New York City DVXUSER Crew Presents: Katrina

holy hell.

This one and Eighteen Seconds are the two best shot films by far. That HVX+35adapter is one killer combination! Looked incredible. So sharp and filmic, it made me tear up wishing I had something like that!

The lighting choices were perfect and the dialogue was great. Very flowing. There were some spots near the end where the dialogue got a bit over-the-top, but that comes with the genre you were trying to achieve I'm guessing.

Acting was great. Editing was great. Cinematography was incredible. Story was great. Beautiful work! This would've been my top 2 for sure if you were in competition.
 
Thank you Lloyd!

This project had alot of scale. Mark made sure we would Building the Hotel set, securing the nightime outdoor shoot, secure the bar location, Steve, dressed the set, found the furniture, and MArtina found the costumes. Mark worked very very hard to make sure we got all of that so the Cinematography would have the texture neccesary to shine. PLus i had a lighting ninja on set to make sure the lighting was on point.
 
Expected a lot and got a lot. Mark Harris, awesome acting. Editing was perfect. Some of the angles in the bar scene threw me a little. Lighting in the bedroom, not sure if it was ct or shots, but at points too dark - talking about the romantic component. As a drama overall didnt feel a a lot of drama. Certainly something, but dramatic?
 
i really like this very slick. also i like the lead he was very good and he looked like sam l jackson from changing lanes.

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Brandon Rice said:
Story & Acting
Wow! Ok, I haven’t had as much fun watching a film, since I saw “Once Upon A Time in Mexico” in the theatres. Now I am NOT saying your film is at all like that film, other than the enjoyability factor for me. If you were in competition with this one, it’d go straight to the top for me! Wow! The writing was FANTASTIC! Witty, almost lighthearted dialogue, that just flowed amazingly well. Great looking cast, and great performances as well. This is head and shoulders above everyone.

Technical
Beautiful beautiful look for this film. The mood of the film is only enhanced by the look. Timur, you’re a genius! The music was amazing Herman! Love the vibe of it. This was the complete package.
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Thanks b-man, fun is what we were going for, more along the lines of Out of Sight than On Golden Pond as far as Drama goes. I am very excited you enjoyed it and liked the writing. I was very worried it would come off stupid.
 
Blaine said:
It's easy to see why you guys went Non-Comp on this. I don't see how you could have gotten a 6 minute cut out of it.

I thought the sound was well done, except at the 00:01:53 point where the dialogue lagged the lip movement by at least a full second or more. Visually, you put together a very nice picture. My only quibbles would be the choice you made of having Jack/Eric's face completely in shadow during such a large portion of his dialogue with Katrina in the alley. The other one was the dramatic color change in the bedroom. At first, I thought it was to show a passage of time but then you went back to it.

I really liked the story and the dialogue seemed well written and delivered. The only part I didn't like was the opening dialogue for almost a full minute over a black screen. It just felt like I was being 'fed' backstory.

Acting was good nearly across the board. Eric, Katrina and Casey all sold their roles. If there was a weak point it would have been the Tony Harris character which I didn't really buy and found more amusing than menacing.

Good job. If this had qualified for the competition it may very well have won it.
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Thanks Blaine!

Some of the things you mention are the result of the thing not being polished. The opening will come with more opening titles and we just did not have time to get them done. But eventually, that will be an actual scene that we shoot, kicking the movie off with the bank robbery.

And if you got that Tony is not menacing, you got it RIGHT!!!! He's a small-fry dude, who wants to get into a big man's game. Even when the costumer bought a hat for him one size too small, I told her to keep it to help his dork-factor. The moment when I want him to start to seem like something more is near the end when he reveals that he knows Jack's real name.

as for the 6 min cut, yeah, I really wanted to keep practicing pacing in scenes, and let scenes play at what they would in a feature length, so I did not want to try to cram it down to 6 min.

Oh and Blaine, when I feed you backstory, shut up and eat it. It's good for you. :)
 
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msconce said:
Man Katrina was a masterpiece dude! The lighting was just ridiculously awesome. Your actors were good too. I really liked the ending. I also thought the opening news clip was totally believable. That was some quality acting! Congrats!
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Means a LOT coming from you, dude. The opening was all Joe Johnson. I wrote it, but he got a great actor in Minn and he put the entire thing together.
 
Blaine said:
Timur, I watched the HD (1.13GB) version and I've got to say that it is striking. I see how you "fixed" that dialogue problem and I like that angle better, too. I noticed something that felt a little odd when I watched and had to go back to the other to verify it. It's when the Tony character offers Eric a cigarette then lights one himself....
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Well, this is one of those cases where you try something and it might work, and it might not work. I still like the edit choice there, but if ten people come up and say it bothered them like you did, I'm not married to it. It just felt right in that moment to me.
 
Kholi said:
OMG the fest download is so messed up. It stops near the end. Maybe it's just me. I am going next door to DL the 720 version.
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I got one of Norm's movie like that too. Some of them might be corrupted.
 
LloydC said:
holy hell.

This one and Eighteen Seconds are the two best shot films by far. That HVX+35adapter is one killer combination! Looked incredible. So sharp and filmic, it made me tear up wishing I had something like that!

The lighting choices were perfect and the dialogue was great. Very flowing. There were some spots near the end where the dialogue got a bit over-the-top, but that comes with the genre you were trying to achieve I'm guessing.

Acting was great. Editing was great. Cinematography was incredible. Story was great. Beautiful work! This would've been my top 2 for sure if you were in competition.
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Thanks Lloyd, and you are right about the dialog. That's what made this project so fun and soooo challenging, was figuring out how far I could push that dialog before it got silly. And I agree with you, there are a couple of times where we just stepped over the edge with it. But live and learn. Even the Maltese Falcon has some lines that make me go: "Whoa! Who TALKS like that?" :)
 
spidey said:
i really like this very slick. also i like the lead he was very good and he looked like sam l jackson from changing lanes.

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ben_affleck4.jpg
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Ha ha, you would watch that same actor in Man-Hole IV where he plays an aging movie star who HATES sam jackson :)

Thanks for watching!
 
ncje said:
Expected a lot and got a lot. Mark Harris, awesome acting. Editing was perfect. Some of the angles in the bar scene threw me a little. Lighting in the bedroom, not sure if it was ct or shots, but at points too dark - talking about the romantic component. As a drama overall didnt feel a a lot of drama. Certainly something, but dramatic?
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I agree this is not a drama in the way I think a lot of them are, sort of like "Lifetime" dramas. But it's one reason we are non-comp. This is the movie I wanted to make next anyway, so we just used the contest as the deadline for making it.
 
You guys embody what I aspire to. Its so wonderful to see somebody put their heart into making what is in their mind. I'm especially pleased to see you cut the version you want rather than trying to make this into a 6-minute version even though you had to know you could have competed and very likely won. I will do a full review later. There's a whole lot I want to comment about and hopefully even some thoughts that may be useful for you in cutting your next version. Bravo.
 
thanks for checking us out, Mark. I am making my way around to TTN today. Last night I was out in NJ at a murder mystery party, so am playing catch-up today.
 
the finished movie is even better than expected!! it looks like a frikkin feature and i could even imagine it as one. the main actor was amazing. the bedroom scene was edited very well and i especially like it when the cowboy came in. when the pace quickens and the music kicks in, i melted.

as a whole the film made me want to know more about the characters. why was the main actor getting into this in the first place? how he got out? That i think is the biggest success in a movie. compelling characters that capture the viewer.


some thoughts:
the girl actress wasn't as good as the others and she made some of the dialogue sound a bit clunky or unnatural. one part that stood out for me was when she said "now that we know where eachother stands, by a girl a drink..."



everything else has been covered really.

f***ing sweet!!@
 
JimtheJib said:
the finished movie is even better than expected!! it looks like a frikkin feature and i could even imagine it as one. the main actor was amazing. the bedroom scene was edited very well and i especially like it when the cowboy came in. when the pace quickens and the music kicks in, i melted.

as a whole the film made me want to know more about the characters. why was the main actor getting into this in the first place? how he got out? That i think is the biggest success in a movie. compelling characters that capture the viewer.


some thoughts:
the girl actress wasn't as good as the others and she made some of the dialogue sound a bit clunky or unnatural. one part that stood out for me was when she said "now that we know where eachother stands, by a girl a drink..."



everything else has been covered really.

f***ing sweet!!@
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Thanks Alex! I am indeed writing a feature of this and this short - with a few minor additions, is basically the first 15 min of the feature right there. It sets up all of the players nicely and gives you as much as you need to know to get going with them. I am hoping that anyone I can go to for money will feel the way you do and in this opening, want to see and know more about the characters.

One thing about what you said about Lindsey's acting. She did exactly what I had her do. But this stuff is VERY hard to pull off with a straight face. This silly language, I mean. So I am not surprised that some of it might have stiffened up. But it was a fun exercise in writing and in the acting, and I learned a lot from directing the actors into how to try and play this stuff.
 
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Yeah, I was TOTALLY into the scene with the heavy leaning on the guy for his money. What the hell is that back story???? Not to mention the whole outcome of the bank robbery and Katrina etc. etc. etc. ... In a sense, this is one friggin' hell of a trailer!!!
 
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