THE SOLUTION - Directed By Matt Harris

[Matt Harris]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12452/1246613723.jpg

I'm late to the game as usual, but very excited to be a part of QuestFest!

[Matt Harris]

By the way I may be wrong but, THE SOLUTION may be the first dvxuser prequel ever.
(It's the prequel to my SpyFest entry GLASSJAW from about 2 years ago.)

[Noel Evans]

Ah cool, will now have to go watch glass jaw.

[Matt Harris]

Noel, I am actually 70% done with a complete overhaul of my original SpyFest entry (I call it my director's cut). If you do end up watching GLASSJAW, please know that it was my first film and it's a mess! But the new cut, coming next month, is a vast improvement.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Welcome to the madness that's about to descend upon us. Ain't it fun?

[Matt Harris]

Madness indeed, ya gotta love the "upload at the last second possible" process of these fests!
But i gotta say the new upload procedure is much quicker and easier than in the past.

[Edgen]

sweeet! I've always dug your work. Looking forward to seeing your entry.

Cheers!
/j

[Matt Harris]

Right back atcha Edgen, you've been a player in nearly every fest. Im about to hop on over to yours and every elses threads and see what everyone's been slaving over. Congrats on the upload.

[Matt Harris]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12452/1246659227.jpg

[ZazaCast]

NICE! This looks like it's going to be another good one. LOVE the new poster!

[Matt Harris]

Thanks! I had to do it sort of quick at 2 am last night so I'm on the fence if I like it or not.

[Matt Harris]

Last poster, I promise. The studio secured me International distribution for
THE SOLUTION so a new poster was required.

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12452/1246694625.jpg

[Girgej]

Great Posters ... Looking forward to see this .... where can i watch the sequel ?... Good Luck

[Tim Joy]

Me thinks there's gonna be a shootout. :kali:

Me likes!

Good luck!

[Matt Harris]

Ok so im not technically proficient, I don't kow how to add a link to my 2007
Spyfest entry GLASSJAW, but if you go to the "Previous Fest" page, click "Spyfest", click "viewing is open" - you can download it from there.

GLASSJAW is painful for me to watch now, It was my first short ever and I didnt
get to do ADR and I had a big ugly "Grindhouse" filter on the footage which I got reamed for (LOL).

Now I'm working on a GLASSJAW director's cut which vastly improves the short, hopefully It will be done in the next few weeks.

However, If you do go watch GLASSJAW after THE SOLUTION, I think you'll see that I have come a looong way in the past 2 years.

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/12452/1246724671.jpg

[ramsaur]

When the main character first makes contact with the first guard. Guard's aren't that stupid. If someone walked in, in the wrong place and went for a punch, they would be ready for what's to come. Same as the 2nd guy. It looked like "oh dang a gun coming my way, looks like i'll get shot instead of pulling out my gun I should have on me" Wasn't the best, hope to see your film next fest.

[Matt Harris]

Act 2, the infiltration, is obviously extremely exaggerated, it's not intended for realism like say, Bourne Identity. I was hoping it would be fun to watch in a stylistic way. Thanks for watching
and commenting.

[ramsaur]

Act 2, the infiltration, is obviously extremely exaggerated, it's not intended for realism like say, Bourne Identity. I was hoping it would be fun to watch in a stylistic way. Thanks for watching
and commenting.
Yea, well you always want to make your stuff all realistic unless it's a fantasy or something that would never happen like 'that'

[Matt Harris]

Thanks ramsaur, not sure what i'd do without your constructive criticism.
Thanks for letting me know I always want to make my stuff realistic.

[Noel Evans]

Hi Matt. Really appreciated what you were trying to do with this one. I liked how the brother in law played him because he knew he would fuck it up.

Didnt mind the over the top components at all. It seemed like it suited the character to be shown in that way it his way to be so to speak, especially the fight component on the first guard.

Couldnt watch Glassjaw, link didnt work from the spyfest viewing. Nevermind.

In the kitchen scene, everything was a little flat, as in very little contrast in the shot. Take a look at Ryan Walters Cinematography in Tarts, Fools and the Gmen, lots of light and shade (contrast in every shot) which makes them very pleasing to look at.

[Matt Harris]

Thanks Noel, I appreciate the comments. For the kitchen scene, personally i thought the guy on the left was fairly well lit in a 3 dimensional way. Johnny, on the right, was stuck under a huge ceiling light and there wasnt much i could do (LOL) - I tried, but that was what came with the location.
knowwhatimean?

[ZazaCast]

I enjoyed this film and the style you were going for... nice work! I personally liked the speed stuff...twixtor or something, right? This whole film reminded me of a video game for some reason. Maybe it was the narration as he went about his task. I'm not a big fan of the 'green' look, but it didn't make me like this any less.

If I had to comment on anything, it might be the music, that constant loop in the first scene gets on the nerve after a bit.
You could also spend a little more time on the sound design.

...oh...and please, disregard that 'realistic' comment and always go with your gut!

All in all... a solid film....
Congratulations!

[Marlon Ladd]

I loved this film! LOL! I understood everything your were doing and what you were trying to go for. It was grounded, but a little over the top at the same time and that's a tough balance, but you pulled it off.

The first bodyguard scene was so great and funny, I watched it a couple of times. So classic. I enjoyed the whole premise of the story. The ending was just a little predictable, but that's probably because I'm paranoid. The acting seemed very strong at the beginning and in the middle, but the scene at the very end stuck out in my mind. Maybe the guy with the glasses didn't seem to be the cool, calm, mob-type guy that he was in the first scene. I don't know. I could be nit-picking, but it did stand out to me. The music in the first scene also could have set the mood a bit more, but other than that I'd say you've definitely got something to be proud of. Nice work!

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

The directing and cinematography was cool. Yes, they both looked a little different in the opening scene but it wasn't too bad. Just the lighting I guess.

I liked some of the fast/slow effects. Pretty cool.
I'm not a huge fan of this genre but you kept me interested, and it looked/sounded pretty good as well.

Nice job.

MAH

[John LaBonney]

I was hoping it would be fun to watch in a stylistic way.

This is the way I watched it and I liked the framing/shot compositions and the color grading. The story itself didn't engage me as much as I would have liked, but I didn't see the twist coming at the end, and thought it was pretty clever.

[RodThompson]

Good stuff! I love the crime genre.

Only point of note: Make sure you're actors are moving at 3/4 to full speed during a time remapped fight, and be sure they watch their facial expressions. I found myself wondering if the fight scene in the garage was meant to be funny.

Other than that and the small lighting BS, AWESOME AWESOME JOB.

[JonB]

Nice film. The only thing that stuck out in my mind was the compositing, which was a little sub-par. I would try and touch up the blood effects, if not remove them completely. A little red corn syrup being spat from the mouth looks 100x more convincing than a cheesy blood composite. Maybe its just me, but composited blood just always stands out like a sore thumb.

I agree that real body guards would normally be a tad bit more on top of things, but it didn't really pull me out of the film. You could always try having them reaching for their weapon seconds before their face gets smashed in.

Overall though it was a good film, with a nice ending (although the computer nerd inside of me was screaming that the hard drive should be fine after that little of a fall :P )

Jake

[Girgej]

Hey Great Movie .... I really liked the short story ... and the way it resolves itself pretty simple / stupid / fast ... its fun ... it coudl really work as a longer version (feature maybe) ... about the adventures of a clumsy gangster ... good work ...

[Brian Parker]

Nice work man. Some good shots, solid cinemtography, nice story. I enjoyed it. The actors were pretty good too. Thanks for sharing!

[hoz]

this film was fun! things i liked - the special effects - totally worked for me - like the style - maybe make the blood a dark red or even black - but minor point for me- weird punching style - but even that worked for me - it was different -

liked the twist- good! acting was good too. also liked the voice over .

good film!

[Norm Sanders]

Matt, lots of things I really dug about this film. I really enjoyed the twist ending to see that this guy actually cleaned up his own problem ... on mistake. How his mentor helped him to take care of his own problem, etc.

The acting, for the most part, was excellent. I really liked their moment in the kitchen the best, especially from the lead. Subtle things ... pauses. Nice direction. Good camera work as well, and stylish editing, giving it a pulp fiction, gritty feel, for which seems to be your niche.

My only major quip would be the choreography of the fighting, but perhaps this was intentional ... while the lead has tough guy written all over him (to a degree) because of his build & looks, he moves like a gay ballerina outside the elevator has he throws an insane straight armed haymaker at the guy (the follow up gut shot was good), and then kind of bitch slaps him in the end, to only THEN pull out the gun he could have silenced him with in the first place (again, firing it in a fancy, West Hollywood sort of way).

That nit-pick aside, I really enjoyed this, as I do your other works as well. And again, GREAT ending, and solid acting.

Oh, audio ... I'm sure you know that could be improved, specifically the dialogue. I'm sure there were some recording issues, but a lot that could probably be refined further in post to make it all mesh better (referring back to the opening kitchen scene). That said, I really liked the phone call walking him through all the actions, and the sound on that was good.

[Matt Harris]

i want to thank you all who took the time to watch my short and comment, and i'll be replying to all of your comments any day now. unfortunately for me i got SLAMMED with a gazillion jobs as soon as
i got this short done, and i have not been able to promote or be social at all. but thank you all so much for the constructive input, as it really does make me a better filmmaker!

[Boogeyman]

yeah your next film should be monster solution