First Cut of "Celery"!!!

Mike Manning

Mike Manning

Well-known member
Hey guys...it's been a while... alright so here it is (for those who have expressed interest in the past), "Celery." I've been working a long time on this project, and through a project set up through my school, I'll be taking it to the Cannes Film Festival this year where it'll be shown in the student portion on the festival.
There's a couple things you should be aware of before you watch. First of all, it's just under 30 mins long.
For those of you still reading, you should also know that the bedroom scene is horribly lit, and we have a reshoot scheduled for mid march. So please take that scene with a grain of salt.
And finally, not all of the sound is locked down. Some ADR work could be used here and there.
If you have seen the clips I've posted in the past, I really encourage watching the piece in its entirety - as now the scenes will make sense in context. I really want honest opinions about the story. With all that said, here is the link:
http://www.beginningmiddleend.com/celery
Enjoy!
 
Oh yeah...specs...
Shot on a DVX100B
Edited on Final Cut
Credits animated in Flash
Sound (will eventually be) mixed in Pro Tools
Total budget was around $1500
 
FINALLY!

Eh... just kidding. Don't have 30 minuted to spare right now, but I'll definitely watch it first chance I get.
 
Dialog problems. It was difficult to get past them. The dialog damages your filmmaking, which looks great by the way. Good camera, lighting.... but once that dialog kicks in, it makes it hard to watch. The charcs are almost talking just for the sake of talking.
 
I was really drawn into this from the very beginning and enjoyed the story throughout.

Lighting was good for the most part. There are a couple of the outdoor scenes that could be better, but nothing too distracting.

In contrast to PimpDaddy's opinion, I kind of enjoyed the more natural dialogue. The only point I found it distracting was when the 2 boys were driving in the car with the girl following them. Some of the things they said seemed pointless and distracting (but maybe thats the point, with the whole neo-pangea thing =D).

Can't wait to see it again after you work the audio.
 
Definitly a big sound problem. First of all the restaurant scene: I could barely hear the black haired guy. second of all you should really consider removing or completely changing the music cause it realy ruines the scene (try removing see what happens). No closeups kinda bothered me. The acting was realy good in my opinion.
Bedroom scene: is the girl the same girl that was in the restaurant? unclear...
And again the music is not in place in my opinion or maybe too dramatic for a scene that seems to have a comic direction. I think you should stay in the direction of comedy and put more humorus music in all the scenes.
I mean you got some realy funny lines in there "how can I go for your balls if you're too afraid to use them?" pure comedy, brilliant.
OK to sum up, I think if you use much less music that is much more comicaly oriented, you will have one excellent movie on your hands...
Also the playground scene realy ruines it for me they should have stayed at the table or somewhere else just not there it looks stupid.
You absolutly have to show how they kidnapp him thats like one of the more important parts of the movie...And they need to convince her a bit more, it's not belivable in it's current state.
I got an idea for you, how about instead of the playground scene you do a scene where she meets them and they smoke drugs with her or get drunk or something, and then they get the idea of kidnapping him, and they do it high or drunk. Otherwise I think it would not be belivable, especially with her leaving her car in "The Hood".
The ending music is great for the whole movie.
Other than that I think this movie has huge potential and realy great actors
hope I helped you
 
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Really enjoyed it. It flowed well. The only thing that brought me out of the story was the dialogue, and not all the time.

Diner talk w/ the guys dialogue and in the car at times.

Other than that I thought it was very watchable!!

Very good stuff!
 
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