"LOVERS" a film by Josh Chiara

[open-heart burglary]

I waited way too long to get this thread started, so here it finally is.

Lovers is a movie about monsters.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3508/4056996425_aa6df8eaf2_b.jpg

Starring

Jessica Cameron
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2425/4057001773_47dea265f8_b.jpg

Thomas Stemrich
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2717/4057741398_4372246b5b_b.jpg

Written by Josh Chiara and Thomas Stemrich

Directed by Josh Chiara

[Keth Andril]

I wish I could have helped with this one. Can't wait to see it!

[EditPhish]

Looks interesting! Looking forward to seeing it... good luck!

[Rodney V. Smith]

welcome back guys.

[Defcon]

i like that poster is sexy but also feels gruesome, like its either sex or death. cool!

[Rodney V. Smith]

i like that poster is sexy but also feels gruesome, like its either sex or death. cool!

sex or death.... better than "cake or death". The cake is a lie...

[lawriejaffa]

I debated whether to even comment on this one...I'm noticing a slightly sanctimonious tone to your feedback on the films! I'd consider being wary of lines like that.

For the record i thought this film was interesting (in the positive) - and naturally ill be going on about it (in my delightful intellectual artfarty posh british voiced way) in the audio feedback.

You do have a very autuer style to your work, and its dreamlike. The sex is fine.

Try watching Salo Editphish!! hehe

[Shaun Patrick]

I'm noticing a slightly sanctimonious tone to your feedback on the films! I'd consider being wary of lines like that.

For the record i thought this film was interesting (in the positive) - and naturally ill be going on about it (in my delightful intellectual artfarty posh british voiced way) in the audio feedback.

You do have a very autuer style to your work, and its dreamlike. The sex is fine.

Try watching Salo Editphish!! hehe

I was waiting for the "Salo" bomb to be dropped. Will have to check this film out today.

[EditPhish]

I'm noticing a slightly sanctimonious tone to your feedback on the films! I'd consider being wary of lines like that.

And for that reason I've removed my feedback, since I debated whether to post it or not. I do try to be constructive, and you're right, I probably wasn't here

[Marlon Ladd]

You really had a nice, fluid tone to the film. You had some really good shots in here and this was no doubt a sexy film (more sex please!). I thought the red coloring was a little too much, but that's just an opinion. Maybe if you had more contrast between the darks and the lights it would really pop the actors out in those scenes. I think that's why it stood out, because they didn't seem to pop as much as they did in the other scenes. The acting was fine for the most part and you had a pretty good story. Good job.

[lawriejaffa]

And for that reason I've removed my feedback, since I debated whether to post it or not. I do try to be constructive, and you're right, I probably wasn't here


Good for you mate. A dose of humility does nobody harm. Film is very subjective. This is a film obviously attempting a level of intellectual and artistic merit that well quite frankly leaves those making corn syrup epics with there mates looking a bit simple.

This festival isnt just a ranking for who can make the most fake blood for there halloween mask so don't be surprised if this film polls quite a bit higher than you expect! Then you got chaps like Edgen who are managing to combine gory and artistic elements (but it ain't perfect Edgen - nearly though! hehehe)

[Cur]

Not to upset the "intellectual artfarty" community but I didn't "get it."
I'm just not at a high enough level of "intellectual and artistic merit" to appreciate the complexity of this film.

The emperor is naked.

It looks great but it doesn't make sense.

[open-heart burglary]

If you don't get it that's cool, but don't have to be so negative and mocking.

[lawriejaffa]

Yeah thanks for quoting me too Cur, happy to recommend you some books to help you with that intellectual and artistic merit issue. I suggest you start with this http://www.amazon.com/Spot-Loves-Daddy-Eric-Hill/dp/0399243518/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257181070&sr=1-2

You could even use it as a script if you take the effort to produce an entry for the competition :)

I should note Cur if you want a discussion about art in film (as you seem to have been charmed by my opinion) then we can dance in PM, but not on the chap's thread.

[Edgen]

Great little film... I enjoyed the characters, but I think i'll have to watch it again to see the significance with the guy AND the end shot. That left me hanging.

your choice of reds and blood... you knew something was not right and to lead it straight into a sex scene... ahhh the life of a vampire.

/j

[WilderWorks]

http://i.imgur.com/dWXoI.png

[Charli]

The red tone at the beginning of the film was intriguing, but the story left a lot to be desired. Soft porn, sex or death, if I wanted to watch a film about forced sex, I'd go over to another forum.

I got bored pretty quickly, kept watching because I've watched every film so far. This needs more of a story and the music, agh for me.

[Sarah Daly]

I really liked this - sexy, brave, looked great, flawless performances - yes the story is quite complex but it works for me. The style and tone suit the story. Doesn't make me go 'huh?', makes me want to watch again - great job - I enjoyed this a lot.

Oh and loved the music - simple and sparse but effective.

[Sarah Daly]

The red tone at the beginning of the film was intriguing, but the story left a lot to be desired. Soft porn, sex or death, if I wanted to watch a film about forced sex, I'd go over to another forum.

I got bored pretty quickly, kept watching because I've watched every film so far. This needs more of a story and the music, agh for me.

Oh wow - looks like I posted at the exact same time as Charli - just goes to show you how subjective film can be. You can't please all of the people all of the time I guess - but you sure pleased me anyhow :)

Ps. Charli where's this forced sex forum? Is it any good? I'm having a dull evening.

Hehe sorry I'll behave now.

*skulks off*

[lawriejaffa]

Yeah dont knock the forced sex forum Charli, thats where me and Chris Keaton first met!

*falls on his knees*

KEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAATON!!!!

[ramsaur]

I really didn't enjoy this film very much and the plot was just a little weird and disturbing for me. Sorry, not my cup of tea.

[Charli]

Sarah - yes, art is subjective, but plot I don't believe is quite that subjective, this didn't have weight, just a lot of skin.

Lawrie - ha ha ha

[Chris_Keaton]

Skin. A required component to any horror film.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Interesting look and feel to this. An improvement over last fest for sure. The actors were pretty believable as well considering the characters they were playing. That must have been a real challenge on set.

A little vague in areas and hard to decipher but maybe that's just me.
Lots going on for sure.

MAH

[hoz]

this is a one hot flick. i think your actress did a great job with the role. the story was there and there was lust for sure and that is a good thing, but not sure about love. ah, what do i know about vampire love though?

liked the shots you got too and liked the red coloring also. you got the monster feeling for sure.

nice job!!

[Jackson Miller]

Can you please explain the plot to those who didn't get it? I watched it twice and I got it a lot more the second time but I feel like if I watch it again it will make me feel a bit sick.

I like the lighting and I thought the acting especially at the beginning was absolutely great.


Could you please actually explain it though instead of saying different people take different things from it or whatever? Honestly, I could not tell characters apart lots of times. I could not tell who was who or the motivations behind what they were doing or what they were even doing. I am not being negative though. I just want to understand.

[jasonthewho]

I enjoyed this the most of the films you've entered here. The lighting and cinematography was interesting and good. The performances were strong.

I guess my major problem was that outside of the main plotline in the red lighting, I had no idea when in time the other scenes took place. I couldn't tell who turned who into a vampire, and when.

I agree with Jackson, I'd love a specific explanation of the plot you were trying to convey.

[vurfing]

I'm still a little confused by the story - at first I thought it was some meeting place for serial killers?!?
The acting and cinematography were great - the cut to the woman murdering the couple was really stark and realistic.
Good film!

[Mike Manning]

Hmm as others have said, the plot is a little hard to decipher.. but that actually didn't bother me so much. It was a very moody piece, and kudos to your actress for taking it all the way... I really got a sense of her character's obsession and I think that (more so than the sex itself) is what might be making people uncomfortable. She's really quite disturbing, and I dug it. Congrats man, good job!

[Rakesh Jacob]

Loved it, great use of overt sexuality to display the very profound psychological issues at the core of these two characters and their unhealthy relationship with each other. Expounding on the reasons of who and why they are the way they are, is not that necessary to me, I think not knowing just adds to the unsettling sense this film needs. The only thing I didn't like was the red lighting, a little bit more skin tone thrown in in that shot with the red as more of a highlight would have made it epic looking for me. But that's just me :)

[lawriejaffa]

Oh yeah, this film has an element to it - the sexuality of the 'gal - and violence that is designed to make men's penises shrink... that will effect the emotional reactions some chaps here have to the film, clouding objectivity?

Its a matter of taste of course... nom!

[xxrotinivol2]

I keep on going back and forth on my final rating on this one—definitely in the high range either way. Your actors did an awesome job committing themselves to the role, and minus the first sex scene on the lap (a little zip up might have been a nice touch, the end of it is a bit awkward), the way you filmed the sexual scenes went from hot, to f-ed up, to f-ed up and hot.

Growing up, I had this book as a kid: pictures on the right hand side, empty blank page on the other. It was about a unicorn and a flood (no fairies or princesses!), and you made up the story each time you read it because there’s no text. This movie reminded me of that—minus the unicorns, plus the make-up-the story part.

This is the only film I watched twice all the way through (not b/c I'm pervert) and both times I saw it, my read of it changed. I don’t mind the ambiguity... is this about her turning into a vampire, is there some sort of body double, were they lovers in the past, all this seems like it is, but I like not knowing. This ambiguity makes the film stand out. Plot aside, I understood it at a thematic level--vampires have messy, saucy lives--not as much plot-wise. It was intriguing mysterious, and after a second viewing I enjoyed it more. I liked the darkness in the shots at the restaurant, the dampened effect it created. The film works for me on a visceral level. Great work.

Also nice touch with the teeth and dentures at the end too!

[Jackson Miller]

For that red lighting part, was that all from gels over the lights? Or did you put a filter over the shots in the editing? Or a combination of both perhaps?

[open-heart burglary]

the red lighting was just gels over the lights. The bar that we shot in had red leds all over that part of the bar, so that just made it that much easier.

[Noel Evans]

A very solid attempt . I got really tired of the red lighting. Im wondering if lighting the BG red and separating the actors from that would have given the same effect you were after and be less harsh?

And the music, same thing. It had a defined mood and tone, Im not 100% sure fulfilled its purpose when married to this piece of narrative.

I really would have liked to see this on the whole a bit more amped up. For the type of people they were it seemed a touch melodramatic at times.

But again, I thought this was mostly well done.

[Aaron Marshall]

I think you shot this film with a Virtual Gameboy. :)

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/1791/virtualboy.jpghttp://timecapsl.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/mario-tennis-virtual-boy_219150510_std.jpg

I'm just teasing.

Cool film buddy. I like the reversing strange atmospheric music, only it starts clipping at one point and gets very distracting. I have to ask myself if this film would work as a feature, and with a lot more meat, yes, but it's not very indicative in this short. I don't know if I could stand 60-90 minutes looking at a red screen like that. I would cut into those scenes quicker and spend most of my time in the "normal" looking scenes.

I liked how you exposed your images. They look very nice. You know what you're doing when it comes to acquisition. I liked your framing.

[Mike Manning]

WOW! I'm really upset this didn't make the finals. I keep double checking the Finalists page to make sure I didn't just miss it. Well, believe me, you guys are a winner in my book.
Cheers,
-M

[lawriejaffa]

Yep agreed Mr Manning

[lawriejaffa]

This was an ambitious film, looking to humanise the violent sexual relationship of two vampires, without gloss, and with real emotional consequences. Depicting it within a romantic context (and style of cinematography) and music.

This is a poetical film, that was bold in its use of sexuality, and far too mature for most of the viewers in this festival. I would encourage you to keep exploring your cinematic voice, and to pay special attention to the coherence of the ideas you are expressing in your art. It is a difficult discipline to paint with such colour as it were, and not lose as a few scenes behind.

That said, this film for any relative iq, is fairly discernable and easy enough to follow, and would fine a very welcome place I think in any horror themed film festivals.

Decent performances, especially from our vampiress. Good work. Intimidating and erotic.

[Mike Manning]

Yep. Agreed Mr. Brewster.

[open-heart burglary]

thank you everybody for your kind words. They do mean a lot. Thanks especially Mr. Brewster for being my voice against naysayers.

[Lawsuit_Boy]

It really pains me that I got around to viewing this film so late in the festival. I wasn't shocked or surprised to see that it didn't make the finals, but I'm certainly disappointed that it didn't.

This film truly swept me up and seemed to hit virtually no speed-bumps. What a visceral and scintillating experience it was to wander through the lives of these two temporarily and see the complicated, messy tapestry that is their love life. To find that in the end, they're still completely hooked on one another is fascinating. The situation dealt with in the film is not new, but its presentation is what makes it so striking. The line, "nobody gave me a choice, Faye" truly stands out as paramount to the integrity of the story. At that moment, the relationship takes on a new dynamic of moral conflict.

The film dives right in (reminiscent of the characters' behaviors) with a push, propelling the viewer into a low-key room painted with the red-tipped bristles of an aged brush. While the environment in this lounge feels post-modern, the setting itself--a dimly lit den for vagabonds and drifters to hide out in--yields to old traditions. This simply feels right for the film.

The script and the editing itself are well balanced. The film doesn't stick around a scene for too long, nor does it leave the viewer in the middle of a beat. I actually found this, of all things, to be one of the true highlights of the film. However, there was one shot that felt a little capricious to me. The close-up of the girl's lips at 3:29 just felt superfluous to me. In the previous shot, we already see the sensual kiss which exchanges the blood from mouth to mouth. This shot is very good and I feel like the close-up harms the effectiveness of the previous shot. I may be wrong here as some may like the close-up. It's a matter of aesthetics.

I also think that, like others have mentioned before, this film does get itself into trouble with a general audience because timelines do get a little misted from scene to scene. I didn't have much trouble figuring out when things took place, but it did take a couple of seconds for things to really catch up. With such a time limit, there isn't much you can do with this. So I wouldn't add anything to truly distinguish. The cutting and the dialogue guide the watchful viewer.

The cinematography has already been dipped into, but to explore it more thoroughly, I would like to mention just how smooth and natural each setup was. Every setting was as dim and emotionally vacant as one might expect.

The music and sound blended almost seamlessly. I was impressed by how clean the dialogue and action sounds were rendered. The music--a rhythmic eulogy of sorts--highlights the anxiety, fervor, and hopeless melancholy of the film; a very strong compliment.

However, with all of this praise, I don't want to misguide and persuade that this film is perfect. The approach to the subject matter is provocative and risky, which may turn a lot of viewers away. Another angle of examination demonstrates that the acting, though very strong and believable throughout, does find itself hitting a few dry patches where the performers seem to lose their confidence in the role. Single lines seem to stick a little from time to time.

This was a highly engrossing and daring film, and I always enjoy seeing brave filmmakers, as long as the film itself is not simply looking for shock value.

Really great viewing! :beer:

[Lawsuit_Boy]

Try watching Salo Editphish!! hehe

Heh, I was hoping someone would mention a film like Salo. I should have known it would be you, Mr. Brewster. :thumbsup:

Really though, if some are irked by seeing a film like this, there is an entire world of cinema that develops some of the most complex and important strains of visual essay that is off-limits.