"undercover" - NJ Film School

[MrFluffy]

I really enjoyed this. Ive seen a few flash back films before but this was very well done and I was not expecting the punchline.
An excellent short.

[Chris Messineo]

I really enjoyed this. Ive seen a few flash back films before but this was very well done and I was not expecting the punchline.
An excellent short.

Thanks a lot - I'm glad you enjoyed it and will pass along your compliments to my students.

[Susanne G.]

Thanks - I'm glad you dug the flashbacks.

Regarding the score, I was inspired by Schubert's "Der Leirmann" and asked the composer to come up with something that had that same vibe (without the vocals).

Here is a sample of the original in case anyone is curious:

This is an interesting backround info! I thought to Satie's 'Gnossiennes' what was composed about 60 years later than Schubert's 'Der Leiermann'. Probably Satie's music is more absurd than Schubert's, seeing that he was one generation younger, but composed 'Gnossiennes' still in the same century.

[lawriejaffa]

Enjoyable - conceptual short film - competently produced, paced and acted. Its not perhaps the first scenario in movieland where an undercover cop is about to reveal his badge to get shot - but who cares? Its implemented fairly originally with its past cut back - which reveals the story nicely. (A good example of where writing makes all the difference.)

My only caveat really is with the piano - nothing screams film school/students more than a solitary piano ' DAAANG ' 3 minutes ago - ' DAAAAAAAANG ' 10 seconds ago.

Given the subject matter is hard ass cops under cover - taped mouths and beatings why not make it all a bit sexier (lime my undercover cop beating festish videos) - id consider a re-edit for soundtrack, as this could benefit from an injection of genre, as the arty plink plonk does little for the production.

An enjoyable short!

[Chris Messineo]

Thanks so much for the review.

I'm really happy that you (and others) liked the backward story and the students worked hard on the lighting and composition, so I'm really pleased that you liked that too.

I fear any score questions are really my own fault, based on my suggestions and the ridiculous amount of time I gave the composer to create the score. I do think something "a bit sexier" might be interesting here.

Thanks again.

[Matt Harris]

The backwards story was awesome Chris, i feel like you took that concept and made it your own.
Let's not forget that before the Matrix, Seinfeld had a famous backwards episode. So I'd say (It's a possibility) that Chris Nolan
might have seen that episode and said, "hey great device, i gotta use this in movie form". So backwards storytelling
is an open field as far as i'm concerned, and not "owned" by anyone.

[Chris Messineo]

Thanks Matt, I'm glad you liked it. It makes your head hurt a bit when you try to write a story backwards, but I think it can help make the story feel a little fresher (especially since ours wasn't exactly breaking new ground). Best of luck in the finals with your film.

[Matt Harris]

Thanks for the well wishes. but what I want to know is, (if you explained this earlier i missed it), did you write it normal and then just shoot the movie backwards?

[Chris Messineo]

Thanks for the well wishes. but what I want to know is, (if you explained this earlier i missed it), did you write it normal and then just shoot the movie backwards?

The script is written backwards - the first scene in the script is the last scene chronologically. However, we did shoot it all in chronological order to make it easier on the actors.