SALVATION a Twilightfest original

[Mike Insane]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1225330235.jpg


SALVATION: sal·va·tion·al adjective
1. Act of saving from harm: the saving of somebody or something from harm, destruction, difficulty, or failure. 3. Deliverance from sin.

This is the Thread for 12th Round Entertainment's short film SALVATION for DVX user film festival TWILIGHTFEST.

I watched a number of Twilight zone and outer limits shows and the ones that kept resonating with me were the human error episodes. Those ones that seem to have everything going in one direction and then getting smacked in the face by reality coming from a different direction. We wrote the script right after the topic was announced and before the general re-description or clarification of what elements make it a viable twilight fest film. We forwarded the script to Barry Green and had it approved. So, hopefully you find the project fitting of the rules for this fest. I also fully intend to make this forum somewhat of a "how we made this film" thread. Hopefully someone can take some of the ideas that we came up with and run with them on their next project. So without further ado... enjoy.



JULY 25, 2008
The script is coming together nicely. We are on the 3rd revision and have had a number of eyes on it so we are feeling pretty confident. Some minor tweaks are left before it is in the shape to be read by potential talent. This leads me to the next topic, casting. We are about to turn in our paperwork to become a SAG elegible project. So the casting notices will be out in the near future.

Onto the remaining thoughts for the project...

Here is a quick mockup of a possible set we will be building. Enjoy!


http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1217052049.jpg

Here is the Regimental patch for the SALVATION
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1218600353.jpeg

UPDATE 8-11-08

Phew ok so we are about to cast the film this weekend. We are using CAZT.com. For anyone who hasn't looked into them, check them out. Connor is the man. Basically they provide casting facilities for free for films. The cool thing they do is allow actors to see their auditions. If you're an actor you know what a valuable tool that might be. So, check them out at CAZT.com

The script is ambitious. We are looking for a 3d animator. So if anyone is interested then send me a PM. more to come...

Fantastic news....
08-17-08

We just casted our lead... Bree Michael Warner. She has an impressive resume with guest staring roles on shows like Without a Trace, CSI:Miami, 1Carly, Crossing Jordan, Six Feet Under and many more! She is super cool! Actually, it was sort of spooky how well she fit in with the theme of our company. She is really down to earth and has incredible chops as an actor! She has a play coming up in September in Burbank... so if you're in the area, we highly suggest that you come support a fantastic actor. She performed a monologue from the show in her audition and it knocked us off our seats. It's difficult to be fair to the other actors auditioning once you've seen "the one" perfect for the role already read.

So, enough of me singing her praises, we're just really happy we got her on the team!

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1219083021.jpg


Here is an Anamatic of the first few seconds of the film. It is basically a photoshop and motion rough draft of elements we are shooting in in camera and how they might be comped together.

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1220425522.mov

Enjoy!

UPDATE 9-30-08
Deep Breath! We have shot principal photography. I call it photography because with the Red Rock and lenses from FM it actually looks like film. Scary thought that lenses can do so much. I honestly don't want to shoot without lenses anymore. But I digress. after weeks of daily slaving away in my garage in sunny southern California we finally finished with the set. At some point we are going to put out some how to's on building DIY sets, especially space ones. That was the one thing I found lacking on the ever impressive and wide reaching internet. No one other than the "I must make this film" guys have anything out there that is a guideline/ jump off point for building Sci-fi space ship sets.

So, after building the set we went ahead and shot on Sunday night. Bree was amazing and my three person crew, Steve, Alan and Alfredo seriously kicked ass. We managed to get 6 pages, with practical fire effects shot in 8 hours. A testiment to my crew and especially my actor who was off book from the get go. * note to self, remember to have a small monitor attached to the camera that can be turned upside down to compensate for the Redrock flipping the image.* Steve, my DP was a trooper, re teaching himself how to shoot without being able to use the eye pice/ LCD monitor.

BTS pics will be up in a few days. Thank you everyone!

UPDATE 10-1-08

Here are a few BTS shots courtesy of Alfredo Carrillo

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1222838372.jpg
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1222838538.jpg
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1222838599.jpg

Super Fun SHOOT! Thanks guys!:thumbup:

UPDATE 10-4-08

We have a assembly cut together and what do you know... it's 10 minutes long! I hate when that happens! lol. I guess that is what happens when you have a great actor that takes time with emotional changes instead of rushing into it. So now tonight we go back at it and try to whittle it down. As you can see from the BTS shots, there is a lot of green screening to be done so we need to get the cut under control soon or it's a lot of redbull and 48 hour days to make the deadline. Exciting;)

SET CONSTRUCTION

My home has a addition on the back of the garage that is a 20x 12 room with low 7'6 ceilings. Low ceilings is a problem for a set like this. We wanted to create a "cut" light effect that had beams shooting through the space but to do that you need to back off your light source a long way. The cool pics from the Fat Monster O2 set are achieved by the 20 ft ceilings that allow for this effect. My garage has more ceiling room and square footage but because of sound issues and the fear of being able to keep it reasonably cool we choose to use the back room. I tried many things to recreate the look, cookies, grates, gels with patterns on them, and none of it worked like we wanted them to. We eventually gave up and the smoke became more of an atmosphere effect rather than a medium to see the light.

CONTINUED on POST #7



FURTHER UPDATES ON POST #7
(I forgot to reserve more spaces)

More to come!

[Simon Höfer]

Welcome to the fest :)

[pauly_the_hitman]

Cool title good luck.
Pauly

[Blaine]

Okay, three days later, give up the details...:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

Good luck, Mike...
http://www.kylestebbins.com/fatmon2/15.jpg

[Matt Sconce]

Wow! I am totally excited about this! Cool stuff, and I am looking forward to more details.

[gabrielflorit]

Same thing here! Tell us more!

[Mike Insane]

SHOW THREAD CONTINUED

SET CONSTRUCTION Continued...

So now that we decided on a space there were some serious questions that needed to be answered... what the "F" do I do now? I turned to a friend of mine Shanan Brown. He's a General contractor who has an MFA is stage lighting and craft from CalARTS ( A prestigious art/ theatre/ animation college). Here is what he taught me. You can make the frames of your walls with 1x3 pine boards. Nothing fancy. You can hold them together with a lot of different devices. I went out and bought a finish nailer and used 2" finish nails. The frames are just fine and they are light weight. Also, if you build them in 8x4 sections (same size as the wood sheets) then you can move them around and re-use them later on. Think of youre set as an investment in future projects. The way you put the skin on (the front that everyone sees) is by using 8x4 sheets of Lywaun (not sure of the spelling). It is a thin, flexable tight grain wood. With two coats of paint it looks smooth and will hold up to the scrutinany of HD resolution. Don't use plywood. although it is stronger, it has a lot of grain. I shot a Star Wars fan film called Enlistees a few years back. They had built a great corridor inside of a battle cruiser type set. The paint was awesome and the size and scale was just enough to make it feel right. however, they used plywood for the walls and that left wood grain visible on any shot where we were closer than 4 feet. It kind of kills the realism. Damn, HD! So LLewayn is the way to go. If you use a narrow crown nailer to hold the wood down you're set. A finish nailer can work but you run into the problem of the skin popping off if you mess with it too much. there are relatively no heads on a finish nail so there is nothing to really hold the wood down. The only problem with llewaqyn is that it is a bit pricier than most other sheets of wood. I believe it was about 13$ per sheet at HD. The 1x3's were like 1.99$ each. But a ton of them, you never know when you might need one more pice than you had originally calculated.

We had the luxary of having a sh!t ton of drywall screws left over from a home remodel we had just completed so we used those screws for EVERYTHING! They grab well and hold things down tightly. I believe you can get a large bucket for like 75$. They will last you forever! We also were able to screw directly into the walls in some cases. This helped tremendously. I saved probably 8-10 hours of time and about 100$ on not having to build the frames and skins of the roof and the right side wall.

So with a simple circular saw, a few nail guns and materials, you can build a light weight and reusable set for roughly 300-400$. Expensive I know. But the cost of renting a location like this is somewhere around 1800-2500 per day, not including insurance and payment for a stage manager to baby sit you.

Next chapter will be the dressing and painting. I'll also post some pics to show you some of what I talked about here.

UPDATE 10-4-08
SCREEN GRABS - Un Color Corrected

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1223072696.jpg
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1223072742.jpg
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1223072773.jpg

Focus with the Redrock is hard the first time you use it. Never ever shoot with it unless you have a DP bible and a tape measure or a large HD monitor.

Anyhow, enjoy the pics!

10-22-08 Wednesday night *UPDATE*

Exhaustion is setting in. I am waiting for the first render for the main screen plate for the Ships computer. Man, Motion can take it's time. Perfect time to log in and give an update. So here it is. We are %50 done with the AE effects. However the hardest and most interactive shots are still ahead of us. 129 shots in the project, 109 of them are effects shots! I'm currently wondering what possessed me to take on something so nutz! So far the shots we have completed are great! But, it would make me a lot happier if I had my very own roto ninja like Fat Monster does :) Until then we will keep plugging away.

We realised that with all of the sound effects and the great acting that we might not need a score. At this point I am just running out of time end energy to consider how I would add in a score. Sorry Engen.

Lessons learned: Sci-fi is expensive... or... time consuming to produce. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground either.

PA's are worth their weight in gold!

Wheelchair dollies don't work when you are as bi of a boy as I am. I'm made more like a tripod than a dolly.

Collaboration is key... like the PA's those people helping you are worth their weight in gold.

Techno music helps you stay awake while doing post at 4:30 AM. Even if you hate techno... it will annoy you awake!


Anyone want to take a crack at a movie poster for me? PM me if you do.

[Matt Sconce]

Mike! Good luck on the casting!

[Gary Sconce]

Ambitious script... Three animators... Wow can't wait! :thumbup:

[Kyle Stebbins]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1217052049.jpg

I know just the place!

http://o2themovie.com/assets/images/main_ss2.gif

[Mike Insane]

The design was inspired by what I saw on the set with you guys. It's just too big for what we wrote. We're going to try and create something about 1/4th the size of that. I had actually sort of burned out on doing shorts but after Mark invited me out to the set for O2 I was completely reinvigorated! I couldn't wait for the next festival. I'm sure everyone knows but filmmaking takes time and with a full time job, it is sometimes hard to keep the energy up. See-ing what the Monster's pulled off as well as watching how this community has grown and evolved... I'm inspired.

BTW Kyle, are you filming in LA or in Neb? If you're shooting in LA, I'd love to come out and get my hands dirty.

Actually, that goes for anyone in LA... if you're in need of crew, give me a ring. er or a PM

[Mike Insane]

UPDATE 8-13-08

We just got a draft done for the regimental patch for the Salvation crew uniforms. Courtasy of Jen at JWdigitize. If you are in the market for something embroidered take at look at her stuff. She also happens to be a personal friend of mine so be nice... she's good people :)

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1218600353.jpeg

[Edgen]

Cool Mike! Looking forward to seeing your film.

Cheers!
/j

[Mike Insane]

Wow! I just looked at the Battlestar fan film you scored! Kudos! Great project. It is amazing how important a good score is. People think the most important element to a film is the picture but really it is the sound.

[ZazaCast]

This looks very interesting... can't wait to see it. I appreciate your enthusiasm, this stuff is exciting. So should I be thinking "O2 Deux"?

Best of luck!

[Mike Insane]

It very well might be my ode to the monster boys. ;)

[Mike Manning]

I love that the fact even though this is a short film festival hosted by a website, it doesn't stop people from going out and making a sci-fi movie with sets like this. Kudos man, I can't wait to see it!

PS... Lake Balboa? Don't you mean Van Nuys! Haha

[Mike Insane]

There is a new poster mock up... wow I need to shrink it down though

[Mike Insane]

ok better version up, sorry
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1219081637.jpg

[Troy Ruff]

Very nice, looks great, I can't wait to see. Good luck. :)

[Mike Insane]

UPDATE: 8-15-08

We just added the help of Marcelo Galow from the 501st Legion (Starwars replica regiment) as a advisor for set design. These guys create screen accurate costumes from the Star Wars film. Well as you can imagine, they know a thing or two about making things look sci-fi with a high production value. Yay!

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1218842613.gif

[ZazaCast]

This IS insane! Go man...Go.

[tk1389]

Thanks Mike, can't wait to get my hands dirty. We will be there on the 30th to check out the set and things. :beer:

Marcelo

[tk1389]

Just to clarify the 501st is a Star Wars Costuming group. We do alot of charity events for organizations like Make A Wish, and in between we have been blessed in appearing in several TV shows, commercials etc with the direct blessing from the man himself, Mr. Lucas

In this group I have learned to make props, and am willing to help in any way I can to Mike and anyone here.

ps Mike send me a good picture of the patch so I can tinker with some ideas I have.

[Mike Insane]

Fantastic news....
08-17-08

We just casted our lead... Bree Michael Warner. She has an impressive resume with guest staring roles on shows like Without a Trace, CSI:Miami, 1Carly, Crossing Jordan, Six Feet Under and many more! She is super cool! Actually, it was sort of spooky how well she fit in with the theme of our company. She is really down to earth and has incredible chops as an actor! She has a play coming up in September in Burbank... so if you're in the area, we highly suggest that you come support a fantastic actor. She performed a monologue from the show in her audition and it knocked us off our seats. It's difficult to be fair to the other actors auditioning once you've seen "the one" perfect for the role already read.

So, enough of me singing her praises, we're just really happy we got her on the team!

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1219083021.jpg

[Mike Insane]

We just added the boys from FAT MONSTER to the roster. It's a key element to filmmaking with budgets like we all have for everyone to help each other out. We're incredibly lucky to have such a great group of filmmakers on board our film! Here is some BTS shots we got from the set of their film FOG of WAR! The Monsters have been lurking on the Dead Week Thread so look there for more updates!
http://www.archivisuals.com/Bomb.jpg[/URL]http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=142327&page=48

[Mark Johnson]

Mike, it is our pleasure to help you with your shoot. We were absolutely blessed to have you crew with us on our war picture and we always return favors as best we can. Your project looks like a great one to be involved with and we are stoked. As we get into September we'll do the traditional Hooters Hollywood preproduction meeting and get some stuff worked out!

[hazelwould]

Hey Thanks!! Your's sounds really cool!

[Geoff_R]

Mike, good luck on your shoot man! Let me know if there's anything I can do to help you out. Appreciate all you did for me on the FM shoot!

[Mike Insane]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1220425522.mov

This is an anamatic of the possible opening few seconds of the project. enjoy.

[ZazaCast]

You got the FM boyz involved? Damn... good thing I just do this for fun!
I'm sure this will be unbelievable.

[Mike Insane]

Having some fun with new posters

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1220499459.jpg

[Mike Insane]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1222156136.jpg (http://www.vimeo.com/1793670)

[MOVIE MASTER]

I would prefer damnation but your film looks pretty cool i might make an exception! Best of luck

[Simon Höfer]

Jeez! Mike, I just saw your BTS video. That looks freakin awesome! Really looking forward to this one :)

[Mike Insane]

Here are a few BTS shots courtesy of Alfredo Carrillo

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1222838372.jpg
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1222838538.jpg
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1222838599.jpg

Super Fun SHOOT! Thanks guys!:thumbup:

[ZazaCast]

GREAT job on the set! The things people do in their garages...always amazing. This is really exciting and I'm looking forward to seeing it. kudos to cast & crew!

[Mike Insane]

Thanks ZAZA! I won't say it was easy but in the end it was definitely worth it. Seriously though, next time I need more help... eek set construction is a lot more time consuming that some people imagine, especially me.

[Mike Insane]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1217052049.jpg
vs
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1222838372.jpg

Not bad I think. Thank you Marcelo, Ed, and Steve for all of your help and Thank you Shanan for teaching me how to build it and lending me the tools to actually complete it!

[Mike Manning]

Looks Great! Can we see some screen grabs??

[Postmaster]

The first drawing reminds me at a Ron Cobb set design for Dark Star.

Frank

[Mike Insane]

UPDATES 10-4-08

I also reordered a bunch of the information and cleaned up the thread so that it is easier to read. Another thing I am adding is a "how we made this film" set of updates. Enjoy.

(Also, I screwed up and didn't save enough pages at the top of the thread to continue keeping all of the updates in order so currently... the updates are... post # 1 and post #7.)

[Mike Insane]

NEW UPDATE

I places some un corrected screen shots up. Enjoy!

[Mike Manning]

Grabs look great!

[Mike Insane]

Thank man. I was concerned that the grabs would disqualify me but apparently not. So yeah enjoy. I'd comments also so if you have criticism, I'd love to hear it :)

[Mike Manning]

Are you kidding? If grabs disqualified you, I'd probably have been banned from DVX for the amount of shots I posted! Haha..

[Mike Insane]

Yeah. I just vaguely remembered reading something about how you can't post things from the main camera prior to the festival. I don't know. But I hope all is well.

[Jeff Anderson]

Hey Mike whats up man!?

Grabs look freakin awesome man! If I remember right its only moving footage from the camera that is a no-no. So this is the set you were telling me about at the FM shoot - pretty ambitious but it looks like its paid off well from the grabs. Good luck with post!

[Mike Insane]

Hey man, when are you coming back out to Cali?????? Thanks for the props. The set really turned out well. I'm proud.

Are you shooting something for this fest?

[Jeff Anderson]

Nope nothing for this fest - have got a short in the writing/concept stage but work is getting in the way of working on it a bit... Hoping to be back out to CA before the end of the year - nothing set in stone yet though.

And proud you should be - just looking at that set makes me sore from thinking about all the work that goes into something like that. Any idea how many hours you put in on it?

[Mike Insane]

Um not totally sure just yeat but I am guessing somewhere around 60. I am in the middle of writing a "how we did it" so I'll post it later. Make sure you let me know when you're coming out. I would be great to grab a drink with ya.

[Kyle Stebbins]

BTW Kyle, are you filming in LA or in Neb? If you're shooting in LA, I'd love to come out and get my hands dirty.

Wow, came in way too late on this one. Sorry, Mike!

I'm shooting in Nebraska... as you probably found out =)

We wouldve loved to have you come help out, man! I'm loving the stills for SALVATION, brotha. keep them coming.

[Troy Ruff]

Sweet grabs as well. your set looks really good. Did you guys make all yourselves? Man if so, that is some work. Great job. Lookin good. :)

[Mike Insane]

updates 10-22-08 (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?p=1369950#post1369950)

[ZazaCast]

Mike...congrats on the upload! Really looking forward to seeing this.
Best always,
-Zaza

[Mike Manning]

Word.. me too!

[gabrielflorit]

This looks really professional.

And your lead is a hottie. :)

[Mike Insane]

YEEYA! We are approved! Now lets get everyone else's approved so we can relax with some wine and a ton of great shorts!!!!

Thanks everyone for the compliments.

Gabriel, Yes Bree is a Hottie! However, we made her look like crap for the film so imagine how good she looks from day to day. I really feel like you immediatly forget that she is beautiful as soon as she starts acting... she takes you away to a place that is filled with drama rather than beauties. Hopefully I am not blinded by my bias.

Mike, I really want to go to you screening. I don't think I am going to be able to but let me take this oppourtunity to tell anyone reading this... go, check it out, bring some business cards and get some networking done.

Zaza, thanks for the screening sheet. It is going to come in handy... and I will start from the top down so I WILL be seeing your film first!!! :)

Kyle, we need to find a way to make something together... I LOVE the concept and grabs from Dead Week so far.

It just dawned on me that I am a "Senior" member... what does that mean? I know, it probably has something to do with the amount of posts on the site but really, I feel like I am always learning from everyone else. Senior seems to feel like it is saying Upper-classmen ... maybe Salvation will grant us that honor. I feel like this community is about everyone working together. OK random derailed thought over.

[Mike Manning]

Mike, I really want to go to you screening. I don't think I am going to be able to but let me take this oppourtunity to tell anyone reading this... go, check it out, bring some business cards and get some networking done.


Thanks man, I hope you can make it. It's gonna be a fun time! RSVP just in case, so you're on the guest list.

[Mike Insane]

POSTED ON the FRONT PAGE but here it is...

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12787/1225330235.jpg

[Brian Parker]

Great set and grabs. This should be a good one. Oh, and I like you production company name and logo too.

[Mike Insane]

Right on man thank you! Wait, which company name? Chop House or 12th Round? I'm going to assume Chop House... I dig the logo too. Check this out... This is the logo animated... CHOP HOUSE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQV-hIaMEEM)

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Whoa how did I miss this?

Great set, poster and grabs. Lovin' it all.

[bosindy]

I dug the film. Good to see the sci fi space torch carried into the next fest. Kudos to your actress for going for it. She is acting alone throughout which is not easy. Some nice vfx to give it a realistic futuristic vibe. I felt like there was a lot of production value for a one set shoot.

The camera work was a bit shaky early on, particularly when she gets up off the ground. It feels like the camera op got off the ground as well at that moment. I also think the jump cuts when she was down there would have been more effective if you were closer in, maybe a mcu or better. You could also polish her performance a bit by taking down the audio levels on the breathing in post.

nicely executed story, I like the claustrophobic feel of it as the enemy is closing in. well played drama in the end. congrats.

[Mike Manning]

Hey Mike, great job! Love those effects... especially like the Minorty Report-esque video screen. Very cool...

I gotta say, at first I thought your lead's performance was WAY over the top... but once she calmed down she really sold it for me. I think that if there's a way to tone down her performance at the start, you should go for it - cuz it sets a tone that really isn't indicative of her performance later.

As for the rest of the story, I said this in another thread...and I hate saying it because it's such a cliche... but "Show, don't tell." I mean, I get it, the movie's about her, and we're trapped in this one location, etc. etc. It's cool... but when you're talking about so much cool sh*t that's happening elsewhere, the audience starts to wish we were privy to it. You know? Though, I'm sure this is the result of not having a billion dollars to make the film, but I'm sure you can see how it becomes problematic. Kudos for what you were able to do though... great set!

[ZazaCast]

I've said it before & I'll say it again...Insane set! (pun intended) Great job on this film. Your actress did an excellent job in the role, that acting alone is tough stuff. Loved the VFX. You did a great job with the adapter & focus. The story was a little predictable for me but didn't make it any less enjoyable.

Really great job on this film Mike! You should be very proud of it.

[Bernie Hipos]

Mike that's insane!!! Seriously though, great acting and nice set.

[MrKilloran]

Great stuff here Mike. Your set is top notch, very claustrophobic. Your story was pretty straight-forward and its a nice sci-fi piece.

[darkrequiem1134]

awesome title, and sweet poster

[Zim]

A really god film. I liked both the acting and the ending.

[Mile Bozicevic]

Great film Mike, I really liked it, especially I wanted to see some sci-fi like this (space, talking A.I. and stuff:D).

Tough job for one actress, but she did pull it out really good. Sound issues at times, meaning I'm getting hard time understand her or the ship comp. Also, someone mentioned ALL that stuff she talked about so I was dying to see a Centurion, a Genesis under microscope, consequences of war on Earth etc. (no need for large buildings destroyed and alike, I think Broadcast pulled this one almost perfectly).

Excellent!

[Richard J. Johnson]

good acting. I was a little concerned at first but she pulled it off beautifully. Nice set work and SFX. the ending was cool I thought the door should have opened at one and it would have been rescuer but yours worked just fine. good job.

[Darkline]

You built a set! wow. I liked this and thought it was a lot of fun. Your main actress was really convincing in the role. Your set looked great but with a bit more attention on the lighting it could have looked amazing I think. Even still it was obvious you went to a ton of effort. How much did it cost to build that?

The short really held my attention and I think that's hard to do when there is a chunk of time where she is talking to a screen, so thats shows how good her performance was and how the story was carrying you along. It reminded me of 'panic' in some ways.

I guessed the end about 10 seconds before it hit, but it was still very enjoyable. Good job Mike and nice title too. This is a really fun fest.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Nice work! Great job on the set! The video screen stuff looked too clean, a minor nitpick and maybe a personal preference.

The actress did an admirable job. Tough shoot I'm sure.

Pretty cool effects as well. Nice payoff at the end.

Nice work.

Mike

[Simon Höfer]

I have to second Michaels post! Great work overall :)

What I didn't like: We watched into the face of you actress all the time. There was not much "happening".

Great film Mr. Insane :D

[Steve Strickland]

This was a cool film!

I felt the beginning was a little choppy, but it smoothed out as it went along. The actress did a great job. I could feel her desperation.

Having looked at your BTS stills and notes, it was cool to see it come to life in your film. Great set! Your camera work was good and really added to the sense of claustrophobia. Although maybe it held for a little too long, I especially loved the shot from the computer screen perspective. The leads expressions really drew me in to the scene.

The computer effects were top notch here. Futuristic and believable, awesome!

Great job. I'm looking forward to seeing more of your work.:thumbup:

[pauly_the_hitman]

I enjoyed watching this one. Cool set I wish we had a place and money to do something like this. My only criticism was the computers voice, I would have liked it to either be more robotic or more human it sounded weird to me, just personal preference I suppose. Nice job.
Pauly

[stinkpot]

Hey, great set! I liked the computer voice (sorry pauly :) ). I also like your use of sound effects. I would have liked to seen you cut to more closeups to give more of a "closed in" feel once she realizes her situation. Overall, entertaining.

Great job!
:beer:

[Noel Evans]

Overall I thought this was pretty good. I was a little unsure of the connection to "Twilight". Your actress did a very good job (so well directed).

Visually I liked the lower shoots showing the top of the cabin, gives it that enclosed feel. In this set I would have gone with the tried and true a little bit, taking a page from Sydney Lumet in 12 angry men, and start off almost eye level everything then progress to those shots where the angle drops over the course of the film. All the handheld worked will though in keeping the pace. There were a few shots where I thought some more light could be used to dramatise it a bit more, for example when she goes into the wall cavity theres not much going on in there. And personally overall I would probably have balanced the lighting to whiten it across the board so when you do your behind screen shots you can mix it up. Also some other color would be suitable for a spacecraft like a green streak on a wall etc.

There is one shot in there I actually didnt like - starts at 2.46.

I thought the VFX were well done. Maybe could have been a tad dirtier, but nothing there I didnt like.

Sound wise, I picked a few hot spots when she yells, nothing to bad. I thought though, for the most part the boom wasnt quite close enough and whilst her volume is ok, theres some other stuff in there as well. Amy's voice I thought suited. Just I felt sometimes there was a little too much coming out of her. Not sure that even makes any sense.

Story, I thought was pretty good. As I said I really didnt think oooh theres a twlighty twist in there.

My biggest irk was the opening VO. Im not the kind of person who thinks never use one. Im writing PULP piece at the moment and I have used it a lot. I just thought it served nothing else than to give the story away.

Good job!

[John LaBonney]

Hey, this was good!

I liked the computer voice and loved the way you showed her interacting with the computer through most of the film. It's very visually interesting and I enjoyed it a lot. I kind of cringed at the idea that the computer could agree that the enemy is "pissed." Story-wise it was pretty good, I agree it could be written to ditch the opening voice-over and I think that would make the film stronger.

Wow, amazing set! Incredible work getting that built.

Your visual effects are killer! Must have taken forever to develop all those computer screens. Very nicely done and totally convincing.

Nice!

[Tim Joy]

I really liked the graphics, lighting, and acting. You should enter her in the "hottest actress in the fest" thread. :Drogar-Love(DBG):

I see what people are saying about the beginning, but I disagree that it's the acting. You start the scene off with an "action" opening but you don't support it with any MUSIC. (No music throughout the whole movie either? ) Stick any big action cue from any movie there and I think it will play just perfect. The "talkie" section plays just fine dry. The ending and countdown section also needs music. IMO. Slap anything on there and see what it does.

One immediate problem I had was when she is looking at the screen and you cut from behind her to her CU, you're "crossing the line". You might be able to flip the video of her CU's so she is looking camera right instead of left and it would work just fine, but the screen plays as another character, and I think you should observe the 180 rule there.

Like everyone else, I loved the set, and I also loved how you lit it. The only thing I wished for was for her backlight through the window (the one that had the cool flare too) to be on a crane or something which would allow it to move ever so slowly to give us the idea that the ship was in motion.

Great performance and directing, and I liked the ending. Congrats!

[Marlon Ladd]

Mike! When I say you did your thing, that's what I mean. This was a really top notchi film. I'm still wondering how you did it??? Hopefully I can find some info. in the thread, but your actress was great and the set was awesome and the digital screen - man, I'm really impressed with this piece. Keep up the good work.

[Susanne G.]

You did a big affort with your location. The acting and production quality were very good and the story works. One little thing and this is only my personal taste: For me it is hardly bearable to hear and see a woman hysterically crying and even more when she did it nearly the whole film. But this is only a minor detail - Well done! :)

Susanne

[Robbie Comeau]

This film had an O2 look. Nice coloring, and the actress did a beautiful job!

Special effects were done well also,

Robbie

[Mike Insane]

Thank you everyone for commenting. To address some general points...

Michael said it best... say it see it. I think this is the biggest flaw in the pice. I honestly ran out of time and really, I ran out of space (6 minute limit). There are a lot of plans that we had designed to show the world before and the rescuers coming to save her. There will be a longer cut that has more of those elements as well as a proper credits scroll at the end. We just had a really difficult time cramming the whole story into 6 minutes. The original assembly cut was 11 minutes.

I think the VO in the beginning would work much better if you visually saw what he was talking about. However, again, lacking time for the cut, we had to get you in the world right away.

Noel, thank you for the detail in your comments. Actually, everyone, thank you again for your comments.

The missing element of the Twilightfest for this project was the "you think you're somewhere that you aren't"... the episodes that I used as a guideline were "planet of the apes" and the one where they landed on a planet with no air only to realize after killing each other that they were outside of Las Vegas. The rewrite of the rules to define Twilight as something supernatural came after i had completed my script. However i do see how someone who doesn't know that or has not seen those episodes would totally not see the connection to the fest.

I honestly got inspired for the set and the look while visiting the O2 set. Mark, Luis, and Tim sort of inadvertently brought me back to making shorts. I saw how the set was built and realized that I could totally do it myself. After what we have seen as success on this film, we are seriously going to work on a feature length sci-fi film. I guess I owe a lot of that to the Monster guys and their many awesome associates. (I like to call them mini-monsters)

[Mike Insane]

Mike! When I say you did your thing, that's what I mean. This was a really top notchi film. I'm still wondering how you did it??? Hopefully I can find some info. in the thread, but your actress was great and the set was awesome and the digital screen - man, I'm really impressed with this piece. Keep up the good work.

Hey Marlon... thanks and to answer your question....

AFTER EFFECTS! Long long hours of lots of effects. I am writing a "how we did it" on the set. At the moment it is on post #7 in this thread. Eventually it will migrate into it's own thread/ website.

[Mike Insane]

You did a big affort with your location. The acting and production quality were very good and the story works. One little thing and this is only my personal taste: For me it is hardly bearable to hear and see a woman hysterically crying and even more when she did it nearly the whole film. But this is only a minor detail - Well done! :)

Susanne

You know, me too. Sadly enough, the moments where she is a super tough scientist kind of had to get cut down ... we just flat out ran out of time. It's a crappy excuse but it is the truth.

[Mike Insane]

I really liked the graphics, lighting, and acting. You should enter her in the "hottest actress in the fest" thread. :Drogar-Love(DBG):

I see what people are saying about the beginning, but I disagree that it's the acting. You start the scene off with an "action" opening but you don't support it with any MUSIC. (No music throughout the whole movie either? ) Stick any big action cue from any movie there and I think it will play just perfect. The "talkie" section plays just fine dry. The ending and countdown section also needs music. IMO. Slap anything on there and see what it does.

One immediate problem I had was when she is looking at the screen and you cut from behind her to her CU, you're "crossing the line". You might be able to flip the video of her CU's so she is looking camera right instead of left and it would work just fine, but the screen plays as another character, and I think you should observe the 180 rule there.

Like everyone else, I loved the set, and I also loved how you lit it. The only thing I wished for was for her backlight through the window (the one that had the cool flare too) to be on a crane or something which would allow it to move ever so slowly to give us the idea that the ship was in motion.

Great performance and directing, and I liked the ending. Congrats!

thank you for the comments... Bree suggested some music from a fantastic composer friend and we also could have possibly had a score from Edgen. At first we felt that it moved without the music. After we had cut it to time we never revisited the music element until it was too late. I personally still feel like there is so much going on already that music might muddle things up... but I am game to try it.

It is funny that you noticed the 180 rule... no one else has. I had intended the line to be broken. My thinking was that it would create a more disconnected/ disoriented feel to the film. The computer was another character but it also was a part of the environment. I really wanted that environment to be all screwed up. In hindsight, I am not sure if following the 180 rule or my was was better. It's a good question I'll have to face for future projects. Thank you for noticing :)

[Dick Campbell]

a really nice production. I think this fits the theme well. liked the set, but had to laugh at the office wheelie chair.

[hoz]

lots of work! and it shows, it looks great. acting was good too. story was okay, but i see that from above posts that this is part of along story so i would really like to see the whole thing.

[Brian Parker]

Great job man! I was excited when I checked out your thread before and it's good to see how well everything came out. Awesome awesome set. Loved the computer interfaces and the shots where she was navigating through them. Actress did a great job as well. I have to agree with yeehawnow, it could have used a little music in places...even some ambient tunes. That's my only issue. Awesome film man!

[Mark Johnson]

Mike you are Insane!!! I finally got to your film and I'm so pleased with the outcome.

I recall that we were, like, within a week of shooting O2 when I saw a post by you basically saying that it's too bad that it's virtually impossible to shoot a decent micro-budget sci-fi flick given audience expectations for production values. We started corresponding and I first met you on the set of O2 where I realized the wheels were starting to turn in your head. Since then you've become a great friend to Fat Monster and I look forward to working on many projects together over the years to come.

I first have to compliment you on your set. You really showed how its possible to create a believable spaceship interior out of almost whole cloth. Brilliant. Salvation has given me a bunch of ideas too. I'm thinking that it would be awesome if we could get several people here in L.A. to build small spaceship interior sets like this that could then be used to fill out a bigger project. As we've considered future projects that would involve the O2 set at Laurel Canyon Stages we've realized that we really would need to extend that set for anything more ambitious. Your set could easily be an additional part of the ship or the interior of a shuttle/escape pod etc.

This past week we have been scouting prop houses for sci-fi interior dressing and we visited Woody at Woody'sElectricalProps (http://www.woodysprops.com/page1.html). If you haven't been there yet, you gotta go. First of all, if you are a fanboy like me you'll just get a kick out of seeing all those flashing light panels that were used on the old Irwin Allen shows like Lost in Space, Time Tunnel and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea. He's got a ton of stuff from Star Trek and god-knows-how-many-other sci-fi features.

It is mildly depressing to find that Woody rents his panels for $350 - $550 a week so that by the time you get the truck to haul it you've racked up a hefty bill and it isn't cost effective for the micro-budget stuff we shoot around here. However, Woody is an incredibly cool guy with a great personality. I hope to find some ways to trade out services and generally schmooze our way into an opportunity.

Nevertheless, a resourceful guy like you should visit simply to get some ideas. Woody is happy to turn anything on for you and if you study the panels closely you can see a lot of little tricks and techniques (I noticed one screen was merely an old aviation navigation map with a flashlight bulb behind it. Worked perfectly and had a great techno look).

It also reminded me of a great resource I found up North in Santa Clara called "Weird Stuff." (http://www.weirdstuff.com/sunnyvale/html/index.htm)All the big silicon valley manufacturers dump their obsolete parts inventory on this place and you can pick up bizarre high-tech parts for peanuts. If you are willing to wander through the big back warehouse you'll be amazed at what you can find.

While I'm on the subject, 20th Century props here in L.A. bought out the bizarre "Alien Decor" collection and now include it in their "Specialty Resources (http://www.aliendecor.com/futuristic.htm)" department. While we were wandering around the big back lot we ran across the huge water tank used in "The Prestige" as well as a complete 60's submarine interior set! There's all sorts of Austin Powers props and more weird things than you can count.

I kind of got side-tracked but my point is that resourcefulness like you've shown is what really gives Indie productions power. Kudos, my man. Kudos. ... I'm gonna review your film today too.

[Mark Johnson]

Ok, my review of SALVATION:

Nice opening title and I liked the VO. It succinctly gives the necessary info to be able to do this in 6 minutes.

Love your "suspended animation pods" or whatever they are and the graphics for the screens are very well done. There's a tiny "drift" in the word "DECEASED" that could have been avoided by having it on the original graphic composite.

Really like the dampened sound when she's pounding to get out. Totally cool.

You open up immediately with action/conflict with a great hook as she is in jeopardy from the get go. Sound levels peg a bit and I do think the scene would be better with a nice score underneath.

I REALLY appreciate and like the "heads-up" display she starts working with. One of my favorite parts of "Minority Report" was the interface Cruise works with and you've really done nicely here (as has your actress in selling that she's actually looking at and manipulating the data).

I really like the look of your actress. I'm a huge fan of the "Ripley" look from the Alien films and your actress has got a nice similar gritty tough-as-nails approach in this film.

A bit of tracking drift at 3:51 on those screens.

Nice job on the computer voice. Great idea to use a true text-to-speech parser.

I believe at least one person posting didn't realize that was a Search Rescue ship at the end instead of the enemy and I didn't catch it until the second viewing. I think maybe reversing the ship so that the "SEARCH+RESCUE" is upright might be better without being TOO obvious.

Nice effects throughout and I really compliment you for pulling this off. I'm such a huge fan of SCI-FI and feel you are somewhat of a kindred spirit in that regard. I also really like dystopian sci-fi and you've got a good feel for it.

I also think this is absolutely another classic Twilight Zone piece. The ironic and morbid twist at the end fits very well (See the episode "TO SERVE MAN"). Great job Mike! This is one of my favorites for sure.

[Tim Joy]

I believe at least one person posting didn't realize that was a Search Rescue ship at the end instead of the enemy and I didn't catch it until the second viewing. I think maybe reversing the ship so that the "SEARCH+RESCUE" is upright might be better without being TOO obvious.

Oh man, I totally missed that. That's a much better ending than what I thought it was (enemy ship). Maybe you could do a CU of the "Search and Rescue" and pound it home for those of us that are a little dense in the head. :huh:

[Edgen]

Mike.. I think the film needed more music!! :)

I think if you cut the exhibition down in half, this would be a pretty powerful lil' film. (again, just seemed a little naked) Visual FX were a feat in themselves and huge congrats on the set design.

Looking forward to your next entry!
/j

[lawriejaffa]

Hey there!

Well I am a little hot and cold on this one!

First off massive kudos for the set and production values, sure theres the odd thing (like the office chair) and so on, but heck it looks great and the actress as well i think - did exceptionally well.

Spoiler//
The FX were okay too (the ship explosion shot at the end was perhaps a little weaker and also too fast for us to catch the 'search and rescue'

The set up for the story and the ending in general was the weakest for me, i think by nature of twist/unexpected it technically qualifies (that question never entered my head watching it.) But I myself had the story guessed out far sooner than i wanted, the second we knew she was the last hope... we knew she was doomed, the 2nd we knew it might be the 'enemy' we knew it would ironically not be.

Its an example where great micro-budget production design and good acting can still not get a film all the way there unless (just my opinion) unless the story is a bit more original.

However the story wasn't terrible it was just a little too average imo in comparison to the other qualities that shone here for me, but overall this is an enjoyable and striking short!

[Bryce A]

Nice twist. At first I was disappointed when she set the self-destruct, as I was thinking there need to be something a bit more original. But final shot was fun enough. Oh, those silly things called emotions. Salvation = Doom. Fun. While I'm on this subject, i really don't get the confusion with teh ending. The "EARTH ORBIT" text was enough for me to get it.

My biggest problem were the sections of the script that required Lt. Spears to freak out. Bree Michael Warner did her well in her role, but the dialogue came off unnatural. Just me? My second issue was the lighting. I felt it was a bit muddy at times.

In the end, who doesn’t like a sci-fi pic?!? I love 'em!!! The set and effects worked to help the telling of the story. Nice cryo-pods, comp interfaces, etc... Well done.

I also liked the Kirkland water bottles in the behind the scenes pics! Can't beat 'em. Cheap! heh...

[SparkyZa]

Nice set, good story & acting. I liked the specuial effects you did here. if i lucky, i'll get in on the next fest and makea movie.