"The Viewing Room" Trailer: A New Horror Short from Boston Filmmakers

MikeQuill

MikeQuill

Well-known member
Hey Guys,

Check out the trailer for the short horror film "The Viewing Room," shot in the Boston area by a couple of film students. Shot on the dvx100a with stock lens, we used various homebuilt camera tools to accomplish our shots, including a camera crane, a camera dolly and tracks; for lighting we used an Arri Softbank Kit and various Lowel kits. We made this short over the past 6 months, shooting only on weekends when everyone was available. With a minimul budget, our only real costs went towards buying food for the cast and crew and towards cheap gore makeup from Iparty.

For the time being, we used music from Donnie Darko. We will soon be replacing it with original music.

Let me know what you think, give constructive criticism, etc. This is only a working trailer, not anywhere finished, so I realize it may not clearly explain what the film is about, lol.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbljvBuAv1M

Bad YouTube Compression. I will be hosting a higher rez version in the near future.

Cheers,

Mike
 
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I'm very interested in seeing a final cut of this film. I think the trailer was well done. :)
I'm very impressed with some of those shots with the crane. How did you get so high above the Corvette, did you use the crane there as well? :huh:
 
Also interested in seeing the final cut. Definitely would love to watch it in its entirety, but from the preview I was not impressed with shot selection. My one bit of criticism, not meant to be taken as a direct slam.

Out of curiosity, who was the cinematographer and how much experience do they have with shooting films?
 
Yeah, 100% liked the mood of the film but think your shot selection on the trailer might be giving to much of the film. I'd be interested in seeing a better rez version as well.
 
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it has potential, but i think the colors are too warm for a horror flick. with some color correction it will be creepier.
 
Im a Boston filmmaker too.

Sweet shot of the Vette on the highway. I'd use scarier music and trailer sound FX. Nice to see something good come out of Boston. Let us know when the premiere is, i'll be there.
 
Looks interesting. I'm a big horror fan, so I want to see your film.

PS: That second part of the donnie darko music always reminds me of the "biggest darko fan" from the director's cut DVD singing along to the intrumentals "Don-nee dar-ko, dah-ah-nee dar-ko"
 
Great shots in this trailer, but its probably a bit too long. YOu show way too much of the film. I was hooked after 60 seconds but you kept on going. Cut it down some and you'll be golden.
 
you have some amazing shots in there buddy. How did you do the opener of the car with a high angle shot, looked like it was on a crane, but where was it mounted and so on?

but honestly, as a trailer, it sucked. didnt grab my attention, there seemed to be no eye grabbing stuff, just seemed like a montage of clips from the piece.
 
NC17/Papa: for the driving corvette shot, we put my homebuilt crane in the back of my friend's pick up truck. I sat strapped into the back and operated it from there as we drove in front of the vet. Not very safe but we were pressed for time because we were losing daylight. The key was finding a smoothly paved road.

Kori: My partner Bryan and I were the cinematographers. Weve been making shorts (around 5 minutes) seperately for a couple of years as undergraduate "cinema studies" majors. Then we collaborated to make this 40 minute horror movie. We are both completely self taught in every aspect of filmmaking. Did your comment imply that our images look ameturish? We were basically a 2 man crew making this movie, with the help of a couple of friends pitching in as grips.

Ugafan: There was no CC done to the trailer. In our film we are exploring the "apearance vs. reality" theme; i.e. things appear fine on the surface, but currupt underneath. We shot the film in New England during the Fall, when all the trees were colorful. These bright colors are supposed to reflect the theme that the protagonists' hometown appears peaceful and devoid of evil. Are you saying you'd like to see the more conventional "cold" CC of more recent horror films?

Kori/HDKill/Mojo/Papa: Thanks for the constructive criticism. What exactly do you mean by shot selection? Are you saying theyre just not impressive shots, or they dont help in telling the story? I agree that we might be giving too much away. One extreme would be to make a trailer like David Lynch's "Inland Empire," which reveals virtually nothing about the "plot." We will definitely be cutting it down in length and adding either voice over or plot text slates to hook the audience more effectively. Any suggestions about this?

Papa: How would you suggest we make the trailer more attention grabbing?

Thanks Shamrock: We'd like to have the premiere at some sort of venue in Boston. Possibly Coolidge Corner. Do you have any suggestions?
 
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