Branch Hands.

[Adam J McKay]

ME.
Starring Alex Coulson and Annalise Stuart.
Directed/shot by Adam J McKay.
Edited by Alex Coulson.
Music by Adam J McKay and Cole Jones.

So back story as to how this came about. I have been putting off making a film for dvxfest for a long while now, and yet again, I put it off. So last night, my producer Annalise Stuart, forced me/us to put something together...and we did. So with our newly purchased 5D and 2 Nikon lenses we were off. Our limitations dictated what the story would be about. We had no real sound devices handy, so we decided to go MOS and work with some narration in post. We had ourselves as cast and crew and we knew we wanted to shoot something outside at night...because what else are you going to do with a new 5D?

Synopsis.
Life is Beautiful.

Disclaimer: This very well may end up a little to experimental to qualify, but at least it got done and submitted. I should note that as I write this at 1 P.M, the BTS is exporting and the edit on the film itself has yet to be started. Cutting it close.

Behind the Scenes and Poster to follow.

[Adam J McKay]

Here is the poster.

31270

[Adam J McKay]

Hurray More content.

[Adam J McKay]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWPYfGp-TTs


Behind the scenes video.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Looks awesome. If you have a prop and the length is good you shouldn't have any issues qualifying.

You need to post your thread in this forum though.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/forumdisplay.php?216-FictionFEST-Film-Threads

[ZazaCast]

Congrats on just doing it... good for you. I love experimental, so this should prove interesting.
Cheers!

[Adam J McKay]

Here is the link to my thread. This is has all been super last minute I hope everyone enjoys it. Less talk more rock on my part. Due to time constraints, any "standard narrative" it might have had is pretty much gone. It's still pretty easy to see what we were going for though.


http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?240634-Branch-Hands.

Fun fact: It is now 3:08 PM and the final edit and colour correction have just been done. Exporting now and hopefully will have this puppy uploaded by 4 P.M. If it doesn't end up getting accepted, I will post on here for all to see anyway.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Why wouldn't it get accepted?

[Adam J McKay]

Fun fact: It is now 3:08 PM and the final edit and colour correction have just been done. Exporting now and hopefully will have this puppy uploaded by 4 P.M. If it doesn't end up getting accepted, I will post on here for all to see anyway.

[Adam J McKay]

If it doesn't get uploaded in time?

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Ah.... Well get on it. :)

[Mr Blue]

Have the upload information already filled out, so once its done exporting all you have to do is select the file and click upload. Good luck, hope your computer is fast.

[Adam J McKay]

It has been uploaded. First DVXfest entry is up and away.

[Adam J McKay]

I would like to add that the film is entitled ME and was uploaded by shortstop. He plays the man in the film and was also the editor.

[Noel Evans]

All cleared and good to go. Good luck!

[Chris Messineo]

Congrats on getting your last minute entry in.

[4100xpb]

Congrats on getting your first entry in!

[Charli]

Good luck and congrats on getting it in on time!

[Zach Olson]

Way to Go! I love the simplicity of the poster. I am excited to wee what you guys were able to put together in such a short amount of time (with so little sleep!).

[Noel Evans]

"My ears hurt", " I dont know if thats normal" . Quote of the fest.

Going to merge this with your other thread in the film threads.

[Adam J McKay]

Thanks everybody. It was a fun experience putting it all together, it's not really what we intended it to be, but a nice little piece none the less.

[Chris Messineo]

I'm not 100% sure if this is the whole film or if you just ran out of time. You mention narration up top, but I never heard any and it ended abruptly for me at 1:42. And, honestly, I was really disappointed when it did because I was totally into it.

I was truly intrigued by these characters. Their relationship felt so raw and so real. If felt like we were seeing a microcosm of the flirting, the love, the passion, and the pain. I wanted to know what happened - why was he riding this bicycle at night? Maybe these were questions you wanted us to ask?

In any case, I dug it and the look of it. It just felt a bit unfinished and if there was supposed to be more - I would love to see it!

[lyonfilms]

I liked the pacing and the edit. I thought the music, and many of the cuts timed to the beat worked well. I especially liked the wind sound on his shirt about 3/4 the way through.

[Chris_Keaton]

What happened? It just stopped. I finally got interested and wanted to know. Ugh!

[Adam J McKay]

SPOILER ALERT.


But not really. But the whole premise of the film was to tell the story of this relationship from beginning to end on this couch. Originally it was supposed to be longer with Alex talking about this relationship, very European style. It really just came down to a matter of time really. The edit didnt get finished until almost 3 on the 10th so it is what it is. Thanks for the encouragement and the kind words. Definitely going to try and make a solid film for the next go. I have a big anouncement coming up about our future plans and by our, I mean Anna, Alex and myself. There will be a solid thread started up soon. I am just glad I got something together.

[ZazaCast]

What happened? It just stopped. I finally got interested and wanted to know. Ugh!
Yeah... what he said!

I was really getting into it...and poof! It's over.
Looking forward to your next film.

[EditPhish]

I have to agree with what others said... it felt unfinished and just as we were getting into it, it was over. In our group we were all trying to guess what it meant and what story it was telling, so it got us talking about it - which is a positive thing. Congrats on getting it shot and done in time!

[Shawn Philip Nelson]

Not really sure what i just watched :-). But you have some really great shots and I could tell their relationship was progressing somewhere. More next time!

[Charli]

It was a very abrupt ending that I had to reload thinking my server stalled. I'm really not a fan of no dialogue films and while Sente Sente worked to a large degree, this one left me dry. I didn't want more. I didn't care for either character. I wasn't invested. Make your characters likeable so at least we care about one of them. This one miss the mark with me.

[Mr Blue]

I'll be honest with you this was a little too avant garde for me, not really my scene. The music was good and went with the visuals and the cutting. Sorry I wish I had more to say, but this is not my genre. I'm not going to rate this because I don't want to skew your results, I'll save the votes for the people who are better equipped to make an honest assessment. Please don't see this as a negative post, it's really something that I cannot give you an honest critique to. I wanted to write you something because, you took the time to make it and the least I could do was to tell you my opinion of it. Keep doing what you do though, there are people out there who love the experimental art form of film making.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

I thought I was having more technical issues but I guess it just ended abruptly. I know you really squeezed this one in so I understand.

I did like many of your shot choices. You definitely have a unique style so that's a good thing.
Maybe just give us a little more next time.

I hope you jump in early next fest and show us more.

[4100xpb]

Almost missed this thread with the name change, glad I found it. I’ll be straight up – I didn’t get it. I liked the portrayal of the relationship from the single perspective on the couch. From that view, I thought the shot in the car was unnecessary and took me out of what was being built. And the biking – even after the end I don’t know where he’s going. I think it’s him after he broke up with her, but I’m not sure. And while I liked the perspective on the relationship, there didn’t seem to be any kind of arc to it, so I wasn’t sympathetic to the lead when it ended. You had some really good ideas in there, but I think you said it yourself - this just didn't get fully finished. But props for doing something and getting it in. That's a huge victory in itself.



You're in Vancouver? If you ever need an extra hand, feel free to hit me up. Even if all you need is a self-powered sandbag, I'd be happy to help out. Look forward to seeing more from you.

[Anthony Todaro]

Unique approach. The fact that I have questions is what I like. I have enough to fill it in, but the things I don't know are what makes this good. I felt so disappointed when it ended and it looks like she did too, but not knowing for sure is the best. I loved the music, quick cuts and the exterior shot opened it up nice. Beautiful piece of work.

[AnnaliseStuart]

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! Adam had been saying he wanted to submit something for years and I think we got over the hurdle of getting the first submission in, so we have a jumping off point to improve upon. We will definitely get a bit more of a head start for next years fest, but it was a great experience conceiving of, shooting and editing a film in under 24 hours!