Our Hero the...

[arielman]

Well here is our UN-FINISHED short ..Hiccups , flaws and all .

We made the decision to enter anyway on Sat night .(Just ran out of time to finish)

Better to submit some thing than nothing I guess .

Q time makes ours look really Bright for some reason ..Nero looks OK .

I must Thank the Lanning Hat factory( in business since 1949 , same location ) for the hats
and to the Management of the Clarion Inn for allowing us to film inside and out .

And to the Belleville police who watch us rob the bank and suggesting we should of went to the strip club to get some real BEAVER ..lmao

I would like to THANK the actors /wannabe"s who DID show up when asked !!!!

And to Jarred for allowing us to submit our short anyway despite being un finished .

Ian

[Matt Sconce]

I wondered the entire time who the hero was going to be. I think it is hilarious that it was the Canadian Beaver!!! HAHAHA! Good job on giving the film that old time look. I especially liked the scene where the woman is by the water and loses her kitty. It looked great.

[Edgen]

I was wondering when this post would show up.

ya know... Its a tough call whether or not to submit unfinished work or not. I'm split 50/50 on whether or not you should have submitted it. I'm probably leaning more towards the 'not' just because there's so much more you could do with it.

But, congrats on getting something in.

/j

[Dahopafilms]

Ian,

First, I don't get why this film isn't getting more comments. And maybe I'm in a different place than others, but I did not view this as being "unfinished". It was what it was and I liked it. A lot.

Specifically:

The 30's/40's black and white worked perfectly for me. I was there the entire film. Great job.
The costumes - really good. Totally bought it.
The exterior scene with the "Clarion Inn & Suites" sign in the BG initially threw me - but it was framed up so well you were obviously going for the "product placement". I laughed at that and enjoyed it in retrospect, but at the time it was a little distracting.
Nice locations. Really well done.
I liked the classic wall-shadow effect. Especially when you "fore-shadow" (sorry) that our hero is a giant beaver. Nice.

The stuff I thought twice about:

Although she looked great, I wasn't too thrilled with the female actress' lines/delivery. "Thank you for saving my kitty-cat". I might revisit that.
The three guys at the end reminded me a little too much of people I know. And associate with. Please don't make films that remind me of people I know. Thank you.

So I really enjoyed this one. And if it truly is a work in progress, I want to see the finished product. Until then, this version will do very well.

Thanks very much for making it.

[arielman]

Thanks guys for your comments and in being late in responding ...just climbed out of bed ..night shift you know .

Dahopafilms (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/member.php?u=6493)...The Clarion inn sign shouldn't have been in there BUT we had to change camera angle due to people coming up and sitting down and watching ..since we were given special permission to be there , we had to be careful not to offend anyone ..the staff at the Inn were just sooooo great to us . So a little goof like that doesn't bother me at all .

The kitty cat line ...well we did toy with that one line . that was the line she like most and there fore used it .

"The three guys at the end reminded me a little too much of people I know. And associate with. Please don't make films that remind me of people I know. Thank you"
lmao ...I'll remember next time

msconce (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/member.php?u=10327)...glad you liked the joke using the BEAVER as the hero . I wasn't sure how many would get a chuckle from it.

At first we weren't going to enter this fest as how do you compete against sooo many talented people here..about a month later I had this crazy idea of the Hero being The Canadian Beaver . To do this right 30's style ..I MADE sure this time I had period looking clothing , items etc ..remember The Soul Takers ..I took a hit real bad because of the lack of period clothing .

The water scene was a last minute location change due construction going on at the other location we were to film at .
This scene I liked much better . Across the river and you might barely see it , is a very old lumber mill , it still is working today and suppling lumber .

Edgen (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/member.php?u=12891) ... yes it was a tough call ..I know submitting Un finished work should be a No No but everyone in this ( the guys that showed up) put so much into this for me .
I felt with all the set backs we had and we were sooo close .WHY NOT .
The bonus I guess in doing so is to hear what you liked or didn't .
I'm still learning and always willing to listen to one view .

Thanks again everyone .

I must re download all the shorts to my other computer as this one is giving me fits ...Hope to comment later on

[MiataFilmSomething]

You got a film submitted, period. That right there is reason enough to be proud. If you had more time to tighten things up I'm sure it would have been more to your liking, but I think the story of keeping the mystery of the hero builds great suspense and makes it fun to watch. When all is said and done, you should be proud. You made a film!

[Beat Takeshi]

Hey you got it in. I still havnt watched this yet but will tomorrow. Stand Tall, Be Proud.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

first off big kudos and getting a pretty consistent period look.
I also really dug a lot of the compositions.
Not sure how much of an issue this was with the lack of completion, but I had a tough time following it and the transistions scene to scene were just clunky, like you might as well have had black between them.

I liked the last scene a lot. It had a very natural unforced feeling to it.

Again, hats off to you for creating such a consistent period look on ... a nickel :)

[arielman]

Jack .."I liked the last scene a lot. It had a very natural unforced feeling to it."

I think the beer we drank before shooting the last scene helped a lot .

I'm still working on tightening things up a little But when scenes are missing it is hard to make things work .

It is sad when people do the No Show thing . it left me scrambling trying to re film some scenes ..we never did finish those . Even on the Friday night (deadline)we were to film the reporter in 2 more scenes ..He never showed ...Sooooo we did the best with what we had .

MiataFilmSomething (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/member.php?u=12682) ..When I have spare time I'm still plugging away on it ..
We never did the run away Baby carriage scene , ran out of time but we are going to do it and add it in ..just gotta have a run away carriage ..

Aram Bauman (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/member.php?u=414)....I Value your opinion Aram...let me have it.

Well gotta run ..I'll try and squeeze some more in tomorrow
Ian

[david jerome]

Interesting film. It was definitely unique. I'm glad you decided to enter. You went for something nobody else did and I learned some things from it. That's what it's all about. Is there an underlying symbolism between the girl getting her cat saved and the Beaver Hero? It was symbolic to me. Nice work.

[Brandon Rice]

I'll echo what a lot of people have said here... great job on making a pretty consistant period piece... loved that old motorcyle too... I really liked the look of that!

[arielman]

Sorry guys for being late ..I had a bad eye infection ..just clearing up now.

david jerome (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/member.php?u=10315) Thanks David..I see watching my clip again and see compression played with 2 scenes , didn't shrink to 16:9 , FIXED THAT TODAY !
And with a swollen eye to boot ..lol
I hope Jarred will allow a better version (just cleaned up) for the Mpeg .

I hate to say there is no connection between the cat and the BEAVER ..lol I'll let the girl know of the observation...
I would of liked to have a few strippers at the end though ..lmao
Thanks for your comments Dave ..appreciated ..
My girlfriend watched SONIC MAN today ....she loved it!!!!
Ian

briceman (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/member.php?u=6061) vbmenu_register("postmenu_580086", true); Hey thanks .....You'll recognize that Old motorcycle , it's mine ..very rare in North America .

Received your DVD on Friday ...liked the extras you included .
Ian

[Mike McNeese]

Better to submit some thing than nothing I guess .

For sure...glad you got it in on time, 'finished' or not. Looks like you have a great base to build upon...very unique idea and story among the rest of the competitors. Doing a period piece is quite a challenge, and you had many of the elements right on track. Let me ask, though, why green screen some of it? I'm sure if you had more time to tighten up the chromo keys it wouldn't have stuck out.

Congrats...can't wait to see what you can do with a 'finished' piece.

[arielman]

mjmcneese2 (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/member.php?u=5912) vbmenu_register("postmenu_582284", true);
" Let me ask, though, why green screen some of it? I'm sure if you had more time to tighten up the chromo keys it wouldn't have stuck out."

I can blame the police for this ..they really don't appreciate guns even though fake being used in public ..so we opt for green screen instead .

I did spend a little more time on the green screen , it does look much better .

The one of the Tommy gun was a little more difficult to get right .
getting some one to let us use their apartment would even be harder .

We won't be adding anything else ( we like to) ,just trying to clean this one up a bit .
The idea for the short is the same ...when no one shows up for their scene even on deadline ..you make due ..and we did .

Maybe next time things will go better for us ..
Ian

[Mike McNeese]

when no one shows up for their scene even on deadline ..you make due ..and we did.

This was my first experience in making a movie, and BY FAR the hardest part of getting a movie done is the producing work...making things happen...getting people and resources together. I could tell lots of stories, but instead of whining, I'm going to assume that that's the nature of the industry, especially when there is little tangible reward for people to get involved. Next movie, I plan to be on the phone a lot more.

So, kudos to you for 'making due' and sticking it out...you should be proud.

Any chance you'll get this new version uploaded for the HeroFest DVD?

[Norm Sanders]

Ian, considering all you had running up against you, this turned out pretty well. In some respects, I think it hurt not having the hero be seen until the very end, as it was just KNAWING at me to know ... then again, it does finally pay off in the end to know that it was a spoof ... one guy's tale to his buddies about how the beaver made it onto the coin.

I liked the drive by shootings, and especially the final kill on the church steps. Very nice & dramatic.

Unless you want to keep it campy, work on tightening up the cuts (stays on the paper in the typewriter too long), improving the greenscreens, and the ADR (i.e. when the lady is calling for someone to save her cat, etc.), and you'll have a greatly improved product.

Congrats on the submission, I'm glad you did it!

[Aaron Marshall]

It's always hard to make a period film, and you did so quite well. I liked the usage of the Al Capone quote to start it off. You did a nice job getting so many people together.

I loved:

The gun in the violin case
the motorcycle in general
The choral music in that one scene on the steps
The newspaper and vo scene
the shadows on the brick wall, shootout
the river scene with the girl next to it
the typewriter scenes

There were many good parts of this film. I think the biggest weakness was the acting. The physical acting was nice, but the dialog acting was off to me.

overall good stuff, thanks for sharing. I look forward to your future entries.

[Isaac_Brody]

You really have a good eye for period details. The details and production design were by far the strongest part of the film. I found the narrative confusing. I'm not sure why you jumped from year to year. My guess is that you were trying to suggest that the crimewave was so bad that it seemed to stretch on over time. I think it would've been better to stay in one time and build a story around one year. Then again, it's an incomplete film, so maybe you were just strapped for time.

I think too many people get shot in this story. You setup the killings as different scenes when I think you could've condensed them into one montage. I think you misused fade outs and fade ins in your editing. A fade out in editing usually marks the end of a scene. When used it has a note of finality. You used fade outs/ins pretty freely in scenes that were shot for continuity. It was very confusing to watch a scene play out and see fades stiching the parts together. A straight cut would've worked better.

You hold for too long on the typewriter shot. I laughed at the last scene and the Beaver nickel. I know it's an incomplete film, but again your production details were pretty strong. I'd like to see what a completed film looks like from you. Good work.

[arielman]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions .

THE TYPEWRITER
The stay on the type writer scene I know it maybe a little too long BUT I was afraid many wouldn't be able too read it all in time ..I will take another look and have someone else try and read it to see if i can shorten it up a bit

Green screen

Yes it has been improved a bit .a co worker lent me his Serious Magic 2 to see if this would help ...BUT I can't get it to work ..just won't open .

1 shot is much improved ...the Plug em shot is still so so BUT the Tommy gun is proving much more difficult .

I am using Vegas 6 for this . The screen was well lit and the actors were about 6 ft away from the screen ....SOOOOO maybe it is I who is at fault Re- Chroma keying skills.

ADR

The girl yelling "someone save my kitty"....The original take sounded good thru the headphones even with the rushing/loud water . I had the Mic as close as I could get with out being in the scene ..but once in the computer it sounded , well , low ..

Time line & Killings
The years were indeed put in to show the amount of Violence over the years .
We used the Violence bit (killings) to try and show how violent it was ..
The guy on the church step was written as a father trying to escape the violence , a safe refuge BUt as you see he never made it and this was the last straw as they say ...The Minister allowed us to film at his Church because of the CHURCH being the last hope for the citizens and was the last straw which brought our SUPER BEAVER ..He really loved that idea .

Cleaning up for DVD

I'm still at it , not much different for what you see .

ACTING

The biggest problem we had was my BAD GUY never showed for the Inn Scene not once BUT twice ..Sooo on the last Sunday before dead line , he doesn't show .this is after he said he would be there ..In a panic situation I had to step in as the Bad Dude....We had no choice ..do it or scrap it and I wasn't going to scrap it ..soo I played the part bad dude ..the cameraman ..sound man and Director ..too say I had a SLITTING headache afterwords.

I am really grateful the others gave sooo much of their time when asked ..Cheri who plays the Mayors wife was to be at a dinner date for 4PM.
because of the set back she stayed right to the end ..she did miss her 4Pm date by an hour .

My first actor ..Paul who fit the role of the Psycho gangster . had to pull out due to his sister being very ill ...she is now doing well after a brain hemorrhage .
This story was written all around Paul ..change I think 3 times since (no shows)

All in all I am still glad we did finish as the original idea is still there .

Norm ..we only had the BEAVER costume for one night , that's it . It has been booked well in advance by others .

Editing

Thanks Issac for the tip...my brother and I toyed on how to do this ...but went with the fade style instead .

The more I do these the more I'm learning , just wasn't gifted in this department I guess .lol

Thanks again for your suggestions ..I hope I covered everything .
I will try and get the Green screen improved for the DVD .

Ian

[Larry R]

Note: I haven't read the other posts yet, so I may repeat comments that have already been made.

I wasn't sure what to expect considering all the problems you mentioned you were having as the deadline was drawing near. But I am impressed with what you put together anyway.

For sure this was a huge improvement over the last project in terms of nailing the period look. Where did you get the costumes/props? That motorcycle was awesome.

Even the sound design was really well done, in particular the vehicle noises outside sounded right for the cars that would be on the road.

I liked the lighting you used when the guy is at the typewriter...really isolated him from the surroundings and made me focus on him and that typewriter.

For me, the ending was a little weird. It was definitely a twist, but I would prefer to see an ending that stayed in the period of the piece. That jump to the nickel/beaver deal was odd to me, but I understand what you were doing. Though I think the end could be redone and still fit within the rest of the film.

I see a definite improvement over your last piece. Good job!

[ripupthehwy]

Personnally I really liked the film. I thought the story was corney, but corney enough that it was actually funny.
I also thought the "unfinished" aspects of the film only added to the look of an old film. Things like the jump cuts. Reminded me of the old "turner classics" I see on TV.

My thoughts on the shots at:

1:00 I was confused about this shot of the blown up looking bldg.

1:13 A really bad looking Chroma Key. Personnaly I would throw out that shot.

1:35 I liked the dark edges of the picture in the typing/reporter shots added to that "turner classics" look.

1:22 & 3:54 Nice wipes for an "old film" look.

4:24 & 4:49 I liked the jump cuts, made it look like an old film.

Good job!!

Rich
richnation.com

[arielman]

Thanks Larry R (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/member.php?u=501) ..If I remember correctly there was a few of us that had issues .Funny I didn't see the MP4 version until I went to the site to view and Horror 2 scenes didn't compress right ..the newspaper and Pluggem scene ..not sure what happened . they do work in MPEG 2 though!

The scene with the Nickel (close up) was put in just in case some may not have known there is a BEAVER on our Nickel and therefore not catch the joke of of the short.

Lighting

I practiced the night before setting things up and what a long day at work it was ..lol .
I am happy with it as I needed to show the mood he was in .

Did get an idea from watching the others as in CACHE ..nice lighting only showing him ..really like that .

The Motorcycle is mine . Filled in as the guy 2 houses up didn't have his 28 car out yet ...in a way I'm glad as a hit on a bike would be unsuspecting in those days .

lmao as you recall yes I did get hammered pretty good in the last one for the lack of period items .

That wasn't going to happen again..I took Kimkos advice and went to E Bay for most of the items ..type writer , phone , camera .
The Tommy Gun came from Maxsell.com (fiberglass replica) 1 pistol came from Canadian Tire the 38 . is my friends which belonged to his father .It was purchased new in late 1960 ..fires pellets ..it looks sooo real we had to careful Re-police.

The mens Hats came from The Lanning hat factory here in Belleville .been in Business since 1949 , same location ..this is the building Where Tommy walks out from (the Hit) look closely when he is at the door and you'll just see lanning Headwear all the rest came from thrift shops ...3 piece pinstripe suites would cost $8-10 .6 ties for a buck ..suspenders 50 cents each ..hats $2...Cheri took the one I gave her and touched it up a little .
The most expensive item was the Tommy Gun ...about $300 .

Just a question to everyone ..I am thinking of cutting the scene of the Building that was blown up ...right after the Motorcycle hit ..I just didn't like the explosion sound and that scene may have not made any sense other than it was to have been the Distillery . I'm just thinking of the DVD version.

Ian

[Cryogenic Filmworks]

As mentioned I thought you did a good jub with the period look for the most part. It was shot and lit pretty good. It seemed like the individual sceenes were too chopped. Thought it was amusing at 1.09 when the actor made made his "boom" sound when he shot his gun.

[arielman]

ripupthehwy (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/member.php?u=9387) vbmenu_register("postmenu_583960", true); Thanks for you comments and suggestions

You'll be glad to know the old building has been removed a decission made last night ...
the chroma key in that shot has been cleaned up BUT I am cosidering re doing the Plugg em scene ..just can't get that right ..not sure why .

Glad you liked it despite the flaws ....
The story may be corney BUT we love the BEAVER !!!!

Cryogenic Filmworks (http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/member.php?u=8342) To be honest The Boom scene was Actually left in by mistake . Glad you found it amusing .

Ian