Envision & 235 Studios - "R.E.M."
- Thread starter Norm Sanders
- Start date
Cynic821
Carbonite Member
235 Studios said:
I thought your desire was just to be a part of the festival
235 Studios said:
I think a challenge failed.
235 Studios said:Welcome to the horror genre. What horror flick make rational sence when you break it down? Why does the "dumb blond" always go where she is not supposed to in horror flix? (No offence Rebecca) That is all just a part of the horror scene. I'm not a huge fan of horror flix for this reason, and others.
Then why not try and redefine the genre? I didnt follow too many of the cliche's in my short. You percieve the genre a specific way and as a "cinematographer" you dont think of making something different and strive to define your own way to do something? She doesnt have to go upstairs ya know? Alot of horror movies make sense when you break it down. The he did it first argument is not an excuse IMO. Not being a huge fan of horror flix, i dont think you are the one to welcome me to the genre, one im specifically quite familiar with, thanks though. :dankk2:
235 Studios said:
Seems to be the popular thing to do, and doesnt seem like you are discouraging it too much.
sigh
RebeccaD said:
Thank you ... wrong thread????
I think she ment so say.... Norm is great. Norm IS great.
RebeccaD said:
thats ok. just go to the BloodMAry thread and Praise/insult/crtique/hate mail your heart out!
235 Studios
Veteran
Cynic821 said:
Yep it was- that doesn't mean that we didn't want to have some panic-ey moments in the short .....
Cynic821 said:
Maybe so- but I don't think it is a bad first attempt. But then again these are our opinions, and it looks like they differ here.
Cynic821 said:
Congrats- I'm glad you were able to stay away from cliche's! Again- Norm and I were not trying to break any new ground here. We were not trying to redefine anything. We thought it would be fun to try and get something in the door for the festival, produce something decent, and have some fun doing it. All of which I think we accomplished. I was unaware that we had to redefine the horror genre to submit something. :beer:
:beer: Cynic821 said:
No problem!
That comment was more said tung - in- cheek- apparently I push some kind of button- it wasn't ment to offend ..... sorry if it did.
Cynic821 said:
Um, I'm not sure really what to do here- people make nice comments- I say thank you- is that not the polite thing to say? Those that actually spend the time to make a decent comment, I reply too accordingly.
How is this for discouraging it-
Ok, all you weak ass commentors, pony up and add something meaningful to the discussion. Stop blowing smoke, back up your comments, and no more pussy footing! :evil: :thumbsup: :evil:
Matt Sconce
Veteran
Haha! I really liked this one. I thought the sounds of the radio screeching were really disturbing. I thought acting wise, perhaps more facial expression in the eyes of terror would have helped, but I do think the acting was well done. The cinematography was great and the lighting and smoke worked well for the short. I have one critique. I saw the shadow of the rope thingy pulling the actess down the hall. Other than that, I very much liked this and thank you guys for making something for the fest!
235 Studios
Veteran
msconce said:
Thanks.
msconce said:
Yeah, I agree- I think Norm did a great job getting those sounds from the ADR sessions, and mixing them with stock stuff he tweeked.
msconce said:
Yep, I agree- if you pause the short at the first couple of frames in this shot, you can even see some of Patricks shaddow ..... unfortunately we did not have enough time to roto is out before the deadline. However, Jerry (fixitinpost) just finished the roto job, and I'll be using that for the DVD. Nice catch by the way.
J.R. Hudson
Spirit Animal
The film seems to have all the ingredients; the titles, the score, the dolly shots ...
But it stops there.
Lots of folks talking on cell phones in these films this go around and it adds up to the same ingredient; boring and not scary. The HVX looks nice, the chick has a nice bum .. but thats about it.
I also didnt get it. Chick is on phone, ghost makes noise, she runs upstairs, gets a little Jobeth action, runs into bedroom and wakes herself up ? Huh ?
I found the cinematography basic; if not for a few dolly shots, it seems it was camera on sticks at head height, for the most part. This is another film where it felt like 'Hey ! Wanna come over and make a move? After that, we'll watch Lost on TiVo!'
The lighting is there; but looks staged and not from a source that would be motivating it.
I did love one shot in particular, the dollly track as she runs from the hallway to up the stairs. Nice job.
Harsh I know, but I'm still waiting for a leap in your filmmaking and this feels like the first time, sans the pretty HVX image.
But it stops there.
Lots of folks talking on cell phones in these films this go around and it adds up to the same ingredient; boring and not scary. The HVX looks nice, the chick has a nice bum .. but thats about it.
I also didnt get it. Chick is on phone, ghost makes noise, she runs upstairs, gets a little Jobeth action, runs into bedroom and wakes herself up ? Huh ?
I found the cinematography basic; if not for a few dolly shots, it seems it was camera on sticks at head height, for the most part. This is another film where it felt like 'Hey ! Wanna come over and make a move? After that, we'll watch Lost on TiVo!'
The lighting is there; but looks staged and not from a source that would be motivating it.
I did love one shot in particular, the dollly track as she runs from the hallway to up the stairs. Nice job.
Harsh I know, but I'm still waiting for a leap in your filmmaking and this feels like the first time, sans the pretty HVX image.
235 Studios
Veteran
Thanks for the critique John.
Yep, you are correct- that's about what it was- a last minute descision to have some fun and put together a little something for the fest.
I don't think it is harsh, by any means. This project was not meant as an atempt to push our abilities- other then the tight turn around schedule- I appreciate the review.
John_Hudson said:
Yep, you are correct- that's about what it was- a last minute descision to have some fun and put together a little something for the fest.
John_Hudson said:
I don't think it is harsh, by any means. This project was not meant as an atempt to push our abilities- other then the tight turn around schedule- I appreciate the review.
Norm Sanders
Script Wrangler
John_Hudson said:
Hmm, you must be talking to Ryan on this, because if you saw my first short, DEATH MARCH ... THAT was my first time, lol! Ugh, and what a first attempt it was too. :crybaby:
Thanks for the critique John, and no hard feelings at all as it was a quickly thrown together project ... in many ways, a 48 hour film project for us, that we simply spread over several days intead of two an entirely sleepless weekend.
Regardless, it was fun, and a nice quick interruption on the feature we're working on (TRINITY RIVER), which we'll put everything we have and then some into it with regards to available resources.
JoshuaNitschke
Well-known member
Hmmm. Wasn't really feeling this to be honest. The dolly shots were excellent, I like those a lot, but otherwise the cinematography was a bit boring. The lighting seemed a bit flat for me and I didn't care for the blue, I think it was too bright, I'm not sure why I didn't like it much.
I think your biggest problem was your script though. It just didn't really make a lot of sense. Establish something a bit better to keep her running. So she got grabbed, but that was after she started running and I didn't get a real sense of terror. What was it going to do after it grabbed her?
Have you seen Evil Dead? You know the infamous tree-rape scene? Even if you had gone a route like that where whatever grabbed her threatened her in some way...rape/death/etc. it would have been better. I don't know that it would have turned this into a winner, but it'd have been better.
I have psychedelic dreams all the time. They don't scare me. Why was she so scared in this dream? It's never really explained or shown.
I think your biggest problem was your script though. It just didn't really make a lot of sense. Establish something a bit better to keep her running. So she got grabbed, but that was after she started running and I didn't get a real sense of terror. What was it going to do after it grabbed her?
Have you seen Evil Dead? You know the infamous tree-rape scene? Even if you had gone a route like that where whatever grabbed her threatened her in some way...rape/death/etc. it would have been better. I don't know that it would have turned this into a winner, but it'd have been better.
I have psychedelic dreams all the time. They don't scare me. Why was she so scared in this dream? It's never really explained or shown.
khmuse
Tech Guru
R.E.M.
I enjoyed watching this one, your lead is so good at this role she sells terror really well.
I liked the fact that you used deep DOF to your advantage in framing choices. The reflection off the island counter top in the kitchen scene was nice. The lighting was very good, nice use of contrast. Each end of the range was well used and never abused.
The dolly shot down the hall was perfect, it gave her time to act and sell what her character was going through.
The few small things that I wasn't as certain about was at about 2:24 are we supposed to see what seems to be a line pulling her into the "blue room"? By the way, what was that like triple full CTB?
I really liked the lighting when she got back to her bedroom and closed the door behind her (by the way, why is it that really cute girls always run back into a closed single exit room and not out the front door?). This was great and not over lit as so many films have chosen to do.
The last shot is a bit over the top in terms of the amount of blue, but perhaps those three layers of CTB got stuck on that source, and you just decided to leave them.
rogar-BigGrin(DBG)
A good story, very well acted, good camera work, good (mostly) lighting and a strong score = a good little movie.
I enjoyed watching this one, your lead is so good at this role she sells terror really well.
I liked the fact that you used deep DOF to your advantage in framing choices. The reflection off the island counter top in the kitchen scene was nice. The lighting was very good, nice use of contrast. Each end of the range was well used and never abused.
The dolly shot down the hall was perfect, it gave her time to act and sell what her character was going through.
The few small things that I wasn't as certain about was at about 2:24 are we supposed to see what seems to be a line pulling her into the "blue room"? By the way, what was that like triple full CTB?
I really liked the lighting when she got back to her bedroom and closed the door behind her (by the way, why is it that really cute girls always run back into a closed single exit room and not out the front door?). This was great and not over lit as so many films have chosen to do.
The last shot is a bit over the top in terms of the amount of blue, but perhaps those three layers of CTB got stuck on that source, and you just decided to leave them.
rogar-BigGrin(DBG)A good story, very well acted, good camera work, good (mostly) lighting and a strong score = a good little movie.
Norm Sanders
Script Wrangler
Kdawg, Virum, and khmuse, thanks for the comments!
Kdawg & khmuse, glad you liked it! :thumbsup:
Virum, no worries, that kind of thing/story doesn't scare Ryan (235 Studios) either, lol! He wanted to go with a different idea, but due to budget & time constraints it just really wasn't an option, this late into the game.
Khmuse, no CTB at all for the blue you're referring to. Tung, the gaffer, brought a projector with him that would put out it's own very blue light, in addition to adding some ray effects, etc. depending on what you had projecting through it into the smoke.
I think I may even start a separate thread about how I've learned there is NOTHING that isn't subjective. :beer:
I used to think that it was only talent, story, and dialogue that was subjective to folks either thinking it was brilliant or stunk ... and that camera & lighting was more of a factual thing. It's either great or not. However, I've seen in this thread, as well as other folks' threads where some will LOVE the camera and/or lighting, while others will not like it at all.
All that does for me then is to confirm that much more that a filmmaker will never be able to please everyone, no matter what aspect of the movie/production it's about ... so they need to do what their heart/passion leads them to do, and do it to the best of their abilities with out apologizing to anyone in the process about why they chose a particular light, camera movement, action, etc.
At the end of the day, I think all that matters is that the filmmaker loves what they've done & feels it's the best that could have been done ... and if not, then get back out there, learn from what they want to improve, and do it even better the next time ... all the while hoping that there will be others out there that will applaude the end result, but not try & confrorm along the way just to please a particular individual or group.
I am SO glad we entered this fest ... if for no other reason than to get the valuable feedback from peers as to what worked or didn't work, and to learn these little life's revelations like I feel I just did.
Kdawg & khmuse, glad you liked it! :thumbsup:
Virum, no worries, that kind of thing/story doesn't scare Ryan (235 Studios) either, lol! He wanted to go with a different idea, but due to budget & time constraints it just really wasn't an option, this late into the game.
Khmuse, no CTB at all for the blue you're referring to. Tung, the gaffer, brought a projector with him that would put out it's own very blue light, in addition to adding some ray effects, etc. depending on what you had projecting through it into the smoke.
I think I may even start a separate thread about how I've learned there is NOTHING that isn't subjective. :beer:
I used to think that it was only talent, story, and dialogue that was subjective to folks either thinking it was brilliant or stunk ... and that camera & lighting was more of a factual thing. It's either great or not. However, I've seen in this thread, as well as other folks' threads where some will LOVE the camera and/or lighting, while others will not like it at all.
All that does for me then is to confirm that much more that a filmmaker will never be able to please everyone, no matter what aspect of the movie/production it's about ... so they need to do what their heart/passion leads them to do, and do it to the best of their abilities with out apologizing to anyone in the process about why they chose a particular light, camera movement, action, etc.
At the end of the day, I think all that matters is that the filmmaker loves what they've done & feels it's the best that could have been done ... and if not, then get back out there, learn from what they want to improve, and do it even better the next time ... all the while hoping that there will be others out there that will applaude the end result, but not try & confrorm along the way just to please a particular individual or group.
I am SO glad we entered this fest ... if for no other reason than to get the valuable feedback from peers as to what worked or didn't work, and to learn these little life's revelations like I feel I just did.
Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
Envision said:
Do it! It is SO true... I've totally learned to realize this over the last year... you never can please everyone