CallaghanFilms Presents "The Gaussian Project"

[ExtremeSleuth]

i just rewatched the film... the guy who played hedgewell looked familiar. i looked at the link to the actors site. he was the coach in "Remember the Titans" that's awesome.

[spidey]

enjoyed it also loved the score. i used chris hurn as well

[CallaghanFilms]

hey callaghan, thought your film was great! the acting was very well done, and the writing was good as well. loved the way it was shot! 1 1/2 thumbs up.... couldnt give you the full 2 sorry











just kidding 2 thumbs up

Damn...what a welcome surprise, I was happy with the one and a half thumbs.

That was more than generous of you. I can't say enough about the actors, and I am grateful that the writing is being noticed. As far as how it was shot...
I can only take partial credit. Mike Craven (fuboy) was a phenomenal DP/Producer, and the film would have suffered greatly without him. He and I go way back...in fact it was himself that first introduced me to dvxuser.

Cheers <---hopefully all these beer smilies will eventually materialize

Edit:

i just rewatched the film... the guy who played hedgewell looked familiar. i looked at the link to the actors site. he was the coach in "Remember the Titans" that's awesome.

That's him...Brett is a seasoned pro. He was amazing to work with, and he had some great stories to share. He said that he admired the comradery/teamwork within our crew, & wants to work with us again. It would be an honor to do so.

[Blaine]

So the humidor and cigars made it into the movie...

[CallaghanFilms]

enjoyed it also loved the score. i used chris hurn as well

Chris did an amazing job, and brought so much to the table. He listened to what I was had in mind, and ran with it. When I asked him to add some new missing element to the score, he surprised me (and himself a little I think) by using a harp for a harmonics track. Now I am far from being musically inclined, and to be quite honest I have no idea what that means (apparently it is very rarely done)...but when I heard it, I nearly platzed. It was beautiful, and just what was needed to complete the score.

He was happy enough with "Val's Theme" that he is rerecording it for his own portfolio.

Dammit I hope he chimes in (pun intended) on this thread.

Chris...Where are you Chris?

Thanks, spidey

[CallaghanFilms]

So the humidor and cigars made it into the movie...

You know me...where I go, so goeth the stogies.

In the film, Kimko's character was supposed to grab a second cigar, but Brett improvised his reaction (his slamming the humidor shut.) Great stuff.

[Norm Sanders]

Chad, I'm glad I got to see your film, as I was really looking forward to it. I hope you don't mind, and take this as a compliment, that I'm going to go straight for the jugular & hit the critiques first, then I'll end on the happy notes:

First, with some of the compression issues people have been dealing with, I don't know how much is your film in particular, or how much is the encoding from MPEG to WMV, etc. .... but:
The whole thing feels stretched wide ... like an improper ratio
The text was blurry/out of focus, which was ironic with Gaussian in the title (on purpose?).

For sound, this was the weakest part of the project. The levels seemed to jump around, and the static, while appropriate was too loud & drowned out the dialogue. There were many parts throughout where I just couldn't make out what was being said either (i.e. the very ending VO, or at 3:10 when he says looking in ... sounds like it was turned WAY down in post vs. the actor delivering it under breath or comprehending, etc.). Also at points it seemed the volume was just too hot ... nearly distorting in points when voices were raised.

It's probabably just me, or the fact that I had a hard time hearing everything on my end, but I had a difficult time following the story, most specifically at the end ... not exactly sure what happened. And was that a sneeze I hear at the end that destroys the world?

Oh, and the text at the beginning, while SLIGHTLY blurred/out of focus is on/off the screen too quickly. I'm a fast read, but still had to pause to be able to take it in & read it. If it's important to the story, should have it on long enough for the average person to not only read, but absorb what's on screen & what it's saying ... however, I know time's precious with just 6 minutes.

Okay, enough of that, now on to the positives ...

I'm very impressed with the cast that you were able to pull together, and Kimko did a fine job, as did all. I LOVED, let me say that again ... LOVED the interaction between Kimko and the other guy when he slammed his hand on top of the humidor ... just perfect.

Editing/pacing felt nice to me, and I really enjoyed the lighting/DP. The opening location was also great, with good CC.

Yikes, in hindsight looks like I ragged more than I applauded ... didn't mean to, sorry. I truly did enjoy watching this one ... the sound issues being the biggest, which for all I know could be an encoding thing.

[Slimothy]

Chad - When I talked to Kimko when he got back he had such great things to say about you. Glad you guys had a good/productive time out there and congrats on getting a great cast/crew together.

I'll start out by saying that I don't totally get the story. There are certain parts that I'm clear on, and most that I'm not. I think this would benefit immensely from more time. The editing/pacing is clean and quick, but the conference room scene seems a bit long because I get lost. The acting is top notch. The writing is good, although I think the story is truley hampered at 6:00. The gunshot at the end was also a bit weak. I also think the old man (Donovan I think his name is) is slightly upstaged throuhout. I think this has alot of potential, just not in this timeframe, as most people won't get it.

[penfever]

Well, I definitely agree with those who complimented the writing. I can't tell you how relieved I was to actually see a dialogue film - most of these things are like going back to avant-garde cinema, you know?
I thought your older actors were a lot of fun and very talented. I wasn't crazy about sound across the board, particularly the hero's voice. I guess that's a funny thing to say, but somehow he didn't sound - heroic. I dunno.
The film was certainly shot in a competent and clean manner, although I felt it could be moving the story along a little more quickly/lucidly. I'll give my comment I feel about 90% of these films which is, you probably would have done better to cut a minute or possibly more. The first boardroom scene is quite long, and often hard to hear.
Cool concept, cool execution. Keep on filming.

[CallaghanFilms]

Thanks, Norm, for the feedback/constructive criticism.

...First, with some of the compression issues people have been dealing with, I don't know how much is your film in particular, or how much is the encoding from MPEG to WMV, etc. .... but:
The whole thing feels stretched wide...

I was one of those who shot in 24p letterbox (per the original rules.) Anyway, after learning that the ratio had to be converted...I went with the flow and began converting my 6 minute edit. To make a long story short (too late) something went amiss with the original cut, and the ratio got all distorted...so I had to start all over on it, no big whup. I personally didn't notice any stretching though on the final.

...There were many parts throughout where I just couldn't make out what was being said either (i.e. the very ending VO, or at 3:10 when he says looking in ... sounds like it was turned WAY down in post vs. the actor delivering it under breath or comprehending, etc.). Also at points it seemed the volume was just too hot ... nearly distorting in points when voices were raised.

That was how Brett delivered the line...starting out under his breath and increasing his pitch as the lines of dialog intensified. I liked his delivery enough to keep it in...Chris Hurn even cued the music levels around it. Damn...sorry it was hard to hear.

It's probabably just me, or the fact that I had a hard time hearing everything on my end, but I had a difficult time following the story, most specifically at the end ... not exactly sure what happened. And was that a sneeze I hear at the end that destroys the world?

It's probably just you. I'm kidding, and it was Brett's character Robert Hergewel holding his ears while screaming in unimaginable agony as the very fabric of time and space unravels around him and the multiverse violently explodes into nothingness that you heard...not a sneeze.;)

...however, I know time's precious with just 6 minutes...

You're tellin' me, pally. Truer words were never spoken.

...I'm very impressed with the cast that you were able to pull together, and Kimko did a fine job, as did all. I LOVED, let me say that again ... LOVED the interaction between Kimko and the other guy when he slammed his hand on top of the humidor ... just perfect.

Thanks, Norm.

...Editing/pacing felt nice to me, and I really enjoyed the lighting/DP. The opening location was also great, with good CC.

Again...thank you.