"Fortunes of War" - Short Film

Chris Messineo

Chris Messineo

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fow03.jpg


This past week-end I took part in a 12 hour filmmaking competition.

At noon, each team was given the same surprise theme (a fortune) and a required prop (an egg). We then had 12 hours to write, film, and edit our movie (each film had to be no more than 4 minutes long).

We wanted to try and avoid the obvious (Fortune Tellers, Fortune Cookies, etc) and this is what we came up with:

"Fortunes of War"

I would love to hear what you think about it.

Thanks a lot,

Chris
 
Clever idea.

I wasnt too fond of the cinematography, the lighting was flat, and I don't think it portrayed the mood of the film well. In my mind, the wife shouldve been more accented, highlights etc, where as the male shouldve been shadowed, contrast, etc. As for camera, I felt that some of the shots came off as a little amateur, and I think their couldve been more coverage.

On the directing side of it, I thought the males performance in the beginning was just not quite there. He was trying to show that he was broken down enough to the point of suicide, but his face said "this is awqward" which made the film a little hard to watch for me...

Best of luck in the contest, however.
 
Andrew,

Thanks a lot for taking the time to watch it and share your thoughts.

I agree about the lighting. We ended up cutting a lot of corners since it was a timed competition, perhaps a few too many. Still most of our competition looked like this (http://youtube.com/watch?v=1AHWS3xh9q0), so hopefully given the constraints of a 12 hour contest we will do okay.

Chris
 
Man, that youtube one was like a car crash, it had all the elements of a bad film but i couldn't look away. :)

As for yours, it kind of annoyed me that we didn't see the woman's face till about the 4th cut back to her. Also, the shots were pretty static and repetitive. Though you had a 12 hour window to create and work with so I can see that you didn't have the time to make it perfect.

Story wise I like your concept but the acting from the male lead was awkard in the first minute or two.
 
Hey Chris, would second the issue with not seeing her face. If that was a choice, it did not feel, entirely committed enough to make it seem so. But if it was not a choice, what you lose there is anything happening with her, any identification with her, I think. And I've seen her and loved her in several of your other films. Right now, she comes off a little too much like an abrasive ass. Part of this might be in the writing too though because I remembered having a similar thought in your time-bending one about the couple at the dinner table. I know in that one, she had problems with the pills, but those female characters still feel a little underwritten to me. They come off a little "bitchy" in my eyes. Again, if that's a choice, it does not seem specific or committed enough to get it across.

I agree that the male actor was a little off in the beginning, but man, for a 12 hour film competition, you laid some heavy **** on that guy to pull off.

Anyway, I would love to see more stuff NOT for crazy-time-constrained contests, because from what I've seen of your work, it always requires very good performances to pull off. So I would love to see you get something, and work it with your actors for a nice healthy period until they have the time to find the roles and knock them out of the park. That's the basics I've gone back to for my next two shorts. And I think when the actors are that together, the lighting and stuff becomes more forgivable.
 
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