a ralph oshiro film--"LEVEL 4" spyfest 06.07

It's great to see that Alejandra Torres is returning (not just for the obvious reasons hehe) and I see she brought some friends along! :happy:

But seriously the poster looks sweet and the grabs look great, it's inspiring. Once again you have made me impatient, impatient to see the end-result! Please do keep posting about your adventures each time you go out 'robbing' the streets of these beautiful shots, they are a great read. Also looking forward to the extra 'revelations' after it's released (maybe another "look, I turned my office into an airplane cabin"-type of bts?)

Good luck on finishing it!
 
WHICH POSTER?

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Mark T. Aro said:
Good looking poster Ralph! I too appreciate the environment, the foreground's not bad either.
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Thanks, Mark!

JOE BLO said:
I di[g] the poster too.
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Thanks, Joe!

doncamillo said:
It's great to see that Alejandra Torres is returning (not just for the obvious reasons hehe) and I see she brought some friends along!

But seriously the poster looks sweet and the grabs look great, it's inspiring. Once again you have made me impatient, impatient to see the end-result! Please do keep posting about your adventures each time you go out 'robbing' the streets of these beautiful shots, they are a great read. Also looking forward to the extra 'revelations' after it's released (maybe another "look, I turned my office into an airplane cabin"-type of bts?)

Good luck on finishing it!
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Thanks, doncamillo! That's some awfully high compliment--thank you. I think most of us write these threads as sort of a personal journal. It's more "cathartic" than "communication." We birth these shorts from literally nothing. We see what begins as something ethereal, something that only exists in our imaginations--then we somehow, through sheer sweat and will, turn them into moving pictures and sound. I'm writing these posts as much to myself as to anyone here. Sometimes I feel like no one is reading these posts (especially the wordy ones). And that feeling gets me feeling lonely sometimes. I think artists are often a lonely kind of people. Maybe that's not the right word. "Isolated" is more like it. Maybe it's because so few around us in our daily lives really understand the creative process. Unless they're artists themselves, they'll just never know. Also, writing in my own thread seems so self-indulgent, so narcissistic . . . so, "me, me, me." But again, I think that's the nature of the beast. But I'm so glad you derived some pleasure from reading my war stories. Thanks again for posting, and reading!
 
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doncamillo said:
It's great to see that Alejandra Torres is returning (not just for the obvious reasons hehe) . . .
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And what "obvious" reasons would those be? Yes, I think she's very pretty, too. And she's simply great to shoot. She does everything I ask of her, and she looks great from any angle. She's such a joy to shoot. If she lived closer, I would have a lot more product featuring her talent, and I'm sure, given the time and opportunity, I could elicit far more range and some real acting ability from her. Surely, she's a natural beauty, but I also think she could be a damn fine little actress someday. Unfortunately (or fortunately, for that matter), she has no such aspirations . . .
 
Ralph Oshiro said:
...I think most of us write these threads as sort of a personal journal. It's more "cathartic" than "communication." We birth these shorts from literally nothing. We see what begins as something ethereal, something that only exists in our imaginations--then we somehow, through sheer sweat and will, turn them into moving pictures and sound. I'm writing these posts as much to myself as to anyone here. Sometimes I feel like no one is reading these posts (especially the wordy ones). And that feeling gets me feeling lonely sometimes. I think artists are often a lonely kind of people. Maybe that's not the right word. "Isolated" is more like it. Maybe it's because so few around us in our daily lives really understand the creative process. Unless they're artists themselves, they'll just never know. Also, writing in my own thread seems so self-indulgent, so narcissistic . . . so, "me, me, me." But again, I think that's the nature of the beast. But I'm so glad you derived some pleasure from reading my war stories. Thanks again for posting, and reading!
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Wow! You are speaking directly from my soul! Well said!

As for "which poster..." definitely the first one.

As for the tagline... keep at em! I'll check back for the updates! (though I do like the second one of the two!)
 
Theodore J Arabian said:
Wow! You are speaking directly from my soul! Well said!

As for "which poster..." definitely the first one.

As for the tagline... keep at em! I'll check back for the updates! (though I do like the second one of the two!)
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Thanks, Ted! I truly trust your opinion! Thank you!
 
For the poster I prefer the left one, where the legs are on the left side. As for the tagline I'll go with the first one hehe but seriously the 3rd one is great.

And what "obvious" reasons would those be?
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Well she 'obviously' is very pretty, like you put it :) But what I like most about her is that she looks very natural on camera and I wouldn't mind maybe seeing some more of her 'capabilities' in your next flick. Indeed it is a shame she lives so far away but from the grabs so far it looks like once again she was worth the wait.
 
Theodore J Arabian said:
Now that's a tagline!
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Really? You never know if these things sound totally stupid or if they're okay. I just read through Zack's "Final Print" thread and it broke my heart . . .

-zach- said:
Well, come June 1st, 12:02 AM, this short will be officially dead . . . buried under the likes of Level 4, Berlin, Spies Girls.
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Remember, I've been doing this a long time, and I STILL suck at a lot of it. I never have any story to speak of, my scripts never make any sense to anyone but me, and as a crutch, I sensationalize the use of pictures of pretty girls to get attention to my threads. Trite, but true, your only competition is you!
 
doncamillo said:
For the poster I prefer the left one, where the legs are on the left side. As for the tagline I'll go with the first one hehe but seriously the 3rd one is great.
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Oh, thanks, man! Like I said, you can never tell if these things are totally f*cking stupid-sounding or not! Glad to see a consensus on the poster version!

doncamillo said:
Well she 'obviously' is very pretty, like you put it. But what I like most about her is that she looks very natural on camera and I wouldn't mind maybe seeing some more of her 'capabilities' in your next flick. Indeed it is a shame she lives so far away but from the grabs so far it looks like once again she was worth the wait.
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Yes, she is certainly worth the wait. But I think I did a great disservice to her this time around. I was so anxious about the location we were stealing, I neglected to delegate any attention to "DIRECTING." That's the huge Achilles' heel to both DP'ing and directing. I am promising myself, that on the NEXT project, I will dedicate much more attention to her performance.
 
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Ralph Oshiro said:
Yes, she is certainly worth the wait. But I think I did a great disservice to her this time around. I was so anxious about the location we were stealing, I neglected to delegate any attention to "DIRECTING." That's the huge Achilles' heel to both DP'ing and directing. I am promising myself, that on the NEXT project, I will dedicate much more attention to her performance.

CLICK HERE TO SEE NEW IMPROVED POSTER + TAGLINES!
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As a Director I can now understand how this happens. Boy it's tough when you are using limited resources to keep the "artistic" part of it going sometimes. This is a great observation I am going to remember for the next shoot.

I like the tag line, it matches the more vunerable poster of the two. Obviously we all think "hottie" when we see it, but there is something vulnerable when the the shoes are off in that particular outfit.
 
Nice tagline, change her underwear to red to match the 4 on the poster, besides, white underwear isn't sexy, but that's just me.
 
Ralph Oshiro said:
LEVEL 4 POSTER W/TAGLINE:

POSTER-19.jpg
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Yes, I'm serious! This is an awesome tagline!

Go with it!

Ralph Oshiro said:
Remember, I've been doing this a long time, and I STILL suck at a lot of it. I never have any story to speak of, my scripts never make any sense to anyone but me, and as a crutch, I sensationalize the use of pictures of pretty girls to get attention to my threads.
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Well, I won't argue that your story for Horrorfest got lost on me but you do have your strengths! Your composition, images and camera work are just great. I would love to see you team up with someone. You do take on a lot of hats and by doing so, elements can get lost or overlooked.

You have your strengths and I admire your attempt to do this all on your own.

And who knows... I have only seen one of your films. Maybe it was a fluke that the story got lost on me.

You know that I am a big fan of yours.

-Ted
 
POSTS:

doncamillo, Charli, bosindy, Brandon, Ted--thanks for all your comments! You're all far too nice. Now, I have huge second thoughts about that tagline. Will be trying out some new ones in the next few posts . . .
 
My initial reaction...

#1 choice... "Some girls have all the fun"

#2... "playtime is over"

#3... "Girls gone wild"

#4... "they would kill to have that body"

#5... "there's only one way out"

But I think I still like "survive" tagline the best.
 
Wow! Interesting choices, Ted! So glad you "caught" the other variations before I deleted them--I just thought some were too stupid. [Okay, I just re-posted the ones you mentioned, in the order that you ranked them] Thank you so much for your much-valued opinion!!!

Really, "survive" is still your top pick? Isn't that one just a bit too corny, a bit too wordy, and a bit too, "on the mark," as they say? Now I'm really re-considering the "fun" one in light of your ranking order. I like it too, but the tone is a bit off for what really happens in the short. But, anywho, thank you again for your insightful take on these!
 
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I don't think that "survive" is too wordy... it's very catchy and say's a lot! But the "fun" one is a very hip tagline and really works with the poster.
 
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