CABIN by Matt Harris aka Defcon

[Matt Harris]

Deedive you can totally rip on mine, no need to be easy on me simply because i love yours.

[deedive]

i doubt if i would rip on it. i've hear good things.

[MOVIE STUNTS]

I swear I saw that same cabin in a horror flick I rented a few months ago!

[mrcheapyasui]

nice location. Haha it makes me want to go to the woods!

[Kirk Attard]

Great job Matt.
Like the location and how the shots moved from one room to the next.
The visual is very polished. Love it.

[Maximus]

I've only seen two films so far, Cabin and Joel 3:15, and I can't imagine two films being more different. To summarize, one is style over substance, the other is substance over style. No insult intended, as both are very well made.

Now on to the details. Guess which of the two categories above I placed yours?

That's right! Wow, your film really moves! I felt like it was on fast forward! And the fx, this would make a great reel! Unfortunately, the story took a back seat to all the razzle dazzle. That in a nutshell, is my main criticism/contribution. Technically the film was great! I love that Tony Scott over the top flash - when it serves the story.

On a side note. The gore fx were not believable, and it took me out of the picture almost immediately. The blood looked like it was just splashed onto the actors. I would suggest checking out real crime scene photos for reference.

I love the pro look and sound of your movie, and I look forward to your next one. I would suggest more focus on story, and you'll have a winner.

My two cents.

[Marlon Ladd]

I also really liked the style of this one. There were some very good shots in here and again, the location was great. It did get really creepy and I thought the suspense was well built.

[Blaine]

Really great location. This one started out great and the about halfway through just fell apart. I realize there is a five minute time limit but I just didn't see a story here. The shot going from room to room was really well done, though.

[George_Bailey]

I loved the effects in this one. Very cool. The fast motion, the slow motion and the SPFX of the girl/ghost. I think this is a perfect example of using effects in a short film that would not work over the space of a longer film - the audience would find them too over the top - but in your short film they worked well.

Really pretty images.

Cool cabin location (can you imagine goin the th ecabin and playing this on a dark and stormy night? - cool!)

I remain uncertain about the story. No real surprises and nothing to make me jump out of my skin. I'm seeing a trend in these entries which is killer visuals and "less-than-killer" stories.

But I really liked this one and thanks for making it.

[Matt Harris]

Thanks everyone, i appreciate your comments and don't disagree. We improv-acted a majority of the film and just went with it. For me this was an excercise in creating tension and atmosphere. Clearly next time i will have to emphasize story better.

I originally intended to go creepy-blair witch-ish. If you think
about that movie, all they do is present the witch "legend" at the intro of the movie,
they have the kids get lost in he woods for hours, and then they essentially get lured and trapped by the witch at the end, validating the legend.

so in CABIN, my answering machine at the intro essentially warns of not watching tv because "the cabin hates that". It also warns of a previous tenant who "went bats*%t and killed his wife". So what i was trying to do was show, through the usage of 3 portals: alcohol, water and telelvision, that my main character became posessed by the ghosts of the previous tenants, or posessed by the cabin itself.

Water: note the "cabin's POV" as soon as Jones climbs out of the lake.
the cabin is sizing up him up. then Jones uses water to clean his feet,
right after that we get another "ghost POV", this time from the dock.
and all the scenics of the lake fade in and out of Jones conciousness when he's sleeping or his eyes are closed.

Alcohol: the previous tenant drank red wine. Jones is guzzling beers.

Television: when you are at a cabin you should be enjoying the wilderness
and not be sitting on a couch watching tv, at least thats how i was raised.
and so the television is the main portal which my answering machine message warns of. note that as soon as Jones picks up the remote, the ghost appears.
and as the ghost fades away you see the effect that happens to Jones, that is a transference of spirit and energy from the previous tenant into Jones.

so all the jittery effects i used represented the cabin's energy, and i thought i was making it ironic by making the effects television-like, the one thing the cabin hates.

So in the end, this was a story of possession, and the point i was trying to make seems to be generally lost on people, but at least now you know what i was aiming for.
Cheers!
-Matt