagraphy (dining table, study, etc.) held up. But your work in the outdoor natural lighting looked really nice.
Thought the pacing needed some work. Lots of it worked. But when he talks about his dad (and his friend's dad) it felt long to me.
Also, I'd have to say that a lot of this is very "on the nose." No beating around the bush, no subtext here. Which can hurt. I liked your choice of venue (HS graduation) to get this message across. I think it saves it from being TOO much.
I wish there was a little more at the end. I feel like we know the lead recognizes what life needs but I feel like he returns back to it. Isn't this a story about a kid who doesn't let his father know this hurts him? I would have liked to see him change. Or for us to realize that he doesn't so it's that much more painful. He just seems to act counter to his own message.

Otherwise, I enjoyed and I think it's a very powerful message. Kudos.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Last review of the night for me.

This was really good. Extremely well thought out with excellent dialogue. You nailed the theme! I hope this movie does well.
This story has real substance.

Great work.

Mike

[Beat Takeshi]

I really liked this and can relate to the time thing and being a dad. You always try to strive to make it better for them at the expense of not spending enough time. I never missed anything my kids have done though but I'm just saying it is on my mind about if I'm spending enough quality time with them now that I do this full time and have to bust my ass to get work and prepare.

[wesley]

Good orginal way to use the time theme. The short cut-scenes kept the pacing going, i liked that.

[Existentialist]

Hey,

As others have mentioned, the message is a winner. I love your take on "time" here. I like how that moment (HS graduation) is so important for those kids and it works so well for your movie/theme of the fest.
Also dug the music and the cinematagraphy, especially during the ceremony. Not sure the rest of the cinematagraphy (dining table, study, etc.) held up. But your work in the outdoor natural lighting looked really nice.
Thought the pacing needed some work. Lots of it worked. But when he talks about his dad (and his friend's dad) it felt long to me.
Also, I'd have to say that a lot of this is very "on the nose." No beating around the bush, no subtext here. Which can hurt. I liked your choice of venue (HS graduation) to get this message across. I think it saves it from being TOO much.
I wish there was a little more at the end. I feel like we know the lead recognizes what life needs but I feel like he returns back to it. Isn't this a story about a kid who doesn't let his father know this hurts him? I would have liked to see him change. Or for us to realize that he doesn't so it's that much more painful. He just seems to act counter to his own message.

Otherwise, I enjoyed and I think it's a very powerful message. Kudos.

Great review, thank you! Really appreciate it.

[Zim]

Man this was really good. Great idea and it has real meaning to it. I thought the ending was just right too. Great story. Was there blown highlights in the kids face? I couldn't tell you or really care because I was into watching this film. Great job.

[Existentialist]

Man this was really good. Great idea and it has real meaning to it. I thought the ending was just right too. Great story. Was there blown highlights in the kids face? I couldn't tell you or really care because I was into watching this film. Great job.

Thanks for your comments, I really appreciate it.

[Existentialist]

Some BTS/Outtakes stuff for those of you who enjoy this type of thing:

See it here. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR8l3t3rn40)

There's a couple more vids in that account pertaining to BTS shananigans.

[Bryce A]

Aww… made me feel good. But I’m not making fun of you. VERY REFRESHING. Damn hard to make something so heartfelt and positive these days. It’s like comedy and drama. Drama can be easy to act, but comedy is the hard one to pull off. I admire the direction you took, especially in… er, this serious crowd (I include myself :D ).

I felt like the film was a bit rough here and there. Mainly the dad zooms and some of the editing. The musical fades too. I felt like they swelled a bit too much here and there. Ever so slight, but slight nonetheless.

All in all, good work!

[dakotaonefilms]

This is my first post, but I having been observing for a long time. I had to write this, to let you know that I think your film was awesome. It is really hard to make the audience feel something real in a short.

You did it! Congratulations!

Billy

[Existentialist]

This is my first post, but I having been observing for a long time. I had to write this, to let you know that I think your film was awesome. It is really hard to make the audience feel something real in a short.

You did it! Congratulations!

Billy

Thank, Billy, I really appreciate it.

[Existentialist]

Aww… made me feel good. But I’m not making fun of you. VERY REFRESHING. Damn hard to make something so heartfelt and positive these days. It’s like comedy and drama. Drama can be easy to act, but comedy is the hard one to pull off. I admire the direction you took, especially in… er, this serious crowd (I include myself :D ).

I felt like the film was a bit rough here and there. Mainly the dad zooms and some of the editing. The musical fades too. I felt like they swelled a bit too much here and there. Ever so slight, but slight nonetheless.

All in all, good work!

Thank you! Great constructive critique.

[Troy Ruff]

I thought yours was great as well. A little shaky but the sound, editing and acting was great. Super job! :)

[Zoidoid]

The last scene in this film was my favorite part. It's the bit that really ties the whole story together. There's legitimate character development by the end -- something rare to see in such a short film. When the student smiled and accepted his Dad's apology, I got the impression that his impromptu speech ended up changing his own outlook, making him a better man. Very good!

My only concern about the story is that it's maybe a little blunt. However, you were only given six minutes to tell a story that's deeply rooted in "meaning of life"-type questions. So I suppose it would be very hard to avoid making some broad strokes.

There were a few design choices that maybe didn't play out as well as you intended, but they've already been mentioned in above posts, and I'm sure they've already occurred to you. The only thing that really ever took me out of the story were the bits where the Dad is repeatedly telling his son that he's too busy.

Kudos for making a unique entry! Congratulations.

[pauly_the_hitman]

I really liked the story it had a great message keep up the good work...

[Existentialist]

I really liked the story it had a great message keep up the good work...

Thanks! Much appreciated.

[jasonthewho]

Wow, I really liked this one. I was amazed by how many locations, props, costumes and everything you had to deal with. I'm usually not the biggest fans of zooms, but here it kept the pace moving, and felt stylistically right.

I thought the acting was solid. And a good story.

My one comment would be that I thought this story was going to finish up stronger than it did. There wasn't quite enough change. I thought he would tell his dad off. Or maybe his dad would arrive to hear the end of the speech, and realize the mistakes he was making.

Great work!

[Susanne G.]

Good message and a nice film. I like them very much. Now I understood the 14 locations!

Susanne

[krestofre]

"They've got wi-fi and I can check some e-mail too." Hahahah!

Very good technique for faking a graduation ceremony. I noticed that right off and was impressed by your framing and cutaways.

This was also a nice take on the time theme. Good idea. Well executed. Occasionally it felt like it was drifting into after school special territory, but you kept it pretty well on track.

[gabrielflorit]

Huh. This one made me stop and think. You know I'm going to get off this couch and go do something, right now. Thank you! Well acted, good camera angles, good lighting, good music, best fonts of the entire fest - congratulations!!!

[Horncastle]

Well done, a very courageous and successful film. In my opinion you did what you were'nt supposed to do - you got on a moral high ground and basically told a story through a monologue mainly from off screen - and yet you managed to pull it off. The message could have seemed "preachy", but instead it came across fine. Actually I'm still asking myself how and why. I think the main reason was that there were so many cutaways from his main speech to all the examples of what he was talking about, and these situations were all well done enough to keep the interest and sympathy of the viewer. Here the numerous locations, large cast and obviously a lot of work helped. I think the editing was good and counted too. A unique approach in Timefest - great!

[Existentialist]

Wow, I really liked this one. I was amazed by how many locations, props, costumes and everything you had to deal with. I'm usually not the biggest fans of zooms, but here it kept the pace moving, and felt stylistically right.

I thought the acting was solid. And a good story.

My one comment would be that I thought this story was going to finish up stronger than it did. There wasn't quite enough change. I thought he would tell his dad off. Or maybe his dad would arrive to hear the end of the speech, and realize the mistakes he was making.

Great work!

Thanks, Jason, I appreciate it.

[Existentialist]

"They've got wi-fi and I can check some e-mail too." Hahahah!

Very good technique for faking a graduation ceremony. I noticed that right off and was impressed by your framing and cutaways.

This was also a nice take on the time theme. Good idea. Well executed. Occasionally it felt like it was drifting into after school special territory, but you kept it pretty well on track.

And faking and cheating is all we did! Glad you noticed :)

[AmyO]

Nice work. I liked that this one broke away from the rest and gave us something to think about. The handheld closeups at the graduation had a nice "documentary" feel, as if one of the parents were filming this part. The actor playing Michael read the speech well. It was delivered as if he really were just talking off the top of his head. I really liked this film. :)

[Existentialist]

Nice work. I liked that this one broke away from the rest and gave us something to think about. The handheld closeups at the graduation had a nice "documentary" feel, as if one of the parents were filming this part. The actor playing Michael read the speech well. It was delivered as if he really were just talking off the top of his head. I really liked this film. :)

Thanks, Amy!

[Existentialist]

Huh. This one made me stop and think. You know I'm going to get off this couch and go do something, right now. Thank you! Well acted, good camera angles, good lighting, good music, best fonts of the entire fest - congratulations!!!


Much obliged.
What are you-- Collin Ferrel's brother?

[Mark Harris]

It's hard for me to find anything to say about this, really. It just worked so simply and honestly and directly, I instantly got caught up in its spell and rolled with it. Just a nice piece of work.

I do have to ask about the graduation scene. It looked GREAT. But to another indie filmaker's eye, it looked like you were getting around not having a lot to work with. The close-ups, strategically hung banners, sound efx. Am I right? If so, it's such a good lesson for filmmakers to learn. Frank did the same thing in UNZEIT, where he has two people in different outfits by era, walking by to indicate the passage of time.

Love that stuff.

This was just really, really well done and nice.

[Existentialist]

It's hard for me to find anything to say about this, really. It just worked so simply and honestly and directly, I instantly got caught up in its spell and rolled with it. Just a nice piece of work.

I do have to ask about the graduation scene. It looked GREAT. But to another indie filmaker's eye, it looked like you were getting around not having a lot to work with. The close-ups, strategically hung banners, sound efx. Am I right? If so, it's such a good lesson for filmmakers to learn. Frank did the same thing in UNZEIT, where he has two people in different outfits by era, walking by to indicate the passage of time.

Love that stuff.

This was just really, really well done and nice.

Hey, Mark, Thank you for your review.

You hit the graduation scene situation smack on. Here's a picture of what I had to work with:
(I contacted 28 recently graduated high school students who were friends of a friend. Talked to them and 16 gave me their word they would show up. Only 3 did, so man.....you gotta do with what you got)

http://i233.photobucket.com/albums/ee134/tonyeua/DSC_0338.jpg

[Mark Harris]

well like I said, it's a lesson every indie filmmaker should learn, how to make it look like you have more. You "sold" a graduation really well in this.

[Mobie540]

Lack of limitations stifles creativity.

[Matt Sconce]

I really liked the message in your story and think you did a great job telling it. I would work on the blown out stuff, and get some more cinematic tight shots at some points, but I liked it very much!

[Existentialist]

I really liked the message in your story and think you did a great job telling it. I would work on the blown out stuff, and get some more cinematic tight shots at some points, but I liked it very much!

Thanks! Could you explain what you mean by "cinematic tight shots?"

[ilauzirika]

Great message, well put, well driven, it got me from the start.

I also agree that one of the situations that you find all the time, at least as a filmmakers, is that were you have little and you need to show a lot........

[Simon Höfer]

Wow! Really good entry man! I love it when everything looks complete and the story and production level is consistent from the beginning to the end! You did a really great job! Good acting good sound, good camera work and a compelling story! very well done :)

Besides the lack of people at the ceremony, there is nothing to critique on.

Good work :)

[Shawn Philip Nelson]

I like the message, but it felt far too direct, too sermony. I thought your lead actor was credible, though the dad was too cliche. Overall a good effort, strong unity of purpose and good use of close ups. Also, awesome fonts :-)

[totitefilms]

You got a nice touching story. I like the flow of the story and the edit. Very well done job!

[ConspiracyPenguin]

The story was very good. It was a story we have all seen before (father works all the time, neglects family. Soemone else becomes father figure, etc...) but that being said, you did a very good job with it.

I liked the V/O, it is hard to make those work and you did an excellent job. I think my only real nitpick are a few little acting things:

1) When Sparks throws his speech away, the principal's reaction didn't really do it for me. It seemed forced.

2) The speech he gave instead started sounding prepared (because it was) but it was supposed to be on the spot.

These are VERY minor things, you did a great job and I wish you nothing but good luck!

[Firemonkey]

I really liked the feel it gave off, I would say it was a little prepared sounding, but thats a minor thing considering it was prepared, it is hard to make planned lines sound spontanious (sp?) but other then that I liked the message, good job

[Blaine]

You did a good job on this. A simple story, told simply. You didn't try to make it something it wasn't but you were still able to get some production value with your locations. I was a little annoyed by the bright sunlight on his face at the beginning of his speech. Perhaps a silk would have taken care of that for you.

I thought you handle the VO well, in that you showed him telling the story.

The Cat's in the Cradle..."I want to be just like you, dad..."

[justin ewart]

This was a really nice idea and for the most part well executed.

I would have liked a stronger start to pull me in right away. I was about a third of the way through it before I started to care about the main character and then I quite liked it. I found the introductory speaker unnecessary and uninteresting, you could have jumped right into the main character's speech, that's about 45sec I didn't really need to see. It also felt a little claustrophobic at the beginning because all of your shots were mids or closeups. One well placed wide angle shot would have helped the opening to breathe a little. And on top of which your lead actor's delivery is a little monotonous - which works once you get into the piece and he starts to liven up more - so all of that made for an intro that kind of dragged and could make me not want to watch the rest of the piece which would be a shame.

Overall I did enjoy it and I liked the ending. The writing was fun and realistic and your lead actor grew on me through the piece. Generally I'm not a fan of voice overs but I thought it really worked here. My favorite moment was "The secret is knocking down those white pins with that big ball"... it was so natural and funny and really showed the warmth between the characters, so great :)

Well done and I'm looking forward to your next piece!

[Brandon Rice]

I haven't commented on many films...

you did a good job, I loved the honesty... I know I said that earlier...

wishing you luck in the voting!

[Existentialist]

This was a really nice idea and for the most part well executed.

I would have liked a stronger start to pull me in right away. I was about a third of the way through it before I started to care about the main character and then I quite liked it. I found the introductory speaker unnecessary and uninteresting, you could have jumped right into the main character's speech, that's about 45sec I didn't really need to see. It also felt a little claustrophobic at the beginning because all of your shots were mids or closeups. One well placed wide angle shot would have helped the opening to breathe a little. And on top of which your lead actor's delivery is a little monotonous - which works once you get into the piece and he starts to liven up more - so all of that made for an intro that kind of dragged and could make me not want to watch the rest of the piece which would be a shame.

Overall I did enjoy it and I liked the ending. The writing was fun and realistic and your lead actor grew on me through the piece. Generally I'm not a fan of voice overs but I thought it really worked here. My favorite moment was "The secret is knocking down those white pins with that big ball"... it was so natural and funny and really showed the warmth between the characters, so great :)

Well done and I'm looking forward to your next piece!

Yeah, I totally agree with you on the tight shots. It's just that the extras didn't show up, we were expecting close to 20, who actually confirmed, and then only 3 came! Out of those 3, we only had 2 caps and gowns, so I had to switch the wardrobe between the speaker and the graduates... I just couldn't get away with the perfect wide angle shots. I tried...just looked horrifically lower budget than we already were :) That's the reality of things though. I watched The Impossible Race which was hillarious, but I kept thinking all the time, "why aren't there more people racing, like 30 or 40 of them? Why aren't there loads more expectators?" And the answer? For the same reason I didn't have 30 or 40 graduating students in my movie. I opted for the close up shots to cheat a bit.
Thanks for your comment!

[Existentialist]

I haven't commented on many films...

you did a good job, I loved the honesty... I know I said that earlier...

wishing you luck in the voting!


I appreciate it!

Curious as to why you didn't enter anything on this fest?

[Brandon Rice]

I appreciate it!

Curious as to why you didn't enter anything on this fest?

Well, mainly because I was pretty busy working on a feature... kind of tied me up...

Guess it's a good reason for not entering though eh? :beer:

[Chuklz]

I think your film is top 5 because of the story. It's the greatest story of the fest so far in my viewing experience.

I liked your initial rack focus. Didnt care for the second one. I thought your lead actor was atrocious and really distracting. Some of your selections were on the nose (meaning its so obvious it's cliche) but I applaud you for trying a bunch of things.

I think if you would have cast better, and written a tighter speech to illustrate this would be on top in it's own right. But you did a good job of staying out of the way of the message despite these two flaws and thats why I hold this film in really hard regard.

Thanks for making this one.



EDIT: I forgot to mention. I really really enjoyed the graduation's shooting style. Reminded me of the way they shoot The Shield on FX. It was a solid solid scene. I like the crowd shots too... wish there were more of that.

[Existentialist]

I think your film is top 5 because of the story. It's the greatest story of the fest so far in my viewing experience.

I liked your initial rack focus. Didnt care for the second one. I thought your lead actor was atrocious and really distracting. Some of your selections were on the nose (meaning its so obvious it's cliche) but I applaud you for trying a bunch of things.

I think if you would have cast better, and written a tighter speech to illustrate this would be on top in it's own right. But you did a good job of staying out of the way of the message despite these two flaws and thats why I hold this film in really hard regard.

Thanks for making this one.



EDIT: I forgot to mention. I really really enjoyed the graduation's shooting style. Reminded me of the way they shoot The Shield on FX. It was a solid solid scene. I like the crowd shots too... wish there were more of that.

Thanks, Chuklz, all those limitations I had no way around. Appreciate your comments.

[Edgen]

I know this is wrong… but does your lead have a lazy eye? If so, that’s all I kept looking at on screen. I tend to do this a lot, and it’s an awful habit. Not sure if anyone else does the same.

Man, it was a great premise and touching concept. I think the execution could have been a little stronger with the character and the intercuts during the speech. I’d hate to be in that school with such a small class. I know you were probably limited in the amount of people you could get to sit there, but I think you pulled it off rather well. The music worked for the film and suited it nicely. I kept thinking of that “Go out and dance and do the things you want to do in life” song/speech a few years back. “Brush your teeth”.

The zoom thing.. not a fan of that at all. It wasn’t even a fast zoom, but rather a fumbling to find the zoom toggle button and pushing it in versus the wheel.

Outdoor lighting is always the best. I would have liked to see less of a harsh light on his face on the speech. Looking forward to seeing you grow and Congrats on entering and finishing your film.

[iSTy]

One of the best shorts I've seen. What an EXCELLENT storyline, one of my 'things' is 'Money isn't everything', how true you have made this.
My daughter is graduating next month and both her parents have made sure that day is free to see.
Thank you.