"Once A Hero" - Envision / 235 Studios

Jason said:
but the "superhero" scenes came off really cheesey and stiff.

In terms of story-telling, this film needs help.
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These two comments alone are not necessary... first off... if the superhero scenes come off cheesy and stiff... why? the performances? the way they were filmed or edited? the music? Don't just make general negative comments without saying why you felt something.

Secondly... the "this film needs help" line was totally unecessary... I've found that sometimes when you got nothing constructive to say, don't say anything at all... that last comment is NOT constructive.
 
I agree that this example wasn't particularly helpful. But I'm glad it's still here for us to discuss. Maybe someone else will come along and explain why they weren't stiff, or support it by saying they were. At least the idea is out there. Again, that's me. In fact, when I finally stop doing this on my employer's time, and watch this movie, I'll be looking for those very points.
 
Ok, I'm going to get flamed for this, but I got .02 cents so I'm going to spend it. :)

I wanted to like this one, I really tried, but it just felt like a lot of fluff and, I'm sorry, but I actually got bored watching it. This one had a lot of "look how pretty everything looks" that some of the other flicks suffered from as well. I sometimes look at FX or visuals as, kind of like, a magician that gets you to look at his pretty assistant as he's hiding something up his sleeve. And, for me, this film was hiding a bad script up its sleeve. Which is what surprised me the most because this was from the Script Wrangler. Granted you were missing the other scenes, but for me there wasn't anything (in this 6 minutes) for me to grasp onto so I could actually care about these characters. It felt like I was watching 5 minutes of a soap opera, with a short fight sequence at the end. The acting was nice and the film looked really good. VERY good. Which made me expect it to sound good as well. But it didn't sound good. Others already mentioned the problem with the sound so I won't go into it.

Again, I really tried (twice) to like this film, but it was just too much eye candy and not enough substance or originality. Don't mean to be so harsh, but you're a pro and can handle it. It's not like I'm shooting down some first-timers dream of being a filmmaker. You'll have a successful career despite my one opinion on this one (part) of a film. I'm sure of it. :)

Good luck with completing the film.
 
No, no, no, it's all good, trust me. Rip me a new one on this, and it won't hurt my feelings the least.

I just ask for no GENERAL comments, give me details. This even pertains to the positives, but obviously even more so to the negatives. If you LOVE the acting, or lighting, or camera work, it'd be great to hear what your favorite moments were ... because not only do we want to learn from what DIDN'T work so we can fix it, we want to know what DID work (specifically), so we can build from it as well.

Make sense?

So Jason, I'm calm as a cucumber, and thanks for the extra added feedback. I've recently noticed the mp4 is more muffled sounding than the high data rate AVI file, so that could be some of it ... but otherwise I need to ensure I've got a good set of studio quality speakers for the final mix of the full version, so I do value this feedback greatly.

To recap: I love the feedback, both the good & the bad ... but generalities aren't of much use to anyone.

EDIT: PK's post landed before I finished this ... so thanks PK for the feedback. I'm going to PM you access to the full script to see if you think it's any better, out of curiousity.
 
I quite agree PK... but IMO the short 6 min. version doesn't do the script justice... its a good script, with good characters, but this is just to chopped down to show off the development.
 
Guys, I thought it looked great, and the editing was excellent.

But I think there should be criminal penalties for anyone screaming "NOOOOOOO!!!!" in any movie . . .
 
Thanks David! LOL! The interesting thing was that there was never anything planned for the character to say or do anything there, but I wanted to possibly hear something in, so I asked him to give a loud wail ... the first attempt was not what I was looking for, to say the least (kind of a high pitched nut-crack effect) ...

So then he chose the "NOooooo", which worked better at least. So you think cut the sound altogether?, or just ADR some random wail in? You're not the first to think the "NO" was cliche or over the top.
 
I was one who commented on it being "over-the-top", but I think you should leave it. I think the problem I have with it, is not the yell itself, but the look on his face when he yells. It fits, just seems like he was trying to hard.... not a show stopper in my book.

In reference to PK's comments, and others, about the story...I read the full script and I have to say it is a well developed story. The pieces that feel "missing" in this cut are well fleshed out and it is an outstanding story.

That being said, I went back and watched the short version of the flim again and I think the main reason why it may seem unclear is the problems previously discussed with the audio. The story comes through fine if you listen to what they are saying.

Honestly, give it another watch, but give the extra half-effort required to understand what is being said and you may be surprised to find a great film on your hands.

Just my $0.01 9/10
 
I'll agree with David on the "Nooooo!" A random wail would, I think work better. Every time I hear anyone yell "NO" I instantly think of Episode III, which is unfortunate. I also noticed that at least in the mp4, the "no" was insanely loud. I realize that he was screaming it, but mixing it down just a bit might take away from the cliche a little bit. It was just so present and over the top that it really took me out of the story.
 
Hey, good point fixitinpost....I think it was the extreme presence of his voice that made it "over the top".

So, to recap....turn up all the dialog in the film, EXCEPT the "NOOOOO"...turn it down a couple notches :)
 
DarrenRyan said:
Very high command of camera and lighting skills. Great shots truly.
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Thanks, much appreciated. It was fun working with Tung, our gaffer- he did a great job at lighting- made my job as DP that much easier. I really appreciated his ability to bring my desires to reality.


DarrenRyan said:
I didn't see Jason's comments as "Blasting" just honest. This forum could use a little more of it.
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I agree- but more content is always more helpful- just saying ti was bad does not give one much to go on- the more specific the input, the better one can know how to improve.

What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.
 
Anyway... liked the film fellas... I really want to see the full cut... put me on the pre-order list for the DVD!
 
PK Gillock said:
Ok, I'm going to get flamed for this, but I got .02 cents so I'm going to spend it. :)
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Why you good for nothing, two-bit, wanna-be .....




JUST KIDDING!!!!

Thanks for your input PK- I always appreciate what you have to say- good or bad. Thanks for chiming in.

PK Gillock said:
And, for me, this film was hiding a bad script up its sleeve. Which is what surprised me the most because this was from the Script Wrangler.
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Some might dissagree, but I can say with assurance, that the script is not weak- at least not the full version. Originally I was going to sit this one out, but after reading the first draft of the script, I got interested and decided to jump on board. What I think makes it suffer so much, is that it is trying to accomplish to much in a short period- I think we were to ambitious to try and fit 23 min into 6 min and have it still be as good, and coherent....

Hind sight is 20/20. I think we would have had a stronger piece if we had cut a trailer instead of a 6 min cut.

PK Gillock said:
The acting was nice and the film looked really good. VERY good.
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Thanks.

PK Gillock said:
Don't mean to be so harsh, but you're a pro and can handle it. It's not like I'm shooting down some first-timers dream of being a filmmaker. You'll have a successful career despite my one opinion on this one (part) of a film. I'm sure of it. :)
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I don't think that you were harsh at all- thanks for your input and feed back. I appreciate the detail that you gave in your response. We can't get better if all we do is just blow smoke up each others ass. Constructive criticism is great, and needed.
 
David Jimerson said:
Guys, I thought it looked great, and the editing was excellent.
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Thanks.

David Jimerson said:
But I think there should be criminal penalties for anyone screaming "NOOOOOOO!!!!" in any movie . . .
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What kind of penalties??? :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
235 Studios said:
I think we were to ambitious to try and fit 23 min into 6 min and have it still be as good, and coherent....

Hind sight is 20/20. I think we would have had a stronger piece if we had cut a trailer instead of a 6 min cut.
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I totally feel ya dude... same thing happened with my sci-fest film... tried fitting about 13 minutes into 6... lost lots of character developement and pacing was too fast in spots... I totally can.... sympathize.
 
briceman said:
Anyway... liked the film fellas... I really want to see the full cut... put me on the pre-order list for the DVD!
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No prob- we'll put you down. We're working on a bunch of extras, and BTS stuff to fill out the DVD, and I believe that Norm may even share a secret receipe ......
 
Saw this one twice.

Pros - Awesome camera work. Great quality of images and proximity usage. The acting was superb, great characters.

Cons - The audio. Maybe I have an older speaker system or something, but I could barley hear the voices over the music. It made me lose interest and focus. The 8 second alternative song that played when the dude died, it was like we flahsed to Dawson's Creek for a short time, then came back to reality. It felt like being on a website where you can preview a short sample of a song.

Overall - Strong performances and awesome camera work make this very worth watching.
 
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