Alex DePew - "Memories"

I really liked this one! It's in my top 5. Rated high in all categories.

I really like the composition of the shots and beautiful camera work. I like the camera movements (dolly, etc.) and they don't draw attention to themselves. Wonderful lighting. The acting also gets a high score. Great job. I like the reflection of the Shelley (was that the name?) character in the china cabinet. Good editing and good story. The ending kind of falls apart for me, but as a whole, this was done very well.
 
Thanks so much to everyone giving reviews for this. This was my second time working with Alex as his DP (HeroFest being the last) and I appreciate all the talk of improvement. Please keep the critiques coming, we certainly utilize them.

Kholi said:
Cine/Lighting - I actually couldn't wait to get to this part. Man, what did you do? You really amped it up here. There's a real distinct look to your short, and it's very close to breaking away from the DVX look to me. I'd love to know how you got great lighting in the bathroom scene. It was dark, then the lights flicked on and it wasn't too dark at all. The lighting was just there waiting to happen. Is this all natural with bounce? Or did you rig it up to the lightswitch eletrical outlet so that they'd turn on when she flipped them on? I liked it dude, I really liked your lighting. You've stepped up here as well.
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Kholi, thanks for the very in-depth review and the kind words. It's funny that you mention the bathroom scene. That was the most challenging scene to light of the entire short....just kidding, it was all done for us. There were some really nice glamour/makeup lights already in the bathroom along the top of the mirror. We discussed using additional light and bounce, but finally decided to add nothing and I think it works. Certainly made the switchflip shot much simpler. Overall I think the lighting for the whole short worked to give that psychological thriller vibe although in hindsight I would have utilized shadows more to increase the tension and mystery of the house itself.
-Ryan
 
Brandon Rice said:
Ok, all done, about to send it off. Good luck everyone!

My top 5 in no particular order....

Broken Circle
Dead Inside
Rekindled
Bloody Mary
Memories
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You see Alex TOP FIVE BEOTCH!!!!
 
Kholi said:
Review | POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT! I watch the movies first time around strictly for enjoyment, second and third for review.

Hey Alex. Just got a chance to check out MEMORIES and I'm impressed. If it hasn't been said yet, you tripled your talent all-of-a-sudden. Crazy, man!
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Thanks so much. This is the best compliment. I really concentrated on making sure every shot had purpose and worked within the story.

Kholi said:
Script - I think you have a solid thing going on with the script. Nothing out of the ordinary for the horror genre, but it doesn't need to be; that's why Horror is such a success in the motion-picture world. I can tell that you wrote for much more than six minutes. I'm not sure how you would condense this, either. Maybe the subject matter just wasn't six minute material? There are always ways to do it, but I won't say that you could have without reviewing the actual script. I like the character development you get into in this amount of time. I can already see that there's trouble between them by the simple universal language of "silence at the dinner table". That's a very good thing to showcase in a short, and you get it done rather well, here.
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I also liked the script. It actually had more dimensions than I could put into the film due to budgetary and time constraints. There were scenes where the walpaper started to tear. And then at the end when she is running through the house all the wallpaper is shredded. It accentuates the house's role as an ominous figure leading her to the bathroom and her death.

Kholi said:
Direction - You've leapt clean over your shadow, man. Changed it up like whoa. Your dinner-table dolly shot was NICE. Very smooth, very well paced, ended at the right moment. And your framing was better than your last entry to a fest. A little straight forward at times, but nothing completely unpleasant. Congratulations on improving!!!!
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Thanks for the compliment. The dinner table dolly is also my favorite shot. I really tried to focus on framing and composition during this one more than anything and I'm glad it showed.

Kholi said:
Acting - So far, from what I've seen (alphabeticaly order here), your actors are displaying some of the best work. Your guy got frustrated, gave the right facial expressions and your girl took it like a trouble woman would. They play well together. I didn't like her crying scene, it was a little too forced but otherwise she did well. GOod job, dude.
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Thanks, I was supremely glad to not be acting in my own short this time around. And I thought all my actors did a great job. There was even an excelent acting job that I cut out of the short to make it under 6 minutes. There were a couple Charlotte scenes that didn't make it into this cut. They will be there though after the fest.

Kholi said:
Cine/Lighting - I actually couldn't wait to get to this part. Man, what did you do? You really amped it up here. There's a real distinct look to your short, and it's very close to breaking away from the DVX look to me. I'd love to know how you got great lighting in the bathroom scene. It was dark, then the lights flicked on and it wasn't too dark at all. The lighting was just there waiting to happen. Is this all natural with bounce? Or did you rig it up to the lightswitch eletrical outlet so that they'd turn on when she flipped them on? I liked it dude, I really liked your lighting. You've stepped up here as well.
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I can't take credit for this aspect. This was Ryan's (Hybrid Creations) work and I was very happy with the way it came out. I agree that it worked very well and the bathroom scene as Ryan mentioned was really the least setup in terms of lighting. For the silhouette I just turned on lights in adjoining rooms and closed the door until it looked good. When the light turned on it was simply the vanity lights over the sink as well as the overhead light.

Kholi said:
Editing - I've noticed that I never have much to say about editing unless it's really bad. I can say that I didn't like the intro, even though I knew what you were going for. Otherwise I dunno what to say about it. It wasn't bad.
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By intro do you mean the book or the scene in the attic? I'm curious.

Kholi said:
Sound - Overall the shortcoming of ... the short? Music was a bit redundant but tolerable, the sound mixing was a little hollow and choppy as well. Though whatever Mic you used wasn't too bad. I didn't hear a lot of ambience going on, just the empty room sound. Sound should be tightened on a re-cut if at all possible.
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I used a Senheisser G2 and a Rode NT-G2. I was actually happy with both the score and the sound design. I thought Edgen and Conrad Johnson did great jobs. But I appreciate the comment and I will definitely give this consideration for the re-cut.

Kholi said:
Special Effects - Dead baby in the sink. It's something to be said about being bold enough to even put a fake baby in a sink of cloudy white bloody water. I can't harp on that too much. The blood looked like blood to me, the knife in the stomach could be painful. The sink turning on wasn't as effective because I didn't see it turn on from the right angle. But otherwise what you had going on was okay.
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I will definitely cut down on the number of times I show the baby. And I know exactly what you mean about not hitting the right angle for the water sound in the first bathroom scene. That frustrated me immensely that I didn't get enough coverage.

Kholi said:
Scariest Moments - Darkness in the bathroom. I was thinking she'd turn on the light and she'd get straight hoodwinked or something.
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Glad I had a scary moment. :) I know this wasn't a real scary piece.

Kholi said:
Overall consensus - You've outdone your previous work. I'd like to know what Buddhist Film Temple you went to so I can fly out there and spend a week learning how to get off my ass, get out of the apartment, and get on with doing instead of wanting to do. You really have improved, Alex. TO you and your team, great work! Thanks for exhbiting and do let those interested (myself included) when the longer cut is available.
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Thanks so much for your kind words. The Buddhist Temple is on the corner of 81st and Amsterdam. But seriously folks, I just took a lot of time to review what didn't work in my first film. I did a lot of studying on composition and framing and how the viewer interprets camera movement, framing, angles, etc. and tried to use it as much as possible in this film. I also have to give credit to my phenomenal crew and actors. They really stepped up to the plate and made this film shine. I will definitely let you know when the longer cut is done.

And as to getting off your ass and doing instead of wanting to do, it just takes one step at a time. Or a good swift kick to the head from the Buddist Filmmaker Monks.
 
This was one of the best looking films in the fest. One of the rare ones where I felt like I was actually watching a movie. Great photography, sound, score, acting, everything. The only thing that was a little vague for me was the ending. I'll have to watch it again to see if it makes more sense to me.

Anyway, great job.


John G.
 
Hey Alex, good luck tonight. I was holding off on commenting here hoping I'd get around to a thoughtful review of yours, but I'm running out of time. Anyway, wanted to tell you I thought you pulled it together well. This was really tough, since you ended up having to jettison some of the visual elements on which you had originally planned. Congrats for sticking it out and getting this done and done well.
 
honestly, guys, i thought i was going to have to skip ahead and watch bits and pieces of this one at the beginning... but once it got going, it really got going... and i watched the ENTIRE thing... TWICE!!! I LOVE THE STORY!!!!

BRAVO BRAVO BRAVO!!!!!
-kyle
 
Great job guys.

WOW, easily the most improvement film to film from any one fest to another that we've ever had.

But beyond that it was just poo pooing solid in its own right.

Nice story, lots of subtlety and restraint, really liked the subtle so good you might not notice it dolly.

opening credits to small too read ... we will accept it as a convention of the titles if the font is much bigger in that book or even spans both pages --

Way to go Ryan and Alex & all!
 
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Just got around to seeing this film finally. Great opening with the titles/book and subtle dolly in the attic. I like the fact that you guys went more for story here; it carries more substance than most entries.

I like both of your actors 'individually'; they deliver good performances but for some reason, their interactions at the dinner table turn me off. I think it's how the husband reacts whenever she says something, especially the plumbing/pipe bit. Even I thought he was overreacting to her comment.

Good bloodwork on the hands and that ending scene is pretty twisted when she stabs herself. The baby shot took me out of the film; it just didn't look real to me. I think it would have worked better if you hadn't seen the entire baby-- maybe just the baby's arm as it's under a bloody towel on the floor or in the sink still with a bloody bath towel over it and the hand is just floating loosely...just an idea.

But again, big props on the story element.
 
Nice job, Alex. This really shows a lot of growth since the HeroFest. Ryan has some truly pretty shots in this. Congrats, best of luck, and happy b-day!
 
Exponential growth when compared to your hero fest entry.

A fully developed story, good lighting and well directed actors.

Keeping my eye on you man! You're learning fast!!!

Happy Birthday Alex!!!

Cheers,

Erik
 
Just finally getting the time to copy the notes I compiled in a Word doc while watching the shorts:

MUCH growth & improvement over the HeroFest submission. I thought her acting was really strong, and the male’s was pretty good as well. I was a bit confused on the story though, and the title of MEMORIES, because I didn’t know if the journal was real, if they were her memories, what the deal with the baby was, if it was all a hallucination, etc. Sound levels were pretty fair except for one part in the middle … when the guy spoke at the table he sounded WAY far away from the mic compared to other times. Otherwise, great job Alex & looking forward to your next submission. Oh, VERY cool opening titles as well … hopefully your DVD version has those & the end credits slowed down a tad. J
 
i'll congratualte you at the bar tonight.... half drunk, and slobering on you about how hard your movie rocked.... Happy birthday Alex.
 
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