The Wallet

[Mike Manning]

... BME Films (http://beginningmiddleend.com) is in!


"The Wallet"
(IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1779091/))

http://beginningmiddleend.com/wallet/images/poster_stevens_sm.jpg http://beginningmiddleend.com/wallet/images/poster_vince_sm.jpg

CREW

Sebastian Stenhøj (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3257338/)
Producer / Director / Writer

Wesley Barker (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0055007/)
Producer / Asst. Director

Dane Naimy (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3189758/)
Producer / Editor

Mike Manning (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2420710/)
Producer / DP / VFX Artist

Ben Crippin Taylor (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3580851/) & Daniel Walter (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3468082/)
Composers

Jorge Montijo (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1647799/)
Sound Designer / Sound Mixer


CAST

Vincent Mentry
White Man

Stevens Gaston (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3083465/)
Black Man

[Mike Manning]

So I don't really need to reserve a bunch of posts, as this isn't a huge production like "A Work of Art" was. But I suppose I'll use this post as a production journal of sorts. So here it goes...


PRODUCTION JOURNAL

09/07
Location is locked, sort of. We're shooting super guerrilla-style in a parking garage, so pending forceful removal by police, we should be good! Haha! As far as sharing specifics about the film, I think this time around I'm a little more interested in concealing the specifics of the film rather than sharing every detail and spoiling it. The film is super short (3 pages) and it packs a lot of punch, and I think a lot of that 'punch' will come from its mysteriousness. So don't expect screen grabs or a synopsis or anything that will reveal more than what I've given you in the first post (save for a one sheet, which I'll post after we've shot the film).

09/08
Production is set for this Saturday night. Crew is going to consist of just Sebastian, Dane, Wes and myself and we're packing light. The only gear we're bringing are some LED lights, used to light the interior of a car. The shoot shouldn't last more than a few hours, so we can get in and get out without attracting any attention.

09/11
Shooting tonight!

09/12
Shoot last night went great! Though we didn't finish so we're probably going back to the location tonight to pick up the rest of what we missed. Should be a great little short once all is said and done!

09/13
We just wrapped. It's definitely been a long weekend. We shot 6 hours last night, 3 hours tonight, and in between, I worked on a completely different shoot all day today for a friend of mine. Then tomorrow it's back to work at Sony on The Green Hornet. Sleep? Who needs it...

09/16
Screen grab and lighting info HERE
http://beginningmiddleend.com/wallet/images/screen_01.jpg (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=2106019&postcount=10)

09/19
We just reviewed Dane's first cut of the film. Looking real good so far! He's gonna tighten up the cut per our notes this week and by our next review, we should know whether or not we have to return to the location to get some pickups.

09/26
We reviewed the 2nd cut today and the film is really shaping up. Dane and Sebastian have been working hard on it the last week and it definitely shows. They handed it off to me today to do some rough sound work and a temp music track and, pending everyone's approval, we'll hand that off to a couple potential composers. We also decided that re-shoots would NOT be necessary, which is a relief. Do not know when I would have found time to organize that... haha!

09/28
Some sad news today... Film Editor Sally Menke (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0579673/) was found dead yesterday in the Hollywood hills. Best known for her work with Quentin Tarantino, I had the pleasure of working with her on The Green Hornet for a few months. She was a rockstar in post production and it was just so cool being in her presence. She will be missed..

09/30
Hey guys! So we've locked in our composers Ben Crippin Taylor (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3580851/) and returning champ, Danny Walter (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3468082/). This is our first time working with Ben and we're really excited. He's a very talented composer. Check out some samples of his work HERE (http://www.bencrippintaylor.com/). Our goal is to turnover picture-lock to them on Sunday, so Sebastian and I are getting together at Dane's tonight for a final editing session. Should be good times, this movie's been a blast!

10/05
So we're picture locked! We met with the composers on Sunday and had a great session. Ben and Danny are both super talented guys and they brought some great ideas to the table that I'm super excited to see fleshed out. Our total running time is 5:23 (including credits and leader), which I'm also really happy about. The story is super simple and making a short this tightly constructed is a nice change of pace compared to some of the stuff we've been working on recently. I can't wait for you all to see it!

10/07
Wes and I did some foley work today at Sony Studios after work. At first I was having technical issues getting my stupid mBox to work, but once I got it up and running it was actually kind of fun! We got all kinds of sound effects inside the parking garage. It was definitely a necessity since we hardly recorded any clean audio on set. This is because we were shooting guerrilla and had to stay as mobile as possible in case security showed up. So yeah, I'd say about 75% of the movie will be ADR and foley work. Though if we do our jobs right, you shouldn't notice! :)

10/08
We just locked in professional sound editor Jorge Montijo (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1647799/) to do our sound design and 5.1 mix! Really excited to see what he comes up with!

10/12
Color correction and visual effects have been completed. All that's left is the score and final mix-down.

10/14
Just heard a first pass at the score. It's EPIC.

[AmyO]

Welcome to the fest, Mike!

[Mike Manning]

Off topic, but we just launched our short film "To Live and Dine in L.A." starring David Hasselhoff.

Watch it here: http://beginningmiddleend.com/premier/

[Mike Manning]

Shooting tonight!

[Mike Manning]

Poster added. blog updated

[ZazaCast]

Great Poster! Looking forward to another killer film from you guys.
Welcome back...

[Derkoi]

Nice posters!! Good luck!!

[Mike Manning]

Thanks guys!

We just wrapped. It's definitely been a long weekend. We shot 6 hours last night, 3 hours tonight, and in between, I worked on a completely different shoot all day today for a friend of mine. Then tomorrow it's back to work at Sony on The Green Hornet. Sleep? Who needs it...

[Mike Manning]

Hey guys!

While we're going to keep the all narrative aspects of the story a secret, I would like to share a little about the production itself. Seeing as this is a forum about film making, I might as well shed some insight into the process of making this film.

Since the production was a guerrilla shoot, there were very obvious compromises that had to be made aesthetically. We had to pack light and keep our numbers small in case security did a sweep of the garage (and they did).

Though most of the lighting came from the parking structure itself, the film is largely lit by a set of LED's that we borrowed from the Best Boy on The Green Hornet - a very cool guy by the name of James McClure (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0565998/).

This is what the lights look like:
http://beginningmiddleend.com/wallet/images/led_set.jpg

The lights in that picture are set to 10% right now using this dimmer:
http://beginningmiddleend.com/wallet/images/led_dimmer.jpg

So you can imagine how bright they get when they're at full blast!

Typically, lights like this are used to light the interior of a car at night. For example, these exact lights were used in this shot from The Green Hornet:
http://beginningmiddleend.com/wallet/images/led_hornet.jpg

Here's a still from one of our outtakes where you can see the lights in action. (That's Sebastian giving our lead direction)
http://beginningmiddleend.com/wallet/images/screen_01.jpg

Aside from your standard Edison outlet, the lights can be powered from the car lighter and we used Velcro to stick them on above the windshield. Luckily for us, the parking garage we shot in had working outlets available that we used to light some of the darker areas by the stairwell. And because the LED's are so tiny, it was very discreet and easy to hide. Unfortunately I didn't get any pics of those set ups.

[Derkoi]

Cool. Looking forward to seeing what you've got. :)

[Mike Manning]

Cool. Looking forward to seeing what you've got. :)

Thanks!

[Mike Manning]

Production Journal (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=2097577&postcount=2) updated.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Just realized I forgot to post in this one!

Always enjoy your work. Liking the look of this one. Nice to hear that the shooting has wrapped, minus pickups.

MAH

[Mike Manning]

Thanks Mike! We're seeing the second cut on Sunday and we'll know then whether or not we need pick-ups. Hopefully not :)

Are you gonna get in on this fest?

[Darkline]

Go mike.

Ive got my cheerleading outfit on and everything... (tho that has nothing to do with this thread).

[Darkline]

Cool. Looking forward to seeing what you've got. :)

.... and you thought 'extend' was rude.

[Mike Manning]

Yeah, my thread's pretty dirty.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Thanks Mike! We're seeing the second cut on Sunday and we'll know then whether or not we need pick-ups. Hopefully not :)

Are you gonna get in on this fest?
Let us know how the viewing of the second cut went.

I won't be entering. I told myself that last fest was it for me. I want to try and focus on a feature after one or two lengthier short films.

MAH

[Mike Manning]

Let us know how the viewing of the second cut went.

I won't be entering. I told myself that last fest was it for me. I want to try and focus on a feature after one or two lengthier short films.

MAH

Sorry to hear that Mike, but definitely looking forward to whatever you got coming next!

And the 2nd cut came out pretty good. Updated the Production blog (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=2097577&postcount=2)....

[Richard J. Johnson]

I like your work as well. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

[Mike Manning]

Thanks Richard!

Some sad news today... Film Editor Sally Menke (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0579673/) was found dead yesterday in the Hollywood hills. Best known for her work with Quentin Tarantino, I had the pleasure of working with her on The Green Hornet for a few months. She was a rockstar in post production and it was just so cool being in her presence. She will be missed..

Ts9_5331qOk

[Mike Manning]

Production blog updated! (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=2097577&postcount=2)

[Mike Manning]

Production Blog updated.... (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=2097577&postcount=2)

10/05
So we're picture locked! We met with the composers on Sunday and had a great session. Ben and Danny are both super talented guys and they brought some great ideas to the table that I'm super excited to see fleshed out. Our total running time is 5:23 (including credits and leader), which I'm also really happy about. The story is super simple and making a short this tightly constructed is a nice change of pace compared to some of the stuff we've been working on recently. I can't wait for you all to see it!

[AmyO]

Congrats on picture lock. :)

[Mike Manning]

Blog updated... (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=2097577&postcount=2)

10/07
Wes and I did some foley work today at Sony Studios after work. At first I was having technical issues getting my stupid mBox to work, but once I got it up and running it was actually kind of fun! We got all kinds of sound effects inside the parking garage. It was definitely a necessity since we hardly recorded any clean audio on set. This is because we were shooting guerrilla and had to stay as mobile as possible in case security showed up. So yeah, I'd say about 75% of the movie will be ADR and foley work. Though if we do our jobs right, you shouldn't notice! :)

[Mike Manning]

10/08
We just locked in professional sound editor Jorge Montijo (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1647799/) to do our sound design and 5.1 mix! Really excited to see what he comes up with!

[Jaime V]

Can't wait to see it. Good luck man.

[Mike Manning]

Thanks!

[Elton]

You shot guerrilla with a Panavision camera? JK, guess you can't get one of those like you had for To Live and Dine. Enjoyed that film.

Good luck with the final post work. Sounds like you've got your bases well-covered.

[Mike Manning]

Ha, that would have been sweet! Thanks for watching To Live and Dine!

Blog update....

10/12
Color correction and visual effects have been completed. All that's left is the score and final mix-down.

[Darkline]

Cool, so you're defo in! Well done.

lookin forward to it Mike

[Mike Manning]

Just heard a first pass at the score. It's EPIC.

[ZazaCast]

Sweet! Looking forward to the film.

[Mike Manning]

Just heard the final score...

Wow.

[Derkoi]

Looking forward to this. Damn, my entries are in for some stiff competition! :)

[Mike Manning]

Looking forward to this. Damn, my entries are in for some stiff competition! :)

Thanks man!

So final mix with music is complete. Dane's delivering a drive to me tonight with the full-res export. I should have the h264 ready for upload either tonight or tomorrow.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Good stuff! Can't wait to check it out.

MAH

[Mike Manning]

Uploaded!

[Noel Evans]

Digging your poster/s Mike. Good luck!

[Mike Manning]

Digging your poster/s Mike. Good luck!

Did you see the one I uploaded with my submission? It's literally a mix of the two at the top of my thread. :)

[Chris_Keaton]

Ok, I'm here.

I look forward to checking this one out.

[Darkline]

Well done Mike, this is one that Im really looking forward to.

[Mike Manning]

Well done Mike, this is one that Im really looking forward to.

Thanks! You know, I still have Broadcast in my Apple TV collection! Haha check it out below...

http://beginningmiddleend.com/wallet/images/itunes.jpg

Oh.. and there's MAH's TwilightFest entry at the bottom as well!

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Thanks, Mike. Happy to be a part of that list. :)
That was such a fun fest.

MAH

[Sebastian Stenhøj]

Broadcast was an sensational film- crazy good. Ummm....broken flowers, mike? I haven't been able to get passed the first 30 minutes, maybe I need to start watching it earlier in the night.

[Sebastian Stenhøj]

Gotta love shorts! I don't think I've hit 'reload' this many times on my browser before :)

[Darkline]

LOL. That's funny. I actually really liked Broken Flowers even tho Im not a big Jarmusch fan in general. I need to know why you have boondock saints tho! I'm assuming it's for fun only ;-) Poor Troy, blacklisted!

Have you seen American Movie? I f'kin love that film!

btw you have the old Broadcast poster, not as menacing as the new one. :-) (oh and the 6 min version. the final one was 8 mins - I think better paced).

Oh Sebastian, Live and Let Dine was good fun and I think you two are gonna rock it here. There may not be a torrent of films in this fest but I think/hope the quality will be. Im much more excited now than I would have been as exhibition. GL to all.

[Mike Manning]

What? Why are you exhibition??

[Darkline]

no. I was going to be exhibition, I was being stubborn with my cica 10 min edit. But then I thought it'd be much more fun to be in competition and so chopped it to 6. I did the same with broadcast. So I think Im saying Im in (pending approval).

[Mike Manning]

And I haven't seen Broken Flowers. Or The Bondick Saints. I plan to... At some point in my life. Haha!

[Darkline]

Why no grabs? And before you ask me, I asked first!

[Mike Manning]

Ah... I see. Did the same with "AWork of Art." I remember seeing the longer version of Broadcast, don't know why I don't have it though. Can you give me a link to where I can download it? And the new poster too!

[Darkline]

I couldn't watch Boondock.. :-/ I think Troys dungarees, even offscreen, were putting me off.

www.darklineonline.co.uk/broadcast.html

Just little things about the 6 min version annoy me - like I had to speed up the final shot by 200% on the timeline to get it into 6 mins....lol bugged me everytime I watched it.

[Mike Manning]

Yeah, the pacing in AWOA was all effed up because of the 6 mins thing as well.

Haven't posted grabs because we don't want to spoil the film :)

Thanks for the link!

[Darkline]

same here. Any grabs would kinda give away my erm.... locations..

Back shortly, I have an urgency...

[Mike Manning]

Hey guys, if you wouldn't mind holding off on watching our film... It seems as though the audio on our video was converted to a compressed mono version when it was packaged in an MP4 by DVXUser. I contacted the mods to have them fix this asap, so I would prefer the version that's up be ignored until I give the word.

Jorge Montijo (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1647799/), our sound designer, went above and beyond what we had hoped for when he offered to mix our film and I would hate for this copy to be how his work is represented.

Thanks!
-M

UPDATE:

Audio's fixed. Ignore this post!

[Richard J. Johnson]

Love the Black and White. Nice twist on the ending too. I connected with him and the first picture he looks at really brings it together for me. nice job.

[Mike Manning]

Love the Black and White. Nice twist on the ending too. I connected with him and the first picture he looks at really brings it together for me. nice job.

Thanks man!

Larry fixed the audio on the film, so please feel free to watch it now. Haha!

[Richard J. Johnson]

Thanks man!

Larry fixed the audio on the film, so please feel free to watch it now. Haha!

What was wrong with it before?:Drogar-Shock(DBG):

[Mike Manning]

When DVXUser converted it to an MP4 for the site, the audio got overly compressed. Larry fixed it now, so it's all goooood!

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Loved it! I have to say, I guessed it when he started chasing him but you made me doubt myself a little. I won't give away details but you probably know when.
Very well put together. Editing, sound, cinematography, all top notch. Going to watch it again soon for a fresh look since I was trying to figure things out too much the first go around.

There are some really good entries this Fest. This is going to be tough.
BTW, great actors as well. Very natural, 100% believable.

Nice work.

[kurtmo]

Awesome. Liked the story and the twist. Guessed it, but wasn't 100% sure. nice acting. Very nice acting and good cinematography. I don't usually like handheld, but this one fit. One of my favorites.

[Noel Evans]

When DVXUser converted it to an MP4 for the site, the audio got overly compressed. Larry fixed it now, so it's all goooood!

I have the same issue Mike. Hoping it can be fixed soon. Mine sounds like pooh.

So to your entry.

Like others, I predicted the outcome early, but it only served me to watch more intensely to see if I was right. I think in part, that was also because the character set up was very clear and you could get into his state of mind.

Everything was clean, shots, sound etc. But Id expect that level of quality from you. Nice.

[Chris_Keaton]

WOW. That's all I got to say. I loved it. I really want to see what happens next, what this guys does next would define him more than the situation we just saw. This film got me thinking, so that is a plus. Really good job, one of my favorites so far.

[lawriejaffa]

Yep I enjoyed this film too, the fact that the character had been fired - setting up an effective theme of loss - before he suspects losing his wallet - and even playing a little hint of crash-esque race, all adding to the characters untrue suspicions only to be proven hilariously ironic. Excellent and clever little film - well shot and produced. Good work mon amie :)

[Mike Manning]

Thanks for the kind words everyone!

[kurtmo]

And he thought he was hosed when he'd only lost his job...

[Charli]

You could have gone several different tangents with this. The wallet at the end could have been his boss's wallet. Being the guy's wallet was also another tangent. I LOVE chase scenes. One of the favorite things to do on short and feature writings. It builds suspense. That's what you did. I feel it more a suspense flick than a thriller, but still good job in capturing the "not knowing" and making us want to know.

[Darkline]

Mike

I really liked this short. It's paced perfectly, acted well, and the story has a twist that was more emotional than sensational. So it felt very true. I'm such a big fan of simple but effective shorts and this was one that was never showy, and because of that it grounds itself in an engaging realism that few other films do.

I did also guess the end, but ,I was leaning in to see if I was right not sat back knowing I was right, and I think thats a really important difference. Also the sight of him pulling out the man's family is a humorous extra touch which brings the films meaning into light at the right moment. I think this is why you dont care if you saw the ending coming because you don't see the theme/connection until the last seconds.

Everything was done really well, editing, sound, direction, acting. It may not be the most flamboyant, but it's one of the most accomplished here.

[Susanne G.]

This was a film with a high production qualty and the main actor played very good and was convincing. I like the story too, even I believe that his backround (probably his wife left him!) created at the beginning of the short wasn't necessary for the story. Unfortunately already after half of the film length I could see the end and so there wasn't really a surprise and I lost a bit the attention. However - good work and enjoyable. Much luck!

Susanne

[Rodney V. Smith]

Nicely shot film Mike, very dramatic and carried us all the way through to the inevitable conclusion... but it wasn't really a thriller. I was still able to enjoy the film since I didn;t go in with any expectations and went along for the ride. You have some great shots in there and your storytelling is solid as always. Glad to see you made it back to us after being away so long.

[Chris_Keaton]

Doesn't suspense = thriller? :)

[Mike Manning]

Nicely shot film Mike, very dramatic and carried us all the way through to the inevitable conclusion... but it wasn't really a thriller. I was still able to enjoy the film since I didn;t go in with any expectations and went along for the ride. You have some great shots in there and your storytelling is solid as always. Glad to see you made it back to us after being away so long.

Thanks Rodney. Though I'm not sure why you would say it isn't a thriller. It's definitely more thrilling than some of the other entries. :)

[Rodney V. Smith]

Thanks Rodney. Though I'm not sure why you would say it isn't a thriller. It's definitely more thrilling than some of the other entries. :)

Well that certainly is a good point. I dunno, maybe it just felt too dramatic. Yeah we had the chase sequence but that was more reminiscent of action than thriller. Maybe if we felt that the protaganist was in some mortal danger on top of everything else, it would have raised the stake in my mind to make it more of a thriller. It's a damn good movie, definitely way up there in terms of production, quality and story-telling.. but that whiff of danger would have knocked it out of the park.

[Matt Harris]

I liked this a lot, really good job Mike. The black and white was really nicely graded, especially for tough lighting situations like a parking garage!
Can you explain your process in grading the b&w?

[Charli]

Keaton - in my interpretation of a thriller I usually associate it with impending doom. This short followed the guidelines of suspense and entertainment, but I felt no harm nor foul to come, therefore the "thrill" did not reach an optimum level.

[Chris_Keaton]

Ah, Charli, that shows you must have some faith in humanity. I could see this going all kinds of ways wrong. That's what made it thrilling to me. I knew he left his wallet in the car and now because of his high emotional state he was liable to do anything because of that mistake. So that makes this a thriller in my book.

[Charli]

Sounds good, Keaton.

[Mike Manning]

I liked this a lot, really good job Mike. The black and white was really nicely graded, especially for tough lighting situations like a parking garage!
Can you explain your process in grading the b&w?

We shot black and white using the monochromatic color space on the 7D. Then, using the Avid Nitrus, we color graded each shot by assigning the appropriate Blacks, Whites, and Mids.

[lawriejaffa]

Yep sounds good Mike

[stinkpot]

This one oozes "cool". Great job!

[Mike Manning]

Thanks! I gotta say that a lot of that oozing coolness comes from the score. Danny and Ben are giving Daft Punk a run for their money with Tron! Haha

[elsmama]

Really nice film! Has Stevens Gaston been in anything else I would have seen? He looks awfully familiar...

Anyway, aside from the predictability of the story, this one ranks high for me. Beautiful score and scene sense.:happy:

[Mike Manning]

Really nice film! Has Stevens Gaston been in anything else I would have seen? He looks awfully familiar...

Anyway, aside from the predictability of the story, this one ranks high for me. Beautiful score and scene sense.:happy:

Thanks! You might have seen Stevens before... http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3083465/

[2062ad]

very very cool. didn't see that happening with the real wallet on the seat. This is just very cool. The music was dated a bit tho....sorta maybe ;)

[Darkline]

Really? I loved the music on this. But I'm a big fan of a more electronic sound, its nice to hear because the obvious thing to do would have been guitar rock or something generic.

[Mike Manning]

very very cool. didn't see that happening with the real wallet on the seat. This is just very cool. The music was dated a bit tho....sorta maybe ;)

Thanks! Do you mean we "dated" the music to 2010? Can't think of anything more current than music inspired by Tron Legacy - a movie that has yet to be released :)

[Mike Manning]

It's off topic, but I wanted to share this little bit of press we got with To Live and Dine...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3roZExgDm1o

[Darkline]

:-) Excellent news. Watch those hits go up now! I'm jealous...

[Noel Evans]

It's off topic, but I wanted to share this little bit of press we got with To Live and Dine...


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3roZExgDm1o

Great stuff Mike.

[tomten3000]

This was fun and shot beautifully. The acting was the best part, imho. Two great actors. And though I kinda saw the twist coming, I still liked it. A lot of subtext at work there that works well. No real criticism, but for some reason, the end came off a bit comic, when the rest of the film was pretty serious. And I mean comic in a good way, not silly. Don't know if that was intentional, but could have been just the mood I was in when I saw it, too.

[Mike Manning]

This was fun and shot beautifully. The acting was the best part, imho. Two great actors. And though I kinda saw the twist coming, I still liked it. A lot of subtext at work there that works well. No real criticism, but for some reason, the end came off a bit comic, when the rest of the film was pretty serious. And I mean comic in a good way, not silly. Don't know if that was intentional, but could have been just the mood I was in when I saw it, too.

Thanks!

The end is definitely a comedic moment. Not necessarily laugh-out-loud, but it's a moment of pure dramatic irony that should make you smile. Sounds like it did it's job... :)

[MrKilloran]

Doesn't suspense = thriller? :)


Last time I checked that is one of the many interpretations of what creates a thriller :grin:

Hey Mike, I liked the short. It begins quietly paced and well planned out to create this sense of tension and I loved it for that. Wasn't sure where it was going and parking garages are creepy, especially in the voyeuristic way you chose to shoot the lead walking through it. When the chase goes down It sort of ramps up the action and loses a lot of the tension but at the same time I was thinking this wouldn't end well for our lead.

The reversal at the end worked like gang-busters though, creating a nice comment on assumptions we have of people by appearance. I enjoyed it. Well done.

[ZazaCast]

Love me or hate me, but here goes.... I wasn't thrilled. Being a fan of your past work, I was expecting much more. From the second he throws his wallet into the front seat of the car, I knew the story. A different title would have helped. What followed was a "cloverfieldish" chase scene that left my head spinning and eyes trying to focus. (can you tell I REALLY hated Cloverfield...only movie I've ever walked out on)
A thriller, to me, has to have tension, the main character has to have something at stake or something to lose or something to discover. This character had already lost
pretty much everything as far as I can tell.

Acting was o.k., but again, I expected more..."A Work of Art" was awesome...and I want more awesome from you!
I feel like you 'phoned' this one in. (no pun intended)

Best part for me was the score.

[AmyO]

Camera work and editing were top notch here (no surprise), as were the performances. The chase scene had some real adrenaline to it. My problem was the story was a bit thin, which did surprise me. It felt like it ended a beat before it should. So he made a mistake? But the other guy wasn't really hurt. He can get the wallet back to him, maybe get off with probation if the guy presses charges. Life goes on. No real, "I can't take it back" moment that would have pushed this story to the next level.

[Mike Manning]

Hey Mike, I liked the short. It begins quietly paced and well planned out to create this sense of tension and I loved it for that. Wasn't sure where it was going and parking garages are creepy, especially in the voyeuristic way you chose to shoot the lead walking through it. When the chase goes down It sort of ramps up the action and loses a lot of the tension but at the same time I was thinking this wouldn't end well for our lead.

The reversal at the end worked like gang-busters though, creating a nice comment on assumptions we have of people by appearance. I enjoyed it. Well done.

Glad you dug it!


Love me or hate me, but here goes.... I wasn't thrilled. Being a fan of your past work, I was expecting much more. From the second he throws his wallet into the front seat of the car, I knew the story. A different title would have helped. What followed was a "cloverfieldish" chase scene that left my head spinning and eyes trying to focus. (can you tell I REALLY hated Cloverfield...only movie I've ever walked out on)
A thriller, to me, has to have tension, the main character has to have something at stake or something to lose or something to discover. This character had already lost
pretty much everything as far as I can tell.

You're the first person to mention that the the title of the film is a spoiler. This is something we've all been very aware of from the start and it was definitely a decision on our part to leave it as such. I often wonder if the film had been called "The Garage," or anything else for that matter, if as many of you who say you "saw him throw the wallet on the seat" would still be saying that. If you go back and watch it again, you might notice that we don't actually show what he did with wallet after he looks at the picture of him and his wife. We just cut out.

I do, however, have to disagree with you regarding the stakes of the film. Granted, no one is in any mortal danger (and I don't think that's a requisite of a thriller), there are stakes involved in his actions. He's lost his job, he's got a family to support, the last thing he needs is to have his wallet taken along with all his cash and credit cards. Though we chose to play down the importance of that and play up on the importance of the family photos.

At the end of the day, it's a small scale story with an even smaller scaled budget. We jsut wanted to shoot something without blowing our wad like we did with "A Work of Art." :)

Sorry it didn't work for you, though. Hopefully the next one will!


Camera work and editing were top notch here (no surprise), as were the performances. The chase scene had some real adrenaline to it. My problem was the story was a bit thin, which did surprise me. It felt like it ended a beat before it should. So he made a mistake? But the other guy wasn't really hurt. He can get the wallet back to him, maybe get off with probation if the guy presses charges. Life goes on. No real, "I can't take it back" moment that would have pushed this story to the next level.

Thanks Amy. As I said to Zaza, we were trying to keep it small. The payoff of the film is less about the logistics of what actually happened, and more about personal consequence (and subsequent introspection) of the protagonist... and audience. :)

[filmcritic]

This is definitely one of the better films. Unfortunately there was no suspense for me and I would classify this as a comedy not a thriller. I am led to believe that this guy stole his wallet and that he needs it back, I am not questioning anything at this point. The chase scene, while unnecessarily handheld, was engaging because I want the main character to get his wallet back. When he does we find out he actually stole the other guys. The editing was rough, there was a serious cut that did not need to be made when we go from a good shot from outside the car after the chase scene to a handheld jarring shot a similar angle that does not match the previous shot in terms of style or tell us anything new. Funny twist ending but like I said not really suspenseful or a thriller. Enjoyed watching the film look forward to seeing more of your work.

[Mike Manning]

The editing was rough, there was a serious cut that did not need to be made when we go from a good shot from outside the car after the chase scene to a handheld jarring shot a similar angle that does not match the previous shot in terms of style or tell us anything new.

??

[Sebastian Stenhøj]

This is definitely one of the better films.

Awesome!

[lawriejaffa]

This is definitely one of the better films.


Double Awesome! :)

[Mike Manning]

Lawrie! Thanks for the support... You should be a finalist! I demand a recount!

[AmyO]

Congrats, Mike! :)

[filmcritic]

Congrats on the Semi-Finals. Best of luck!!

[Matt Harris]

Well done Manning, this was a cool entry.

[Mike Manning]

Thanks everyone!

[Richard J. Johnson]

Congrats mike!! well deserved my friend.

[Noel Evans]

Congrats Mike.

[Darkline]

;-) Very glad to see you in the final 6. Excellent entry

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Congrats, Mike.

[Mike Manning]

Congrats, Mike.
Thanks! Ditto!

[Chris_Keaton]

What! I can't believe this made it. It was so un-thrilling....I kid, well deserved, congrats.

[Charli]

Good luck!

[REHov520]

while i also predicted the ending, i didn't mind so much in this case because it was a simple story well told, and doesn't seem to aspire to be more than that. i also like that it's a story about black and white IN BLACK AND WHITE. i assume that was your reason for going with that.

[Darkline]

Hey Mike, just wanted to say congrats on your placing but also to say thanks for your support here. I thought you lot made a tight little film and you seem like great guys too. I look forward to being in another fest with you and if I ever come to LA I'd love to grab a beer. cheers.

[Matt Harris]

Mike what garage in LA did you end up shooting in?

[Mike Manning]

i also like that it's a story about black and white IN BLACK AND WHITE. i assume that was your reason for going with that.

One of the reasons...
It's interesting to us that not many people have commented on the race-factor of our film. Glad you're not only mindful of that, but that you caught that little nuance.


Hey Mike, just wanted to say congrats on your placing but also to say thanks for your support here. I thought you lot made a tight little film and you seem like great guys too. I look forward to being in another fest with you and if I ever come to LA I'd love to grab a beer. cheers.

Thanks dude! Likewise... and in fact, I might be hitting you up for help with out next project! You're a pretty awesome VFX Artist, would love to collaborate on something!


Mike what garage in LA did you end up shooting in?

We used the garage at Dane's (producer/editor) work in North Hollywood.