Matt Fuller & Andy McNeil Presents:

[Raw and Vital]

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/germanity-1.jpg
Germanity



SYNOPSIS

Erik Klein is a dying German. George Callahan is a dead American.
Both men fought courageously in World War II during the Battle of the Bulge.
One left breathing. One left bleeding. Erik killed George with his bare hands.

Years later, afflicted with cancer, a bed-ridden Erik seeks redemption in his final
hours through a series of visions inspired by a small token he had stolen from George
only moments after taking his life. As Erik muses about what might have been had their
fates been reversed, we are forced to take a startling look at empathy as it attempts to
overcome cultural barriers. Germanity seeks to blend tasteful surrealism with a silent, pensive
stream of conscious narrative about human irony.


CREW

Matt Fuller - Co Writer/Director
Andy McNeil - Co Writer/Director
Lynn Steiner - Technical Director
Mark Kramer - Director of Photography
Luke Kramer - Lighting/Set Director
Bill Moore - Secondary Director of Photography
Mat Schmidt - Production

Cast
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/DanielMandehr.jpg
Adult Erik Klein (Daniel Mandehr)
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/nathanH.jpg
Young Erik Klein (Nathan Hollabaugh)
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/katiejensen.jpg
Erik Klein's Daughter (Katie Jensen)

<no pic avail yet>
Young George Callahan (In Talks)

Score

Original music performed by "The Pax Cecilia".

SCHEDULE

December 20th - 31st
-Complete Script

January 1st - 7th
-Lock Locations
-Lock Talent

January 7th - 21st
-Shooting

January 21st - 30th
- Edit and finalize


*So there you have it. Questions/Comments welcome.

Progress
- December 29th, first draft of script is complete.

- January 3rd. The two lead actors are locked. Daniel
Mandehr casted as the adult Erik Klein and Nathan
Hollabaugh casted as the young Erik Klein.

- Meeting set up tomorrow - January 4th with Katie Jensen
for discussion on the role of Erik Klein's daughter.

- January 13. Day 1 of shooting is complete. Amazing shots.
Tomorrow is the Church scene and will update with pictures...

[Jason Ramsey]

Welcome to the festival, man.

Best of luck to you.

Jason

[Raw and Vital]

thank you for the welcome...

[david jerome]

Welcome Matt and Andy. I really like the synopsis. I can't wait to see how it plays out.

[Charli]

Good luck.

[jeremytuttle]

Sounds interesting. Good luck with the project.

[Raw and Vital]

Thanks, We are going to try out some new styles with this project. It will be very chaotic especially on the tight schedule. No room for errors. This should be interesting. HAHA

[Raw and Vital]

* Updated *

We are currently in discussion with Daniel Mandehr for our lead. Some of his past acting work is as follows. White Oleander, Swat, Murder by Numbers, Jag, X-Files, Frasier. Pretty exciting stuff and we are lucky to be in current discussions with Mr. Mandehr.

- Will be adding a teaser poster soon. Keep checking for updates.

Thanks guys.

[Raw and Vital]

* Rough teaser poster added.

[Jason Ramsey]

I hope it works out for you with Daniel Mandehr.

Interesting poster

Jason

[Inexistence]

great poster! checkout the one I did for Horror-fest. BTW, I have
German 98K (bb) that I can sell ya. I have no need for it right now.
There's no scope but, it does eject shell casings.

[jontuttle]

It is always good to get a seasoned actor. It helps move things along so much faster while shooting. I hope that works out for you. I like the story and look forward to checking it out. Phycological Dramas are always cool. Good luck.

[Raw and Vital]

*Update*

1st draft of the script is completed. I also changed the teaser poster. For now I am sticking with that for it is not that big of deal. Also 2 of the actors are most likely locked for the roles of Older Erik Klein and Younger Erik Klein. The role for the young American soldier is in the works.

Thanks.
Will update soon.

Matt

[Raw and Vital]

Hope everyone had a great Holiday.

Things are getting down to the nitty gritty. We finalized and locked one of out main actors "Daniel Mandehr". Pretty excited about that. Tomorrow we are meeting with another possible lead "Nathan Hollabaugh". Kinda worried about the actual shoot within the next 2 weekends. But hopefully everything goes smooth. Hope everyone elses films are going smooth as well.

[Raw and Vital]

Locked the lead actors/actress. Also updated pictures of the headshots.
enjoy

[Raw and Vital]

*Just some updates for those who are interested.

Tomorrow, Jan. 13th, is the first day of shooting. I will update some BTS photos of the set/location hopefully tomorrow evening.

[Raw and Vital]

First day of shooting went extremely well. We stood in the rain for about 8 hours straight. We couldn't have asked for better weather. It definately set the mood we wanted to achieve.

Our DP, Mark Kramer, did a phenomenal job with getting the shots we needed. Much thanks to him. His brother, Luke, also did a great job with the lighting even while hobbling along with a cane.

Our Technical Director, Lynn Steiner, was dead on with the authenticity of the uniforms, props, and weapons.

Here are a few pictures of the set we snapped with a digital camera. We are keeping it very minimal, not including any actual screen shots, so it doesn't ruin the surprise.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/actor.jpg
Bloody Steve!

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/BTS2.jpg
Down by the river.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/set.jpg
The set. (Homemade)

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/bts4.jpg
About 4 hours into the shoot + rain.

[Geoff_R]

Awesome location and I love that still of the soldier and the fog bank behind him. This looks like an exciting project.

[moviemaestro]

Wow! Looks great! The weather probably couldn't have been any better. Fog/rain, really adds to the mood IMO. The set looks awesome - reminds me of the scenes in Call of Duty 3. Can't wait to see this one either!
Take Care,
Steph

[Raw and Vital]

Day 2 of shooting is complete. We shot most of the day in Punxsy and are quite pleased of the progress. Here are just a few quick snaps from a digital camera of the set. Our DP and lighting director did an amazing job and can't thank them enough. Within the next day or two I will post screen caps of the past week instead of showing these digi camera shots.


http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/day2-2.jpg
Interior Church sceen with my DP.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/day2-1.jpg
set.

http://www.punxsutawneyspirit.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2196

we made the paper. oh joy.

[Raw and Vital]

Ok, here are some caps from day 1 of shooting.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/germanitycap5.gif

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/germanitycap3.gif
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/Germanitycap2.gif
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/Germanitycap1.gif

[jeremytuttle]

Wow, these are some really good looking screens. I love the all the war movies that are being made for this fest. 1,2, and 4 are my favorite.

[Raw and Vital]

Update
some caps of day 2.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/Germanityday2cap3.gif
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/Germanityday2cap1.gif
http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/Germanityday2cap5.gif

[They Live]

Hey man, thanks for visiting my thread. And thanks for linking me to this thread. WOW. Those screen grabs look amazing. Definately looking forward to it. Are you shooting HVX or DVX? And I'm detecting a 35mm adapter look. Am I wrong? Hard to tell sometimes on the screen grabs.

The effort you're putting into the set and costumes is coming through. Looks like the grabs could be from a big budget war movie. Keep up the good work.

[Raw and Vital]

Thanks man. We shot this with a dvx, no lighting since the weather conditions were perfect for the look we wanted. And we used a simple M2 adapter.

Ha ha, the costumes are from our tech director and my long time good friend Lynn Steiner. He made sure to get every piece of the uniform to be as authentic as possible. All the way down to the belt buckle. He is very strict when it comes to authentic German/American uniforms. But hey, it worked.

[Ted Arabian]

WOW! This stuff looks GREAT!!!

I am loving it!!!!

Sorry it took me so long to get over here and check you guys out. Been so preoccupied with TTN that I don't have much time to get out and stretch my legs here at dvxuser.

Great looking work guys! Can't wait to see this film. Love the synopsis. Love the stills. The locations look incredible. (what did you mean by "homemade" on the brick set? You didn't create that for this film did you?)

Love it, love it!

-Ted

[Raw and Vital]

Last day of shooting tomorrow. Yikes. Again good luck to everyone...

[Ted Arabian]

Looks like you got your banner and link figured out. Looks great!

[Brandon Rice]

Great looking grabs! How could I have missed this thread? WOW

[Robert Eldon]

This looks great you guys! Love the locations and the 'set' is awesome!

I really like the silhouette/stained glass window shot.

Can't wait to see this!

[Raw and Vital]

Alright, major update.

-We finished shooting this past Saturday. Everything went very well and the actor/actress did a fine job.

-We have one more pick up shot to do and then the rest is just ADR, Music, Folly work and editing/color correcting this beast together.

-We are very please with how things went and are excited to see the finished product. Also looking forward to see what all of you think of it.

Until then, good luck everyone.

[Ted Arabian]

I am really looking forward to your film. I just love everything that I've seen here!

Good luck!

[Norm Sanders]

Matt & Andy, I saw your post in Ted's TTN thread & noticed your banner. YEAH, I war film!! I'm already excited about your picture, knowing nothing else about it other than your killer banner. Nice work. :beer:

[RebeccaD]

Your banner does look very cool. Looking forward to seeing it!

[Raw and Vital]

Updates

Friday- Shot for 6 hours in an empty warehouse. The scene looks amazing and the effect we are trying to do is just...Great. I'll post BTS camera footage later on if possible.

Sunday - Did ADR on one of the actors lines.

All we need to do is basically finish the ADR, edit, add music and sound effects. So much and so little time.

[Michael_Petro]

Updates

Friday- Shot for 6 hours in an empty warehouse. The scene looks amazing and the effect we are trying to do is just...Great. I'll post BTS camera footage later on if possible.

Sunday - Did ADR on one of the actors lines.

All we need to do is basically finish the ADR, edit, add music and sound effects. So much and so little time.

I shot for 6 hours and got a women with a pen sitting at a table :) ok it wasn't that bad...

Good Luck.I will be watching!

[Raw and Vital]

Good luck to you too. hahaha. It took us 6 hours just to shoot a scene with the 4 different shots. The time and work involved. I tell you what.......!!!!!!

[Slimothy]

Wow, I missed this one somehow. The grabs look excellent. Great production value w/ those costumes. Can't wait to see it. War movies are the shizz.

[Raw and Vital]

Last grab i'm going to post before the big final upload within the next day or two. And again, thanks for the kind words everyone. It means a lot to us.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a185/GODSxHAND/chalk1Germanity.gif

[AmbassadorTex]

Intentional to "paste over" that particular line of the German text in your poster? (I'm assuming that it was, so: very clever...)

Very, very cool things in your grabs and story idea. Hope it all came together
as you'd imagined it.

[jaslak]

This one is going to win for sure.

[Raw and Vital]

UPDATE - ALERT - SYNTAX ERROR

well, made the first rough cut last night and touched it up today. The run time was at almost 8 minutes and a lot of the footage was cut down. We are debating on whether or not to make a short cut just for this fest or not. BUT, if we do that, it will totally take away from the whole pacing of the film that we originally had for you to see it. So it's a big decission, either show a cut and chopped down version just for the fest or in a couple of days release the full version that it was supposed to be shown as. What you guys think?

[Ted Arabian]

Well, that is the million dollar question! Whether to present a film that is not properly served just to make the contest guidelines or to present the film in the form that makes you proud of your work.

The one thing that I will say about these festivals here is that they are presented to inspire filmmakers to make films. Obviously, it is nice to win a prize but what is more rewarding? The satisfaction of presenting a film that you can stand by and not give excuses about or to put forth something that makes you cringe.

I would say that if you really feel that your film is not properly served in a 6 minute format then you should present the 8 minute cut.

BUT, another thing that willl say about these 6 minute festivals is that if you live up to the guidelines, you are forced to make serious editorial choices that you may not otherwise make. And this can be thought of as a great lesson in editing.

I have to say that I, as the director, was reaching the point (while trying to edit to 6 min.) where I felt that too much of the story was being left on the cutting room floor and that the pacing was too abrupt. I hated that a lot of great shots and performances could not be used. I had suggested to the TTN team that we cut this film for a No Compete entry.

I am very happy to say that, though my concerns were heard and shared, someone stepped up to take a whack at cutting it (Tim Hyten aka Slimothy). Tim has done a great job of getting the story told at a resonable pace and he kept much of the value in place.

Mark and I have always known that we had 2 cuts of TTN to offer. One for dvxuser's dramafest and the long cut for other festival consideration. I am very please to say that we will have both.

My lesson here... a fresh pair of eyes and scissors at the cutting block!

Good luck with your decision.

-Ted

[AmbassadorTex]

Interested to hear what you decided - - also still interested to know if your choice of pasting over that particular line of German text in your poster at the beginning of the thread was intentional (and therefore suggests something about the film)..

[Raw and Vital]

Well, we decided to make a short rough cut simply for this fest. We will however post the original cut probably over the weekend, the way it was supposed to be viewed. Just thought I would throw that out there for those who are interested.

THANKS AGAIN ALL AND GOOD LUCK.

[Ted Arabian]

Just so you know, I don't believe that you can post your long cut while the fest is going on IF you want to be in the "competetion." I would hate to see you go through all that trouble of 2 cuts only to get DQ'd.

[Raw and Vital]

WHEWWWW, I owe you one, i didn't know that. What's the time limit for how long you can vote on these things. I guess we'll just have to make a post after the contest with the (YAY I GET TO SAY IT!!!) Directors Cut.

p.s.

2 hours of sleep and going into work at 8am isn't a good feeling.

[Ted Arabian]

HAHA! Yeah. I have my own Director's Cut that I am looking forward to posting!

Last fest, the voting period was something like 10 days. It may be a day or 2 less than that.

And yes.... that must suck having to go to work on 2 hours of sleep!

Good luck!

[Raw and Vital]

You said it. Thanks and good luck to you too. I'm excited to see your film with single engine planes and dog fights and air shows with meetings going on in dark rooms. Let me ask, What DONT you have in your film?

[Ted Arabian]

We might be missing some drama! :grin: You'll have to tell me!

[Raw and Vital]

AHA! so that's your marketing technique.... I know your tricks. hahahaha


:thumbsup:

[Ted Arabian]

That's right..... we are competing on hype alone! Our film is nothing but stock images and a lot of hot air!

[Raw and Vital]

I give up, you got us beat. We had scribble drawings and stale air.

[Ted Arabian]

HAHAHAHAHA!!!! Awesome. Should be a fun fest to watch! Stock images and stale air....

[Raw and Vital]

holy ridiculous file size, we submitted a file size that was 17MB big. it's going to be so tiny. And it's too late to resubmit because i'm at work and so is the guy that uploaded it from his computer. Sighhhh.

[Ted Arabian]

17mb! How did it look? Wow... that does seem rather small. And I sure that your film is 6 min.'s on the dot, right?

[Raw and Vital]

haha, Yeah, I believe it is 6 minutes to the dot. maybe a few seconds shy. Like i said we butchered the crap out of it. But that's alright. It was intended for this fest anyways. I don't care if it sucks for how cut up it is. It was a fun process and I went broke making this film. seven 39.00 overdrafts doesn't really sit well in my stomache. But It was a great experience.

But the window size was rather tiny. It was funny, We had like 2 minutes to go and I was like, "BILL why is the file size only 17mb big. We had 40mb to work with." that being said he slapped my hand out of the way and uploaded.so pffft. Hope you either have good vision or a magnifying glass.:badputer:

[Ted Arabian]

seven 39.00 overdrafts...
by overdrafts, do you mean bank charges? ouch!


But the window size was rather tiny. It was funny, We had like 2 minutes to go and I was like, "BILL why is the file size only 17mb big. We had 40mb to work with." that being said he slapped my hand out of the way and uploaded.so pffft. Hope you either have good vision or a magnifying glass.:badputer:
Well, I know that Horrorfest only allowed for a 400x225 image... max! I felt that it was too small but I got used to it. It was disappointing because at such a small frame, I found that it was difficult to appreciate detail in shawdow and such.

I actually have no idea if they put that max image rule in place again for dramafest. I read that Envision had reduced his to something larger than that so maybe they let the rule go. (I am not involved with this process this time around. The film is out in CA and I am here in NH.... I don't like not having any hand at this stage but that is the way it is.)

Any idea what your final image size is?

[Raw and Vital]

yeah seven 39.99 worth of bank charges, it was like 244 total.

Also, not sure of the window size. Estimating it looked like 3x4 inches. then again i could be wrong. I also hate not having a hand in the process. I at least have to be there when the editing and uploading is going on.

NH eh? My girlfriend is up there for law school at Franklin Pierce in concord. Not a bad place. But I prefer Pittsburgh.

[They Live]

No worries man. I'm still looking forward to seeing it. How long is the "non-butchered" cut?

[Ted Arabian]

Franklin Pierce in Concord! Cool. Let me know if you ever come up this way.

Yes, NH has it's attractions and I love the way of life up here. BUT I am so tired of the cold weather. I've been here for... dang, 17 years? I wanted to leave a long time ago and return to CA but I met my wife and her family is here and yadda yadda yadda. But, she is ready to move as well and hopefully we'll be making the journey soon. Someday soon.

Pittsburgh is a nice area. I had a girlfriend who knew people there (or family) and we went for a visit. I love the terrain. It was beautiful.

Watch that check book. That is the worse way to spend money! I hat bank fees. The worse!

[Raw and Vital]

Thanks man, Non butchered cut will be around 9 minutes. Like I said this cut was really rushed, but..... the film was intended for this fest originally so eh, it's all for fun.

[Raw and Vital]

oh and Ted, yeah, the only issue I had with concord was trying to buy alcohol. My ID is slighty chipped on one of the ends and the people at Walmart were giving me and my girlfriend a hard time. It was actually funny. I was just trying to buy champagne for thanksgiving and it ended up with them telling me I have an invalid drivers license and i could get arrested. Other than that the area was nice and laid back. The weather over here on the East coast does suck. So cold. Down here in pittsburgh the roads freeze and since everything is so hilly it's insane to drive at times.

I was planning on moving out to LA to further my dream in film. But I could see myself getting a job as a PA if i'm lucky. I don't want to go through life only being a PA. So, I decided to stay here in Pgh/East coast and direct a couple more short films in the range of 30 minutes, work on a documentary and then attempt a feature. I'd rather get noticed as a director by doing my own stuff. oh well, it's a gamble.

[Ted Arabian]

Good for you on that dream. Gamble away! I agree with your philosophy. And I am getting to be an old bugger, so working as a PA has passed me by! I need to get noticed as a filmmaker myself!

Good luck to you. And keep your fake ID outta my state! (Live Free or Die, my A$$!) :grin:

[Raw and Vital]

any word or update on whether or not the films will be posted tonight? because if they aren't i'm going to go out for the night...

[TimurCivan]

THIS WS GREATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I just wish the VO was a little better acted. since almost all VO, see if you can find someone to ADR it with less hesitation i nthe voice. IT really does this piece disservice its BEAUTIFUL, and had a Great Perspective without getting political. I LOVED it. Top5.

[Kholi]

Hey, I'll have to come back to Germanity. My initial thoughts have to do with the Voice over, as it's a bit stodgy at times.

I get what it's about, it kind of feels lagged which is why I have to sit down and re-watch a third time to really bring together a worthy review of your effort.

Before I do that, the flashbacks of the war scene were really nice!

[TimurCivan]

yea the color and grit of the warscene, WAS NOT cliche. IT was different, it was Grittty but saturated. Not Bleach bypassed like every war film of the last 10 years.

Great look. ME AS DP HAPPY.

[Raw and Vital]

IMPORTANT UPDATE...


So it's 3:19am. I just spent the last 11 hours editing our film "Germanity". It needed a lot done from what we submitted into this fest. So, me and the other director were talking and we think we are going to provide a link for our full version. If we get disqualified from the contest for doing this then so be it. But, the edit we finished tonight is originally how this film should have been shown. I can't go down with people watching something that is crap. So tomorrow we will provide the finished version.

Thank you.

[TimurCivan]

I want to see you guyspull up and win.

But i also want to see a better movie.


Descisions descisions

[Raw and Vital]

Haha, thanks man, It would be a treat to win, but I don't know how that could be possible with all these great films out there when ours has tons of unfinished audio/sound effects and random clips, etc. etc.

I have only watched 2 films so far because i been editing for 11 hours today to get our final film version done. But I will start watching them tomorrow including yours. I'm excited.

I think I would rather have people say, wow, that was a damn good movie and be disqualified than to stay in the contest with an unfinished film. So, I think we are leaning towards putting up the real version tomorrow...

I wonder if we will get disqualified though. I mean, if i only provide the link to people on this forum and nobody else. The one still in the running will be the one people vote for but the link i provide for the finished full version will just be extra for people to see how it's supposed to be. Think I could get away with that?

[Wild Imagination Films]

You mention audio issues, I hope you are able to correct them. This felt really slow. When he asks who he killed, I felt like it just hung there in the next scene. (By the way, I really liked the look of the scene.) Overall, too slow.

[Ted Arabian]

Hey guys, I love the message of your film but I am very confused.

I don't understand the church sequence. The priest with a birthday cake? Is that symbolic? I am sorry if missed something. I watched this twice but am still at a loss.

I felt that the opening sequence (the man in the bed) was too long. I don't know if it was that way to set up the basic "humanity" of this guy but for a 6 minute short, I felt it was too long.

The v.o. seemed like it was from a "how to speak German" record. I didn't feel any emotion in the dialogue.

I loved the shots in this film. I especially love the exterior shots of the soldiers and the sequence in front of the chalkboard.

The "flash" edits need some kind of an effect.

Bottom line, the message was wonderful.

Great job! Looking forward to seeing your long cut!

[Raw and Vital]

Thank you for the feedback everyone and for the comments.

Now, to clear some stuff up that people been asking. The audio issues I have been talking about are all fixed. When we uploaded for the contest the version wasn't anywhere near completion. Sound effects were missing, music, etc. etc. with those missing elements the film seemed very slow and dragging. Which is why I was debating even entering this contest. People in my crew insisted so what you see is a very very unfinished rough cut. And, i'm sorry to put you thought this and to watch it. hahaha. The finished version that I have in my hands now is completely polished with all the effects and how it was intended to be watched. If I wont get disqualified for showing you guys who are interested the finished cut I will be happy to post the link. So if someone can get back to me if this will disqualify us or not i'd be much thankful.

Ted, the birthday cake in the church was basically all imagery in his head. Erik is on his death bed basically pondering what the Americans life would be like if the roles were reversed. So the dying German puts himself in these scenarios of what he thinks the americans life would be like if he were still alive. The cake in the church scene was just a transition we used to show that this is all in his head and elements of different scenarios are running into each other. Kind of like overlapping. I don't know if we did a good job at showing this, especially in the rough mcgruff cut. hahaha.

HEY ADMINS OR CONTEST HOLDERS, get back to me if i'm able to post the finished link just for shnits and giggles so these people can see how it was intended to be watched.

thanks guys

[D_and_G]

Hmm, this one is an odd one. The flashbacks were right on -> directing, pacing, edits, color grading and most of all the content.

The rest of the short film needed work (although there were a few nice transitions). For example, you could take out all that dialogue about Inka, the food stealing maid, without it affecting your script in the least. Also, casting for this part was a challenge I’m sure.

There’s a gem somewhere with a solid rewrite and recasting the lead.

just me 3 pence. ;)




:beer:

[dvpixl]

I enjoyed this piece. It was great visually. clean and easy to watch. great audio and V/O. I was drawn in. The dirt and the grime helped a great deal in terms of realism. Most shorts dont go as far as dirtying their actors. I did not think that the bed scene matched with anything else in the film as far as lighting goes. top notch overall.

[Raw and Vital]

thanks man, yeah, the bed scene is different from the other scenes. We had a different DP for that scene. I thought it worked for a contrast of real life and the whole in his mind scenes.

[VisionLakeProductions]

Good job on this one. Quite a bit going on for a six minute short but you pulled it off rather nicely. One thing that stood out was the overused DOF. It seemed like every other shot was a showcase of the adapter, and though it looked good, got distracting. But overall, nicely done.

[Ted Arabian]

Hey R&V, thanks for clarifying. Really looking forward to your long cut.

btw, I put up a link on the TTN for I.D. (I don't know if you saw that I responded to your post over there.)

[Raw and Vital]

Ted, I did see it. I'm impressed that you took on all those responsibilities with I.D. and put out a solid piece. Nicely done. Yeah, no problem about the clarification, Hopefully in the long cut people wont be so confused. We kind of just went with a weird concept I guess. We are in the works to start on a much longer project. about a 30 minute short. Again focusing on an Anti-War piece like the one we did here. We will be using the same DP and Lighting guy. So we are looking forward to that.

But yes, as soon as the voting ends, I will let you know and give you the link to the polished short.

[Blaine]

I just got through watching this and I've got to say that many things in it didn't make sense to me. I got the idea that he was living a tragic moment on his deathbed but just didn't feel anything for him. The dead space in the sound was distracting and pulled me out of the story.

The actors didn't win me over with their presentation which at times felt like they were reading their lines.

Okay...I just went back and read some of the other remarks and see it is an unfinished piece. I will come back and view the finished short after the fest. Until then, I'll wait to critique it further.

[They Live]

I liked this one guys. Obviously it's not perfect, none of our shorts are, but I really respect what you guys went for. I think the concept behind the film shows some real maturity.

I do think that the acting could use some work, e.g. the coughing in bed.

I'm not going to comment on some of the audio problems. I'm sure you're already aware.

I think you should revisit the theme again. I know that you guys can do a better job handling it.

EDIT: I see that this is an unfinished piece. Well, I'll be looking forward to seeing the finished version.

[Mark Johnson]

I'm sure people have commented on it, but I have to just say how much I loved the battlefield scene. Jeez Loueez, that felt so real and looked so good. I found myself wishing so much that you had more of that. To me the production values and costuming were amazing. I hope you can expand that scene or use some others from the front lines because that really puts the emotion in the film.

[iSTy]

i quite liked this, there's alot of 'thinking' involved.
Wasn't too keen on the acting of the dying man tbh, thought it sounded too fake, but the storyline was good.
Thank you.

[Dahopafilms]

This is the fourth film I've watched. There is some great thinking going on here. A really interesting story.

The flashback scenes were beautiful. Some of the images - particularly those in the church - are haunting (in a good way).

A couple of critical thoughts - I never really bought the voiceovers. I don't speak German, and based on what I heard, I would bet your actors don't either (and if they do, then that makes me ... an idiot). It seemed a little too wooden of a read for me. Also, your main character on his death bed seemed too ... well ... healthy. Maybe too young and healthy.

I think you have laid an excellent foundation for a very interesting story here. You are telling it well and obviously have the chops for the cinematography. With a little ramping up, I think you could turn a good short into a great one (and I wouldn't change a bit of the flashback or church scenes - really good).

Thanks for making this and putting it out there.

Cheers.

[Raw and Vital]

Thank you for the comments guys. Saturday I'll make a thread with the new link for the new finished version. And tonight I will be watching all the entries and giving a critique. I have been lacking in that department. Been really busy.

[Texture]

While I can't say this film is my favorite entry...

It is my favorite story that I've seen so far.

I'm glad I stuck with it because it started out pretty slow.

Gosh, its all so well done. The opening bedroom scene is the weakest part. This death scene could have been served with better lighting... A dim room with accent lighting on the main characters... A little smoke in the air to bring out the lights...

I had a feeling German wasn't the actor's primary language, still, this minor annoyance drifted to the back of my mind as the story progressed.

The fight scene? Its as professionally accomplished as a scene from Terrence Malik's "Thin Red Line."

Great job.

[Raw and Vital]

Wow, thank you for the kind words. It really means a lot to hear stuff like that. It indeed was a rough rushed project. From script concept to rough edit we did it in about 28 days. I would like to have done a lot more but what can you do.

We will try to explode with our next project. A 45 min film about an American in a POW camp. pre-pro has already started. yay!

[Texture]

Well, I've watched all the entries and your's is my second favorite story after "Heritage."

One word of note regarding this fesival. There have been more entries than any prior fest in which the particapants gave serious attention to their audio.

This is the greatest weak point in your production. Given the quality of this film. I would recommend going the extra couple of miles to fine tune the mix...

PM me if you want to talk more about it...

[Raw and Vital]

Since voting has ended think it's safe to post a link to the reamped version of germanity???

[Raw and Vital]

www.germanity.com (http://www.germanity.com) to watch a lower quality of the updated version or the full rez one at www.lot25.org/germanity.mov (http://www.lot25.org/germanity.mov) which takes forever to load.

You need to crank the audio, the levels are really low also stuf still needs polished up and fixed. i know this. Friday I am going in to do a edit.

congrats to the winners and everyone of the fest. it was fun times.

[Wild Imagination Films]

I have been giving your film a great deal of thought. It takes guts to do a foreign language film and mad props to you for tackling it. As has been mentioned though, it didn't really feel like they were native speakers. Perhaps a little too slow at the start. Maybe more flashbacks sort of flashbulbed throughout leading up to the end?
Points I am still lost on..
1. Why the teacher and priest are the young German.
2. The whole priest scene
3. The birthday cake.
And one tiny little note. I think he went too quickly to the cross. It was obvious he knew what he was looking for. Didn't feel right.

On the pluses. The battle scenes were top notch. It just feels cold and wet and nasty. Very nice on the authenticity. It really shows attention to detail.
Any time you want to submit an episode of The Jade Egg, I'll be glad to work with you on it. Yes, this was a request for a submission. I would love to see an episode set in WWII. Drop me a PM and we'll discuss.