HorseFilms - 334 Lost Lake Drive

[HorseFilms]

http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/232/1159036848.jpg

I guess it's time to officially throw my hat in the ring. :beer:

[Blaine]

I guess it's time to officially throw my hat in the ring. :beer:
It's about time you got this up!!! :beer: :beer: :beer: (three beer salute)

I love the look of the house.

(Of course, you know, Briceman will be looking for screen grabs and bts...:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG))

[VersuS]

Nice creepy looking house!!!! Good luck and yes, we want GRABS! (and not graps :p)

[HorseFilms]

Thanks, guys!:beer: Grabs will be coming.:)

[Cynic821]

Where are the grabs already!!!

:)

[Cryogenic Filmworks]

Very Kool. Looking forward to seeing your work.
:beer:

[HorseFilms]

Where are the grabs already!!!

:)

Here's a taste.
http://www.horsefilms.com/images/BloodyAllison.jpg

[Filmjunkie677]

Sweet shot!

[jpbankesmercer]

Its nasty its dark its great.

[Blaine]

I'm definitely looking forward to this one. Cool new banner to boot...:beer:

Hey! I think I recognize that house!!

[GTP]

Looks great. Are you a Thomas Disch fan? He wrote a novel called 334.

[Cynic821]

thats "grab" not "grabs" :)

[HorseFilms]

Looks great. Are you a Thomas Disch fan? He wrote a novel called 334.

I wasn't aware of him until now. 334 is our house number, so that's what we went with.:)

[HorseFilms]

thats "grab" not "grabs" :)

hehe... I'll get some more up soon.:beer:

[Cynic821]

sounds good, as soon as something gets shot over here ill post mine too

[greeches]

nice! Can't wait!

[Brandon Rice]

Horse! DUDE! I am super excited about your film!

[HorseFilms]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys.:beer: Here's another grab for ya...
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/232/1159107626.jpg

[Brandon Rice]

I always love your lighting dude... you have a look to your stuff. Looks good :thumbsup:

[TheatreGuy]

Hey HorseFilms! Welcome to the party! I was wondering where your entry was. (No, we don't know eachother, but I've read a lot of your posts... and who could mistake that avatar of yours! :huh: )

Good luck and all that jazzzzz!

Love the shots you've posted. The lighting in that one with the guy in the shade of the blinds is very nice! And a bloody picture always goes without saying! :evil:

Looking forward to it! :)

Ted

[Beat Takeshi]

Oh sheet, horse is in. Good luck!

[spooky138]

I love the silhouette of the blinds cast on the wall and character. The off-kilter angles do much for creating unease and tension. It's very Welles'ian of you.

[kimko]

right on my brother!

[kimko]

you dog waiting til the last minute.

[HorseFilms]

you dog waiting til the last minute.

I didn't want the thread to burn out right away. I figured a week was the right amount of time.:beer:

[kimko]

aint going to burn out brother you got some good friends here.

[Brandon Rice]

aint going to burn out brother you got some good friends here.

darn straight!:)

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Awesome :beer:
looking forward to it. :thumbsup:

[HorseFilms]

aint going to burn out brother you got some good friends here.

Awwww... you know how to make a guy blush.:)

We finished shooting this thing a few weeks ago. I've been slowly working on the edit ever since. I've got it pretty much done. Now I just have to finish writing the music for it.:beer:

[Mark Harris]

The CU grab of the girl with blood on her face is nice. But man, I tell you, all you need to do to win this thing is put up a 1080 version of your avatar!!! No matter how many times I see it, it still freaks me the f-&*&^ out! :)

[HorseFilms]

But man, I tell you, all you need to do to win this thing is put up a 1080 version of your avatar!!! No matter how many times I see it, it still freaks me the f-&*&^ out! :)

Sweet! Now I know what my next flick is gonna be.:beer:

[Edgen]

I'm diggin' the grab of the blinds and of course the blood on the face. Anxious to see what all that jazz is about. Good luck in post!

/j

[HorseFilms]

I'm diggin' the grab of the blinds and of course the blood on the face. Anxious to see what all that jazz is about. Good luck in post!

/j

Thanks, Edgen! I appreciate it.


I would like to go on record by saying that no actors were sober during the production of this film (and neither was I). We had a blast.:beer:

[avatuar]

Saw your budget man booze is the fuel of the imagination lol j/k but it definitley could make it more fun!

[HorseFilms]

Saw your budget man booze is the fuel of the imagination lol j/k but it definitley could make it more fun!

You've got that right, man:beer: There were only three of us on set and we had a great time.

[khmuse]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys.:beer: Here's another grab for ya...
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/232/1159107626.jpg

The use of the venetian blind shadows really helps the lighting design on this setup. It would be so much less motivated without. Good work!

[kimko]

Sweet! Now I know what my next flick is gonna be.:beer:
yeah and me chasing the critter..............................naked!....... .............with a butcher knife........................................with a sunday bonnet on my head!........................:kiss:

[kimko]

Thanks, Edgen! I appreciate it.


I would like to go on record by saying that no actors were sober during the production of this film (and neither was I). We had a blast.:beer:i want to be in your next shoot!:huh:

[Lingothree]

I totally almost got a tattoo like the venetian blind guy when I was eighteen.

Looking forward to seeing the finished film! Go Mankato!

[HorseFilms]

i want to be in your next shoot!:huh:

I want you there too, brother.:beer:


I totally almost got a tattoo like the venetian blind guy when I was eighteen. Looking forward to seeing the finished film! Go Mankato!

It's the sun from the inside of the Alice in Chains "Dirt" CD. He's a good friend of mine and the bass player of the band Diesl (http://www.myspace.com/diesl)

Thanks a lot. I look forward to seeing your movie, too.:beer:

[kimko]

looking forward to seeing it! hey rikki tikki tavi had a few cases of beer on the set.. and that was a happy crew.....of course that was me, my girl, his girl, rikki....and some extras a day later......sorry we drank the beers.

[jpbankesmercer]

Thanks for the encouragement, guys.:beer: Here's another grab for ya...
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/232/1159107626.jpg

Another drunk actor looking for support!
J
(look's ace, I always love your lighting Horse)

[greeches]

Dude, more grabs!!

:)

[Rubix³]

The lighting is perfect... Love the poster. Can't wait to see it.

Keep 'em drunk, that's my motto (unless they have to run or something. then everyone get's pissy.)

[Blaine]

Have you gotten this uploaded yet? :beer:

[HorseFilms]

Have you gotten this uploaded yet? :beer:
I'm working on the encode right now. I've given the huge finger to QT pro because it's slower than my grandma on the freeway... and she's been dead for 25 years.:)

EDIT: I'm uploading right now. It's gonna take about 4 hours, but it'll be there.:beer:

[Slimothy]

Horse, your poster is awesome. Your lighting setups usually rock, so I'm looking forward to 334. How did you do the lighting of the EXt of the house? What size lights, etc.

[HorseFilms]

Horse, your poster is awesome. Your lighting setups usually rock, so I'm looking forward to 334. How did you do the lighting of the EXt of the house? What size lights, etc.

Thanks, Tim. That means a lot to me.:beer:

The exterior of my house was lit with a 300w fresnel on a c-stand raised high enough so that I could use a tree branch as a cookie. That's it. I go for simplicity whenever I can.

[HorseFilms]

If I continue to get kicked off the server, I won't be participating in this festival. I'll just post the fucking movie in this thread.

[CallaghanFilms]

Either way...
I am lookin' forward to seeing it, my man.

http://www.geocities.com/chad_callaghan/-emot1.gif

[Blaine]

I think I found your problem, Horse... check out the number of views:
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/10394/1159754461.jpg

[CallaghanFilms]

I think I found your problem, Horse... check out the number of views:
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/10394/1159754461.jpg


http://www.cineclub.de/images/waterboy3.jpg
Bobby Boucher, that CallaghanFilms is the devil!!

[HorseFilms]

Awesome!:beer:

After three failed upload attempts, I'm trying a different FTP client just to see if it makes a difference. Damn I wish we just mailed Jarred a DVD like we did for ZombieFest.:(

[Cryogenic Filmworks]

Awesome!:beer:

After three failed upload attempts, I'm trying a different FTP client just to see if it makes a difference. Damn I wish we just mailed Jarred a DVD like we did for ZombieFest.:(
I believe Jarred had mentioned in one of the threads about emailing (or pm) him and he would give you an address to send a disk to. Cannot find the entry on my quick search but you might PM him and verify.

[HorseFilms]

I believe Jarred had mentioned in one of the threads about emailing (or pm) him and he would give you an address to send a disk to. Cannot find the entry on my quick search but you might PM him and verify.

Thanks!:beer: I'm giving it one last upload attempt and then I'm going to either 1)Upload just the .mov so that we'll be in the contest, or 2) Overnight him a hard copy. We'll see what happens.

[Blaine]

I believe Jarred had mentioned in one of the threads about emailing (or pm) him and he would give you an address to send a disk to. Cannot find the entry on my quick search but you might PM him and verify.

Here's Jarred's post:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showpost.php?p=704364&postcount=1

[HorseFilms]

It worked!!!!!! :beer::beer::beer:

[TheatreGuy]

Hey, congrats HorseFilm. I am sharing your pain of this upload process!

Freakin' easier to shoot a film then it is to upload it!

Go figure!

[HorseFilms]

Hey, congrats HorseFilm. I am sharing your pain of this upload process!

Freakin' easier to shoot a film then it is to upload it!

Go figure!

I know, it's crazy. FileZilla worked really well for me. It went through on the first try. My other FTP software kept stalling on me. I don't know what was going on with it.

[HorseFilms]

I want to thank Jarred for being so helpful and flexible with everyone in the upload process. I know it was a giant pain in the ass for him (and most likely still is).

Thanks, Jarred!:beer:

[Darkline]

I was lucky that my upload went really smoothly. My only concern is the quicktime file has rendered a bit dark :-(

Your film looks fun. I cant wait to start viewing these....

[Blaine]

Congrats, Horse! I knew you'd find a way...even if you had to overnight the damned thing. :beer: :beer: :beer:

[HorseFilms]

Congrats, Horse! I knew you'd find a way...even if you had to overnight the damned thing. :beer: :beer: :beer:

I was getting nervous there for awhile.:)

[Brandon Rice]

Congrats dude! Got your film in! Awesome stuff.

[Robert Eldon]

Congratulations HorseFilms! Do you know what the problem was?

Can't wait to see your flick!

[HorseFilms]

Congratulations HorseFilms! Do you know what the problem was?

Can't wait to see your flick!

Thanks, man. CuteFTP kept stalling on me. It wasn't until I switched to FileZilla that I was able to complete the upload.

[jpbankesmercer]

Glad you made it big boy, can't wait for that lighting.
J

[HorseFilms]

Glad you made it big boy, can't wait for that lighting.
J

Thanks, JP! I just hope it lives up to expectations.:beer:

[Steve Strickland]

Alright, Horse! I'm looking forward to checking out your film.

[arielman]

Congrats on making it .
Ian

[HorseFilms]

Thanks, guys! I hope you like it. Here's one last grab just for the hell of it. You'll see the rest when the festival begins.
http://www.dvxuser6.com/uploaded/232/1159927770.jpg

[Blaine]

AND I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT!!!!!!!!!:beer: :beer: :beer:

[HorseFilms]

AND I CAN'T poo pooING WAIT!!!!!!!!!:beer: :beer: :beer:

Right back at ya, my friend.:beer:

[Blaine]

10. total soundtrack composing time: Not much. You'll understand when you hear it. I wrote a more complex score, but liked it too much to burn it on a short. You'll hear it when I eventually make my slasher feature.
And I can't begin to tell you how anxious I am to see that...http://goldismoney.info/forums/images/smilies/beer.gif

[HorseFilms]

And I can't begin to tell you how anxious I am to see that...http://goldismoney.info/forums/images/smilies/beer.gif

So am I.:)

:dankk2:

[luster]

i always like films with street names in the title. there seem to be a lot of them

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

looking forward to seeing your work once again ... ah the old days.
Its like zombie fest all over again :grin:

[Peter Murphy]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this already, but I certainly am curious to find out where the lake went. - What have I become, did I really stoop that low?

[HorseFilms]

looking forward to seeing your work once again ... ah the old days.
Its like zombie fest all over again :grin:

It brings a tear to your eye, doesn't it. :) Thanks, Jack. I really want to see yours as well.:beer:

[gwmesler]

A girl home alone in a lonely house, a peeping Tom, could be very scary!

[HorseFilms]

A girl home alone in a lonely house, a peeping Tom, could be very scary!

This one doesn't quite go that route, but we have a script that's eerily similar to that. We almost shot that one for the fest, actually.:)

[jpbankesmercer]

Yours will be one of the first I watch baby.

[HorseFilms]

Yours will be one of the first I watch baby.

I'll be waiting for yours to hit the server, too, my friend.:beer:

[Mark Harris]

Well my first comment is, that girl is pretty cute and that guy is an ass-hat. You give me her number and I'll treat her right.

:)

Back for more after I watch them all.

[HorseFilms]

Well my first comment is, that girl is pretty cute

I think so, too.:)

[Michael_Petro]

Well my first comment is, that girl is pretty

her makeup appeared to be a little runny:).. Nice job Mr H.Films

[Kholi]

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

Hey guys, I'm going down alphabetically and guess who's first!

For starters I'd like to say you've got really clean images going on. The compression was good on this one and kind of set the standard for those to follow, for myself. On to the subject matter -- (please do not take this as more than audience review.)

Script - I think that the script could've been worked through a bit more. For what it was, it seemed like the four minutes could've been condensed into two and had a better impact. I also didn't see what the ending was about, either. But I'm sure there's something I missed.

Direction - Not bad at all. Sure you had tight spaces to work with. The bedroom scenes, to me, want to stand out as the strongest.

Acting - Not bad overall. The guy's accent wasn't offensive, either. Pleasant actually. The girl's line "and I'll die" was hilarious. Just kind of stated and it actually worked as comedy relief for me. Not bad.

Cine/Lighting - Pretty even all around. Shadows looked natural for the most part. Nothing to distract me from the content the first watch around. There's one part where I can see a light moving, but had I not I would've never noticed that the eerie green curtain was lit that way. Neat little idea.

Editing - Not the strongest aspect, but not the weakest. There's a cut where you do a push in on the eye that really took me out of it on the first watch. Maybe it was too fast?

Sound - Overall the shortcoming of ... the short? Music was a bit redundant but tolerable, the sound mixing was a little hollow and choppy as well. Though whatever Mic you used wasn't too bad. I didn't hear a lot of ambience going on, just the empty room sound. Sound should be tightened on a re-cut if at all possible.

edit* Special Effects - Not a lot here. The blood looked like blood, though. Was it messy?

Scariest Moments - The part where she's standing at the window. That was actually kinda (wtf) and the moment that I got interested in watching again. The lighting was creepy.

Overall consensus - This is the first time I've seen your work. I might've missed other entries but it wasn't bad at all. I only hope I can achieve something as decent as that. Thanks for giving me something to watch, Horsefilms! And I'm sure you're improving as well.

[HorseFilms]

Thanks, Kholi! I appreciate the feedback.

[Mark Johnson]

Really enjoyed your film, Horse. I especially love the lead's delivery of "It better be a f*ckin burglar". Poifect! If he doesn't live in a trailer park he is a damn good actor!

For me the stark piano sound track really worked ... for awhile. It evoked the haunting sense I had when I first heard Musica Ricercata played as a single note track in Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. However, by the halfway point I found the phrase had become simply repetitive so that it lost the power of illuminating the film.

My favorite scene is when the female lead is at the sink simply standing and not responding. To me it replicated the strong sense of unease I felt when I saw Blair Witch Project and the actor is standing, back to the camera, nonresponsive in the creepy house. Although I didn't really buy much of Blair, that one scene has always stayed with me as being particularly evocative. I suppose it also resonated because Jack has a very similar dynamic in Rekindled when the actress appears standing facing the wall without answering Marty, who calls out her name repeatedly.

Thanks for some wonderful imagery.

[HorseFilms]

Thanks for some wonderful imagery.

Thanks a lot, Mark! Yes, the music is what happens when you don't hire someone else to do it and you get stuck trying to make it work on your own.:)

[Blaine]

Horse, thanks for that. I have always liked your lighting... The images are nice, clean and interesting.. The only negatives for me would be the ending...not sure what happened there. Is someone having a dream or does she off him. I agree with Mark about the music. Of course, you already know that.

I'm going to definitely watch this again. It struck me as a teaser for something larger and I'd like to see that "something larger." :thumbsup:

[Charli]

Script: It has a beginning but not middle then it ends.

Direction: I wasn't moved by it but I wasn't turned off by it.

Acting: Not enough happened to rate this. Halfway through the film it's a no
brainer for the actors.

Audio: Didn't have any problems hearing anything.

Editing: Straight forward.

Cine/light: I actually liked the shadows.

Score: Fine in beginning, but also like the plot, it had no middle or end.

OVERALL: Your beginning lasted half of the story, you don't have that luxury
in a 6 minute short to establish backstory. You need to get in quicker so that
by page 3-4 you are jumping into the conclusion. The more dead space (no
dialogue) that you have within a page, the slower the pace.

[HorseFilms]

Thanks, Blaine. Yeah, the ending was unfortunate. I was planning to get another shot or two when we originally did it, but somehow ended up forgetting (could it be that we were all hammered?). I would've reshot, but I didn't want to put Allison through the blood shower again. I did my best to save it in the edit, but I'm not a very good editor.:)

[gwmesler]

I liked the lighting. Dark, but visible.

[Edgen]

man, I really enjoyed the movie. I dug the actor's performance, but ya know.. it was the music that really pushed this movie down.

I would highly consider the possibility after the fest to have someone score it.. (hint hint) The piano was just annoying and reminded me of a kid's toy. It was probably just better off without music all together.

Otherwise, nice flick. There were some pretty tense moments.

/j

[HorseFilms]

Script: It has a beginning but not middle then it ends.


We had a beginning and an end?! Sweet!! I thought all we had was middle!!
-Allison Bluhm, screenwriter

[Charli]

Horse - your strength was the shadows. Yeah, no middle - lol.

[jpbankesmercer]

Acting: Good.
Script: It did loose me a little, ending?
Direction: Nice shot choice, blocking.
Music: Kill that pianist!
Editing: Smooth.
Lighting: Strongest point, creepy, nice bathroom set-up, you KNOW I love your shadow work dude; you are a great D.P. with your own style. Created a solid overall atmosphere. Blood looked slick.
Loved: The T.V/ Snowman shot, framing was superb WOW! Flickering lights, “There better be a fucking burglar out there”-Class.
Hated: Handheld shot’s of house, sorry just didn’t work for me, the music.
Overall: Horror is your business and business is good. Well-done mate.

Top job Horse, you gotta do a full on slasher.

[Lingothree]

Was someone poking fun at our accents earlier, yah?

Good work. I'll have to agree that it didn't feel like a fully fleshed out story, though. At the end, I felt like I had missed something. Did whatever was on the TV screen at the beginning have some sort of meaning to be revealed at the end?

I liked the shot with the shadow of the blinds on the wall/door.

The fact that I could see the blood all over the woman's back but the man didn't notice until she turned around kind of threw me - what are your thoughts on that?

Overall, I think your cinematography was good except the lighting really could've used a little more umph. Editing was good, too. The score could have been fancied up a tad, as you know. Acting was good, too - both actors were very believable.

Good work - I look forward to seeing more from you!

[penfever]

Alphabetically 1st = 1st listed = 1st viewed. Nice one, guys.
Well, this was a nice way to start out a brand new DVXFest. A solid, collected piece of work that respects its predecessors without completely emulating them.
The acting was pretty good. I think (as is often the case in micro-budget films) audio hurt performance quite a bit. There's so little gravity to the writing and the dialogue when there's that electronic hum in the background and the noise levels don't match.
In general, audio needed more attention here. 50 percent of viewer experience is audio, and it's the least noted 50 percent to boot. The writing was dragged down by mediocre recording, but the lines weren't half bad - at least the story wasn't talky.
Visually, the cutting merged smoothly with the cinematography to create some nice, striking transitions; I'm thinking in particular of the opening sequence and the opening of the white door to the kitchen.
The ending lacks punch - I think again, it's a lack of attention to audio. It's cliched, but a strangled cry, or some note of distress in the hero's voice, would have done wonders for the resolution. The bloody hand alone wasn't scary enough - especially since it was shot from so far away. That's usually a shot that's done in close-up - restricting the field of perception makes us much more afraid of what we can't see (and therefore, don't know).

A+ effort, thanks for your film. I enjoyed it.
-Ben

[HorseFilms]

The fact that I could see the blood all over the woman's back but the man didn't notice until she turned around kind of threw me - what are your thoughts on that?


My girlfriend, screenwriter, co-director and person with the blood all over her said that it's because he's a man. It's the same reason why I don't notice when things are dirty around the house.:beer:

[cinealma]

My girlfriend, screenwriter, co-director and person with the blood all over her said that it's because he's a man. It's the same reason why I don't notice when things are dirty around the house.:beer:

Ain't that the truth!

I really like this film. Another piece that felt like I was watching an actual movie. Sure, the story could have been fleshed out a little more, but it worked for me. The only thing I didn't get is the ending. And why was there a flashlight moving around in the room in the final exterior shot?

The TV effect actually didn't work for me. Just a little TOO fast and too much flicker to sell the effect.

I liked the acting. It fit. Nice to see a REAL guy getting in over his head.

Great stuff here! Good job!


John G.

[Jazz Dog]

Nice job.
I loved the lighting through the mini blinds. Very cool.

[VersuS]

Nice one here!!! I loved your cinematography!! I think it's a big challenge to shoot inside a house night time and make it look like the lights are coming from outside and this....so you did great on that....

The editing was a bit off sometimes in my opinion like when he opened the bath tub curtains he had a different look on his face and that struck me as odd...
They both played fine, I have only one objection here, the woman in the end, touches him he swerves to his right and she looks at the camera (straight forward) for a sec. than at him (right)....was that intentional?

The sound was neat, I found no trouble with their lines and the sounds were edited very nice together. The score was nothing special though...again piano....

Finally in terms of story...there were some puzzles...like, was there someone watching from outside? was the woman in blood really his wife or a vision? what happened to her? what was that at the end that we were supposed to see from outside the window? what did really happen at 334 Lost Lake Drive?

Nice work overall!

[Darkline]

Hi Ryan,

I liked this too, it had a nice build up. Lighting was great, you created a creepy atmosphere. Some nice visuals and a very simple idea I think can sometimes be better than something overcomplicated.

On the downside (and this is just my stupid opinion) it didnt really go anywhere and the ending felt very sudden and too open ended. It had no real conclusion. Maybe even just adding some sound effect could have helped to provide more of a 'climax'. When it ended I felt dissapointed as I was quite into it. Also the music really started to grate after a few minutes. This said I know you were working with a lot of limitations so it's a bit of a redundant comment.

All in all good work. It had a nice ambience, well done.

[HorseFilms]

Thanks, guys. We were kind of trying to go for a retro feel. Not too far back, maybe late '70s or early '80s (my favorite time frame for movies and a look that really appeals to me). We failed because we didn't make it clear enough.

As far as the story goes, we just wanted to make it kinda weird. We wanted an unexplained event that had no real explanation. We figured we'd let people form their own opinions as to what happened.

I'm really happy with Danny's performance. He'd never acted before, but I knew he'd be up for the challenge. You'll be seeing more of him in future projects.

Technically, the only thing that I'm happy with is the lighting (and even that has a lot of things I would change upon further viewing). The QuickTime came out a little dark, but the MPEG looks pretty damn good, I think.

[luster]

nice work guys/gals.

i think you did a good job of lighting - it was very naturalistic. the tv flicker seemed a bit off, but i got the idea (a hint for next: light from the tv is usually blue and the flicker is more erratic)

the music added to the horror movie feel, so i think it was effective.

i think you could improve on the sound mixing. you need to lay down a room tone track, so the sound doesn't "jump" with every cut.

also, some of the edits need to be tweaked - the continuity was slightly off. it's one of those little things that takes a lot of practice to get right, but once you do it's worth it.

i wish there was more to the story, i was really getting into it and trying to figure out what was going on, then at the end i felt a bit cheated. there's obviously something creepy going on in the house but we never get any hints or anything as to what it is. there's a fine line between an ambiguous ending and a chopped ending and this feels more chopped. i think with maybe one more shot that reveals something, you could make this ending more effective

good luck on your next film.

[Matt Sconce]

The lighting on this was just plain good! I liked it, although I was confused as to what was going on. I wish that was explained, but I see what you were going for, letting us figure out what we thought. :-) Good job!

[macintosh]

CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Great job. Everything was consistent and looked awesome. The lighting was very impressive, the first time I watched it, I wasn't a big fan of the light flickering in the bedroom, but the next time I watched it, I thought it worked great. You did an awesome job at keeping everything dark, but still giving us enough light to see the actors and be able to know where everything is taking place and whats going on. The opening shot of the house was good, very creepy.

EDITING:

Again, great job. Very smooth cuts, the pace of the film felt right, and did a great job of adding suspense. Especially in the bathroom scene where there is the pause between him grabbing the shower curtain and tearing it open.

SOUND:

Audio levels were consistent and in good range. I didn't have any difficulty hearing the dialogue and everything mixed together very well.

SCORE:

I loved it. It's very simple, yet effective. Does a great job of adding an eerie feel to the film.

SCREENPLAY:

The idea is a good one. The set-up with the woman hearing a noise and wanting her husband or boyfriend to check it out works great. The actors lines were very natural and completely believable. The only thing I'm not sure of is the ending, I kinda understand where the story was going, however the ending threw me and I felt there should've been maybe a more defined ending.

ACTING:

Both of your actors were great. The opening dialogue with "It could be a burglar, I could die" "There better be a poo pooing burglar out there." Was great. It was funny, yet completely believable at the same time. I think both actors did a good job and played their characters very well. The dialogue and emotion seemed real and nothing felt odd or out of place.

Overall it was a great film. Everything was done very well., and I was not disappointed. I was actually a little creeped out after watching it the first time. But thats what I get for watching it in a dark room wearing headphones. Great job, you should be really proud of this.

[CallaghanFilms]

Love your non-pretentious style, my man. You are a straight shooter, and your flicks never put on airs or try to be something that they're not.

I enjoyed 334 Lost Lake Drive, and can definitely see the early eighties horror vibe goin' on.

Nicely done.

Bottoms up to ya http://www.geocities.com/chad_callaghan/-emot6.gif

[Robert Eldon]

I liked the lighting and tempo in this one. One of my favorite shots out of the whole fest is in this film. Great job! I've posted some addtional notes below:

movietime: 00:00:12:07 - Awesome lighting for the opening shot.

movietime: 00:00:36:20 - Good acting. Great reaction and natural, believable. I like the light flicker.

movietime: 00:01:07:04 - I like the line, "There better be a F'n burglar out there". It's ironic because he has to get up and he wants to get up for a good reason, but if there's a burglar out there, then he has a bigger problem. Good one.

movietime: 00:01:31:04 - Nice effect with the shower curtain. Kind of cliche', but cliche' works in this case.

movietime: 00:01:40:20 - You could have the music become a little more ominous at this point to build the tension.

movietime: 00:02:41:03 - Nice editing. I like the light in the window. Creates a nice backlight.

movietime: 00:02:58:19 - My favorite shot in the whole movie, with the blinds and light. Well done!

movietime: 00:03:31:26 - I don't get the ending. The green light? Again, maybe a 'stinger' and sinister music when she appears to him. What happens at the end?

[TheatreGuy]

Hey Horse! Nice job on your film! There were some great moments that I will always cherish... My favorite has got to be, "there better be a F*ckin' burglar out there!" CLASSIC!!! Gotta be the best line in the fest... that and from Thou Shalt Not's "First time you've been shot in 100 years."

My other favorites are the lighting in general, especially the blinds on the wall and the woman at the sink. CREEPY!!!!

You had some great creep factor going for you man!

Great Job!

Ted

[Aaron Marshall]

I couldn't quit laughing when the guy said "damn it" as he begrudgingly got out of bed. It sounds exactly like something my dad would say, or myself to someone bothering me when I'm trying to sleep.

I loved how you edited this flick when he attempts to flip on the lights. I loved how it showed her face at that point.

Good job in creating a creepy atmosphere + humor. I also loved the northern accent out of the female lead. I think it's interesting when you can convey that influence in regional films. I love that about Conrad Johnson's work as well.

[HorseFilms]

Wow. You guys really kick ass. Thank you.

Callaghan- Of all the comments we've received so far, yours pleased us the most. You get it. Pretentious movies piss us off. We can't stand to watch it, so we'd never make one that was.

Here's my favorite outtake from the production. It's only 30 seconds long, but it'll let you know how much fun it was to shoot with Danny. Allison got home from work and walked into the house as we were re-shooting a scene.

http://www.horsefilms.com/video/Danny.mov

[J.R. Hudson]

I loved the attention to detail with the flicker of the tv, a great touch.

Although the tog was fairly relaxed and straightforward, I found the lighting wonderful, feels like night and real. ON a liner note, It felt too close to the Zombiefest. I was thinking 'Damn it Horseman, get out of the house!' LOL

[HorseFilms]

I loved the attention to detail with the flicker of the tv, a great touch.

Although the tog was fairly relaxed and straightforward, I found the lighting wonderful, feels like night and real. ON a liner note, It felt too close to the Zombiefest. I was thinking 'Damn it Horseman, get out of the house!' LOL

Thanks, John! I know, I'm a hermit. I need to find a new location. I guess you take what you can get when your budget is 1 MQ tape, some pizza and booze.:beer:

[kimko]

as long as the beer is a good ale!....hey buddy nice music..... natural acting(good choice) good reactions (direction) ...................but i didn't get the ending? i'll leave the other stuff to the more qualified..... they have already said. the feel was was great and yes i love that (what RobertE said) it better be a burglar! ha ha that's great! we got to get you out here brother and your lady too!

[Slimothy]

Hey Horse,
The first thing that surprised me is the acting comes off totally natural throughout the whole thing. The reason it surprised me is because I know you used family/friends and that is almost always a hard thing to make look good. They were pretty damn solid throughout. Lighting, as usual was good. The only problem I found was the ending. I think if there was a loud noise or something when she appeared it probably would have scared the bajeesus out of me.

Tim.

[HorseFilms]

as long as the beer is a good ale!....hey buddy nice music..... natural acting(good choice) good reactions (direction) ...................but i didn't get the ending? i'll leave the other stuff to the more qualified..... they have already said. the feel was was great and yes i love that (what RobertE said) it better be a burglar! ha ha that's great! we got to get you out here brother and your lady too!

Thanks, buddy!:beer: They're gonna be stoked to hear that someone with your acting chops thought they were natural. Hell, I'm stoked. :dankk2:


Hey Horse,
The first thing that surprised me is the acting comes off totally natural throughout the whole thing. The reason it surprised me is because I know you used family/friends and that is almost always a hard thing to make look good. They were pretty damn solid throughout. Lighting, as usual was good. The only problem I found was the ending. I think if there was a loud noise or something when she appeared it probably would have scared the bajeesus out of me.
Thanks, Tim. I think I'm going to recut the ending a little and see what I can do to make the ending a little better. I'll probably tweak the music a bit at the same time. What the hell, I pretty much have all winter where I can't do much but interior/post work. I might as well take advantage of it.:)

I was really lucky to have Allison and Danny willing to act in this thing. Allison is my girlfriend/production partner, so she gets stuck acting by default. Danny's been a friend of mine for a long time, but didn't realize that he'd be willing to act until this summer. What's funny, is that they both were worried that they sucked. :)

[HorseFilms]

In case anyone really cares, I figured I'd list the equipment used on this.

Camera
-Stock DVX100A (I love this camera)

Audio
-The mic was an Oktava mc012 that was mounted on a boom stand (I didn't have a boom op).

Lighting (I like using small fixtures)
-An Altman 650L fresnel lamped down to 300w.
-A mini mole lamped down to 100w.
-A 200w Britek open faced fixture.
-A Walter Graff flicker box.

That's about it. This was a no-budget production, so I used what I had lying around my office.

[hvxabuser]

hmm i have nothing to say really about this movie.

the tv flicker was the most annoying thing ever. My eyes hurt watching it. also what was the point of the sotry i couldnt find it was she a monster or a killer or something? underlit. good lighitn but underlit or no cc'd enough.

nice shots just annoying things and lack of story.

[HorseFilms]

just annoying things and lack of story.

I might put that on the poster.

[hvxabuser]

lol sorry but the flicker effect threw me off. i was distracted from the story more than I wanted to be. what did you do for the effect?

[HorseFilms]

what did you do for the effect?

It was a Walter Graff flicker box.

[hvxabuser]

how do you feel about the effect?

[HorseFilms]

I wanted to go with the TV flicker thing. The flicker box doesn't let you adjust the rate, which is unfortunate. I think it was a little too much and not random enough. That said, I may use it again in a similar situation, but I'd probably diffuse the hell out of it (or even bounce it) to decrease the intensity. It was my first time using that piece of equipment.

[hvxabuser]

yea diffusion and perhaps a color switch from time to time remember tv can also work with random jumps of color tv cut from shot to shot so its normal to see a bluish frame a whiter one to a red one and so on flciker not so much next time. practice it and get it down.

[conrad_johnson]

Hey horse,

The story and camerawork on this one were pretty good.

The acting was great, the editing was fine.

Loved the shot of the guy by the door with the blinds-light on him.

Cool.
Sorry, don't have much more to say than that.
Good work!

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

hmm i have nothing to say really about this movie... HA! :grin: 5 posts later ... lol

I liked this a lot. The 1st time I didn't notice the infamous flicker effect which is probably good. 2nd time it didn't bother me.

I like the john carpenteresque score and the shots of the house exterior with the tree shadow were very creepy.


My biggest crit was that that guy was really tough looking and it I can't imagine many things that go bump in the night that he wouldn't be able to handle. Sure if a werewolf shows up he's probably dogfood ... but then again ...

So I think if you have a tough guy like that better establish that Alien or Predator or something is out there.

I'm only half serious, but I did think "this dood's kind of a badass" at one point so it was less scary.

It would be a good start to a horror film to show a cool looking guy like that get up in the middle of the night to investigate and then get quickly shredded, then you would know whatever was out there was a bad MF for the rest of the scenes, but in the short it kind of worked against the fear factor.

But it had a cool vibe to it and was a good watch!

thanks!

Jack

[HorseFilms]

Thanks, Jack! Yeah, the shot I dreaded the most was the second to last shot where you actually see Allison and Danny standing next to each other. Allison is 5'5" and Danny is 6'7", yet Danny is supposed to be terrified.:)

[jpbankesmercer]

Horse how you doing why you not been over?

J.P.

[HorseFilms]

Sorry, man. I'll be over there. I'm having a hard time downloading the movies. My cable modem is being a pain. It keeps disconnecting me and I have to continually recycle the power on the damn thing. I think that's a big reason why I was having a hard time uploading.

[jpbankesmercer]

Man forgot your not on cable, that must be a bitch!

[HorseFilms]

I am on cable, that's what's pissing me off. My cable modem is screwing up. I have to unplug it for a few seconds, plug it back in, and then things work again for awhile. It's taking me forever to download anything.:(

[TheatreGuy]

Hey horse, great to see your film. Congratulations!

I have das a great time with this festival.

Best of luck to you!

Ted

[jpbankesmercer]

Best of luck Horse, I'm gonna have a drink now!

[mentatDUKE]

Hello Horse.
Interesting film. The score was minimalistic but effective. I found it stuck in my head throughout the week. It left an impression.

The lighting and camera work was decent. I liked your use of shadows.

The story was ok. I found the ending a bit jarring. I think you could have done more with the concept.

You did well building tension as we followed the man throughout the house.

Not too bad at all. I'd like to see more of your stuff. Any links?

Have a good weekend.

[Ought2bCommitted]

I might put that on the poster.

LMAO-you never cease to make me laugh out loud!

I finally am able to view the horrorfest movies, but am too late to vote. Sorry guys! I tried! Between my wife wanting to be Miss Horrorfest and making her video despite being in pain-which I thought I hid rather well, hey she wanted to do it, so I did it for her-and having more so-so days than I thought, I really missed the boat on voting!

As usual Horse yours was the first movie I checked out and really liked it. Your shots feel good overall. There's a definite tone and mood evoked by your images and I really like it. (how did you get that blind shot? its awesome!)

The acting was really even throughout. I totally bought it. Nice job!

I enjoyed the sparse score. I thought it worked for the piece.

The flicker didn't bother me. You can put that on the poster too. :)

One continuity thing: there's a beer bottle in the first shot of the bed and its gone when he goes back in later. Intentional?

You should have had the actor's POV looking into the shower more when he pulled the curtain. That was the only scene that felt "off" to me visually.

And yes, I know its been said before, but... the ending. NOt really sure what happened. But I liked it anyway! It didn't take away from the piece as a whole.

As usual, a pleasure to see your work! Will write more to you soon.

Robert

Say hey to Alison for me! Tell her she did (another) great job1

[Norm Sanders]

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

Sound needed work (0:50, for example … definite cut in the covers, should have blended the sound clips from one to the other, or simply carry the SFX from one over the next clip/cut – also a few level jumps with scene/angle cuts, but minor & rare). Solid performance from the actor, wasn’t sure if the female was supposed to be in a trance or what though. Also didn’t understand the story, specifically the green light in the window from the street view. All that said, still one of the highest scoring films on my list so far. Great work, and though your ZombieFest entry was fun, I felt this was a HUGE improvement in filmmaking for you. J

[Jeremy Ordan]

I am finally getting around to checking out and commenting on some of the entries.

Your film in general reminded me to no end of the original Holloween in lighting, coverage, and acting. Please take that as a compliment.

The lighting in general I found to always have a motivation and not be that normal 'where is this light coming from'. I liked the TV flicker and thought it worked well and the harsh shadows didn't bother me during the night scenes in the house. I found the coverage, nice close up cuts, and good variety to work really well, pulling me into the story. The acting, while not exactly what I would call seemless was strong enough to keep me into the story and not draw attention to itself.

Great solid entry.

Now the score. Dude, this worked for me, reminded me of holloween and just flowed. Overall great job.

[HorseFilms]

Your film in general reminded me to no end of the original Holloween in lighting, coverage, and acting. Please take that as a compliment.


How could I take that as anything but a compliment? Thanks, Jeremy!:beer: You have, officially, made my day.:)