Tough Luck -JimtheJib

J

JimtheJib

Well-known member
Hello. I'd like to acknowledge everybody who worked on the film. It was difficult, but we made it.

Tough Luck

Written, Directed and Edited by Alexander Lewis

Starring: Louis Shannon and Gaston Jouany

With:
Randy Shorter as thug #1

Simon Zhu as thug #2

David Cisek as angry teacher

Eve Wolf as mother

Crew:Mick Krever

Original Score: Justin Durban (Edgen)

Special Thanks to: Jason McDonald, Jack Daniel Stan, DVXuser, Jarred Land (for putting this all together)!


I hope you enjoy it!
 
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I like the essence you captured in the school. It's been one of the most authentic films as far as sets go, that I've seen so far. I'll give a more in-depth review within the next few days.
 
Alex, great job! Your cinematography shows tremendous growth since your last entry -- the framing and the lighting were really good. I love your lead actor -- reminds me of a male version of the lead in Welcome to the Dollhouse.
 
Well done...story was very well told. I started chuckling once I saw what was gonna happen at the ending. You captured that well.
 
favorite line delivery ... "nice costume"

I like the camera work and I was smiling through to the end! (especially the end)

GREAT JOB!
 
What a great film. Fresh. Funny.

  1. I thought the actors were great. The two boys were great - although Louis' voice seemed distractingly low to me. And the teacher at the beginning was PERFECT to set the tone.
  2. Nice music. Well paced.
  3. Liked the opening cartoon drawings. A really nice touch.
  4. Let's face it - the payoff ending was great. And the "zip me up" line killed me. Of course "Mom" was perfectly reactive. Terrific.

The only thing I found distracting was that some of the dialogue got a little lost in the background a few times on my system. No big deal, but I did notice it (and again, it could just be my system).

Very funny. Looking forward to more. Thank you.
 
Yeah Alex, this was great to see at the NY meeting yesterday. I downloaded it to watch again! Very funny, great comic timing, good camera and excellent editing.

I agree, the only thing i had a problem with was losing some lines because they were not loud enough.

But can't wait to see what you come up with next.
 
Thank you everybody for your kind support. It was a reallyfun shoot especially when the two actors showed up not having read the script. Well it wasn't funny that they hadn't seen the script but it was funny that they didn';t know what was in store for them. . Any way it was a really bare bone crew (only one other person, and he got sickthe first day and fell asleept) it was all good though because i used a mic stand. He couldn't come the secondweekend because he went to protest the genocide in darfur.

Hello to all the NYC dvxuser! yesterday was reallyfun ...especially putting faces to all those names! I can't wait for the next one!

Thanks again
/alex
 
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oh and about the audio: i guess since i knew the script i thought i could understand it or here it but i guess i was just reading lips or something...
 
I have not seen this yet but Im hearing its really funny and cant wait to see it when the films are back up again. I heard you are going to be great some day. The next Matt Mcdermitt. Sorry I missed you at the meeting but we shot until about 8pm yesterday. I thought I was going to get out around 3 and shoot up there as fast as I could to see everyones film projected. I couldnt get a final dvd version for that meeting done in time so sorry about the quality on ours.
 
Aram Bauman said:
I have not seen this yet but Im hearing its really funny and cant wait to see it when the films are back up again. I heard you are going to be great some day. The next Matt Mcdermitt. Sorry I missed you at the meeting but we shot until about 8pm yesterday. I thought I was going to get out around 3 and shoot up there as fast as I could to see everyones film projected. I couldnt get a final dvd version for that meeting done in time so sorry about the quality on ours.
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Thanks Aram. I heard a lot about you as well at the meeting. (the commercial with the fridge, and your awesome Cg effects in your hero fest!!!) Its too bad you didn't make it to the meetingI guess i'll see you at the next meeting.



alex
 
Hi Alex,

I really liked the humor in the film. I personally think, comedy is the toughest! Making people laugh is not at all easy.
Bottom line, "Everybody was laughing and having fun."
 
Dude, my stomach is killing me from laughing. Its hard to type i have soo many tears in my eyes. OMG the ending was... was.... perfect. I mean the timing and everything. The uncomfortable moment with the zipper, the body language was PERFECT! I was thinking when I saw that close up them that it looked kind of sexual but the next shot killed me. The mom... classic.
This was really damn good man. Congrats to the 10th degree.

I thought the lost dialog was actually working in the film because kids that age sort of mumble when talking. Im used to it with my kids, well my kids talk really fast so its like mumbling.
 
Hey Alex,
Great job. I was really impressed by this. Great actors, good dialogue and awesome camerawork. Nice to meet you at the meeting, can't wait to see your future projects.
-Ryan
 
Alex is it?

I have a disc full of HeroFest entries and yours is the first one I watch.

Well done!

I'm glad the kids are at school and the wife is at work or they'd be wondering what the hell is wrong with me.

You made me laugh out loud. Repeatedly. That doesn't happen often.

Let's get the technical stuff out of the way.

The score was heroic. Nicely done, Justin.
The camera work was OK although I would have liked to have seen you vary your shots a bit during the phone conversation.
The audio in places was very good and in others, frankly, I lost what they were saying as the actors either mumbled or the score overpowered the dialogue.

When the protaganist dials the phone, perhaps some sound fx for the dialing and was the cellphone on vibrate? Minor, but noticable.

The costumes were soooooo grade 9. Man. They were something I would have put together at 14. Nice job with the montage of costume sketching and the final result was worth it. The style and the way they were constructed pointed to a couple of kids and mom's sewing machine.

The actors were pretty good and their reaction at the end and great "uncomfortableness" of the moment when they see each other's costume, especially the friend's...leather gear was quite amusing.

Of course the end was the, somewhat telegraphed, but still worthwhile, payoff that had me laughing hard.

Thanks Alex for starting off my viewing with a big ol' laugh!

All the best with HF and....BEYOND!!!! (echo, echo, echo)


sincerely,

ian
 
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Aram Bauman said:
I thought the lost dialog was actually working in the film because kids that age sort of mumble when talking. Im used to it with my kids, well my kids talk really fast so its like mumbling.
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Thanks. im glad you enjoyed watching it. I neverthough about their mumbling being a character trait. At the end i told them to mumble but otherwise it was their doing. Another reason why i believe they worked so well together is because they are best friends in reality so that aspect really came through when they were acting.


HybridCreations said:
Hey Alex,
Great job. I was really impressed by this. Great actors, good dialogue and awesome camerawork. Nice to meet you at the meeting, can't wait to see your future projects.
-Ryan
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Thanks man. i can't wait for the next meeting. I had a lot of fun.

Alex
 
Alex,

You really came a long way in a short time on this entry. With John and Gustav you unfortunately miscast the piece using actors who, because of their age, were essentially unbelievable in their roles. Tough Luck is an entirely different story. Right from the opening scene I could see you got it right. Loved the acting. Loved the casting. The teacher and mother were particularly good. My daughter walked in just as the mother walked into the bedroom. I was laughing so hard, she thought I was crazy. I enjoyed this entry a lot. Good job. :thumbsup:
 
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