ON THE 26th DAY - John LaBonney

[John LaBonney]

Better late than never!

On the 26th Day is, at least for me, an experimental film in a lot of ways. We shot it in two days with no script--just a story concept and some ideas of the scenes and the progression of the storyline, and we just let the actors go with whatever rolled out of their heads. On the editing side I also tried some different things.

It was an interesting experience and whenever I get out there with my camera and gear I learn something and have fun and meet new people. So in that regard the film was a success for me.

We've brought back Ty Izquierdo from St. Anthony and the rest of the cast was new to us, but they all showed interest in the project and were fun to work with. Crew-wise it was just Michelle and myself.

Thanks for taking a look at the film, I welcome your comments!

John

[Rodney V. Smith]

welcome back John. good to see you in.

[Tim Joy]

Sounds fun!

[ZazaCast]

What's with all the sneakiness around here these days? :huh::)

Welcome to the fest John...looks like an interesting concept. Can't wait to see what experiments you have in store for us.

[Jason Sanders]

looking forward to seeing it John.

[John LaBonney]

What's with all the sneakiness around here these days? :huh::)

Welcome to the fest John...looks like an interesting concept. Can't wait to see what experiments you have in store for us.

This late/stealth entry really wasn't intended. We had quite a large production in mind for this fest, which I would have promoted hard, but for various reasons (some financial--I'm getting killed here, where the heck are you Las Vegas tourists when I need you?) we decided to stand down. I think Rodney still has the poster for it somewhere. Maybe some day I'll return to it.

As time went on, I came up with this much simpler concept that we whipped up towards the very end of the time period. I'm glad that we did this one because at the very least I was out there with my camera and learned some things.

[ZazaCast]

I'm glad that we did this one because at the very least I was out there with my camera and learned some things.

That's what I'm talking about...I totally agree! Get out and make something, that's what I try to do too.:beer:

[Michelle J. LaBonney]

Sorry, don't have long to chime in...John wants macaroni and cheese...but I just wanted to say that the best part about making this movie was meeting all of the new people that are as passionate about filmmaking as we are!! Even though it was a little tough dealing with multiple locations and a very small production crew (just John and myself), it was no where near as grueling as St. Anthony or Barn Dance.

One of the more interesting parts of production was working with the P2 card. Although, it almost wasn't a reality for the shoot. At the last minute I had to beg the commercial production guys at my work to update the camera firmware and format the card. But, in the nick of time, they had it working and ready to shoot!! Thanks Miles, Darko, and Forrest!! John was very happy to have it and it worked out well because he did a lot of handheld shooting and it was so much lighter than using the firestore.

Another funny thing that happened during production was when we were shooting in the apartment. We rented one of those weekly apartments and in the middle of the shoot we ordered pizza. When the pizza guy came and saw all of the film gear, his response was..."shooting a movie?" We were all sure of what kind of movie he thought we were shooting, when in fact it is so far from that, we had to laugh...at least I did!!

Well, I hope you all enjoy the movie. As John eluded to, it is an experiment, so we are very interested in your comments. Thanks so much!!

[ZazaCast]

Another funny thing that happened during production was when we were shooting in the apartment. We rented one of those weekly apartments and in the middle of the shoot we ordered pizza. When the pizza guy came and saw all of the film gear, his response was..."shooting a movie?" We were all sure of what kind of movie he thought we were shooting, when in fact it is so far from that, we had to laugh...at least I did!!


...now you HAVE to watch my film.:)

[John LaBonney]

A short BTS of one of the actors in 26th Day, Elia Piva, doing an impression.


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[Noel Evans]

Hi john, good to see you here, and good luck.

[Girgej]

Quite Original ... Good Luck

[ramsaur]

This one had some good editing and camera. I just didn't really follow the story too well. Might have to watch again.

[Noel Evans]

John, some tough material in there. And I thought you sold the story pretty well.

Was it just me or are there beeps in the audio at 1:09, 1:10, 1:11 and again at around 1:14?

[Zak Forsman]

those beeps are unrendered audio in a final cut pro timeline. i know them well. :)

anyway, john this is my favorite of your work. you brought an earnestly told tale and the realism and authenticity won me over. very impressed.

[Solomon Chase]

A good quest!

I was going to say it could have used a score to underline some things, but it does have an interesting docu/realistic feel without it. I liked the intimate closeups. Again, I could add that the lighting could be "dramatized" a bit, but that may not fit with the look you wanted. The footage as-is is fine, and exposed correctly. Not a fan of the split screen shots though. The continuity on the meetup with the friend scene was a bit off (and of course theres those FCP beeps=P)

Overall... good story, and nice work.

[Erik Olson]

John, I enjoyed this.

Production-wise, it does have that TLC docu-reality kind of look to it - flat lighting and stark (read: no deco department) settings actually do a good job of suggesting how empty his life is.

It would have been nice to warm it up a bit as he reaches his milestone.

A good story, well-told.

[Susanne G.]

Hi John,

This was an exeptional work for what you said before, with how less you prepared it. I felt it more than a report or a part of a biography as an feature. Probably it was your attention to make it as authentic as possible!? If that was your attention, so you was successful. I enjoyed it very much. Compliments :)

Susanne

[John LaBonney]

Thanks everyone for their comments; they are appreciated!

I suppose that I should mention that those beeps are there on purpose. I don't even have FCP. That sequence is intentionally bumpy, even a little out of sequence, and the beeps were intended to kind of jar the viewer out of the film a touch. I figured that if we were going to go with no script and kind of experiment with the movie, I might as well try some different things in editing, like the split screen and the beeps. It was a very different movie for us, and I'm glad we did this one and in this fashion because it expanded my horizons a bit.

[ZazaCast]

Nice work John. I love the that there's always a positive view in your films...the glass half full thing. You're good at that.

I know you said the beeps are in there for a reason, but I don't think you need to jar the viewer at all. I didn't mind the split-screen, but that's the point where I felt I was watching something and was no longer a PART of it. I was just connecting with the guy...which you accomplished with all those nice tight shots....and bam! Suddenly I'm watching an episode of "Intervention". Lack of a score only made this work better in MHO. Nice work.

Oh...and I still like my shower scene better! LOL!! :)

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

It's always nice to try something different so good on you for that.

I think the audio could use a little more sound design but overall it was pretty good. I wasn't convinced by the scene with his daughter. It almost looked like he just laid down on the floor and you shot the scene. I wanted him looking a little more worse for wear.

Just a little more raw and dirty considering the subject matter.

Some image grading may help in this area as well. Darker, more grain, almost dirty.

Aside from that the acting was decent and the story was well told. I'm glad that you managed to get something in even if it was last minute.

Well done.

MAH

[John LaBonney]

Image grading and sound design are areas I really need to learn about. This needed a score I think as well.

Thanks for watching, the comments are appreciated!

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Image grading and sound design are areas I really need to learn about. This needed a score I think as well.

Thanks for watching, the comments are appreciated!
Don't be afraid to ask. There are plenty of people around here who will help you out.

Cheers,

MAH

[hoz]

good subject matter. i think your lead did a good job too. it kinda played too fast maybe for my taste and i think this story can draw out a lot more from it with a longer scene here and there, but i think it was cool how you showed him looking for a job and then got into it. i found myself rooting for him to make it to day 27 at the end so i think this makes for a good job!

[stinkpot]

This film was just the right size for the message. It hopped along at a good pace wich totally kept my attention and interest. Many of the films this time around are dragging but yours cut well. I like the use of split-screen and your use of audio transition. For the subject matter, I will agree with an above post that some shots could be grittier and color graded or maybe make the entire thing black and white and crank the contrast, etc.

Great work!

:beer:

[kurtmo]

Cool story. I liked the way you worked in the choice that was being made. The acting was a bit too reserved for the topic, except for the dealer who felt real.

Good job!

[Brandon Rice]

Acting and writing was actually really good in this... however, some of the technical shortcomings distracted from an otherwise compelling short...

Nice work John! You're getting better, for sure!

[Girgej]

Hey man ... Great Acting on a simple and very honest movie ... I really love a good drama ... and this surely is one ... the lack of great visuals / cinematography are shadowed by the direction of this short ... Good job man ... keep it up ...

[DarkElastic]

Hi John,

I think this was done very simply, but very well. It didn't need a big score, because it wouldn't have fit the message. Your story was very good, your actor did a very good job.
I wasn't a big fan of the druggy friend, trying too hard to make him cool. I think you could have done more with their meeting with regards to location. It was a bit simple and a long shot, to both be walking there at the same time... the question of why came to my mind. The way the firend was dressed you'd expect him to come past in a sports car.
A fitting ending that explained the movies name.

Overall though, a good short with a good message. Well done.

[Chris Messineo]

John, I liked this a lot. It may not be as technically impressive as some of the others, but you had a good story. You kept it simple and you didn't over play it. So many shorts in this fest used every last second of the six minutes and it was really great to see this little drama played for honesty and the power of a moment in time. Well done.

[Brian Parker]

Hey John. Nice short. I liked the choice of a very real subject matter and the way you played it very straightforward. The acting was well done and the camerawork and editing was very effective. I applaud you for your great pacing as I often struggle to keep my work concise. I think your work as a whole that I've seen is very genuine and you're demonstrating a penchance for relatable human works. Good job man!

[~jai~]

The story here is not a new one, and I don't really feel like you tried to tell it in any new way. However, it is one that I usually go in for as it can produce a very touching film. This one, was not that film though. The acting was not very good. I really wanted to believe your actors, as there was a lot of good "stuff" for them to sink their teeth into, but I didn't get the feeling that any of them "took a bite" so to speak. The shots seemed hurried to me and didn't seem to have a smooth flow to them. The sound was really bad in parts and vaguely ok in others. Honestly, I was disappointed by this film as I actually like these types of movies.

Thank you for sharing!