VISITOR - RoamingBobert

[Norm Sanders]

I can't believe this is like the 3rd or 4th film I've had to start a thread on, three days into the fest ... I'm just surprised the film makers aren't on here already opening up their own threads.

Oh well, here's my feedback for what it's worth:

The film started out VERY nicely with the titles; thought we'd really have something here. Even the opening fridge shot was nice, though work should have been put into the shot to have the guy in focus vs. the bowl which is of less importance.

The main living room setting was flat ... partly due to lighting, as well as lack of CC, etc. in post production, in my opinion.

Where I about came out of my chair was the shot when our lead falls back on the floor and is scooting away from the window. We see an ominous figure/shadow in the window, bright lights coming through the blinds, etc. The entire scene & camera work on that was awesome! Loved it.

However, that was the highlight of the film, as far as I was concerned. There also didn't appear to be much of a story ... just an event.

The president could have stood to be older ... since there was no talking involved, even getting an old neighbor to stand in for that shot would have worked better.

I'm assuming the lead was supposed to be over-the-top wierd in his delivery. I found myself laughing outloud at his antics, hoping it was on purpose.

An okay film that had a LOT more potential, as proven in that short shot/scene with the bright lights, blinds, and ominous figure ... which was pure magic.

[THX-1138]

ENVISION...when I saw this film up I thought...How many films did he do?


Visitors

I thought your story was solid just the acting/actor choices were bad.

What bothered me from the start was your lead actor. He overacted during the entire movie. If I thought he was funny I wouldn't have minded but I did'nt so it bugged me.

The use of light and shadow to show the creatures was spot on:)
And for me the highlight os the short.

I did'nt like you using Pastor Jack Van Impie (SP?) as the newscaster. That took me right out of your movie. Also the age of the president was another groove buster. You've got to know someone in their 50's who whould give you a half an hour of their time to shoot them.

Most of the editing was solid and well paced. The only exception was when he was screaming at the TV. That went on too long for me....and because of that the tension did'nt build fast enough for me.

And finally the slow mo shot looked bad...it's hard to make them look like film, I know, and maybe it was the compression that made it looked choppy I don't know.

Kip Kubin

[Brandon Rice]

HAHA! This film was so funny to me! The overacting was great! It really worked IMO! The only thing that bothered me was the flat look of the living room in the day, it needed some better lighting or CC. But, great fun piece, enjoyed it a ton!

[P!body]

I saw a lot of homage to "Signs". Cool stuff. The overacting grew on me through out the short. He also looked like a young Jon Favreau or something.

My one thought would be work on your living room set- the lighting in particular. Just find a way to make it pop more that what you have. But that is my one little thought. Everything else was lots of fun.

Thanks for entering.

[Blaine]

The problem with shooting entirely in an apartment is that it is incredibly hard to make it look interesting. I think you suffered from this problem. I have to add to the comments on the president's age. No way he could pass for 40 which is the minimum age to be president.

The shooting was uneven. You had some good setups like the light and the blinds but for the most part it felt flat.

I found myself thinking of Curly from the Three Stooges while watching your lead character. I'm not sure if that's good or bad.

On the positive side, I loved your opening title sequence.

This felt like it was thrown together very quickly. I think it would have benefitted with some more pre-production time.

[EditPhish]

I also saw the homage to M. Night's "Signs" -- as well as some other Sci-Fi flicks (bright lights coming through windows/blinds reminded me of "Close Encounters" for example).

I thought the lead was very funny, and hope you intended it that way! He was over-the-top, but it worked and made me laugh.

The lighting in the scenes where he's just watching TV is a bit boring... could have been a lot more interesting.

The best lighting was obviously during the "invasion" scene when all the aliens are outside the house. The alien coming through the window looked great, and the tension you created was pretty darn good. The lighting throughout this whole scene was very well done.

Overall, your framing choices were good, but there were some weird edits where shots seemed to be held too long or were awkward.

While I wouldn't put it at the top of my list, I DID enjoy it... it didn't drag... it was a story easy to follow (though it ended a bit abruptly).

Oh, and the music was great!

Thanks for sharing your movie!

[ideamen]

All of your feedback has been very helpful and is really encouraging. The overacting was intentional, and we're very glad that you guys picked up on that. Please keep the comments coming and good luck to everyone in the contest.

[arielman]

Well I guess I am the odd man here .
I liked the story , the camera work and the lighting . I am no expert , far from it
so I can't commment on the Living room scene , although I had no issues with it .
I thought the actor was great . I was laughing at his many facial expressions .
I wish you had gone for another 1 min or so as I thought the ending ended to soon but then that's just my view .
I just thought this was well done .
Ian

[RoamingBobert]

Thanks everyone for the comments! Business has been busy so I have been unable to post...

As one of my colleages mention the overacting was intentional. We did quite a bit of color correction throughout the film. Any ideas in particular on how we could have handled the lighting in the apartment better?

As far as the president - yes a little young, but we were on a time crunch for that scene :)
THX - surprised you recognized Pastor Jack... really we used that because his expressions were much better than the usual newscaster drivel... In the future I suppose we'll shoot our own ;)

Feel free to fire any more critiques our way! Good luck everyone!

[conrad_johnson]

I LOVED LOVED LOVED LOVED your actor. Very amusing. He played the schmuck very well. It was silly (unless you weren't going for silly, in which case, he was overacting :)) I really liked the alien coming through the window (when you cut away from the window as it was coming through) - very convincing without relying on stupid bad CGI.

I loved your newscaster. You should have had Roxanne (that's Jack's wife, right?) play the alien. Just kidding - I agree with THX that it took me out of the film for a sec. But I suppose if you don't stay up late nights watching Jack talk about the end of the world, you wouldn't have noticed. Wait - is that why you used Jack? Because of his post-apocalyptic visions? Hmmmm...if that was intentional - very smart.

[Z B Brox]

I've gotta agree, this actor has a definite future in this kind of visual comedy. The expressiveness of his face made this movie for me. Shame about the President, though. ;)

[iSTy]

The picture was clear, I liked the music although I've only watched it the once, didn’t he put a chain across the door lock? the facial expressions on actor's face was excellent and the acting could’ve been worse. I felt as though this lacked imagination though. .