Mary Mercer - Voted Most Likely to Haunt You

[Rock Punk!]

Get the uncorrupted file here (Please use right-click save as to conserve bandwidth):

Mikko's Mirror:
http://dvxuser.mikkowilson.com/horrorfest/MaryMercer-DanFontaine-RockPunk.mov

Larry R's Mirror:
http://www.nrestudios.com/horror_mirror/MaryMercer-DanFontaine-RockPunk.mov


http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/15835/1159937277.jpg

[VersuS]

Sounds haunting!!! Are you done shooting?

[Rock Punk!]

99.9%! Should be done by tomorrow. I hope. Please don't rain!

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

I like the title ... weclome to the fest.

[Mark Harris]

Haha, yeah welcome. But I was voted most likely to haunt you. Oh wait, that was most likely to STALK you...nevermind.

[Rock Punk!]

What's up with all the "Marys"

[Mark Harris]

Hey, I think we were here first :)

[Rock Punk!]

Uploading now.

[Tom Marshall]

Good luck!!!! And thanks for the help :)

[Edgen]

cool! I love all the mullets in the yearbook! Hopefully mary's got the same dew :)

Looking forward to seeing your film Rock Punk.

/j

[Rock Punk!]

Yeah that's my yearbook from 1985. I should feature some of the What's Hot and What's Not that was printed in there.

[Rock Punk!]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/15835/1159939862.jpg
Alexis helps Laura AKA Mary Mercer with make up


http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/15835/1159939480.jpg
Waiting for the magic hour: Discussing scene 2 and where to throw the empty beer cans. From Left to Right: Tim (THE crew), Michael AKA Mike, Me, Alexis AKA Jen, and you can barely see her but Laura AKA Mary Mercer

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/15835/1159940312.jpg
Setting the scene

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/15835/1159939910.jpg
Alexis AKA Jen

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/15835/1159940135.jpg
Nelson AKA Matt

Photos by Michael and Matt

MORE TO COME LATER - Don't want to post any spoilers yet

[Rock Punk!]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/15835/1160018502.jpg
me getting ready... [movie magic]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/15835/1160018453.jpg
Alexis AKA Jen and Tim THE crew get set ....

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/15835/1160018537.jpg

Sorry you'll need to watch to see what happens.

PHOTOS by Michael Kirby

[Tom Marshall]

Did you do the wardrobe so it looked like it took place in the 80s?

[Rock Punk!]

No, it takes place present time where the kids are trying to conjure a ghost from the past.

[Rock Punk!]

It's funny. One of the "What's Hot" from my high school year book is "Hulk Hogan" nothing much changed in 20 years!

[luster]

I like the title, it reminds me of the name used in an urban legend.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

looks like fun :thumbsup:
I like some of your car lighting solutions

[gwmesler]

This sounds like a good premise for a horror film. Maybe she was teased at school and vowed to get back at them. I like it.

[Larry Rutledge]

All the versions of this file I can find on the different mirrors seem to be corrupt. If you have a valid version of the file, please FTP it to my server.

ftp.nrestudios.com
Username: dvxuser@nrestudios.com
Password: horror

And I will work on getting it propagated to the other mirrors.

Thanks,
Larry

[gwmesler]

Mary reminds me of those guys that ride along with you at Disney's Haunted Mansion. You can only see them sitting next to you when you look in the mirror.

[Matt Sconce]

Matt Sconce's Review of Mary Mercer
SPOLIERS POSSIBLE!

Script
Just watched the film and enjoyed it. A couple things on the script: I think the waiting time and the girl saying she needed to go took waaay too long. It let the suspense die. I think if those scenes were shortened a bit, the story would flow better. I also did not see their motivation for having a yearbook, or for waiting by the forest for someone. i was confused. I like the idea of the yearbook with the newspaper clipping, but I was just confused by the way we got there? I also wondered why she was after thses kids?
Acting
I did not really enjoy the two guys performances, but I thought the driver girl was great! I think she was very natural feeling. I also think the scary mary Mercer did a good job!
Cinematography
It could have been the way it was compressed, but the entire film was so dark on my monitor I had to lean in to try and see what was happening. This is too bad too, because I can tell there was some good stuff there cinematographer-wise. I liked a lot fo the framing and the shot of Mary in the backseat as seen through the mirror. i thought that moment worked as well.
Editing
It could have been cut a little faster for my tastes but I think the edit worked, except for the problem with dark image.
Overall Impressions
This is just a freaky concept, and I enjoyed watching it. I hope the dark image issue gets worked out so we can see the cinematography and colors.

[Kholi]

Hey, this was too dark for me to think about giving a fair review. Sorry, guys. You might want to re-upload a version that's lighter.

Sound was good, from what I heard, though!

[VersuS]

I had high expectations for this one to be honest, the poster made me feel I was gonna watch some really creepy s$$$...I must admit I was a bit let down...

The overall story was nice and I loved the end with the year book and the extract from the news paper....it fit well with the water pouring in the car and the dead girl's look...

However I was thrown off with the editing in some cases and some aspects were not quite believable....I mean the girl sees a dead girl sitting in the back...through the mirror...and all she can think of doing is say 'hey I see Mary Mercer sitting next to you'.....even in the anxious tone of her voice I'd still get the hell out of that car....

The sound in my opinion was not that good either...at some point she gets out of the car and the transition is totally unbalanced as you try to get the outside sound move in to place....

The acting was decent and that's why I think that you could have tried a different approach to the reactions of the driver seeing the dead Mary Mercer...

You have a very nice basis for a great story here, if you could work around some parts like sound, script and lights you could make something impressive!

[TheatreGuy]

Hey Rock Punk!

I thought that you had a nice premise and approach to this film. I love the storyline idea.

I am confused by some of the decisions made...

Why is the car is parked on the side of a road in the middle of nowhere? They were waiting for someone to show up, but seemed like an odd place. If they had to be stranded in a deserted place, I may have tried a broken down car with a cell phone call for help routine. Just to justify.

I didn't understand some of the choices made by the girl in the front seat. When the guy is pointing that "he's over there" she's looking out the front window... twice! She doesn't turn to see where the guy is pointing. Just a small sticking point.

I also don't understand how this girl can be so calm when she sees Mary Mercer! I'd be freaking!!!

A very small point, but I make it because it stood out to me... I don't believe that the guy in the back seat would ever hand his beer can to his buddy to throw out. He chould have chucked the can himself. Your whole "Mother Nature" bit would still work. Again, that is REAL picky, but I truly believe that the more you can bring honest and natural movement into your story, the better and stronger it becomes.

Overall, the film is way too dark and that is too bad. You must already know this. I really liked a lot of what I could see. I wish that I could see more. I am sure that in full view and uncompressed, it looks a lot better. (I know that there is one scene in my film that you would NEVER guess that a person is trying to turn on a light switch, however in full view, it is perfectly clear.

I loved the appearance of Mary Mercer. The framing was a nice reveal of her.

I liked the yearbook linking, I wish there was more of that. 6 minutes.... I know!

You did a good job and look forward to what you do in the future!!!

Congrats!!!

Ted

[Rock Punk!]

Thanks to all for your feedback. Keep it coming. I appreciate the time that you take to let me know what you liked and what you didn't.

Noob!
Well, let's start off by saying that this is my first scripted movie ever and it shows. Also, let's also say that shooting your first film the weekend before the deadline for submissions is not going to lead to a Horrorfest winner. - Editor's note - there was no way in hell that this was going to even come close to winning even if I had all the time in the world.

Lighting
Yes, lighting in some scenes of the picture is, well, not good, and the compression made it worse. If you view the film on TV (via DVD) it looks passable though - that is, you can see what the hell is going on. Again, lack of experience and I ran out of daylight.

Why doesn't she freak THE F*cK out!?!
Why doesn't Jen freak out and scream like a banshee and bolt from the car when Mary first appears in the back seat? Not that the viewer would know this but, the legend around Mary Mercer is that she appears in the car and that's it -- she doesn't move; she just sits there. But the main reason why she doesn't freak out is that Jen is dreaming - until Matt and Mike wake her up. When Mary appears at the end she does freak out (but she mainly freaks out because of what she has dreamt).

Jen's Dream
A lot of strange things happen in Jen's dream (if you could see them - I apologize). For example, all of them are wearing red roses in Jen's dream (I should've played this up more but let's chalk that up to lack of experience). Water gushes from unknown places when Mary appears. When Mike accidently drops his rose it changes from red to white after it's drenched.

What is going on?
I didn't want to explain the whole premise of what they were doing (trying to see if the ghost of Mary Mercer would appear). I wanted everyone watching the film wondering what is going on from the beginning. Who are they waiting for? Why do they wonder if they are in the right place? Why do they have a yearbook from 1984? What's up with the water? Once you reach the end and see the yearbook with the newsclipping you kind of get a clue. But in all fairness I think I could have provided more clues and directed attention more to those clues so as to not make it so obtuse. Editor's note - I tried to photoshop a picture together of Mary Mercer so as to show it in the yearbook at the end - that would've totally been a better way to tie things up. However, I didn't have a picture of Laura (aka Mary Mercer) where she wasn't in make up or her hair wasn't drenched (sigh~)

Where'd the flashlight Go?
Toward the end Mike has a flashlight and then he doesn't - see if you can spot it. Also, as pointed out by TheaterGuy, Jen looks in the wrong direction when Matt tells her where Mike is and she "knows" that he walked toward the rear of the vehicle.

I Had Fun & Learned A Lot
All in all, I thought it turned out pretty well for my first effort. And, I look forward to presenting something 5000% better the next go 'round.

[jpbankesmercer]

Acting: Not bad.
Script: Original, but a little lite at the end.
Direction: Not bad some nice ideas here.
Music: Solid enough.
Editing: Choppy in places.
Lighting: Props for lifting the car EXT. Wanted more light in the other EXT night time shots.
Loved: Low angle shot, the flower, first scare (You got me!), review mirror idea, phased Foley, overall idea.
Hated: The handheld, took me from the action/ story,
Overall: Nice little film you got here, wanted more explanation about Mary.
Jp


PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS ON BROKEN CIRCLE (WE NEED)

[Paul Coleman]

I liked this one. I almost thought it was hinting that the woman behind the wheel might be losing her mind. Definitely unsettling. :beer:

[Lingothree]

Hey -

Not much I can tell you that it doesn't sound like you already know...but I'll do it anyway for the sake of doing it, I suppose.

Whole thing was too dark, so I really had no idea what was going on. In the shots that were light enough to distinguish characters/locations/action, you really needed some lighting. The characters' heads were almost consistently obscured by the shadow of the car.

I also would have liked to see some sort of establishing sequence, to bring me into the story instead of just titles, then car.

Would have also liked to see you work with some more innovative angles then shooting all the action in the car from outside the car.

You have a really great concept - just needs some technical work.

[conrad_johnson]

This was one of the creepier films I've seen thus far...

It was too dark, and hard to see what was going on at times.

The shots of mary sitting in the car next to the lead lady were awsome and very creepy.

The acting was so-so but not bad.

All in all a very nice short film.

Good work!

[jpbankesmercer]

Best of luck guys!
J.P.

[TheatreGuy]

Hey, you guys did a great job on your film. I am looking forward to what you do next. Some really nice elements you brought.

Congratulations and good luck!

Ted

[Geoff_R]

You had some really interesting concepts taking place here. I got serious goosebumps when Mary turns up in the car for real after your leading girl wakes up, I was genuinely freaked out by that time. Mary Mercer was done well (makeup, acting, ect); she was creepy as hell. The only downside I really saw was that it was so dark for a lot of the film that I had a hard time seeing a lot of shots, BUT on the flipside, one could argue that this makes the film even creepier! Nice job guys!

[Norm Sanders]

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

I’m a little lost on this one. There were some good creep effects, and in the end I’m guessing the ghost we were all seeing was the girl who was featured in the ending newspaper article, but other than that I didn’t know if she was supposed to be the girl they were waiting for, or what? I know there’s a story here, but I was just having a hard time understanding it. I do now, however, understand that the effect from the water spilling out of the door, etc. was because she had drowned … which is a cool & clever tie in.