"Rant"

[Nick_Lee]

Do we have to make a post like this to enter? Hopefully because I'm typing this at 4 in the morning. If not, whatever.

"Rant" is a working title...that may actually end up being the actual title. I'm not sure yet. I have to talk to my cast and crew. His name is Ezra. haha. I'm sure we'll come up with something.


Anyways, I'm still writing, so I really don't know how this will turn out...considering it's my first short ever...i'm guessing it's not going to be too great. It's basically about a guy who "loses"...something and goes out to find it. orly? haha.

I hope this thread was enlightening and inspirational.

Farewell,

Nicholas Lee

____________
The premise:
Ezra Fields, an aspiring oil painter, looks back at the work he’s done in the past two years and realizes that he’s blatantly copied what’s already been done. To defeat his unoriginality, he leaves town in search for his lost muse.

That's that. I'm really unsure of the structure this short's going to take. As of now It's definitely going to feel more like a montage than an actual narrative short. Hopefully it stands alone as a story either way.

I'm planning on shooting with a dvxb and a letus extreme. + 50 1.4 and a 35 2.0(i think 2.0 anyways) nikons.

I don't think I have the manpower to light every scene so I'll probably be shooting outside as much as possible.

I know that the title "rant" seems really irrelevant, but hopefully when you watch it you'll understand why.

See ya.

EDIT:

stills can be seen below.

EDIT:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/3314878127_4f010e9ac2.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3535/3314883329_276670bec0.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3484/3315715080_93e70cfa73.jpg

I know...light setup makes no sense...I have no idea what I'm doing. haha.


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[stinkpot]

Hey Nick. I don't think the post is required but it's useful for raising awareness for your film (at least within the DVXuser community).

Welcome to the fest!

:beer:

[GoodLuck]

A rant about a thread for short called rant, that's awesome irony. Channel that frustration! :) Look forward to seeing it.

[Nick_Lee]

Haha, yet totally unintentional.

I'll be updating with some story information.

[Nick_Lee]

question...is it against the rules of this festival/real life to have say...the name of a big gas station chain in the background of a shot? No malicious intent...simply for the location. anyone know?

[Robbie Comeau]

Not if you're going against the company..

But if you're not, it should be fine. You're not harming anything/anyone.

In my last fest, I have a guy drinking and you could faintly see the wisers logo. I was fine.

But double check with the mods just to be sure.

Robbie

[Nick_Lee]

I sent a pm to the mod who made the "rules" thread...he didn't respond. haha.

So I guess to be safe I'll just scratch that part altogether.

[Nick_Lee]

So...me and Ezra went out and shot today. First time using a 35mm adapter and it was the weirdest thing ever. You get a lot of stares when you're two dudes are walking around a park with a grenade launcher. I have some stills.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3297/3277284033_f4e2984e30_o.png

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A word of advice for anyone who's never shot a narrative. Don't go out without a plan and expect an epiphany of cinematic glory. It probably won't happen. haha.

[Nick_Lee]

My partner in less than mediocre film making has a ridiculous schedule at Georgia Tech at the moment and shooting is nearly impossible. I've condensed the script even further and I'm hoping that it will make sense. It's probably going to be less than 3 minutes long. We basically haven't shot anything yet and we have 1 weekend to do it...hopefully this works out.

Any advice with shooting on a tight schedule? as in a couple hours a day and most of it being at night? Can I finish this short with only around 8 hours of time with the actor left? total? not including set up?

If I finish this it will be the most glorious miracle ever. I demand an all American cookie from the mall if I finish this. Hopefully Ezra will buy me one.

p.s. wish us luck

[jasonthewho]

You can do it!

Good Luck!

[Nick_Lee]

Thank you for the encouragement sir. How do you get advice on here? Haha. I need to get more e-fame and a more interesting camera setup maybe. I'm planning on getting shooting done on Friday. It's going to be glorious. Any advice on shooting in public locations?

[Rodney V. Smith]

rehears your actors thoroughly before hand. if you;re going to guerilla a location, make sure they know their lines. go over blocking without the camera. then grab the camera and keep it simple. no complex moves like trying to walk with them and stay in focus.

try to plan it to be a one shot and stagger your actors, so they're not flattening the frame, unless they;re arm in arm with each other.

make sure if they're walking towards you that you;ve given enough room. a lav would help with this. once people see the boom, the gig is up.

point is shoot fast and shoot clean. get in, get what you need and get out before security shows up.

oh and fight scenes are bad to shoot in public. they're way too complex.

[Nick_Lee]

rehears your actors thoroughly before hand. if you;re going to guerilla a location, make sure they know their lines. go over blocking without the camera. then grab the camera and keep it simple. no complex moves like trying to walk with them and stay in focus.

try to plan it to be a one shot and stagger your actors, so they're not flattening the frame, unless they;re arm in arm with each other.

make sure if they're walking towards you that you;ve given enough room. a lav would help with this. once people see the boom, the gig is up.

point is shoot fast and shoot clean. get in, get what you need and get out before security shows up.

oh and fight scenes are bad to shoot in public. they're way too complex.

AWESOME! exactly the kind of thing I need. you're in atlanta...be my mentor? haha. thanks a lot though seriously. really appreciate it.

[Nick_Lee]

Oh man...it's supposed to rain tomorrow...this is going to be difficult. wish me luck!

[Nick_Lee]

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[Rodney V. Smith]

So I take it this means the shoot went well? Are you wrapped?

I WISH I was in Atlanta right now. Toronto is cold and is going to continue to be cold for a while longer..... brr shiver shiver...

[Nick_Lee]

The shoot went fairly well...until it got to be 10 o' clock and we were both completely wiped from school and shooting all day. I set up lights for the last 2 shots...me and ezra looked at each other...and passed out on the spot. haha not really but that's the gist of it.

We didn't finish...BUT! we have next Friday to shoot again so hopefully we'll get the last shots we need to get it done.

[Rodney V. Smith]

well get the edit together so you can see what holes need to be filled. if you have any doubts about any scenes or shots, make a note of what you want to see in the edit and then so and SHOOT it. you have some time to make use of it, and it looks like a fairly small crew (overstatement there), so you can totally do this.

[Nick_Lee]

thanks! i'm trying that out now and it looks pretty decent. hopefully it turns out right.

and the crew is awesome. haha. the guy who took the picture was there because...it was his house. haha. i picked my friend up from georgia tech and we were on our way to the suburbs and i called him and was like "yooo....can we film at your house?" haha so that's that. fun stuff. learning a lot! if anything i'm learning a lot of ways how not to make a movie. edison said that right?

[Robbie Comeau]

I know...light setup makes no sense...I have no idea what I'm doing. haha.

I like to hear that!

Looking forward to this man!

Robbie

[Lawsuit_Boy]

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3237/3314878127_4f010e9ac2.jpg

.

Digging the Vibralux tee you're sporting. :thumbsup:

Also, I look forward to the film!

[Nick_Lee]

I like to hear that!

Looking forward to this man!

Robbie


haha does my cluelessness excite you haha. hope you watch it!

lawsuit boy...you skate?!

[Eric Meisner]

Good luck with the film

[Lawsuit_Boy]

haha does my cluelessness excite you haha. hope you watch it!

lawsuit boy...you skate?!

I haven't skated since last summer, but yeah, I've been skating (aggressive, anyway) since 1997ish. My Baileys are sitting around collecting dust. :(

[Rodney V. Smith]

dude, looks like you had a decent enough time. How did the guerilla shooting go?

[Nick_Lee]

lawsuit boy- that's crazy man. you should start back up! i don't really skate anymore but i film it haha.

puckthemad- it was fun. the guerilla thing hasn't really bugged me yet. the only place i've filmed it at was this abandoned bank that looked pretty cool so i decided to film there. and my friends house so no troubles yet. trouble is next week when i need a diner :( hopefully if i show up at like 12 a.m. a waitress will welcome us. bribery! haha.

[Lawsuit_Boy]

lawsuit boy- that's crazy man. you should start back up! i don't really skate anymore but i film it haha.



haha, nice. I know I should skate more. I just haven't really had much of a chance to since last summer. I got to the point where I just didn't care. I only recently watched something new related to skating (BCSD edits). I pretty much dropped out of the whole skating culture. Film and school took over!

[Nick_Lee]

haha completely understandable. film and school or film school? have you seen thee One trailer by any chance? http://vimeo.com/3150165

really good. connor o'brien made it and apparently he's at school at long beach doing film also.

[Nick_Lee]

Okay...so last shoot tomorrow and I'll have to edit the entire thing in about 30 seconds haha. Wish me luck!

I had to return the light kit so basically I'm going to have to figure something though. Use lamps or something.

I like how people are having producers and make up artists and what not while I'm trying to use lamps as light source. HAHA.

[Rodney V. Smith]

I like how people are having producers and make up artists and what not while I'm trying to use lamps as light source. HAHA.

Did that once when I was shooting Act II (the first time) and had lights.. but no light cords in the cases.. damn lowells. Ow, ow and ow. Just make sure to get a nice wide shot first and then closeups.. on closeups you can move the light in closer to cheat the shot better... then you only have to focus on lighting one person. It can work well with mood. on the wide, just slpit the difference and go for mood. it can work, just practice a little while you have the time.

[Lawsuit_Boy]

haha completely understandable. film and school or film school? have you seen thee One trailer by any chance? http://vimeo.com/3150165

really good. connor o'brien made it and apparently he's at school at long beach doing film also.

Film and school. I did a semester of film major at the University of Toledo, did well in the classes, but realized their film program (as well as other art programs) was dead, so I moved. Almost done with a bachelor of English and Sociology right now.

Nope, haven't seen this yet. Definitely looks like a good one. I haven't seen a newer skate video in a long time as well. I've sort of dropped out of the culture of rollerblading completely for the past year. It's good that more of them are going to film school so that they can stop producing second rate videos. I always love seeing people in the industry pushing toward higher production values and LESS FISHEYES!

Edit: okay, calling that trailer a "good one" was a huge understatement. :thumbsup:

[Nick_Lee]

puckthemad: haha man. i just decided to move everything outdoors so it worked out fine. i was using lowels in that picture. haha. community college equipment rules.

Lawsuit_boy: word. where are you at school now?

and yeah the trailer looks great! I believe the shot of all the skaters in the sunset was shot on red. and the super slow mo misty flip was phantom. STEPPING IT UP ! haha

UPDATE:

I actually finished shooting. it was crazy. I can't believe it haha. My first finished product. ever. i just hope the story comes out okay in the edit. wish me luck again please!

[Lawsuit_Boy]

Lawsuit_boy: word. where are you at school now?

and yeah the trailer looks great! I believe the shot of all the skaters in the sunset was shot on red. and the super slow mo misty flip was phantom. STEPPING IT UP ! haha

UPDATE:

I actually finished shooting. it was crazy. I can't believe it haha. My first finished product. ever. i just hope the story comes out okay in the edit. wish me luck again please!

Man, he was using a Phantom camera? I believe it. That slo-mo was such a high frame rate. It's pretty awesome that they're stepping up. Also, I'm at Kent State University in Ohio.

Congratulations on finishing! Always a fantastic feeling to come together and make something collectively. Good luck in the fest!

[Nick_Lee]

yeah man. apparently connor came down to Atlanta and shot with Doug urquhart. crazy stuff.

Thanks! I just finished a rough edit and now all I need to do is some voice over and it's done. hopefully that makes the story complete :/

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[Nick_Lee]

I just finished editing...I really hope you guys watch it and give me feedback. I've learned a lot but I need to learn more! Hopefully your heads don't explode when you watch it ;) haha. it's not that bad. it just might be a little difficult to understand.

So...PLEASE WATCH IT! and give me constructive criticism. just don't hurt me.

[Nick_Lee]

cleared...that's awesome. you know what that means? I know how to follow directions. I've come a long way since highschool guys. congratulate me for it. haha.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Crangrats dude. You made it and that rocks. Thought you weren;t gonna for a second there, but you pulled through.

Now that you can breathe, did you have any fun on this project?

[Nick_Lee]

Crangrats dude. You made it and that rocks. Thought you weren;t gonna for a second there, but you pulled through.

Now that you can breathe, did you have any fun on this project?

Haha yeah I'm surprised I made it also.

but I definitely had a lot of fun! Learned a lot and gained some confidence. I always wanted to make shorts of my own and I always backed away from it out of nerve and plain fear. I feel like this a first of way more to come.

Glad I did it. Pretty much used LossFest to get myself off my ass. Haha. I wanted to have my friend smoke cigarettes so I bought these 2 dollar cigarettes called broncos. that was my budget haha. They call me Steven Lucas.

[Nick_Lee]

These 16000 x 9000 HD glory shorts are making my 40 x 30 mini movie look like a cell phone video. you guys suck. haha. good job on all of them though! all the shorts are way better than I thought they'd be.

[Richard J. Johnson]

good flick. I loved the editing and noisy exterior shots. This film is right up my alley. The lead actor was great.

[Chris Messineo]

I thought this was really quite good.

I loved the look of it and the lead actor (as someone else said) was excellent. The voice-over narration was fascinating. I especially liked when we learn it is a voice message being left.

Great character study. Very well done.

[Nick_Lee]

Rich, Chris - thank you for the positive feedback! Can't say I was expecting that at all. Thank you for even taking the time to watch. Appreciation overload sirs.

Now if I can somehow I can get the others to watch :)

Thanks again guys!

[Nick_Lee]

Hey guys,

Sorry for these shameless bumps but I have a question. Could some people who have watched this tell me that they have? I have this feeling that about 2.3 people have watched my short and my heart hurts because of it haha. Even if it's saying "hey brah...that sucked". I just want to know if this is being seen.

also...if this bump is really annoying, mods can destroy me and I'll climb back to my hole on page 4 haha.

[Lawsuit_Boy]

Hey guys,

Sorry for these shameless bumps but I have a question. Could some people who have watched this tell me that they have? I have this feeling that about 2.3 people have watched my short and my heart hurts because of it haha. Even if it's saying "hey brah...that sucked". I just want to know if this is being seen.

also...if this bump is really annoying, mods can destroy me and I'll climb back to my hole on page 4 haha.

Heh, don't worry, Nick. It's reasonable to be nervous. But trust me, in the coming days, you'll receive more feedback. You'll most certainly receive a detailed analysis from me. I just haven't made it to your film yet. It's coming up in my queue though, so don't fret! :) I've gotten through 26 films so far and have left a fair amount of comments for each. Yours is coming. Can't wait to see the film! I really liked the grabs you posted.

[Zak Forsman]

hi nick, i just watched RANT. really compelling photography at work here. fascinating VO. question: it's rare to see someone choose a 4x3 aspect ratio, why did you?

[pia12254]

Nick,

Don't worry man, I watched it! :smile: To be completely honest I was actually pleasantly surprised by this piece!

You did such a good job of playing down your experience that I didn't expect much. But the story was interesting, the lead actor did a fine job and technically I thought you pulled it off quite well!

I cannot wait to see what you do in the future as you continue to improve with each film.

Great job!

Daniel

[Deklun]

Very engaging film. I found myself quickly relating to the character, and my attention was kept through the whole film. The scene in the bathroom at the end was great with a blurred shot in the mirror then pulled clean, then back to blurry... this further showed the characters loss of reality. I enjoyed this film, nice work.

[orchidsofwrath]

I liked it. I really did. The actor was great imo. Shots looked good. Not too sure about your choice to put it in 4:3? Maybe it was discussed already in this thread sorry i didn't read through it. The audio for "are you in there!" was quiet! Its a shame because i loved the acting right there. Kinda the climax of the movie. The character and execution was just really compelling to me. It definetally got down to my emotions which I must say usually doesn't happen in amature short films. Great job. Seriously.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Dude pleasant surprise here. You;re actually a competent filmmaker. you may not have the gear and actors and lots of cool stuff to show, but you do have an idea of how to tell a story visually and that is an excellent start. This film is nothing to be embarrassed about. Most of us are embarrassed by our first films (I know I am and I will kill anyone who has seen it), but this is quite good. The VO could use a little cleaning up since there was this constant noise over it all. Some places could have used less VO, but you used what you had and made it work. So kudos to you for a really good effort.

Keep making them man. You only get better with each one, so focus on story and character development. I;d like to see the next one from you without using any voiceover to see how you can motivate your actors and get a performance out of them. It will also help you to see if you;re more of a DP/Camera Op or a director... or maybe you can be both...

[Nick_Lee]

Zac - The 4:3 thing was really just because I was shooting on a dvx and I'd rather have more screen space(especially for how small my video was haha) than letterbox over it. I'm glad I didn't decide to do the letterbox though. I was pretty much up to the last minute. It would have been terrible to not make the deadline because I wanted to letterbox haha. thanks for your comments/compliments sir. yours was amazing.

pia, deklun,- Thanks guys. I'm kind of surprised that you guys were pleasantly surprised. I never thought my short was terrible but I didn't think people would be enjoy it at all.

puck, orchid - I believe the constant noise you're talking about is the rain. SPOILER: Reason for this is that he is leaving a message on someone's answering machine and basically everything in the video is the future, and when he hangs up and leaves, everything that we saw in the video is about to happen. Does that make sense at all?

and the reason I left the volume down for the Mirror scene is because I didn't want the sound to be too...present? I wanted it to sound a little ambient I guess.

Thanks dudes. You guys are seriously awesome for watching and giving me the feedback.

[Lawsuit_Boy]

Nick,

I finally got around to seeing yours (I'm up to 42 films, I think). Phew! What a day and a half this has been.

Anyway, I was really impressed with how introspective and analytical of the human association with its own milieu this film was. I thought the cinematography was very interesting (in a good way) and that it really assisted the viewing. It followed the character just like it should. The colors and texture was pleasing as well.

I thought Ezra did a very fine job with the role, and I loved that the voice over corresponded with what was happening, like listening to his current thoughts. The bit with the alcohol in which he sounded a little drunk was very nice.

I really enjoy watching these kinds of characters develop their own yarns of philosophy. We're all looking for things and dreading losing things. I really like the way you dealt with the theme of the fest.

I suppose the thing I wanted from this film was a little more about WHY the character feels this way, but by that same token, it isn't a difficult stance on life to believe. I'm sure many of us have felt this way (or still feel this way at times). It's very easy to relate to this guy.

Really nice work, Nick. :beer:

[Geoff_R]

I thought this was a interesting piece... good character work by Ezra. I think you really needed that final scene in the bathroom to play out in that nice long shot... a lot of the earlier moments are really defined by the editing and voiceover... our emotions are stimulated but in a textured, varied way, from responses to how you conformed your edit. With that final bathroom scene, it's all Ezra and it kicks the whole piece up a notch. Nice decision there.

Sound was hard to decipher at times... but I got most of it and loved the camera work. It had a very vintage, 16mm feel to it... grainy and full frame :) I believe this was dvx/hvx and adapter but it truly embodies a 16mm feel. I almost feel like this could have been shot on a bolex with some kodak 7246.

Thanks for sharing.

[Nick_Lee]

Lawsuit- Thanks for taking the time to comment man. and thanks for giving such a sweet review. People usually don't look into and comment on all of the psychology stuff...real life stuff. Thanks for the in depth reviews. I keep going on people's discussion pages and you're consistently giving solid reviews. Thanks for taking the time man.

Geoff- Once again thanks for taking the time to watch and comment. Yeah...sound...sucks. I have no idea what I'm doing there. I play music so we recorded the audio like we would a song. I'm not sure if that's how they would do that in voice over world but that's how we did it haha. Thanks for the 16mm comment man. Flattering. That's kinda where I get my inspiration in color. Desaturated and contrast-y. Thanks for noticing. I'll be commenting on yours soon :)

Hope everyone keeps giving feedback. It's not just to feed an ego or anything. All of this really helps me know what I've done right and what I've done wrong, allowing me to become a better filmmaker. Please keep them coming!

If you haven't watched..."do it...do it...hey...do it" in the voice of ben stiller in starsky and hutch. haha.

[Lawsuit_Boy]

Lawsuit- Thanks for taking the time to comment man. and thanks for giving such a sweet review. People usually don't look into and comment on all of the psychology stuff...real life stuff. Thanks for the in depth reviews. I keep going on people's discussion pages and you're consistently giving solid reviews. Thanks for taking the time man.



The psychology and sociology of the characters is my numero uno concern in film. It's what I do in school (english, soc, critical analysis) and I feel that it's important in every good story.

Thanks for the kind words for me, as well. I've been taking a lot of time out of my day to write my reviews and I'm sure that everyone appreciates them. Always glad to help out.

[Noel Evans]

Rather enjoyed this overall. I liked the marriage of the phone call and the visuals. I think we all go through different states in our life and this one was recognisable for me, maybe not to the same extreme, but non the less I could relate. A good story for this fest. Well done.

[SMarston]

i loved every single shot in this film

[hoz]

strong film! it had nothing but a rant. real good job with it. it was disturbing and it hurt because it sounds somewhat familiar to that little evil voice which pops up in me own head from time to time. the knife was scary. and wrong. and it surely deepened the heck out of the film. but i really liked the way you shot the bathroom scene. the voice over was strong too, no hesitation. it sounded completely real. painful. you really nailed the theme of this fest.

only thing that bothered me was the bathroom dialogue. just him showing himself the knife in the mirror was strong enough for me. he didn't have to say a word. it almost pulled me out of the scene.

good job!!

[vnguyen972]

I watched this film couple of days ago and I decided to wait to watch it again once I'm done with every other film and I had to say... the voice on VO is excellent, love the look of it , it fits perfectly with the situation and the feeling of the character he's going through... I really enjoyed it! Again, the VO is so good! Great job man!

[armisiano]

I really, really dug this film. I love the fact that it was done in full screen by the way. And the voiceover performance was fantastic. Very real. I'm EXTREMELY critical of actors performances, so much so I don't usually comment on the acting in most threads because I don't want to sound negative or mean. My one and only real critique, and it's a fairly small one, is I would've loved to hear, very very subtly of course, the audio from all the different activities and locations mixed in with the constant rain and voiceover. Anyway, really good work, keep it up.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

This was interesting and the acting really sold me, especially towards the end.

Liked that you went with the 4:3 aspect ratio. Made it feel like a video diary in a way.

My only gripes are that I wanted to know more about why he was this way. That and the in and out of focus. I'm just not a big fan of that style but I'm sure you had your reasons.

I liked this very much though. It was a very interesting piece.

MAH

[Nick_Lee]

Thanks for the kind words guys. If I haven't gotten around to giving you feed back, don't give up on me. haha. I'll be there asap. I'm glad you guys enjoyed it though.

I'm even more glad that you guys are commenting more on the content than the technical side. I suppose that means I did my job as someone who wants to direct. Nothing spectacular technically...but good enough not to distract. Hopefully that's how you felt.

About the audio...I agree that it would have been interesting to hear. But I don't think that the scenes didn't really need sound...mostly because the things he was doing didn't make much sound in the first place. haha. I definitely feel you on that though.

About why he's that way...I guess I wanted to make it a little ambiguous...vague. Didn't want to explain too much. I wanted to leave the viewer wondering just a little bit.

also I think the in and out of focus thing is just something I thought went with the mood. The uncertainty of the character seems to tie in with the camera moves and the rest. It was planned but I didn't want to leave anything feeling stagnant.

Again...thanks for watching guys...anyone who happens to open this thread please feel to comment. I'd love to hear what you have to say!

[Sprocketboy]

I've seen a couple of films in this fest that deal with this subject matter, and man, you did it best. The fact you didn't have the character interacting with anyone, except an voice message on a cell phone is really pathetic and lonely. You created an uncomfortable feeling in this film with the solitary voice, not speeding along with social political reasons for failure, but a reflection of self... the disappointment of one's self. Beautiful. Can you tell, I liked it?

[chriscurl]

Very engaging movie, completely different from anything else I've watched so far, good job.

[ZazaCast]

Well done...and sad. If even the smallest part of this story isn't a 'story', please get help...or get whoever it's based on help.

WAY too real...having had experience with this subject.

[Nick_Lee]

sprocket and chris - thanks dudes. I'm flattered that you enjoyed it of course and I'm glad that you noticed that it was disappointment of self. Totally the point.

Zaza- I'm alright man. This is all a story...I suppose it's a reflection of myself but in the most extreme, exaggerated sense. I'm sorry you have experience with this kinda stuff :( hope everything is okay man.

Keep it coming guys. I'm learning a lot from what you guys have to say.

[alex whitmer]

The VO held up nicely. This kinda thing can easily drag a film down, but I think the changing tones in the voice really kept it authentic.

Not sure I got the easel in front of the car bit. really loved the bathroom scene. The waving knife cutting to black was a sweet jolt of 'Oh crap!'

Nicely done. Felt like something anyone of us could or has gone through.

a

[MrKilloran]

This was emotionally intense and well done.

Now to appear smart for a second --- *puts on reading glasses*

I liked that you chose not to go into "why" he's in this state of insecurity and failure of self or what drove him to this point. By making the reasoning for his psychological condition ambiguous you could say that it allows the audience to connect their own associations with it or it could create more of a thought process, letting our conscious worry about your character. Either way, a connection is formed without the need for explanation in specifics.

*takes glasses off* --- don't know where that came from.

Anyway - what was your thought process on all the jump cuts and speed changes, was it supposed to have some sort of association with the character or was that just the style you were going for?

You're a very competent filmmaker. You know how to use what you have and work on the little things to make a really solid piece. Keep it up!

[Postmaster]

Ienjoyed this overall. I´m soo used to 16:9, when a 4:3 frame pops up it looks always a bit home video in the first place, but it worked quite well here, geve it some diary look.
Good story. Well done.

Frank

[Robbie Comeau]

I thought at first this would be home video, but when I saw the look I was amazed.

It's a shame you didn't shoot this 16:9. Would look a lot better in terms of picture and image.

Nice shots, nice lighting, and the lenses were really cool.

You color this in Magic Bullet?

Great film overall.

Robbe

[Will Clegg]

Hi Nick, I really enjoyed this one. It was very different and for that I really appreciated it. I thought Ezra's performance was pretty strong - I didn't quite buy it when he first started talking to himself in the mirror, but by the end of that scene I was totally entranced. Nice work.

[Nick_Lee]

Thanks guys. The fact that most of you enjoyed it overall is more than enough for me. Appreciate the words and time you put into it!

[Brian Parker]

Hey Nick, great piece film. I liked the shot compositions that you used and I felt the color grading worked really well, especially in the shots where he's making the phone call. Effective lighting too.

Your lead actor was good. Very convincing. I like how you didn't use a full 6 minutes to tell the story. It's stronger for that. The audio volume was a little low at the part when the actor is in the mirror but I'm thinking it was a stylistic choice. If so, cool.

I enjoyed this short man. Great job.

[Norm Sanders]

Trippy. Something about this kind of resonated with me ... haunted me in a way.

While I think there's room for improvement with lighting, etc. (audio as well - while the VO was solid, was difficult to hear the guy when yelling into the mirror, in comparison), you've got a knack for telling a disturbing, lonely story.

One thing I didn't get, at the end .... so was this phone call all BEFORE everything else we saw, and he ends with splitting his own skull open with the knife, looking for himself? OR, was all that stuff just in his imagination/memory, which we SAW while he was leaving the message for his friend, and then he heads off to go find himself and/or be comfortable with who he is (loved that line, BTW)?

I'm guessing probably the latter, because he said he won't drink anymore because he's crazy & can't control himself, and then we kind of saw that happening afterwards.

Regardless, I dug this, and rated it among the higher ratings I've given out.

[Nick_Lee]

Thanks dudes. once again, appreciate the view :)

Norm- The concept was that he is leaving a message on someone's answering machine and while he's leaving it, we see what is going to happen, and at the end, when he hangs up and walks, he is about to begin his journey, which we already saw. It's a cycle sort of, and the actual scenes, other than the phone calls are the future...in the least supernatural way possible. Hopefully that makes sense.

edit: also...I did the alcohol contradiction very much on purpose. I feel like that's a constant thing that I deal with in myself. Failure to meet my promises to my self. Also! to show the desperation and carelessness of the character. and thank you for rating it highly :) that rules.

[Nick_Lee]

I got completely owned in the ranking and rating. haha.

Not a big deal at all...I just wish the people who rated me low would have given me some feedback as to why :/

haha. either way, thanks to everyone who watched and reviewed! I appreciate it and I had a lot of fun. See ya next fest dudes.