"LifeLine" - Krestofre

[krestofre]

Looking forward to hearing for you guys....


Chris

[Blaine]

Chris,
I've been looking forward to seeing your piece since I saw your 1000th post video. I had no idea what to expect when it started but was drawn further into it as it went along. Really nice work. And something very different than everything else. Very original. (nice homage to Ridley Scott there, too, in that one scene. wink,wink,nudge,nudge) As I sit here writing this I am drawn to watch it again, so let me just say: Good Job! http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif

[Blaine]

I just wanted to add that for me, this was a complete work. No one element stood out above the rest, it was just good across the board. http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif

[krestofre]

Thanks Blaine. I hope that Jarred and Barry don't count my 1,000 post video as a promotion. :D


(nice homage to Ridley Scott there, too, in that one scene. wink,wink,nudge,nudge)

You know, it's funny you should say that. While I was putting it together, and have watched it for a grand total of 1,987,776 times during the process, I had convinced myself that I had hidden it better than that. :rolleyes:

[spidey]

its your icon.... i notice that shot immediately :-p

[krestofre]

its your icon.... i notice that shot immediately :-p

Doh! :mad:

:D

[CallaghanFilms]

Ok - I've viewed enough to catch up on my critiquing.

And I couldn't start in a better thread, Chris...

Just screened it, and Wowzer! That was a straight shot of Science Fiction in its purist form. I can tell that you were Charlie Hustle during pre-production...that you did your previsualization homework. You started with a solid story, and was loyal to it throughout.

The upfront, but far from overdone effects were quite effective. The cinematography was sincere...technically every thing clicked for me. Overall a great little film that I will absolutely be keeping around long after Sci-Fest has returned to the mothership.

The only thing that I would like to have seen differently would've been a name change. Perhaps something a bit more ambiguous than Alice...like...I don't know Stacey or Joe, something that could lend itself to an even bigger payoff.

Regardless, without question "LifeLine" is one of my top three.

Edit: I got a Raiders of the Lost Ark homage vibe from the ending (pods instead of countless crates in a secret government warehouse.)

[krestofre]

I got a Raiders of the Lost Ark homage vibe from the ending (pods instead of countless crates in a secret government warehouse.)

Man, everyone is getting my homages. :eek::D

I guess I should expect no less from this group.

Thanks for the kind words Callaghan. I may speak to the "Alice" thing a bit later, but I'd like to get some more reaction from the group before I launch too much into me "What's really going on here" speech.

[mikkowilson]

Hmm.. the rows of pods animation didn't look so hot.

Ok, i'm done with the negative stuff.

Nice work! Actually broke the wall, cool!

And the white room and surounding CGs was very well done. did you shoot on white on greenscreen it?

good, very sci-fi work over all :)

- Mikko

[krestofre]

Hmm.. the rows of pods animation didn't look so hot.

Yeah. That's what we call "Got a really cool idea in post that we didn't shoot." So I kind of just comped it out by the skin of my teeth. :)



And the white room and surounding CGs was very well done. did you shoot on white on greenscreen it?


This one's called "Live and Learn." The set that I had built was all white, we used the glossiest paint money can buy, and we poored tons and tons of light onto the set. Surely that would get the look I was after right? Uh-huh. The color was completely uneven, so most of it was actually rotoscoped in. Believe it or not, for a couple of scenes I was actually able to key it based on white and it worked, so that saved some time. If I were going to shoot the whole thing again tomorrow I would have done it all the white room stuff against a greenscreen.

[Shawn Murphy]

Pretty cool, and more sci-fi than a lot so far (at least my idea of sci-fi). The only comment/question I have is whether or not that was ADR that was off or was my system lagging and making some of the dialogue look out of sync?

[Norm Sanders]

Nice job, and one of the ones I was looking forward to, based on the who the member was.

First thing that hit me, however, was the lead actor ... flat, very flat, in my opinion. The only time he seemed believable to me was when he leaned in saying "I hate this part" just before his eye gets zapped.

Cool concept, and way to see some challenging FX/compositing stuff through to the end ... you bit off a big chunk with that film, and with a little more work on the composite/lighting most of those FX would look dead on!

Two things I think you can benefit, from my limited experience & learning from my own lackings in the FX side:
1.) Get to know AE well, and it's motion tracking ... the bullet hole in the salesman's chest, and the very first shot of the LONG hallway were both in need of better tracking to the camera/object movement
2.) Also, a simple trick to really sell that monitor/screen that's built into the salesman's desk would be to take a section of that desk, place it on a track above everything else, set the composite level to screen, and then drop the opacity to taste ... it'll help the reflection of the chracter show up OVER the CG screen like it is the rest of the desk, selling the shot like it really belongs vs. looking painted in.

Otherwise, good job on your hard work!

[krestofre]

Pretty cool, and more sci-fi than a lot so far (at least my idea of sci-fi). The only comment/question I have is whether or not that was ADR that was off or was my system lagging and making some of the dialogue look out of sync?
Honestly, I'm not sure. It looks like the encoded file that was uploaded has some framerate issues that the original MPEG did not. I PMed Barry about that and he said he'd check. So that could be contributing to the lag. Or it could be poorly synced ADR. :)



First thing that hit me, however, was the lead actor ... flat, very flat, in my opinion. The only time he seemed believable to me was when he leaned in saying "I hate this part" just before his eye gets zapped.
I prefer to think of him as calculating. He actually performed it per my instruction, and I've worked with him before and he has the acting chops. You might just have to count me off on this one. The only way I would be happier with his performance was if I could have cast Sean Bean in the roll.

All of my actors did a great job, and I'd like to take this chance to publicly thank them for their hard work. My set designer too. The composer, on the other hand, I don't know what he was thinking. :mad:


Get to know AE well
But I use Combustion. :confused: Just kidding. I know what you mean, and you're right. One of the greatest things about this fest is that it actually forced me to spend hours and hours and hours and hours working with my FX program. This is really the first time I've put Combustion through it's paces outside of tutorials and training videos, so I've come out of the experience with a lot more compositing knowledge then I had going in.


Also, a simple trick to really sell that monitor/screen that's built into the salesman's desk would be to take a section of that desk, place it on a track above everything else, set the composite level to screen, and then drop the opacity to taste ... it'll help the reflection of the chracter show up OVER the CG screen like it is the rest of the desk, selling the shot like it really belongs vs. looking painted in.

Again, you're right, but the funny thing about LifeLine is that it ended up almost exactly the way I imagined it. The desk thing was supposed to look hokey and like an old Tron effect. The problem is that after I finished the film and I looked at it again I wish I had gone for a more convincing desk effect. Oh well, next time. :)

[Brandon Rice]

Hey dude!
Finally got a chance to watch your film! Really liked it overall... interesting lead character... very different (in a great way). I liked the story, but some of the effects kinda messed it up for me. Some of the effects were awesome, then others, not so great... anyway, I did enjoy it a lot, and it's on my short list. Good job dude!

[krestofre]

Hey dude!
Finally got a chance to watch your film! Really liked it overall... interesting lead character... very different (in a great way). I liked the story, but some of the effects kinda messed it up for me. Some of the effects were awesome, then others, not so great... anyway, I did enjoy it a lot, and it's on my short list. Good job dude!

Awe, don't leave me hanging. What worked for you and what didn't?

Thanks for the praise though.

[Jeremy Ordan]

I haven't read anyone's posts in here yet, so if I repeat anything, well then you get to read something again... :)


Lifeline – The effect in the beginning worked and got me interested, but from that point the look just sort of pulled me out of it. I enjoyed the payoff of the project at the end, but it just didn’t work for me for some reason. I like the arch; it has a good beginning, middle and end. What sort of pulled me out of it was the sound. It seemed like complete ADR and just didn’t work for me. Once they were in the office I liked the look, and the keypad was a good twist. Great effect of him going into the wall. I think it was a good effort, congrats.

[EditPhish]

Chris,

I was also looking forward to seeing your film after your 1,000th post video -- Gotta love a guy with a fish and a lava lamp ;)

Anyway, I love your concept and story... very interesting. It was straight forward and well executed.

The acting was real good... I was interested in the characters and their story. They felt a little sterile, but that seemed okay given the plot line.

The lighting and cinematography were good... and editing very well done. When they were in the saleman's office it might have been lit a little better. There wasn't a lot of music, but what was there was good and added to the story. Loved the all-white settings.

I loved the line: "I hate this part." Your script was really good. Dialogue isn't always easy to make realistic, but I didn't find any part of yours to be forced or too artificial.

The FX and graphics did bother me a bit, and took away from an otherwise excellent piece (for me at least). The desk console really was a little too cheesie ;) -- The type at the beginning, the logo, with the jaggy edges bugged me... but then I do graphics and typesetting for a living (art director) so little things like that are noticeable to me. I think our tendency in video is to make the type big, but sometimes it's TOO big to look right... comes across alittle amateurish. For example, the blinking "REC" at the beginning, and his profile should have been smaller, and more "tech" looking.


But with everything else being positive, your movie ends up in my top 10 without a doubt. Really really enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing and great job!

[krestofre]

Thanks Yankee and EditPhish. I appreciate you taking the time to watch and post. And I appreciate the critique. It helps a lot!

[Blaine]

I just wanted to add that for me, this was a complete work. No one element stood out above the rest, it was just good across the board. http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif
After several more viewings I'd like to add some things to my original posts. I originally said that nothing stood out above the rest. Upon further review I believe your screenplay (based of course on what's on the screen) does stand above the rest. It is my favorite of the festival. The only weak point for me (and not very weak) was the acting. Bryan (the Tom Masters character) was a little stiff in his delivery right at the beginning. He did settle in nicely though and did a fine job after that. When the secretary found the bodies and screamed, I didn't buy it. It seemed too restrained. The effects were okay with me. The first time through the rows of boxes were dazzling so I'm not going to nitpick on those. The touch pad, though, seemed to have the colored shapes in different positions in different shots...was that on purpose?...just felt a little off on subsequent viewings. After seeing everything this is one of my top five favorites. http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/images/smilies/thumbsup.gif

[Brandon Rice]

Awe, don't leave me hanging. What worked for you and what didn't?

Thanks for the praise though.

So, I watched it again, and here's my one minor problem. Some of the green screen stuff seemed keyed out poorly, and I know from experience that it's sooooo hard to do with DV. (I even have two scenes in the extended cut of my film that are green screen and the keying isn't nearly as good. Also the effect at the end showing the other pods was kind of cheesy... I can overlook that though, and I like the concept and story enough to not let that one effect ruin the story. I dig it! Everything else totally worked for me!

[krestofre]

I believe your screenplay (based of course on what's on the screen) does stand above the rest. It is my favorite of the festival.

Wow! Thank you so much for that compliment.


The touch pad, though, seemed to have the colored shapes in different positions in different shots...was that on purpose?

Yes, actually it was, but it still didn't really come across the way I intended it. The idea was to have an interface that was dynamic instead of just having the same buttons. Just changing the position of the colors didn't really get that across. Like I said earlier this is the thing I cringe at whenever I watch the short. I really wish I had done that desk effect differently. Oh well. In 25 years I'll replace all of my actors with digital creations, fix that effec, and call it "LifeLine: Special Edition." :)


Some of the green screen stuff seemed keyed out poorly

That is totally my fault, and I'm surpised that this hasn't come out more. The shots that we did with a greenscreen, we also had a fog machine on set. I'm pretty amature when it comes to greenscreen shooting, so it never crossed my mind that those two things wouldn't work well together. Turns out that greenscreen + fog = one completely unkeyable mess. So to salvage the shot as best as I could, I keyed it out, then supressed the green channel so that you don't see anything too too obvious. Instead you just see an uneven key (at best). I'm chalking that one up to a learning experience.
:D

[Dahopafilms]

Thanks for making this. I'm glad I watched it and have the following comments (in no particular order):

The main character's wardrobe was great - liked Alice's "The Prisoner/Patrick McGoohan" jacket.

The juxtaposition between the very white "sales room" and the saleman's office kinda threw me a little. I would have expected more of a tonal consistency between the locations.

The touch screen on the salesman's desk - I'm not sure if I liked that or not. Seemed a little too "inserty" (sorry) and seemed to move around a little between shots. But then again, it is entirely possible that was the effect you were after in which case you succeeded.

I really liked the entire effect of the shooting and Tom's impact on the wall. Really well done there (and a nice echo of the first Star Wars' bar scene). A little bit of movement on the entry wound initially, but I wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't looking for it.

I found the scrolling shot of the capsules/dresser drawers at the end a little distracting as the first element in the forground had a perspective problem and thus seemed (to me at least) to turn with the movement of the camera. No big deal but, again, to me just a little distracting.

I didn't like the OS female voice reacting to the discovery of the bodies. I just don't think that scene (just the voice, I suppose) matched the quality of the rest of the piece.

I liked the acting and particularly liked the two male leads. Underplayed and, in this case, that worked well for me. Hats off to them.

As for the story, I must confess I'm not entirely sure I got it. Why did the male "Alice" need to shoot the salesperson? I assume (uh oh, putting my pea-brain at risk of discovery here) that the male Alice wanted her original body back and didn't have the credit to go through the "normal" process (and presumably couldn't get a refund from her earlier body transfer). But if that's right and if the salesman clearly recalled that she was previously the only one to immediately make up her mind on a body selection, then wouldn't the salesman also have realized that he was dealing with the "male Alice body" that he had previously sold to Alice? Undoubtedly I'm missing something here.

Anyway, that's about the best I can do for now, and will watch it again over the next day or two to see if I can suss it out any better.

I really enjoyed this entry, and thanks again for your obvious efforts in putting it together.

[krestofre]

The main character's wardrobe was great - liked Alice's "The Prisoner/Patrick McGoohan" jacket.
And with that, my fourth and final film homage is discovered. :D


The juxtaposition between the very white "sales room" and the saleman's office kinda threw me a little. I would have expected more of a tonal consistency between the locations.
I'm glad that it threw you. That was a very intentional part of the piece for me. As you go deeper into LifeLine you get a very different expereience. The salesroom is pristine, then you get a little deeper and it's suddenly not so nice. The lighting is a bit off, the walls are dark, and you start thinking "Woah, this isn't what I thought I was getting into." Then you find yourself in the storage facility and it's dirty and looks thrown together, and is populated with guys with strange glasses. So that part was very intentional.


As for the story, I must confess I'm not entirely sure I got it. Why did the male "Alice" need to shoot the salesperson? I assume (uh oh, putting my pea-brain at risk of discovery here) that the male Alice wanted her original body back and didn't have the credit to go through the "normal" process (and presumably couldn't get a refund from her earlier body transfer). But if that's right and if the salesman clearly recalled that she was previously the only one to immediately make up her mind on a body selection, then wouldn't the salesman also have realized that he was dealing with the "male Alice body" that he had previously sold to Alice? Undoubtedly I'm missing something here.

I don't think that you're missing anything, rather I'm not giving everything. There's no way that I could tell the entire backstory in six minutes, so I wrote LifeLine to be intentionally vague. There are a few specific clues in the narrative (and you've caught most of them with your theory of Alice getting her original body back) but there are still some possibilities that are out there, but are simply not spelled out. For example, just because Tom brokered the deal for the female Alice, doesn't mean that she/he didn't visit another LifeLine salesman before the film begins. ;)

LifeLine as it is, is really the opening six minutes to a much larger story, but after doing the short there's no way I could film the rest of it without the backing of a major motion picture studio, and ILM, so if anyone out there reading this has connections.... :D

Thanks for watching the film and taking time to give feedback. I really, really appreciate it.

[Dahopafilms]

Fantastic. Simply fantastic.

Thanks.

[conrad_johnson]

Hi - Nice work. The sound was really good, although some of the female dialogue wasn't so great (I'm thinking the woman speaking about the program at the beginning and the "help call police" at the end). Nice cohesive story. Lighting wasn't so good, and framing not great either. Keep up the good work.

[Z B Brox]

Maybe it's just because I also felt like I didn't "get it", but I wasn't as thrilled with this as I wanted to be. I say wanted to be, because the *idea* is fantastic, and the salesman, sales room, and script carry that out really well for what's there. I have to say, though, that the lack of a real explanation of who Alice was, what was happening with him/her, and why really bothered me. The effects bugged me a bit too, because they ranged from very impressive (i.e. the shooting) to distractingly off (the on-table monitor--it just looked flat, and it definitely did change size and shape from shot to shot). I gotta say, in some ways you've made the most frustrating film I've seen yet, because you totally drew me in and then made me feel like I'd totally been left hanging. I'd love to see the rest of the idea played out.

[krestofre]

I gotta say, in some ways you've made the most frustrating film I've seen yet

LOL. Too bad that's not a category. :D

Thanks for your thoughts. I understand and appreciate your take on the film, but to have shared all of the information you're looking for I would have needed to make a feature length film. Instead the film plays very much like a short story, where you're thrown into an unfamiliar situation and you just kind of have to go along for the ride.

As I spoke about earlier, there are, I feel, enough clues in the narrative that you can arrive at a satisfactory conclusion yourself, but at the same time I've been accused more than once of leaving too much interpretation to the audience. Perhaps this is another example.

I'm also glad that the premis of the film resonated with you. At least I'm on the right track, so to speak.

And to you and everyone who's critiqued the desk effect ... you're all right. :) It's the one thing in the film I wish I had done differently. Oh well, something to improve next time.

Thanks again for taking the time to watch and post.

[kimko]

Man I Liked This One Alot, The Story Was Dry, Actors Were Great Off Each Other Very Sterile Great Commercial Face And Demeanor.i Liked The Host And When He Got Shot Great! Shut Him Up! Pulled Me Into His World, Great Writing! Great Effects Bravo!

[iSTy]

The picture was nice and clear. The acting reminded me of a local theatre. When the woman shouted for the police, it didn't sound very convincing. Was Alice, Alice before he was Alice?

[krestofre]

Was Alice, Alice before he was Alice?

Yes. Wait. Huh?


:laugh: :beer:

[Quillen]

May I say, being the unconvincing voice, that I didn't think I sounded convincing either? :) I really loved doing the sexy computer voice, trillan like from Hitchhikers. I almost made it our answering machine message and walked around the house all evening saying oddly romantic things.

I hated the second voice. Chris wanted me to scream... lol. It was really funny, not at all dramatic. He improvised. That is what he gets for not marrying an actress (even of local film caliber).

I really enjoyed painting the sets and keeping the space warm. He can hire me to coordinate all the set shots and cater next time instead of talk. :)

The wife

[Captain KickAss]

This one really did not impress me. I thought the acting, particularly on the part of the male "Alice," was very dull, flat, and uninspiring. The salesman on the other hand, was okay. I could totally see him selling me a used Dodge Neon...your choice whether to take that as a compliment.

I hate commenting on CG, since I am just beginning to teach myself the basics of it, but compared to many other films, the CGI on this one seemed a bit unimpressive....a little too 1970s sci-fi. Then again, perhaps that was your goal.

As for the story, I kind of saw the ending coming right off the bat. As soon as I saw that his name was Alice, and he was looking at a used female body, I had an inkling that used to be him.

All in all though, this one was kind of middle of the pack for me.

[nathan pope]

i liked your short chris. i wondered how you going to pull of some shots but you did it. did you do alot of rotoscoping or what? glad to be able to help out some,what little i did. are you ready for the next one yet?

[krestofre]

The term "a lot of rotoscoping" doesn't even begin to cover it. :)

Most of the short turned out the way I wanted it. Some shots didn't. Oh well. Next time I'll know (all in unison) and knowing is half the battle.

Thanks for your help, Nathan. I couldn't have done it without you.

I think I'll sit the next one out. Or I'll just help you with yours and we'll keep doing this trade-off DVX Fest thing.

[EditPhish]

For what it's worth Kres... I hope you won't sit out the next round... I really enjoyed your film!

[Ralph Oshiro]

Didn't read other posts yet so . . .

Wow! I really liked all of your graphics in this one! I can see you're a huge Blade Runner fan--nice job on the homage scene! Really enjoyed this one, especially all the graphics work. I only had one HUGE problem! What's with that DESK? Could you have found a more modern, contemporary desk? The desk really blew it for me. Other than that, this one was a lot of fun!

Oh yeah, others have probably beat you to death on this one already, so I'll chime in . . . MANY "crossing the line" film grammar errors in the opening scene coverage. Also, your medium shots were so wide in the "desk" room. Maybe more ECUs, and better eyelines (too profiley)? Anyway, a fun short . . . I enjoyed it a lot!

Almost forgot . . . pretty darn good acting from all of your players!

[krestofre]

For what it's worth Kres... I hope you won't sit out the next round... I really enjoyed your film!

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I probably will sit the next fest out simply because I'm tired, and I've still got that feature-length comedy piece that I'm editing. See you in two-fests time. :)


Oh yeah, others have probably beat you to death on this one already, so I'll chime in . . . MANY "crossing the line" film grammar errors in the opening scene coverage. Also, your medium shots were so wide in the "desk" room. Maybe more ECUs, and better eyelines (too profiley)? Anyway, a fun short . . . I enjoyed it a lot!


Thanks for the critique. There we some ... er ... issues when I got to the editing room that would account for the crossing the line things. I would have prefered that scene went a little differently, but thanks so much for bringing it up. You're the first one. :thumbsup: This is only the second project I've tackeled, and I appreciate how much it taught me just from doing it, and from all of the comments here. (As for the desk, you'll have to read the whole thread to get the scoop on that one. :) )

Here's a big thank you to everyone who watched and commented on my film. :beer:

[Ralph Oshiro]

(As for the desk, you'll have to read the whole thread to get the scoop on that one.)I looked, but I didn't see it. I wasn't talking about the graphics on the desk (which I thought were funny/fun). I was talking about the desk itself.

[krestofre]

Oh. The desk itself. Well that's different. :)

I didn't personally have a problem with the desk itself. I liked the mix of clucky 70s desk with futuristic technology. Sorry it didn't work for you.