Interloper, a film by Temple Lee

[Waycrow]

Interloper
a film by Temple Lee


http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/picture.php?albumid=415&pictureid=2749
Written and Directed by Temple Lee
DP-Jacinto Blanco
Music by Allie Smith

[RodThompson]

SWEET!
Welcome to the feezy!

[Waycrow]

"reserved"

[Waycrow]

"Reserved"

[Waycrow]

reserved

[Rodney V. Smith]

welcome to the fest! good to see the latecomers. have you wrapped production yet?

[Waycrow]

No, but working on it.

[Rodney V. Smith]

well it's good to see new members. let us know what's going on with the production. We're a friendly bunch here and we'll all welcome you to the fest and to the site.

Take a look at the other films in the fest and you'll get an idea of the community here. We're all actually interested in what's going on production wise and we're all rooting for you to finish, so keep us updated!

[Waycrow]

Just got some music in the mail to work with. The collaborative art of film making! Can't wait to see the other films, too.

[ZazaCast]

Welcome to the fest & the community!

[Waycrow]

Final Cut Pro-It loves me; it loves me not; it loves me; it loves me not...

[Mike@AF]

Welcome! Nice to know I'm not the only one who was still in production last week. :thumbsup:

[Richard J. Johnson]

Loved the story. I the cuts to black kind of took me out of it a bit. But overall nice job.

[Bigmagic]

I liked the acting by the female lead, I thought she was great. I wish you would have had more time because so much is riding on her performance. She did a great job but I found myself wishing that she had someone to play against.(if that makes sense). Nice job.

[MrFluffy]

While your film was well put together I found the story a bit confusing. We had the Woman in the room, a Woman on the phone, but what was the doppleganger for?

Good Job.

[Mike@AF]

I liked the lighting, especially with the candle. Heather's acting was good. I was a bit confused by the story though, and not sure what was going on once the (doppelganger?) showed up.

[RodThompson]

Loved the use of low light. You pulled it off flawlessly. I know you're sitting at your computer thinking, "Oh my God!? How could you people NOT get it?" Lol...But I'm in the same boat. Your female lead was very strong, as well!

Kudos.

[Waycrow]

Want to talk about this very issue, but making myself wait until the fest. is over, maybe that's not the thing to do, don't know, first fest. Maybe I should talk about it now, but don't want to risk influencing the other viewer's experience of the thing. Love the responses though! This sort of fest. is so much fun, and so cool in so many ways.

[vnguyen972]

Great little film. The lighting looks cool too... great low light use as mentioned already. I was a bit confused on the story but maybe it was just me. When she first woke up and walked off the bed, he was still sleeping, then as she walked out, we saw him starting to lay down... I'm not sure what that was... Great job none the less!

[Mike@AF]

Want to talk about this very issue, but making myself wait until the fest. is over, maybe that's not the thing to do, don't know, first fest. Maybe I should talk about it now, but don't want to risk influencing the other viewer's experience of the thing. Love the responses though! This sort of fest. is so much fun, and so cool in so many ways.

I think you're safe talk about it. Most likely no one is going to read this far down until after they watch the film because spoilers can be expected in discussion of the films.

[mentatDUKE]

I like the ambiguity regarding which of the women was the actual interloper. I decided that the protagonist was the mistress and the woman on the voice mail was the actual wife.

I enjoyed this.

[Chris Messineo]

Great title. I like how much of this story you were able to tell without dialogue. I liked all the subtext and mystery of it all. I think it's kind of cool that everything isn't cut and dry.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Story: Complex story here, that's for sure. I liked the way you left some of it up to interpretation. Very different from most of the others.

Acting: The acting was fine for this piece. No really problems there.

Technical: Not too bad. A little muddy in the dark. More coverage would have been nice but I liked your camera movement early on.

Interesting film.

MAH

[John LaBonney]

I liked this story, I really feel her anguish and internal struggle as her thoughts bounce about with worry and fear. I really like her watching herself at peace with the guy, I totally get it.

My initial reaction at the end of the film was, "why end here?" There's a good part of a minute left, and I thought to myself, dang, what a lousy place to stop. I quickly realized that it was the perfect place to end. Well done!

I fear some may overlook this film amongst a strong field in this fest, just know I did like it quite a bit.

John

[MrSeth]

My critique for Interloper
The story:
Very good. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. Loved the subtle tone and great character development.

The acting:
The lead actress - her acting was AMAZING. I really felt for her in the last scene when he broke the phone.

The camerawork:
Really good - the colors at night looked pretty cool.

The editing:
Loved the pace. Very clever.

The sound and music:
The silence in this movie contributed a lot to the story. The song at the end fit in well.

Overall impression:
A+ in my book. A good story told well.

My favorite shot:
http://img690.imageshack.us/img690/4449/screenshot20100308at743.png

[Charli]

I'm afraid this is one of those films that the next day I had completely forgotten what the story was about. It might be the title, or just the overall storyline.

Not that this was a bad story it just didn't stay with me.

[ChrisHurn]

Nice work on this film. I loved your opening shot with the candle. Nice sound too, definitely helped bring the intimate feel.

I’m still not sure of the relevance of the reuse of the guy falling back into the bed shot, you used that twice if I remember correctly. The shot at 3:30 was interesting.
Sound was pretty good for the most part, especially in the beginning. One thing I noticed was the tracking shot at 1:25ish had a lot of rumble, sounded like shoes and she was in barefeet (I’m presuming it was the crew). Maybe a little post work on that could be been done on that.

Memorable Moment – For me it was the pan at the beginning, which was a good way to start the film, very warm feel. I liked that. A very cinematic moment.
Overall good job, this was an interesting short film. Congratulations.

[4100xpb]

Thanks for putting this into the fest. I really liked your idea of using the doppelganger – I think that is a neat way to bring a normally internal, unseen conflict into view for the audience.

My main issue with this film is the pacing – it proceeds too slowly. A way to speed it up might have been to play the first message overtop of Vicki wandering around the house looking at the things she did. However, I believe most of that was unnecessary. The Man did a good job of showing his disinterest in Vicki, so not much was needed to emphasize that.

I liked the filter effect you were going for on the answering machine, but it was a little heavy, making it difficult to understand. Also, there was a fairly constant hiss in the background.

The doppelganger effect was very well done, and was a really great way to show the conflict in Vicki. I would have liked for you to run with that some more, externalizing Vicki’s internal conflict until it comes to a head at some point. Pick up the speed a little bit, you’ve only got 6 minutes, and I think this could really be something. Thanks again!

[Ben Sliker]

The pacing was a little slow on this one for me, but I'm always intrigued by characters who would rather spend their life in denial or self-destruction rather than confronting their problem. I think we all do this at some point, so it's easy to either chastise or sympathize with your lead character. Very relate-able. It was frustrating (in a good way) to not have resolution at the end of this, she may have been betrayed, but she's also betraying herself.

Your camera work was very smooth as well. Thanks for sharing!

[Waycrow]

The pacing was a little slow on this one for me, but I'm always intrigued by characters who would rather spend their life in denial or self-destruction rather than confronting their problem. I think we all do this at some point, so it's easy to either chastise or sympathize with your lead character. Very relate-able. It was frustrating (in a good way) to not have resolution at the end of this, she may have been betrayed, but she's also betraying herself.

Your camera work was very smooth as well. Thanks for sharing!


That was maybe the main thing I wanted to get that across, that she was betraying herself, her own self-interest, her own romantic life and love life. Yea, little light acting job, that. :-)

Love the responses, good and otherwise! A fest. like this is so cool and informative. And fun!!

[Tunnelmen]

It's so hard to review this late in the game because everything has usually been said. I usually don't go for anthing shot in a house because they are usually terrible locations. I really like though. Did I see her step down from the bed? Like it was on a riser? Also the built in book shelf...so on. I was really into the story about two thirds of the way through and then I felt it lag, but it ended well. I would have love to see a push in on the phone during he message.......I'm really just grasping for criticism straws though....I really liked your story and thought you did a fantastic job going no dialog for a while....Good Film!

[hoz]

congrats on your film!

i think your lead did a solid job with her role. i thought your story was cool since it took on an internal struggle and laid it out there for all to see.

i like how you used different actions to show us her struggle without any dialogue.

[jasonthewho]

Very interesting film, thought provoking.

I actually didn't mind the pacing, I felt it seemed deliberate without boring me. Seemed almost like they were caught in some endless night.

Acting from the lead actress was very good.

The doppleganger was very cool. Seems like something Woody Allen would do.

Nice visual storytelling.

Interesting first shot with the guy falling backwards at the very beginning. But I didn't care for it being shown again. Felt like it was covering up what would have been a bad edit.

The jump cut to post orgasm with the candle blurring confused me on first viewing. Maybe a sound cue accompanying it would help.

The end was a little abrupt, felt like the story had further to go.

You seem like a filmmaker with a very clear style. I like it. Look forward to your next one.

[Waycrow]

Very interesting film, thought provoking.

I actually didn't mind the pacing, I felt it seemed deliberate without boring me. Seemed almost like they were caught in some endless night.

Acting from the lead actress was very good.

The doppleganger was very cool. Seems like something Woody Allen would do.

Nice visual storytelling.

Interesting first shot with the guy falling backwards at the very beginning. But I didn't care for it being shown again. Felt like it was covering up what would have been a bad edit.

The jump cut to post orgasm with the candle blurring confused me on first viewing. Maybe a sound cue accompanying it would help.

The end was a little abrupt, felt like the story had further to go.

You seem like a filmmaker with a very clear style. I like it. Look forward to your next one.

Yep, the falling back guy was just one of a bejillion compromises. It was intended to be a lusty echo memory Vickie has, and I could have done that clearer with better lighting, a push in to Vickie's face, or some other way. I wanted it to be the first indication that this is a woman's story, and deals with her thoughts.

That kind of stuff works on me, but, it's way not for everyone. I'm destined to be a niche film maker/storyteller and have come to terms with that. My favorite scene in Return of the Jedi is the held shot of Darth Vader right after he turns Luke over to the guards in that hallway on the planet Endor. And that was just a shot of some dude wearing a Darth Vader mask! But, worked on me. :-)

Now, about the ending. I know some people don't care for it, and I got smacked by one woman, who was kind enough to test the short, because of it. I stand by it, but I really understand why some people don't like it, or this style of at first blush unfinished storytelling.

Love the comments and this Film Festival!!!

[Chris_Marrs_Piliero]

at first i didn't like the ending, but then now maybe i'm cool with it... i dunno! i would have liked to have seen more doppelganger struggle... and i really like the idea of not knowing if she's being cheated on or if she's doing the cheating, but in all honesty I didn't realize that till i read someone's comment and then i rewatched it... someone mentioned maybe it was his wife leaving the voicemail, but i don't see how that's possible, why would his life be leaving him a voicemail on a home answering machine??? granted it could be a girlfriend on the voicemail, but the way she was talking sounded more mistressy to me... but yeah, great premise for fest... i do like the uncertainty of it, but feel like it's missing something... and my brain is too dumb right now to know what...

[Waycrow]

at first i didn't like the ending, but then now maybe i'm cool with it... i dunno! i would have liked to have seen more doppelganger struggle... and i really like the idea of not knowing if she's being cheated on or if she's doing the cheating, but in all honesty I didn't realize that till i read someone's comment and then i rewatched it... someone mentioned maybe it was his wife leaving the voicemail, but i don't see how that's possible, why would his life be leaving him a voicemail on a home answering machine??? granted it could be a girlfriend on the voicemail, but the way she was talking sounded more mistressy to me... but yeah, great premise for fest... i do like the uncertainty of it, but feel like it's missing something... and my brain is too dumb right now to know what...

I think one thing that infuriates people about the ending is that it lacks closure, and that ah feeling when things are resolved. Some feel it's a sin not to have closure and hold fast the idea that if there's more story to go, there's more film to go and I get that. (And I'm not talking about endings set up for sequels.)

Anyway, closure may not be what you're talking about at all, but some have been very frustrated by that. But, next one will have a lot more of closure. :-)

[ZazaCast]

Interesting film with solid acting all around. I'm sure by now you have some ideas on how to improve, so I won't rehash.

This was a great effort... keep making films!

[Noel Evans]

Well done on the female character. She got to me more in a very strong way - utterly frustrating to watch - but in a character sense not the usual way. I liked how you paced it. Let me feel the ugly moments.

Overall image was a touch dark IMO, just an opinion.

Well done.

[Aaron Marshall]

Hey, good job guys. You took a situation and put a magnifying glass on it. The woman just wanted to be loved, and she found her love but it was threatened. She tried to be cool with it but the other woman just kept calling. All of these thoughts raced through her head of "what could be happening" behind her back. She portrayed that well. I felt for her.