HVX Short Film

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Neil Rowe

Rowe Cine LLC
Shot this some months back now, and just now had time to finish it up.



what to expect:

HVX - handheld
720 24p
1 4GB P2 card - no offline storage (Had an HVX really early and no P2 cards were available. special thanks to Barry Green for lending me a card to shoot some stuff on)
4 hours - solo
Natural/incidental light and small flouro
No script - No storyboards - just an experimental idea and some time


If you do not like to have to really think about your entertainment, do not watch this.

please right click and "save as"

www.rowecine.com/TBH640.mov
 
The beginning is too long. I get the point of the detective asking questions pretty quickly, and the voice overs over black lost my attention after a while. The same thing happened once you see him with the knife. It's interesting at first, but it gets boring. You need to maintain the pace you have at the very beginning and the very EDIT:ending throughout. I'm also not so sure about those white lines for the letter box, especially how they just cut out at the end, but that's a personal preference. Overall, pretty interesting, but I think it could be better with a faster cut, shorter version.

Just my $0.02.

JC
 
Last edited:
Neil Rowe said:
No script - No storyboards - just an idea and some time


If you do not like to think, do not watch this.

please right click and "save as"

www.rowecine.com/TBH640.mov
Click to expand...


dam you intimidate me. great shots and very compelling story. i'm don't have an hvx, so just curious, given that you shot 720, could this have been captured on tape?
 
King Cole said:
The beginning is too long. I get the point of the detective asking questions pretty quickly, and the voice overs over black lost my attention after a while. The same thing happened once you see him with the knife. It's interesting at first, but it gets boring. You need to maintain the pace you have at the very beginning and the very beginning throughout. I'm also not so sure about those white lines for the letter box, especially how they just cut out at the end, but that's a personal preference. Overall, pretty interesting, but I think it could be better with a faster cut, shorter version.

Just my $0.02.

JC
Click to expand...

I didn't read this critique before I watched... but I'm mirroring what he said.

Also, was that rope hanging on a tree supposed to resemble hair?

The accent was really annoying, as well. However, the shot selection and such weren't so bad.

My .02
 
Hi Neil.

Thought the shot's, edit, lighting and performance were all first class. Since the movies narrative is quite surreal and evocative, the in your face narration sits at odds with it. I feel that if you approached the sound design and narration with the same tone as the piece it could work a lot better.

Thanks.

PS: I'd love to have a go at the audio, just for fun?
 
The camera work and score were superb!

I thought the detective's accent sounded fake, however.

So what happened here... the detective himself was molesting the girl??
 
FINALLY! Some footage I can sink my teeth into. Neil it looked great (without a sdof adapter no less). The shots, editing and color correction was top notch (except the opening sits in the black a bit too long). This was really nicely done, especially since it's pretty much off the cuff.

Storywise, my only question is about who is the father protecting the child from? Is it the father himself (Unable to control himself, he sends his own daughter away and suffers the police suspicions)? Or is it an ex-wife (someone we never see or hear mentioned)? Other than that, I got it all.

Can you give me a little insight into your color correction? The crushed blacks are cool, but what did you do to get that great skin tone? Looked really nice.
 
STORYTELLER32 said:
Can you give me a little insight into your color correction? The crushed blacks are cool, but what did you do to get that great skin tone? Looked really nice.
Click to expand...

if you use PPRO 2 i can try to send you a preset for the color correction. from what i remember its really just basic levels adjustments and some green hue added to the shadows for the main portions.

the white lines really bother me too. they are not a part of the actual image, but were introduced in the compression.

as for all the questions about the story, ill let it sit a little while longer before i put the little jigsaw puzzle together. its interesting to see what different people derive from it.
 
Some good looking stuff. My biggest complaint is the audio on the voice over. Was that recorded in a studio? I know it's comepressed for web but the audio doesn't sound very good if you ask me. It really jumps out at me and it didn't blend with the footage very well. It just sounded very "dry" if that makes any sense. I would seriously re-record that if you can. Would add so much to alreadly great looking visuals.

Very nice though! :D
 
I liked it Neil. Yes, the detective's voice just didnt sound right. I'd rather have it without an accent. But a nice mystery to the whole thing. So was Issac trying to protect her from her parents? He faked the murder, and took the rap. The woman said "until she is in the system" that's an interesting statement.

I think it was written well, and the score fit very nicely.
 
Great visuals.

Creative editing.

Interesting story.

Like many others, I feel that the VO sounds like it was recorded in a studio. It's dry and doesn't sound like it's from actors performing at a real location.

I feel like the vo's are fake sounding (I'm talking about acting now, not sound quality). It sort of takes away from the other strengths that this short has. It feels forced, not real.

The great thing is that you can fix all of this. I would like to see your next cut!

Great work.
 
the film breaks down as such:

the little girl was being abused in an undisclosed manner by her family who happens to be good freinds with the remote county's chief police investigator/prosecutor. all the film really tells us is that it was enough to leave scars and that its been going on for quite some time. the main character who lives not too far from them out in the country shares a friendship with the little girl who often comes to play in his yard, and fearing for her life he eventually decides to do something about the abuse. since he also suspects the local police investigator of being involved in at least protecting the abusive families intrests, he contacts an undisclosed agency which is not afriad to do what it takes to put an end to the situation, and essentially waits until she is at the maiun charachters house, and then quickly steals the little girl away from there until they can push their way through the legal red tape to have her taken out of the abusive situation. knowing that he would be suspected of the happenings he gives the agency the go ahead, and then the investigation follows... during which he remains silent even through aluded forceable measures on the behalf of the investigator(s) knowing that he cannot let them know where she is becasue she would have to go back home.. not to mention he is a party to what is essentially a kidnapping. the investigation finds the pool of blood in the basement from his cut finger and charges him with kidnapping and murder. the process of getting the little girl legally into protective services runs very long, and the main characther ends up goijng to court on the charges. the film leaves the final verdict open ended, but one would assume that the DNA test coming back would show it was his own blood and not the girls. even as still, in the time frame of the film (when DNA tests were very new, high tech, and expensive) , and the small county setting.the verdict would be able to swing either way really. one would imagine that when the girl surfaced again, he would be aquitted for at least the murder.

the entire story is told through the audio. the actual visuals do not reveal anything really imperitive to the central story at all. they just show what happend immediately after the little girl is taken away by the agency, when the guy goes back inside and builds the birdhouse for the girl and accidentally cuts himself in the process. the police investigation and trial would come a while after the visuals, and the agency picking up the girl would come right beforehand. the film is intended to lead one to believe that they are watching some sick guy do harm to the little girl, and then reveal that in fact hes actually a loving guy that saved her. the building of the birdhouse is a parting gift to her.. and in a way to his own life as well, as he faces what is to come for him. if one were looking for a moral to the story .. it is based on one person's act of love by laying down thier own life for someone else.

the film was just a little experimental piece to see what the camera can do with mostly junky conditions, i really dont mind if the VO audio/acting is too dry or the accent is poopy lol. the story was very quickly concieved (about 1/2 hour on the drive to the location) and would much better fit a feature length suspense thriller or mystery type format with some real talent behind those lacking portions. but it was fun to see if i could impactfully pull it off in a run time of 5 minutes and just get the basic pretense of fooling the audience as to what went on until the end and fold up an expansive story into a small puzzle box. since i had just recieved the HVX, i was actually more interested in seeing how the camera handled different lighting, and how it works with normal to extreme highlights and natural light and deep colorful shadows. i was really very impressed by the fact that i could shoot a bare lightbulb in the scene and have little to no streak or flare while having the rest of the scene in decent exposure range. the camera handles almost any environment really well, and color correction was fun due to having such a great bare image to work with.

anyhow, thanks for watching and the feedback. although i agree it could use some changes, i'tll sit where it is because i have to keep working on the real film projects at hand. :)
 
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