Dead to the World-- Mutual Exploitation Films and Straight Up Productions

[Aaroneous]

Synopsis:

Aaron's seemingly straight forward endeavor of picking up his friend Jeff for work takes a haunting turn as he begins to realize that something is afoot after he arrives at Jeff's house. With no sign of Jeff, only that of an answering machine for clues and a stealthy malevolent force, Aaron's quest to save his friend from any danger has taken priority over simply getting Jeff to work on time.


http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/40125/1241802804.jpg



Produced by Straight Up Productions and Mutual Exploitation Films


Written & Directed by Brian Keasey

Technical Adviser/Gaffer: Aaron Delman
Sound Engineer/Emotional Support: Jamie Berndt
Special Effects/Photographer: Sarah Berndt

[Aaroneous]

Finished shooting! Almost done with editing as well. Now on to sound design. The quest continues but we are getting closer.

[Aaroneous]

reserved photos

Here's a couple behind the scenes shots:

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/40125/1246046423.jpg

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/40125/1246046189.jpg

[Aaroneous]

reserved extras

[Rodney V. Smith]

And now we can welcome you properly: Welcome!

What's the story about? any hints?

[kurtmo]

Yes, welcome. What is your quest?

[Aaroneous]

Just added a synopsis above the poster. Tagline coming soon. Lots of stuff coming soon.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Thar be an interesting yarn ye be spelling matey!

I have no idea where that came from. Maybe I'm channelling a pirate today for reasons unknown...

[stinkpot]

Interesting poster. This sounds great, can't wait to check it out.

Welcome to the fest!

:beer:

[Aaroneous]

Looking for a place with good info on compression/how to compress/ where to compress. New to this part of the process so any advice would be very helpful. Thanks.

[ZazaCast]

Congrats on getting this done & in the fest!

[Aaroneous]

Why Thank You

[Girgej]

Quite interesting... Will wait for the Movie ... Good Luck

[ramsaur]

The music at the beginning didn't really fit in. I realize later it's a horror, but I was really like what is this? The lighting was real good for this film. The story over all was okay. It didn't really get me much. Just a guy trying to find his friend who turns out his friend is messed up? Didn't get that part.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Okay I just watche dthis and my first thought (in fact prevailing thought all through to the end) was that MOVIEMASTER was back! Camera work, lighting, set design... all SCREAM MOVIEMASTER style.

Am I right?

[Erik Olson]

Not very questy to me, but I guess anyone going somewhere to do anything fills the bill. Even as a video-horror genre movie, it is kind of unremarkable.

[~jai~]

The reveal was really good and I liked the quick shot. The actor was convincing and engaged me. Only thing I can really say is that I would have liked a quick change in contrast to the manager's voice at the end of the message. Something that signified they weren't right, but that's really a small matter of opinion as your ending more than gets the point across! Nice little horror short and a well told story!

Thanks for sharing!

[Aaroneous]

Okay I just watche dthis and my first thought (in fact prevailing thought all through to the end) was that MOVIEMASTER was back! Camera work, lighting, set design... all SCREAM MOVIEMASTER style.

Am I right?

Sorry, not MOVIEMASTER. Who is MOVIEMASTER and what films have they done for the fests?

[Aaroneous]

Only thing I can really say is that I would have liked a quick change in contrast to the manager's voice at the end of the message. Something that signified they weren't right, but that's really a small matter of opinion as your ending more than gets the point across!

Funny you should mention that. We originally had the change/another line in the manager's voice after he see's them, but then decided we would leave it open to interpretation.

[hoz]

neat lighting, it was so off it worked okay. wasn't believing that any friend would continue to look for his pal after puking but then you explained it away as a gas leak, not bad. maybe make him sniff the air a bit before then to better sell that. or say something about it? the lead was good. congrats on making the film.

[DarkElastic]

Hi Aaroneous,

As stated above, the story is nothing we havn't seen before, but it is shot and editted very well and the lighting is very effective. The lead actor was also Ok. Well done.

[ZazaCast]

Interesting film. Next time, please supply a larger format version. Like Puck, I thought this might be MOVIEMASTER entry. There's plenty of room for improvement, but keep it up. I look forward to you next film!

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

I kind of liked this. It had a gritty feel to it. Add some more coverage to your scenes with the actor. Maybe the odd close up.

I liked the ending, nice choice there. Keep it at. The next Fest may be a dark one so I hope to see you learn from this one and show us something there.

MAH

[Brian Parker]

Interesting film. I've got a bit of a phobia about whispering voices but that notwithstanding there was some good stuff here. Your lead actor was pretty strong and you had some nice visual effects going on. My one piece of advice is not to rely too much on fx to build tension. Do it the old school way through timing, pacing, and performances and then add stuff like the screen shake as an aftertouch. You've got a good grip on the genre.

[Girgej]

Hey ... Great atmosphere / suspence .... the story is a bit empty / lacking ... but it's thrilling ... good job ...

[keaseyb]

Thanks to all who have watched our little film. We really appreciate the feedback, especially the positive but also the constructive criticism. I'm working my way through the other films and having a great time doing so. For those who care or are interested we used early 80's Italian horror films as our inspiration for Dead to the World. I watch it and laugh at some of the things I got wrong but mostly I'm proud that we got the film made and posted on time for Questfest. To those who have responded to our film, I promise to watch and reply to yours as promptly as possible. Best of luck to all. Thanks.

[Jeff Anderson]

Notes as I'm watching :)

Love the answering machine messages telling the story. Nice job with the Italian horror vibe - I think you've got it. Honestly I'm not a horror fan at all, but I'm enjoying this and its definitely keeping my interest.

Some lighting continuity issues here and there (blue light in basement keeps dissapearing).

I do like the mix of colors in the lighitng though - totally unrealistic, but it fits and adds to the feel for me.

Ok that ending is great. Fantastic.

Enjoyed this, and like I said I normally dont care for horror stuff, so nice work. Looking forward to seeing more from you.

[keaseyb]

Thank you very much for your thoughtful comments. You are the first to acknowledge that the messages tell the story. We hope to make more shorts and we all really enjoyed Bob and Sam.

[Fictionfeatures]

nice job, I would say that a few shots seemed unnecessary and I get the choice of going hand to follow him around the house, but I would have suggested a tripod on a few shots, but the hand held choice did add to the horror feel of him looking through the house.