BLACKOUT - A Chris Curl Film

[chriscurl]

WATCH THE FILM ONLINE HERE: http://vimeo.com/3728916


http://projectc75.com/poster.jpg


BLACKOUT
Reduced from a superman to an everyman, how far would you go to have that power back?

http://projectc75.com/poster.jpg


CAST
Tony Ware
http://projectc75.com/ware.jpg
Resume here> (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0912157/resume)

Rod Thompson
http://projectc75.com/thompson.jpg

C. Anthony Robinson
http://projectc75.com/robinson.jpg

Teviya Abrahams

Tom Shortridge





Produced and Directed by Chris Curl
Written by Rod Thompson & Chris Curl
Assistant Director - Tom Shortridge
Music by Erich Barto myspace.com/x77music (http://www.myspace.com/x77music)
Lighting Consultant - Jon Abrahams jpixx.com (http://jpixx.com/)


SHOOTING DATES:
January 24 (COMPLETED, Prologue and office scene.)
January 31 (COMPLETED, Reshoot of office scene after rewrite.)
February 21 (COMPLETED)

[chriscurl]

Screenshots from first day of shooting... now we have to wait a month to film the other 3/4 of the film, should be an interesting couple of weeks before deadline.


http://projectc75.com/mask.jpg
http://projectc75.com/ctony.jpg
http://projectc75.com/tonyware.jpg
http://projectc75.com/tom.jpg



3/1/09
Non-cc screenshots from 2/28 reshoots, I wish everything in-between looked this good.
http://projectc75.com/shoes.jpg
http://projectc75.com/bottles.jpg
http://projectc75.com/angry.jpg

[chriscurl]

Behind the scenes of Day 1 shooting...

Photos courtesy of Jon Abrahams

http://projectc75.com/IMG_2605.jpg
http://projectc75.com/IMG_2615.jpg
http://projectc75.com/IMG_2620.jpg
http://projectc75.com/IMG_2671.jpg
http://projectc75.com/IMG_2622.jpg

[Richard J. Johnson]

welcome to the fest.

[Rodney V. Smith]

welcome also

[stinkpot]

Yes... welcome to the fest!

:beer:

[Dustin R. Rogan]

This is me taking yet another spot in a thread which I have no intention of coming back later and changing my words ....so why reserve it when I can just take it!!! MUAAHAHAHAHAH.....A


Rogan

































ps. welcome

[chriscurl]

Added a cast member, most likely to star, used Tony in our 48 Hour Film Entry this year and he was amazing and thought it would be fun to use in something that wasn't quite as rushed.

[RodThompson]

I have a need, Chris.

A need.

[chriscurl]

I'm not normally into satisfying dudes needs but I will make an exception for you Rod, you know you're in. I am going to put some ideas down and send them to you.

[RodThompson]

My soul weeps with joy!

[chriscurl]

OK, it is coming together, a first draft script has been done, I figure we will let that sit for a couple days before we take another stab at it.

[RodThompson]

First, Chris...let me just tell you that your title fails. I don't like it. Think of something more fluffy and less racially offensive.

Two...I fear your team is destined for failure.

So having said that, I'm stoked to be a part of this film!!

[armisiano]

Hey Chris, a funny thing happened on the way to the lossfest. We're making rather similar projects, lol. My short is conceptually the same thing, a superhero who has lost his powers. I'm taking it in a comedic direction though, is yours a drama, or also a comedy?

(by the way, REALLY looking forward to seeing it, I wonder if the makers of "VOLCANO" and "Dante's Peak" felt the same way?) :)

[RodThompson]

Not Speaking for Chris, but we're taking the dramatic route. I almost shit when I saw your thread. So I guess we're the Deep Impact to your Armageddon. :)

Looking forward to seeing the different takes though. :beer:

[chriscurl]

It is entirely possibly that you are taking the "actually a good movie" route as opposed to what we end up with, time will tell!

[pia12254]

:D I am actually excited as well to see two different takes on the same starting concept! I think it will be cool to see how each of you tackles it!

Good luck with Blackout (yeah...I'm offended by that title too)! :grin:

[chriscurl]

Shooting the big beginning scene tomorrow... jeebus give me strength, and 6 more hours to prepare?

[RodThompson]

Good luck, Christobell...

:violin:

[chriscurl]

OK, screenshots added to second post.

[RodThompson]

Bump for greatness! Those shots look awesome. I'm still pissed I couldn't be there.

:crybaby:

[chriscurl]

Behind the scenes photos added to the first page.

[Rodney V. Smith]

what? no posterage? got great BTS and awesome screenshots, but no poster? (hint hint)

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Great location! Good luck.

MAH

[RodThompson]

OMG! That looks epic! Love the new take on the first shots. Can't wait to see how I look....I mean, how Act III is going to look.

That poor office takes a beating everytime you get a whim, Chris. Dig the BTS though (I now know what BTS stands for!).

I agree with puckthemad...a one-sheet would look nice! :beer:

[Tom Shortridge]

Just throwing in my two cents - like the new color correction on that first screen. Maybe dial back the pink a bit in the rest of the lab shots, not sure about the vignette you added there. I need to see 'em in motion.

[erichbarto]

blackout is gonna rule :)

[chriscurl]

Poster added, I will revise soon with credits.

[Tom Shortridge]

Poster looks sweet.

[RodThompson]

Sick!

[Chris Messineo]

I love this poster!

[warau]

Not to sound too redundant but, this is an awesome poster! I love it!

[Rodney V. Smith]

cool poster! gets right into the heart of it. now facebook it :grin:

[chriscurl]

Great, now there's too much pressure to make a movie that is actually watchable, this changes everything.

Thanks for the compliments!

[Rodney V. Smith]

this is where tweaking those edits comes in useful I guess. I'm under pressure myself to make something that people will laugh at so just be glad you're not doing comedy. Just a superhero movie with a cool poster.

[armisiano]

Dude, supersweet poster (no pun intended) and banner. Thumbs up.

[Lawsuit_Boy]

Love the poster! The grabs make me think of a colder Blindness.

[Kyle Stebbins]

best banner of the fest, so far that i've seen.

also, rod rules.

[RodThompson]

/bow
/bow

[jasonthewho]

Somehow I just ran across this one. Looks pretty sweet!

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Nice poster! Sounds promising.

Good luck.

[RodThompson]

Nice poster! Sounds promising.

Good luck.


Thanks! I dug Calls from the Fuhrerbunker!

[RodThompson]

Shooting final scene on <bump> Saturday!!!

[Richard J. Johnson]

good looking grabs!

[Mark Harris]

I like the sets a lot. And yeah, the grabs look interesting. Looking forward!!!

[chriscurl]

And by "final scene", Rod means final 4-5 pages, should be one interesting day.

[RodThompson]

Inser the word ",long" in between the words "one" and "interesting" from Chris' post.

[RodThompson]

There is a God...and he hath bless our shoot. Lol

I'll let Chris fill in the details, but yesterday's shoot went AWESOME! Well...mine and Tony's acting was awesome. As far as the direction...I have my doubts. LOL.

Nah, in all seriousness, I'd work for Chris Curl anytime. Dude rocks!

http://blog.dixo.com/images/_39730457_justin_hawkins_pa.jpg <-- The Darkness ROCKS!

[chriscurl]

So yesterday was my first time using a 35mm lens adapter (sgBlade). I hadn't had much time to experiment much with it since it arrived. Definitely not a one man job running that thing. So the question is...what percentage of this film will be in focus...10%....20%...half if were lucky!

[Tom Shortridge]

Hey Rod, still waiting for you to post up those BTS pictures.

[RodThompson]

Hey Tom...still have them on Chris' camera in Chris' flat. CHEERIO!

[Tom Shortridge]

Hey Chris, I know you just got the whole SGBlade and all, but I'm really looking into shooting the next one on that 1014XL... we'll see what happens.

[chriscurl]

Arrrgh, well we're going to have a movie, but too many shots in too short of a time frame and not having someone on the shoot that really knows interior lighting is killing me now that I'm editing Saturday's footage, we did our best guessing with the lights but so much to learn in that department, and we got moving so fast as it got later that you just end up neglecting it. Looks like we underlit alot of our shots. It's ok though, it has been a huge learning experience.

[chriscurl]

And user Smettli just gave me great advice on setting up my sgBlade on the DVX100, I really wish I had thought to ask around before our shoot, I think my setup was way off.

[RodThompson]

Thought you were going to do something in post to make it look darker anyway? Who cares! We did our best with what we had, kicked its ass, and didn't bother with taking a name.

I say we did our best, and I'm proud to have been a part of it! Now, how about some Baltis screenies?

[Tom Shortridge]

Rod - it's better to have the cleanest image possible in the shoot. That way you can make all the adjustments you want in post. You can darken an image in the edit, but you can't get information out of darkly-shot areas without adding a lot of noise/grain.

That said, I feel like an idiot, because I was going by that monitor, and forgot to check the zebras at any point.

But hey, lessons learned, correct? The next one will kick more ass because of it.

[Steve Strickland]

Hola my VB bredren!

Your poster and grabs look great.:thumbup:

It was cool to run into you guys yesterday. Hopefully, the next time you see me, I won't be in nerd mode. :)

Looking forward to seeing the film and working together soon.

[chriscurl]

Fudge.

That is all...

[Tom Shortridge]

I enjoy fudge.

[chriscurl]

It's a good thing cuz I am going to be serving up 6 minutes of fudge shortly. Where can I rent a time machine?

[Tom Shortridge]

I hear Doc Brown's DeLoreans has reasonable rates...

[RodThompson]

Where we're going...we don't need...roads.

[chriscurl]

I have decided to squeeze in a few simple reshoots with our main actor tomorrow, we got so rushed last saturday, and i did such a poor job of getting my sgblade set up before i used it that i will just feel much better about the whole thing if i can squeeze in a few well-lit, well shot shots into this thing.

[chriscurl]

I know have an edit that fits within the time requirements, so that is exciting, it was quite the adventure shooting last weekend as we didnt time out the script and realized it was insanely long once we started, plus our lead was on call for work and had to go for 7 hours, so once he got back and we got going again we had to literally rewrite while we were shooting.

So Lesson #485 learned in this production: Time out your script!

And let's not forget Lesson #512: Do rehearsal if at all possible to work out delivery so takes aren't inconsistent, that is a bitch when editing!

[Aaron Marshall]

I really like your poster. It would stop me in my tracks if I were walking by it on the streets.

[TimCollins]

Poster definitely caught my attention. Can't wait to see the finished product.

[RodThompson]

Chris, I formally request the poster be taken down and a new one...maybe created in Microsoft paint be put up in its place. lol

[chriscurl]

Woo, my brief reshoot today went awesome, just replacing some shots, and this time my lens adapter was in focus! I think we should change the name to Frankenmovie because it is going to look like 6 different films cut together.

[RodThompson]

HOT! I pace the floor in anticipation!

[Tom Shortridge]

Wow... after seeing those reshoots, I gotta say, I can't wait for next time, when we can have a whole film in focus like that!

The new shots look kickass, Chris.

[RodThompson]

Where are you seeing new shots???

[Tom Shortridge]

In my dreams.

[RodThompson]

Hmmm....go read my new short under the Screenwriting thread. The Upgrade.

You have knowledge of shots...I want this.

[chriscurl]

3/1/09

Added new screenshots from the reshoots yesterday, if only I could do it all over, ah well.

We can still be friends Frankenmovie...

[RodThompson]

AWESOME! That last shot is the bomb....Tony sells madness! Where's the handsome fellow in the red shirt?

I suck again.

[chriscurl]

Rod, i know you have a picture of yourself in your wallet, just look at that.

I am not posting stills from last Saturday because honestly the footage isn't that good, the rush we got stuck in combined with some technical issues resulted in less than amazing footage, so I have some repair work to do.

[rfox]

I know it's been said already - but that's some flippin' good key art. :thumbup:
Looking forward to your entry.

[warau]

Hey Chris, sounds like you view your film about like I view mine. Only problem is you have some great shots in there, (don't think i have one of those ). I have been wanting to see this one since I first saw your poster. Looking forward to it.

[RodThompson]

I was just BSing....and have faith, brother...all will be GREAT!

[chriscurl]

its all good Rod, just messing with ya, actually the current edit pretty much eliminates you and just has tony talk to himself, actually it works better this way, i never would have thought. ;-)

thanks for the kind words guys, it is coming together and will be on the good side of decent i think!

[chriscurl]

And it is uploaded!

[erichbarto]

and it came out awesome!

[RodThompson]

About to watch it now...:beer: My you-know-whats tingle with anticipation.


EDIT! Chris...ummm...how do I put this gently. Email me so we can talk about YOUR EPIC GENIUSNESS(sic)! I love.

!!!!! <--- That.

[RodThompson]

It's official...Chris made the cut! :beer:

[Rodney V. Smith]

beer and cheers! :beer:

[Postmaster]

Good job Chris.

What distracts me a bit is, the guy with the red shirt is almost all the time out of focus.
Is there any intention in this super narrow DOF or did you shoot open because of light issues?

Frank

[chriscurl]

Thanks, glad you liked it, so yes, there are focus issues and they are in no way intentional, I had just gotten my lens adapter a couple days before and I didn't have it set up correctly before we shot, and we underlit those shots as well, oh yeah, and I was using a zoom lens, another nono. Not a good combination, it was late in the game and I reshot the things I could but there was no opportunity to do it all over... lesson learned.



Good job Chris.

What distracts me a bit is, the guy with the red shirt is almost all the time out of focus.
Is there any intention in this super narrow DOF or did you shoot open because of light issues?

Frank

[Postmaster]

Never mind, we all went thru this.

I still like it anyway.

Frank

[warau]

I loved this film! The story really sold it and helped gloss over the focus problem. Would make an interesting FEATURE...

[vnguyen972]

Very cool film. The conversations seem choppy but the story does help to ignore it.... the music is great too! I love superhuman movies!

[Richard J. Johnson]

Good film. THe actors were all on point. I really wanted to see him kick some ass.

[Kegan]

I enjoyed this one greatly - technically and story-wise. You could very well expand this to a feature if you'd like. My only complaint would be Marshall's execution of is lines. I think that he was a good fit for the role, but maybe needed some more coaching in delivering his lines with more emotion and clearly.

Kegan

[Rodney V. Smith]

Chris: I liked what you did with the storyline and film as a whole (barring focus issues) but this isn't a short film.

You have a nice setup and you take us through his loss, but that part seems glossed over to get to the Thunderbolt character and set this up to be a feature or a longer story. I felt that if you had dwelled on the loss of his power and how he now has to cope with being normal.... dude that's gotta screw up his whole routine in a major way. Things that he took for granted before.. now all gone. The gradual devolution would have been nice to see and would have been more complete as a story, especially if Thunderbolt only entered with an offer at the end.

Right now its just a setup for a bigger story and yes it leaves me wanting more, but doesn't leave me with a feeling of completion.

You have a great eye and a good story, but develop the human side a little more, what makes us connect to the characters and you'll have a GREAT story. Remember, it's not the powers we can relate to.. it's how the person deals with the power itself that endears us to them.

Good luck in your filmmaking and I'm really lookign forward to seeing more from you.. and especially where you can take this story (major hint: feature or series)

[lordambrai]

Stop hurting superheroes people... just out of curiosity, if it was they were the result of a military project, wouldn't they be super soldiers not really super heroes? Just nitpicking, I dug it. Loved the lighting, tense mood, and I liked thunderbolt. It just sucks that the hero wants to strike a deal with a "bad guy"

[RodThompson]

Thunderbolt, lol.

[Chris Messineo]

Great film.

I dug the story and the whole look of it. The opening shots in particular are wonderful - that silhouette of him in the bathroom door is phenomenal. I really loved your lead actor - he had a great face an I felt his pain. I also like how you ended it with the voice under the credits. Great music and style throughout.

Very well done.

[Geoff_R]

I really like the concept here... super-heroes who had powers which the government took away, it's a great setup and the opening scene with him losing his powers is pretty cool.

I have some issues with the acting here and there... the doctor taking his powers away is too intense for my tastes, it doesn't come across naturally, I think it's a mixture of the performance and writing because the doctor seems like he is arguing with him but he already has the guy under his control, so it seems overstepped that he'd go through that extra effort to drill something into the guy, making it personal... if this guy had done something to the doctor, perhaps it'd warrant the outburst but as it stands, it seems unmotivated.

The girl with the glasses, telling him 'they appreciate him' also didn't fit with me, maybe too young? She just didn't seem to fit in the environment, I'm not sure what it was precisely but it through me off a little.

The lead, Marshall, was on and off for me, some scenes he was really good and I liked his performance, other moments came across too forced, too strong.

I think composition was the best aspect of the production, yes, there are some focusing issues occasionally, but from a directing/composition/shot choice perspective, it's a well told story and has a distinct visual flow to it. Nice work on that end. Feels like you boarded this well from pre-production and recaptured it well during production.

[Lawsuit_Boy]

I thought that this film had some great intentions and succeeded on some of them, but I feel like the overall presentation left a lot to be desired.

While the performances of the two leads were covered pretty well and the supporting were fine, there were a few weak links to be found.

I also found that the piece in general didn't seem to find a consistency in image. The sound remained pretty strong except for a few small hiccups, but the picture just felt a little too blown out in the lab and the focus was too dull in the rest. Less brightness and a stronger focus on compositions of shots (ie wides and a careful attention to the geometry of the room as well as an attention to subjective vs objective framing, as well as an awareness of the ability to induce claustrophobia or isolation) would really help. And I agree with puck on the topic of finding a way to give more closure to the story. It works the way it is, but I'm sure it could be tighter.

Once again, while I feel the film lacks a certain panache of its own, it still manages to stand on both legs and make it through the gauntlet. Great effort and I'm glad I got to see it! :beer:

[chriscurl]

Thanks for all of the great feedback so far. I am still pretty new to this so I have tons to learn, so any feedback is good to hear. As I am still learning all the technical stuff that definitely got more attention from me than it will once its second nature, especially with a small crew, you have to worry about that part of it, without it theres no movie.

This was definitely a case of building a movie out of scenes that I wanted to try to shoot, so in that sense it was a big experiment for me, and that may happen again, at least until I feel confident enough to try something else, I learned so much and hopefully will have something better after the next fest.

I don't think I will be carrying this concept any further though, I have so many things I want to try that it is way too early to put alot of energy into continuing one idea.

I hope to make it through all of the films in the next few days and make comments, I will definitely return the favor!

[CLockman]

Meh

[chriscurl]

Hey, thank you for that constructive feedback! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.



Meh

[Rodney V. Smith]

Meh

Dude, seriously "Meh" is not a review. Read the etiquette thread sometime.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Hey, thank you for that constructive feedback! I can't tell you how much I appreciate it.

Oh you beat me to it Chris.

[orchidsofwrath]

I really liked this one! Its so important that a film holds my attention and this one certainly did. Production musta been good because I definetally wasn't paying attention to it (therefore it was invisible in support of your story. Audio had nice even levels. Some solid acting. The lead guy had some VERY VERY strong moments imo, and others fair, but never sub par by any means. Minor rolls were all good, and the red shirt guy (the X villian?) was great. All the characters were compelling and developed to me. No flaws immidiately come to mind.

[MrKilloran]

Another superhero movie! Although this one is a lot darker in tone than the other. Definitely sets itself apart. The opening shots, and really most of the stuff in Marshall's apartment, looked well done. The flashback stuff was maybe a little too brightly lit for my taste - I'm thinking about the scene with the woman in particular. It was good but it really does feel like a set-up for something bigger which takes away from the smaller piece. Nice work

[Will Clegg]

I wasn't a big fan of your lead actor, but I still enjoyed the film. It is a very cool concept. You mentioned you are still learning a lot of the technical stuff - I think you show great promise and I'm looking forward to seeing what you produce next.

[Steve Strickland]

I finally got a chance to view a couple of LossFest entries. Yours was at the top of my queue.

Great job, guys. I know you had some technical issues, but the film still came out nicely. It's funny that we talked about too much story in short films because Blackout cries to be longer.

I loved the lab shots and seeing Teviya was a pleasant surprise. Your lead was solid as always and Rod was on point once again. I have to agree with an earlier post about the doctor. He didn't do it for me, maybe too much mad scientist vibe?

Overall, loved your compositions, acting(mostly), and story. Kudos!

Now, what are we going to on our future collaboration?:beer:

[RodThompson]

I no longer get out of bed for less than an 8 minute short.

[SMarston]

this was really good, i enjoyed watching it, and your "bad guy" actor was perfect!

[chriscurl]

Thanks for more feedback, despite it being far from perfect I am glad people do seem to enjoy watching it and that it's holding viewers interest until the end, I will definitely take that for my first outing. More opinions are welcomed!

Rod - Great, now I have to make features just to keep you from winding up with more kids.

Steve - We will plan on a meet-up will all us local guys when they announce the next fest, see who is up for what.

[RodThompson]

I will attend said meeting via speaker-phone. I'm too elite for "personal" meetings.

:dankk2:

[chriscurl]

I feared this, his ego...enormous.

Please, people... say nothing else positive about the guy in the red shirt, if you choose to... well god help us all.

[RodThompson]

LOL:beer:

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Some shots were a little out of focus and others were razor sharp. Composition was great though. Sound was good as well.

Really dug the story! Kept me very interested throughout.

Oh yah, the guy in red really rocked my boat! :)

Pretty good acting all around actually. Very nice work here, guys.

MAH

[Sprocketboy]

Good story and good acting. You have the two most important elements covered. Your lead actor is terrific. Your film is quite timely since the release of Watchmen this week. It deals with fallen superheroes. Heroes with depth and real faults makes us identify with them. I like everything you did here. The technical flaws can be overlooked, but they will scar your short. Fix them if you can. Great stuff.

[erichbarto]

I have to say the guy in the red shirt was awesome.... hahah

seriously though, once again, great job guys!

[RodThompson]

Red shirt guy is PURE WIN! Disagree? Talk to the hand.

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/1889/baltishand.jpg

[ZazaCast]

Really good acting (except for the guy in the red shirt..Rod something...I forget):).

This was a great story (so maybe the guy in the red shirt wasn't so bad after all). Really good framing of the various shots and good choices, except for the one zoom in @ 1:45. It was also a little soft on the focus throughout. Music worked, but seemed a little light in the mix.

Enjoyed this one a lot! It will be high on my list.:thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

[MrKilloran]

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/1889/baltishand.jpg

Need a tissue?

[erichbarto]

i had trouble finishing the music as i was distracted by the sheer awesomeness of the red shirt....

[RodThompson]

That's actually Chris' red shirt. ;)

[Morox]

Red shirt guy is PURE WIN! Disagree? Talk to the hand.

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/1889/baltishand.jpg


Hahaha, good stuff.

I really enjoyed this film by the way. I had no idea what to expect and it was a pleasant surprise. It looked and sounded great.

Red really suites you as well. Haha.

[Robbie Comeau]

Nice film, nice acting. Special effects were good to!

The lighting and framing was excellent. What lenses did you use? Some nice shots in this film, and that's what made me enjoy it the most!

Robbie

[Brian Parker]

Nice. I love superhero stories and this one felt fresh in it's approach. Some great cinematography, lighting, etc. It was also well written. The actors did a really good job, especially the villain. Nothing to really pick apart here. Really cool film. Good job!

[Nick_Lee]

Interesting story man. Editing, and lighting were awesome. Some nice cuts. Actors did well...actually actors in general seem to have done pretty well this fest. Nice story. Good dialogue. Good actors. I approve. good job sir.

[alex whitmer]

Super heroes relegated to the big box stores. Love it.


Really enjoyed this. Maybe a bit much exposition in the dialogue, but it all played out well with some nice acting.

Cool hand.

a

[Blaine]

This started out with a lot of promise but fairly quickly turned into talking heads telling me the whole story. I would have loved to have seen some kind of action showing me the loss of powers. I think there were some missed opportunities here. The concept was good, but I wasn't wild about the execution. I DID like the way you ended it, though. That darn near saved it for me but by that time it was too late.

The focus problems were continually pulling me out of the story, too.

I was really looking for a little more action and a little less talking.

I have to say I am surprised to see two superhero movies in LossFest. Perhaps I should be because what's bigger than a superhero losing his super powers.

Your opening 1:05 was very good. I thought the doctor's acting was a bit much. I would have loved to have seen what it was that could happen that the doctor mention.

[Drew Ott]

Favorite thing about the film: I liked the ending a lot.

What would have made me like the film more: The acting was a bit melodramatic, and I also agree with what Blaine said about the missed opportunities with action.

Favorite shot: 1:08 before the camera zooms in.

Overall I enjoyed the film. Good work.

[Norm Sanders]

Chris, did I understand that this is your FIRST film??? Dude, if that's the case, and you learn on what you want to improve, you are going to KICK ASS as a commercially viable filmmaker, in my opinion, because I really enjoyed this, and overall it had SO many strengths, ESPECIALLY for a first time out!

I really dug the first minute of the film ... excellent title placement, SFX, look, set dressing (all the picture frames, etc.). It started to wane for me JUST a tad when we were in the white room, as some of the acting felt a little forced and/or melodramatic. Some SFX or something subtle is needed for when the controls are slid down, and replace the PVC piping with nearly ANYTHING else for a better effect, in my opinion .... heck, maybe even wrapping it in some kind of foil painting it black, or anything may have looked better there.

In the house, I really dug the implications of the story, and specifically how I CAN see the government or some agency doing this to people ... and how bitter it would leave them feeling, etc. There were moments that the nemisis had a Heath Ledger/Joker vibe going on, with his movements & subtlty, which was great ... other moments, not as great.

Overall, I dug this entry ... to make it better, for me at least, would have to not left it QUITE so ambigious at the end. While I'm certainly not a fan of spoon feeding the ending or a story to people, I also like the hand tipped a little more to one direction, to at least not leave me wondering quite as much. In this case, while I THINK he was calling to say that he wanted onboard with this revenge plot, considering who the character was all the way up to that point, I also have to wonder if he was going to bail on the idea, try & talk the other guy out, or state that he WILL find a way to get his powers back, and will use them at every cost to stop them from their plan, etc. That said, there are plenty of other folks that LOVE the ambigious endings, so don't give too much weight to my opinion on this part.

[RodThompson]

There were moments that the nemisis had a Heath Ledger/Joker vibe going on, with his movements & subtlty, which was great ...


I am complete.

[John LaBonney]

I liked this entry very much, and thought the photography was pretty dang spiffy. It was a cool story and I like how the guy had been reduced from greatness to a Wal-Mart flunkie. Cool shot of him looking over his glory days on the wall, the storyline reminded me a little bit of The Incredibles.

I liked the acting in general, especially the lead and red shirt guy (he's just too cool). I thought the lab guy missed the mark a little. I agree that the PVC needed a little touch-up, but that's just nitpicking.

All-in-all, very nice work!

[Spear670]

Superheroes are always a fun topic to watch a film about, and this one didn't disappoint for the most part. I think most of the acting was solid and I especially enjoyed the villain trying to seduce the hero to his cause. Good stuff!

[hoz]

i really liked this film! it was fun. the villain and his red shirt did a great job too. only thing i didn't care for was the agent/doctor in the beginning, he talked too much. the hero was well acted and cast. and the idea was cool. good use of a set too in the beginning, nice imagination!

congrats!

[Chamber005]

WTF?

I don't see this in Round One or the current round of Loss Fest...

Where's it at???

[chriscurl]

you can watch it here now: http://vimeo.com/3728916

[preston]

i really like the look and feel of your film, it really has excellent photography. from composition to lighting to editing, it was really a joy to watch.

the first scene is very similar to the first one in my film - green bathroom, sink, pill-popping. the big difference is i wish mine looked like yours.

the lead actor did a fine job, and what a good look he has. great for the screen.

overall, great piece of film-making. i can tell a lot of work went into this. good job.