Envision & 235 Studios - "R.E.M."

[Norm Sanders]

www.eefilm.com/rem (http://www.eefilm.com/rem)

DESKTOP WALLPAPER DOWNLOAD (1024x768)!

http://www.eefilm.com/rem/graphics/rem-desktop-thumb.jpg (http://www.eefilm.com/rem/graphics/rem-desktop.jpg)

FINAL HORROR FEST SCORES
AT BOTTOM OF THIS POST

Right click on the R.E.M. title in this poster & save to your system to view the compressed 720P version of the film!.
Do the same over the flashing clock in the poster to view the BTS clip.


Enjoy & thanks for watching our last minute entry, "R.E.M."!!

http://www.eefilm.com/rem/remposter1.gif
http://www.eefilm.com/rem/remposter2.gif (http://www.eefilm.com/rem/REM-720pWebHD.mov)
http://www.eefilm.com/rem/remposter3.gif
http://www.eefilm.com/rem/remposter4.gif (http://www.eefilm.com/rem/rembts.wmv)

Finally unable to stand on the sidelines any longer, about two weeks before the submission deadline,
I asked Ryan Walters (235 Studios) if he wanted to shoot a quick HorrorFest entry with me.
Eager to test out his new HVX200 with a cinematic short, he quickly agreed.

Within two days, we had the idea, the crew, talent, and location. We wrapped the entire
shoot in just one Friday evening, filming from approximately 9pm until 4am.

We hope you enjoy the eye candy, whether it be the great visuals that Ryan was able to
capture on the HVX, or our talented actress Rebecca L. Dunn. :grin: Also worth noting is the
incredible score that Justin R. Durban (Edgen) brought to the table, cranking it out specific
for the film in just two days.



Note: Name in parathesis = DVXuser member name.


CAST
Rebecca L. Dunn (RebeccaD) - Alicia

CREW
Norm Sanders (Envision) Writer, Producer and Director
Ryan Walters (235 Studios) 1st AD, Editor and Director of Photography
Justin R. Durban (Edgen) - Composer
Tung Bui (tung 'n groove photo) - Gaffer
Patrick LaValley (PDX DVX) - Sound/Boom Operator
Jerry Turner (fixitinpost) - Production Assistant
Evin Carr (ecarr) - Prop Master


SPECIAL THANKS
The Sanders Family (for putting up with me because I was going to sit this one out)
The Walters Family (probably the same for Ryan)
The Dunn Family (for use of their home)



FINAL HORROR FEST SCORES/PLACING FOR "R.E.M."

VFX - Tied for 14th Place with average Score of 5.8
CINEMATOGRAPHY - Tied for 12th Place with average Score of 7.1
EDITING - Tied for 11th Place with average Score of 6.4
SOUND - 7th Place with average Score of 6.6
SCORE - Tied for 6th Place with average Score of 6.7
SCREENPLAY - Tied for 13th Place with average Score of 5.2
ACTING - 8th Place with average Score of 6.4

OVERALL SCORE - 10th Place with average Score of 6.4

[235 Studios]

I hope you all enjoy it- we had fun putting it together - it was quite a production pulling it all together last minute. Norm again did a great job at coordinating the talent and locations on such short notice!

[ChrisHurn]

Whoa great job guys! Looking foward to watching!!

-Chris

[Brandon Rice]

Dang Norm! You had me fooled! Wow, great to see a submission!

[Norm Sanders]

LOL, thanks. We honestly didn't think we were going to enter because SPARROW took up so much time to get it ready for DVD, etc.

But then the "post partum" hit after SPARROW was complete, and I was chomping at the bit to do something while developing TRINITY RIVER, our first feature.

It was Ryan's idea (which I think was a good one) to simply keep quiet about it over the past couple of weeks, since we really couldn't compete with the massive marketing & buzz that a few of the other films have had since starting several months ago. So hopefully the surprise drop-in entry has a little 'something' to it.

Either way, until the films are available for viewing, we hope folks enjoy the BTS clip. :thumbsup:

[Brandon Rice]

Dug the BTS.... just watched it. cool stuff... looks like you pulled together quite a nice sized crew too! Great work!

[Edgen]

Yay! Looking forward to seeing the final final version Norm! ;)

good luck!
/j

[235 Studios]

Few- with mere minutes to spare, just got the render complete, and the film is uploading now.....

Thanks again Justin for the score- nice work.

[235 Studios]

OK maybe not- I keep getting locked out due to too many users .....

[ChrisHurn]

Sweet BTS guys!! congrats on the last minute entry..looks exciting! Looks like you all had fun making this too...nice work!

-Chris

[235 Studios]

Ahh- there we go, it only took about an half hour of clicking refresh before I was let in ... no the file is really uploading. Don't fail me now- how much would that suck to have it crash half way through? (But I'm on a mac, so it should be fine.) :) Just a friendly poke at Norm :P

[Slimothy]

Norm, that's awesome that you guys did it last minute. Sometimes I think I don't have enough time to do something, so I don't. Then it never gets done. Great job guys. And that chick is super-fly. Her bootie shorts were a perfect choice :thumbsup:

Good luck and I can't wait to see your stuff.

Tim.

[Edgen]

Her bootie shorts were a perfect choice :thumbsup:

I agree... 'twas definitely fun to watch. :)

/j

[jpbankesmercer]

Great to see you in Norm (Had us all going then!)
Nice BTF...Nice knickers!
Trinity River - Tell us more....

[235 Studios]

Glad you guys liked the BTF - hopefully the short plays well too! Nothing like a last minute entry to get things going.

[Brandon Rice]

Yeah, looking forward to seeing what you can do with an HVX dude.

[235 Studios]

Thanks- it was fun. Although I was a little sad to compress the HD image down to a web version of 400x225 .....

[Blaine]

Awesome, I could use the lack of competition ... that's why I opted out of HorrorFest ... didn't stand chance against all you folks that were salivating for it! :)

Hmmm...I smell a dark horse ringer, here. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG) No, really, I'm glad you could make it to the party and I'm looking forward to seeing what you put together on short notice. :beer:

[PDX_DVX]

Do short guys usually get chosen to boom op? It was a fun time, as usual. Plus, the HVX with that Marshall monitor was sweet! And Evins apple boxes made a nice bed support. I'll have to email Tung to get that sweet photo of Norm eating pizza......

[Brandon Rice]

Norm, your films all have a similar style, I love it. I like someone who can establish their style in films. :)

[235 Studios]

I'll have to email Tung to get that sweet photo of Norm eating pizza......


Norm, I've PM'd you with the URL for teh Pizza photos should you wish to post them ..... :) (I also included one of myself as well- although your pic is better by far!)

[arielman]

Glad to see you're in Norm
The behind the scenes looked great .
Ian

[Beat Takeshi]

I was like I know i couldn't have missed a Norm entry but I see this is brand new.
YO WELCOME TO THE LAST MINUTE GANG. Now its you, me and Brandon. Today its DVXuser, tomorrow.... THE WORLD!!

[Brandon Rice]

YO WELCOME TO THE LAST MINUTE GANG. Now its you, me and Brandon. Today its DVXuser, tomorrow.... THE WORLD!!

Whoo!!! That's right! LOL!

[Norm Sanders]

Hmm, thanks Ryan, this one seems like a safe link to post (that way, I'm not the focus - 'sides, we've all got our mouths full at the moment - fun shot): http://www.235studios.com/rem/Pizza02.jpg



Nice BTF...
Trinity River - Tell us more....

I know 'BTS', but what's 'BTF'? :)

TRINITY RIVER is a semi-gritty feature length family drama. I commissioned Jeffrey Hawley, the writer of SPARROW, to pen this one based on a story concept I had of a pastor who was struggling with balancing his family life & ministry. It's a subject that's unfortunately pretty relavent, as I know a lot of families who's loved ones are in ministry, can tend to get the short end of the stick ... or more frankly the emotional/mental left overs after that person has given all they have to others. I don't want to say it's 'common', but it does happen.

Since it's a story I'd not seen before, offered a scenario/story for some great dramatic acting, and I believe it commercially viable on a number of fronts ... I wanted to make it ASAP. First draft of the feature length is in (originally a shorter concept), and budgeting & funding is up next. Then talent attachments, crew, etc.


Hmmm...I smell a dark horse ringer, here. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

LOL, I can't believe you quoted me from that other thread! Too funny! Um, okay, so I fibbed ... we really weren't going to enter, but we had already shot by the time I made that comment. Nice catch, Blaine.


Norm, your films all have a similar style, I love it. I like someone who can establish their style in films. :)

Thanks Brandon. I'd be interested to hear what you thought that style was. Always cool to hear how others interpret looks, moods, etc. I think I tend to sway towards darker themes (even TRINITY RIVER), so I'd really welcome a chance for straight forward comedy, not only for a lighter theme, but warmer/brighter colors, etc.


And Evins apple boxes made a nice bed support.

Yes! If anyone is ever in need of appleboxes, Evin (ecarr) makes incredible ones at an extremely reasonable price. VERY pro & well finished. He also did a great job in throwing together that bed. The house was totally unfurnished (the Dunn's haven't moved in yet), so it was great in that we didn't have to move furniture around, but we needed a bed! So Evin threw together some 2x4's, appleboxes, and an airmattress for an instant bed. :thumbsup:


And that chick is super-fly. ... :thumbsup:

Yep, she's easy on the lens. Aside from looks, however, she is a PHENOMENAL singer! I just had the pleasure of getting to hear her sing, and I kid you not when I say she's the best I've ever heard in person. She loves to perform, so the acting was an exciting transition/trial run for her. We'll see if she decides to pursue it further or not.

Chris, Tim, Ian, JP, Aram, and everyone else ... thanks for the kind words!

[Cynic821]

Thanks Brandon. I'd be interested to hear what you thought that style was. Always cool to hear how others interpret looks, moods, etc. I think I tend to sway towards darker themes (even TRINITY RIVER), so I'd really welcome a chance for straight forward comedy, not only for a lighter theme, but warmer/brighter colors, etc.





you have the chance to do that with every movie, regardless of the genre. :beer:

[Brandon Rice]

Thanks Brandon. I'd be interested to hear what you thought that style was. Always cool to hear how others interpret looks, moods, etc. I think I tend to sway towards darker themes (even TRINITY RIVER), so I'd really welcome a chance for straight forward comedy, not only for a lighter theme, but warmer/brighter colors, etc.


Yep, they all have a gritty feel to em' and your graphical treatment of your films is all quite similar, which puts me in a "Norm Sanders film" mode, which is good btw :) Graphics and stuff do change the feel and style of a film :)

[Larry Rutledge]

I know 'BTS', but what's 'BTF'? :) I'd like to know the answer to that as well :)


TRINITY RIVER is a semi-gritty feature length family drama. I commissioned Jeffrey Hawley, the writer of SPARROW, to pen this one... I've had the pleasure to read this for Jeff and I can tell you it will be a great film. And being both the son of a Pastor and someone training for the ministry myself, this is definitely an area that needs to be addressed. I was fortunate that my father was always there for me and balanced home and church very well. He was my father first, then my pastor, then pastor to others. But on the flipside, it can be very easy to be swallowed up by the needs of a church, and you are so busy being righteous and a servant to the people in the church, you forget that your family are also people in the church.

I was glad when Norm first mentioned this project to me, and I've enjoyed discussing it with both him and Jeff.


Always cool to hear how others interpret looks, moods, etc. I think I tend to sway towards darker themes... Definitely, both the theme of your films and the visual impression is that of a dark, gritty mood. It has suited your films well and, like B-Dawg, I always know I'm watching a Sanders/Walters co-production and look forward to it. :thumbsup:


...not only for a lighter theme, but warmer/brighter colors, etc. I'd also like to see you tackle this, I'd be curious how it would turn out. I'm sure it would be good, as you have definitely grown by leaps and bounds since your first entry at the ZombieFest


I'm looking forward to this film, curious to see what you guys pulled off in such a short time period. And definitely anxious to see another example of the HVX in action.

Peace,
Larry

[Norm Sanders]

you have the chance to do that with every movie, regardless of the genre. :beer:

You're absolutely right, unfortunately I'm just not wired that way (blame it on my childhood, lol!). There are some folks on here, whom I admire, that can take ANY genre & make it into a comedy. If I do comedy, it'll likely be a quirky Farrely Bros. style.


Definitely, both the theme of your films and the visual impression is that of a dark, gritty mood. It has suited your films well and, like B-Dawg, I always know I'm watching a Sanders/Walters co-production and look forward to it. :thumbsup:

Thanks, Larry. I've been fortunate enough to have Ryan always on the same page with regards to mood, tone, etc. so there's never been an issue of conflicting ideas. Although I will state he is one DARK puppy! If you guys heard the idea HE wanted to go with, you'd be sick to your stomach for sure, lol. :grin:

[Cynic821]

thats not really what i meant, i mean like a horror doesnt have to be lit all dark and blue or green. It doesnt have to have any specific look to be a horror.

[Brandon Rice]

Look at Suspiria for instance...

[Norm Sanders]

Oh, well in that case we succeeded in doing something different! :) We have actual distinct color in this, and didn't go with any blue/green CC. Ryan did a VERY subtle CC simply to crush the blacks a little, but there's VERY little difference in the before & after (Ryan, can you post a couple of before & afters?).

So all the color you see was done in production.

[Blaine]

So all the color you see was done in production.
Which is a testiment to the cinematographer. :thumbsup:

I'll keep that in mind as I watch, because I've really come to respect a DP that can get the look he's after without having to lean heavily on post production. :beer:

[Brandon Rice]

I've really come to respect a DP that can get the look he's after without having to lean heavily on post production. :beer:

I just like to look at post as an additional weapon in the arsenal, as I rely heavy on post for a "specific look" post cannot however correct a poorly lit shot.

Sorry, just realized this might be a hijack Norm...

Back to your film, which I'm DYING to see (get it! :) hehe)

[Norm Sanders]

Testament to both the DP and the Gaffer, I believe. Ryan & Tung work well together.

[khmuse]

Really looking forward to watching this one.

The BTS footage was very impressive!

[Blaine]

Ryan & Tung work well together.
Tung was the gaffer for Sparrow as well. It looks like you guys have built quite a team up there in the Portland area. :thumbsup:

[Norm Sanders]

Sorry, just realized this might be a hijack Norm...

Ha, no worries, Brandon. I'm open for discussion about any processes in here, just so it's not linking back to someone elses film as 'an example'. :)


Really looking forward to watching this one.

The BTS footage was very impressive!

Hey thanks! Some of the footage was taken while directing. I'd try to guess where the frame would be, then hold the thing above me or WAY out to the side, call action, and then just watch what Ryan was shooting in his HD monitor. Needless to say, I ended up with a lot of worthless BTS footage too, lol!


Tung was the gaffer for Sparrow as well. It looks like you guys have built quite a team up there in the Portland area. :thumbsup:

Good catch. We're working on it. There's actually quite a few folks from SPARROW that we'd love to work with again, but simply didn't have the need for it on "R.E.M." Because of our tight time constraints, and extremely limited budget, we needed to keep this crew light & fast.

One of my favorite things about each project is working with new folks, as opportunities arrive. Going forward you'll know which composer is best suited for which project, which talent is best for what role(s), etc.

With the risk of potentially offending any talent I've worked with in the past (REALLY don't mean to, if they read this!), I can honestly state that Rebecca's the best actress I've worked with yet. She not only felt the most real in her performances (as we were filming), but was just relentless in the things she would do for the role.

She had pretty major surgery on her elbow in May, for a near severed tendon, and still has limited feeling in a couple of her fingers. Yet she'd willingly throw herself down onto the ground over & over, as we needed to make it look like her legs were yanked out from under her. Even with no injuries, I can't say I'd be excited about throwing myself into push up position & immediately onto my face/chest, from a standing position. Ryan & I also watched all the footage in post, and counted how many times we made her run the stairs & then throw herself onto the ground ... over 8 times, and that didn't count the run throughs!

She never compalined once. A trooper, to say the least. :thumbsup:

[jpbankesmercer]

Backstage Trailer Footage??? :)
or
Brilliant Teaser Footage?

Us Brits NEVER admit we were wrong.

[235 Studios]

I've been out this afternoon- as you can tell by my lack of replies- anyway, I'll try and tackle them here...


Hmm, thanks Ryan, this one seems like a safe link to post (that way, I'm not the focus - 'sides, we've all got our mouths full at the moment - fun shot):

Yep that is the safe one! :)


I know 'BTS', but what's 'BTF'? :)

I assumed that it meant Behind The Scenes Footage- am I correct, or is that wrong- I guess it would be BTSF ...


I've been fortunate enough to have Ryan always on the same page with regards to mood, tone, etc. so there's never been an issue of conflicting ideas. Although I will state he is one DARK puppy! If you guys heard the idea HE wanted to go with, you'd be sick to your stomach for sure, lol. :grin:

Thanks! Yeah we have been on the same page a lot of the time- which makes everything a whole lot smoother, fun, and easier. Yes, I do have a dark side, and I enjoy it! I guess it comes form all those nights of watching Alfred Hitchcock and the like. I love those old movies- psychological movies have always appealed to me .... :)


Definitely, both the theme of your films and the visual impression is that of a dark, gritty mood. It has suited your films well and, like B-Dawg, I always know I'm watching a Sanders/Walters co-production and look forward to it. :thumbsup:


Thanks glad you have liked them- we've enjoyed making them. Each one has brought it's own challenges- this one challenged us with time restraints.


(Ryan, can you post a couple of before & afters?).
So all the color you see was done in production.

Yep I'll get right on it.


Which is a testiment to the cinematographer. :thumbsup:
I'll keep that in mind as I watch, because I've really come to respect a DP that can get the look he's after without having to lean heavily on post production. :beer:

Thanks! One of the thing I try and go for is to create the scene while on set. Can you do a tone of CC and attain the "same" look- maybe. But why not just do it right the first time and save yourself the time later. Also, if it can be done on set, I think that it has a more natural feel to it, as well as helps the actors feel like they are in the world that they are acting in.


Testament to both the DP and the Gaffer, I believe. Ryan & Tung work well together.

Yeah, we have worked well together- he has been a great gaffer as he has been able to make my vision with lighting happen. And he has even come up with additional ideas, or alternatives that make the scene that much better. He brings a lot to the table, and is fun to work with!


Hey thanks! Some of the footage was taken while directing. I'd try to guess where the frame would be, then hold the thing above me or WAY out to the side, call action, and then just watch what Ryan was shooting in his HD monitor. Needless to say, I ended up with a lot of worthless BTS footage too, lol!

You did do a pretty good job of staying out of frame for the majority of the shoot- I think you only entered it once, maybe twice- which is not bad for filming "blind".


Us Brits NEVER admit we were wrong.

You got that right! (Speaking as a second generation brit in America- for whatever that is worth, probably nothing- but oh well.) :)

[235 Studios]

As previously stated, I tried to capture the look we wanted in camera, knowing that I prefer the more organic look, and knowing that we did not have a tone of time for CC even if we did want to do it in post. Using a bleach bypass filter set very low, I set out to crush the black some, making for a darker overall feel- while still keeping some detail. This made the blacks a little more crisp. The difference is subtle, enough to make a difference, but not enough to scream CC.

Kitchen Before:
http://www.235studios.com/rem/KitchenBefore.jpg

Kitchen After:
http://www.235studios.com/rem/KitchenAfter.jpg

Upstairs Before:
http://www.235studios.com/rem/UpstairsBefore.jpg

Upstairs After:
http://www.235studios.com/rem/UpstairsAfter.jpg

And the Group Pizza Shot:
http://www.235studios.com/rem/Pizza02.jpg

Enjoy!

[Brandon Rice]

Thanks for the grabs :)

[Norm Sanders]

Sheesh, even looking for the difference, I can BARELY see it, Ryan. The upstairs is especially a good testament to the in-camera look you & Tung were able to achieve with the lighting, etc.

[ecarr]

Hey, the grabs look really good guys. It's amazing what you got just in-camera. Can't wait to see it all finished! I had fun being on the crew and helping out.

Glad you like the apple boxes. Patrick's the first one suggested I get into that market, and he's got the first 4 I ever made, too. If interested, shoot me a PM. I'm still working on how much it is to ship them, but they're $20 each.

I gotta give props to my dad though, for supplying all the tools, and the training over the years.

PS: that's not the last shot of Norm and pizza you'll be seeing either...

[RebeccaD]

Thanks Norm for all the nice comments and encouragement! Everyone on set was great to work with and extremely professional. I had a terrific time!


Thanks,

Rebecca

[Edgen]

Thanks Norm for all the nice comments and encouragement! Everyone on set was great to work with and extremely professional. I had a terrific time!


Thanks,

Rebecca

Hey there Rebecca! Just wanted to say hi and i had a fun time scoring... around you. :) :huh: Does that sound bad?

cheers!
/j

[RebeccaD]

Glad you like the apple boxes.

Thanks again for that comfy bed! By the end of the night I think everyone was jealous that they couldn't crash out in it! Thanks again for all your help.

[RebeccaD]

Thank you for all your tremendous efforts on the music. I also enjoyed the BTS music. I've seen the mostly finished product and it flowed well.

[Edgen]

Thank you for all your tremendous efforts on the music. I also enjoyed the BTS music. I've seen the mostly finished product and it flowed well. :dankk2:

Glad you liked it!

/j

[RebeccaD]

:dankk2:

Glad you liked it!

/j


Norm has spoken highly of your work. I look forward to hearing more from you! :)

[snodart]

Looking awesome. BTS was great to watch. Kudos for jumping in and getting it done. Can't wait to see it.

That pizza pic cracked me up. I totally know that look.... rush, rush, rush... then: food. Everybody stops, slouches a little, and gets that blank look for a while.

Anyway, great looking stuff. Good luck!

[Norm Sanders]

Thanks snodart, look forward to watching yours as well!

Just logged on, and looks like Rebecca's figured out how to sign up ... :thumbsup: ... welcome to DVXuser, Rebecca! :beer:

*Okay boys, we've got a lady in the thread now ... be polite. :grin:


Hey there Rebecca! Just wanted to say hi and i had a fun time scoring... around you. :) :huh: Does that sound bad?

cheers!
/j

LOL!

[Weston]

That was a great behind the scenes video Norm. No narration....but it didn't need one. Looked very good. I'm looking forward to the film.

[RebeccaD]

Thanks snodart, look forward to watching yours as well!

Just logged on, and looks like Rebecca's figured out how to sign up ... :thumbsup: ... welcome to DVXuser, Rebecca! :beer:

*Okay boys, we've got a lady in the thread now ... be polite. :grin:



LOL!

I'll be good if I can figure out a pic to use. :huh: Would you or Ryan be able to e-mail me a couple from your BTS footage that's the right size to upload? I've enjoyed reading all the feedback. Great site.

[Norm Sanders]

Ah, I got it ... I'm sending you a PM ... look in the upper right hand corner of your browser & it'lll tell you if you have any private messages or not, and if so how many.

[mentatDUKE]

Looks cool. Should I watch the BTS now or after I see the movie? Rapid eye movement is my favorite type of eye movement by the way....

[fixitinpost]

Can't wait to see how it turned out! It was a fun shoot to be a part of.

And I may just have to post the "other" pizza pic. ;)

[ChrisHurn]

Looks cool. Should I watch the BTS now or after I see the movie? Rapid eye movement is my favorite type of eye movement by the way....

Watch the BTS! It's really cool. :thumbup:

-Chris

[235 Studios]

Watch the BTS! It's really cool. :thumbup:

-Chris


:dankk2: Chris- glad you liked it.

Feel free to watch it now, as it will not / should not spoil anything for you.

[235 Studios]

Sheesh, even looking for the difference, I can BARELY see it, Ryan. The upstairs is especially a good testament to the in-camera look you & Tung were able to achieve with the lighting, etc.

Yep, the difference is very slight. The most effective way to see the difference is to but one on top of the other and then switch back and forth- then you will see the image pop.

When just looking and the pix next to each other, pay attention to the shaddow & highlight areas- in the after pictures they are darker. Enough to make a difference, but not a huge amount.

[TheatreGuy]

HOLY CRAP! That BTS clip was awesome!

I never considered myself to produce a short that was going to place in the top 3... now I am just hoping that I haven't embarrassed myself with my submission.

Nicely done!

Glad to see you could pull something together!

(And yes... I like the costume choice as well! What a hottie!!!)

Ted

[Norm Sanders]

metatDuke, feel free to watch the BTS ... as Ryan stated, it shouldn't really give anything away. Thanks Chris for the compliment on that too.

Jerry (fixitinpost) ... um, let's keep that other pizza pic under wraps for a while, lol! :beer:

Ted (TheatreGuy), thanks for the kudos on the clip ... Although I edited it, I think a lot of the credit on that goes to Justin (Edgen), as it was his music that provided much of the emotion/feel & production value behind it.

And I'm confident Rebecca will like the compliment - I mean, what girl doesn't?! :grin:

[TheatreGuy]

Yeah, that music is great! And I hope that I didn't offend Rebecca by calling her a "hottie." She is beautiful!

Can't wait to see your film!

Ted

[235 Studios]

now I am just hoping that I haven't embarrassed myself with my submission.


Regardless of the quality, you got it done, and submitted. That is a lot more then a ton of other people who sit back and never attempt it. Congrats on getting it done. With each project I work on, I learn something new or am chalenged in a different way. I then take that experience and use it to better the next production. So even if your submission is not the greatest, it will make your next submission or project that much better.

[Norm Sanders]

I agree with Ryan, and Ted I don't think you've offended anyone with your legit compliment. :) She's really enjoying reading all the feedback & is excited to start watching all of the other films as well ... as we all are, I believe.

[Steve_Arm]

Hey Norm, talking about last minute entry, looking forward to your flick. Gongratulations to your wife though for putting up for another DVXUser fetish!
:beer:

[Matt Sconce]

Just sent you a PM about hosting. Thanks dude!

[TheatreGuy]

Regardless of the quality, you got it done, and submitted. That is a lot more then a ton of other people who sit back and never attempt it. Congrats on getting it done. With each project I work on, I learn something new or am chalenged in a different way. I then take that experience and use it to better the next production. So even if your submission is not the greatest, it will make your next submission or project that much better.
All true, all true.

I am proud that I actually did this. I was just thinking that it was only a month ago that I saw the festival and told myself... "I should do this!"

I am always saying that I want to make films and finally have a camera capable of doing so. I am so glad that I managed to complete this project from start to finish.

And talk about learning from my experiences... I am just itching to get started on a new film!

Thanks for the words!

Ted

[RebeccaD]

And I'm confident Rebecca will like the compliment - I mean, what girl doesn't?! :grin:

Thanks for all the positive feedback. :) I can't wait to see more of these films! I just signed up yesterday and am very impressed with this site.

[ChrisHurn]

Indeed this is a great site!

I see you got a picture up Rebecca. :) Welcome to the forum! Must have been fun working with Ryan and Norm...anywway I'm looking foward to watching this one.

-Chris

[Norm Sanders]

Yeah, I just tried to help Rebecca out with the picture/avatar thing. Here, you call can vote on which one you think she should use going forward (or I can dig for some different ones):

Current-http://www.eefilm.com/rem/dvxuser/reb-avatar1.jpg Option2http://www.eefilm.com/rem/dvxuser/reb-avatar2.jpg Option3(nevermind!-was a joke) Option4http://www.eefilm.com/rem/dvxuser/reb-avatar4.jpg Option5http://www.eefilm.com/rem/dvxuser/reb-avatar5.jpg


Steve! How're you doing?! I heard you're doing VFX for Brandon ... can't wait to see it! It was great having you work on SPARROW, and look forward to another opportunity. :thumbsup:

Oh, and Weston, thanks for the props on the BTS clip ... I forgot to say thank you before.

[mentatDUKE]

It looks like you guys had a lot of fun working on this. I recieved "Sparrow" the other day so I'll watch that in anticipation for R.E.M.

[235 Studios]

Yeah, I just tried to help Rebecca out with the picture/avatar thing. Here, you call can vote on which one you think she should use going forward


I vote for the current one. My second choice would be #5. Both of these show more of her face while keeping a decent expression, unlike the other ones. (The other ones are fine in context, but out of context do not look as good as the rest.)

[Brandon Rice]

I like current one as well... btw: Welcome to DVXuser Rebecca!

[RebeccaD]

Indeed this is a great site!

Must have been fun working with Ryan and Norm...anywway I'm looking foward to watching this one.

-Chris

Ryan & Norm were GREAT to work with! Fun shoot! I cannot wait to see some of the rest of the entries! :)

[RebeccaD]

I like current one as well... btw: Welcome to DVXuser Rebecca!

Thank you! Norm was a great help in helping me get some pics set up. :) There are a lot of fun shots from the film. I'm just glad there wasn't a dorky one of me eating pizza!:laugh:

[ChrisHurn]

I'm just glad there wasn't a dorky one of me eating pizza!

How about this avatar...

http://www.chrishurn.com/pizza_r.JPG

No, the current one is the best. :)

-Chris

[RebeccaD]

Oh man! That sucks! LOL. I look like death in that pic. What time was that? At least midnight I think!

[Norm Sanders]

*snickering* Yeah, I think we had the pizza delivered around midnight. I wouldn't say you looked like death, but the whole full-cheeked-chipmunk thing doesn't suite you best, lol. :grin:

BTW, nice one Chris. :)

Oh, and metaDuke, thanks for your order of SPARROW! Hope you enjoy the film!

[RebeccaD]

Thx Norm. LOL.

Chris, thanks for the laughs. :beer:

[TheatreGuy]

Welcome Rebecca, glad to have you aboard. And you are correct... this is a great site, IMHO.

Looking forward to R.E.M. How about a quick bio on you. Any other film/acting credits?

[235 Studios]

Ryan & Norm were GREAT to work with! Fun shoot! I cannot wait to see some of the rest of the entries! :)

Thanks Rebecca- we enjoy working with you as well. :dankk2:

[tung n' groove photo]

Hey everyone...I've finally jumped in, joined, posted...

tung the gaffer,

[ChrisHurn]

Awesome!

Welcome to DVXuser!! :beer:

-Chris

[235 Studios]

Hey everyone...I've finally jumped in, joined, posted...

tung the gaffer,

In an Austin Powers voice "yeah, bay-bee!"

Welcome to the boards, and thanks agin for all your work- this guy rocks as a gaffer and photographer.Norm and I have been very fortunate to hook up with him.

Edit: :beer: :beer: :beer:

[Norm Sanders]

Ryan & Norm were GREAT to work with! Fun shoot! I cannot wait to see some of the rest of the entries! :)

Wait, I JUST realized this ... what the ___ is Ryan's name doing first in that line?! :huh: Just kidding! :grin:

Tung, glad you could make it! Now we've officially got ALL DVXusers that were a part of this film! Very cool indeed.

[Rubix³]

Just watched the behind the scenes... wow...

Nice poster too - I love the clock. Really looking forward to this one.

[PDX_DVX]

Welcome Rebecca and Tung! Hey Norm, can I get some credit in the film for my knot tying capabilities?

And remember when Norm was amazed by the magical lights we had that can throw two colors from a single lamp! (In the stairs)

And yeah, I've got the original Apple boxes that Evin made, they'll be worth alot someday after he has built up his apple box empire! In fact, I just got a couple half-apples from him today, top notch. I was at pro photo supply earlier today, and the apple boxes they had there were 40 bucks, and were made out of crappy 1/2'' plywood.....

Can't wait to get together with everyone again!

And thanks to Rebecca again for letting us shoot in your beautifal home!

[RebeccaD]

Hey everyone! Glad you can all make it! So fun to work with you all!
Norm don't get your panties in a wad over name placement. LOL.
Tung, great to see you on! I just figured some of this site out (w/help from Norm) in the last couple days.

[RebeccaD]

Welcome Rebecca, glad to have you aboard. And you are correct... this is a great site, IMHO.

Looking forward to R.E.M. How about a quick bio on you. Any other film/acting credits?

Thx! Honestly, I did some acting in high school, but it's been awhile. This was an experiment to see if I still had my chops! :) I've been a professional singer for a number of years, and Norm saw potential. I'm grateful for the experience and had a terrific time. I hope to do more in the future too!

[235 Studios]

Wait, I JUST realized this ... what the ___ is Ryan's name doing first in that line?! :huh: Just kidding! :grin:.

It's where it should be, that's what- :thumbup: Just kidding of course. Looks like someone is a little jealous .... ;)

[235 Studios]

Really looking forward to this one.

Thanks Rubix Cube. Hope you like it. BTW- clever name! How did you get the superscript? I didn't know there was that option.

[Norm Sanders]

Hey Norm, can I get some credit in the film for my knot tying capabilities?

Yes, the Eagle Scout can tie some pretty nice knots! And I don't say that lightly either, though it may sound like it (I know I'm sarcastic about 99.9% of the time). I totally respect anyone that's gone all the way to achieve Eagle Scout ... that's more dedication than completing a short film!


And remember when Norm was amazed by the magical lights we had that can throw two colors from a single lamp! (In the stairs)

Hey now, it was late, and I was tired! You don't want me to mention how you actually fell asleep on the carpet during several takes do you?! Yeah, we'll keep THAT our little secret, lol. :grin:


Norm don't get your panties in a wad over name placement. LOL.

Oh yes, you'll pay dearly for that one. :evil:

[Norm Sanders]

SLIGHT thread jack, but it's okay since it's associated with both Ryan and I ... :grin:

Just thought I'd update everone on SPARROW ... you can check out the following link for the update I just put in there: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=68930&page=18

K, now back to R.E.M.

[235 Studios]

Nice thread jack! :beer:

[fixitinpost]

"What's that green light? Oh, it's probably the cops or something. I'll go down and explain."


SLIGHT thread jack, but it's okay since it's associated with both Ryan and I ... :grin:

Just thought I'd update everone on SPARROW ... you can check out the following link for the update I just put in there: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=68930&page=18

K, now back to R.E.M.

Grrr.... still have to come up with the money to buy my copy...

[PDX_DVX]

Hey now, it was late, and I was tired! You don't want me to mention how you actually fell asleep on the carpet during several takes do you?! Yeah, we'll keep THAT our little secret, lol. :grin:



Yeah.....all those years of camping on crappy surfaces in Boy Scouts taught me to fall asleep ANYWHERE

[Norm Sanders]

Crappy surfaces? Well if I were an 'upper classman' in the Boy Scouts, I would have made those Tenderfoots layout in a nice formation, and I'd throw my sleeping bag ontop of them. Sure, a little lumpy at first, but just jump up & down to flatten some of 'em out. :)

Fine, Jerry! :grin: PM me and I'll get you some kind of discount on the SPARROW DVD, since you DID do the lower thirds for Patrick's BTS, and it added production value. :beer:

[RebeccaD]

Yeah.....all those years of camping on crappy surfaces in Boy Scouts taught me to fall asleep ANYWHERE

Patrick you were MIA for quite a little while! LOL. It was great working with you and thanks for being my "body double" :)

[Norm Sanders]

thanks for being my "body double" :)

Oh, OUCH!! That's got to hurt, Patrick! Hee, hee. :grin: For anyone wondering, when you see the BTS you'll notice Patrick waving all 'cute like' from the bed. We needed to have feet in the bed on the reverse angle when showing Rebecca's character at the door ... Patrick was MORE than willing to volunteer to be in the bed, especially after his power-nap on the carpet.

It was all quite funny, actually. It was a blast shooting the film.

[235 Studios]

We needed to have feet in the bed on the reverse angle when showing Rebecca's character at the door ... Patrick was MORE than willing to volunteer to be in the bed

Yeah, thanks for jumping in Patrick- that saved a lot of time not only on set, but in post to, as I did not have to comp that shot. :dankk2:

[TheatreGuy]

Wow! Very slick production! Great music and suspense!!!

I loved the clock flipping over to midnight when she was back in the bed. Great job of making that visable without focusing on it.

Rebecca did a great job of running around scared in a room full of crew! I believed her fear.

All and all, I thought this was so well done. And I love that the story was simple. It didn't get heavy or complex. It acheived it's purpose!

Again, great production values! I want to attain this level!!!

UPDATED>>> my typos!

[Norm Sanders]

Thanks Ted! Wasn't until this post that I even knew the films were ready to view yet, lol!

Now I know what I'll be doing for most of the night tonight ... can't wait to watch yours as well, and I'll look forward to commenting on it by sometime tomorrow! :thumbsup:

[Ben Sliker]

Envision and 235,
As always, your production levels are solid, congrats.

Some highlights for me
1. The woman being dragged into the room, and then up the wall, very unnatural looking, very creepy.
2. Great Camerawork and great look from the HVX.
3. Great Facial expressions and fear from your lead.

Look forward to seeing what you guys are cooking up for the future.

[Kholi]

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

Norm... Norm... Norm. I'll be dead honest: I'm not a fan of your work. I will say that from now on I'll look forward to seeing what you produce. This was simple, your visuals were effective and your style seemed to leap clean over Sparrow ( I haven't seen the DVD version, sorry.) My review to follow.

Script - I totally lost the story, just that she was sleeping about it all and then woke up to the real thing. Did I see something wrong on both run throughs or miss some imporant dialogue in the phone conversation? I don't think the writing really "counts" in this one though. It's the presentation.

Direction - NICE shots going on dude. From the kitchen to the staircase to the bedroom. Doll down the hall was smooth and totally fit the feeling. Very nice timing going on, Norm. You got a "whoa" out of me. Not like that counts for anything.

Acting - Running and screaming, screaming and running. She did pretty well running around in next-to-nothing. And she seemed pretty scary. I love the part where she gets pulled up the wall. It seemed like there should've really been more emphasis on that.

Cine/Lighting - Well lit. Better than anything else I've seen from you, to be honest. Dunno if you lit it or not but it's pretty darned good. Eerie blue light and smoke works for me. Very clean shots, which make it look like she's just moved in which works for me! Phitt.

Editing - Clean cuts to sew the shots together. There was one cut that stood out as "off". When the shadow crosses from one room to another it seems to hang just a second too long. Otherwise, Nothing I could see wrong but then again, this ain't my field.

Sound - Soundtrack was fine for the quick paced thrill/scare. Heck, you're the first one to do the volume crank scare effect and it caught me off-guard at the kitchen sink. You got me.

Special Effects - Eerie blue smoke was neat. How'd you get the chic up the wall like that? Or did she have to practice standing sideways and such? Whatver it was, it was neato. Though I guess I wanted her to get ripped apart at that point as well. I didn't like the translucent shadow thing going on. Looked too flat. But I know what you were going for.

Scariest Moments - Chic hanging on the wall. Did I say that enough? Oh and the loud whisper and noises. Way to blow my eardrums out.

Overall consensus - I watched it all the way through. The four + minutes went quick for me and I didn't even realize it. A great improvement, Norm. Might mean nothing coming from me, but I think you stepped all over Sparrow. Thanks for showcasing.

[Norm Sanders]

Envision and 235,
As always, your production levels are solid, congrats.

Some highlights for me
1. The woman being dragged into the room, and then up the wall, very unnatural looking, very creepy.
2. Great Camerawork and great look from the HVX.
3. Great Facial expressions and fear from your lead.

Look forward to seeing what you guys are cooking up for the future.

Hybrid, I appreciate you watching it! Thanks for the compliment to cast & crew as well. We weren't looking to knock the ball out of the park, since we did this on total spur of the moment & one night to shoot, but glad folks are liking it nonetheless. We did want to do well with what we had to work with, and it's sounding like we've succeeded so far.

Downloading the films as fast as I can now, so I can have my own little horrorfest tonight! :thumbsup:


Norm... Norm... Norm. I'll be dead honest: I'm not a fan of your work. I will say that from now on I'll look forward to seeing what you produce. This was simple, your visuals were effective and your style seemed to leap clean over Sparrow ( I haven't seen the DVD version, sorry.) My review to follow.


Kholi, I REALLY appreciate the depth of your review/comments. Seriously, thank you! :dankk2: That said, I'm lost on your opening comment. You're STILL not a fan of my work, or weren't up until this point? Only asking because all in all the review seems fairly positive, and you're saying you're looking forward to future productions from me, so just trying to understand. :huh:

Oh yeah, and the DVD is SOOOO much better (for SPARROW) than just that little DVXuser cut we did for the contest.

Anyway, we did light this. Tung did a great job, as he did with SPARROW, and had some cool ideas. The blue light came specifically from a $25 fog machine purchased from PartyCity that same evening, and a projector he brought with him that put out a cool light once the menu wasn't displayed. :)

Seems like people are digging how she got up the wall ... we'll you can thank the small of my back for that one! Meaning, I was on the other side of the door & had my arms out in front of me trying to lift her straight off the floor up the door way. Rebecca's by no means a heavy gal (easily 115lbs or less), but it was a really awkward angle, and my back was feeling it. Thankfully we only did that take 2-3 times at most.

The dolly shot down the hall was all Ryan. Thanks Ryan! I just tapped his back to let him know when he was going to run out of room.

Glad you liked the sound design, etc. That was something that was fun to do, basically having Rebecca do some ADR, and then just playing around with it in Vegas ... those high pitch 'panting' sounds, etc. really freak me out, so I thought they'd work well for an 'edge' in the film.

Justin did a great job with the score. The guy is PHENOMENAL with larger than life epic scores, and just all around good ... but the images we had weren't really all that scary in and of themselves, so for the final draft of the music he told me he was going to just have to do it with his eyes closed & imagine the scare, lol! Then he could sync it up to the picture, etc. Great work, Justin, thanks!

Ryan also did a great job with the initial rough cut, and there was VERY little that we had to change for our final edit when he & I sat down together with our Baja Fresh dinners ... just some tweaks for timing, etc. I know what you mean about that spot where the shadow passes ... I'd mentioned it before, but we were on such a tight timeline I may not have communicated well, or just didn't have the time to fix it. It was the level of motion blur & supersampling, and the point at which they came into play, that makes that one spot look 'slightly' off for some. Jerry Turner (fixitinpost) has just offered to rotoscope & clean up the section where she's pulled down the hall (to get rid of the rope shadow), so perhaps this is something we can tweak for the DVD as well.

Again, thanks for the feedback folks, and specifically to you Kholi for such a detailed review!

[Kholi]

I am saying that I'll keep an eye out in the future. Sorry for the confusion. And thanks for reading.

[Norm Sanders]

Hmmm, so even with all those positive comments, you're still not a fan?! You're tough, man ... I enjoy the challenge. :grin:

[235 Studios]

Ted & Hybrid,

Thanks for the comments, I'm glad you liked it. We had fun putting it together.

Kholi,

Thanks for the detailed feed back, much appreciated.


Tung did a great job lighting- as I think he did with Sparrow. Personally I still like sparrow better then REM, but if you've only seen the DVX fest cut, then I can see why you would prefer REM.

[Kholi]

Hmmm, so even with all those positive comments, you're still not a fan?! You're tough, man ... I enjoy the challenge. :grin:

Hey now. Gotta win a few games before you can get fans. >=D

Kidding. Honestly, you guys did a great job on this one. I'll be on the look out from another Collab from this team in the next fest.

[ChrisHurn]

Just checked this out. Niiiccce work.

Script - Cool idea. I liked it. You managed to achieve a lot having just one person acting. Nice job.

Directing - Strong. Nice work - some very good and interesting shots and everything was smooth...Good job. :)

Acting - Nice job Rebecca! You did a great job.

Cinematography/Lighting: Cool stuff! well lit and good job..that smoke with the blue light worked very nicely!

Editing: Nicely done. Very smooth, and fitted together nicely..very good job. Great timing/pace.

Sound: cool sound effects...liked the sounds in the kitchen..I think personally I would've gone with something more subtle and less 'busy' but you certainly got me with the sudden loud sound...nice. :)

Score: Another good job Justin. Very dark, very appropriate...well done.

LOVED the opening credits with that flickering stuff..I loved that. I'm being picky but I didn't like how the "R.E.M" carried into the first shot...maybe it's just me. Overall great work! Very enjoyable and great BTS too.

Looking foward to more...all your stuff so far has been very good to watch, and as an aspiring filmmaker I can say that I really like what you guys are doing...and hopefully one day soon I'll be able to submit a short here at DVXUser.

Cheers for the inspiration guys.

-Chris

[MOVIE MASTER]

Dude Should Have Paid More Attention To Your Movie And Bought Some Close For The Chick! Guess You Spent It All On Lighting Equiptment Huh!

[RebeccaD]

Kholi, Thanks for the in depth review! I appreciate the feedback.


Chris, thanks for the compliment. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.


"Movie Master"- LOL. Do you have any idea how much time was spent on deciding wardrobe? Exhausting!

Rebecca

[MOVIE MASTER]

3 Sec

[Erik Olson]

Still thinking about wardr... uh, never mind. Can't afford to get banned tonight.

e

[Norm Sanders]

LOL! K, enough about the wardrobe GUYS ... let's hear the good, bad & ugly on the film itself, both the talent in front of the lens & behind it.

Sheesh! :grin:

That said, we did set out with wanting the film to catch some attention, knowing most of the audience would be guys, so we've succeeded ... thanks to Rebecca agreeing to the role & choice of wardrobe. Thank you, Rebecca. :beer:

Beyond that, you also did a great job acting ... didn't have a whole lot in the way of story & script/dialogue to work with, yet you made it work!

[MOVIE MASTER]

Do you have any idea how much time was spent on deciding wardrobe? Exhausting


STILL THINKING ABOUT THAT

[RebeccaD]

That said, we did set out with wanting the film to catch some attention, knowing most of the audience would be guys, so we've succeeded ... thanks to Rebecca agreeing to the role & choice of wardrobe. Thank you, Rebecca. :beer:

Beyond that, you also did a great job acting ... didn't have a whole lot in the way of story & script/dialogue to work with, yet you made it work!

It did take a bit of persuasion for the wardrobe, LOL! Glad it all worked out, and looking forward to seeing more of these films.

[Norm Sanders]

Rebecca's on dial-up still, can you believe it! Everyone at the same time ... Ewww! LOL. Kidding.

I'm going to throw some films onto a usb flash drive for her & get them to her tomorrow ... though she can't vote because she's got less than 100 posts on DVXuser, she's itching to watch & comment on them!

Just gotten through several myself & going back to watch more. Got some ringers in this fest! :thumbsup:

[Brandon Rice]

Make sure ya give her ITD :)

About to get to a full review of REM Norm! :)

[Brandon Rice]

REM


Script
Pretty simple and basic. I didn’t like the ending… it starts all over again?

Acting
Hey, great work here, Rebecca did a good job with really being scared, I believed her, and her frantic calls to wake up as well.

Cinematography
Wow! I think this is better than Sparrow, the image is clean and the camera movement is SWEET! Love everything about the shots. Very slick feeling.

Editing
Pretty good, I think the intro was a bit drawn out, and there was a weird cut of feet under the door, but overall the scenes moved seamlessly and effortlessly… nice.

Score
Yep, it worked perfectly. Another great score from Justin.

Overall Impressions
Great short piece. I am impressed with the image quality you all pulled off with the HVX. I sure can’t wait to shoot something with that! I really enjoyed your film! Thanks.

[Edgen]

Justin did a great job with the score. The guy is PHENOMENAL with larger than life epic scores, and just all around good ... but the images we had weren't really all that scary in and of themselves, so for the final draft of the music he told me he was going to just have to do it with his eyes closed & imagine the scare, lol! Then he could sync it up to the picture, etc. Great work, Justin, thanks!

see what happens when you just turn picture off and score just to score? Could you feel the anger? :)

It was a crazy thing cause I would rather work around Sound FX and not make up my own hits and stingers. It was soo great seeing thing in all its glory completely with sound fx. Wowa. The kitchen radio thing even scared the bejezus out of me! :)

My only crit was when rebecca fell down at the top of the stairs. It was cool when i heard the 'beast', but I would have like to of heard a nother stinger as she slammed down to the floor that would have sold the fact something indeed grabbed her and was gobbling her up the wall (norm). I also would have liked to see those cover get yanked completely off the bed. It started to at first and I was like Double Tee Eff main!? Then, they just kinda quit.

In the amount of time, i'm proud of all you guys. Looking forward to future projects and hopefully a filmic collaboration if you are ever out in this neck of the woods.

cheers,
/j

[TristanPR]

Good job Norm! I enjoyed it.

The only constructive crits I have are some of the actual framing. A couple shots felt awkward and left a lot of empty space that looked as if it should be filled.

Acting was nice - but not in the "wow - she's hot - therefore she's a good actress" kinda way. I actually thought she did a decent job throughout.

[Blaine]

Norm, I like this one a lot better than the butchered version of Sparrow. This one seemed more like a shot that was shot to the time period, rather than cut to it. Rebecca did a good job, too. I liked your story and felt the cinematography and editing were solid, too. Ryan did a good job of getting the look he was going for, in camera. (with Tung's help, of course)

The story on this one isn't as "big" as Sparrow and that's why it probably works better in a six minute version. I liked the score, too.

Of the three DVXUser fests I've seen, this is my favorite outing by you.

Of course, Sparrow on the DVD was a completely different animal.

[235 Studios]

Thanks for the detailed feed back- that is always appreciated.


[Cinematography
Wow! I think this is better than Sparrow, the image is clean and the camera movement is SWEET! Love everything about the shots. Very slick feeling.


Thanks- I had fun filming it- and it was something else getting the dolly down that hallway, I only had about 1/2" clearance on either side!!!


Editing
Pretty good, I think the intro was a bit drawn out, and there was a weird cut of feet under the door, but overall the scenes moved seamlessly and effortlessly… nice.


Yeah, both the title credits and the end credits are rather long- I believe they total almost 1 min. We felt since we had the extra time, why not use it...

Thanks again for the comments.

[235 Studios]

sIn the amount of time, i'm proud of all you guys. Looking forward to future projects and hopefully a filmic collaboration if you are ever out in this neck of the woods.



That would be fun- I'll let you know if I'm ever out your way. I've been traveling a lot this past year, so who knows, maybe I'll get a chance to swing out to your 'hood.

Thanks again for the score- I continue to be inpressed with your work.

[235 Studios]

The only constructive crits I have are some of the actual framing. A couple shots felt awkward and left a lot of empty space that looked as if it should be filled.

Interesting crit- care to elaborate- just lake of set dressing to fill out the empty space, or the actual framing, or both? What shots specifically? Thanks for the input.

[235 Studios]

I liked your story and felt the cinematography and editing were solid, too. Ryan did a good job of getting the look he was going for, in camera. (with Tung's help, of course)

Thanks- yeah, Tung is one kick ass gaffer- I like working with him,as he is easy to work with, but he also gets the job done. His skill and input conitue to be a valuable resourse.

[VersuS]

Really nice and solid work!!!
I loved the lighthing and the editing. I LOVED the running up the stairs scene. I was a bit bothered with the scene when she is drawn into the room and she grabs the door, it had that poltergeist thing in it but I'd rather have a different color than blue...maybe just white...She was amazing of course and I'm not talking about the outfit...she really seemed scared and she cried out like a pro and I could understand her words perfectly.

Did you intentionally use red-led clock for the kitchen (dream) and blue-led for the bedroom (reality)??

The score was of course great but I knew what to expect from the BTS. The ending was abrupt and confusing but didnt really bother, its one of the times when you dont really know what happened but dont really care coz the overall feeling is quite positive.

I loved the kitchen man! I want one just like that!!! Big kitchens make me jealous!!!!!

[Darkline]

This was fun. Very nicely shot, and the build up was good.

I love the bit where she runs up the stairs, very Wes Craven.

I would say though it left me unsatisfied as I think there were too many questions left unanswered. That can be a good thing; but it can also be a bad thing if you dont satisfy the audience on some level. Some questions left open are good, but I really felt confused that nothing at all had been explained.

Techincally very acomplished. Editing, sound and lighting score very high!

[235 Studios]

Really nice and solid work!!!
I loved the lighthing and the editing.

Thanks, glad you liked it. Tung's the man when it comes to lights!


Did you intentionally use red-led clock for the kitchen (dream) and blue-led for the bedroom (reality)??

Depends on what you mean by intentionally- Norm went to the store to pick up the clocks and he chose two different colors just to have an option when on set. When we arrived on set, I looked at the clocks and wanted to go with the red one, as I liked the red image- since this is a horror flick. Then, since we still had an extra clock, I decided that we would use it upstairs, that way it would help seperate the two areas, and also since I wanted to go with a darker more blue lighting upstairs it would work well up there.

So was it intentional- kind of- in so much as the choice was intentionally made when on set. But had norm only picked up one clock, or if it was a different color a different choice would/could have been made. So it was not intentional durring the scripting process (Which was only about 1 - 2 days.). So it was part choice, part happy accident if that makes sense.

[235 Studios]

This was fun. Very nicely shot, and the build up was good.
I love the bit where she runs up the stairs, very Wes Craven ... Techincally very acomplished. Editing, sound and lighting score very high!

Thanks, yeah the run up the stairs is probably my favorite scene as well.


I would say though it left me unsatisfied as I think there were too many questions left unanswered. That can be a good thing; but it can also be a bad thing if you dont satisfy the audience on some level. Some questions left open are good, but I really felt confused that nothing at all had been explained.

Good point- it is always good to NOT leave your viewer confused at the end. Some questions are fine- and I personally like unanswered questions, as they encourage more viewer participation in thinking through the film. Put there is a point when that questioning becomes confusion and you've lost the viewer ....

[VersuS]

About the colors, ever since I saw Eyes Wide Shut when it was released I cant stop thinking in color terms....like what does this represent? why did you do that in yellow? how come he is green? so I guess red downstairs, blue upstairs is the right way to go

[tung n' groove photo]

Thanks for all the responses on lighting. I really enjoyed working on this project. I think it's time for us to expand on our fog/smoke supply. The smoke juice was cool. If we also had fog juice, it would have helped also.
Time to learn more...I think I'll be purchasing some gaffer texts soon on Amazon :)

One crit: Being on the set and having read the script, it sucks not being able to experience the film the same as others! If we had a chance to do another take on the door grabbing thing, I'd try to have Rabecca not "walk her hands" up the door frame and to try to have her "resist" the pull up the frame. But that would've broken Norm's back perhaps. I'll have to review the film a few more times to offer more.

Downloaded all the films yesterday at school in under an hour onto my portable backup drive...phew! What a collection! Watched a bunch of them yesterday and had trouble sleeping hahaha!

Yeah, my favourite scene was the running up the stairs bit...that was very cool.

[Steve_Arm]

Ah... for some reason there were shots that I couldn't focus on the film :D
Everything placed carefully together, great job as I expected!
Music the best theme so far, did I say the best?
Cheers.

[TimurCivan]

I feel llike the dolley shots were unmotivated. Too much movement, toom uch following. But the story worked was simple enough to activate six minutes effectivly. Look was nice. Thank you for the gratuitous butt shot in the begining. :)

[JaydeeG83]

I liked it, thought it was really good, except that you can see the rope pulling the girl into the room in the shadow against the wall, lol

[VersuS]

I liked it, thought it was really good, except that you can see the rope pulling the girl into the room in the shadow against the wall, lol

yep, that HAD to be avoided

[235 Studios]

I liked it, thought it was really good, except that you can see the rope pulling the girl into the room in the shadow against the wall, lol

Yep you can. That was the take that had the least amount of noticable shaddow in it. Unfortunately, with starting so late (About a week before the deadline) we did not have a whole lot of time for post work. But we are addressing that for the DVD version. Jerry (fititinpost) is working on roto'ing it out as I type this. So that issue will be resolved.

[Norm Sanders]

I liked it, thought it was really good, except that you can see the rope pulling the girl into the room in the shadow against the wall, lol

Thanks everyone for the feedback ... keep it coming! :thumbsup:

For the rope, you're right. If you look in the BTS you won't see it there, but that was when we were finally done with the other takes & had apparently gotten it down right for Tung to take some BTS/Promotional pics.

Oh well, at least the DVD final (for cast/crew, etc.) will be cleaned up. Jerry Turner (fixitinpost) who was also our PA sent Ryan & I a little .mov file of a quick rotoscoping he did to get rid of the shadow. EXCELLENT job ... so Ryan's exported out a PNG sequence to get to Jerry for him to clean up, then we'll lay it back in before rendering out the DVD. Perhaps, if Jarred will allow it, we can update the DVD version as well for DVXuser.

Timur, I'm not sure why you feel the dolly shot was unmotivated ... could you explain? If you're referring to the hallway, I think it feels better to track with her, than to have this wide shot of her just walking up the hallway. By staying closer, it should keep us in the moment more vs. watching from afar, IMO.

EDIT: I guess I took too long to type, lol. Ryan addressed the rope thing.

[235 Studios]

I feel llike the dolley shots were unmotivated. Too much movement, toom uch following. But the story worked was simple enough to activate six minutes effectivly. Look was nice.

Thanks for the critique- that's funny that you mention that there was too much movement- as originally Norm was wanting even more movement- but with out the aid of a steadicam, I opted to use the dolly. I'm not sure that I agree that there was too much movement, but thanks for the input.


Thank you for the gratuitous butt shot in the begining. :)

You can thank Norm for that- that was his idea from the get go.

[Norm Sanders]

Nah, it wasn't gratuitous ... we were perfectly framed for the picture, and it just 'happened' to be at a certain level. :)

When Ryan & I were originally talking about movement, I was envisioning lots of handheld-in-your-face camera work, specifically with 120-250 shutter speeds on anything involving action.

However, once we got to the set, started late, and wanted to get all our master shots first, it allowed us little time for anything else, and quite frankly we all forgot about those edgy staccato shots I wanted until the next day. Oops.

[Beat Takeshi]

I liked the movement of the camera and the booty shot was great, I could almost smell it it was so close. The draggin into the room and being pulled up the wall was great but I wanted more. I thought maybe she was going to get her legs tore off and fall to the ground and try to crawl away. The score really made me feel what was going on. The production value went way up on this one compared to Sparrow I thought. The images were nice and crispy. The ending was a nice idea but it seemed to not work for me for some reason but I can't put my finger on why.

[VersuS]

I liked the movement of the camera and the booty shot was great, I could almost smell it it was so close. .

OMG you just managed to make me work my abs out insanneeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!

[Norm Sanders]

I liked the movement of the camera and the booty shot was great, I could almost smell it it was so close.

:huh: I'm still processing this comment. 'Ewww' comes to mind, lol.

Other than that, thanks for the feedback Aram. Yes, with more time (development, pre during & post production, we could have probably done much more with the hall shot, the ending, etc.

But, and Ryan & I were just discussing this today via phone, for the small amount of time that everyone was able to commit to this, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, and am especially glad that it's been as well rec'd as it has. In many ways, better than I could have hoped.

[235 Studios]

Aram-

Thanks for the comments. Glad you liked it.


The ending was a nice idea but it seemed to not work for me for some reason but I can't put my finger on why.

My own thoughts as to why it doesn't work are that it moves to slowly, and isn't violent enough. I had wanted to do a vertigo shot here, but her proximity to the wall, the lack of reference items on the white wall, etc made the attemps at this not work as I had thought, so instead we just went with the dolly in. I agree that it is a little unsatifying.

[235 Studios]

But, and Ryan & I were just discussing this today via phone, for the small amount of time that everyone was able to commit to this, I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, and am especially glad that it's been as well rec'd as it has. In many ways, better than I could have hoped.

Yep, I've been very pleased with the responses- thanks everyone.

[Beat Takeshi]

Yeah i think you hit it on the nose. It seemed to slow down too much at the end.

[Cynic821]

Ive had the chance to see other works from this group here, and my perspective is that the group itself presents itself very dignified and professional. Presentation in the movies created are also up there, but for me thats where it ends, and the movies begin.

REM

VFX
The fog machine felt like a fog machine, and i guessed right that it was a projector that created that light, worked on too many live shows where a projector is involved with lots of fog. When she goes up the wall i fail to believe she is being pulled. I believe the float, but not that anything is pulling her into the room.


Cinematography
The footage was sharp, maybe too sharp, because in combination with the lighting, specifically downstairs, i felt like it was a crisp home video. Not lit like a movie, but more like a photo-shoot. Like we saw too much. I didnt like how the whole thing was lit personally, very anti dramatic. Some of the shots didnt match as well. When in the kitchen she turns around to see whats there, and she goes from looking quickly to a slow tripod pan. The same shot them seemed recycled later on. Alot of the cuts seemed unnecessary to a degree since they werent really giving us new information. Just going with her from one location to the next. But that belongs in editing i suppose. I felt the camera could have been used much better to convey panic, but what is she panicking for? We arent given why the sense of urgency early in the movie. I didnt like the over the shoulder shot in the end , probably because im not a fan of shots that usually should be used when the shallow DOF can be there. I think if the Shallow DOF isnt there, then the shots shouldnt be attempted. Its distracting. Like i know the digi revolution is a movement, but then replicating shallow DOF shots and not having the DOF there is distracting. Also maybe when shes being dragged by the rope the camera could have been closer and moved with her.


Editing

Along with the shots not matching feeling wise, there was a shot in the kitchen where theres a dark shadow on her face, then it cuts to a different angle and the shadow is gone. Otherwise we get from where we need to go from where we are just fine, but it wasnt interesting.

Sound
Sound is good, but the levels were kinda of off, i had to rush for my volume dial while watching because it was just too loud...when watching again, i found the dialouge was not audible unless it was turned up , so i had to time my volume buttons to not bleed my ears again. Other sound effects were good. Stock? or home made?

Score
Score was kinda built in with the sound effects. So this was good, not distracting.

Screenplay
I cant really tell if there was one. More of seemed like this movie was made in a few hours after a conversation of lets join into the horrorfest. This not only lacked a beginning but lacked an ending as well. I continue to feel like im going insane here because i feel like im the only person noticing the trend of mystery, but 6 minutes is an eternity to make a short. As i cut and recut my movie, i began to realize its a more than feasible length of time. and this short actually is less than 3 1/2 minutes. That could have been filled out, not to just add an ending or a beginning, but maybe make a different movie all together. It just felt like a girl is going to go up the stairs, see her self and then we are going to open the door. I wasnt really scared at all during it, nor did i care for her, because i didnt know who she was or if what was chasing her was even dangerous.


Acting

The acting worked, though i think her voice work was better than her facial expressions. I didnt understand why she needed to wear what she wore besides the fact she has a nice body. It was distracting, but im glad i had something to look at because it was the only thing keeping me interested in the movie, even at 400 x 225.


Tilt (post comments)

I just feel this was a rush to get it done to be a part of it. It seems like you guys put alot of effort into this, but it just doesnt show through in any aspect besides paying a professional actor to be in it. I see too much visually that isnt important. First i thought it was really early in the evening, having been on the phone, but then we find out shes really sleeping (i think) but in this world of 2006, no body goes to bed that early. The kitchen was so lit up as well. Dramatic lighting could have helped this, but i think nothing could have saved this from the screenplay lacking in itself. I feel you guys have the organization , professionalism and presentation to be better, but i feel like you guys are a live production company more than a short movie/feature movie. I didnt get why should would go up stairs if she was so terrified, why not get out of the house is it late at night or early? She seems comfortable with her body, so i think she wouldn't mind going to a neighbors if shes scared. again im not a fan of being left hanging on story, i can tolerate a silent hill ending though, when the story is there, but without a story or beginning i leave this movie just feeling why did i need to watch this?

[Norm Sanders]

Hey Cynic, I'm glad you were able to express how you felt, especially since I read in another thread that you were afraid to tell how you really felt about any of the films. So I say with the most absolute truthfulness that I appreciate your frankness as well as the detailing of your thoughts.

That said, your username also has 'cynic' in it, so I'm not too surprised that this fell short for you in a number of areas. :grin:

Was it an excuse to throw something together just to be in the horrorfest? I'll give you a huge resounding 'YEP!' on that one. :thumbsup: We thought it'd be fun, and we at least know we didn't throw together schlock, just to get something on screen.

What works for some won't work for others. It's just a fact of life that it's impossible to please everyone, so while others here love certain aspects of the film, I know others will be like "Please, give me more!".

Sorry about the bleeding ear drums on the initial sound burst, but it's also supposed to be part of the effect. It's supposed to be rediculously loud for her as well, part of the reason for the scare. There were a few stock sounds, but even most of the stock sounds I had were still manipulated to make them sound different ... and there were plenty of homemade ones as well, mostly taking some ADR from Rebecca & having fun with them in post.

She needed to wear what she did because one of our reasons for the film was to have a fun little 'eye candy' piece. But aside from that, it's not too uncommon for women to dress in boy shorts (or less) when running around the house before bed & by themselves. So we didn't feel it was gratuitous, or without reason.

I'm unsure where you're getting the idea that it's early ... the clock downstairs also clearly showed 12:00 (we have to assume that means midnight/12am), so it's not a matter of someone going to bed too early.

Again, bottom line is that we finally finished SPARROW, which proved to be a much larger project than just a 6 minute cut for the HeroFest, what with all the content on the DVD, marketing, etc. However, we still had a couple of weeks before HorrorFest submissions were due, and we believed we could have fun with a very simple idea that wouldn't cost much for FX or take too much time ... and give us an excuse to also test out the HVX.

For everything that we personally set out to do, we succeeded on nearly every level. We were able to work with some of the crew that we worked with on SPARROW & had a great time. We were able to work on & focus on the SFX to help carry the story vs. only visually ... and did pretty well. We worked with a new composer, and both sides had some growth & definitely postive experiences from it. And we were able to work with Rebecca (who's not a paid professional for the film - other than all the M&M's she downed during production), and found a talented performer that we'll look forward to working with again.

Hope that helps explain a little or at least give answer to some of your comments, and I again honestly appreciate the straight forward feedback.

[Erik Olson]

Regardless of the fact that you entered "on a whim", your short outperforms 90% of what I've viewed so far. Perhaps it isn't right to discuss the competition in threads like this one, but R.E.M. simply stands out as a better product in every category versus what I've seen so far.

I'm going through this festival eight shorts a day, so hopefully, there will be a good ten films that rate near R.E.M.

I'm scoring the spreadsheet (which does not work off-the-server, btw) as the film plays above it. So, one *hit performance, bad edit or fakey looking SFX shot three-quarters of the way through an otherwise exemplary piece can drop it from an eight to a five really quickly.

At the end of voting, I'll likely be somewhat surprised by who won, as I haven't gone back or marked any film for subsequent viewing.

Anyway, R.E.M., for whatever it is, will certainly be in the final shakedown on my list.

Good luck.

e

[Brandon Rice]

I'm scoring the spreadsheet (which does not work off-the-server, btw)

what do you mean? it should be up there.

[Erik Olson]

It's there, but I had to format all the scoring cells (back to absolute / whole numbers) to keep the spreadsheet from denying entries. Maybe I'm the only one?

It's working now, except I souped it up to bump The Judas Kiss into the Final Four!!! Oh... wait... never mind.


e

[Brandon Rice]

hm... the formulas are right... IDK what's up with yours

[jpbankesmercer]

Acting: Rebecca was ACE, very natural, a star in the making!
Script: Wanted a little more but the twist was excellent!
Direction: Fantastic.
Music: Superb! God I worship Edgen
Editing: Tight/ flowed.
Lighting: Ryan, A1. Features must be calling, did you frame them all? Or did Norm play a big part in this?
Loved: Rebecca’s acting, Title’s (PRO as ever!), tie-in ghost noises with tap running (Nice touch), The track and Pan up the stairs (One of my fav’s from the festival), going up sideways (A1), the twist and how it was handled.
Hated: Not much, the deep blue’s upstairs kind of felt too easy for me, would have loved a grittier nigh time, suppose that HVX is crisp. Wanted a tiny bit more pulling into the bedroom.
Overall: A GREAT film!

Guys as always what can I say???

It may have been mentioned but it's bugging me...The upstairs clock numbers blue? Was this because of CC or just a new diff. clock?

Top Job!
J.P.

[235 Studios]

Ive had the chance to see other works from this group here, and my perspective is that the group itself presents itself very dignified and professional. Presentation in the movies created are also up there ...

Thanks for the complements.


Cinematography
The footage was sharp, maybe too sharp, because in combination with the lighting, specifically downstairs, i felt like it was a crisp home video.

No arguement here- the stock lens is all that was used.


I felt the camera could have been used much better to convey panic

Yep- and that was our original desire- time, equipment, and planning, or the lack there of, all played a part in us not getting the additional handheld / panic-y shots we had initially wanted.


I didnt like the over the shoulder shot in the end , probably because im not a fan of shots that usually should be used when the shallow DOF can be there. I think if the Shallow DOF isnt there, then the shots shouldnt be attempted. Its distracting. Like i know the digi revolution is a movement, but then replicating shallow DOF shots and not having the DOF there is distracting.

I agree that this would have been better using DOF, but one of the challenges of this one, was that we did not have that option. I personally did not find that shot distracting, as we are looking at the back of her head which is mostly still. The doors are opening in the direction that she is looking, creating a leading line from the actress to the door- which guides the view and helps them read the scene, or tells them where to look. Don't get me wrong, I love DOF. But trying to use all that focus range is another challenge that I enjoyed having on this short.


Otherwise we get from where we need to go from where we are just fine, but it wasnt interesting.

Thanks! I'm glad that it was fine- my skills in the editing arena are still being refined, and my real passion is cinematography- so hey I'll gladly take a "fine" on the editing- at least it didn't suck. :)


Screenplay
I cant really tell if there was one. More of seemed like this movie was made in a few hours after a conversation of lets join into the horrorfest.

"Circle gets the square!" As Norm said, you are correct. Althought I don't think that Norm and I spent a few hours of talking about entering, I think maybe it was at most a ten minute phone call. :laugh:


Tilt (post comments)
I just feel this was a rush to get it done to be a part of it.

YEP! You are correct.


besides paying a professional actor to be in it.

I'll take that as a complement for the actor- as she is not a "professional".


I didnt get why should would go up stairs if she was so terrified, why not get out of the house...

Welcome to the horror genre. What horror flick make rational sence when you break it down? Why does the "dumb blond" always go where she is not supposed to in horror flix? (No offence Rebecca :) ) That is all just a part of the horror scene. I'm not a huge fan of horror flix for this reason, and others.

Thanks again for teh comments. I do appreciate honest constructive feed back - as that helps refine future productions even more. None of us will get any better if we just go around patting each other on the back saying well done, when it really wasn't well done.

Overall people seem to like it- but for those with a more critical eye- they can see where improvements could have been made.

[235 Studios]

Regardless of the fact that you entered "on a whim", your short outperforms 90% of what I've viewed so far. Perhaps it isn't right to discuss the competition in threads like this one, but R.E.M. simply stands out as a better product in every category versus what I've seen so far.

Thanks. I like that quote so much I think I'll add it to my sig. :)


which does not work off-the-server, btw

Yeah, I noticed that too- but I thought that it was do to a PC/Mac thing, since I'm on a mac ...


Anyway, R.E.M., for whatever it is, will certainly be in the final shakedown on my list.

Good luck.

e

Thanks.

[TimurCivan]

Thanks for the critique- that's funny that you mention that there was too much movement- as originally Norm was wanting even more movement- but with out the aid of a steadicam, I opted to use the dolly. I'm not sure that I agree that there was too much movement, but thanks for the input.



You can thank Norm for that- that was his idea from the get go.

you know what it was..... i realised now. the movemnt was Tooooooo smooth. The set was so sparse and clean, thatwhen the camer amoved s smoohly it kinda seemed mechanichal. something about the perect fit o her clothing, and im not just aying that, the clothing was deliberate on your part. The minmal clothing, minimal, deco. minimal light ( or so it seems :D good work my hats off its hard to pull that off) clean sound, with dead clean movemnt. Theres NO friction anywhere to add texture. does that makesense.????

[235 Studios]

Lighting: Ryan, A1. Features must be calling, did you frame them all? Or did Norm play a big part in this?

The lighting was Tung- as he was our Gaffer- and I thought he did a good job too.

Yep, I framed them- Norm let me have a lot of freedom. Glad you liked it.


Title’s (PRO as ever!), tie-in ghost noises with tap running (Nice touch),

Thanks I had fun putting that together- but I think what really sells it is the SFX, which I think Norm did a good job at adding in.


The track and Pan up the stairs (One of my fav’s from the festival)

Yeah, I had fun with that one. I have to give a thank you to Neil Rowe- as he supplied me with the wheels- I then attached them to a bogen dolly- which allowed me to get that low to the ground to get that shot.


It may have been mentioned but it's bugging me...The upstairs clock numbers blue? Was this because of CC or just a new diff. clock?

No CC, that is a different clock.

[235 Studios]

Theres NO friction anywhere to add texture. does that makesense.????

Yeah, that makes perfect sense- and I'll agree with that. Thanks for the clarification. This short is very clean- which is kinda out of the norm for a horror flick added texture would have definately helped sell the "scary" factor.

[RebeccaD]

Good job Norm! I enjoyed it.


Acting was nice - but not in the "wow - she's hot - therefore she's a good actress" kinda way. I actually thought she did a decent job throughout.

Thank you! We had so much fun filming and I really enjoyed working with these guys.

Reb

[Cynic821]

Yep- and that was our original desire- time, equipment, and planning, or the lack there of, all played a part in us not getting the additional handheld / panic-y shots we had initially wanted.

I thought your desire was just to be a part of the festival



But trying to use all that focus range is another challenge that I enjoyed having on this short.

I think a challenge failed.





Welcome to the horror genre. What horror flick make rational sence when you break it down? Why does the "dumb blond" always go where she is not supposed to in horror flix? (No offence Rebecca :) ) That is all just a part of the horror scene. I'm not a huge fan of horror flix for this reason, and others.

Then why not try and redefine the genre? I didnt follow too many of the cliche's in my short. You percieve the genre a specific way and as a "cinematographer" you dont think of making something different and strive to define your own way to do something? She doesnt have to go upstairs ya know? Alot of horror movies make sense when you break it down. The he did it first argument is not an excuse IMO. Not being a huge fan of horror flix, i dont think you are the one to welcome me to the genre, one im specifically quite familiar with, thanks though. :dankk2:



. None of us will get any better if we just go around patting each other on the back saying well done, when it really wasn't well done.

Seems to be the popular thing to do, and doesnt seem like you are discouraging it too much.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

sigh

[RebeccaD]

If anyone hasn't seen it, Bloody Mary was great, by the way! Enjoyed watching it and getting scared! The bathtub scen at the end was especially scary. One of my favorites that I have seen.

[RebeccaD]

Acting

The acting worked, though i think her voice work was better than her facial expressions. I didnt understand why she needed to wear what she wore besides the fact she has a nice body. It was distracting, but im glad i had something to look at because it was the only thing keeping me interested in the movie, even at 400 x 225.


Tilt (post comments)

It seems like you guys put alot of effort into this, but it just doesnt show through in any aspect besides paying a professional actor to be in it.

I appreciate the compliment! I wanted to test out my acting chops again, as it had been a little while since I did any. I usually feed my creative side with singing. :)

[RebeccaD]

sigh

LOL. I had the pleasure of watching rekindled today and really loved the cinematography, music and acting. Nice job; Norm speaks highly of your work.

[TimurCivan]

Bloody Mary was great, by the way! Enjoyed watching it and getting scared!


Thank you ... wrong thread???? :)


I think she ment so say.... Norm is great. Norm IS great.

[RebeccaD]

Thank you ... wrong thread???? :)

Yep! I'm a newbie. LOL. I had read some previous comments from you and then just hit reply. Oops.

[TimurCivan]

Yep! I'm a newbie. LOL. I had read some previous comments from you and then just hit reply. Oops.


thats ok. just go to the BloodMAry thread and Praise/insult/crtique/hate mail your heart out!

[235 Studios]

I thought your desire was just to be a part of the festival

Yep it was- that doesn't mean that we didn't want to have some panic-ey moments in the short .....



I think a challenge failed.

Maybe so- but I don't think it is a bad first attempt. But then again these are our opinions, and it looks like they differ here.



Then why not try and redefine the genre? I didnt follow too many of the cliche's in my short. You percieve the genre a specific way and as a "cinematographer" you dont think of making something different and strive to define your own way to do something? She doesnt have to go upstairs ya know? Alot of horror movies make sense when you break it down.

Congrats- I'm glad you were able to stay away from cliche's! Again- Norm and I were not trying to break any new ground here. We were not trying to redefine anything. We thought it would be fun to try and get something in the door for the festival, produce something decent, and have some fun doing it. All of which I think we accomplished. I was unaware that we had to redefine the horror genre to submit something. :beer: :) :beer:


Not being a huge fan of horror flix, i dont think you are the one to welcome me to the genre, one im specifically quite familiar with, thanks though.

No problem! :)

That comment was more said tung - in- cheek- apparently I push some kind of button- it wasn't ment to offend ..... sorry if it did.




Seems to be the popular thing to do, and doesnt seem like you are discouraging it too much.

Um, I'm not sure really what to do here- people make nice comments- I say thank you- is that not the polite thing to say? Those that actually spend the time to make a decent comment, I reply too accordingly.

How is this for discouraging it-
Ok, all you weak ass commentors, pony up and add something meaningful to the discussion. Stop blowing smoke, back up your comments, and no more pussy footing! :evil: :thumbsup: :evil: ;)

[Matt Sconce]

Haha! I really liked this one. I thought the sounds of the radio screeching were really disturbing. I thought acting wise, perhaps more facial expression in the eyes of terror would have helped, but I do think the acting was well done. The cinematography was great and the lighting and smoke worked well for the short. I have one critique. I saw the shadow of the rope thingy pulling the actess down the hall. Other than that, I very much liked this and thank you guys for making something for the fest!

[235 Studios]

Haha! I really liked this one ... I very much liked this and thank you guys for making something for the fest!

Thanks.


I thought the sounds of the radio screeching were really disturbing.

Yeah, I agree- I think Norm did a great job getting those sounds from the ADR sessions, and mixing them with stock stuff he tweeked.


I have one critique. I saw the shadow of the rope thingy pulling the actess down the hall.

Yep, I agree- if you pause the short at the first couple of frames in this shot, you can even see some of Patricks shaddow ..... unfortunately we did not have enough time to roto is out before the deadline. However, Jerry (fixitinpost) just finished the roto job, and I'll be using that for the DVD. Nice catch by the way.

[J.R. Hudson]

The film seems to have all the ingredients; the titles, the score, the dolly shots ...

But it stops there.

Lots of folks talking on cell phones in these films this go around and it adds up to the same ingredient; boring and not scary. The HVX looks nice, the chick has a nice bum .. but thats about it.

I also didnt get it. Chick is on phone, ghost makes noise, she runs upstairs, gets a little Jobeth action, runs into bedroom and wakes herself up ? Huh ?

I found the cinematography basic; if not for a few dolly shots, it seems it was camera on sticks at head height, for the most part. This is another film where it felt like 'Hey ! Wanna come over and make a move? After that, we'll watch Lost on TiVo!'

The lighting is there; but looks staged and not from a source that would be motivating it.

I did love one shot in particular, the dollly track as she runs from the hallway to up the stairs. Nice job.

Harsh I know, but I'm still waiting for a leap in your filmmaking and this feels like the first time, sans the pretty HVX image.

[235 Studios]

Thanks for the critique John.


This is another film where it felt like 'Hey ! Wanna come over and make a move?

Yep, you are correct- that's about what it was- a last minute descision to have some fun and put together a little something for the fest.


Harsh I know, but I'm still waiting for a leap in your filmmaking and this feels like the first time, sans the pretty HVX image.

I don't think it is harsh, by any means. This project was not meant as an atempt to push our abilities- other then the tight turn around schedule- I appreciate the review.

[Norm Sanders]

Harsh I know, but I'm still waiting for a leap in your filmmaking and this feels like the first time, sans the pretty HVX image.

Hmm, you must be talking to Ryan on this, because if you saw my first short, DEATH MARCH ... THAT was my first time, lol! Ugh, and what a first attempt it was too. :crybaby:

Thanks for the critique John, and no hard feelings at all as it was a quickly thrown together project ... in many ways, a 48 hour film project for us, that we simply spread over several days intead of two an entirely sleepless weekend.

Regardless, it was fun, and a nice quick interruption on the feature we're working on (TRINITY RIVER), which we'll put everything we have and then some into it with regards to available resources.

[Kevin Lee]

Wow, what a set up you guys have. Nice equipment. .... someday..... Well done flick! Looks like a little poltergiest, a little white noise. And the actress is very... wow! (just saw the stair scene again) Talented! Good Job man.

[JoshuaNitschke]

Hmmm. Wasn't really feeling this to be honest. The dolly shots were excellent, I like those a lot, but otherwise the cinematography was a bit boring. The lighting seemed a bit flat for me and I didn't care for the blue, I think it was too bright, I'm not sure why I didn't like it much.

I think your biggest problem was your script though. It just didn't really make a lot of sense. Establish something a bit better to keep her running. So she got grabbed, but that was after she started running and I didn't get a real sense of terror. What was it going to do after it grabbed her?

Have you seen Evil Dead? You know the infamous tree-rape scene? Even if you had gone a route like that where whatever grabbed her threatened her in some way...rape/death/etc. it would have been better. I don't know that it would have turned this into a winner, but it'd have been better.

I have psychedelic dreams all the time. They don't scare me. Why was she so scared in this dream? It's never really explained or shown.

[khmuse]

R.E.M.

I enjoyed watching this one, your lead is so good at this role she sells terror really well.

I liked the fact that you used deep DOF to your advantage in framing choices. The reflection off the island counter top in the kitchen scene was nice. The lighting was very good, nice use of contrast. Each end of the range was well used and never abused.

The dolly shot down the hall was perfect, it gave her time to act and sell what her character was going through.

The few small things that I wasn't as certain about was at about 2:24 are we supposed to see what seems to be a line pulling her into the "blue room"? By the way, what was that like triple full CTB?

I really liked the lighting when she got back to her bedroom and closed the door behind her (by the way, why is it that really cute girls always run back into a closed single exit room and not out the front door?). This was great and not over lit as so many films have chosen to do.

The last shot is a bit over the top in terms of the amount of blue, but perhaps those three layers of CTB got stuck on that source, and you just decided to leave them. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

A good story, very well acted, good camera work, good (mostly) lighting and a strong score = a good little movie.

[Norm Sanders]

Kdawg, Virum, and khmuse, thanks for the comments!

Kdawg & khmuse, glad you liked it! :thumbsup:

Virum, no worries, that kind of thing/story doesn't scare Ryan (235 Studios) either, lol! He wanted to go with a different idea, but due to budget & time constraints it just really wasn't an option, this late into the game.

Khmuse, no CTB at all for the blue you're referring to. Tung, the gaffer, brought a projector with him that would put out it's own very blue light, in addition to adding some ray effects, etc. depending on what you had projecting through it into the smoke.

I think I may even start a separate thread about how I've learned there is NOTHING that isn't subjective. :beer:

I used to think that it was only talent, story, and dialogue that was subjective to folks either thinking it was brilliant or stunk ... and that camera & lighting was more of a factual thing. It's either great or not. However, I've seen in this thread, as well as other folks' threads where some will LOVE the camera and/or lighting, while others will not like it at all.

All that does for me then is to confirm that much more that a filmmaker will never be able to please everyone, no matter what aspect of the movie/production it's about ... so they need to do what their heart/passion leads them to do, and do it to the best of their abilities with out apologizing to anyone in the process about why they chose a particular light, camera movement, action, etc.

At the end of the day, I think all that matters is that the filmmaker loves what they've done & feels it's the best that could have been done ... and if not, then get back out there, learn from what they want to improve, and do it even better the next time ... all the while hoping that there will be others out there that will applaude the end result, but not try & confrorm along the way just to please a particular individual or group.

I am SO glad we entered this fest ... if for no other reason than to get the valuable feedback from peers as to what worked or didn't work, and to learn these little life's revelations like I feel I just did. :)

[Brandon Rice]

I think I may even start a separate thread about how I've learned there is NOTHING that isn't subjective. :beer:


Do it! It is SO true... I've totally learned to realize this over the last year... you never can please everyone :)

[Aaron Marshall]

This could have been called "Nightmare on Alicia Street" Where was Freddy?

The actress was good looking. The camera setups were kind of boring. I would have liked to have seen more altered view points, and more interesting movement from the camera. The blue lighting and smoke looked nice. I just would have been more terrified if I were the victim. You can't pull something this major on a person and then let them drift back into the story with a level head. "wake up alicia". It would have been better to have watched her screaming and panic stricken. Is getting attacked by a dream monster/spirit a routine for her?

The score was very useful in the action moments. The arpeggiated piano and string movements seemed out of place. I would have liked to have heard less melodrama and about the same amount of action cues. Perhaps go in and design freakier sounds and let that drive the score ala Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

Overall, good job. I think this effort was superior to your hero film. It was far more simplistic and charming.

[snodart]

Nice job on REM. Overall, I think it was a success. The reactions to the first few sets of noises got my heart going and put me in her shoes right away (or, uh bare feet).

Camera motion and framing were technically great... I don't know if it is from being behind a camera too much or not, but a couple of the shots reminded me that there was a camera there. IE the POV pan across the kitchen and the dolly down the hall. The sequence up the stairs was beyond great and everything else worked.

Lighting was good. The kitchen was a little bland. Not necessarily unnatural. Maybe some flags to break up the white would have done the trick, not sure. Lighting for the Hallway, stairs, bedroom, etc worked fine. The blue light and fog might have benefited from being toned down a little, but it still worked.

Editing was clean. It was a relief to watch something with some flow. The cuts appeared to be based on frames (as they should be).

Sound, great. Again the initial noises helped pull me in and got my heart going.

Score... Justin, you are the man. How many scores did you crank out for this fest. I sure hope you want some more work.... :)

I thought the story was great. Perfect storyline for a short. I think a few mentioned the fact that she ran upstairs and not out of the house... I didn't give it a second thought.

I think Rebecca did a great job. Oh, and it has been stated, but.. wow, beautiful.

Kudos for doing this in such a short amount of time. Nice work!

[Norm Sanders]

Noct & snodart, thanks for the kudos. Rebecca will especially like all the props on her performance from everyone.

We had a mini-horror fest jam with her & her husband, David, over here tonight. Saw some good films & can't wait to comment on them (when I'm not so freakin' tired). Look forward to watching THE SEEING today (Sunday).
:beer:

[RebeccaD]

Noct & snodart, thanks for the kudos. Rebecca will especially like all the props on her performance from everyone.


Yes, thank you all so much for the feedback. I really appreciate it. I've enjoyed watching more of these films and am impressed with what else I've seen out there. :thumbsup:

[Inexistence]

This was a very safe little film, not meant to push boundaries or
break any film language rules, ideas, originality and it shows. I
could not enjoy this becuase of that. It felt tiresome, very direct
and benign. This is not to say that it's a bad film. Just my opinion.

I have to say though, when under the gun one has the decision
to make, for better or for worse, when to drive into oncoming
traffic... figuratively. Why not take a chance and do something
different? Why not film something odd or experimental? If you do not
take the chance now, while your career is young, when will you?
Judging from John Hudson's comments I feel that your not challenging
yourself with safe titles such as this. I'd like to be there when
you put your creative side to the test instead of following the
textbooks and familiar conventions of the past. The basics are
covered. Get out there and give us something new!

I seriously subscribe to the idea of not being able to please
everyone and that one should do what pleases him or herself. What
I can't justify is a lack of imagination or originality. We live
in a world where the amount of knowledge available to us can be used
to metamorph ideas into just about anything we damn well please.
Consider this with your next fest entry and I mean it with all the
upmost sincerity!

[RebeccaD]

This was a very safe little film, not meant to push boundaries or break any film language rules, ideas, originality... !

Thank you for the review, and you are right. From initial idea to end of filming was 2 weeks. We were not attempting to break any barriers with this film. That said, I think what we did accomplish in such a short time was worth it. :)

[J.R. Hudson]

I have never been satisifed with anything I have ever done and wonder if I ever will be.

:( :huh: :zombie_smiley:

[VersuS]

I have never been satisifed with anything I have ever done and wonder if I ever will be.

:( :huh: :zombie_smiley:

You can have a son! This one always works!

[J.R. Hudson]

Good point; I do have a son.

He rules.

[RebeccaD]

Good point; I do have a son.

He rules.

So do I. And I daughter. They both are my pride and joy. :) Worth every moment.

[tung n' groove photo]

Yeah, I agree. I've never been satisfied with what I've accomplished. The journey satisfies me. I definitely agree with pushing the bounderies on the creative side of things. With respect to the lighting...definitely agree with toning down on the blue. Should have considered putting some ND filters on my projector. The fog seemed overdone...I wish I had fog juice instead of smoke juice. I was not satisfied with the last scene with the "ring light" effect...it was late and we didn't have time/equipment to play with the location of the lights :( The scene in the kitchen...if I had a chance to do it again, I would have swapped all the floods in the ceiling with a lower wattage task-focusing bulb and made it a bit darker. Due to time constraints, I was just supplementing the existing kitchen lights. There also was not enough cinefoil available to control the lights from each ceiling fixture. The scene in the bedroom...lighting was to simulate moon light...if I had a chance to redo that one, I'd love to have the lights on beams from the outside of the windows. This would have been cool to allow more camera angles and to cast window frame shadows on the bed.

With respect to cinematography, love the running up the stairs movement.
Scene through the rails was too tight in focus...but we didn't have the lenses to narrow the focus range and to blur out the rails to focus on her running.
I would have preferred a shaky hand held feel when we had the POV shot...it looked like a robotic security camera rather than her POV.
Last scene, if we had more rails, I would have like to try to have the camera go through the doors and literally hit her tonsils...in a shaky sort of way like it was POV of the monster.
Being a still photographer, working with Ryan was a pleasure.

thanks for the criticisms...I feel the same way about
my work :)

Now back to my day job...

[khmuse]

I have got to agree with Rebecca and John - kids rock!

Two daughters here though both of mine are now young adults. A bit of a challenge raising them in So Cal, but I have been lucky, they are both so much better behaved than I was at that age.

[arielman]

Geeez Norm your shorts always look soo good ...For a last minute short it was good ..liked the dream story line you took ( we all had those ) then to find it's not a dream...that was what we fear most I think .

I guess I'm way behind in viewing and have a lot of catching up to do ..dam this work thing..lol

Nicely done
Ian

[Norm Sanders]

Thanks Ian! I've got a BUNCH I need to watch tonight as well to catch up.

Not sure how this got onto the subject of having kids, but they are totally worth it. My three remind me of that every day.

Regarding your comment John of not ever being satisfied with your work, I'm right there with you. I will say that with regards to this short we achieved nearly everything we set out to do. Even looking at it tonight however with the 5.1 surround mix & on the big screen, I see things I wish could have been improved ....

I don't think I'll ever be TOTALLY satisfied with anything I do, as I'll at the very least learned enough through the process that I'll know I can do even better next time. But I do have a sense of peace with this short, which is nice. It's not something that's hanging over us any longer, is totally done (even have the cast/crew DVD's already packaged & ready to hand out), but still turned out fairly well for our expectations, considering the short amount of time we had, and limited resources we put into it.

Could we have done things differently & done even better? Absolutely. But do we feel good about what we DID do with what we had & set out to do? Yep, and that can be a hard thing to achieve at times.

[ecarr]

A movie is never finished, you just run out of time.

[235 Studios]

But do we feel good about what we DID do with what we had & set out to do? Yep, and that can be a hard thing to achieve at times.

Agreed.

:) :beer:

[kimko]

GOOD CONCEPT. good actor....very good actor and fine looking......but i was waiting for a good scream. the hallway was a tad longer than i would have liked. but that's all that was questionable...the rest was good! your shorts are just improving more and more Norm! GREAT WORK!

[RebeccaD]

GOOD CONCEPT. good actor....very good actor and fine looking......but i was waiting for a good scream. the hallway was a tad longer than i would have liked. but that's all that was questionable...the rest was good! your shorts are just improving more and more Norm! GREAT WORK!

Thank you! I agree, the hallway was a tad longer than I liked as well. I have the bruises and rug burns to prove it. LOL. Thanks for the review. :)

[TheatreGuy]

A movie is never finished, you just run out of time.
Man, I have GOT to steal this quote!!!!

Sorry, I was just browsing and read that...

Continue!

:)

[ecarr]

Well, I got it from Peter Jackson, so... quote on.

[hvxabuser]

it was like nightmre on elm street with out the nightmare = Ok lighting, simple story hot lead no monster and overly blued shots sometimes.... lacked alot needed a fear factor element and i lost it on this one.

[Mark Harris]

This felt very much like a horror exercise. There wasn't anything specific about the monster. I guess I was a little disappointed because you guys are obviously such good filmmakers, I would loved to have seen a really super-kick-assed script to sink your teeth into.

And it's clear you got a real actor for the lead - and trust me, I can watch Rebecca walk around in underwear ALL DAY LONG, but I would have liked her to have some more to do, acting-wise.

There was some super-cool framing in the kitchen, particularly letting that window just fill part of the shot when she's at the sink. I kept waiting for something to show up there.

And the wide shot where she's at the bedroom door, watching herself sleep is probably one if the nicest single pieces of lighting I've seen so far in the fest.

[235 Studios]

Thanks everyone for you comments / reviews. I appreciate all of them - the good, the bad, and the ugly. As we've stated before- this was just an attempt to get something in last minute- we had fun, and accomplished our goals that we set out to do- :)

[Ramon Boutviseth]

The footage was very clean, there was a shot in there that i dig .. the part where she runs up the stairs.. i thought it was pretty neat and pro. i really enjoyed this film. -ramon

[Ramon Boutviseth]

if i had to nitpick on anything, it would be .. putting some xtreme closeup in there somewhere.

[Lingothree]

Hello -

Wow - nice gratuitous hot girl in skivvies shots. There are way too few of those in this fest. I expected at least a 50/50 hot girl in skivvies to no hot girl in skivvies ratio.

Everything looked and sounded really nice, and was expertly produced. I'll echo earlier comments in saying that the story itself was lacking, though. Who's after her? Why do we care? How does it all wrap up? Without the story to drive it, you've just got pretty pictures.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Looked great guys.
As a last minute effort this is better than a lot of fully realized effort.
You guys continue to improve in your camera work and lighting.
I really liked some of the effects and angles and it did feel like the teaser opening scene for a feature.

SPOILER
Is she supposed to be the girl asleep? I think I got that eventually but the first shots of shot of her in the bed are too dark to read and not a big enough deal was made of that beat "What ... that's me in the bed ... how can that be ... but I'm right here ... " etc. not saying you should have those lines by any stretch but that's what the camera work and the actors expression and the score need to be making a movie moment of right there, especially since seeing that would be scary.

I like the cyclical story line of how it repeats.

Again, looks great, was fun, and the story was ok for a last minute deal.

Congrats guys :beer:

[Norm Sanders]

Plug for SPARROW - Just updated the thread with regards to Newbury Comics & their bulk purchase of DVD's for resale: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/usercp.php


And it's clear you got a real actor for the lead ...

That's awesome ... I've heard several times folks referring to her as a real actor, a professional actor, even an actor we must have paid. But she wasn't ... just my pure (oh, and humble) genious that saw something in her. :thumbsup: Okay, not genious ... but I felt since she had no problem performing as a professional singer, and she's certainly got the "pretty" factor we were going for, that she'd be right for the role. Though I honestly didn't know she'd do as well as she did ... and because of it, we're in talks for our feature film we're developing, which I'll be starting a thread soon in the User Films section.



There was some super-cool framing in the kitchen, particularly letting that window just fill part of the shot when she's at the sink. I kept waiting for something to show up there.

DRAT! Excellent idea ... of course it would have required more time/planning/post, which we were trying to avoid, but that would have worked SO well ... especially if it was very ghost like ... almost unseen like the initial voices were just whispers.



And the wide shot where she's at the bedroom door, watching herself sleep is probably one if the nicest single pieces of lighting I've seen so far in the fest.

Thanks! That's all Ryan & Tung, as I was nearly a waste of room space by that point ... pretty tired and kind of like "tell me when to say action guys ... I'll just lay over here in the corner in the meantime". Seriously, thank you. BLOODY MARY was VERY well done ... posting my comments on it soon.


The footage was very clean, there was a shot in there that i dig .. the part where she runs up the stairs.. i thought it was pretty neat and pro. i really enjoyed this film. -ramon

Thanks Ramon. Your editing has always been among my favorite around here, so I'm looking forward to watching your film ... Still have a few to go as I'm hitting them alphabetically as much as possible! If I start to run out of time, you can be sure I'll skip to yours ... always a contender.

BTW, your music video you worked on (Vaeda - "All For You") is my all time favorite! :thumbsup:


Wow - nice gratuitous hot girl in skivvies shots.

:grin: Now I've heard that term (gratuitous) a few times with this, and just curious ... is it REALLY gratuitous? It's just the opening shot of the film, where we're focused on a picture that also 'happens' to be at waist level when she enters the frame. So there's reason for it ... from that point forward we never focus on a particular feature although there were plenty of opportunities for CLOSE UPS of chest, butt, etc. ... which would have been gratuitous.

For example, when she was hanging on the door, we could have focused for a cleavage shot, etc. ... which IMO would have been gratuitous as there was no real reason for it. However, since we're looking at a picture of the person she's talking to when she enters frame, I didn't think it was gratuitous.

Not a big deal ... just a question as I've heard it a few times.


Everything looked and sounded really nice, and was expertly produced. I'll echo earlier comments in saying that the story itself was lacking, though. Who's after her? Why do we care? How does it all wrap up? Without the story to drive it, you've just got pretty pictures.

Thanks for the kudos on the sound & production ... and you're dead on about the story, which as you stated as been questioned and answered.


I like the cyclical story line of how it repeats.


Thanks for watching, Jack! Good idea/catch about really working that "Huh?" beat ... hindsight. That was also at the point where we were all just super tired, and even cut a shot or two, and a SMALL section of the script ... kind of rewriting as we went for time sake so we could just get it all done that night.

The cyclical story is really supposed to be one of the main hooks here ... what was real & what wasn't? If we were to follow her through the next cycle, would she just wake up from that one as well? A dream within a dream within a dream, etc.?


the story was "ok" for a last minute deal.

Careful now, I may use that as a killer quote, lol! (bold, underline, quotation marks and font increase added by me)

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

haha,
it was a cool joint and looked super pro dood :beer:

[RebeccaD]

There was some super-cool framing in the kitchen, particularly letting that window just fill part of the shot when she's at the sink. I kept waiting for something to show up there.

And the wide shot where she's at the bedroom door, watching herself sleep is probably one if the nicest single pieces of lighting I've seen so far in the fest.

Thanks for the review. Nice idea for the kitchen shot. That would have been cool. Now I'm going to be scared to be alone there for yet another reason! :huh: LOL. I also loved the lighting in the bedroom, kind-of going for a moonlight effect. Ryan and Tung did a great job.

[Lingothree]

:grin: Now I've heard that term (gratuitous) a few times with this, and just curious ... is it REALLY gratuitous? It's just the opening shot of the film, where we're focused on a picture that also 'happens' to be at waist level when she enters the frame. So there's reason for it ... from that point forward we never focus on a particular feature although there were plenty of opportunities for CLOSE UPS of chest, butt, etc. ... which would have been gratuitous.

For example, when she was hanging on the door, we could have focused for a cleavage shot, etc. ... which IMO would have been gratuitous as there was no real reason for it. However, since we're looking at a picture of the person she's talking to when she enters frame, I didn't think it was gratuitous.

Not a big deal ... just a question as I've heard it a few times.


It (as in all horror movies) is gratuitous in that it's unnecessary. Doesn't mean it shouldn't be in there - don't get me wrong - but putting an attractive woman in her skivvies isn't necessarily necessary for the story (though it may be necessarily necessary as eye candy, and eye candy is a good thing). So the fact that it's there at all, rather than how you use it, is what makes it gratuitous. Make sense?

[Mark Harris]

No, no, don't listen to her!!!! I speak for the entire Male half of the species when I say: You put as much nearly-naked Rebecca as you want in your movies!!!!

[Norm Sanders]

DOWN, desperatecomfort, DOWN BOY (insert sound of whip cracking)! :grin: Trust me buddy, there are SO many gals at the gym I work out at that are more attractive (hmmmm, wonder if Rebecca's going to read that?). Kidding Rebecca!

Lingothree, I see what you're saying, but should I have had her in full flannel jammies or long johns instead? It was night time, by herself in the house ... is it uncommon for women to walk around in their night wear before bed? Granted, it's not the comfy (and completely non-sexy) sweats that some (ahem, I won't mention my wife) may prefer to wear around the house, but it's also not lingerie, which I would agree then WOULD be gratuitous.

[Lingothree]

No, no a thousand times no. I'm not questioning your motivation. Just congratulating you on adding more skin. Not saying flannel or sweats would have served the story any more or less. Just saying the skivvies are gratuituous, meaning unecessary, uncalled for, unwarranted, as they are just that. Nothing more, nothing less. Just more eye candy. A requisite feature of any good horror movie. And the fact that your actor is a hottie probably contributes to my calling it gratuituous.

Maybe it's not gratuitous. Maybe when you have a hottie actor, it becames NECESSARY to showcase this. Can I get a hear, hear, desperatecomfort?

[Norm Sanders]

LOL. Okay ... I think I see your point. I would definitely say the skivvies are uncalled for if in the middle of the day, out in public, etc. ... but at night, alone in her own house, it seemed to make sense. Granted, I perhaps wrote the story as an 'excuse' for the skivvies, but that's another story altogether ... namely, "Hey, let's do a bit of an eye-candy piece, test out the HVX, and have some fun with audio!". :beer:

[Lingothree]

And for that, I applaud you.

[Norm Sanders]

And for that, I applaud you.

Which is just so cool coming from a chick! :thumbsup:

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Lingo,
I'll give you a what what.

Norm and Desperate she say she likey, she no say she no likey.

I think it depends on the style of your movie.
If its somewhat campy and doesn't take itself too seriously then I think eyecandy works. (as it does here)
If its a bit less tongue in cheek then it can undermine the piece.
But I never get why showing people with nice bods with little or nothing on is something to get your hoohah in a twist over anyway. If we could admit that we like to look at them for purely aesthetic reasons and purely prurient reasons and that that's ok, then I think it would be no big deal.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

this is what we wear at my house
http://www.jumpinjammerz.com/img/famous.gif
footies all the way ... isn't that what other 33 and 34 year olds wear?
We also have his and hers pairs that match our twin beds and the alarm clock on the nightstand between them.

[RebeccaD]

Lol! Wow! I did not realize there would be such in depth discussions about my attire for bed. :) I agree that to have walked around in a teddy would have been way over the top, but felt that what I was wearing was pretty typical of lounging around at night. Now, if it is the dead of winter and I am cold, I will make sure to find out where Jack gets those lovely jammies he prefers. :beer:

[conrad_johnson]

This one had great lighting and camerawork, but suffered in the story section.Blahblahblah you've heard all this before.

You guys always have top-notch production, and that's that.

I think the undies are realistically what she'd wear to bed, That is to say I wear a pair of boy-cut panties and a tank top to bed too.
Good work gents and ladys.

[Norm Sanders]

This one had great lighting and camerawork, but suffered in the story section.Blahblahblah you've heard all this before.

You guys always have top-notch production, and that's that.

I think the undies are realistically what she'd wear to bed, That is to say I wear a pair of boy-cut panties and a tank top to bed too.
Good work gents and ladys.

Thanks Conrad, appreciated! Seriously TMI on your nightwear, lol! :shocked:

[235 Studios]

Those jammerz rock Jack- nice find. :)

[jpbankesmercer]

Thanks for your inspiration guys, all the best of luck for the comp.
J.P.

[TheatreGuy]

235 Studios... you guys ROCK! I love your last minute entry! What an effort!

Thank you for sharing and congratulations to you.

Best of luck,

Ted

[Slimothy]

Great job Norm! I think the ending could have been a bit more explanatory, and could have had a bit more depth, and I'm sure with more time it would have. What a great job for such short notice. Sound, cinematography, acting, direction was all pretty solid. You da man!

As far as the infamous "skivvies"--> To say something is "neccessary" or "warranted" seems like a very broad and relative opinion. I found the attire totally normal. At least for the chicks I've gotten the chance to see right before bed.

And believe me. I am one Big p to the i to the mp daddy. Kidding.

Tim.

[mentatDUKE]

Peeps at Envision. This was fun to watch. While it lacked in story, the look was really good and the actress had my attention the entire time. Her performance was believable and her look was really great. The score was really professional and the lighting was mostly decent (a bit flat in the kitchen). I liked the blue fog and her being lifted along the wall.

It's a shame the story wasn't on point as everything else was so well done. Maybe a few more drafts of the script and using the entire 6 minutes would have remedied that.

Fun to watch guys. Take care.

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Peeps at Envision. This was fun to watch.
yeah lots of fun and some cool horror gags I agree:beer:

[mameragex]

Liked the smoke & lights:thumbup:

Good Luck all

[235 Studios]

Thanks guys! Much appreciated.

[Norm Sanders]

Seriously, thank you everyone for the kind words of appreciation, as well as the critiques on what could have been improved or done differently! While much of the critiques were things we were expecting because of our last minute entry decision, and lack of times to really tackle things we may have normally done otherwise, they're still appreciated and of course always shed some light on things we'll want to address in the future.

That said, we're ecstatic to be ranking 11th in overall score out of 65 films, and officially 10th place because one of the films that scored higher wasn't competing ... so it was MUCH better than we had really hoped for or expected considering what we were working against (time, lack of finances/resources, etc.).

I've updated the first post on this thread to show where "R.E.M." placed in all categories.

[spidey]

so now i can just start reviewing since the contest is over.

This movie had no value really over all. The lead didn't fit just cause she has a rack I didnt see her fit the mold to well of a woman who is deprived of sleep or having nightmares. on person said, It was like nightmare on elm st without the nightmare. I concur. Did you do this movie in a last min effort? If so it shows.

Thereason for this railing review is you sent me 2 reviews already one indepth then one just to be a quick insult to devalue things. PLus anohter things say the leads voice doesnt fit come on grow up. people dont have to sound asian to be asian. if you went back to my thread and look people thing you said the most retarded thing on the face of the planet. (also it doent look good saying that, what more do you want from her? should she be dressed like a geisha for you to be like ok she fits?)

simply put, I didnt like your movie, why? well it lacked heavily on interest. nice shots and all, too blue at times, but pretty much "woooo its a dream... are you scared? feeling."

theres my 2 cents.

[conrad_johnson]

so now i can just start reviewing since the contest is over.

This movie had no value really over all. The lead didn't fit just cause she has a rack I didnt see her fit the mold to well of a woman who is deprived of sleep or having nightmares. on person said, It was like nightmare on elm st without the nightmare. I concur. Did you do this movie in a last min effort? If so it shows.

Thereason for this railing review is you sent me 2 reviews already one indepth then one just to be a quick insult to devalue things. PLus anohter things say the leads voice doesnt fit come on grow up. people dont have to sound asian to be asian. if you went back to my thread and look people thing you said the most retarded thing on the face of the planet. (also it doent look good saying that, what more do you want from her? should she be dressed like a geisha for you to be like ok she fits?)

simply put, I didnt like your movie, why? well it lacked heavily on interest. nice shots and all, too blue at times, but pretty much "woooo its a dream... are you scared? feeling."

theres my 2 cents.
So you didn't do well in the compentition, I guess that gives you merit to act like a child. Oh, just saw your sig., you're only 12, that explains it.

[Barry_S]

Guys--let's chill a bit here. We expect people to be tactful in their critiques and we also expect that filmmakers not be too thin skinned about critiques of their work. Remember the internet maxim--be slow to take offence and slow to give offence.

[hvxabuser]

So you didn't do well in the compentition, I guess that gives you merit to act like a child. Oh, just saw your sig., you're only 12, that explains it.


Conrad, you need to look at other threads before you say things to other people. He's not upset where he placed there was a comment that was said that made it sound racial..... anyway all this matter is closed cause the competition is over with so lets move on.

[conrad_johnson]

Yeah, I did.

[Slimothy]

so now i can just start reviewing since the contest is over.

This movie had no value really over all. The lead didn't fit just cause she has a rack I didnt see her fit the mold to well of a woman who is deprived of sleep or having nightmares. on person said, It was like nightmare on elm st without the nightmare. I concur. Did you do this movie in a last min effort? If so it shows.

Thereason for this railing review is you sent me 2 reviews already one indepth then one just to be a quick insult to devalue things. PLus anohter things say the leads voice doesnt fit come on grow up. people dont have to sound asian to be asian. if you went back to my thread and look people thing you said the most retarded thing on the face of the planet. (also it doent look good saying that, what more do you want from her? should she be dressed like a geisha for you to be like ok she fits?)

simply put, I didnt like your movie, why? well it lacked heavily on interest. nice shots and all, too blue at times, but pretty much "woooo its a dream... are you scared? feeling."

theres my 2 cents.

wow. That's all I'm going to say. What a dissapointing post to wake up to.

Way to go Spidey.

[spidey]

sarcasming.

[235 Studios]

To quote JDS- "Sigh". ;)

Can we just stick a fork in it and call it done?
http://static.flickr.com/16/90450671_dc7d892bf6_m.jpg:beer:

[hoopman]

Spidey,

I'm new here and and am not up to speed on the things you mentioned in your post. However, I early on learned you had won one or more of the prior festivals and that alone would make me respect your talents. Nevertheless, I think that if this community gave you such recognition by choosing to honor your films, you owe it to everyone to avoid such personal attacks.

if you went back to my thread and look people thing you said the most retarded thing on the face of the planet.
If that is true, then leave it at that. It sounds like whatever was said got handled. Why bring it up again here with more mean comments?

I'm not trying to provoke you, man. I'm sure I can learn an awful lot from you. I just want to ask you to consider how such flaming makes you appear to those of us who are trying to learn from those of you who are prominent here.

Hope I didn't overstep. Just wanted to give my perspective.

[MOVIE MASTER]

walked around in a teddy
go with that idea..... please

[jkfilm]

Great making of!

[Norm Sanders]

Glad you liked it, jkfilm! Thanks! :)

[Norm Sanders]

Finally got simple web page up for film/bts viewing: www.eefilm.com/rem (http://www.eefilm.com/rem)

[Norm Sanders]

At some personal requests for a wallpaper of R.E.M., I've quickly put together a 1024x768 size, which can be downloaded on the first page/post, or here. If there were requests for other sizes, I can see what I can do as time allows. :)

http://www.eefilm.com/rem/graphics/rem-desktop-thumb.jpg (http://www.eefilm.com/rem/graphics/rem-desktop.jpg)

[Norm Sanders]

Dug this one out & have submitted it to the Action On Film festival in Pasadena, since they accept submissions created as early as 2004. Hopefully will help it for IMDB as well, since that fest is recognized.

Web page for viewing this film at www.eefilm.com/rem

[Norm Sanders]

Just got a call today from Del, the head/founder for Action On Film International Film Fest in Pasadena ... he said he was making the rounds on the awards panel, where they're reviewing films for various award nominations, and apparently four of the shorts I submitted were being seen by this panel (I'm not sure if there's prior screening to that or not) ... anyway, he specifically commented on R.E.M., as I guess it was playing in the background at the moment, and he said he loved all of them, and would love to show/screen them all at the fest. :)

The call was also about my preference on WHEN the shorts screened, since I was out of state, and if I were to make the awards ceremony that I may want them all shown near the end of the festival run so I could be present.

Being out of work for the past 6 months, IF I can make it down there this year it'll likely be driving, and seeing if I can stay with the Fat Monster crew the whole time I'm down there, or bunk with someone else!

[Norm Sanders]

Just rec'd notification that REM is an official selection at the AOF Fest, and will be screening this year in Pasadena, somewhere between July 24th and July 31st.

[Norm Sanders]

For anyone attending the Action On Film Festival, in Pasadena, CA: Where Silence Falls will be screening on Tuesday, July 28th in the 6pm block, at Academy 1.