Lingothree - Dear Jane

[Lingothree]

Dear Jane This is the fourth film I've directed for dvxuser fests, but first time posting/submitting. conrad_johnson has been pulling the weight on that end.

SEE PAGE 18 FOR UPDATED PHOTOS...

Here goes...

This film/thread contains some graphic elements as well as some nudity - less than a Girls Gone Wild video, but some nudity nonetheless. Viewer discretion advised if you are under 18. Or if you are a prude.

Here are some details worth noting:
Dear Jane
Written by Nikki Miller
Directed by Nikki Miller
Photographed by Joe Johnson
Edited by Nikki Miller
Score by Benny Weinbeck
Makeup by Crist Ballas
Acting by Molly, Dave, Wendy, Erin, Amber, Juliet, Eli, Alissa, Cari Jo, Nikki

Budget $400ish not counting beer
Timeline Story conceived on road trip in June. Screenplay finalized by 9/1/06. Shot 9/8-9/10. Edited 9/11. Hyped on dvxuser 9/17-10/1.
Progress to date Story - check. Motivation - check. Screenplay - check. Actors - check. Props and locations - check. Gear - check. Makeup - check. Shooting - check. Editing - check. Score - check. Sound design - in the works. Color correction - also in the works.

Concept We thought it would be really hilarious to make a funny short written/shot entirely from the point of view of a serial killer, with a "why me?" undertone - why does everyone hate me? why is everyone always running away from me? After thinking about it, we thought this might be a little hokey and not make for a very visually interesting movie - have you seen Lady in the Lake? Unwatchable. So this idea evolved into a film that is still written from the perspective of a killer, but not shot completely in his POV. And instead of a "why don't I have any friends?" sap story, his story is instead constructed through a breakup letter he has written to his girlfriend, Jane, explaining why he's leaving her for someone new. Through this letter we explore what made him who he is today, and what he loved about Jane, the only girl who stuck with him through thick and thin.

Before writing the screenplay, I did some quick online research on serial killers - what their parents were like, what they like to do in their free time, what they look for in a girl, that sort of thing. From there, I made an outline and pounded the story out in about an hour. I've always associated serial killers with Wisconsin, so when you watch my movie, visualize cheddarheads.

Muzak and Makeup The makeup and the score really make the movie. I wanted the movie to be somewhat upbeat and lighthearted - so we thought of the score to Amélie, and the wonderful Benny Weinbeck made that happen for us by creating a very beautiful score. http://bennyweinbeck.com/ (http://bennyweinbeck.com) We were also extremely fortunate to have the very talented Crist Ballas design and execute some quite wicked makeup for some very beat up hookers. This made me pert'near giddy. Crist is the bee's knees. http://www.metamorphosismakeup.com/ MOLLY BEFORE MAKEUP - SO VERY ADORABLE

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/mollybeforegood.jpg

MOLLY IN MAKEUP

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/mollyaftergood.jpg

A still - note bite marks. Yum.
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/hooker.jpg

More of Molly in Makeup
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/cu.jpg

Crist and Molly
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/contact.jpg

Crist and Molly again
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/chinpaint.jpg

And again.
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/hand.jpg

More details to come...

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

ah cool ... I'm first replier in your thread!
Welcome Welcome Welcome :)
Look forward to the "details" and updates

[Tom Marshall]

ah cool ... I'm the second replier in your thread!
Welcome Welcome Welcome :)
Look forward to the "details" and updates

[TheatreGuy]

hey hey hey.... numero three!

okay, I'll skip the rest.... you know what's coming.

Concept sounds fun! Looking forward to seeing it!

As far as the budget.... if we are counting the alcohol into that number, I need to resubmit to the poll!

Have fun!

Ted

[Tom Marshall]

lol... I was going to go with 'ah cool, i'm the second replier...', but the more I copied what Jack wrote, the more I started laughing, so I figured I'd go with it... :laugh:

Seriously though, Lingothree, good luck with the shoot :)

[TheatreGuy]

Hey Tommy, do you mean you "wasn't going to go with 'ah cool" I'm confused. Too much alcohol. Budget running high. Off to bed.

[Tom Marshall]

Oh... wait... I was going to say 'ah cool...' and then leave it at that and change the rest of the message to actually say something meaningful, but I kept typing the Welcome Welcome part and then just copied what Jack said verbatim... ;)

[Lingothree]

ah cool ... I'm first replier in your thread!
Welcome Welcome Welcome :)
Look forward to the "details" and updates

thank you thank you thank you

[Lingothree]

ah cool ... I'm the second replier in your thread!
Welcome Welcome Welcome :)
Look forward to the "details" and updates
thank you thank you thank you

[Lingothree]

hey hey hey.... numero three!

okay, I'll skip the rest.... you know what's coming.

Concept sounds fun! Looking forward to seeing it!

As far as the budget.... if we are counting the alcohol into that number, I need to resubmit to the poll!

Have fun!

Ted

Spending lots of money on props, costumes and other extraneous items is never really that much fun as you see it all add up. Booze on the other hand, always feels like money well-spent.

[Mark Harris]

Welcome and goodluck, the make-up grab looks very nice.

I kind of liked the comedy idea, myself, though. :)

[Tom Marshall]

Hey, very cool shots! Are those green contacts??

[Lingothree]

Welcome and goodluck, the make-up grab looks very nice.

I kind of liked the comedy idea, myself, though. :)

I still think it's a pretty darn amusing little short. So hopefully you'll still be happy with it.

[Lingothree]

Hey, very cool shots! Are those green contacts??
Yellow, actually.

[VersuS]

Welcome and Good Luck Nikki!!! Loved the concept!!!

[Edgen]

ya! Congrats on entering the madness. Looking forward to seeing your film!

/j

[TheatreGuy]

Spending lots of money on props, costumes and other extraneous items is never really that much fun as you see it all add up. Booze on the other hand, always feels like money well-spent.
hmmmmm..... I always have fun spending lots of money. It's my wife who hates paying for it!

[Jaime V]

The makeup on Nikki looked incredible I thought. For a moment, I thought it might be a zombie fest :-)

I wish you good luck, but from the looks of it, you don't need any luck at all :)

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

yeah makeaup looks primo!
but then I'm partial to yellow contacts
HOWWWWWL!

[Lingothree]

hmmmmm..... I always have fun spending lots of money. It's my wife who hates paying for it!

A wife who pays for things? Where do I find one of those?

[Lingothree]

The makeup on Nikki looked incredible I thought. For a moment, I thought it might be a zombie fest :-)

I wish you good luck, but from the looks of it, you don't need any luck at all :)

Thanks - I have a feeling a lot of entries will end up looking like zombie fest, just like a lot of hero fest looked like sci fest.

[Lingothree]

yeah makeaup looks primo!
but then I'm partial to yellow contacts
HOWWWWWL!

Yup - the makeup is really the highlight. I'm fighting back my impulse to post all the pictures right now...

[dvpixl]

I'm going to like this one for some reason...

[Blaine]

Booze on the other hand, always feels like money well-spent.Hmmm. Sounds a bit like Horse. :beer: Minnesota must be an "on the rock"-in' place...:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

[khmuse]

Yup - the makeup is really the highlight. I'm fighting back my impulse to post all the pictures right now...

Hey, why fight it? Lets see some more; first one looks great!

[Brandon Rice]

Yeah, good work on the makeup, I'd like to check out more to be sure.

[Lingothree]

Hmmm. Sounds a bit like Horse. :beer: Minnesota must be an "on the rock"-in' place...:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

How else would we stay warm?

[Lingothree]

Hey, why fight it? Lets see some more; first one looks great!

I'll do some more updates as the days pass. Just don't want to give it all away...

[Lingothree]

Yeah, good work on the makeup, I'd like to check out more to be sure.

Danke.

[TheatreGuy]

Wow, Lingothree... I love your title and the banner. Very nice. Looking forward to seeing your flick!

[Ralph Oshiro]

Wow! Your concept sounds really interesting! And of course, super funny! This thread should DEFINITELY be getting more attention! EXCELLENT make-up artistry--some of the best I've seen! Pretty actress! Wonderful idea! I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing this one! Congratulations on such a neat idea! Go, Lingothree, go!

[TimurCivan]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/2750/1158622767.jpg


OH MY GOD i want one of thoes so badly.... I wish it was real, and like a dog. i would walk it to the park and it would like accidentally eat someones pomeranian...... Awesome Effects shop.

[Mark Harris]

Ha ha, I saw that too and thought of you, Timur.

[Rich Poche]

Wow, this looks like its going to be wild.

Looking forward to it.

Rich

[Lingothree]

Wow! Your concept sounds really interesting! And of course, super funny! This thread should DEFINITELY be getting more attention! EXCELLENT make-up artistry--some of the best I've seen! Pretty actress! Wonderful idea! I'm REALLY looking forward to seeing this one! Congratulations on such a neat idea! Go, Lingothree, go!

Thanks. To be fair, I just posted yesterday and am still getting around to commenting on everyone else's threads.

[Lingothree]

OH MY GOD i want one of thoes so badly.... I wish it was real, and like a dog. i would walk it to the park and it would like accidentally eat someones pomeranian...... Awesome Effects shop.

Pomeranians scare me.

[Slimothy]

That makeup looks pretty cool. How much were the contacts? I saw some online, but they were like $350 bones.

[HAIRY_STUFF!!!]

TimurCivan,

That thing my cousin. Funny you mention pomeranian. they are tastiest of dogs. You obviously know about subject. i PM you.

[TheatreGuy]

Dang Lingothree.... your fingers must be aching today!

I thought that I hit the "networking" circuit pretty hard. :thumbsup:

Any more BTS stuff to share???

[Lingothree]

That makeup looks pretty cool. How much were the contacts? I saw some online, but they were like $350 bones.

I didn't have to buy them - Crist, who did our makeup, had them.

[Lingothree]

Dang Lingothree.... your fingers must be aching today!

I thought that I hit the "networking" circuit pretty hard. :thumbsup:

Any more BTS stuff to share???

I'm coming late in the game, so just trying to get my name out there and share the love...

I'll post some more stuff soon. Right now am just trying to get through all the other posts, in alphabetical order...

[TheatreGuy]

HAHAHA, I hear you!

I don't know if you caught it earlier in your thread but I really like your banner. That is wild. And a great title for your film, too!

Good luck!

[seejay1031]

Looks like good work- Very nice makeup. It's great to see that there will be several Minnesota entries. Conrad Johnson, You, SBT700 & Me, and isn't Horse doing one? I'm thinking local screening. Congrats on the fast shoot.

[HorseFilms]

and isn't Horse doing one?
That's the rumor.:evil:

[Lingothree]

HAHAHA, I hear you!

I don't know if you caught it earlier in your thread but I really like your banner. That is wild. And a great title for your film, too!

Good luck!

Thanks a bunch. Hopefully everyone will like the movie. I like it - it's very quirky. Even though my banner looks like an ad for a battered wives' shelter.

[Lingothree]

Looks like good work- Very nice makeup. It's great to see that there will be several Minnesota entries. Conrad Johnson, You, SBT700 & Me, and isn't Horse doing one? I'm thinking local screening. Congrats on the fast shoot.

Thanks - you name the place and we'll be there.

[VersuS]

It's always nice to see that Minneapolis is responsible for some really nice looking people and talented. I always think of Brandon and Brenda when I hear about Minneapolis....WE ARE THE WALSHES!!!!

[Lingothree]

It's always nice to see that Minneapolis is responsible for some really nice looking people and talented. I always think of Brandon and Brenda when I hear about Minneapolis....WE ARE THE WALSHES!!!!

Were Brandon and Brenda from Minneapolis?

I knew Minneapolis was the best place on earth, but my feelings are only confirmed by the fact that the Walshes were from Minneapolis. But unlike the Walshes, I will not be moving to 90210.

[VersuS]

Were Brandon and Brenda from Minneapolis?

I knew Minneapolis was the best place on earth, but my feelings are only confirmed by the fact that the Walshes were from Minneapolis. But unlike the Walshes, I will not be moving to 90210.

well they tried to move back at the end of season 1, jim actually went back and started working again at the old firm but HE COULDNT DO IT! how on earth was he gonna make the family move again? make brandon leave his buddies Steve, Dylan and David back? leave Peach Pit? or should he make Brenda leave the love of her life (actually love of seasons 1,2 and 3 i think) Dylan.....? or should we just tell Mrs. Walsh, the wonderful Carol Potter that she should STOP WORKING ON THE GARDEN ON THOSE LOVELY SUNDAY MORNINGS!!! NO! you should move to 90210!!! and you can always paint the xmas tree green since the weather's hot enough to make it lose its might!

as you can see, I am no longer one of the worst film makers in here, I am the lamest as well! :beer:

[Lingothree]

well they tried to move back at the end of season 1, jim actually went back and started working again at the old firm but HE COULDNT DO IT! how on earth was he gonna make the family move again? make brandon leave his buddies Steve, Dylan and David back? leave Peach Pit? or should he make Brenda leave the love of her life (actually love of seasons 1,2 and 3 i think) Dylan.....? or should we just tell Mrs. Walsh, the wonderful Carol Potter that she should STOP WORKING ON THE GARDEN ON THOSE LOVELY SUNDAY MORNINGS!!! NO! you should move to 90210!!! and you can always paint the xmas tree green since the weather's hot enough to make it lose its might!

as you can see, I am no longer one of the worst film makers in here, I am the lamest as well! :beer:

They should have moved back to Minneapolis and left Brenda behind. Because Brenda has some crooked-ass eyes. I don't think there are doctors in Minneapolis who can fix that.

[Matt Sconce]

This looks interesting. Your banner is definitely well done.

[Lingothree]

This looks interesting. Your banner is definitely well done.

Thank you. It was the first time in my life I've ever made a banner. Except the one I made on a dot matrix printer in 1st grade in my computer class. It said "Happy Anniversary," and my computer teacher had to take out a dictionary to figure out how to spell anniversary. The other class he taught was industrial tech. Apparently you don't have to spell in industrial tech.

[Michael_Petro]

the makeup job looks great cant wait to check out the film.. I need a cool banner!

//rushes off to make quasi cool banner thing

[Lingothree]

the makeup job looks great cant wait to check out the film.. I need a cool banner!

//rushes off to make quasi cool banner thing

Thanks. Good luck with your cool banner.

[Tom Marshall]

So, Lingothree, what letter are you up to? I see you haven't made it to my thread yet... :(

[TheatreGuy]

She's working in alphebetical order... don't worry, she hit "I" this morning... it shouldn't be long until she get's to "M."

[Lingothree]

So, Lingothree, what letter are you up to? I see you haven't made it to my thread yet... :(

I FINALLY made it to yours, as you probably have already found out. I'm disappointed you won't be in the running for the prize, though.

So don't make bad faces at me, mister frowny man. Your thread was way down at the end :(:(:(.

[TheatreGuy]

So don't make bad faces at me, mister frowny man. :(:(:(.
Yeah, Tommy! Geez! :) :) :)

[Lingothree]

She's working in alphebetical order... don't worry, she hit "I" this morning... it shouldn't be long until she get's to "M."

Your investigative skills are lacking, sir...you were both listed alphabetically under "T"...:):):).

Maybe I should give away prizes, but instead of answering riddles you can guess my location on the threads???

[TheatreGuy]

D'oh!

[Tom Marshall]

I FINALLY made it to yours, as you probably have already found out. I'm disappointed you won't be in the running for the prize, though.

So don't make bad faces at me, mister frowny man. Your thread was way down at the end :(:(:(.
I was just kiddin!!! :D

Yeah, we kind of got off to a late start and for some reason I'm not smart enough to do something really easy just to make the deadline... hah!

I'm looking forward to seeing yours though...


Yeah, Tommy! Geez! :) :) :)
Hey Ted, back off! :cheesy:

[Lingothree]

I was just kiddin!!! :D

Yeah, we kind of got off to a late start and for some reason I'm not smart enough to do something really easy just to make the deadline... hah!

I'm looking forward to seeing yours though...



Hey Ted, back off! :cheesy:
You should just throw something together for the sake of the competition. Perhaps a short film featuring you chasing me with a bunch of frowny faces? :(:(:(:(:(

[Tom Marshall]

lol...

I dunno... I don't think I could... I'm too much of a perfectionist... I mean, I'm going to be picking this thing that we will be doing apart until everyone hates me... I just know it...

[zoopraxiscope]

MOLLY BEFORE MAKEUP - SO VERY ADORABLE

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/mollybeforegood.jpg

MOLLY IN MAKEUP

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/mollyaftergood.jpg

More details to come...


That's quite a transformation. Amazing. You can see the textured veins. First class work.

[conrad_johnson]

We really lucked out this time!

[Lingothree]

That's quite a transformation. Amazing. You can see the textured veins. First class work.

Yes - the make up is amazing. I feel stupid lucky.

[Lingothree]

We really lucked out this time!
Ditto.

[Lingothree]

New still posted on top.

[VersuS]

A still - note bite marks. Yum.
http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/hooker.jpg

More details to come...

Now there's an interesting place to bite a girl

[Tom Marshall]

This contest is starting to turn to pornfest... Nikki here is posting girls with bites on her boobs... conrad is posting about penises, and JDS is posting about a naked person on a chained table for 8 hours...

[Lingothree]

Now there's an interesting place to bite a girl

Where else?

The bite mark actually around the nipple was an afterthought - though that would have been truly tasteless.

[Lingothree]

This contest is starting to turn to pornfest... Nikki here is posting girls with bites on her boobs... conrad is posting about penises, and JDS is posting about a naked person on a chained table for 8 hours...

What, this isn't pornfest? Uh...I think I'm in the wrong forum.

[Tom Marshall]

Somehow, I don't think this place would EVER do a pornfest!!

[Lingothree]

Somehow, I don't think this place would EVER do a pornfest!!

Okay, maybe just gratuitous nudity fest, then.

[Tom Marshall]

I'll go with that... nothin' wrong with showin' a little flesh... :evil:

[Lingothree]

I'll go with that... nothin' wrong with showin' a little flesh... :evil:

ESPECIALLY when 99.99% of your audience is boys, as it seems to be here.

[Tom Marshall]

And juvenile ones at that... myself included of course... :D

So do the ladies not appreciate flesh in movies?? *shocked*

[VersuS]

this is not porn fest but it could turn out to be right after the part where everyone rips their clothes off after watching my movies :p

[Lingothree]

And juvenile ones at that... myself included of course... :D

So do the ladies not appreciate flesh in movies?? *shocked*

I didn't say that - I just think the gentlemen tend to have a higher appreciation.

[Lingothree]

this is not porn fest but it could turn out to be right after the part where everyone rips their clothes off after watching my movies :p

Whoa - what will incite such a reaction?

[VersuS]

frustration

[Beat Takeshi]

Thanks - I have a feeling a lot of entries will end up looking like zombie fest, just like a lot of hero fest looked like sci fest.

Yup yup. I think there will be a ton of similar flicks also but who knows. I'm diggin the makeup so far and it looks like it will be flawless from the background in those pics. Good luck!

[TheatreGuy]

Wow! Looks like there was quite a chat last night. Sorry I had to bag-out early!(damn EST zone!)

So, Lingothree, where is your production at? Are you wrapped, still shooting, editing?

[Lingothree]

Yup yup. I think there will be a ton of similar flicks also but who knows. I'm diggin the makeup so far and it looks like it will be flawless from the background in those pics. Good luck!

Thanks!

[Lingothree]

Wow! Looks like there was quite a chat last night. Sorry I had to bag-out early!(damn EST zone!)

So, Lingothree, where is your production at? Are you wrapped, still shooting, editing?

Shooting is done.
Editing - probably done.
Sound design - in progress.
Color correction - in progress.
Score - done.

[TheatreGuy]

Shooting is done.
Editing - probably done.
Sound design - in progress.
Color correction - in progress.
Score - done.
Sounds good! Wanna jump on my project and help me finish this thing??? (don't worry, I've put away the ladders!) :grin:

[conrad_johnson]

Just finished ProToolsizing your entry.

Now on to color correction. It'll be a long night!

[Lingothree]

Sounds good! Wanna jump on my project and help me finish this thing??? (don't worry, I've put away the ladders!) :grin:

I'm sorry, I only work on ladders.

[Lingothree]

Just finished ProToolsizing your entry.

Now on to color correction. It'll be a long night!

Thanks. How much liquor do I owe you?

[TheatreGuy]

I'm sorry, I only work on ladders.
D'oh!

[conrad_johnson]

Thanks. How much liquor do I owe you?
That depends....what kind?

[Lingothree]

That depends....what kind?

What's worth more to you, Guinness or tequila?

[TheatreGuy]

What's worth more to you, Guinness or tequila?
HOLY CRAP! My kind of woman!!! :beer: :beer: :beer:

[conrad_johnson]

I'm gonna go with tequila.

[Lingothree]

I'm gonna go with tequila.

Crap - liquor stores just closed.

[Lingothree]

HOLY CRAP! My kind of woman!!! :beer: :beer: :beer:

You should see how many guys I pick up by roaming the streets and offering to buy them liquor. Or by roaming the aisles of Home Depot and offering to buy them ladders.

[VersuS]

Tequila

[TheatreGuy]

Stop, stop! Liquor, Ladders, Loin (that would be the ribs but I wanted to keep with the "L" motif)... what are you doing to me??? I'm a happily married man about to celebrate 10 years of wonderful marriage to the most wonderful woman I know! (seriously, I am not trying to convince myself of anything!)

[VersuS]

Hey Ted don't fall for that old trick! Next thing you know, you'll be posting for her in here tied up in a chair with your eyes folded and Mozart playing inside your head. You might lose yourself somewhere along the first 5 posts, but who do you think is gonna notice? They'll look business as usual ;-)

[spooky138]

Looks like good work- Very nice makeup. It's great to see that there will be several Minnesota entries. Conrad Johnson, You, SBT700 & Me, and isn't Horse doing one? I'm thinking local screening. Congrats on the fast shoot.

I hail from Minnesota as well. St. Cloud to be more precise. My old hardcore band used to play in Minneapolis at the Foxfire Lounge. Now I live in Germany but would like to move back to the Twin Cities area eventually. Don'tcha know!

[Lingothree]

Tequila

Oh, now I owe you tequila too?

[VersuS]

you owe me more than that but you just don't know it yet....signing off as well....for now....

[Lingothree]

Stop, stop! Liquor, Ladders, Loin (that would be the ribs but I wanted to keep with the "L" motif)... what are you doing to me??? I'm a happily married man about to celebrate 10 years of wonderful marriage to the most wonderful woman I know! (seriously, I am not trying to convince myself of anything!)

Eh, the liquor will eventually run dry, the loins lose their flavor and the ladders, well, they never get any taller. Nothing to leave a marriage over. Now throw an HVX into the mix and it's a different story. So when I win this contest, your wife had better watch out.

That was totally geek humor. I apologize.

[Lingothree]

you owe me more than that but you just don't know it yet....signing off as well....for now....

Uh oh. I hope I'm not in over my head here...

[Lingothree]

I hail from Minnesota as well. St. Cloud to be more precise. My old hardcore band used to play in Minneapolis at the Foxfire Lounge. Now I live in Germany but would like to move back to the Twin Cities area eventually. Don'tcha know!

What was your old hardcore band? When did you live here?

[Lingothree]

Posted more photos on top.

[TheatreGuy]

Wow Lingothree, your make-up artist, Crist, knows his stuff. That is an amazing transformation.

I am looking forward to you flick!!!

Thanks for sharing the pics (and all of the humor! :) )

[Lingothree]

Wow Lingothree, your make-up artist, Crist, knows his stuff. That is an amazing transformation.

I am looking forward to you flick!!!

Thanks for sharing the pics (and all of the humor! :) )

Thanks - I hope everyone will like it.

[spooky138]

What was your old hardcore band? When did you live here?

My band was called The Spooky Kids and I left MN in 2000. We used to play shows with bands like Harvest, KillSadie, Phantasmagoria, Link 80, Hopeless Youth, and Impaler.

[Mark Harris]

Where are you guys at with prod?

[Lingothree]

Where are you guys at with prod?

All we have left is some color correction, a bit of sound and a bit of dialogue replacement. We are on the home stretch. Thanks for inquiring!

[conrad_johnson]

Hey, VO came out great, almost done with CC. This is gonna rock!

[GTP]

Cool... the makeup looks great...

[Lingothree]

Cool... the makeup looks great...

Thanks!

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Great, you're right on schedule. :thumbsup:

[TheatreGuy]

Hey Lingothree, just wanted to pipe in and see how you are doing with "Dear Jane."

Glad to hear that everything is coming along nicely!

Thanks for the visit to my thread the other day. I will TRY to post some more Ladder Rigs that I've created this week! :) I tell you, never did I think that a ladder would be so useful!

Ted

[Lingothree]

Ted, I think you need to change your username to LadderGuy.

Thanks for checking in. Joe has taken the rest of the week off to finish the color correction and sound on his and my films. So we should be sitting pretty! I'm excited for the big premiere, and to see everyone's films. On the one hand I wish they would be available for download by the weekend, but on the other hand I suppose it's better that they're not - that way I can get out and enjoy the weekend rather than geeking out at home in front of the computer!

[Lingothree]

Movie's done, and we uploaded last night.

[VersuS]

Good luck!!

[luster]

i'm excited for this one. are you the only female horrorFest entrant?

[Lingothree]

i'm excited for this one. are you the only female horrorFest entrant?

Good question - I'm the only female director I've come across, anyway. Correct me if I'm wrong...

...can that function as a handicap for me? I didn't watch horror movies as a kid. I was too busy reading Sweet Valley High books, having tea parties and brushing my doll's hair.

[HorseFilms]

...can that function as a handicap for me? I didn't watch horror movies as a kid. I was too busy reading Sweet Valley High books, having tea parties and brushing my doll's hair.

Now that's just plain funny. I'm looking forward to seeing what you've come up with.:beer:

[Lingothree]

Now that's just plain funny. I'm looking forward to seeing what you've come up with.:beer:

At first I thought you had viewed my movie (is it up yet?) and were saying that it was just plain funny. And of course I took that as a compliment.

But thanks anyway. I look forward to seeing yours as well.

MINNESOTA!!!

[Mark Harris]

...I was too busy reading Sweet Valley High books, having tea parties and brushing my doll's hair.

You too?

[Lingothree]

You too?

Okay, I lied. Sweet Valley High was a little too sophisticated for me. It was mostly Babysitters Club.

Once I dressed up like Kristy and wore a Kristy's Krushers jersey for halloween.

No one on this forum is going to get that. I'm sure of it.

[TheatreGuy]

Whoa! DISTURBING!!! Very good, Lingothree. I liked the story. That was just creepy. Nicely done.

Ted

(you needed a ladder in there though! :grin: )

[Kholi]

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


A straight sleeper hit. I'm declaring this one of my fest favorites despite not being able to put it into a Horror Genre. Dark Comedy? I'll ALL over it. LOL.

Script - Great writing!!!! let me say it again. GREAT WRITING!! The Dialogue works. The flow works. The tone, the characters. And it's perfect length! Nice short!!!

Direction - Great camera work. Kept it moving when it needed to be. POV shots were just what they needed to be. I liked how the camera bent over for the spanking. Sweet! Nice Directing!

Acting - From the old lady to the hand writing, this was well acted. The screaming "hookers" were great. Terrified, ready to die. The dead lady was great. Even the foot actresses, shuffling around and moving. Very nice.

Cine/Lighting - A great variety of well lit scenes. The flashbacks were dry and murky, just like an unwanted memory. The Dear Jane letter scene was shadowy and questionable, suspicious even. And the screaming scenes were bright, so I could see the bruises. You get no qualms from me here. Great lighting

Editing - Phitt. Cuts were well paced, matched the tone of the story. And that last long dolly back on the puppeteered body? SWEET. I loved it! Great lighitng there by the way!

Sound - Voice over was great. Straight forward, Microphone must've been a good one. One of the best VO's in any of the DVXuser fests by far. He divulged the right information, kept the right tone and really fit with the visuals. Sound overall was kick ass. Your mixer was great, gotta say it. I didn't have trouble hearing what I needed to hear at all. NICE!

Special Effects - Blood, make-up, dead bodies. All were good. They also fit the non-gratuitous style. I even liked the dead arm that flew off to the side during wood chopping. I liked it!!!

Scariest Moments - The final scene. That was just creepy. I don't even want to know what he did withher like that.

Overall consensus - Exhibit this as much as you can. You have a great short here. I would change it from horror to Dark Comedy because honestly that's what it feels like to me. This short rocked on every single level. Very NICE work Lingo. I'm jealous.

[Lingothree]

Whoa! DISTURBING!!! Very good, Lingothree. I liked the story. That was just creepy. Nicely done.

Ted

(you needed a ladder in there though! :grin: )

Thanks, Ted! I watched yours by the way (one of the first I looked up) and I was very impressed - I'll make my way through the threads later tonight and will leave some more comments.

- Nikki

[Lingothree]

Overall consensus - Exhibit this as much as you can. You have a great short here. I would change it from horror to Dark Comedy because honestly that's what it feels like to me. This short rocked on every single level. Very NICE work Lingo. I'm jealous.

Thanks much, Kholi. I'm really glad you liked it.

Joe (conrad_johnson) is to thank for the lighting, cinematography, and sound work. So kudos to him for that stuff. He's good.

As far as the dark comedy - I suppose you're right that it is a dark comedy, but I don't think that necessarily means it isn't also horror. There's always a lot of genre-bending around here so I figure I'm okay with a horrific dark comedy, no? I do plan to submit it to other fests, though, and will take your advice on the horror/comedy thing.

[Kholi]

Yeah. I'm no authority on the horror thing. It just stood out to me as dark comedy... because I laughed in excess. And the mood and tone really said Dark Comedy/Slasher to me.

[Charli]

FEEDBACK/SPOILERS:

Script: The storyline with the voice over solid, and I don't like voiceovers.

Directing: Loved the boy's pov and pretty much everything else. Very solid.

Acting: God, if she were my mom, I'd kill her too. Again, very solid for what
you had.

Audio: Solid.

Editing: Mostly solid, I did not like the long blackouts. They were too long for
my taste. That was the weakest link.

Cine/lighting: Very nicely done. Best I've seen so far and I've seen quite a few
already.

Score: Ties in great with the action, just the perfect creepy tone.

OVERALL: For horror and not going deep into the hacking slashing, this was
done very, very well. I totally bought it, was intrigued, creep factor ++, you
did a good job all the way around. This is definitely a good product.

[Michael_Petro]

nice creep out factor... the end scene in particular.. What i liked was, knowing how it was going to end, It was still creepy. What id did not like was the long fade to black scenes.. all around Nice work....

[Mark Johnson]

This was a very fun ride. Loved that final scene and will probably have trouble getting it out of my head for awhile. I hope you put together some nice "making of" stuff for the DVD.

I've wondered how many women directors are hanging out here. However, man/woman or mutant alien, you certainly can swim in the pond with anyone. Bravo. Go bring some of your sisters to the next festival if they've got any of your talents.

[Lingothree]

Yeah. I'm no authority on the horror thing. It just stood out to me as dark comedy... because I laughed in excess. And the mood and tone really said Dark Comedy/Slasher to me.

Good - that's what I was going for, so I'm glad this was conveyed properly, and that it made you laugh.

[Mark Harris]

This was really delightful, which might be a bad word for a horror film, but it was just so well put together and unfolded with a sense of humor, and oddly, a weird kind of warmth, then relaxed into a genuinely creep-factor. There was no "Boo, gotcha," just a very smooth creep-out. And I think that is hard to pull off, when it's easy to pull out some boos and scares.

The cinemtography was flat out great. Nice job joe. Really, really nice job.

If I had one critique, it would be story-wise. I guess I didn't get what was different about this woman? Did she NOT try to run away when he went after her?

But wow, a real treat.

[Lingothree]

FEEDBACK/SPOILERS:

Script: The storyline with the voice over solid, and I don't like voiceovers.

Directing: Loved the boy's pov and pretty much everything else. Very solid.

Acting: God, if she were my mom, I'd kill her too. Again, very solid for what
you had.

Audio: Solid.

Editing: Mostly solid, I did not like the long blackouts. They were too long for
my taste. That was the weakest link.

Cine/lighting: Very nicely done. Best I've seen so far and I've seen quite a few
already.

Score: Ties in great with the action, just the perfect creepy tone.

OVERALL: For horror and not going deep into the hacking slashing, this was
done very, very well. I totally bought it, was intrigued, creep factor ++, you
did a good job all the way around. This is definitely a good product.




Thanks Charli. I'm glad you liked the voiceover. I was worried when I wrote it that it would be awful because the whole thing was driven by voiceover (didn't want to make that mistake again), but I feel like it worked well.

Funny that you thought he killed his mom. In my mind, she died of natural causes when he was a kid.

Thanks for the compliments on cinematography/lighting and score. Kudos again to conrad_johnson and Benny Weinbeck for those.

Glad you liked it, and thanks for the feedback!

[Lingothree]

nice creep out factor... the end scene in particular.. What i liked was, knowing how it was going to end, It was still creepy. What id did not like was the long fade to black scenes.. all around Nice work....

Thanks for the feedback. Black scenes were to accentuate his voiceover, but I can totally see where you (and Charli) would think they are too long.

[Lingothree]

This was a very fun ride. Loved that final scene and will probably have trouble getting it out of my head for awhile. I hope you put together some nice "making of" stuff for the DVD.

I've wondered how many women directors are hanging out here. However, man/woman or mutant alien, you certainly can swim in the pond with anyone. Bravo. Go bring some of your sisters to the next festival if they've got any of your talents.

My sisters and I are partnering with a mutant alien for our next short, so it's funny you mentioned it!

For now, I'm just glad to be able to find lots of women wiling to dress slutty, sit in makeup for an entire day, and show their boobies for my movies. Now those are true friends.

Thanks for the kind words.

[Lingothree]

This was really delightful, which might be a bad word for a horror film, but it was just so well put together and unfolded with a sense of humor, and oddly, a weird kind of warmth, then relaxed into a genuinely creep-factor. There was no "Boo, gotcha," just a very smooth creep-out. And I think that is hard to pull off, when it's easy to pull out some boos and scares.

The cinemtography was flat out great. Nice job joe. Really, really nice job.

If I had one critique, it would be story-wise. I guess I didn't get what was different about this woman? Did she NOT try to run away when he went after her?

But wow, a real treat.

Thanks a bunch! That's exactly what I was going for. Glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for the very kind words.

Joe is a great cinematographer. And he only started doing this seriously a year ago. I'm pretty sure he's autistic - he can find something he likes and then really, really geek out about it 24 hours/day until he knows all the ins and outs. I think that he will next memorize the phonebook.

Good question/critique on what was different about this woman. Here's my justification - in my mind, she was different in that she was a good, clean, pure woman (not a hooker) and so he was able to keep her around, play house with her for a while. Not that it was of her own volition, mind you - she was dead when he brought her home. In my mind, it was because he had killed her (although alternately I would imagine that he had dug her up in the cemetery a la Ed Gein...). So in short, no she didn't run away, because she was dead as a doornail.

Thanks again.

[Mark Harris]

Yeah, let me go watch it again. It's entirely possible I am just being thick.

Oh and the V/O was great. I don't have any of those silly rules about V/O in my head. If it works it works. Some of the greatest movies in film history have TONS of V/O.

[Ben Sliker]

Alright,
I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed watching this one, nothing makes my day more than dead hookers.

Highlights:
the last shot. holy christ, phenomenal makeup work. I really wanted it to go away cause it was disturbing, but good job on keeping me creeped out.

I love that you developed the character from childhood, and the score really set the mood for the entire progression.

Constructive Criticism:
It would have been awesome for you to have found a child to play the little kid, I believe the point of view shots work to a certain degree, but combined with say, a long oof shot of the child being spanked, or hiding under the desk, might have enhanced the feeling of him being "small".

Other than that, the VO worked for me, I don't think it could have been delivered any other way, unless you totally revamped the script.

Good job framing to keep things hidden. I enjoyed it!

[Mark Harris]

You're right, I'm an idiot. It's all there. And this might be the only movie in history to feature a DVX-Spanking :)

[Matt Sconce]

Okay, this film worked very well. i enjoyed the theme and the way it was executed. i loved the reveal at the end. Definitely had everything together! Good stuff, and creepy make-up at the end!!!

[Geoff_R]

Very nice work! I loved that last shot as well; very disturbing.

At first I wasn't feeling the VO, I usually dislike it, but it works well in your film. The one big thing I'd say is that although the shot itself surprised me, I knew already that he had done something horrible to her. Maybe it came out in the VO or just in the way the shots were designed early on, but I couldn't help but feel like I knew the outcome of the film in the first 30 seconds. Overall, the writing, execution (direction) was very strong and makes this one of my favs so far.

[Lingothree]

Alright,
I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed watching this one, nothing makes my day more than dead hookers.

Highlights:
the last shot. holy christ, phenomenal makeup work. I really wanted it to go away cause it was disturbing, but good job on keeping me creeped out.

I love that you developed the character from childhood, and the score really set the mood for the entire progression.

Constructive Criticism:
It would have been awesome for you to have found a child to play the little kid, I believe the point of view shots work to a certain degree, but combined with say, a long oof shot of the child being spanked, or hiding under the desk, might have enhanced the feeling of him being "small".

Other than that, the VO worked for me, I don't think it could have been delivered any other way, unless you totally revamped the script.

Good job framing to keep things hidden. I enjoyed it!

Thanks much for your kind words! Glad you noticed the character development, and the framing. And I couldn't agree more with you about the dead hookers.

Also couldn't agree more about the little kid (or absence thereof)...the screenplay originally called for two little kids - a little girl to be hiding in the clost from the serial killer then revealing the killer has chopped off her mom's head, and also a little boy to play young John. When we had trouble finding two kids, we decided to make the little girl in the closet into a little boy (and it's in the movies so no sex reassignment surgery required), and have that same little boy play young John (since we had never intended to show Young John's face anyway). So that boy was set to film, but had other obligations and didn't show up. We wanted to wrap things up - and had to return the lights - so we wrote that actor out altogether, replaced with entirely POV shots (for Young John) and a teddy bear held by the small hand of an 18-year-old PA.

So long story short - I agree we should have had kids, but we just got lazy. I thought about searching the streets and asking one of the many neighborhood kids if they wanted to be in a movie but I figured a. if I told the parents what the movie was about they would turn us down b. if I didn't tell the parents what the movie was about, they'd think I was a pedophile ("hey sonny, wanna be in a movie? in my basement?").

[Lingothree]

You're right, I'm an idiot. It's all there. And this might be the only movie in history to feature a DVX-Spanking :)

Bad DVX! :-BlackEye(DBG

And you're not an idiot. If I didn't make it apparent enough through my writing and direction, then I didn't make it apparent enough.

[Lingothree]

Okay, this film worked very well. i enjoyed the theme and the way it was executed. i loved the reveal at the end. Definitely had everything together! Good stuff, and creepy make-up at the end!!!

Thanks much! When can I come look at your closet full of HVXs?

[Michael_Petro]

*** ("hey sonny, wanna be in a movie? in my basement?"). ***

HAHAHAHA --> Got the same response when asking people to be in my film. I being 41 looking for 20 somethings to play the parts. my favorite question .Sir what kinda movie is it?

[Lingothree]

Very nice work! I loved that last shot as well; very disturbing.

At first I wasn't feeling the VO, I usually dislike it, but it works well in your film. The one big thing I'd say is that although the shot itself surprised me, I knew already that he had done something horrible to her. Maybe it came out in the VO or just in the way the shots were designed early on, but I couldn't help but feel like I knew the outcome of the film in the first 30 seconds. Overall, the writing, execution (direction) was very strong and makes this one of my favs so far.

Thanks much! Glad it's one of your favorites.

I kind of wrote the beginning to give away the end. Or at least to provide an overly strong allusion. But maybe that came across a little too strongly. A master of suspense and surprise I am not!

[Lingothree]

*** ("hey sonny, wanna be in a movie? in my basement?"). ***

HAHAHAHA --> Got the same response when asking people to be in my film. I being 41 looking for 20 somethings to play the parts. my favorite question .Sir what kinda movie is it?

That's where it is very helpful to be a woman. So when you ask another woman "Wanna be in a movie? Willing to take off your shirt?" you have a far better chance of getting an "ummm...okay as long as it's tasteful," or "ummmm...okay as long as you get me drunk first", instead of a slap in the face.

[Michael_Petro]

That's where it is very helpful to be a woman. So when you ask another woman "Wanna be in a movie? Willing to take off your shirt?" you have a far better chance of getting an "ummm...okay as long as it's tasteful," or "ummmm...okay as long as you get me drunk first", instead of a slap in the face.

I doesnt hurt that bad after awhile :)

[Kholi]

Coming back to this one- I can't help it.

I didn't cover production values but yours were pretty damned nice. The dummy strung up looked good enough for what it was worth. The dolly shots going on. The costumes and coordination of outfits.

I'll probably come back and comment a lot more, but just thoughts as I remember the final part.

Also-- For a short, you really brought out reasonings. Opressed childhood could've made him like that, or he could've just been like that from birth. It's a question that you ask in real life but rarely in shorts do you have enough information to apply that same question. Did the god-fearing parents turn him that way?

Sheesh. This one rocked.

[Lingothree]

Coming back to this one- I can't help it.

I didn't cover production values but yours were pretty damned nice. The dummy strung up looked good enough for what it was worth. The dolly shots going on. The costumes and coordination of outfits.

I'll probably come back and comment a lot more, but just thoughts as I remember the final part.

Also-- For a short, you really brought out reasonings. Opressed childhood could've made him like that, or he could've just been like that from birth. It's a question that you ask in real life but rarely in shorts do you have enough information to apply that same question. Did the god-fearing parents turn him that way?

Sheesh. This one rocked.

Aw gee - thanks!

Feel free to come back frequently with more compliments!

I'm confused, though, about what you meant "dummy strung up" - are you referring to that final shot? And are you inferring that the actress looked like a dummy, as she was strung up like a puppet? Or did you think that was a dummy and not a real person?

[Kholi]

Whoa is that a real actress? That's freaky. She looked so ... dead. I assumed it was a dummy!

[Michael_Petro]

see i was gonna ask if she was real or not now i dont have to :)

[Lingothree]

Whoa is that a real actress? That's freaky. She looked so ... dead. I assumed it was a dummy!

Nope - real thing. Check out the start of my thread for some before and after picks of Molly, the actress at the end. She was in makeup for a good 7-8 hours for that 15 or so second shot. The makeup was amazing, I mean absolutely jaw dropping. We were really sad that we weren't shooting on HVX and that we didn't have a closer-up shot once we saw it completed. Crist make it appear as though her breast had been ripped off, and her heart ripped out. He also made her appear very dead - layers and layers of makeup - bruising, veins, petechia.

[Kholi]

NICE. It took me going back and looking at it to see her move. I guess I wasn't looking for little things like that on the first two times I watched it.

Another point for you.

[Lingothree]

NICE. It took me going back and looking at it to see her move. I guess I wasn't looking for little things like that on the first two times I watched it.

Another point for you.

Uh oh - now I'm drawing attention to the fact that she moves a bit.

She hadn't eaten all day and nearly fainted from being strung up in a hot room, so we looked past those little goofs.

[bigteethproductions]

This is also one of my early faves having watched prob. around 6-8 so far.

I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre usually, so I like when there are other elements to it to make it appealing. I prefer the type of stories that delve into the head of the characters vs. just "oooh crazy stuff happens for no reason". And in this case I thought that was cool - though the mother bit is definitely very "Psycho"-like, which isn't a bad thing.

Again, good job overall, particularly makeup and shot compositions.

[Lingothree]

This is also one of my early faves having watched prob. around 6-8 so far.

I'm not a huge fan of the horror genre usually, so I like when there are other elements to it to make it appealing. I prefer the type of stories that delve into the head of the characters vs. just "oooh crazy stuff happens for no reason". And in this case I thought that was cool - though the mother bit is definitely very "Psycho"-like, which isn't a bad thing.

Again, good job overall, particularly makeup and shot compositions.

Thanks a bunch. I totally ripped off psycho and ed gein's mom for the characterization of my own. And while I was into Hitchcockian reference, I threw in some birds for good measure.

[Tom Marshall]

There were birds??? I just noticed the naked chick at the end... :)

[VersuS]

Nikki I have to say WOW!!
My favourite so far!!!! You have so many things that I liked!!!!!!! I loved the story!! I loved the cinematography!!! Loved the score!!! Loved the acting!! The make up!!!! The VO!!!! The editing!!!

I mean...I cant say anything more detailed....from 00.01 to 04.41 I was drawn into it!!! It reminded me of European movies....the score...the psychological portrayal of the little kid..EXCELLENT USE OF CAMERA to show the POV of a young kid (under the table amazing!!!). I dont take it as a horror comedy or dark comedy...I found it is something between drama and psycho thriller....amazing!!! THUMBS UP!!!

[Edgen]

I'm not sure I like the music... but then again, you can't argue with the real players. Benny and jessy did a fantasic job! :) So, for that.. kudos. It works for your film.

I also found myself starting the film and next thing you know... it was ending. You had me hooked all 6 minutes and I didn't once reach/move my mouse to the fast forward or forbid... stop button.

I liked the story, I liked the acting.. or .. rather characters moving on screen.(no dialog except for the kooky mum :))

The women's feet at the beginning really bugged me for some reason. Maybe it was supposed to be old timer's clothes in a modern day setting. Seems like you just said.. Ok.. stand there and shuffle your feet a bit. (and the women on screen left did just that). Shuffled her feet and was 'acting'.

all in all, I enjoyed it, but the music was just distracting from the picture giving it a satire feel. WHICH.. maybe what you were going for? If so, you may have just nailed it.

congrats on entering and finishing and looking forward to your next film :)

cheers!
/j

[Ralph Oshiro]

GREAT JOB! LOVED the killer POV shots! Loved the moving lights in the first set-up! And your final shot . . . VERY nice work. Your final shot . . . both haunting and beautiful. Ultimately disturbing, yet beautifully, artfully composed and art directed. GREAT F'N JOB, GIRL!

[Lingothree]

There were birds??? I just noticed the naked chick at the end... :)

That's okay. The naked chick was kind of more important than the ceramic "chicks".

[Lingothree]

Nikki I have to say WOW!!
My favourite so far!!!! You have so many things that I liked!!!!!!! I loved the story!! I loved the cinematography!!! Loved the score!!! Loved the acting!! The make up!!!! The VO!!!! The editing!!!

I mean...I cant say anything more detailed....from 00.01 to 04.41 I was drawn into it!!! It reminded me of European movies....the score...the psychological portrayal of the little kid..EXCELLENT USE OF CAMERA to show the POV of a young kid (under the table amazing!!!). I dont take it as a horror comedy or dark comedy...I found it is something between drama and psycho thriller....amazing!!! THUMBS UP!!!

Wow - thanks a bunch! I'm really glad you liked it. And thanks for likening it to a European movie. EVERYONE knows that European movies are better than American ones :) .

[Lingothree]

The women's feet at the beginning really bugged me for some reason. Maybe it was supposed to be old timer's clothes in a modern day setting. Seems like you just said.. Ok.. stand there and shuffle your feet a bit. (and the women on screen left did just that). Shuffled her feet and was 'acting'.

all in all, I enjoyed it, but the music was just distracting from the picture giving it a satire feel. WHICH.. maybe what you were going for? If so, you may have just nailed it.

congrats on entering and finishing and looking forward to your next film :)

cheers!
/j

Thanks for the feedback and kind words.

Yeah, the scene with the feet kind of turned into a clunker for me. My direction was to shuffle feet to give it more visual interest, since we weren't able to cut away to a profile of the little boy (actor didn't show up). It looked okay when the original dialogue was in there, but once we did ADR it didn't quite line up to the foot shuffles, and well, if there's one scene I'd replace it would be that one. Thanks for noticing it.

Music - definitely was what I was going for. I wanted the music to carry you through the movie, and at times compete with dialogue/action for attention to a small degree. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

[Lingothree]

GREAT JOB! LOVED the killer POV shots! Loved the moving lights in the first set-up! And your final shot . . . VERY nice work. Your final shot . . . both haunting and beautiful. Ultimately disturbing, yet beautifully, artfully composed and art directed. GREAT F'N JOB, GIRL!
Thanks a bunch!

[Beat Takeshi]

Wow. This one was cool. I loved the score in this. That ending shot was really good. I bet she was struggling to keep that pose for so long. This style usually doesn't do much for me but I think the story was well told with the voice over and vignettes enhancing it. I liked the under the table shot. It felt eerily (sp) unprotecting and you wanted it to be more of a better hiding place. The hooker with the broken eye looked dead, was that makeup or did she get an eye jammie for real? It looked real to me. Good job with this. It stands out with originality.

[Lingothree]

Wow. This one was cool. I loved the score in this. That ending shot was really good. I bet she was struggling to keep that pose for so long. This style usually doesn't do much for me but I think the story was well told with the voice over and vignettes enhancing it. I liked the under the table shot. It felt eerily (sp) unprotecting and you wanted it to be more of a better hiding place. The hooker with the broken eye looked dead, was that makeup or did she get an eye jammie for real? It looked real to me. Good job with this. It stands out with originality.

Thanks Aram.

That was all makeup. Now that more people have seen the movie, I'll get some better makeup shots in here tonight so you can all see closer up how incredible it looked.

[kaylab]

I really liked the way the letter was drawn out throughout the entire film. The look was very professional, and the end definitely not exactly what I expected! I loved it!

Good Luck!

[Lingothree]

I really liked the way the letter was drawn out throughout the entire film. The look was very professional, and the end definitely not exactly what I expected! I loved it!

Good Luck!

Thanks Kaylab.

[Lingothree]

Here are some more photos we took of our actors in makeup, so everyone knows that we did indeed use real actors.

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/molly1.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/molly2.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/molly3.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/molly4.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/molly5.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/erin1.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/amber1.jpg

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m249/Lingothree/amber2.jpg

[luster]

great little movie.
very funny......especially after watching it a second time.

this is the most original of the movies i've seen so far. the acting was also the best so far - i never felt like it was just some friends of the producer acting in the movie

the pacing, and unfolding of the story is perfect.

the makeup was also great.

my favorite part is the cut of the prostitute at the car to her on the bed trying to get a way. a brilliant little piece of filmmaking.

can't wait to see what you do next.

[Lingothree]

great little movie.
very funny......especially after watching it a second time.

this is the most original of the movies i've seen so far. the acting was also the best so far - i never felt like it was just some friends of the producer acting in the movie

the pacing, and unfolding of the story is perfect.

the makeup was also great.

my favorite part is the cut of the prostitute at the car to her on the bed trying to get a way. a brilliant little piece of filmmaking.

can't wait to see what you do next.

Thanks much.

And I'll let you in on a little secret.

With the exception of the mother, it was just some friends of the producer acting in the movie. And the mother was a friend of the friend of the producer (although she is also really an actor).

Thanks for your feedback.

[Michael_Petro]

WOW that is some fantastic makeup work :)

[luster]

oh crap. i just saw girl next door. you two are competing for my top vote as of now.

[Lingothree]

oh crap. i just saw girl next door. you two are competing for my top vote as of now.

Well thanks!

I don't mind being in competition with Joe. Because if he wins any prizes, I get to use them. :)

[GTP]

There was some great stuff in this film... I loved the final shot. And the makeup was fantastic. The spanking POV was a nice touch, and some of the humor was well done... (the wood, then the hand being thrown into a pile) Nice work!

[Lingothree]

There was some great stuff in this film... I loved the final shot. And the makeup was fantastic. The spanking POV was a nice touch, and some of the humor was well done... (the wood, then the hand being thrown into a pile) Nice work!

Thanks a bunch.

[wesley]

hahha this was great

what i liked best about this was how it was filmed from a point of view, it works great for this film. i think this is my fav so far.

[Lingothree]

Thanks for all the nice comments. I'm glad everyone likes it.

New game -

who can spot the scene where he has sex with the dead hooker?

PM me for your prize.

Just kidding - I'm not giving away any prizes. Don't PM me.

[MOVIE MASTER]

I THEY SAY I AM WIERD? 666

[Michael_Petro]

I THEY SAY I AM WIERD? 666

no you juat scare the crap outa people...

LOOK out!!! PLASTIC LIDS ARRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!


//ps please dont hurt me

[Jaime V]

Thanks for all the nice comments. I'm glad everyone likes it.

New game -

who can spot the scene where he has sex with the dead hooker?

PM me for your prize.

Just kidding - I'm not giving away any prizes. Don't PM me.

Really briefly at 2:57.

Lingothree...this is one of my favorites so far. The story and the way it was presented was excellent. The score worked perfectly for me...it went really well with the romance going on in his head and gave a sharp contrast to what was really going on.

All the technical details like editing, lighting, makeup etc looked excellent to me as well and served to present your story perfectly.

The only thing that seemed off to me was at the end, with the dead girl who was strung up like a marionette; with the rope around her neck like that, it still seems that her head should loll forward. This is very minor but it's the only thing I found off about your film.

I loved it...I aspire to be this well rounded.

[TimurCivan]

THis was Very well excuted. Good merging of different themes. i am just dissapointed that the awesome makeup job that you posted in your thread earlier wa just a static shot. ( the girl wit yellow eyes)

Great origional innovative POV shots.... teh spanking was awesome.

[Beat Takeshi]

That eye still looks real. Great work on both the eye and the breastisis.

[Kholi]

The only thing that seemed off to me was at the end, with the dead girl who was strung up like a marionette; with the rope around her neck like that, it still seems that her head should loll forward. This is very minor but it's the only thing I found off about your film.



It's not my place to step in and explain this but I think I know why: the rope is at the side of her head and would pretty much explain why her skull is still uprighta nd not slumping backward or forward. If the guys as sick as we are to believe, then he's got no issue concocting a way to stand her head up; which would be the angle the side of her cranium sits against the rope.

I examined it as well and realized this could be the reason.

[Blaine]

You've done a really good job with this. I've seen several serial killer movies in the fest and yours stands with another as the best I've seen. Ordinarily, I'd feel the voice over to be the easy way out in telling your story, but in your case, integrating it into letter writing works. Your effects were top notch.

This movie had such a midwestern feel. You guys are practically next door to Ed Gein-land and I can see how he was an influence on this piece...as he has been on several of our greatest horror movies...Psycho and TCM. You did a good job of keeping it tight. And while you made extensive use of VO, you're pictures did a great job of telling the story. I've got to say, this one came out of left field for me. This was much more than I expected. A very pleasant surprise. Thanks.

[Kyle Stebbins]

wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow
everythings already been said. i just wanted you to know how i felt.

(oh yeah and HOORAY FOR VO's!)
How in the world did you get such high quality for your VO though?

[jpbankesmercer]

Acting: Solid.
Script: Loved it.
Direction: Some absolutely blinding original ideas here.
Music: Great!
Editing: Nice and simple.
Lighting: Again nothing flashy just well lit all-round.
Loved: The V.O., the time-delay shadows, the under the table shot, (Great idea), the over-the-knee shot, (Another great idea), the arm in the log pile, the headless corpse, Jane all tied up. How dry the film was, love your sense of humour.
Hated: Nothing. Seriously you’re the first one.
Overall: Thanks for putting a smile on my face today; this is superb in all respects. Great story, fun and simple. One of my fav’s.

[cinealma]

Pretty good stuff. The only thing that stuck out to me in a critical way is that I thought the mother was little bit too over the top.

The utterly fantastic stuff:

Benny Weinbeck's "Waltz for Jane" gets a big fat 10 on my scoresheet!

Too bad they don't have a production design category, because I'd give it an 11! I really love the look of the film and the set design.

This is one of the few kinds of V.O.'s the works. Really added to the film and didn't make it better in spite of it. The only thing that took me out of it was the V.O. sounded a too much like "live video in a quiet room" if that makes sense.

All in all, good stuff. Thanks for sharing.


John G.

[Michael_Petro]

you know what? I watched this again (I did) and this thing kicks ass!

[Lingothree]

Really briefly at 2:57.



I loved it...I aspire to be this well rounded.

Wow - thanks for the very nice compliment.

[Lingothree]

THis was Very well excuted. Good merging of different themes. i am just dissapointed that the awesome makeup job that you posted in your thread earlier wa just a static shot. ( the girl wit yellow eyes)

Great origional innovative POV shots.... teh spanking was awesome.

When we saw how great the makeup was, we were really tempted to make some last minute changes to ensure that it was properly highlighted in the film, but figured that was the wrong kind of motivation and so opted out.

Thanks for the comments.

[Lingothree]

It's not my place to step in and explain this but I think I know why: the rope is at the side of her head and would pretty much explain why her skull is still uprighta nd not slumping backward or forward. If the guys as sick as we are to believe, then he's got no issue concocting a way to stand her head up; which would be the angle the side of her cranium sits against the rope.

I examined it as well and realized this could be the reason.

BINGO! When we were originally thinking it through, we were just going to tie up her arms, in which case her head/shoulders would slump all the way forward or back. Then we had the idea to tie her neck, but figured the rope would be pulling her chin up and thus we wouldn't see the makeup except on the neck. So in the end we tied a rope around her chin and one near each cheek, and thought this would believably told her head up straight.

I've still got all the big hooks hanging from different points in my ceiling (trial and error) so it totally looks like my ceiling and walls are equipped for some kinky sex toys.

Thanks for jumping in to clarify, Kholi! :)

[Lingothree]

You've done a really good job with this. I've seen several serial killer movies in the fest and yours stands with another as the best I've seen. Ordinarily, I'd feel the voice over to be the easy way out in telling your story, but in your case, integrating it into letter writing works. Your effects were top notch.

This movie had such a midwestern feel. You guys are practically next door to Ed Gein-land and I can see how he was an influence on this piece...as he has been on several of our greatest horror movies...Psycho and TCM. You did a good job of keeping it tight. And while you made extensive use of VO, you're pictures did a great job of telling the story. I've got to say, this one came out of left field for me. This was much more than I expected. A very pleasant surprise. Thanks.

Thanks a bunch. I'm glad I've got the corner on the midwestern feel :thumbup:.

[Lingothree]

wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow wow
everythings already been said. i just wanted you to know how i felt.

(oh yeah and HOORAY FOR VO's!)
How in the world did you get such high quality for your VO though?

Joe (the DP) works in a recording studio. He used a U47 mic, which I guess is the reason it sounds so good. I know nothing about recording or mics, but apparently this is a very, very good mic. They cost around $6000. They are what all the really great musicians have used - beatles, miles davis, ray charles, etc.

Oh, and that's Joe on the voiceover. I wanted my protag. to have a somewhat effeminate voice (and our actor did not), so Joe was our man (sorry, Joe).

[Lingothree]

Acting: Solid.
Script: Loved it.
Direction: Some absolutely blinding original ideas here.
Music: Great!
Editing: Nice and simple.
Lighting: Again nothing flashy just well lit all-round.
Loved: The V.O., the time-delay shadows, the under the table shot, (Great idea), the over-the-knee shot, (Another great idea), the arm in the log pile, the headless corpse, Jane all tied up. How dry the film was, love your sense of humour.
Hated: Nothing. Seriously you’re the first one.
Overall: Thanks for putting a smile on my face today; this is superb in all respects. Great story, fun and simple. One of my fav’s.

Oh boy - thanks!

[Lingothree]

Pretty good stuff. The only thing that stuck out to me in a critical way is that I thought the mother was little bit too over the top.

The utterly fantastic stuff:

Benny Weinbeck's "Waltz for Jane" gets a big fat 10 on my scoresheet!

Too bad they don't have a production design category, because I'd give it an 11! I really love the look of the film and the set design.

This is one of the few kinds of V.O.'s the works. Really added to the film and didn't make it better in spite of it. The only thing that took me out of it was the V.O. sounded a too much like "live video in a quiet room" if that makes sense.

All in all, good stuff. Thanks for sharing.


John G.

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you were impressed with the production design. It was all shot in my very colorful house. Blue living room, yellow bedroom, brown dining room, purple bedroom...the rest was basically a last minute trip to St. Vincent's thrift store. They had an impressive selection of ceramic birds and jesus memorabilia.

What did you mean by "live video in a quiet room"?

[Lingothree]

you know what? I watched this again (I did) and this thing kicks ass!

Thanks - the quotes in your signature kick ass. Not as good as rekindled - that's just darn funny.



I really need to learn how to quote multiple users in one post. Sigh...

[cinealma]

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you were impressed with the production design. It was all shot in my very colorful house. Blue living room, yellow bedroom, brown dining room, purple bedroom...the rest was basically a last minute trip to St. Vincent's thrift store. They had an impressive selection of ceramic birds and jesus memorabilia.

What did you mean by "live video in a quiet room"?

Well, then I really like your house! :)

What I meant about the sound... well, it sounded like just what it was, a guy talking into a microphone (a very nice one, apparently). Now I'm not a sound engineer by any means, but that's what it sounded like to me. A very low background of humm and room tone from somewhere other than where the actor was sitting down writing his letter or even his head. Best way I can describe it is that it sounded like the V.O. was added later, you know? Like I WASN'T listening to the a guy writing/reading aloud his own letter in his head while he was at THAT desk in THAT room. It almost sounded like a home-movie narration to me.

Don't get me wrong. The quality of the sound was excellent. I think it just needs a better mix/mastering to fit WITHIN the film and not seem like it was tacked on in post.

Anyway, thanks for listening. You still have a pretty good little film. :thumbsup:


John G.

[TheatreGuy]

Lingothree... your quotes kick a$$!!! That's great!!! LMAO :grin:

[Lingothree]

Well, then I really like your house! :)

What I meant about the sound... well, it sounded like just what it was, a guy talking into a microphone (a very nice one, apparently). Now I'm not a sound engineer by any means, but that's what it sounded like to me. A very low background of humm and room tone from somewhere other than where the actor was sitting down writing his letter or even his head. Best way I can describe it is that it sounded like the V.O. was added later, you know? Like I WASN'T listening to the a guy writing/reading aloud his own letter in his head while he was at THAT desk in THAT room. It almost sounded like a home-movie narration to me.

Don't get me wrong. The quality of the sound was excellent. I think it just needs a better mix/mastering to fit WITHIN the film and not seem like it was tacked on in post.

Anyway, thanks for listening. You still have a pretty good little film. :thumbsup:


John G.

Got it - thanks for the clarification, and the feedback.

[TheatreGuy]

Thanks - the quotes in your signature kick ass. Not as good as rekindled - that's just darn funny.



I really need to learn how to quote multiple users in one post. Sigh...
Hey Lingothree! To quote multiple users...

Quote, type, cut(or copy), hit back, go to next quote... repeat and rinse!

Ted

[Lingothree]

Hey Lingothree! To quote multiple users...

Quote, type, cut(or copy), hit back, go to next quote... repeat and rinse!

Ted

Oooohhhhhh....thanks!

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Lingothree I liked your movie.
It was clever and original, was an appropriate story in terms of the time limit, and some really well thought out storytelling executed with the camera such as the under the table shot of the adults.

I have some small dings here and there but I'm sure most of them have been hit upon.

One thing I will leave you with as far as constructive (hopefully) criticism though, and this is a small thing but I'm about to write a paragraph explaining it which will make it seem like a huge problem when it is a small one - you have a tendency to cut on the dialogue (or sound) and the image at the same time, rather than letting one lead the other (usually dialogue or sound leads the cut) this makes the cuts seem less organic and less motivated. This was especially evident with the mom flash backs. I got the sense that she was waiting to say her line and then we cut to her and she said it, rather than cutting into a conversation, or lecture, or scolding already taking place. So that's an example where you might want to begin her audio while you are still in the previous cut and then let that word or few words or fraction of a word pull us into the next shot by motivating the cut. Just a hair of the word will tighten it up and no one will notice even that that's what you are doing, but you can experiment with a little more, especially if you want us to linger on the image preceding the next cut. I think you can apply some of that thinking throughout, though by in large the cutting really served the piece and the story.

Again I hate that explaining myself so verbosely makes it seem like that was my major impression of the film ... it was not ... I'm just not succinct, and again the editing note is a small one and it did not hinder the film's entertaining qualities.

Of course the make up was a star attraction and added a lot here as well.

Let me know if you want any of the rest of the picked nits in PM or in the thread.

A very entertaining and intelligent film. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Best,

Jack

[TheatreGuy]

Oooohhhhhh....thanks!
You're welcome! And I wanted to credit the person who taught me that (but Iwas in such a hurry that I actually had to run back to my computer just to type that!)

But, speak of the devil.... It was Jack!!! The man above himself.

Hope that works out for you. And I do love your quotes in your sig and I very much enjoyed your movie!

Ted

[Gord.T]

Got a pretty good kick out of this one. I think the comments above are more
than I can say so I'll leave it at that.
Well done. -gordo.

[Lingothree]

you have a tendency to cut on the dialogue (or sound) and the image at the same time, rather than letting one lead the other (usually dialogue or sound leads the cut) this makes the cuts seem less organic and less motivated.

Let me know if you want any of the rest of the picked nits in PM or in the thread.

A very entertaining and intelligent film. Thanks for sharing it with us.

Best,

Jack
Hey Jack. That was a very good constructive criticism. Thanks. Feel free to send more picked nits (ewwww...that reminds me of those black lice combs they handed out in elementary school) my way via PM or in this thread. I'd love to hear what else you think about it. I'm going to submit it to some other fests and show it locally so I'd love to have some ideas for how to make it better first.

You're welcome! And I wanted to credit the person who taught me that (but Iwas in such a hurry that I actually had to run back to my computer just to type that!)

But, speak of the devil.... It was Jack!!! The man above himself.

Hope that works out for you. And I do love your quotes in your sig and I very much enjoyed your movie!

Ted
Thanks Ted. Here - I'm practicing.

The quotes in my signature were very hard to obtain. You know - lawyers and their red tape, bureaucratic prison systems, interviewing the dead.

Got a pretty good kick out of this one. I think the comments above are more
than I can say so I'll leave it at that.
Well done. -gordo.
Thanks much.

[TheatreGuy]

Looking good Lingothree!

Very nice... A triple quote i see here!

Bravo!

BTW, new ladder pix!!!

Link at the top of my thread!!!

[Mark Johnson]

Lingothree,

I have a folder with films I wanted to go back to and this is one of the few.

You've got some really haunting images in here and the craftsmanship truly shows. When I watched it the first time that last haunting image just totally blew me away. Now that I've watched again I'm struck by the careful setup for your scenes and the attention to detail throughout.

In all honesty, my only critique is that I'd prefer a more resonant voice talent for the VO with a more open mic technique. I felt the same way about DEVELOPED. Vocal delivery is so important when the whole track is VO.

That said, the script was wonderful and the camera work tight. I'm going to keep this one on my short list.

[Lingothree]

Lingothree,

I have a folder with films I wanted to go back to and this is one of the few.

You've got some really haunting images in here and the craftsmanship truly shows. When I watched it the first time that last haunting image just totally blew me away. Now that I've watched again I'm struck by the careful setup for your scenes and the attention to detail throughout.

In all honesty, my only critique is that I'd prefer a more resonant voice talent for the VO with a more open mic technique. I felt the same way about DEVELOPED. Vocal delivery is so important when the whole track is VO.

That said, the script was wonderful and the camera work tight. I'm going to keep this one on my short list.

Thanks for the feedback, Mark. I'm glad you liked it, and I appreciate the insightful critique. I had originally imagined a deeper, richer voice for the VO, but as I did research on serial killers I learned that they often are effeminate, and so I asked Joe (DP) to do it (because his voice sometimes sounds a little, well, fey. sorry joe). But in retrospect, I think you're right. A richer voice would have added to the film.

What do you mean by open mic technique?

[Mark Johnson]

You know, I appreciate your comment about the decision regarding the killer's voice and the truth is that in real life the Dahmer's and Berkowitzes do seem to often carry a thin voice and rarely sound like James Earl Jones. However, this is filmmaking and there's a reason Hannibal Lekter sounds like Anthony Hopkins (besides the fact that he played him). His voice and delivery were half the experience and why his character carried so much more impact and terror than "Bill" with his effeminate "it puts the lotion on its body ..." As an artistic choice I think your first instinct was the right one.

By "open" mic I'm referring to the spatial sense. DEVELOPED sounded like it was recorded in a bathroom and, as such, was very closed. Your track is closed because you recorded with the mic quite close to the actor's mouth and you kept the track very dry. Obviously, you don't want to dump a bunch of reverb on the track, but the lack of any room sense removes drama from the VO. This is heavily emphasized by your use of reverb in some of the movie scenes. You can open the mic by repositioning it or altering your room conditions (carpet vs wood floor, stone vs plaster walls etc. ... or you can add depth in post if you are up to the engineering skill required. For something as critical as a VO I recommend test tracks with intentionally varied conditions (mic positioning and room selection) to better judge what your base track will sound like.

Hope this helps.

[Rock Punk!]

Dear Jane is in my top 5!

One of my favorites that I learned a lot from.

Lingothree, thanks for your review by the way I appreciate the feedback.

[Lingothree]

You know, I appreciate your comment about the decision regarding the killer's voice and the truth is that in real life the Dahmer's and Berkowitzes do seem to often carry a thin voice and rarely sound like James Earl Jones. However, this is filmmaking and there's a reason Hannibal Lekter sounds like Anthony Hopkins (besides the fact that he played him). His voice and delivery were half the experience and why his character carried so much more impact and terror than "Bill" with his effeminate "it puts the lotion on its body ..." As an artistic choice I think your first instinct was the right one.

By "open" mic I'm referring to the spatial sense. DEVELOPED sounded like it was recorded in a bathroom and, as such, was very closed. Your track is closed because you recorded with the mic quite close to the actor's mouth and you kept the track very dry. Obviously, you don't want to dump a bunch of reverb on the track, but the lack of any room sense removes drama from the VO. This is heavily emphasized by your use of reverb in some of the movie scenes. You can open the mic by repositioning it or altering your room conditions (carpet vs wood floor, stone vs plaster walls etc. ... or you can add depth in post if you are up to the engineering skill required. For something as critical as a VO I recommend test tracks with intentionally varied conditions (mic positioning and room selection) to better judge what your base track will sound like.

Hope this helps.

Thanks Mark. I think you're spot-on about the voiceover. Thanks for the reference to Silence of the Lambs - I think you're totally right about that. Maybe I will experiment with a different voice talent. Because maybe I was to some extent justifying away my laziness by using Joe (since he was there, and we were in a hurry to wrap it up and head down south to a flaming lips concert) rather than finding someone more appropriate.


Dear Jane is in my top 5!

One of my favorites that I learned a lot from.

Lingothree, thanks for your review by the way I appreciate the feedback.

Thanks much.

- Nikki

[jpbankesmercer]

You guys scored high with me, best of luck!
J.P.

[Lingothree]

You guys scored high with me, best of luck!
J.P.

Thanks J.P. Good luck with yours, too.

[TheatreGuy]

hey Lingothree!

I want to thank you for your contribution to this festival. I have enjoyed "talking" with you and loved your film!

What a classic!!!!

Congratulations and best of luck to you!

And if you ever need a man with a ladder.... :)

Ted

[Lingothree]

Thanks Ted. This has been a fun fest.

Good luck with the voting.

Now get off the threads, put away your ladders, put on some clean socks and go enjoy your anniversary!

[Slimothy]

Just watched it, great job! The makeup was superb, idea was original, cinematography rocked. The only thing I didn't care for was the acting of the older lady. I'm sure it's been answered but was that a real girl in the final shot?

Great job.

Tim.

[steve2bees]

Good work Lingothree. Mostly liked your take on the genre. Kind of had the feel of the "Priceless" credit card commercials. Not sure I'm completely comfortable with the humorous treatment juxtaposed with such realistically depicted mutilation of the victims though. But the humorous aspect of the screenplay was handled deftly.

While many shots were obviously handheld to appropriate effect, some others seemed unintentionally shakey on some pans and tilts. I thought the flat, overbroad acting worked in the context of the humor. Loved the spanking scene as a pov shot from the spanker. The strung-up victim in the closing shot was unconvincing and kind of spoiled the ending for me.

I thought this was a pretty bold and inventive experiment. Congrats on the good work.

[Lingothree]

Just watched it, great job! The makeup was superb, idea was original, cinematography rocked. The only thing I didn't care for was the acting of the older lady. I'm sure it's been answered but was that a real girl in the final shot?

Great job.

Tim.

Thanks for the feedback. And yes, that was a real girl. If you look back a few pages in my thread, you can see the makeup in progress.


Good work Lingothree. Mostly liked your take on the genre. Kind of had the feel of the "Priceless" credit card commercials. Not sure I'm completely comfortable with the humorous treatment juxtaposed with such realistically depicted mutilation of the victims though. But the humorous aspect of the screenplay was handled deftly.

While many shots were obviously handheld to appropriate effect, some others seemed unintentionally shakey on some pans and tilts. I thought the flat, overbroad acting worked in the context of the humor. Loved the spanking scene as a pov shot from the spanker. The strung-up victim in the closing shot was unconvincing and kind of spoiled the ending for me.

I thought this was a pretty bold and inventive experiment. Congrats on the good work.

Thanks for the feedback. What about the final shot was unconvincing for you?

[steve2bees]

Oh, sorry, should have explained. I just meant she didn't look like she was really strung up, rather like she was kneeling on the bed with some ropes attached. The expression on her face seems to indicated she's already had it, but her position and the lack of tension on the ropes doesn't look like she's dead weight. You can also see her kind of move a little.

[Lingothree]

Oh, sorry, should have explained. I just meant she didn't look like she was really strung up, rather like she was kneeling on the bed with some ropes attached. The expression on her face seems to indicated she's already had it, but her position and the lack of tension on the ropes doesn't look like she's dead weight. You can also see her kind of move a little.

Got it - thanks.

[steve2bees]

Sure. I also wanted to add that I had considered entering the fest and had developed a story idea that involved some pretty brutal and disturbing action. Ultimately, when it was really to late to develop another idea, I chickened out fearing that I wouldn't be able to execute the film with a level of depth and quality that would justify and redeem the depiction of the extreme degradation of another human being as something other than prurient.

I think there are redeeming reasons in your piece to use some pretty degrading depictions, and it took some guts to try to pull this off.

[Lingothree]

Sure. I also wanted to add that I had considered entering the fest and had developed a story idea that involved some pretty brutal and disturbing action. Ultimately, when it was really to late to develop another idea, I chickened out fearing that I wouldn't be able to execute the film with a level of depth and quality that would justify and redeem the depiction of the extreme degradation of another human being as something other than prurient.

I think there are redeeming reasons in your piece to use some pretty degrading depictions, and it took some guts to try to pull this off.

I'm glad you brought that up. I'm totally glad I did it, and in fact in retrospect wish I had even gone farther. But at times I felt pretty awful in creating this story and character. In researching serial killers, it was rough at times to think that this stuff is real. And that really awful stuff happens to real people. And that my movie doesn't even touch on how awful it can be. And when one of my dead prostitute actors had to back out last minute because she works at a rape crisis line and needed to cover someone's shift - now that was a great irony.

[mentatDUKE]

Oy Lingo. Good show. I liked the camerawork and cinematography on this. The V.O. was good too. Sometimes a bit too deadpan, but maybe it works better that way. The acting was over the top and funny. Good makeup job on the dames.
Also; a boob. A dead boob, but a boob. Bonus points. :)

The score fit.

Good dialogue and good script.

This reminds me of the ZombieFest southern belle short. Did you guys do that too?
Take care.

[Lingothree]

Oy Lingo. Good show. I liked the camerawork and cinematography on this. The V.O. was good too. Sometimes a bit too deadpan, but maybe it works better that way. The acting was over the top and funny. Good makeup job on the dames.
Also; a boob. A dead boob, but a boob. Bonus points. :)

The score fit.

Good dialogue and good script.

This reminds me of the ZombieFest southern belle short. Did you guys do that too?
Take care.

Thanks. Dead boobs = better than no boobs.

No we did not do the southern belle short. That was before my time with dvxuser.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

.. Dead boobs = better than no boobs. .. haha, in movies maybe ... but hopefully that sentiment ends there :laugh:

[Lingothree]

That is very true.

Yuck.

I'm sorry I wrote that. The Friday night whiskey has clouded my good judgement.

[mentatDUKE]

Gross! Lingo likes dead boobs!

[Norm Sanders]

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

Okay, I’m disturbed. The acting was one of the stronger points in this film, even though the mother was over the top, I believe she was supposed to be … great job. However, for me there was no twist because for some reason, the moment I saw him writing, saying she’d grown cold & he’d always have her heart, I literally pictured it in a jar & knew she was dead … so for that reason alone there was little ride for me, as I was just waiting for the finish I knew would eventually be coming … though I did NOT expect her to be tied up as a marionette, lol! Nice VFX work on the makeup, and overall interesting film.

[macintosh]

CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Well I think this had a good combination of shots and lighting. The opening dolly shots were great. Very smooth, had a good feel to them. I don't think static shots would have worked as well. And also the lighting in the opening where it kinda goes from being on, to being off subject. I thought that was nicely done.

EDITING:

Everything was cut together very nicely here. Really the only comment I have is that I did not like how you cut to a black screen for 2 or 3 seconds here and there. I think you should've kept with cutting to more visual things, different objects and such.

SOUND:

This was one of the few films that I was able to leave my speakers set to one level throughout the film and didn't have to worry about having something sound to loud or be too soft to hear. So great job on mixing everything and keeping your levels consistent.

SCORE:

Such a good soundtrack for the film. It went perfectly and really helped to keep the film moving. At the ending, it just matched so well. Great work.

SCREENPLAY:

I liked your idea. It was different, and actually quite funny. I liked how you went back and showed that he had a mother that was really religious and strict, which would go to explain himself.

ACTING:

I think all of the acting in this was great. The way the man kept his voice, his pace during the VO was awesome, it really helped sell the story. Also the mother's performance, even though a little more then I think needed to be there, was great, and ultimately worked best for the film.

Overall, this was one of my favorites because it was original, it had good camera work and lighting, but more importantly the ending made me not only disturbed but laugh at the same time.