Bear

[Lynchenstein]

Been working on it for a while, but just got around to creating the thread.

Looks like there's some fantastic films brewing - I can't wait to watch them all.

[Lynchenstein]

"Bear"
Written & Directed by Chris Lynch
Lily Cave, Catriona Argue, Anne Lynch, Graham Carrothers
Grip, Boom & Sound: Greg Rochon
Ms. Cave's hair, makeup and wardrobe: Leanne Teron
Music Courtesy of Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Special thanks to the Cave/Teron family for a tonne of support.
Extra Special thanks to my wife, Anne.


Filmed in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Filmed with Panasonic GH1 Camera (unhacked)
Lumix 20mm/F1.7 & 14-140mm/F4.0-5.8 lenses
KinoFlo 401 Lights
Kessler Philip Bloom Pocket Dolly
Jag35 Shoulder Mount w/ DFocus Follow Focus
Audio Recorded with Rode VideoMic & Rode NTG3/ZOOM H4n
Edited with Sony Vegas

[Brandon Rice]

Wow, another late entry coming in! Can't wait to see it!

[ZazaCast]

Great to see you back!

[Lynchenstein]

Thank you. It's sure great to be back...

[Hawk Teflon]

SPOILERS. PLEASE STOP READING IF YOU HAVEN'T WATCHED THIS SHORT.

What I liked: Opening shot with "Bear" in the magnetic letters was done very well. I think that's the only titling you need. Take the other one out. Acting was pretty good across the board, I think the best was from the main talent, though. I liked the push/pull on the cake as well.

What I didn't like as much: I feel like the Lego scenes at the beginning and end were paralleling the death of the father previously. But at the end I'm not sure if he's really dead or just absent. I tried following the ending Lego stuff for clues, but I just didn't see them. This probably sounds weird, but since I'm not familiar with the layout of the house, having the closet open across the hall from the girls' room made me think they kept going in and out of a closet in her room. The lighting felt a little flat throughout as well.

I have to say that this one left me confused. Was the dad dead? Was the bear talking? What happened to the bear's head? When did she get the dad bear? What did it mean?

[Lynchenstein]

Thanks very much for the feedback.

SPOILERS COMING...

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Lego:
What I intended for the Lego was it to more or less represent her state of mind. The whole story is about the little girl who has come mentally unhinged a bit due to her parent's divorce. At the beginning it's chaotic and dark (car accident, skeletons, and so on). The Lego scene at the end is more serene as she imagines her back with her dad.

The main idea:
Her mom's new partner is trying to build a bridge, and gives her the teddy bear. The girl imagines the bear coming to life and tormenting her. She imagines her dad showing up at her birthday party and giving her a larger bear to protect her from the other bear. In reality, he never shows, the big bear is hers all along, and it's her who writes the tag on the large bear and beheads the little bear.

I tried to play with colour a little - when she is imagining or halucinating, it's brighter with a soft glow, whereas the rest is more muted and dull and flat (as you noticed). Perhaps I should have paid more attention to the lighting setup. Next time...

I hope the clears things up. Thanks again for the feedback!

[Matthew B]

Hawk hit the nail on the head.
What I will add though is that I think you overcomplicated the plot by making the mothers new partner a woman. You could have still done the 'new partner trying to build a bridge with the girl' easier and stronger with a man, as she had obviously just lost her father. Remember this a short film, keep it simple, this is where stereotypes and cliches CAN be your friend.
I also got a little lost with the end. Was the small bear speaking to her? Where did the big bear come from? Why did the big bear kill the little bear?
You said you tried to play with colour, but I think you really needed to get your lighting and composition right first, as like Hawk said, it all felt a little flat.
My favorite part though was the Hitchcock/Vertigo shot on the cake, nice.

[Lynchenstein]

Thanks for taking the time to view and comment.

Funny you should mention the casting of a woman. The part was written for a male actor, and I had it cast and ready to go. But due to scheduling conflicts I had to find a last minute replacement. Fortunately, my awesome wife stepped in and saved the day. So, "Dave" became "Diane". In fact, I had written the story with a young boy as the lead but was unable to find a suitable actor so the wonderful Lily Cave agreed to do it. So once again, what was once "Tommy" became "Tammy". I think she did a great job and fortunately the story worked either way. I would have preferred a male "dad", but what can you do? :-)

I completely agree with the lighting feedback too. I'm still struggling with that. Due to my silly schedule we had one day to shoot it all, and with nobody else but me to do everything (but the sound), it was all very rushed and it definitely shows in the lighting. Not an excuse though, and I'm going to be taking some time to practice different setups with the kit I have in hopes of improving for the next short.

I had the dolly-zoom cake shot in my head from the start and I'm glad it worked out well in the end. Lily got one candle to stay lit on the first take too...

Thanks again for the feedback - I truly appreciate it.

Chris

[Chris_Keaton]

This looked good and with the bear thing I thought we were going to get another demonic toy. But in the end I really didn't get what was going on with the Bear. So basically all I got was a kid who seemed a little nutty (she did a great job) and mourning the loss of her dad. None of that screams horror to me. But overall a nice job.