Mole

[Nemesis TS]

[CENTER]MOLE

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2902



Written and Directed by Tom Sherwood

Produced by: Marcy Sherwood, Hsiawen Hull

CAST:
Dan Chapman as Marx
Wendy Boloz as Babs
John Labick as Jones
George Davis as Agent Meyers

CREW:
Tim Ketchepaw Boom Operator/Technical Director/Stunt Driver/Set Designer/Special Effects
Tim Christianson Gaffer/Boom Operator/Special Effects
Jessica Whitener Clapper/Babysitter (highest paid person on the production, actually only paid person)
Johnny Labick Special Effects/Prop Manager/Stunt Man
Danny Chapman Stunt Man
George Davis Assistant Director/Craft Services/Clapper
Hsiawen Hull Location Manager/Babysitter/Producer
Marcy Sherwood Location Scout/Babysitter/Producer/Craft Services/Special Effects
Nanook Burkholder Sound Editor/Sound Effects Supervisor
Tom Sherwood Writer/Director/Special Effects/Editor/Visual Effects

[Nemesis TS]

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2260
JOHN LABICK: Jones
(unofficial headshot)
First time working with John can't wait.

[Nemesis TS]

BTS


Jan 9th Production Meeting
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2282

[Nemesis TS]

SCREEN SHOTS


Original Footage
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2427



VFX/COLOR CORRECTION
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2428
This particular shot was done partly in Photoshop. I spent too much time painting the gun, however I totally impressed myself that I got it to look so realistic. The gun is real so I had a good reference. The muzzle flash was done in After Effects and is pretty weak.


VFX SHOT
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2746
This was my favorite muzzle flash by far. And, it was a total mistake. I was showing my buddy how I make them and just went real fast and next thing I know I had the best muzzle flash. Unless you like realism, then this aint it.

[Rodney V. Smith]

welcome to the fest. how far into production are you?

[jasonthewho]

There's a surprising number of alien entries this time around...

[Chris_Keaton]

Can't wait to see it. It sounds like it's in the same vane as one of the shorts I wrote 'Sleeper' for the last fest , unfortunately it didn't make it in.

[ZazaCast]

Welcome & looking forward to the film! :thumbsup:

[Rodney V. Smith]

Scifi is always fun to see.


Can't wait to see it. It sounds like it's in the same vane as one of the shorts I wrote 'Sleeper' for the last fest , unfortunately it didn't make it in.

I'm gonna have to give you shit about your spelling there Chris... but in a nice way of course. Don't you mean "same vein"? :evil:

[RodThompson]

Awesome.

[Chris_Keaton]

Scifi is always fun to see.



I'm gonna have to give you shi* about your spelling there Chris... but in a nice way of course. Don't you mean "same vein"? :evil:

F-if I know. I usually let the spell checker decide. :2vrolijk_08:

[Nemesis TS]

welcome to the fest. how far into production are you?

Wrote the script Monday afternoon. Had a production meeting that night, my wife was the only one able to attend. Rewrote the script a few more times Monday night into Tuesday morning and had the finished product at about 6am Tuesday.

Tuesday morning I sent an email to the potential actors and thankfully they all agreed and replied by Tuesday afternoon when I woke up.

Production Meeting this Saturday and start shooting the following weekend.

[Nemesis TS]

We start shooting in the morning. Yeah!
Except I don't feel as prepared as I'd like to be.

[MSpencer]

Good luck Today....

[Nemesis TS]

Long day... Here are some production shots
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2426


http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2425



http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2424

[Nemesis TS]

Made a banner. Not sure how to make it a link....

[Scott F]

Hey man, I like that screen grab. Looks good!

[Tracey Lee]

Looking good man. I am always amazed at some of you guys and how many resources and actors you can pull together for these things. Great work!

[Marlon Ladd]

Good luck! Love the action screen grab! The location looks great.

[Nemesis TS]

Thanks for the encouraging words guys.

Uploaded a new poster this morning. I couldn't sleep so I got up at 3:30...

Its been raining here in SoCal so we haven't been able to do some outside shots that we wanted. Hopefully it goes fast and we can get them in this weekend, if weather cooperates.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Nice new poster. I like it, but gotta ask why the screen capture instead of a photo session. Not being obnoxious, but screen captures never give the clarity of purpose for a poster that a posed shot can give.

Edit: just re-read that and I guess there's no way to not sound obnoxious. I apologize if it comes across the wrong way.

[ZazaCast]

LOVE the new poster!

[Nemesis TS]

Rodney, Thanks and I don't find you obnoxious. I welcome constructive criticism, I'm new at this so let me have it. This frame really jumped out at me and I hated my old poster. Not to mention we don't have time for photo shoots. We are reliant on the sun and it hasn't been around here much lately.

Thanks ZazaCast, nice banner by the way.

[Nemesis TS]

Had a really cool video conference room reserved for this part of the shoot and two days prior to shooting I was told I couldn't use it. So we made this make shift FBI HQ kind of office. Now I just need some ideas on how to turn the back wall into the high tech office I invisioned.

The green sheets were suppose to be monitors. This is pretty raw looking at the moment but I can actually key out the whole back wall... Kind of wish we hadn't put up the green paper.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2515

[Rodney V. Smith]

Hi-Tech back walls... what kind of look are you going for? Super High-Tech or just regular high tech? You could always watch an episode of 24 and see what elements you could use for the wall...

[dougspice]

Interested in this one... from your original location shots it seems like you're going for a "real world" sort of feel, in which case I would recommend you fill those monitors with the most boring off-the-shelf crap you can. Put a template-based Powerpoint on one or two of them, a Windows XP desktop on another... that would be pretty authentic.

[Nemesis TS]

Yes we are going for realistic, real world looking stuff... I love sci fi/action movies that are ground in reality. However, this is suppose to be the high tech CIA/FBI Headquarters, so it needs to look modern and high tech.

Oh and thanks for the interest dougspice.

[Charli]

Nice set. Met a bunch of FBI guys who did neighbor sweeps at all hotels looking for a suspect, man they are an anxious-got-to-get-this-guy group of folks.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Looking good. Best of luck in the Fest.

[Scott F]

Nice set. Met a bunch of FBI guys who did neighbor sweeps at all hotels looking for a suspect, man they are an anxious-got-to-get-this-guy group of folks.

But they didn't apprehend you, did they? :grin:

[Nemesis TS]

I'm new at this stuff and was wondering how you motivate and direct actors when they aren't doing what you want?

I tried asking nicely.... Then I stuck a gun in his mouth.


http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2550

[Ki-Ki]

Yeah all that safety on set stuff Is crap. :P

[dougspice]

Hide your weed in the barrel of a pistol – I never thought of that!

[Marlon Ladd]

I'm diggin' the poster.

[Scott F]

Yeah all that safety on set stuff Is crap. :P


Hahahahahah. Do watcha like.

[Nemesis TS]

I am feeling the pressure on this thing now. I am going nuts, there is more post production than I imagined and even my titles are proving a pain in my after effects.

One problem I have is I was using Ae a bunch then stopped and have spent a couple months doing a lot of Photoshop and now I get confused on which program can do what or how to do something. arrrggghh.

I also accidentally deleted my Samples Library, thats gonna cost about 6 hours of reload time. I'm looking forward to scoring, I've not done it accept for a short title graphic that I made for fun. So that is going to be interesting, hopefully I pull something descent together. I wish we could use copyrighted music, that would make it much easier.

If that isn't enough, my doctor called this week and scheduled my knee surgery for the 26th. Wasn't expecting that so soon.

I guess I should work on it instead of goof off on the internet.

[Richard J. Johnson]

^get it done. I'm ready to watch it. You need to get your priorities straight my friend, Knee Surgery or get your film done so I can watch it. some people...I swear.:laugh:

seriously sorry to hear about that, At least you have shot your film. I can't shoot until the 28th, then I have to edit it on the 1st, get it to FDL for scoring on the 2nd and have it back by the 3rd. and that's if EVERYTHING goes EXACTLY right.

[Nemesis TS]

Wow that is a tight schedule... And who needs a knee? The surgery isn't a big deal its just the timing is a bit off. Then again if I can at least sit at my computer I can work on the movie without work getting in the way.

Good luck on your film. I've never had ANYTHING go EXACTLY right let alone EVERYTHING. I'm rooting for you though.

[Richard J. Johnson]

Good luck on your film. I've never had ANYTHING go EXACTLY right let alone EVERYTHING. I'm rooting for you though.


Me either. But I'm going to think it into existence. :Drogar-Shock(DBG):

And the kicker is I'm using the 7D for the first time on set.:crybaby:

[Nemesis TS]

So no pod cast or vblog or what ever. However, I did take a break the other night and try an experiment with my wife and dog. I love that budlight superbowl commercial with T-Pain and that autotune sound he uses. I thought I'd take a crack at it and came up with this.


<object width="400" height="300"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true" /><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always" /><param name="movie" value="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9577113&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;sho w_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;ful lscreen=1" /><embed src="http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=9577113&amp;server=vimeo.com&amp;sho w_title=1&amp;show_byline=1&amp;show_portrait=0&amp;color=&amp;ful lscreen=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" width="400" height="300"></embed></object><p><a href="http://vimeo.com/9577113">Budlight Radio Ad</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/user469114">Nemesis TS</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>

[Rodney V. Smith]

Dude use the vimeo tags.

[Nemesis TS]

Dude, I did? hmm...

[Rodney V. Smith]

hmmm.. did it finish uploading on the vimeo side?

oh wait... i think you put in just the numbers, not the entire addresss

[Rodney V. Smith]

9577113

yeah it was just the numbers

[vimeo ]9577113[/vimeo ] is all you need.

[Rodney V. Smith]

Oh that was so not worth it. :grin: I can't believe you got the dog solo.

[Nemesis TS]

I have a video titled "Untitled" can u see that? Its suppose to be locked so only I can see it. Just wondering cause it shows up in the window.

[Rodney V. Smith]

doesnt show up here

[Nemesis TS]

Oh good, thanks.

[Nemesis TS]

Last update. I have a ton to do still. Several time consuming VFX shots to complete including the one of the woman below, I just finished this one and need to fine tune it. The other one is Johnny blasting with his glock and an over the top muzzle flash which I really liked. I actually came up with this one by accident just showing one of the guys how I make em. I have not reproduced a muzzle flash that cool since. The rest are a bit lower key. If there are any others.



http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2747
This one was a thorn in my side. I took forever and multiple keys and multiple masks to key out the original background. Originally I had three green poster boards up that I was going to use for monitors but it looked horrid so I keyed out the whole wall, which was easy. The stupid posters made unkeyable lines that I had to mask out and it took my like six hours.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2746
Really like the way this one turned out, except I color corrected the photo in photoshop, so I would like to reproduce this as the final look but not sure I will be able to.

I have knee surgery in a couple hours so hopefully I will have time to finish before next week. Too much to do and too little time.

Good luck everyone and I can't wait to see your movies!!

[jasonthewho]

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2515
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=361&pictureid=2747

Definitely an improvement!

[Richard J. Johnson]

^wow. I can't wait to see this one.

[dougspice]

You smooshed her!

Looks good, though. Nice touch with the screen on the laptop there. I can see how keying her hair out of that very similar green would have been troublesome.

[Nemesis TS]

Doug, hahaha. She is smooshed? Its wierd when I export from FCP and open in After Effects it smooshes em up. Then render it out of Ae and still smooshed. Use quicktime to export for web creating a screen shot (still smooshed). Import Ae render into FCP and Viola not smooshed anymore. So in the end she wont be smooshed.... Hopefully.

3-1-10 less than a week and I am running out of time. I'm only updating while Ae is rendering out a VFX. Few more VFX shots, then color correct then try and compose a score. No problem...right?

[Dauntless]

Nice, I would love to see this film.... I was wondering in that grab that you CC I can see the shell ejecting from the gun, was that added with special effects after.. looks cool!

[Christopher Blake]

Looks really cool, can't wait to see it! :)

[Scott F]

Smooshed ratio or not...I like what you've done with the comp!

[Nemesis TS]

- Dauntless - That frame I sent to photoshop and added the shell casing and photoshopped the slide going back. It was way more detail than necessary as its only one frame long. I didn't have time to do shell casings coming out of the guns. I would have liked to.

- Christopher, thanks man.

- Deepfocus, thank you. I actually spent a lot of time on that shot since and it looks even better now. I also made some mistakes on it. The after effects file was so large that it wouldn't play through and each frame took several seconds to load. So there are some things that need re-working.


Thanks guys.

[Nemesis TS]

That 60MB killed me.... I rendered and exported and it was 60.8 MB. Oh how frustrating. Every thing I did made it bigger. Changed this, changed that, render 20 minutes, Export to Quicktime file another 15 or 20 minutes then export for web in quicktime.... 61.5 MB!@#!?, then 62.5 MB F me... then 63.8.

Finally just chopped 14 seconds off the back end and it got it to something like 59.8MB.
So instead of doing the music and getting it in the movie I chopped it down and didn't have time to insert the music. I had to do some funky stuff at the very end and the effects look wierd.

So my movie is without credits and a score, basically. But, its in and approved.

I'm going to bed.

[Richard J. Johnson]

I'm sure it will still rock. I'm glad you got it in. And after the fest is done just upload the finished version. that really does suck and feel your frustration.

[Nemesis TS]

Thanks Richard, I appreciate your support. Now when do I get to watch the Charlyie Factor?

[Chris Messineo]

I love the action shots - I'm looking forward to the film.

[just2me]

wow... ! :) can't wait to see your film!

[Richard J. Johnson]

I need to see this with the score!! other than that it is a great film. efx were great and acting is on point. great job!

[totitefilms]

Nice action movie! It reminds me of the Alien and Shoot Em Up. I like the special effects also. The story can be improved though. I kind of knew the outcome from the first few scenes. The acting was okay and some scenes were washed out.

[Nemesis TS]

Thanks Richard. Looking for more criticism please.

Don - Thanks for watching and for the criticism.

I'm new to film making so I'm looking for more critical in depth reviews. If you just watch for entertainment thats cool too.
If there is something I should do different let me know what it is and how I can achieve it.

Thanks for Watching.

[Mike@AF]

I thought this was good if you're new to filmmaking. Good job overall. I thought the story was predictable so the twist didn't really pay off too well.

Pretty good cinematography and vfx. Good sound, although missing a much needed score.

The 3.13 aspect ratio was unusual, but really interesting. You seemed to make good use of it in most areas of the film.

The acting could have been better, especially the woman.

Other than that I think this was a solid effort. Good job and keep at it. I'll look forward to watching your next film.

[hoz]

for being new to film making i think you did a great job.

some nice shot ideas such as the last scene overhead.

things to improve -

story- there was a lot of shooting, and that's cool but then maybe start the film right in the middle of the melee and go from there. that way we have a boom! immediate suspense. who's shooting and why. have the alien frenetically speak into his phone for back up. its only 6 minutes so throw us into the disaster and make us run along with your characters.

i don't know, from there tip us off as to why this one dude is shooting the other one. a mole! he's a mole! send back up, now!

and then send back up! send em all over the place. suits should be running rampant! ( hard to do with a limited supply of actors maybe but this is ACID! the more troops the better!)

make it chaos - that said i did like when you had the two shooters confront each other. this was strong - play that up. there can be some strong dialogue here.

some ideas anyways...

congrats on your first film!!

[seanmcleod]

Fun shoot em up movie, mission accomplished. Acting could use a polishing, but overall great first time out. Shooting looked great, especially the shot you used for the poster.

[Nemesis TS]

Mike - thanks for watching. The aspect ratio shouldn't be 3.13, I was going for wide but not that wide. I was aiming for 2.35. I may have made an error as I had to change it by hand and it was really late and had a bunch of technical problems getting the film to 60mbs, so I tried changing the aspect ratio, the compression, pretty much anything to get it down. Which is also why I have no score. I spent the entire day on 60MB and was only able to get the dialog and soundfx in, and there are parts that are out of sync too, cause I ended up cutting 14 seconds out of the movie. The end shot suppose to be a slow steady pan that goes much higher and I even messed up the effect that was tied to that shot. The actors are friends and not 'real' actors.
Appreciate the insight.

HOZ- Thanks, funny you mention starting in the middle of the action. It was discussed to start the movie from the INT hallway chase and do flash backs. As far as lots of agents, it turns out ACID is a small group. hahaha. And the shooter confrontation I totally agree, and actually shot the scene twice, second time half of it was shot from the top of a scissor lift. The movie didn't end there in my original script, but once I had the idea for the shot above I ended it there.

Sean - Thanks man. Definitely going to try and use more experienced actors. Of course better director equals better actors.

[dre83]

I miss some ambience sounds at the beginning

The shot of the lady... I think it's to "blocked" (top and bottom)

I do like to watch it completely from the start, knowing that a mole has to be found.

The sound is very good (recorded sound) and if it's ADR it's very well done (acting-wise)

I have a strange feeling with the "watch it" phrase....

I miss to much sounds... it's empty... Wrong gunshots also... the "bullet hiting and doing that tjoooow sound" is not needed... That's more that cowboy stuff movies films thing

And then... everything got green and blocked...

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Story: Not too bad. I liked the way this one played out. Nice action flick.

Acting: A little stale but I really liked the lead. He just worked for me.

Technical: Some shots were awesome, others not so much. Exposure and sound was hit and miss. The action scenes were done really well though. You seem to have a natural knack for it.

Well done.

MAH

[ChrisHurn]

Nice work here. I’ll admit straight away that I’m not a fan of these types of films generally, so I’ll focus mainly on the technical side of things.
Nice intro, bringing the title in like that. That was cool, I liked it. The shot after this, the pan across as the dialogue started – that was a good move. The sound was good, all the dialogue was crisp and clear, and you had some good sound effects, consistent stuff for the most part.

One thing I noticed in a few areas is the lead actor tended to play this very on the nose, like he was trying to “play” an action hero, instead of being his character. Having said that, there were some good moments in the acting of course, part of this had to do with the script, a lot of lines to deliver that didn’t have a whole of conflict, just kind of reeling off stuff. Having said all that, it is tough telling a story with all this information in six minutes, so overall, not bad stuff at all.
Shooting style was pretty cool, the grading was neat I thought. Good location! I liked how it started off without score, but once they started running, this film could have had a lot of extra impact with some score. Even something minimal, not your typical spicatto strings like in the bourne films but even just some textural, layered stuff to help bring the mood, tone, etc.

Effects were cool, I enjoyed them. Some of your shots were overblown with the sun, for example at 2:44. It’s not really too bad at all, I’m being picky, but it does take away from the story a tiny bit, anything you can avoid to take us out of “reality” is always a bonus. These overblown shots tend to take our attention off the main guy for a moment – a moment where our attention should be on him running, feeling the pressure and tension of having the other guy behind him.
One thing I noticed is early on you brought on a close up like “babs, i’m gonna have to check your team next” or something, which is cool – but then you seemed to have stayed away from close ups altogether after that. It would have been better to perhaps restrain from anything too close early, and then bring us closer as the film went on, especially since we need to be right there with the main character. If we’re too detached, we really don’t care about what’s happening. Not that you want to shoot close ups galore, but every now and then we need to see what he’s feeling. Score and close ups in all the right places can be very effective when restrained and used with specific purpose.

Memorable Momen
the dive around 1:45 – cool! The shot on the floor was neat, I liked that.
Overall, I enjoyed watching your film.

Good work, and I look forward to seeing what you do next. Congratulations on a solid entry.

[Luis_]

I was missing tension sounds, and I wasn't crazy about exposure but enjoyed watching this.
Very good action!
Location was great!
Liked this entry, good stuff!
really would like to see a future project from you guys.
nice work!

[ramsaur]

For a new filmmaker it was pretty good. It really wasn't much of a story. Trying to find a mole, they find it with the guy shooting at an odd time, then you dragged it a little too far with the long running and shooting. Could have cut a lot of that running out. I wanted to hear some music too. Effects wise were great! You're green screens can use some improvement. There were lines all around Babs. And seems you had a like for Star Trek lens flares? heh.

over all pretty good for a new filmmaker. Reminds me of my first films. They were all but action, shooting, and chasing. Look forward to seeing your next works.

[Norm Sanders]

Opening title work/intro was SICK! Really got me excited for it from the get go. Also loved the glint effect that you had going at times ... kind of like on the bridge of StarTrek (what did you cut this in, or do those effects with?).

EXTRA wide screen on this ... approaching what I lovingly call "Pencil Scope". :)

Strongest points for me on this were the shots, specifically centered around the action (opening action sequence when he dives out of the chair was GREAT) ... weakest parts for me, however, would be on the acting, and some of the dialogue.

Entertaining piece, though, and you've got some VERY solid strengths to build from!

[MrFluffy]

Really good first entry. Fast paced, but maybe lacking music to drive the tension forward.
A lot of good stuff here. Well done.

[Nemesis TS]

Dre88 - Thanks for watching. There was no ADR, it may come off that way because I did some edits after the sound was settled and there are a few spots where I had layers of video and didn't realize they got moved around a bit. So the sync is off. This happened the night we uploaded so I didn't have time to fix it.

MAH - Thanks for the review, I like your format, it helps me judge how well I did because your not saying the same thing over and over.

ChrisHurn - Wow, thank you so much, for taking the time to write this up. Especially if you don't like these kinds of movies. Very helpful stuff. Thank you for the compliments.

Luis - I have to apologize for the exposure problems, it made it difficult to try and match up the color correction later. I have had my camera for about a year, so I should know how to use it. Unfortunately, I haven't used it much. I did one kind of test short, like 60 seconds and then we did another 5 minute short and that is it. I don't know much about f-stops and that stuff so, I'm killing it with inexperience. Thanks for watching


Ramsaur - The story came together pretty quick. I'm not a great writer, admittedly. Some of the dialog at the end was ad-libbed, which I didn't care for. But, the story weak as it was, was my poor writing skills. But, hey, I did the effects.

Norm - Thank you about the titles - I did those. Believe it or not those simple little letters took a long damn time to do. Because I wanted them to look like close up of an older monitor I had to apply effects to the letters and key frame the opacity and the cursor and it was tedious work. The glint, or lens flares, are an after effects plug-in, I've seen them used in the fest.... I went heavy on the flares in the hallway because it was suppose to be day time and shooting ran late and we shot some of the hallway after the sun went down and I wanted to sort of fake it being daylight or at least mask that those shots were done at night.

MrFluffy - Thanks for watching.

[KKeller]

Why was there no music?

[dougspice]

I was going to ask the same thing. For a while I appreciated that you were doing an action scene with no music, but after a while it just felt... empty. In general I feel like another pass at the sound design would help a lot – the guns felt kind of anemic and I couldn't help but notice that they made the same sound (despite the fact that one of them is right next to the camera and the other is 25 feet away). General foley and so forth would have helped a lot.

But I'm jumping the gun here. Pun not intended!

So far is the first action film I've seen in the fest, which is sort of surprising now that I think about it! The action and chase itself was done pretty well, although it sort of bogs down behind those dumpsters when I wish it had either developed some tension or changed up.

Action aside, there's not much story here – in fact I'd argue you could do away with half of the opening explanation and it would work just as well, which is both a good and bad thing. I really wish there had been more here that set this film apart from what I've seen before – and the alien thing might have done that if there had been more to it. Although the twist, of course, was interesting (and I really liked your alien blood!)

I was put off by the performances, at least the mission director (the woman). I had a hard time buying anything she said. The lead was okay. The rest of the cast was fine but had very little to do other than hold their guns. I will say that everyone had a good look for the part they were in... and seemed to be pretty competent when it came to gun handling.

The shooting style – the shot choice – was good, and I liked the nice little flares you added... for a while. After a bit it started to go all Star Trek – and I hated it in that movie, too. The overall tone of the images was a little flat, could have been pushed harder.

There's a lot that could be improved here, but I was engaged enough that I never felt the urge to shut it off. For a beginning filmmaker, this is not a bad start!

[chriscurl]

Hey man, so I finally got to it! (and I had a longer essay written but I hit the wrong button! and its late, I cant do it again!)

I was really curious after that other thread you started, the answer is still yes, you should have, by now everyone has covered the flaws, the ones you knew and probably a few you never realized so I will focus mainly on the good stuff, you have a good handle on the action stuff, I say next time run with that and make a badass action flick, maybe after you do that, then start covering some other ground. This concept might be a little much for a short, that is alot of exposition at the beginning, either get that backstory across visually or with a short scene or its gotta go. Good shot choices, and good use of a very cool location. Take all the really good stuff in it and combine that with all the advice available to you here and the potential is absolutely there to do really cool things.

And no more jokes about not having talent!

[Tim Joy]

Wow, super wide-screen.
I appreciate all the work that went into this.
I agree with most of what's been said.
There's some really nice shooting (camera work) and editing going on. It flows and is pretty action packed.
I think the script is a little weak, even for this genre.
Audiences have pretty high expectations for this kind of movie, and it takes a lo to live up to those standards. I'm sure it was a valuable learning experience and you made a good, complete piece that still has room for improvement.

[Nemesis TS]

KKeller - Why no music? I'm tone def??? No, JK, the clock ran out on us. Music was second to last in the workflow and it was either music or submit to the fest. Couldn't do both. So I submitted an incomplete film.

Doug - Thanks for checking it out. Another pass at the sound is exactly what we need. Nanook my sound guy is very good, but I didn't give him much time. He did a quick run and gun with the audio and sound effects. We will improve this. The flares were heavy in the hallway because some of those shots were done during the day and some at night, so I went heavy on the flares to mask that. It must have worked nobody said they noticed it was so dark in the hallway. Or maybe they are just trying not to nit pick. And, I loved the look of Star Trek, so we have a varying opinion on that one.

Chris - Thanks for checking it out. The feedback is not why I started the other thread. I am quite thankful for the comments. Some I think are holding back a bit and being nice. Even if my incomplete film was raved as the best film, it still bothers me to have turned it in. So the feedback had nothing to do with it. I don't like doing anything half assed. There is just too much invested in this not to show it, too many other people would be let down if I didn't so I did. Were it me and me alone, I don't submit. I almost feel like I wasted peoples time to put up a movie that is not finished. Thats all. The feedback and support has been great. I do wish that I had a disclaimer that said hey this film is not done the dumb ssa didn't get his score done and he gave the sound designer a day to get everything cleaned up.

Tim - Super Wide, like my house, oh wait that would be double wide. Actually someone said it was like 3.3 or something and that was just a miscalculation on my part. I was going for 2.35 because action movies should be WIDE screen. Just not this much. Thanks for checking it out and commenting. Valuable learning experiene? Id say invaluable, we learned so much. I made so many mistakes and it started with poor pre-production and just continued on. Nobody involved had more experience than I did. This was short film number two and they were a year apart, with nothing in between. I'm going to do more projects, so look for some improvements in the future.

[killacam]

I thought this was very fun and action-packed- I enjoyed it and was never bored, which is actually saying a lot after watching nearly 50 films. There were some technical issues but that maybe due to compression or camera issues. I liked the titles and the effects (muzzle flashes etc.). I did guess that the main character was the alien only because the guy shooting him was the one with the test results, although watching it a second time I did notice he did say "I've got your tests" more menacingly/sarcastically than I originally heard it. One thing though, why did he not know he was the mole/alien? How would the aliens be getting their intel? I did notice the last shot looked like it might be an overhead shot from the aliens observing but wasn't sure about that.

[Maximus]

Another ambitious short that succeeded on many levels. The VFX were pretty darn impressive for the most part. If you had more time, I'm sure this would have been amazing. Obviously not having any music hurt alot.

It's films like yours that inspire me to learn After Effects.

Look forward to your next film.

[Chris Messineo]

I also really like the opening title sequence a lot. It really helped establish the mood and tone.

What I liked most about this picture was the energy level, once the action began, it never let it up. It felt frenetic and it was exciting to watch. Also, the twist at the end was cool - it reminded me of "Blade Runner".

I also agree that a little music, could really add a lot here, but I understand you were under the gun (no pun intended) and I'm glad you got it into the fest in time.

[Marlon Ladd]

I enjoyed this film. I see potential here. I liked the opening sequence, though I thought it was just a tad too long in the explanation. I also really dug the extra wide screen! The acting was okay and I can definitely see more potential in the action side of the film. There are a few ways I think you can improve on the effects and the action (IMHO) though. I would say with simple editing, just use quicker cuts. Like with the chase scene - the shots of each individual running were too long. I think if you cut back and forth between the two faster it would play better and build tension. Start paying really close attention to action sequences in movies. They're like music videos. The shot changes every one to three seconds for the most part.

I think the muzzle flashes were fine, but get the loudest gunshots you can find and throw them in and on the part where they're shooting back and forth at the dumpsters, throw in some dust and spark hits to show the bullets ricocheting off the wall and such will really help put it over the top. Even if you don't do that, throw in some ricochet sounds. That's just my two cents.

I think this was a very ambitious film and very entertaining. I also liked the very last ariel shot. And for the record, I usually always see endings coming, because I'm a writer, but I didn't see this one.

Nice work.

[Matt Harris]

Nemesis, i'm another action guy like yourself and this worked overall for me very well.
Kudos if you are new to shorts, because you naturally know what you are doing. i can tell, from the dumpster shoot out, that you got it man. the edits and continuity are spot on.

a few critiques:

1. no need for the "pencil" aspect ratio as norm calls it. just mask it with a 2:35 or 16:9 and call it a day.

2. you have a lot of blown out highlights in the outdoor shots, so underexpose a bit when you are
outside and keep your highlights.

3. i like your poster a lot, but the main image of the guy is far to the right and the rest of the poster is balanced in the center so it was off to me, but overall good poster.

4. the credits and stuff at the begining were great! but a touch too long, you gotta get to the nuts and bolts a bit quicker.

5. at the begining when the guy is sitting at the monitors, in the future, try hand holding he camera or doing a dolly or something so its not so stagnant. just think "what would mikey bay do?" - just kidding.

6. obviously you enlarged your footy a lot because i see all sorts of pixelation in certain shots, like the last over head shot of the dead guy (great shot!). just be careful with this, if you start shooting with a 1080p camera this will be mostly avoided (i dont know what you shot on).

7. i liked your gun shots / muzzle flashes - good work.

8. i liked the story and didn't expect the main guy to be the mole, so you duped me.
(i'm also not very smart).

9. the acting, i really liked your lead, i thought the woman was over acting a bit but not bad

10. great lens flares. i am getting that new lens flare plug in that i assume you used, and i am gonna jj abrams them on everything so get ready lens flare haters!

i really liked this and just wanted to throw some advice your way for the next short you do. congrats!

[Nemesis TS]

One thing though, why did he not know he was the mole/alien? How would the aliens be getting their intel? I did notice the last shot looked like it might be an overhead shot from the aliens observing but wasn't sure about that.
Thanks for asking. The backstory is that these aliens have sleeper cell aliens living among us. They don't necessarily know they are aliens, however they are able to use them for surveillance unbeknownst to the person, or in this case the alien. The short of it is the aliens are superior in technology, they just don't have the resources to take on billions of humans at once. They plan to return to earth and enslave the humans as this is why they created us. They don't look like us, we actually look like them. The last shot was an artistic choice. Its a long steady move up and the end is the proper size, I kept shaving seconds off the end and fixing it and adjusting it and the last time I submitted what I had as time was running out. Lots of last minute fixes going on, and lots more needed.

[Nemesis TS]

It's films like yours that inspire me to learn After Effects.

Look forward to your next film.

Thanks for checking it out. I'v had after effects for a year and I love it... Lots of online tutorials, otherwise it would be like my Maya, just an icon at the bottom of my screen.

[Matt Harris]

aha, i didnt catch that, sort of a BSG / Cylon vibe then. When the main character realizes he's the alien mole, you should cut to some sort of a flashback - that would sell the twist better.

[Nemesis TS]

I also agree that a little music, could really add a lot here, but I understand you were under the gun (no pun intended) and I'm glad you got it into the fest in time.
Thanks for watching. No music sucks



I also really dug the extra wide screen!

I would say with simple editing, just use quicker cuts. Like with the chase scene - the shots of each individual running were too long. I think if you cut back and forth between the two faster it would play better and build tension. Start paying really close attention to action sequences in movies. They're like music videos. The shot changes every one to three seconds for the most part.

I think the muzzle flashes were fine, but get the loudest gunshots you can find and throw them in and on the part where they're shooting back and forth at the dumpsters, throw in some dust and spark hits to show the bullets ricocheting off the wall and such will really help put it over the top. Even if you don't do that, throw in some ricochet sounds. That's just my two cents.

I think this was a very ambitious film and very entertaining. I also liked the very last ariel shot. And for the record, I usually always see endings coming, because I'm a writer, but I didn't see this one.


Thanks for checking it out Marlon. The wide screen looks cool, but at 2.35. It was an accident that it came out so wide. I shot 16:9 1080 and changed my sequence to be 2.35 aspect. Then came all the crazy ways to get it under 60MB so I changed the aspect ratio a few times, make the image smaller, while maintaining 2.35 it didn't work and in the end the aspect size was wrong.

I'll try the tip on editing, nobody mentioned that yet. That's a good idea. Originally it was going to be cut much, much faster, because there was a larger part for the special ops guy and I wanted to show him racing to catch Jones. So we sort of shot a car chase too. I wanted to go back and forth between the running, the driving, and Babs (the female) super quick.

As far as the end, I think you're the only one that didn't see it coming.

Thanks man


Nemesis, i'm another action guy like yourself and this worked overall for me very well.
Kudos if you are new to shorts, because you naturally know what you are doing. i can tell, from the dumpster shoot out, that you got it man. the edits and continuity are spot on.

a few critiques:

1. no need for the "pencil" aspect ratio as norm calls it. just mask it with a 2:35 or 16:9 and call it a day.

2. you have a lot of blown out highlights in the outdoor shots, so underexpose a bit when you are
outside and keep your highlights.

3. i like your poster a lot, but the main image of the guy is far to the right and the rest of the poster is balanced in the center so it was off to me, but overall good poster.

4. the credits and stuff at the begining were great! but a touch too long, you gotta get to the nuts and bolts a bit quicker.

5. at the begining when the guy is sitting at the monitors, in the future, try hand holding he camera or doing a dolly or something so its not so stagnant. just think "what would mikey bay do?" - just kidding.

6. obviously you enlarged your footy a lot because i see all sorts of pixelation in certain shots, like the last over head shot of the dead guy (great shot!). just be careful with this, if you start shooting with a 1080p camera this will be mostly avoided (i dont know what you shot on).

7. i liked your gun shots / muzzle flashes - good work.

8. i liked the story and didn't expect the main guy to be the mole, so you duped me.
(i'm also not very smart).

9. the acting, i really liked your lead, i thought the woman was over acting a bit but not bad

10. great lens flares. i am getting that new lens flare plug in that i assume you used, and i am gonna jj abrams them on everything so get ready lens flare haters!

i really liked this and just wanted to throw some advice your way for the next short you do. congrats!
Thanks Defcon
1. Agreed it was actually an accident that it came out soooo thin.
2. Total inexperience with the gear and cloudy day combination. Really wrecked some of my shots.
3. Going for movement, trying to capture the feel of the movie.
4. 50 seconds. That is long, I just wasn't sure how to get the back story in there. A text plate that hold for 20 seconds wasn't going to cut it. Then again if I had those two days back I could have had my score finished... hmmm.
5. I knew that tracking would be a problem if I hand held and I wanted the monitors to look real.
6. The last scene is the only scene that I changed the scale. I wanted to fake a slow straight move up and away. But I cut it out and didn't change the scale due to time. There were some last minute shenanigans going on there.
7. Thanks
8. Me neither... I wrote it and I'm still surprised.
9. The woman is a great friend who acted in another short for me. She was really well received in the other one. She just wasn't able to get the character. I based the character on her, but she changed a lot in the last year and became a mommy and got soft. She use to be a kind of Murphy Brown and now she is settling into Molly Homemaker. But, its a great thing for her. Just not me and my movie
10. I'm not a "Trekkie" but Star Trek, best movie ever, because of JJ and the lens flare. I can't wait to see what you come up with using them. They are AWESOME, I need to clean them up in some spots. The key is to have them moving. Another guy has like one or two and people said they didn't like it, his didn't really move.

[Matt Harris]

which lens flare plugin was it? the one i think it is, i forget the name. but i dont have after effects
only fcp and motion, and it only came in AE. so i called my buddy graham who is a AE master and i said "buy this plugin NOW, and please add moving anamorphic lens flares to all my shorts asap!"

now, jj abrams, he actually filmed his flares in camera. not digitally. he even admits to going over board, but i don't care, i love them. you did a good job using them.

[Nemesis TS]

The plug-in is called Optical Flares from videocopilot dot net. It a good plug-in, very customizable, otherwise I would not have bought it.

[Matt Harris]

ight, thank you. good old videocopilot, i buy all there stuff and use it.

[Nemesis TS]

I like their stuff, but its too obvious when I see it so I shy away from using any sound effects, ink drops and splats etc. Especially sound effects, there isn't a way to mask a sound effect. I used an ink drop in this one as a smoke effect. I had to really speed it up and then it only flashes on the screen quickly and you can't tell that its moving. All the composites I tried to blend into the scene as much as possible to make them look real. A bunch of my composites you can't even see, they were too subtle.

[RodThompson]

I dug this one. Somewhat saw the end coming, but didn't think of the MOLE not realizing he was...well, the Mole.

I'm not going to nitpick, as I'm review this late enough that everyone else has chimed in.

Also...LOVE thr Optical Flares.

[Marlon Ladd]

Magic bullet has a look with those flares as well. I used it in my film "The End." Can't remember what it's called, but it's one of the looks. And in Star Trek JJ used lens flares from the camera, but they also added some digitally on the Enterprise. Those darn things are cool - I love 'em too!

[Nemesis TS]

Marion I didn't pick up on lens flares, I loved those off color transitions or effects, like when the guy sits down on the park bench. Is that what your talking about? Those were way cool. Now I have to go and watch it again. Damn I'm never gonna break my addiction to these forums and these movies.

Yeah JJ had guys shining lights at the camera and it turned out awesome, and they were really able to replicate the look digitally for the CGI stuff. JJ's flares were always coming and going which really caught my attention so I made sure that mine were always moving.

[Matt Harris]

also, theres a HORRIBLE movie (IMHO) called the general's daughter from, like, 1999 with John Travolta and it's a slick-looking Simon West movie that has tons of anamorphic lens flares. I loved lens flares from then on because they look organic and filmic. but now with star trek, the funny thing is, jj went so overboard with the lens flares that anyone who uses them now will be compared to star trek. i dont care personally, but jj now "owns" the look in a way.

[MrSeth]

My critique for MOLE
The story:
Opening titles was very cool. Loved how you didn't add any unnecessary music to create tension. It was already there and felt very real! Very creative at the end with the blood dripping out.

The acting:
Everyone was superb!

The camerawork:
Very cool - loved the shaky feel to it. The panning kind of threw me back - I would have used a dolly even if it was a chair. But overall it was very cool when the action started.

The editing:
Just right for an action-packed film. Good work

The sound and music:
No music but I liked it like that. Dialogue was crisp clean!

Overall impression:
Very professionally made - loved the extreme wide screen. Great choice of location!

My favorite shot:
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/7962/screenshot20100311at710.png

[Nemesis TS]

Thanks Mr. Seth, are you sure you watched my movie???? That is a screen grab from mole... hmm.

I'm glad you posted that screen shot it has my little easter egg.

[MSpencer]

I've read some of the other reviews and well like they said music would help... anything just something.. haha but i won't get into that.. well packed with action.. good effects.. and super widescreen haha.. i decided you should just make the whole film your banner for your signature. :)

Well done

[jasonthewho]

Glad to read that the ultra wide ratio was a mistake.

The opening credits were cool. Don't think you needed to keep "seek out and elimate..." up when "living among us as..." comes up.

The monitors in the background of the shot of the woman look really stretched.

"I've got the results." was a little too James Bond cheesy for me.

Nice action filming. Very excitingly shot.

You had some cool stunts, especially the roll down the hill into having that car fly by.

Really cool ending story wise. The very last shot is a cool idea, but obviously looks funky all pixelated. Reminds me of All the King's Men.

Would've like a score, personally.

Cool flick, I had a good time watching it.

[Nemesis TS]

Thanks for checking it out jason.. The last shot has a couple problems. Its horribly blown out so its bad to begin with. Its scaled way way up I think 180%. I wanted to create a slow move up and away form the character. It ends at regular scale and I wanted it to go slow so the credits would roll there. But, I cut it way down and in my haste to get it submitted I didn't correct the scale, which would have gone a long way.

I uploaded what I had at a certain point in the evening just to be safe, with the intention of getting the fixes done and re-upload. The re-upload didn't happen.

[John LaBonney]

I like fun action flicks and really enjoyed the shootout scenes.

This film screams out for music; a good score could work wonders for this picture.

I think that you could have tightened up the dialog in some places; it seemed a touch to explanatory and dragged on a bit.

I liked the ending, although I think you should have faded to black at the end.

Nice job!

John

[Matt Harris]

John, i agree with your comment about the lack of music / sound design but i have to give it to Nemesis for being original. NO COUNTRY i one of my favorite movies and it has no music and is still very effective. i ALMOST skipped score, because the lack of score sounds more realistic, but ultimately i added sound design and it added a ton. However, i can see why nemesis left the score out and i think it was a bold move. having said that, score might be a good thing to include on a director's cut. :)

[Chris_Keaton]

This was a nice step up from an average high school shoot'em up. Not sure anyone of the video phone shots were needed or added anything. But then again it can't be all running and shooting and there were a lot of running. I would've liked to have seen the story be a little tighter. Overall good job.

[Nemesis TS]

Thanks for watching.

[Chris_Marrs_Piliero]

yo dude, ok so for your first film... damn good job...chris keaton compared it to a high school shoot em up... are you right out of high school?

like mentioned... either a solid score or sound design woulda immensely helped (add a bunch more gun shot ricochets to your shoot out for one thing, but just overall it needs a kick in the ass)...

and while yes, the aspect ratio and the random scaled up shots need to be fixed, it's the acting that is the major flaw here... and no disrespect to your actors, but that's what hurt here... i knew i was looking at older people, but their performances felt like i was watching kids in high school...

and the location was not believable for the premise...

however, you as a director and filmmaker did a great job... granted, being a director includes being able to direct your actors, so their notsogreat performances partly lies in your hands, but i definitely feel like if you were given a better cast and a more believable location that your film woulda been pretty damn solid because the overall pacing and shots of your film was good stuff...

[Nemesis TS]

o dude, ok so for your first film... damn good job...chris keaton compared it to a high school shoot em up... are you right out of high school?

No I'm not in high school, I'm much older than that. This is our second 'attempt' at a short film. Thanks for the compliment.

it's the acting that is the major flaw here... and no disrespect to your actors, but that's what hurt here... i knew i was looking at older people, but their performances felt like i was watching kids in high school...

You had me upto "what hurt here..." But it IS disrespectful to say their performances felt like I was watching kids in high school. I'm curious, how is that? Were they studying geometry? Where they sitting in a class room, with those little desk/chairs? Were they dressed in hip trendy clothing, with a side ways turned baseball cap? Does the guy in my banner look like he is preparing for f-ing SATs?

No, but seriously,I invite honest, brutally honest criticism and critiques, but don't be douche to the actors. If the performance is weak, just say so... don't extrapolate on some idiotic idea that you stole from the previous poster to belittle my friends.

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. It is appreciated.

[Chris_Marrs_Piliero]

No I'm not in high school, I'm much older than that. This is our second 'attempt' at a short film. Thanks for the compliment.


You had me upto "what hurt here..." But it IS disrespectful to say their performances felt like I was watching kids in high school. I'm curious, how is that? Were they studying geometry? Where they sitting in a class room, with those little desk/chairs? Were they dressed in hip trendy clothing, with a side ways turned baseball cap? Does the guy in my banner look like he is preparing for f-ing SATs?

No, but seriously,I invite honest, brutally honest criticism and critiques, but don't be douche to the actors. If the performance is weak, just say so... don't extrapolate on some idiotic idea that you stole from the previous poster to belittle my friends.

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. It is appreciated.


To say that I'm being a "douche" because I said your actors performance "hurt" your film is kind of absurd. Their performance did in fact hurt your film because I thought you had a good concept that with better acting would have been a better film. Plain and simple.

I'm not looking to have an argument here but you questioned how their performance was "high school" and it resembled performances that I would see in movies made for high school. I don't think their acting skills match the potential of your filmmaking skills.

Sorry if that really bums you out, but seriously dude, to resort to calling me a douche for saying their acting hurt your film is beyond ridiculous. That's great n all that they are your friends, but nothing I said was belittling to them or idiotic... only your response to my comment is.

[Chris_Keaton]

Dude, chill. I never said you were in highschool I just said that it felt like a better version of a high school shoot 'em up film. Wait, I don't think that made it any better. But really the story seemed to be more about a shoot out than anything else. I always feel like shoot outs should be the flavor not the meat.

And I don't think Chris 'the banana' was saying your actors looked like high school actors, which doesn't mean high school kids can't act, but I think maybe you just got a little sensitive and lashed out.

As a second film great job!

[Nemesis TS]

To say that I'm being a "douche" because I said your actors performance "hurt" your film is kind of absurd. Their performance did in fact hurt your film because I thought you had a good concept that with better acting would have been a better film. Plain and simple.

I'm not looking to have an argument here but you questioned how their performance was "high school" and it resembled performances that I would see in movies made for high school. I don't think their acting skills match the potential of your filmmaking skills.

Sorry if that really bums you out, but seriously dude, to resort to calling me a douche for saying their acting hurt your film is beyond ridiculous. That's great n all that they are your friends, but nothing I said was belittling to them or idiotic... only your response to my comment is.

Chris - saying the acting hurt the film is legitimate. You are not the first to mention it, I'm not offended by those comments and they are true.

My response was to, "I knew I was looking at older people, but their performances felt like I was watching kids in high school." This is the exact comment that I thought was not a critique but blatantly disrespectful. And, if thats the case that would be a douche bag thing to do. However, you came back and explained what you meant. And for that I thank you. I did not call you a douche bag, I said "don't be a douche bag". And brother that to me is just good advice for anyone.

Taking the time to comment means a lot to me. I can use the feedback to get better, maybe even turn in a film that looks as professional as yours one day. For the record I don't get bummed, or mad, or any of that and I don't hold grudges. Thanks for commenting and coming back to clarify.

[Chris_Marrs_Piliero]

Chris - saying the acting hurt the film is legitimate. You are not the first to mention it, I'm not offended by those comments and they are true.

My response was to, "I knew I was looking at older people, but their performances felt like I was watching kids in high school." This is the exact comment that I thought was not a critique but blatantly disrespectful. And, if thats the case that would be a douche bag thing to do. However, you came back and explained what you meant. And for that I thank you. I did not call you a douche bag, I said "don't be a douche bag". And brother that to me is just good advice for anyone.

Taking the time to comment means a lot to me. I can use the feedback to get better, maybe even turn in a film that looks as professional as yours one day. For the record I don't get bummed, or mad, or any of that and I don't hold grudges. Thanks for commenting and coming back to clarify.


All good man... and I appreciate you responding back. Like I said from the start, I think you have some solid potential. And remember... hugs not drugs.

[ZazaCast]

Forgive if I repeat, but I haven't read your thread.

Good film and an enjoyable watch. This was a REAL wide one and I'd be interested to know why you went that direction? I liked the general concept of betrayal here but felt it could have been developed a bit more. Good job on the VFX too. All in all though, nice entry.

Now the stuff that jumped out to me. First off, I appreciated the DVXuser page on the guys monitor...but to have a post by Rodney up...that's just wrong on SO many levels! :happy:

The intro seemed long and without a bit of music I found myself wanting it to hurry-up and be over with. A score throughout would have really helped build tension in the film. All the gun shots sounded like the same sample...a variety and some ricochets make for more realism. Camera work in general was o.k., but the shaky handheld got to me by the end of the chase. (and I never saw that first guy get shot?) What was the blue line in the hallway shots...just flair? It was distracting to me.

Enough with the nitpicks...and that's all they are. Good job & congrats to cast and crew!

[Chris_Keaton]

And remember... hugs not drugs.

Damn it! I keep getting those mixed up, but yet the results are the same, hmmm.:engel017:

[Nemesis TS]

All good man... and I appreciate you responding back. Like I said from the start, I think you have some solid potential. And remember... hugs not drugs.

Cool, and thanks. It's too late for "not drugs". I had surgery two weeks ago and have been on a good dose of pain killers. But, hey I can do hugs too.



Forgive if I repeat, but I haven't read your thread.

Good film and an enjoyable watch. This was a REAL wide one and I'd be interested to know why you went that direction? I liked the general concept of betrayal here but felt it could have been developed a bit more. Good job on the VFX too. All in all though, nice entry.

Now the stuff that jumped out to me. First off, I appreciated the DVXuser page on the guys monitor...but to have a post by Rodney up...that's just wrong on SO many levels! :happy:

The intro seemed long and without a bit of music I found myself wanting it to hurry-up and be over with. A score throughout would have really helped build tension in the film. All the gun shots sounded like the same sample...a variety and some ricochets make for more realism. Camera work in general was o.k., but the shaky handheld got to me by the end of the chase. (and I never saw that first guy get shot?) What was the blue line in the hallway shots...just flair? It was distracting to me.

Enough with the nitpicks...and that's all they are. Good job & congrats to cast and crew!

Thanks for checking it out. The wide WIDE screen was a small mistake... or I guess thin mistake. I made a bunch of changes trying to get the movie under 60MB and changed the aspect ratio a few times to see if that would effect the the file size, it didn't and in my scramble to upload what I had the aspect ration was wrong. I was going for 2.35, which is part of the problem, as 16:9 would have been locked in regardless of W or H.

The DVX page was the first post I opened after deciding to enter the fest. The rule thread was second.

The hallway was shot during the day and night. The blue lens flare was to distract you from noticing that it was dark outside. I'll take this one as a win. Nobody has caught on to that yet. Plus, I loved the lens flares in star trek and wanted to emulate that to a certain extent.

And as far as the shakey hand held stuff... Maybe if I had one of those zaza sliders I could have added some much needed production value.




Damn it! I keep getting those mixed up, but yet the results are the same, hmmm.:engel017:
Hugs... Drugs... I'm on them all.

[Nemesis TS]

Dude, chill. I never said you were in highschool I just said that it felt like a better version of a high school shoot 'em up film. Wait, I don't think that made it any better. But really the story seemed to be more about a shoot out than anything else. I always feel like shoot outs should be the flavor not the meat.

And I don't think Chris 'the banana' was saying your actors looked like high school actors, which doesn't mean high school kids can't act, but I think maybe you just got a little sensitive and lashed out.

As a second film great job!

Sorry I missed this post some how. Its mainly been covered. But, I didn't have a problem with your original post. And, I'm not sensitive. If you knew me better you would understand my sense of humor and know I wasn't lashing out.

[Chris_Keaton]

Sorry I missed this post some how. Its mainly been covered. But, I didn't have a problem with your original post. And, I'm not sensitive. If you knew me better you would understand my sense of humor and know I wasn't lashing out.

No problem. It's often hard to read someones intent on message boards, so we're all good.