hybridtheory and x_pac_84 - "DEAD INSIDE"

[Ben Sliker]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1159144704.gif

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1159144610.jpg (http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1159144655.jpg)

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1158428714.gif (http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1158619399.jpg)http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1158801815.gif (http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1158801684.jpg)http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1159144727.gif (http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1159145584.jpg)

CAST AND CREW
DEAD INSIDE
A Clean Slate Production

Starring:
Marie Hartsell
John Mokhtarei
Joel Abramson

Directed By:
Ben Sliker

AD and "Everything Else":
Brad Mate

Special blood and physical effects:
Richard Black

Composed By:
Justin R. Durban ("Edgen")

[Brandon Rice]

looking cool man.

[Ben Sliker]

***reserved for more movie information***

[Ben Sliker]

We have a script lock at 26 pages! Let the storyboarding commence! (Actually, I started them a couple days ago, but oh well.)

If anybody actually cares, I'll probably be updating this thread every few days with our progress.

[Brandon Rice]

I'll be watching for updates!

[MOVIE STUNTS]

I love the lettering, grat job.

[Ben Sliker]

thanks! hate to say it is a font tho!

I'm busy storyboarding away, my drawings this time around are less detailed due to the length of our script, my herofest film that never happened had some sweet illustrations, wish it could have come to reality.

[Dario Nieva]

Awesome, I like the poses and the few figures in the background.

[Ben Sliker]

hello again.
Update is that I've been busy storyboarding, and freaking out about geting everything we need with the budget that we have. Good news is the zombie contacts arrived a couple days ago and i did a little test to see how they looked on camera.

shot with dvx (of course) w/35mm adapter, h.264 (you may need to update your qt) - 13mb file

http://www.benjaminsliker.com/various_pics/zombie%20eyes%20test%20pullin.mov

how do you think they look? we had a big debate on which kind to get. :)

[Brandon Rice]

nice eyes! I like!

[Ben Sliker]

i just looked back and there was a sci-fest film named "dead inside" ..... but im totally not changing.

[Ben Sliker]

We went wardrobe shopping yesterday, goodwill is awesome for that, think we picked up everything we needed for 50 bucks. We look forward to destroying them.

[Ben Sliker]

revised poster! i'm about halfway done storyboarding the 26 pager. ugh ... sometimes i wish this was only a 6 min project for the fest.

[Ben Sliker]

Things are gearing up now, first round of shooting is set from the 27th to the 30th, hopefully will have some production photos from then for y'all after then.

[Brandon Rice]

Nice revision on that poster dude... looking forward to your film!

[Ben Sliker]

things are on a roll!!! still need to cast some extras, but that will work it's way out.

Received test footage for gunshot special effects. *evil laugh* It's awesome.

[MOVIE STUNTS]

Like the new splatter background.

[Ben Sliker]

officially brought on edgen as our composer! I'm stoked to work with him, considering it would take me twice as long to make music that is half as good.

We shoot the 26th - 30th, our big special effects day is first ... real anxious to pull the trigger on this one. literally.

[R.L. Scott]

super cool poster, very professional.

[Ben Sliker]

thanks R.L., it's just a teaser, hopefully i can muster up something cooler for the actual production.

update - finished all of the storyboards, for the short and long versions, and have casted a few more extras, I made my first gallon of blood yesterday, it looks sweet.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Ah cool some footage!:)

Nice eyes, lol
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/7195/1153676241.gif
But then they are the standard. I used mine in Odd Squad too for Sci Fest.

Now give us a peep at those story boards will ya :cheesy:

[Ben Sliker]

thanks jack ... you went on a horrorfest posting rampage there ...

Perhaps ill take the time to put together a nice storyboard for you all, they are pretty much a bunch of sketches right now. Currently, I'm busy freaking out cause we shoot on Wednesday!!!

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

yes indeedy, wanted to get subscribed to all the threads so I can get all the updates :thumbsup:

[Ben Sliker]

our first day of shooting went awesome.

All pyrotecnics that were planned went smoothly and looked pretty good as well. I am already sleep deprived/my body hurts from shooting, but i am really excited to see how it all comes together. I don't want to be lame and not share anything, but most everything I would show you would give too much away, perhaps tomorrow. :)

[Brandon Rice]

Cool! Sounds fun and exciting... I totally sympathize with you on your body hurtin' I still haven't recovered from several weeks ago...

[Ben Sliker]

alright, second day of shooting went well, finally got some shots where I could use the 35mm adapter! We are a little behind from where we would like to be right now, but that's just how it goes i guess. Another 12 hour shooting day ahead, look forward to some BTS stills for this weekend.

[Ben Sliker]

YES!!!

yesterday we had a couple of fun shots and finally had the cops called on us. Actually, it was a fire truck, an ambulance and a police car. The situation was that we had someone play dead, hanging out the side of their car in a small puddle of blood. Apparently the giant crane and camera (oh, and the fact i was pouring the blood on him) didn't tip them off that it was a movie.

It was all gravy with the authorities tho, they actually laughed. The funny thing is the previous day we shot off at least 30 blanks in a house and nobody called us in (we also called the police in advance), but a little blood on the ground, and we get the whole kitten caboodle.

Actually quote from the cop: "Yeah, the people in this neighborhood are kind of stuck up and old anyway, just make sure to call in next time, even if it is as small as this."

[Cryogenic Filmworks]

Got footage for the BTS right. At least they were kool about it.

[MOVIE STUNTS]

Is it safe to say that this is a zombie movie?

[Ben Sliker]

haha, yes, it is safe to say that. Zombies fall rather nicely into the genre of horror. We started writing this before horrorfest was announced and went from there. We also missed out on zombiefest last year, so we figured here was our big chance to redeem ourselves. :)

[Ben Sliker]

Got footage for the BTS right. At least they were kool about it.

damn i didn't even think about filming them coming!!! We did get a few snapshots in tho. i believe my camera was still attached to the crane, but not the tripod. Oh well, opportunity missed. maybe next time!

[Ben Sliker]

updated with a couple BTS stills!

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

BTS STILLS:
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/7195/1154367356.gifhttp://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/7195/1154367402.gif Schweet!
QUESTIONS:
A) What 35mm adaptor is that - it looks wee.
B) Why the stilts again? Why not just extend the tripod legs on your camera and run it on the floor?

Jack

[Ben Sliker]

ANSWERS:
A) It is the ifocus35 made by dvxuser's own twocik23
B) we have actually done that in the past. except to extend the tripod legs to their highest, you have to put a 4x4 sheet of plywood on top of your dolly ... and that is a big pain in the ass. The stilt/2x4 bracket system allows the usage of a 2x2 piece of plywood, so you can take it into smaller places. We've already come up with ideas to improve it for next time.

[Mark Johnson]

Reminds me of a project I did near Needles. We were re-creating a big collision involving an eighteen-wheeler that had rolled for one of our forensic cases. We decided to shoot on old Route 66 because it was virtually abandoned with the new highway in place. We used a crane to tip over our truck and a small pickup was positioned on its side to simulate its resting position. We had a camera rig mounted in an approach car to shoot the driver's POV. This was at night and somebody from a nearby ranch saw the overturned semi and phoned it in. We were right in the middle of filming when a police helicopter, state highway patrol cars, ambulance and firetruck swarmed the scene. Seems our client hadn't gotten permits to shoot on the state highway and the authorities were pissed. It seemed certain somebody was going to go to jail over the deal but tempers cooled and we eventually completed the shoot.

[Ben Sliker]

woah vislaw, we didn't have anything that extreme.

UPDATED with new bts pic on front page from when the authorities came.

Been working on a new poster for the official release, but will have to schedule a photo shoot to get pics of the cast in it, 720x480 doesn't exactly blow up to poster size too well.

[Brandon Rice]

What's new with your film dude?

[Ben Sliker]

well, we had 5 pretty intense days of shooting and now we are scrambling to shoot the rest of it on randomly scheduled days. All the footage for our DVX cut is finished, i can't wait to get my hands on it.

I've had some software snafus in the past 3 days but hopefully my new copy of final cut studio will be here soon, then i can start to edit! :) But in the meantime, i've been trying to mock up some color correcting schemes in photoshop.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Cool.
On Devil's Rejects, Phil Parnet took on set stills with his digital camera, color graded them in photoshop, then sent the colorgraded still photos to the lab with the 16mm film and said "make it look like the still photos" (basically) and he was very happy with what they came back with.
I know some people work on their own DV stuff that way too, I think the idea is that you can do anything so easily in Photoshop with a still image, so start there and then try to get your CC in your NLE or effects software to matcj ... the idea being that just tinkereing in the NLE may result in more of a compromise than the photoshop version that you try to emmulate.
So it might be a worthwhile excerise working in photoshop even. I've never done it that way, always just used FCP, Magic Bullet, Motion and G film effects right from the get go ... maybe I'll try the Photoshop method though this time ... hmmm ...

[Ben Sliker]

wow, cool info jack, I put a grab on the first page of what i've been trying to work out. I'll be using the 3-way in FCP and the nattress filters once i start to try to get a look like that.

[Brandon Rice]

PRODUCTION FRAME GRABS: (click to see larger version)
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1155046347.jpg (http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1155046313.jpg)

PICTURE 1: Since My New Editing software is on the way, this is a mock up of CC in photoshop. This grab will NOT appear in our DVX cut but in the longer version of the film. (don't you love how dv shows red?)

That shot actually looks really nice... real nice.

[Mark Johnson]

Nice color work. I think you're going to really enjoy the tools in FCP. Looks like you will have some very nice images to work with.

[Ben Sliker]

Nice color work. I think you're going to really enjoy the tools in FCP. Looks like you will have some very nice images to work with.

Oh for sure, i've used the 3-way in 4.5 HD alot, but for some reason, the film gods hate me and FCP crapped out on my computer :( But that gave me the opportunity to upgrade to the new universal suite for 200 bones.

[Ben Sliker]

ok i threw another still up there.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

whoa cool BTS pics ... do you have an EMT scene with an ambulance or firetruck scene or whatever that is?

[Ben Sliker]

whoa cool BTS pics ... do you have an EMT scene with an ambulance or firetruck scene or whatever that is?

haha, i wish, that was me telling the authorities that there wasn't really dead people in the street. (that was a fire truck, plus an ambulance and cop came) Apparently the old people on that street call everything in.

[RDragonFilms]

nice!!!! looks like you're getting along nicely :) Will deffinatly check back

[Ben Sliker]

updated with some new behind the scenes of the longer shoot.

My FC studio upgrade just came in the mail, so now i can edit once more. yahoo.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

i see dead people :) :thumbsup:

[Ben Sliker]

i see dead people :) :thumbsup:

lol, it was just a matter of time before that one came out.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

or a dead person at least :)

[Ben Sliker]

we've had a couple of crazy days of shooting, from 3-5 am one day and then 430-630 am the next. Oh, and I also moved/cleaned my entire apartment on the 14th, making me officially homeless until the 20th when we move to NC. thank god for laptops!

[VersuS]

the things we do...... :) hope it works for the best! always good to see people who are not afraid to do everything it takes :)

[Ben Sliker]

haha, thanks Versus, the worst is living with dial up internet for a week ... gross.

[VersuS]

I have something that beats that, NO INTERNET AT ALL!

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

haha, thanks Versus, the worst is living with dial up internet for a week ... gross.

new horror tagline? :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
would be / has been for me for sure.

[Ben Sliker]

here you go jack:

AOL and the 56k modem of doom.
"It's all fun and games until you ................... (user has timed out)"

As for my cut so far, I'm at 6'12" with no credits ... eek. ( 1 frame credits here i come.)

I will be spending the rest of the afternoon trying to find that 12 seconds to cut.

[Brandon Rice]

Nice, sounds like you're movin' right along!

[Ben Sliker]

well, it's been a crazy couple of days, 750 mile move and the like, but we have progress!

Sent my picture lock over to dvxuser's own Edgen for him to work his magic with the score. I'm really excited to see what he comes up with.

But until then, a little more work on the sound design/effects/adr on my end.

I'll be in a high speed internet spot this weekend, perhaps i'll have some media updates for the front page by then. ;)

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Man ... you guys are in picture lock and I don't even wrap until the 12thish ... oof ... boldy foreward.

[Ben Sliker]

we got an early start jack! :)

Edgen brought to my attention that i had 3 more seconds to use, so I'll be at picture lock tomorrow. Does that make you feel better?

[Brandon Rice]

hey, let's see some more screenies or BTS photos man!

[Kholi]

Hey Hybrid,

Just snooping around your thread again and ended up with some questions. I know that it was asked before... but I don't think I quite understood:

The dolly contraption you built, what was that for specifically? I was thinking it was for a shot that dollie's directly over the subject, but I think you said it wasn't for such a thing.

And, overall, how is the production fairing?

That still with the actual DVX LCD in it shows a nice bit of framing. It'll be neat to see what you did with that and why.

[xpac84]

The dolly w/ stilts was made specifically so we wouldn't have to extend the camera's tripod legs very much to get a higher shot. in a previous film we had used a 4x4 piece of plywood over the dolly so that we could extend the tripod legs but that was very obtuse and having a loose piece of plywood on an already moving dolly was just asking for either a bad shot or an accident. with the stilts we are able to have as high a shot as we want on a 2x2 dolly which we can get into smaller places and it is more stable than having loose wood on the dolly. as for a dolly over someone/something we can do that too. its hard to see in that photo but on the right side of the dolly there is an l-bracket that we can attach the camera to in order to point directly down. since our wheels can be turned it allows for us to do an overhead dolly from side to side or straight over.

[Ben Sliker]

welcome bradley. hope that answers your question Kholi!

[Kholi]

That did answer my question, thanks for taking the time to do so!

Have fun finishing up your project and I hope no accidents occur to your DVX! Those are always the bad horror stories.

[Ben Sliker]

ok, 3 more BTS photos added to the front page, including me goofing off a little as a zombie.

[Brandon Rice]

any updates dude?

[cinealma]

[quote=hybridtheory]
(click to see larger version)

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1156699659.jpg (http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1156699628.jpg)

quote]

Dude! That looks like me when I get Head and Shoulders in my eyes!


John G.

[Ben Sliker]

Alright, well since it's been about 10 days, I figure I should update everyone on the progress, I got the first run of the score from Edgen and it had some phenomenal stuff, after a few suggestions, I've sent it back so he can work his magic again!

I'll be knocking out some sound design in the next few days, anyone know how to get a good "falling down the stairs" sound without actually hurling myself down the stairs?

[Brandon Rice]

throw a bag of stuff down the stairs.

[Ben Sliker]

haha, thanks b-man ... never would have thought of that one ... lol.

[Edgen]

Alright, well since it's been about 10 days, I figure I should update everyone on the progress, I got the first run of the score from Edgen and it had some phenomenal stuff, after a few suggestions, I've sent it back so he can work his magic again!

Yay Rewrites! My favorite part :)
uhhhh... :costumed-smiley-047

I think it's finally coming together! wew hew!
/j

[Ben Sliker]

alright, well, I've updated the front page with a different look for BTS shots, a frame grabe montage is soon to come. Also coming soon is the official poster!!!

[Brandon Rice]

COOOL stuff dude. This is one I think will be great!

[MOKO]

What's up Ben? How's post? Lemme know the latest on any ADR work that needs to be done. I'm in my new place in Chicago now, and we finally got internet! The pics are great, good shots for the BTS. Art recalling art...precisely! :dankk2:

[Ben Sliker]

What's up Ben? How's post? Lemme know the latest on any ADR work that needs to be done. I'm in my new place in Chicago now, and we finally got internet! The pics are great, good shots for the BTS. Art recalling art...precisely! :dankk2:

and let's everyone welcome John Mokhtarei to the ring, our lead actor, nice to see you on dvxuser, even with that silly Z1U you own.

Got our final cut music back from Edgen and it sounds phenomenal, cheers to Edgen if you are out there!:beer:

[Edgen]

:)

I'm out here. Looking forward to seeing the final result! wew hew!!!

/j

[Ben Sliker]

alright, i have a new frame grab montage up on the first page, just click the link to see them!

[Charli]

Got to love those early morning or are they called, late night shoots?

[Tom Marshall]

alright, i have a new frame grab montage up on the first page, just click the link to see them!

The montage looks good man!

[conrad_johnson]

alright, i have a new frame grab montage up on the first page, just click the link to see them!
ooh...I hope the guy in the first grab is puking.

I love seeing people puke!:zombie_smiley:

[Brandon Rice]

I like the screen grabs dude! Nice...

[Ben Sliker]

Got to love those early morning or are they called, late night shoots?

Charli, that was during 3 days in a row of shooting at about 5:15 in the morning, but shhh, it's supposed to be dusk, so don't tell anyone. lol.


ooh...I hope the guy in the first grab is puking.

I love seeing people puke!

haha, conrad, he's actually not puking ... yet.

And thanks to everyone else who liked them!

[TheatreGuy]

Nice grabs! Too bad that one of the chick eating on the other chick isn't going to make the 6 min. cut. I like that one!!! :zombie_smiley: :Drogar-Love(DBG):

[Jaime V]

nice grabs man...what did you use for the guts?

[Ben Sliker]

aha!, time to unleash a trade secret.

actually i found it online, so it's not really a secret.

Recipe to make fake intestines -

1 pair of pantyhose - normal brown ones work fine
2 large bags of cotton balls
1 large bucket of blood (karo syrup + water + red and green food coloring)
1 container of liquid latex

cut the pantyhose into individual legs, and stuff them with the cotton, doing your best "intestine" look.

My own personal touch - dip the entire pantyhouse/cotton combo in liquid latex, get it nice and soaked. Let dry over night.

Before shooting, soak the intestines in your blood and presto/chango you have some gross looking intestines. If you want to be really creative, you can do another layer of liquid latex, so if someone were bite into it, they would rip apart like skin.

hope that helps!

[Ben Sliker]

Nice grabs! Too bad that one of the chick eating on the other chick isn't going to make the 6 min. cut. I like that one!!! :zombie_smiley: :Drogar-Love(DBG):

yeah ... we have a 30 min version as well, i just have to edit it. lol. but you guys will be the first to know once it is done (be it a dvd or just online).

[Jaime V]

If you want to be really creative, you can do another layer of liquid latex, so if someone were bite into it, they would rip apart like skin.

hope that helps!

Wow...awesome. Thanks for sharing :)

[Charli]

I really, really, hate panyhoses. They drive me crazy. Nice to see they have
multiple uses other than costumes for armed robberies.

[Ben Sliker]

alright! Got the official movie poster up on the front page! (click it to see the big one)

and a new conforming banner.

i'd love some comments/criticism on them. :)

[Ben Sliker]

oh, that and our tag line on the poster

"Dying is only the half of it"

[Brandon Rice]

I like your poster dude! :thumbsup:

[Ben Sliker]

thanks bman, sounds like you are well on your way to getting something in as well!

[Brandon Rice]

Yes sir! Doing my darndest!

[jeans]

I like the poster overall. Only it seems pretty apparent that the guy in the front is lit differently than the two people behind him. It's a Sean of the Dead thing right? I don't remember exactly what that cover looked like, but it seems similar to me.

[Ben Sliker]

thanks jeans, and yes, it bears striking resemblance to the euro version of the Shaun of the Dead Poster.

thanks for the lighting comment, i tried to make him stand out from the other two on purpose (lighting, clothes, post work). Does it work or is it distracting?

[jeans]

Does it work or is it distracting?

Well, for me it's a bit distracting. But I am someone who has spent a lot of time with photoshop, so the difference makes me think about the process of cutting out the images.

[Ben Sliker]

alright, well i'm tweaking sound design at the moment and trying to reduce grain in some shots, but that's not very interesting, so i'll give you guys some eye candy.

Here is our production logo (sliker + mate = slate) if anyone cares about origin
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1159318381.jpg

And here's me tooling around in PS.
I'm on the left and my counterpart in crime is on the right. And yes, we have mohawks ... sometimes.
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1159318526.jpg

[Ralph Oshiro]

Nice! Very slick! I liked the first one. Great job on the poster, too--very commercial-looking!

[Ben Sliker]

*drumroll*

for the 100th post in my thread, here's a treat for you all, a funny BTS video.

http://www.benjaminsliker.com/videos/zombie%20bitch.mov

right click and download please (i don't pay that much for space, it's slow sometimes)

[Brandon Rice]

ROFL, that was hillarious dude!

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

ths clip was funny
but the zombie community is never going to get anywhere if some keep reffereing to their women as bitches and ho's.

And I bellieve the term is "Undead American", not "Zombie" ... tsk, tsk

[Ben Sliker]

jack ... seriously, stop being so damn funny, i can't take it anymore. lol.

I've also heard that "deceased-capable" is an acceptable term.

[Ben Sliker]

well, this may be a shameless bump, but we actually managed to upload before midnight on the 1st.

On to editing the long format version!!!

[Brandon Rice]

Hey buddy! Really looking forward to your filM! :)

[Brandon Rice]

Let me say... I usually hate Zombie flicks, but I dug yours... a full review later. Great job!

[Ben Sliker]

thanks brandon!

let the floodgates open! look forward to what everybody thinks!

[Edgen]

Go Team Go!! :)

Ben, Love the music edits btw.. works so much better and seeing it with the final sound fx rocks! Good luck!

/j

[Ben Sliker]

Go Team Go!! :)

Ben, Love the music edits btw.. works so much better and seeing it with the final sound fx rocks! Good luck!

/j

hey, you were the man behind the music, thanks again!

[Kholi]

Review | POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT! I watch the movies first time around strictly for enjoyment, second and third for review.

Hey dudes. I wondered often what on earth that contraption on the stils and boards was for, I guess I now know. One of the more well directed pieces in the fest. Good job.

Script - A horror short with character development. It wasn't as strong as it could've been, but it seems that you were going for this as opposed to gore, am I wrong? We spend a lot of time with these two characters and get to see sides. Obviously, the guy's stubborn and the girl just seems to go along with it. In the end, he finally listens to her and they break for it. overall, nice. A little more tweaking but hey, six minute format.

Direction - Strongest attribute. You kept that camera moving and while in some places it wasn't needed, in a lot it worked well. I liked your tracking and your dialogue coverage. It's great.

Acting - Pretty decent. Nothing spectacular but wasn't expecting that at all. The gun shooting wasn't a sell for me. Maybe he's supposed to be afraid but it didn't work for me too much. Girl was a little weak at times, but it's still fine.

Cine/Lighting - Looked fine to me. Scene compositions were cool. I could see what I needed to see and that's a good thing. Must've gotten hot in that basement.

Editing - Dunno what to say on this. I didn't notice anything distracting. Good going.

Sound - Sound effects were lacking. The gun shots sounded really weak. It might be what a real gun sounds like, but it's a movie: embelish a little. You almost could've gone without the score, I think. Amped up the sound effects more, folley, and relied on the stranded situation to carry it through.

Special Effects - Muzzle shots looked a bit flat. Almost JPGish if that makes sense. Nice bloody ear you had on the ground, too.

Scariest Moments - When the lights went out. Hey, I said it before... I hate when lights go out. It's not fun.

Overall consensus - Very good direction showing from the Hybrid man. I liked a lot of the camera movements. I don't know if it could've been shortened and to be honest it might be fine at the length it's at for what it is. Good job dude. Thanks for entering and showcasing your work.

[Ben Sliker]

first off, thanks for the extensive review Kholi.


Hey dudes. I wondered often what on earth that contraption on the stils and boards was for, I guess I now know. One of the more well directed pieces in the fest. Good job.

Yeah ... we took at least 10 takes for that shots ...eeek.


Script - A horror short with character development. It wasn't as strong as it could've been, but it seems that you were going for this as opposed to gore, am I wrong? We spend a lot of time with these two characters and get to see sides. Obviously, the guy's stubborn and the girl just seems to go along with it. In the end, he finally listens to her and they break for it. overall, nice. A little more tweaking but hey, six minute format.

you should see the 30 min version. completely different. COMING SOON!


Must've gotten hot in that basement.

not as hot as upstairs, it was surprisingly cool, no ventilation, smelly, sticky, flooded halfway through shooting, but cool.


Sound - Sound effects were lacking. The gun shots sounded really weak. It might be what a real gun sounds like, but it's a movie: embelish a little. You almost could've gone without the score, I think. Amped up the sound effects more, folley, and relied on the stranded situation to carry it through.

you're right, that's what a gun sounds like, i hate when handguns sound like a shotgun or cannon, but trust me, edgen's score adds ALOT. But this is also the area i need the most work in, i will continue to tweak. (there also was an audio hiccup in the gun firing sequence because of compression, i could not get rid of it ... )


Special Effects - Muzzle shots looked a bit flat. Almost JPGish if that makes sense. Nice bloody ear you had on the ground, too.

I sculpted that ear myself, so thanks! I don't know about the muzzle flashes, cause those were coming straight from the gun ... those are real.


Overall consensus - Very good direction showing from the Hybrid man. I liked a lot of the camera movements. I don't know if it could've been shortened and to be honest it might be fine at the length it's at for what it is. Good job dude. Thanks for entering and showcasing your work.

Again, big thanks for letting us know what you thought, we felt we grew up alot as filmmakers on this one. This forum gives me great advice for the long cut.

[Kholi]

On the Muzzle Flash - It could've been compression issues? I dunno why they looked funny to me. maybe my eyes suck.

Thanks for reading and responding!!! Good job!

[Lingothree]

Hello -

Good job. Cinematography and lighting was good overall. I liked your camera work, although a couple movements seemed unmotivated. Editing was okay - a little slow at times. I feel like a lot of cuts would have been quicker, come sooner, and in general you could've benefited from more edits. Some shots were a little long, too (at beginning too long on the box, then too long on the door, on door again, on the two of them playing the game on the floor, etc.).
I liked the shots of the male lead with the gun in front of his face. The shot of the female lead falling onto the male after he shot the zombie was a little clunky, though.
Loved the sequence when they're both sitting on the floor, bouncing the bouncy ball. Also loved the sequences that occurred in the dark (lit by flashlights and gunshots) - very cool.
Your story could have used some work. It seemed to rehash that same them of "should we stay or should we go?" - could you have explored something different, or something in addition to this? The ending kind of fell flat, too. What happens next? It felt like you had to chop a couple minutes of the end, or didn't know quite how to wrap it all up.
Zombie dudes were good. Not too over the top, as zombie actors have a tendency to act. So good work in directing the zombies!

Good work. Glad to see a zombie flick!

[Ben Sliker]

Your story could have used some work. It seemed to rehash that same them of "should we stay or should we go?" - could you have explored something different, or something in addition to this? The ending kind of fell flat, too. What happens next? It felt like you had to chop a couple minutes of the end, or didn't know quite how to wrap it all up.

Good work. Glad to see a zombie flick!

Hey Thanks Lingo,
I really liked your flick, ill be sure to get you a review as well.

I actually know exactly how it wraps up! Ugh, I knew that this would happen and I would have to make this excuse, but there is A LOT more to the story that diverts A LOT from the typical zombie flick. In fact, there's about 25 min more, in the form of 70 gigs of raw footage sitting on my hard drive. I just have to finish it.

There are a lot of zombie film snobs out there who hate it when you change the zombie formula, but unfortunetly, you end up getting a lot of the same kind of movies, all based around survival. We tried to challenge this in a few ways.

1. Our zombies don't die when you shoot them in the head.
2. The longer cut of our film is less based around survival and more on the relationship between the two leading characters.

That makes a nice transition into promoting the long version of our film, and yall here at DVXuser will be the first to know about any new stuff. I'll be sure to start up a new thread in the user films section.

[Lingothree]

Cool - looking forward to seeing the longer version!

I love the fact that there are zombie snobs out there. That's funny. I can just imagine: "Pshaw - Zombies simply cannot live if you shoot them in the head. It just simply isn't done. A pox on anyone who says otherwise."

[Ben Sliker]

lol, i'm telling ya, they get fiesty.

[VersuS]

Very nice movie! Had a good background story-wise, started kinda weird though...the guy throwing up and turning into a zombie....then I didnt know what that meant with the rest of the story....

Liked the characters, though I hated the coward for staying in the basement!

It ended quite abruptly didnt it? Just running up the stairs and that's it....

Was there a longer version?

The zombies looked cool, liked them.

One objection...at the end, i loved the sequence with the flash light...but if I understand the zombie breaks through the door inside the basement....but I didnt hear the sound of the door break and with all the boards nailed on it I guess there should have been mayhem....

Overall not bad, very decent and probably a longer version might be way better

[Ben Sliker]

Very nice movie! Had a good background story-wise, started kinda weird though...the guy throwing up and turning into a zombie....then I didnt know what that meant with the rest of the story....

That was our general "oh shit, everyone's turning into zombies" setup.


It ended quite abruptly didnt it? Just running up the stairs and that's it....

yep, it does, but the zombie is still not completely dead! what does that mean?!? (It means that that is important later.)


Was there a longer version?

Was ... no, is .... yes. Stay Tuned.


The zombies looked cool, liked them.

I'm glad the money we spent on makeup was worth it.


One objection...at the end, i loved the sequence with the flash light...but if I understand the zombie breaks through the door inside the basement....but I didnt hear the sound of the door break and with all the boards nailed on it I guess there should have been mayhem....

He's a sneaky zombie, he was banging on the door ... and then he stopped ... cause it opened. But mayhem is fun, I could add some more of that.


Overall not bad, very decent and probably a longer version might be way better

thanks alot man, i appreciate the review, I haven't got to yours yet, but I'll be sure to get a review to you as well.

[Matt Sconce]

I enjoyed the acting, premise, location, camera work, and pacing. I REALLY liked the lights going out and the sudden appearnace. man! I get all freaked just talking about it! This felt to me like it was a laregr part of a whole and it sounds like it was. I think it deserves to be a longer film and I want to just say Congrats on getting this nice finished product. I enjoyed it!

[Ben Sliker]

thanks alot msconce!
I loved the look of your film, I'll be sure to get you a little review soon. Thanks again for viewing.

[RebeccaD]

The ending kind of fell flat, too. What happens next? It felt like you had to chop a couple minutes of the end, or didn't know quite how to wrap it all up.

Good work. Glad to see a zombie flick!


Zombie movie was a nice change. I enjoyed the film, though felt some of the shots could have benefited from more editing. The shot of them playing a game on the floor comes to mind. Also, I had a difficult time connecting with the female character. She didn't seem very scared about what was happening. I would be interested in seeing a longer version, as it felt like it ended rather abruptly. I thought the lightling was especially good and loved the flashlight in the dark scene. I really was anticipating something scary when that happened and you came through. Overall, nice work and I look forward to seeing more from you.

[Brandon Rice]

Dead Inside


Script
Hey, not bad, one thing I would suggest is a VO or something, setting the story up a bit more. Why are there zombies walking around? What caused this event to happen? Might just add another element to your film.

Acting
Surprisingly good, I really believed both of your characters, the guy was headstrong and the girl was argumentative but trusting.

Cinematography
Nice, nice. The lighting didn’t draw attention to itself, which worked for the film, and your camera movement was wicked awesome. I LOVED the shot when the camera was moving toward the guy and he was firing at the zombie. Nice!

Editing
I think some of your editing could be tightened up a bit. I do have to watch this and understand it’s a part of a much longer film, in which case the pace would be right on.

Score
Great! Flowed right along in the film, never bothered me or stuck out.

Overall Impressions
Dude, you made a zombie movie that I like! There are VERY few… I am NOT a zombie film fan at all. Anyway, nice work, and I REALLY want to see the full cut of this thing!

[TheatreGuy]

Hey hybridtheory, great job on your flick! It was well-lit and very clean looking. I felt that the camera work was the strength in this film. I liked the dolly shot backing through the doorway upstairs!

I felt that the story could have been told a bit better in the very beginning. Like when the two of them are on the couch in front of the blinded windows, I could almost hear a newscast or inner thought being played to "set-up" what was going on. Just an opinion.

Loved the opening with action! Even if it is sick, gross action! :)

The downstairs scenes seemed well-executed and worked. I would like to have seen a bit more of "her freaking out and causing them to nearly die but he saves her and she calms down" routine! :) I guess I just wanted something other than another, "why do we have to stay down here" routine.

I thought that the ending was sudden and incomplete. It felt like the reel of film ended and we had to load the second reel. That really is my one complaint. Everything else that I've mentioned is only suggestions, but the ending was a sticking point for me. I guess that the little lift of the door/step was a sign that more were on their way? But in a zombie movie, I know that there are more on the way... there always is! :)

If I got the ending messed up, I wouldn't mind clarifiaction.

I really thought that you put together a nice package! It felt solid and well directed.

Thank you for the film!!!

And congrats!

Ted

[Darkline]

You know a zombie movie was just what I needed at the time I saw this!

I havent read any of the other reviews at all, but my only issue with this was the end, or lack of one. I didnt get what was under the stairs or why it was significant - but in all honesty that could be my brain failing at this hour....

So the good was that it was a very atmospheric and punchy short which I throughly enjoyed. it's down in my top 10.

[Ben Sliker]

hey, thanks everyone for the reviews and the suggestions.

Brandon, thanks for the editing tip, you haven't been the first, when i was editing, I really felt that it was faster and faster because i was cutting more and more to get it under the 6 min cut line. So, I was a little hesistant to cut it down more.

Ted and Darkline,
Again, i really hate to make the excuse that "there's 25 more minutes of film around this segment of the film" but there is, we weren't specifically making this film for dvxuser's 6 min cut. This was the only 6 min that made any sense together, and as you can see, was more of a montage in the beginning of the film.

So to explain the ending, the rubber tub underneath the stairs was the same one that they stuffed the zombie in around midway through the film. He's ... not dead (well completely dead).

We set out to make a film that was well paced and entertaining throughout, trying desperately not to confuse anyone!

Again, thanks to everyone for the reviews, it really helps us in our filmmaking process.

[cinealma]

Glad to hear that this is actually part of something bigger. I felt like I stumbled in on reel 3 and then after 6 minutes, the projector broke.

I like the whole Night of Living Dead thing for a 6-minute cut of the film. I think Shyamalan should have done this more with Signs.

Good acting and camera work.

I reserve the right to review further when I see the whole darned thing.


John G.

[Ben Sliker]

well, albeit brief, we appreciate the words cinealma. Stay tuned for the big show.

I started to cut the big guy last night. I would really like to have it done by the 31st, so we can debut it before halloween.

Any more comments/criticism on the look/editing/sound would be appreciated, it helps me in post!

Thanks again people.

(ps, if anyone wants to help score the rest of this beast, let me know.)

[Edgen]

(ps, if anyone wants to help score the rest of this beast, let me know.)

*sheepishly raises his hand while sitting in the far corner*

I take it you were not too happy with the current score? :crybaby:

/j

[Ben Sliker]

EDGEN DON'T DO THAT TO ME BRA! I LOVED YOUR SCORE!

We would love to have you on for the 30 min cut, i just distinctly remembering you telling me that 6 min was one thing/no prob, 30 minutes was something completely different. Didn't want to stetch you too far/wear out my welcome.

Wait, is that someone in the corner ... sheepishly raising their hand?

EDGEN, I CALL ON YOU BROTHER.

[arielman]

Ha A Zombie short ...way to go !

Not sure why the Zombies are there but who cares .
Always like a Zombie short !!!!!

Ian

[Edgen]

*shew.. *

*puts hand down*

OK, I didn't know if were upset or not. If anything, the 6 minute piece was pushing in terms of ALL the other projects I signed on for before the fest deadline, so at that time, I was like.. No way could I do an extended cut like that along with everything else i had on my plate :)

Hopefully with this, the deadline wno't be so jammed packed. I really liked working on this project and would like to see it develop further. Plus.. after seeing the final version, i'm sure I can wrap some of sections off better (instead of you doing a fade out envelope) :)

cheers to zombies!!
/j

[Ben Sliker]

thanks for the enthusiasm arielman!

god, this is turning into a "wait and see" kind of thread ... as in, you have to wait and see the long version to know the origin of the zombies. (There would be absolutely NO surprise in the long cut if i told you now).

[Ben Sliker]

*shew.. *

*puts hand down*

OK, I didn't know if were upset or not. If anything, the 6 minute piece was pushing in terms of ALL the other projects I signed on for before the fest deadline, so at that time, I was like.. No way could I do an extended cut like that along with everything else i had on my plate :)

Hopefully with this, the deadline wno't be so jammed packed. I really liked working on this project and would like to see it develop further. Plus.. after seeing the final version, i'm sure I can wrap some of sections off better (instead of you doing a fade out envelope) :)

cheers to zombies!!
/j

that kicks ass dude, lol about the fade. I will definitely be getting you something now, gives me a timeline to work on as well, which gets my ass in gear. So, again, thanks for your talent on the short, we look forward to more!!!

[Mark Harris]

Wow, you've done a very straight up Zombie flick. It's actually kind of rare in this fest.

I thought this was a lot of fun. I liked the acting. And I liked that your script focused on the two people in this situation. That's where the drama lies. If I had a critique, it would be that I think there could be more of a pre-condition on those two characters, maybe something more specifc about their relationship. Like he KEEPS saying they are safe. But he KEEPS being wrong. It might add a little more life if he had been doing this since they met and she's fed up with his stubbornness. Obviously, I'm not saying do that, but it might help bring these characters just a hair more to life to add in some of that kind of specificity.

The other thing i liked was that you seemed very good at varying pace, and BUILDING moments. That's one thing that's been lacking in some, and in fact is the thing I wanted to focus on most in the editing of mine this time. I thought you did a great job of it.

As for where the zombies come from...er, there's not much difference in my book between explaining it with some bogus satellite back from Venus and not explaining it at all. So that didn't bother me.

The end...there has been a lot of complaining about shorts in this fest lacking an end. Eh. I thought yours was a little weak maybe, but I wouldn't mind ANOTHER choice that shows us that we just saw a moment in time and now it's moving on. Or, if you wanted to get stronger with it, this could be it for them. You could move the story to the point where there is no way for them to get away - like maybe becasue that Jackass boyfriend KEEPS saying: "They can't see us..."

At first, I thought the cinematography a little flat. But I came around to just thinking that was a choice - like you were going for a very "real" look. You bastid, the use of the flashlights in the basement - again, very straight up horror technique, but used very well. I knew one of those bastards was coming, but I jumped anyway. :)

Anyway, nice job on a straight-up horror short.

[Ben Sliker]

Wow, you've done a very straight up Zombie flick. It's actually kind of rare in this fest.

We figured we'd be the only ones ... YES!


I think there could be more of a pre-condition on those two characters, maybe something more specifc about their relationship. Like he KEEPS saying they are safe. But he KEEPS being wrong.

Man, you've got the 30 min version storyline down, you good guessing bastid. lol.


As for where the zombies come from...er, there's not much difference in my book between explaining it with some bogus satellite back from Venus and not explaining it at all. So that didn't bother me.

they come from somewhere, i promise!


At first, I thought the cinematography a little flat. But I came around to just thinking that was a choice - like you were going for a very "real" look. You bastid, the use of the flashlights in the basement - again, very straight up horror technique, but used very well. I knew one of those bastards was coming, but I jumped anyway. :)

It's funny, we keep setting up these elaborate shots and color schemes, only to find out that they blend so well they don't draw attention to themselves, which can be good and bad. I guess we'll have to try even crazier things next time.


Anyway, nice job on a straight-up horror short.

thanks for watching and the extensive review! :beer:

[hvxabuser]

nice squibs and bullet effects you should have stayed on the gun dolly more than intercutting, it would have been more effective. fun to watch but lacked in story. good fx though... good job.

[Ben Sliker]

alright! somebody mentioned the blood effects, thanks alot! My cousin has a lot of "hobbies" including amatuer fireworks, weaponry, etc. So I called him up and he hooked us up, took two takes but we got him to explode pretty well.

How do you mean "stay on the gun dolly"? As in longer shots?

[hvxabuser]

like you had a dolly shot that go towards the guy shooting but it cuts back to the zombie getting hit. it stayed dollying in on the guy shooting till he was done to out of focus on hand i think it would have been a stronger cut. overall good fx!

[jpbankesmercer]

Acting: Solid enough.
Script: It’s hard to expand on the zombie theme, I liked how you centralized it.
Direction: Some nice ideas.
Music: Wanted to hear the voice a little better. Edgen good job as usual.
Editing: Some really nice ideas, like holding the blackouts.
Lighting: Started out a little flat in places then basement shot’s were ace.
Loved: First tracking shot. The blood spurt (boy I like it over the-top, reminded me straight away of ‘Braindead’, shooting behind the girl at the zombie, love that squint, third tracking shot, knocking the nails in (nice man), the focus pulls, torch shots, (tried that myself didn’t look anyway near as nice),
Hated: First shaking shots, (I understand why you used them though), second shaky shot ,(guess it’s just me!), the maggot ear (too many maggots for me, maybe would have like to see an ECU too), the ending (wanted a tad more but I did like the bump)
Overall: Feels like this should be expanded into a film. You had some nice ideas going on. I think with a solid script you could do something really tasty.Top job!

J.P.

[Ben Sliker]

you are in luck jp, im cutting the longer version right now, really appreciate the comments!

second shaky shot? you mean them running down the stairs?

[Slimothy]

Great job on the blood and fx here man. The acting was tolerable, but not the best. I liked some of the compositions, but definately the standout here was great blood blasting! Good job.

Tim.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

HOLY CRAP! I can't believe I am just now seeing this.
GOOD
GOOD
GOOD
SOLID
SOLID
SOLID
ENTERTAINING!
This is the only one that LITERALLY had me on the edge of my seat.

Why? Because you introduced characters that were likeable and then did some really bangup spot on suspense horror editing.

I gasped not once but twice when ...

SPOILER ALERT
The flashlight gets that glimpse of the open door and then again when it gets that first glimpse of the zombie after the door is shown as breached.

And I mean actually gasped. "Oh shi*!" was my inner monologue right then.

I could totally feel what it would be like to be in that situation and have that "Oh shi*" feeling when you see the door open.

Some brilliant editing to like the opening and the nailing the zombies in the tupperware and again the whole in the dark basement sequence - that was just very tight and effective.

A few cuts could have been tightened up a tad. Something about the transition from dropping the box to the basement was muddy. I think we see a shadow move on the box and that felt like a half choice to me. Either the zombie's foot needs to smashes into the frame in that low angle or you need to cut way before they are even out of the frame as they run off. Especially since you have that stairwell side shot of them. Since you aren't going to reshoot I would suggest that you make the zombie's advancement felt in the sound design, with further damage to the window frame, grunts, or sound of him climbing through the window. As it is now that cut slows down the sequence right when you are building momentum. Try the cut between 01:13:24 and 01:14:04.

And we have to talk about why in the world your movie is not 23.98 sillyboy! For WEB, DVD, or blow up to film there is but one choice: 23.98.

Also loved loved the dolly work over the back of the couch down the hall.
Very fluid, very pro, moved the story along, and was aesthetically pleasing.
One ding on the dolly, and this isn't a good thing bad thing criticism technique - I really just totally dug the hallway and couch shot, but the ding is that I don't think that in the kitchen, the sideways dolly move away from the two of them and to the left of screen favoring her and then back to him was motivated. Almost looked like a mistake. Was ist supposed to be motivated by a sound outside the window? If so it seems like a half choice - sound didn't read loud enough and it would need to move off both of them and favor the window. Here I felt you did a poor job of directing our eye when the rest of the time you did it so well. Cut around that right to left strafe if you can. Otherwise its not a huge deal.

What else ... the girl was uber cute :love4: ... swoon.

and ... oh ... really appreciated the detail and time you spent on all the squibs etc. and whether the muzzle flashes were real or done in post they looked great.

Great job my friend.
:beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer::beer:

Now put some friggin quotes in your signature. I don't care why you haven't yet just do it! I want more people to see this film today and tomorrow!!!!

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

I just did my score card for you.
You placed in my top three so far (a little more than halfway through them all)
Shoulda known it.

EDIT: I just checked and you are getting way too few views per day on your thread.
Only possible reaon, people don't know about your flick, so I added it to my signature.

[Ben Sliker]

holy shit jack, you just made my day. wow.

thanks for all the comments. I'm going to have to sit and think for a while before i properly respond. And thanks for the new banner. :)

[Ben Sliker]

This is the only one that LITERALLY had me on the edge of my seat.


that is awesome.


Why? Because you introduced characters that were likeable and then did some really bangup spot on suspense horror editing.

thanks, we rewrote this beast many times to get some realistic characters, and I always love compliments on my editing.


A few cuts could have been tightened up a tad. Something about the transition from dropping the box to the basement was muddy. I think we see a shadow move on the box and that felt like a half choice to me. Either the zombie's foot needs to smashes into the frame in that low angle or you need to cut way before they are even out of the frame as they run off. Especially since you have that stairwell side shot of them. Since you aren't going to reshoot I would suggest that you make the zombie's advancement felt in the sound design, with further damage to the window frame, grunts, or sound of him climbing through the window. As it is now that cut slows down the sequence right when you are building momentum. Try the cut between 01:13:24 and 01:14:04.

maybe i'll have your buddy mark throw some glass shards in there. But I totally agree, the feeling on set was "wouldn't it be creepy to have the zombie shadow move across the box? YEAH!" now it's like "why the hell didn't we have a bloody gross foot move into the frame?" that darn hindsight.


And we have to talk about why in the world your movie is not 23.98 sillyboy! For WEB, DVD, or blow up to film there is but one choice: 23.98.

i distinctly remember a mod post in the FCP forum that say to always digitize 24pa to 29.97. I shot in 24pa! I swear!


One ding on the dolly, and this isn't a good thing bad thing criticism technique - I really just totally dug the hallway and couch shot, but the ding is that I don't think that in the kitchen, the sideways dolly move away from the two of them and to the left of screen favoring her and then back to him was motivated. Almost looked like a mistake. Was ist supposed to be motivated by a sound outside the window? If so it seems like a half choice - sound didn't read loud enough and it would need to move off both of them and favor the window. Here I felt you did a poor job of directing our eye when the rest of the time you did it so well. Cut around that right to left strafe if you can. Otherwise its not a huge deal.

noted, will make sound effect more noticeable.


What else ... the girl was uber cute :love4: ... swoon.

yeah, she's a keeper. Anyone remember this one? see the resemblance?
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1160661187.jpghttp://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1160661166.jpg

That's right, I photoshopped a formal picture of us for the poster, i know, im sick. She was great to work with, but i think in the future i'll refrain from using her as an actress, we may not be together anymore if she has to go through that again. lol.


and ... oh ... really appreciated the detail and time you spent on all the squibs etc. and whether the muzzle flashes were real or done in post they looked great.Great job my friend.
:beer:

They were real! I'd drink, but it's a little early, ah shoot, what the heck :beer:


Now put some friggin quotes in your signature. I don't care why you haven't yet just do it! I want more people to see this film today and tomorrow!!!!

Yes sir!

[theAlchemist]

This won't score high on the originality chart, I thought I was watching night of the living dead: the short.
But it was entertaining and done pretty okay, so it's forgivable :)

I will try and do a real review within 2 weeks.

[Ben Sliker]

This won't score high on the originality chart, I thought I was watching night of the living dead: the short.


As long as it's not the night of the living dead remake, ugh, that film was bad.

[theAlchemist]

As long as it's not the night of the living dead remake, ugh, that film was bad.

I mean the original B&W one :)

[Ben Sliker]

I mean the original B&W one :)

phew, sweet.

[gwmesler]

Thanks for the great review of our short, "Sneak". I thought I would check your film out. As I am not a filmmaker, I don't have much to say about the technical stuff. That is, except that it looked and sounded great. I didn't have to strain to hear or see any of it. As for the story, I didn't have to strain to follow it either. The score sounded just like a Hollywood movie. The timpani (sp) roll was killer!

[luster]

I love zombie movies. the ones i love most, though, are the ones you add a new spin to basic idea.

Unfortunately, this didn't really offer anything new - the characters were pretty common and the situation was extremely common. we've all seen this before in feature films with large budgets, so when you don't add anything new you're basically forcing your film to compete with large budget films directly and that's a competition that's extremely hard to win.

I think the writing could use a little work- pretty much everything the characters said was exposition - it's hard to avoid in a short, but something to think about. in the future try to ease the exposition in there.

Also, because the acting was pretty bad it just made the writing seem worse.
Those actors need to work on delivering lines more naturally, but again when the writing's not great it's a hard thing to do. I think the actors do have talent because when they weren't speaking they were very believable.

There were a lot of positives about this film though. Some of the camera works were great. I liked the dolly shots and such. The sound design was also good. I also thought the flashlight shots were a good way of bringing the audience into the world of the characters.

My favorite part was when you made the audience think the guy was going to shoot the girl. It's been done many times before, but it's always cool.

Anyways, good luck on your next project.

[Brandon Rice]

this movie rocks! In my top 5!

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

...." now it's like "why the hell didn't we have a bloody gross foot move into the frame?" that darn hindsight
just to be clear - its not that a gross foot woul be cooler than the efffect you were going for but that the effect you were going for doesn't read, so I'd just cut and keep things moving as it slows thinngs down. I think you effect you describe sounds neato, but needs to be more visible, favored by the camera and perhaps reinforced in the score or sound design with a scary lick. Even then it might not be right as the shadow across the wall is a suspense trick when you've just transitioned from suspense tricks to a chase and it hinders the chase.



i distinctly remember a mod post in the FCP forum that say to always digitize 24pa to 29.97. I shot in 24pa! I swear!

Unless you are going to TAPE, 23.98 rules.
1 obviously for film blow up you want 23.98
2 for DVD ... well you can burn and correctly display on any tv a 24fps DVD ... why not have it play excatly like film rather than telecined film.
3 for BOTH DVD AND WEVB 23.98 increases your quality to file size ratio slightly and again is exactly like film.

I bet if you burned a 23.98 DVD and QT movie and 29.97 DVD abd QT movie from a 23.98 timeline only Barry Green could tell the difference if you mixed them up and did a pepsi challenge, so why not get the exatr badnwidth and keep it just like film cadence -- improves general picture quality a smidge and incase some studio approaches you raving about your film and wants to do a blow up you are all set.





noted, will make sound effect more noticeable.



yeah, she's a keeper. Anyone remember this one? see the resemblance?
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1160661187.jpghttp://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/5649/1160661166.jpg

That's right, I photoshopped a formal picture of us for the poster, i know, im sick. She was great to work with, but i think in the future i'll refrain from using her as an actress, we may not be together anymore if she has to go through that again. lol.



They were real! I'd drink, but it's a little early, ah shoot, what the heck :beer:



Yes sir![/quote]

[Ben Sliker]

jack, ill have to pm you so you can school me on the ways of 23.98.

bman, thanks again bro.

gwmesler, i have to say, I did it for the prize but it was kinda fun going into your film in depth. thanks for coming over and watching our little film.


I think the writing could use a little work- pretty much everything the characters said was exposition - it's hard to avoid in a short, but something to think about. in the future try to ease the exposition in there.

Also, because the acting was pretty bad it just made the writing seem worse.
Those actors need to work on delivering lines more naturally, but again when the writing's not great it's a hard thing to do. I think the actors do have talent because when they weren't speaking they were very believable.

luster, thanks for the notes on the positives. As for the acting, I'm sorry that you thought it was bad, but I'd really like to know what lines you thought were too expositionary, perhaps i can work around them. Most of the time I set it up so that Mitch is always having to explain things to Madison (sometimes falsely), and I don't really consider that an "info-dump", like normal exposition. But thanks again for the review, this helps alot.

[TheatreGuy]

hybridtheory, thanks for the film! Great Zombie flick!!!

Congratulations and good luck! I hope to see the extended version sometime.

This has been a blast!

Ted

[Ben Sliker]

Thanks Alot Ted, I must say your enthusiam for horrorfest and life is infectious. Now ... go pay attention to your wife on your anniversary.

[TheatreGuy]

She's at work right now.... but we're getting to that part! :)

Thanks. Great stuff here!

[jpbankesmercer]

All the best guys!

[Ben Sliker]

jp:

VOTE 'Broken Circle' No.1 - Because we're skint and need the prizes!

now that's just funny

[mentatDUKE]

Hey hybridtheory. This was a good film. Nice use of DOF although some of it seemed hard to control and was distracting (edge sharpness, etc. Ya we all deal with it...)

Some of the lighting was a bit flat. (Basement chess, etc).

I loved the ol' shooting the damsel fake-out. Your actors were charismatic and the acting was ok. They seemed to have chemistry.

Nice makeup effects although the beginning vomiting blood was a tad unbelievable (didn't really look like blood). The fact that she didn't react with too much disgust took me out of it also. Then again, this does seem like a more light-hearted zombie movie, but if it's comedy, go completely comedy and establish that upfront a la Shaun of the Dead.

The story was simple yet flowed well. Subtle non-distracting score. Good shot composition.


The ending was a bit odd, but all in all a pretty enjoyable flick.

Good job.

[iSTy]

I really enjoyed this film had me heart jumping a few times as what I was expecting didn't happen, and when i weren't expecting it, it did (if that makes sense lol) the acting was good and the actors face was brilly, excellent.
Thank you. :o)

[jpbankesmercer]

Ahem. What's that over there???????
Bumpty.

[Ben Sliker]

Nice makeup effects although the beginning vomiting blood was a tad unbelievable (didn't really look like blood).

IT WASN'T JUST BLOOD, IT WAS ZOMBIE VOMIT BLOOD!!!

lol. Realistically, it would have never come out of that tube if it had been any thicker, I wish we'd got a picture of that setup, be everyone on set was doing one thing or another. but some one was standing in the sink (for the height) on one side of a 10 ft tube filled with blood, and just blew into the tube really hard. Thank ggod that one turned out.

[macintosh]

CINEMATOGRAPHY:

You had some great shots in here, and some pretty good lighting as well. I really liked the first dolly shot when the hand is coming out of the bathroom, it just had a certain feel to it and especially watching it the first time, there was a sorta suspense as to wait and see what happened next. With the end of the film being so dark you did a good job of being able to keep focus on the stuff that was barely lit with a flashlight, so that was a plus there.

EDITING:

Your editing was nicely done, and I'm glad to see that there haven't been too many films that have tried to do over the top fancy editing just to give off an appearance. Your cuts helped move the story and didn't feel awkward which is exactly how it should be done.

SOUND:

At times I found it hard to hear the dialogue, and then the next second there would be a noise that was easy to hear. So it seemed as if the audio levels were a little off, although not that much. I think the mix between the soundtrack and the background audio was nice, and it didn't over power the dialogue. There were just times when the dialogue audio levels seemed low.

SCORE:

I liked the soundtrack in this film. It had a good suspenseful feal and went along with the film very well.

SCREENPLAY:

I've never been a big fan of zombie related movies, but this one interested me. I think you did a good job with it and the fact that they had to wait in out in the basement I liked. It was different, considering most zombie movies that I've seen people make always have to do with the zombies chasing the people around town or something like that.

ACTING:

The acting was kinda so-so for me. At times I was into it and the actors were doing a good job like as they were going into the basement, but then other times I felt as if they were trying to hard to portray a character. The one time that really seemed strong was when madison was saying how she wanted to leave. Her expression and tone just didn't really do it for me.

Overall, I think this was really good. It had good cinematography and lighting and a good story that was different. The acting at times was off, but for the most part your actors did a good job. You had me interested in what was going to happen next and that was something that lacked in some of the other films.

[Norm Sanders]

Just finally getting the time to copy the notes I compiled in a Word doc while watching the shorts:

Yeah, a zombie film! This was fun to see, if for no other reason than to remind me of Zombie Fest. The script had some humorous moments which I appreciated. There were some really good moments with lighting, but there was consistently GREAT moments for the camera work, some of which was really sweet stuff. The female felt stiff to me only in that I wanted more reaction/fear from her. She didn’t seem confident & in control because her lines/dialogue weren’t conveying that … so I wish she would have delivered them more in character (more scared, shaken & unconfident). With regards to an ending, I wish it had more of one … I’m fine with a hanging ending, but this looked like it should have continued because all they did was run back up to the top of the stairs, but the danger we see/hear isn’t from where they’re headed (to make it seem like ‘oh-oh, they met their fate’), but was instead where they just came from … so there was no scare factor in it for me. Otherwise, still a fun flick, and again some GREAT camera work & editing. Oh, and solid VFX.

[Ben Sliker]

hey people, just got back from taking my NC realtor exam, yahoo i passed!

Ok, back to Dead Inside:

NORM! I was wondering when you were going to stick your head into here. Yeah, the ending really isn't for a scare factor, it's more foreshadowing for what happens next. Thanks for the comments, we really tried to pull something together that was fun.

Thanks for the comments macintosh, I need to read up/practice on how to direct my actors. For that matter, I need a bigger crew too. Well, I'm in a new part of the country, so hopefully i can pull some talented people together for the next fest.

Back to editing the long version.

[Norm Sanders]

I want to be first inline to see the long version ... again, some incredible camera moves! :thumbsup:

Sorry for the delay in getting in here too ... I'd been compiling everything into that word doc, and just finally have enough time today to try & update everyone's threads.

[xpac84]

Yeah seriously bro, we need a bigger crew next time. Sure i love all the credits im going to get because im a publicity whore, but i dont think i can survive doing that again. :zombie_smiley:

Just thinking of going from key grip, to standing behind some hot lights, to running around like a zombie (or the other 2 zombies and person i played) to keeping you from blowing up gives me far more scares than the movie we made!

Now get cracking and finish the long cut so we can start working on something new!!

[Ben Sliker]

Yes Sir!!!