A Price Too High DVD

I like the quick trailer. Really shows that you have some talent and have potential. Just ordered the DVD and am looking forward to it.
 
Palace Films said:
I like the quick trailer. Really shows that you have some talent and have potential. Just ordered the DVD and am looking forward to it.
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Got your order in, and the DVD will be out on Monday :) thanks.
 
Well, my herofest entry is finally in so I had a few minutes to sit down and watch this film.

This was an enjoyable film and the extra footage helps fill out the story from the Sci-Fest version.

Overall the acting was pretty good, especially the sniper. He was fantastic! I wasn't crazy about the "doctor", but now seeing the full version I get the feeling he was playing the part exactly the way he was supposed to.

The effects play out nicely and fit within the story. They seem to help tell the story rather than be effects for the sake of having effects. The hand healing in the beginning was very slick. And the sniper rifle scope looked really good.

The cinematography was good, I liked the framing and color choices. The audio all seemed nice and clear. I was trying to remember if there was atmosphere noise (environmental, background, ambience), but I can't remember. I'll have to go watch it again. The dialog was all easy to hear and seemed to fit the environments well. In the house it was mellow with the slightest of echo (very subtle, like occurs within house walls), outside it was airy, almost hollow, like voice carried on the wind, and in the warehouse it had a nice ringing echo.

Overall this was very well done. My only real complaints would be the doctor's acting, but again I think it was played the way it was supposed to...and the word "power" comes up WAY TOO much...especially in the warehouse.

There are a couple behind the scenes features on the disc, but I haven't had time to watch them all the way through. I did check both of them out for a few minutes and was impressed with them. They offered a nice glimpse into the idea and process behind the project.

Good job B-Dawg :thumbsup: looking forward to the next project.

Peace,
Larry
 
thanks for the review Larry! Yeah, the full cut is what I wish I could have entered... oh well... anyway, hope everyone got their DVD's and has had a chance to check em' out. I'd love to hear what you thought :)
 
I'm with Larry on the acting reivews -- good sniper, sub-par doctor. The sniper reminded me of Benito Martinez from The Shield. Great location you got with that warehouse too!

I'm always hesitant to place the movie's title ANYWHERE in my dialogue, especially in a short, but it was good that you at least inverted the words saying "Too high a price" or something to that effect.

The chromakey was well done. I almost didn't even pick up on it during the hospital scene. I would think that your average viewer won't even know you had FX shots in that part.

I was left wanting more at the end, which I would say is a good thing. I wanted the girl to come prove her powers and get outta that clinic... SEQUEL TIME?!
 
Another shipment of DVD's is going out today... and to those who've received them, I'd love to hear what you think :)
 
Just watched the full cut of the DVD, and feel it's a pretty entertaining film with some interesting parallels. The only thing that I was confused on is why the guy throws her file away right there in the trash can. Is he going to smoker her, does he now care about her since she healed him, what?

Here are my NIT PICK detailed responses as I made notes watching it:

Opening, nice stereo on the music mix & good audio with opening lines. Brother seemed TOO nice to his sister, especially with the size of gash he had in his hand, but I'm also judging on how I would act, which just isn't that way.

The line: Did you just see what I saw? Of course she did ... she had already said "that's wierd".

Good framing for the most part throughout.

2:10 Pretty good greenscreen work ... at least not to where I immediately even noticed it was greenscreen until after a bit.

2:40-2:53 there's some odd popping/clipping in the music ... kind of a static thing I think shouldn't be there.

3:03 and other cuts, the doctor's head is smack dab in the middle of the screen (up/down) ... frame him a little higher in post, if able.

3:11 Like the shot/angle, but what was in focus, since the girls weren't?

Great sniper scope, which I know you've heard before, and the assassin certainly steals the show with regards to acting, out performing everyone else, which I also know you've heard before. :)

4:34 What was that sound? what are they listening to?

4:40 - when she's running for safety, what shutter speed did you use here? I like it.

At 6:00+, the interchange between the girl & the assassin has some audio issues where either the room tone changed in between takes, or his audio had to be pumped way up, brining in hiss/artifacting.

Larry mentioned it already, but the word "Power" is used too much.

Okay, so far here's my only real complaint is that when the box falls, we should have seen it already nearly ready to fall off ... otherwise, anything that's heavy enough to hurt him by falling on him would never have rocked clear off the shelf from her one bump, after it was previously seated all the way back well past the ledge. Hope that makes sense.

8:22 Nice prop on the file & pictures ... looked very authentic.

The girls acting throughout seems pretty solid, and though there have been a lot of complaints about the doctor, I actually find him pretty believable. He comes across like a lot of High School Youth Pastors I've known that say "um" and "Uh" a lot, and just try to be cool & relate to the kids in front of them ... that's how this guy came across to me.
 
Wow Norm, thanks for the very detailed review :) I'll try to respond to as much as possible.

Audio: Yeah, I know there are some issues throughout with pops and some messed up room tone (I'm not an audio expert at all) Still my weak spot.

Acting: Yeah Jorge (asassin) was amazing, and I was impressed with my sister too... for someone who's really NEVER had a lead role, she did mighty fine, and Brad did decent too (I thought).

The greenscreen stuff turned out awesome... my buddy Henry (Hank/G0ldenb0y55 on dvxuser) did all our effects for us and his keys for the green was amazing... hopefully you got to see the before and after stuff on the BTS.

The shutter speed I used when she was running was 1/500, and I also matched that speed when she ran upstairs to Jake... so I had to REALLY overlight that scene (it was soooo hot in that room)

Anyway, hope that answers a lot, and yeah, I agree about the box. Originally the scene took place in an abandoned building with rubble that was supposed to come down and hit him in the head... didn't work out to that way... live and learn :)

How'd you like the BTS stuff on the DVD? Hopefully it gave a little look into how we work, and how we made the film...

thanks again for the review!
 
Getting to some more of your specific comments (went back to see what you saw/heard on these things.

Envision said:
2:40-2:53 there's some odd popping/clipping in the music ... kind of a static thing I think shouldn't be there.
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Actually it was on purpose, our composer (Matt) had this kind of distorted drum going, to be like a heartbeat... it was intentional in the soundtrack.

Envision said:
3:03 and other cuts, the doctor's head is smack dab in the middle of the screen (up/down) ... frame him a little higher in post, if able.
Click to expand...

Watched this and looked at the framing again, and I actually like the way it looks there :) Didn't bother me. I did reframe it a bit higher, but I liked the way I have it.

Envision said:
3:11 Like the shot/angle, but what was in focus, since the girls weren't?
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Yeah, nothing was in focus... LOL! Now, I TRIED to get the girls in focus, but for some reason I just couldn't, and there was NO WAY to reshoot that. It was on the LAST shoot day that we shot that, and I had no time. Anyway, yeah, that kind of slipped through there :) I just tell people "It's my style" haha!
 
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