Metal Storm - Echo Productions

[oneinfiniteloop]

And I thought you did a fantastic job on the bullet stop. Beautiful.

Thanks! If anyone is interested in seeing a making of I could put one together for that shot. It was done in Maya, mental ray, and Shake, so for anyone wanting to see how they work together I could throw something together.

[Mike McNeese]

Uh, I would like to see the making of!

[Ian Slessor]

mjm,

You're my fifth film and number one so far, but not without flaws.

Lighting - Excellent job. Atmospheric. Nice job in the jag with Stone.
SFX - Again. Good job. I liked the "wooble" effect as he employs his magnetic personality...BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!....sorry.
Cinematography - You really shone there. Good cuts, nice action and good composition. Loved the chase scene with the shots of the pursuit and the pursued.
Sound - Nice and clear. I didn't have to strain to hear dialogue over sound fx or score.
Score - Speaking of which. Naw. It does need more cowbell. j/k. I liked the score. Lots of action beats and it pushed the story ahead.
Screenplay - For me this was more X-files then Hero but that's me. The dialogue clunked in places but it still pulled through for the most part.
Acting - Pretty good. Stone rocked. Magnet boy was....high school, no offence. The doctor not much better in his delivery.


Still, an excellent job.

As of this moment, "you're my number one...guy." Jack Palance - Batman

sincerely,



ian

[eyespy]

Metal Storm was one of the films that actually used the entire five minutes to tell a story, rather than just collect a plethora of fancy shots, camerawork, and special effects. The use of flashback technique was an added touch that also creatively served as a flashforward, teasing the viewer with stills of future images. This was a unique effect that worked to advance the story, while at the same time keeping the viewer engaged the entire time.

The musical score was edgy and different! Most of the other scores in the competition were orchestrations working to achieve a more dramatic effect. Additionally, the score was right on cue with the quick editing cuts. Together the score and editing really made this movie tense and full of action up until the last "punch."

Congratulations on producing such a fresh film!

[mrpunch]

For the car chase, we used a universal car mount from filmtools.com. Consists of a 6" suction cup and two 4" ones, making it amazingly stable. We even ran a cable through the back window so mjm could sit back there and watch from another screen. That was a fun day. Talkies in each car and at the camera point for the outside, low shots, let everyone communicate with each other. Driving down a 2 lane country road, with your director's DVX attached to the outside of your driver side door? That means oncoming traffic is coming right at the camera? And btw, we realized afterward that it was a great thing we put the UV filter on the camera, just in case anything flew up from the road - it would protect the lens. mjm probably has some jpegs of the mount attached to the car he can post.

[Mike McNeese]

Here are a few

Car Mount1
Car Mount2
Car Mount3
Car Mount4
Car Mount5
Car Mount6

[DarrenRyan]

Very slick camera and editing. Brought to mind the BMW spots from a few years back. Really great shots. I enjoy a non-linear story, but felt that the performances fell short on pulling it off. Technically however this is up there.

[beastlyevo]

Film turned out very well Mike. Great job guys! This is the first time I have actually been involved in filming. I have always enjoyed films (in theaters of course) but now I have a better appreciation for the attention to detail and the amount of time involved. I give props to everyone involved in this film. I had a blast and hope to be involved in another.

[Mike McNeese]

Darren, thanks for the comments. I refuse to say that my talent weren't up to snuff...they're all very good. I'd put the blame on the director (me) for not bringing out the character enough, or blame the co-writer (me) for changing the dialogue to something too simple and cheesy.

Evo, Glad to see you found the site!

[MiataFilmSomething]

OK, I finally got to read this thread, I've been away for a day or two I'm not going to say anything in my defense, just give reasons and excuses because I'm self conscious and lack self esteem

I know the doctor lines sucked. We had originally inteded many of the doctor's lines to be voice overs to be added in later, so the lines were delieverd pretty normal becuase I thought they would be changed later.

A few people called me the "larger" doctor. Please vote for this film so I may take my share of the winnings and apply them to a Jenny Craig program;)

I really appricitate the comments on the story line. I'm glad it was still able to be easily understood. I started writing and just kept going, in fact by the time I was done, I had an idea for a whole television series based on this, and this was the pilot epiosde. Of course we had to cut a TON of stuff, and if we had more time to explain the origins and circumstances of how the character came to be, it would have been a lot more solid.

Thanks for taking me half-way seriously! The films are all great so far, it's so much fun to see the diversity.