Noct - Hero of Mana

[Aaron Marshall]

http://noct.us/hero/manadvx.jpg (http://noct.us/media/video/Aaron_Marshall-Hero_of_Mana.mp4)

WMV http://noct.us/windowsdvx.jpg (http://noct.us/media/video/Aaron%20Marshall%20-%20Hero%20of%20Mana.wmv) <- your choice -> http://noct.us/quicktimedvx.jpg MP4 (http://noct.us/media/video/Aaron_Marshall-Hero_of_Mana.mp4)

http://noct.us/hero/dragonsky.jpg http://noct.us/hero/darkonesland.jpg
http://noct.us/hero/oracle.jpg http://noct.us/hero/smoke.jpg

Credits:

Shot, Cut, and Scored by:
Aaron Marshall

Animation & VFX:
Aaron Marshall
Marcus Aurelius Klonek

guitar track:
Eric Pine - "Infinite Emotion"

Special thanks to:

Marc Klonek, Lark Farlee, Megan Marshall, and last but not least Jenny Myers.

Thanks for watching!

[MsManhattan]

Aaron, nice job! Loved the location -- was that in Bloomington?

[Aaron Marshall]

Thank you!

It was close to Bloomington. It was in the rolling hills of brown county.

[mrpunch]

I loved the look and feel of this! At times, the edits got to be too much for me - and the only other thing I could wish for was a bit more urgency to the conflict.

Excellent job!

[Beat Takeshi]

Very whimsical feeling to the overall piece. You are going to win best animal actor right off the bat, he was much better than all the pigeons i hired. I thought some of the edits were a tad long but since everything had a certain vibe it didnt really bother me at all. The opening shots were amazing.

[snodart]

First off.. Very nice. As mentioned before, the edits (jump cuts) were a little distracting. Maybe you did this to chop down the time. Some of the shots are amazing. The end confrontation was a little anti-climatic, but I understand that it is a matter of time and $$ to do more. The narrator and other voices were perfect. The score at the beginning along with the narrator was great. later on though the score turned a little synthetic, but still great. Overall, it was very good and also had a very professional quality. I make so many comments because I liked it! Excellent colors when the world turns back to good.

Nice work.

[Kholi]

Aaron--

I got to download yours before the bandwith went down the potty.

I could sense the influence right off, and it was coooool.

Of course, your score is the best part about it all. Great color falls in next, really captured a sense of the World of Mana. =D

Good job! I'm jealous!

[Aaron Marshall]

Thanks everyone. I'm glad you like the voice Snodart. It's my voice. I spent one hell of a lot of time trying to get something down. I knew it would be important, but I didn't want anyone else to do it. They couldn't get each phrase exactly like I wanted it. Yes it could have been better with a big name voice over actor, but it wouldn't have been what I wanted. I needed an actor that understood the material 110% voice over, not a voiceover voice over if that makes any sense. I tried to deliver it like I was telling a group of kids a story.

The movie is for children basically, but universal enough for everyone. Think Star Wars, or The Dark Crystal etc.

Yes the jumpcuts in the introduction of the character were because of the strict 5 mins at the time. I was doing everything I could to squeeze it down. I thought it turned out nicely. It gave a disorienting feel. What the hero was about to go through was one of those disorienting days. A day when he would feel his only friend slipping away into sickness.

I don't agree with mrpunch about the conflict lacking urgency. The entire introduction builds into something the audience cares about, or at least I deeply care about, only to see it destroyed and drained by a force, a disease, a cancer it can't fight off. That's the overall conflict. The specific conflict surrounding the dog sets everything in motion. It gives the hero a small minded goal to a much bigger problem. The audience knows of that bigger problem, but the hero is just setting out to save his friend. It's not so much saving a friend but a quest to not be lonely. Loneliness is a theme in this movie. Also, it's not shot all MTV, so yes it does have some moments of reflection influenced by older cinema from a much simpler time.

The hero was happy living out in his hut. He was content, but certain bigger things happen sometimes and even the little guy has to take action.

I'm happy with this movie. Sure it has its shortcomings. But keep in mind a few things:

1. It was my first movie with the DVX
2. I shot it by myself (with the exception of a couple tiny shots that I dragged my sister out to help shoot, the one on the log). I played the hero, and the villian.
3. 0 budget, unless you count time spent
4. This was my first time getting really into AE.
5. I did so much physical behind-the-scenes work in this film. The shoot at the hut was 2 miles back through wild and wooly territory. I had to, by myself wheel in the bed, all the set decoration such as the stove, bracing for the bed, all the blankets and pillows, camera, tripod, the whole nine yards. I took it back in a deer cart my dad let me borrow, dragged it up over logs, nearly broke my back...then I set it all up, spent the night there for method acting purposes, woke up shot everything, packed everything back up and hauled ass.

That was just one day. The showdown scene was a real bastard because I had to hike in to a location I had scouted. Only this time the hike was weighted down with costumes and equipment. It was about 2 miles of up and down steep as hell terrain. I'm use to that kind of stuff though. I'm totally conditioned for it and do it constantly. I had a blast. The end result or vision I had kept throbbing in my brain and pushing me foward. What you see is a story I'm sincerely trying to tell, not something I slapped together. Even though it looks that way at times :grin:

Everything you see or hear you can bet I meant to do it and gave it extensive, scratch that, exhaustive thought. Now my skills on the otherhand might not be caught up with my passion, but I'm working on it. I especially think that about my handling of the DVX at this point. I don't know it like I should yet. I appreciate and recognize all the superior talents on these boards. I look forward to learning from you.

[Aaron Marshall]

Aaron--

I got to download yours before the bandwith went down the potty.

I could sense the influence right off, and it was coooool.

Of course, your score is the best part about it all. Great color falls in next, really captured a sense of the World of Mana. =D

Good job! I'm jealous!

Thanks Kholi! That means a lot. I'm glad you liked the score. I'll upload it into four separate mp3's in a couple of weeks. I knew you could sense the influence. There's a lot of vibes from the SNES RPG days in there.

[Dahopafilms]

Aaron,

I've watched your film twice. And I read your long description of how you filmed this. I get that really creepy feeling that we're all going to be hearing a lot more from you in the future. Why? Because it really sounds like you singularly busted a gut to make this and you really care about the story, the film and everything about it. Holy crap, you even scored it yourself.

Just to be absolutely clear, are you telling us that you filmed this totally on your own and then edited in the pans and zooms? Absolutely freaking fabulous.

What I liked:

Very tonal and complete in feel. Nice job.
You went out and got great locations. I was totally in as soon as I saw the interior in the stone cabin. You can't build sets like that - but you CAN be smart enough to use locations that already exist - even if it means breaking your back getting there.
The music/score was perfect. Loved it.
The look was great - nice colours in the opening shots and some very nice effects.
The VO narrative worked for me - and I can pick out a fake "British-type" accent a mile away. And yes, it was fake. But not too fake. Nice.
I liked your cuts. They completely worked for me in the context of this piece.
Your enthusiasm is coming across on screen. Well done.

What I'm not too sure about:

PERHAPS the story could be tightened up a little. Just a little.
The battle scene with our hero waking up and just wiping out the bad guy didn't really do it for me.

And did I mention that I'm a total sucker for any film involving a dog? The little guy was awesome.

Lastly (and I'm showing a little age here) I think this type of work (if not this piece itself) accomplished what Brian Wilson tried to do years ago in his Mount Vernon and Fairway fairy tale. He tried to make something for the kids (which in my view ended up as quite lame). Had he accomplished something along the lines of what you have done, I think he would have been pleased.

Really, really well done.

Thanks for sharing this with us.

And go pat your dog. Then make another film.

[Kholi]

I just noticed that the main character looked like a certain cunning yet handsome thief from Final Fantasy 3 (US). Hehe.

[david jerome]

I loved it Aaron. It's amazing that you did that by yourself. The setting was beautiful and drew me in. How do you make such pretty pictures under 40mb?

[Aaron Marshall]

I've watched your film twice. And I read your long description of how you filmed this. I get that really creepy feeling that we're all going to be hearing a lot more from you in the future. Why? Because it really sounds like you singularly busted a gut to make this and you really care about the story, the film and everything about it. Holy crap, you even scored it yourself.


Just to be absolutely clear, are you telling us that you filmed this totally on your own and then edited in the pans and zooms? Absolutely freaking fabulous.



Thank you very much for watching my film. I'm very gracious for your observations, and kind words.

I did all the pans in post. I did the zooms using the remote control. If you look really closely in that scene coming into the window you can see it in my hand. I tried to hide it as best I could. If I'd not said anything you might think it was just a shadow or something from my hand.

There was one scene in which I had my sister use a homemade steady cam type device where I walked over that log. We did like 10 takes and one of them turned out halfway decent. In some of the scenes with the villains I did really quick cuts using my neice as a stand-in for the mask and cloak.

The dark ones were meant to be figurative. They meant to represent a much larger group of their species. I set up the showdown sequence as kind of like a chess game, or turn based RPG. I think anyone that's played those type of games could relate to the scene.

You're right about the showdown scene. I wish I could have done the showdown scene differently. It would have been if I had any semblance of a crew, or heck even one or two people. It just makes me look forward to next time when hopefully I'll have more resources. When I came back and saw my footage I just had to work with it. Things were starting to green out and it's not like I could do any reshoots.

And did I mention that I'm a total sucker for any film involving a dog? The little guy was awesome.

I think any dog or animals enthusiasts will view this movie differently and probably more deeply. Her name is Esther. She a 5 year old Jack Russell terrier. She's so awesome and so smart. I love her. Man's best friend for sure. She's never been trained for anything like this and she nailed everything in 1 or 2 takes tops. I couldn't believe it. It's like she wanted to do it and knew what she was doing. It kind of scared me.

There was one scene where I had an idea to actually put the camera on her stomach, start rolling, walk away and come and check on her. I thought, "Nah that'll never work, she'll move and knock the camera over. I tried it and said "Esther, sit still now, don't move". She stayed in position, I put the camera a little on the ground and a little on her stomach. If she would have moved even the slightest the camera would have lost its framing. She didn't move one single muscle except for her face and head area. I hit record, walked away, came back and boom we had it in the first take. I gave her a doggie treat for that and she kept performing flawlessly the rest of the day for me.

She's a very special creature. I'm glad I somewhat immortalized her in a story. During the reshoots where everything greened out Esther ran off after a chipmunk or something and got lost. She normally does this type of thing, but the thing different about this time was, I was really moving and trying to focus on getting the film finished. So I didn't pay attention to her following me. I just assumed she was there. I put all my stuff down and started looking for her. That's when I wrote all the musical themes for when she was sick. In a way she helped me out there too. Later that evening I found her. Or she found me is more like it.



Really, really well done.

Thanks for sharing this with us.

And go pat your dog. Then make another film.

Thanks again. I deeply appreciate your feedback. I think you carefully examined my film for what it was, and your criticism is truly thought out, honest, and constructive.

[Mark Dog]

great film man what program did u use for CC??? it had very mythical feel


peace n luv

Mark Dog

[Aaron Marshall]

Thank you. I'm glad you liked it.

Just Vegas 5.0. I kind of treated it like a video photoshop. I used After Effects for some shots. Especially in the intro. Well, the flowers mainly. 90% of it is CC'd with Vegas.

I used a lot of muted tones. I was thinking along the lines of a pseudo color noir.

[Edgen]

aaron!! Man oh Man did I really love your score! Fantastic music to go with this little 'tale' :)

I really dug the effects in the opening scene with the dragons and the little sprites amongst the flowers. Very cool stuff. Location.. Damn! That place was kinda creepy, but then again your amazing music really drove that into us.

I didn't know you filmed it all yourself too! That's crazy.

The only thing that I really had problems.. which, hopefully this is constructive was the transition wipes. I think with the context of the film a dissolve may have worked just as nice.

Great animal use too! :) she was a real sport.
Congrats on your film!
/j

[Mike McNeese]

Very creative. Hearkens me back to the days of playing Dragon Warrior on NES. Nice camerawork.

On the critical side, I'm not sure that some of the transitions are fitting. The music at the beginning wasn't bleak enough for what the VO was talking about. Is this guy a superhero or sorcerer?

[Aaron Marshall]

aaron!! Man oh Man did I really love your score! Fantastic music to go with this little 'tale' :)

I really dug the effects in the opening scene with the dragons and the little sprites amongst the flowers. Very cool stuff. Location.. Damn! That place was kinda creepy, but then again your amazing music really drove that into us.

I didn't know you filmed it all yourself too! That's crazy.

The only thing that I really had problems.. which, hopefully this is constructive was the transition wipes. I think with the context of the film a dissolve may have worked just as nice.

Great animal use too! :) she was a real sport.
Congrats on your film!
/j

Thanks Edgen! You know I respect your opinion a great deal. Oh the transitional wipes. I felt like using some creative wipe transitions ala George Lucas or old, old Flash Gorden reels. I wanted it to have that quirkiness, along with a certain grace. As for the wipes near the campire scene, I wanted to move the picture horizontally and experiment with how the screen moving on that axis. So movement had a lot to do with that. I want to convey movement in time and actual physical movement in the early morning light. That turned into a "high noon" type of spaghetti western gunslinger inspired pose walking across the log.

Very creative. Hearkens me back to the days of playing Dragon Warrior on NES. Nice camerawork.


Right on! Thank you.


On the critical side, I'm not sure that some of the transitions are fitting. The music at the beginning wasn't bleak enough for what the VO was talking about. Is this guy a superhero or sorcerer?

The music is something I had the most mature control over both emotionally and technically in the process. It was meant to counterpoint the truly dark things happening to the world. It wasn't so "melodramatic". It stayed coy in a way like it knew the hero was going to save the land. Its changes were very subtle.

Superhero, Sorcerer? What's the difference? They're cultural references to a fictional person with exaggerated abilities from different time periods.

[wesley]

very good feel and imagery in this short. like other said it could have been tightened a bit. good job

[Aaron Marshall]

Thanks wesley. Beyond principle photography, I wouldn't change a frame of what I have. If I could have shot things differently I would have for some scenes. My favorite scene of all is the campire, and the smoke. It's the first scene I ever shot with my DVX, so it's sentimental. It's when it really dawned on me how much I might be able to do with the DVX as a tool. I was very stressed that I just dropped that much money on a big chunk of plastic and electronics. Not after that.

I have a feeling a lot of people aren't watching my film all the way through. It must be excruciatingly boring :). It's kind of something you have to chill into. It's not a high energy drink, it's more like hot chocolate late at night. It's a bedtime story.

While it has plenty of shortcomings, I don't think any other film in the fest could be described as "elegant" as much as my film was; I think elegance is not something a noob director can pull off very well, if at all. BTW I don't mean that other films didn't have elegance, but mine was thick with it. I'm pretty much divorced from my film at this point. I'm looking at it as a viewer now.

I'm surprised nobody mentioned the elemental aspects, water, wind, fire etc. That's kinda where the hero drew his powers. Maybe it was too subtle? It's weird. Almost every one of my friends and family members I showed instantly picked up on that.

My next film will be better. That's really what you have to focus on. Compete against yourself. I hope it's horrorfest, because that's how I was leaning in new script concepts.

[Larry R]

This was a nice piece, it had a very mystical feel to it and I immediately thought of it being a children's film when I saw the winged creatures flying in the opening sequence. My favorite part of this film was the location, in particular the cottage it starts out in. You could do so many things with that and it just fits perfectly with this story.

I had a little trouble following the story in terms of the dog. I never really understood that interaction, but I think there was some meaning there that I missed. I'll have to watch it again.

The voiceover sounded really good, it was very clear but not overpowering and it had a nice tone to it. Great job.

I enjoyed the score in this piece it really fit the "mystical" tone of the film.

While I like the stuttered edit effect sometimes, I didn't think it fit this piece very well. Primarily because it wasn't showing a great passage of time, but rather was moving ahead in very small increments of time. I think you should have used broader cuts her or just let it play out straight.

I liked the overall color of the piece, in particular I liked that it wasn't 100% black & white, but that there was still some hints of color.

The framing all looked really good to me. I read in another post that you did this 100% by your self...I would love a behind-the-scenes how-to on how you made the background stretch out while staying static on your face (as the bad guy). It was reminiscent of the hitchcock dolly-zoom, but if no one else was there, how did you do it?

I LOVED when the "bad guys" hand is in CU and the finger motions the "good guy" to approach, like old kung-fu theatre on Saturday afternoon TV when we only had 10 stations :)

The transitions were ok, I think they gave it a comic book feel. But I don't think it would have hurt if you took them out.

The visual fx were decent, and they fit well within the story. None of them felt contrived, or put in for the sake of including an effect. They could use more work to be more believable, but they are definitely better done than I could do.

Overall a great job, I enjoyed it. My only real complaint is that I was hoping for more cape and mask, comic book style superheros....but I think you executed your variation very well.

Peace,
Larry

[Texture]

Man, the cinematography and location was gorgeous. Holy Wow! Really amazing.

A simple story with a delightful ending. Wonderful effects.

[DerrickTempleton]

The entire middle of the film doesn't match the beginning or end. You set us up with this magical world and a dark force that takes it over, with only one man who can save it. Then it's three minutes of a guy in a fedora sitting around, or walking. It didn't progress, the momentum just died. The fight at the end was also sorta anti-climatic, mostly because I don't really know anything about the hero or villian and what they're capable of. The music was amazing though. I loved it, it carried the film.

[MiataFilmSomething]

My first download of this didn't work, so I just got to see it now.

Pros - Great score, some of the shots had a great feel to them, and just an overall neat sense of fantasy. I'm a sucker for dogs, so what a great addition to the story, so much can be spoken to an audicence without saying a single word by using our canine buddies. Bravo.

Cons - I have to agree with a few previous posts about the flow of the film. I would have used my time a little differently. I didn't understand the dead plantlife until the evil dude was killed I just thought you were using a funky filter. Then again, I'm a slow learner, so don't think you did terrible. The end battle could have been a little longer to build some tension, but you had to work with what you had.

Overall - I'd say this was a decent film, but for doing so much of it yourself, it shines. It's an great effort. I felt like I was about to begin a great quest on my PS2 or something. Very exciting to feel that thrill of adventure again!

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Stunning openning images -- really really
Don't know if that was you on the V.O., but it was not up to par with the imagery, sounded like a young non pro's earnest attempt at seasoned professional VO

Love the post camera movement and teh compositing

when the talking ancient rock face acme a I wasn't sure where he was in teh shot and there was no thuder clap or anyting for the character to react to so that moment didn't work for me

teh talking rock guy looked great, and i bot the VO there

I thnk the score is effective

Great look and fantasy feel to this whole thing

love the open / close circle transistions

the effects looked great to!

NICE secondary CC effect withe th trees and what not ay the end.

Dude where the hell do you live Middle earth? :)

I'd like to see wha t you'd come up with if you had a story where two people were in conflict, there's a lot of stuff on your website with dudes running around in the woods.

this is definately the most accomplished thing I've seen you do - congrats

I also might ask you to work as a colorist on my next thing ...

Jack

[Aaron Marshall]

Stunning openning images -- really really
Don't know if that was you on the V.O., but it was not up to par with the imagery, sounded like a young non pro's earnest attempt at seasoned professional VO

Awesome man! Thanks. That made my day. I agree 100% on your thoughts on the VO. Honestly, it was the hardest part for me in the entire process. It took the longest. I think I did 200 takes recording each segment separately. I wanted to time it right with the visuals so they would weave in and out with each other. In the end I was not happy with them. I was surprised when most people bought them.



Love the post camera movement and teh compositing

when the talking ancient rock face acme a I wasn't sure where he was in teh shot and there was no thuder clap or anyting for the character to react to so that moment didn't work for me

teh talking rock guy looked great, and i bot the VO there


I'm really big on post camera movement. Cool, that's a good point on that particular moment with the rock face. The VO there was more exaggerated and performed more theatrically. I also lowered the pitch down a couple of semitones. I wanted it to sound different from the opening VO, trying to cheaply create "another character" so to speak.


I thnk the score is effective

Great look and fantasy feel to this whole thing

love the open / close circle transistions

the effects looked great to!

NICE secondary CC effect withe th trees and what not ay the end.



Thanks, I hope to get better with all the effects. I have about a decade's experience with Photoshop and graphic design. I was hoping that would carry over to AE. In some ways it did, but in other ways I still need a lot of practice. I tried not to make the effects too overbearing.


I'd like to see wha t you'd come up with if you had a story where two people were in conflict, there's a lot of stuff on your website with dudes running around in the woods.

Me too! I dream about this. I just might do it for the horrorfest. They say make movies about what you know, and most of the time I'm running around the woods. :grin:


this is definately the most accomplished thing I've seen you do - congrats

I also might ask you to work as a colorist on my next thing ...


I think so too. I'm proud just to have finished something. I barely did. I had 2 hard drives crash (they only crash when I'm trying to F'n do something), right before I was about to render down the final edit. Luckily I had it backed of thrice. My motherboard of 5 years fried. Of course! So I canabalized another PC with similar parts and finished it all up. Now I'm without a main workstation and a bit depressed and having withdrawl symptoms.

I would LOVE to work as a colorist on your next opus. I feel very honored to be considered.

[Aaron Marshall]

The voiceover sounded really good, it was very clear but not overpowering and it had a nice tone to it. Great job.

I enjoyed the score in this piece it really fit the "mystical" tone of the film.

The framing all looked really good to me. I read in another post that you did this 100% by your self...I would love a behind-the-scenes how-to on how you made the background stretch out while staying static on your face (as the bad guy). It was reminiscent of the hitchcock dolly-zoom, but if no one else was there, how did you do it?



Thanks Larry, your thoughts are most appreciated. That was a nice thoughtful review.

Oh, how I did that hitchcock dolly-zoom type thing... I used a stand-in. It was my niece with the "Dark Ones" costume on. I need some fill shots that I could not get on my own so I asked if she would put the cloak and mask on and just stand there. She lives about 1/4 of a mile of where the dark ones showdown was shot, so the woods looked very similar.

What I did was; I had a steady rig and was zoomed out, then I moved backwards very quickly and zoomed back in. That's how I did the flowers in the intro as well. It really separates the background from the foreground. When I did each of those types of shots I had to do many takes to get the focus right.

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/images/icons/icon3.gif BTS Fact: The shots of the mountains, and very wide vistas I took while I was in Norway. They're on Lake Tyrifjorden, and Balestrand, Norway. I made virtual matte paintings with them.

The entire middle of the film doesn't match the beginning or end. You set us up with this magical world and a dark force that takes it over, with only one man who can save it. Then it's three minutes of a guy in a fedora sitting around, or walking. It didn't progress, the momentum just died. The fight at the end was also sorta anti-climatic, mostly because I don't really know anything about the hero or villian and what they're capable of. The music was amazing though. I loved it, it carried the film.

Derrick. Wow that is harsh. I was prepared to hate you until I read the last part about digging the music. Then you redeemed yourself hahaha. I get your points about not knowing anything about the hero or the villains and what they're capable of. It was probably too broad of a subject to shoot in a 5 minute film.

Personally, I think the soundtrack, and sound design is the most solid part of my film. I was glad to read that you thought close to the same thing.

Man, the cinematography and location was gorgeous. Holy Wow! Really amazing.

A simple story with a delightful ending. Wonderful effects.

Thanks! Yeah I think non filmmakers will appreciate this film. It's better if you don't pick it apart. But I appreciate it getting picked apart (picked apart sincerely) because then I can make a solid film later.


I felt like I was about to begin a great quest on my PS2 or something. Very exciting to feel that thrill of adventure again!

Awesome thanks! That's a major vibe I was going for. My fellow video game nerds will dig this movie.

[jpbankesmercer]

Opening shots were great. I too loved the feel to this simple film. Youve also made me a fan of the transitions you used. Hawks back to the old days innit!
Nice job.
Dog A1++
Jp

[Aaron Marshall]

Youve also made me a fan of the transitions you used. Hawks back to the old days innit!


Finally! Yes Mr. Mercer, it certainly does. My transitions, as well as a few other elements were a homage to Nosferatu, eine Symphonie des Grauens, and other german expressionist films.

Thank you dearly my friend. I deeply appreciate your feedback.

[sean90291]

I loved the transitions. It did give it an old silent film feel, which worked very well...especially since there was no dialogue (other than VO). I thought it was excellent. Something between a beautiful art film and a fanboy D&D film.

[Peter Murphy]

I loved it dude, a lot. I was shocked at how good your cinematography was, not that I didn't expect it to be good, but it really was nice. We definitely need to work on some stuff together. Talk to you soon.

[arielman]

Loved the opening and closing scenes .the shot of the dogs legs thru the window .
Liked how you shot this ..colour correction, effects .
The only issue I have is that the EVIL guy died a little to fast ..

Just thought this was excellent ..just a little differnt from the others I've seen .
congrats
Ian

[Aaron Marshall]

I loved the transitions. It did give it an old silent film feel, which worked very well...especially since there was no dialogue (other than VO). I thought it was excellent. Something between a beautiful art film and a fanboy D&D film.

Sean, thanks man. That means a lot. A beautiful art film... awesome! Now I don't just have to take my mom and girlfriend's word for it. I can totally see the D&D fanboy connection. It has that sort of nerdy aspect for sure. I think I need to stick close to that because that's kind of how I am. I'm not a D&D guy so much but definitely Warcraft, Super Metroid, Zelda, SquareSoft etc.

My dad ripped me a good one for the movie. He's like the devil sitting on my shoulder telling me my stuff isn't good enough (very earnest and truthful). So if I seemed full of it in this thread, trust me, my head is on straight.

I loved it dude, a lot. I was shocked at how good your cinematography was, not that I didn't expect it to be good, but it really was nice. We definitely need to work on some stuff together. Talk to you soon.

Oh dear, thank you Peter. If there was one person that I hoped "got it" it was you. Let's team up on the HorrorFest and show'm how it's done. :grin:

Loved the opening and closing scenes .the shot of the dogs legs thru the window .
Liked how you shot this ..colour correction, effects .
The only issue I have is that the EVIL guy died a little to fast ..

Just thought this was excellent ..just a little differnt from the others I've seen .
congrats
Ian

Ian, thank you for your feedback. The shot through the window was one of my favorites. It felt very "hitchcock". I wanted that shot to be a slightly heightened voyeuristic shot. The evil guy did die too fast, I agree. For the time length I wanted to convey the restoration of this world and not focus on the evil so much.

I get really depressed in the winters. I'm always glad when spring comes. This movie captured that very directly. I was trying to convey that personal emotion. I shot everything up to the "restoration" in early march before everything greened out in Indiana. The rest was shot in early-mid May. The themes in the movie aren't so literal. They are more symbolic. I'm not one of those artist that likes to paint blobs on a canvas. I'm also not one that likes to paint photorealistic portraits. I like a mixture of abstract and reality based or something that is relevent to emotions. I think if either one gets off balance a work suffers. That's just my opinion and outlook.

[Norm Sanders]

Hey Aaron, finally got a chance to watch this. Very nice job, especially since you said it was a crew of one: you. Wow!

That said, the story seemed a little slow to me at first, but finally picked up when he got his mission from the face on the wall.

My favorte part of this were the creatures he encountered ... totally reminded me of the things from Lord Of The Rings ... great job. Nice job with the FX as well, especially the flying reptiles.

One thing I noticed was perhaps an over use of the iris transition within Vegas. It especially caught my eye because that stinkin' transition always pauses for a beat before it closes all the way, and I have NO idea why/how it does it, but I see it was doing it in yours too. Glad it's not just on my end. :)

Oh, and KUDOS to your dog for being able to stretch like that when getting out of bed. PERFECT timing!

[Aaron Marshall]

Norm,

Thanks man. I sincerely respect your critique. I always thought that pause in the iris was because an emulation of human error. I never thought of it as a bug. I feel sheepish now :)

I'm glad you liked the FX and the flying dragons. I'm glad you noticed my dog Esther stretching! I was so proud of her. I laughed when I looked at the footage. She's so dramatic. There were a few times where I had to tell her to tone it down and stop hamming the scene. hahaha just kidding. :grin:

[Brandon Rice]

Hey... finally watched this one over again... wow... this film isn't getting enough recognition. Great job. I absolutely LOVE the last shot where things turn back to color and the dog runs out of the house... how'd you pull that off.... beautiful!

[Cryogenic Filmworks]

Very Kool. A bit artsy but shot very well. Loved the music also sortof dreamy relaxing. I'm not a fan of a lot of voice over but I thought your voiceover was done very well IMO. :thumbsup:

[Aaron Marshall]

Hey... finally watched this one over again... wow... this film isn't getting enough recognition. Great job. I absolutely LOVE the last shot where things turn back to color and the dog runs out of the house... how'd you pull that off.... beautiful!

Thanks Briceman! I'm glad you liked the color change. The dog shots were fairly easy. I just said, "Esther, stay." and she would sit down. Then I would proceed into the distance, out of frame and yell for her. I set up four different shots of that with two takes on each. Most of them only needed one take. The color changes were multilayers with different CC and masking effects, then I would automate them in and out.

Very Kool. A bit artsy but shot very well. Loved the music also sortof dreamy relaxing. I'm not a fan of a lot of voice over but I thought your voiceover was done very well IMO. :thumbsup:

Thanks man. I'm glad you liked the VO and the music. I need to get around to uploading those mp3 tracks. I'm going to remaster them for listening outside of the film.

[Dahopafilms]

Noct,

I just want to reiterate how much I liked your film. Really nice job.

Thanks again.

[penfever]

Aaron -

I thought this was one of the most interesting films of this festival. I say interesting because you didn't take a hero and just let him sit there - instead you created a heroic universe to surround him. The reaction between hero and environment is vital to selling the super-film. Look at Raimi's Spiderman, the way the camera swings like it's on a web when he travels. This was an introspective hero, and he lived in an introspective and solitary world. Thumbs up.
I think you would benefit a lot from working with a crew. Not only does it give you good experience, it's a lot more fun and it can temper certain ... excesses. I particularly think you should get a consult next time on your editing and FX work. You have a lot of knowledge and ability, but that often leads people to be a little shortsighted about the effect their choices have on a viewer. Your choice of circular wipes, for instance, was excellent and kept the video-gamey feel alive, but the desaturated tones were overdone and (sorry) a little hokey.
Anyhow, best of luck and see you next fest.
-Ben

[Aaron Marshall]

Noct,

I just want to reiterate how much I liked your film. Really nice job.

Thanks again.

No, thank you. I'm humbled by your acknowledgement of my flick.

Congrats on you being in the winners circle! Your film was very well written and executed.

Aaron -

I thought this was one of the most interesting films of this festival. I say interesting because you didn't take a hero and just let him sit there - instead you created a heroic universe to surround him. The reaction between hero and environment is vital to selling the super-film. Look at Raimi's Spiderman, the way the camera swings like it's on a web when he travels. This was an introspective hero, and he lived in an introspective and solitary world. Thumbs up.
I think you would benefit a lot from working with a crew. Not only does it give you good experience, it's a lot more fun and it can temper certain ... excesses. I particularly think you should get a consult next time on your editing and FX work. You have a lot of knowledge and ability, but that often leads people to be a little shortsighted about the effect their choices have on a viewer. Your choice of circular wipes, for instance, was excellent and kept the video-gamey feel alive, but the desaturated tones were overdone and (sorry) a little hokey.
Anyhow, best of luck and see you next fest.
-Ben

Ben,

Thank you for your thoughts. I appreciate your feedback. I'll keep everything in mind. I really like what you said about "created a heroic universe" that is a dead on observation. I felt that was extremely important. The environment is always important to me, but especially in a film like this.

Thank you. BTW is that Bjork in your avatar? I love Bjork.

Aaron

[Aaron Marshall]

I just wanted to bookend this thread with links to view the film.

http://noct.us/hero/manadvx.jpg

WMV http://noct.us/windowsdvx.jpg (http://noct.us/media/video/Aaron%20Marshall%20-%20Hero%20of%20Mana.wmv) <- your choice -> http://noct.us/quicktimedvx.jpg MP4 (http://noct.us/media/video/Aaron_Marshall-Hero_of_Mana.mp4)

http://noct.us/hero/dragonsky.jpg http://noct.us/hero/darkonesland.jpg
http://noct.us/hero/oracle.jpg http://noct.us/hero/smoke.jpg

Thanks for watching!