Comatose Conundrum

[Sarah Haley]

30826

[Sarah Haley]

Three nerds. One sleeping princess. One huge problem.


Starring - Tim Hartley, Joshua Brown, Kevin Dixon, Annie Popoff, Sam Popoff

Written, Directed, and Produced - Zach Olson & Sarah Haley
Also Produced by Shawn Nelson
Director of Photography -Chris Alley
Camera Operation - Shawn Nelson & Chris Alley
Key Grip - Ryan Unger
1st AC - Eric Buist
2nd AC - David Nelson
Key Grip - Sean Brown
PA - David Haley
PA - Steven Reid
PA - Stephen Haley
BTS Footage - Nick Anderson
Original Score - Marilyn Olson & Zach Olson
Makeup and Set Design - Sarah Haley & Zach Olson


Comatose Conundrum is a comedic silent film.

[Sarah Haley]

http://vimeo.com/20772077

[Shawn Philip Nelson]

Sarah has participated in DVX Fests for a long while as MUA and Wardrobe. This is her first outing doing her own film (with Zach)

[Jeffrey Hamlin]

Sweet poster. Good luck on the film.

[ZazaCast]

Welcome & best of luck!

[Sarah Haley]

Thanks! I'm intimidated by the other entries but it should be fun :)

[Chris_Keaton]

Welcome to the mad house.

[Noel Evans]

Welcome Sarah. Good luck in the fest.

[Charli]

Nice poster, looks like a fairy tale. Good luck!

[Chris Messineo]

I just looked at the poster and realized this is a "silent film". How cool. I've made several silent films and I love them. I'm really looking forward to this.

[Sarah Haley]

Thanks, Chris! It's nice to have support in regards to that decision and genre :)

[Chris Messineo]

I'm a silent film nut. I've shot four myself and I even lecture on Chaplin and Keaton. It's amazing how important the music is in a silent film.

[EditPhish]

Love your poster... and your tagline!

[Mr Blue]

This is a bold undertaking to go silent. Can't wait to see this one and how you pull it off.

[Hawk Teflon]

Let me know if you need any help running audio! My audio skills are PERFECT for a silent film!

I agree with Mr Blue ... Kudos on going silent! Best of luck to you!

I really like your poster, too. Very nice!

[Sarah Haley]

Thanks! It's a comedic film so hopefully we will get some laughs :)

[Joshua Brown]

I just realized how incredibly hilarious my bleeped out part of the BTS is. Played that back about 5 times...

[Shawn Philip Nelson]

I just realized how incredibly hilarious my bleeped out part of the BTS is. Played that back about 5 times...

The hand gesture takes it to a WHOLE new level :-) ahahahaha

[Joshua Brown]

The hand gesture takes it to a WHOLE new level :-) ahahahaha

I know, I gotta watch "how" I say things.

[AJ Brooks]

Love the behind the scenes.

Shawn, is that you? You are so nice and personable I didn't recognize you! ;)

Looking forward to this one. Especially given the cast, the comedic nature, and the use of 14mm on the whole piece.

Go Sarah!

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

This looks great! Silent films are awesome. Can't wait to check this one out.

[ashpatel]

The poster looks amazing. Love the blue and gold color and contrast.

[Shawn Philip Nelson]

Love the behind the scenes.

Shawn, is that you? You are so nice and personable I didn't recognize you! ;)

Looking forward to this one. Especially given the cast, the comedic nature, and the use of 14mm on the whole piece.

Go Sarah!

Thanks! It was a new character I was trying out

[Zach Olson]

I am learning that long hours and late nights (mornings?) are all part of this crazy fun thing called filmmaking. Thanks to everyone who was involved! This has been an incredible adventure and experience!

[Chris_Keaton]

You revealed this place's secret room. It was a cute piece. I was waiting for the girl in the end to scream or something. nice job.

[Alan H. Chang]

For some reason this reminds me of a Silent Film Festival rather than a DVX FictionFest. Or just call it Oregon Film Festival since almost half of the entires are from your state! What's up with the hairdo, so funny!

[Chris Messineo]

Perfect title. I thought this was a great concept for a short silent film. The waking of a princess is such a classic story and the idea of three nerds trying accomplish it is interesting.

There were some clever moments here and I'm not surprised none of them got the girl. I think my favorite moment is the ending and that poor girl on the couch doesn't realize that these three are about to descend upon her.

I love that location you had. I think a more contrasty look though (with deeper blacks and whiter whites) might of been more effective at conveying that old time feel.

Still, it was really fun to see a silent film entered into the fest. Best of luck with it.

[Amir Assasnik]

I think more shorts should go the silent route IMO. Again another great short in the fest.

[randin]

Like Chris said, it would have been nice to more fully go for the old school look. That might not be everybody's taste, but to me, doing it half way made it feel more amateur. There's a free filter for Final Cut that works great, does light effet, scratches, hairs, color, everything. From a quick web search, I think this is the one - CGM Aged Film LE filter. I don't want to hijack the thread with a different video, but search youtube for "Eggsistential Issues" to see a film I scored that uses it. We went pretty extreme for an old look, but you can dial it back a bit to clean it up as well.

But yeah, fun story. Great idea.

[Matt Harris]

This was fun! Was that a frat house you shot in?

Edit: I just watched your BTS, not a frat house at all is it?
I guess kudos for you with the "old school" look of your short,
it really worked for me as a retro silent film.

Just an idea, but you could drop your movie onto an iphone or ipad
and run it through the app "silent film" and it will REALLY look 30's vintage!

[EditPhish]

My criticisms: It was a bit too long for what it was. During our watch-party, we all sort of felt it needed a bit more exaggerated physical comedy and to be a little quicker paced. I think maybe you could have sped up the footage a bit to give it a more old-school silent-film look.

My compliments: The whole idea and story was fun and cute. Your scoring fit the film perfectly and the characters were all likable... I felt myself rooting for them. Overall it was an enjoyable watch and brought a smile to my face.

[Shawn Philip Nelson]

Sarah, Zach, fun being part of this! Love the music you added.

I think you should re-do the grade with a better "bad film" effect. Much more contrast, etc. Maybe go a technicolor route instead.

Cheers!

[Charli]

I agree with everyone but a step further. Costumes would have been nice, to give it that old classic look. Sure they are dweebs, but in Khakis? Nah, would have liked an old school look not just on film but also on costumes. Music was solid. Humor made me laugh. Finally a film to lighten things up a bit. Downside was the overall "look" of the film. Nice comedic moments.

[Sarah Haley]

This was fun! Was that a frat house you shot in?

It is a frat house, actually. Well, it was. The group currently in the building isn't technically in the Greek system, but unofficially they are a Christian frat. The people before them was a frat and the house was clearly built to be one.

[Mr Blue]

This one was a very brave undertaking. Silent film is a lost art, so as for reference all you have is old movies and documentaries, there aren't really many people you can just come up to ask how to solve a particular issue from experience. Very well done, the acting was is true form with the over the top gestures, the orchestra seemed like a live band trying to stay in sync with the picture. I really liked this. My only criticisms are pretty much what has been said, contrast and costumes. I really only gathered that one of them was a nerd, the other 2 could be anyone.

[ZazaCast]

Cute film. I'll echo the above comments and add that you did a great job and it was a fun watch.
It did feel a bit long and I would have liked to see a little more "Three Stooges" action, but that's just me.
Really looking forward to your next effort.

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

I was impressed with this one. It's so hard to keep the viewers attention with nothing but visuals and score. Speaking of the score, it was quite good.

Once they got to the sleeping princess I was hooked. I think getting there could have been accomplished a little faster and the pacing could use a tweak here and there.
Aside from that I really enjoyed it.

Loved the kiss-off at the end. That was quite funny. :)
Good look to the characters as well. Overall it needs a little work but I was quite engrossed and enjoyed it very much.
Nice job!

[4100xpb]

Liked the music, loved the ending - I feel for that poor girl on the couch. Storywise, I agree with what's been written above. Although I liked how none of the nerds got the princess, I didn't like how the guy came from nowhere to do it. I would have liked to see a jock pushing the nerds around moment introducing that character a little earlier. Thanks for putting this in.

[Hitaish]

LOL! I enjoyed the film and the lack of game displayed by the three "nerds". The music really was trying to tap into old silent film scores. The cinematography really supported that effort as well. I would have liked to see the disaster that was going to unfold with the girl sleeping on the couch at the end. Funny!

[Susanne G.]

This was a very entertained film. I laughed a lot and enjoyed it throughout. The film has a lighthearted mood and an intelligent story. It works very well as a comedy and it is a beautiful homage to the silente film era. Compliments!

Susanne

[totitefilms]

Nice silent movie! I like it :)

[MrFluffy]

Very well done. Funny story, well acted and with a good finish. Excellent

[Anthony Todaro]

Great music. Someone knows how to rock an accordion! I had fun watching it. I thought the story worked but it ran a little long. The actors really did the old-timey, farce schtick justice. I kept thinking back to 'Our Gang' and 'The Three Stooges'. Even though it's newer and technically, older. The music was authentic and if that was custom, it was very special. Cute story and a fun little short. Nice job.