"Sleeper" by Matt Sconce and Mark Aro

spidey said:
it was sci-fi when it should have been spy.
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So the fact that there was creature in the girl stealing technology (a sleeper agent) and attempting to give it to her superiors(the stealing and trading of information) who was caught by someone who had been spying on her...was not a spy movie because it had scifi or supernatural elements? I will give you the benift of the doubt and say that due to the unfinished product, and the lack of a visible chip or technology in this unfinished version, you missed all the above things (Stealing of technology, information value and trafficing, sleeper agents, being spied on by another).

spidey said:
I dunno what you were going for.
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Hopefully when all is said and done and this is finished, then you will see what we intended. Thank you for stopping by.

flmmkr said:
I really look forward to seeing this again when it's completed. You'll be posting it here I hope?
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Once this is done we will be attempting to screen it to Sundance, and all the other big old names out there. Because we love y'all so much...you better believe you will be in the loop. We hope the end product will absolutely be mindblowing.

Zenon said:
Cool! The ending was pretty creepy and suprising, and some really good camera work. The steadycam shots created alot of fast pace which keeps the entertainment value up.
You got alot of work cut out for you with all that green though ;)

The disc shot (which to me is the money shot) was nicely done. Though it's spoilt a little by the jerkiness of the animation as with the begining scene tracking (I know it's not finished but I'll go nuts if I don't mention it!) We got a simular disc throw scene in SS but it's no way near as good in comparison :crybaby:

Looking forward to the finished thing...and the pitch trailer :D
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No worries! The end shot with the disk will be flawless. This was done in 3-4 hours because we wanted a proxy in that scene. You had some great stuff in Nightshifters. We look forward to seeing what you do with ShadowStorm.

Thanks for stopping by!
 
MJ lay off the smack! The olson twins look like those freaky furbie toys, this actress looks gorgeous.

Hey msconce, I too am in the 'entered my undercooked spyfest flick' category. Mine won't be finished for a little while too. Looking forward to seeing this, will be able to download in next few hours thank god.

Good luck to with the pitch to Sony.
 
tmnt said:
MJ lay off the smack! The olson twins look like those freaky furbie toys, this actress looks gorgeous.
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Amen Brother!

tmnt said:
Hey msconce, I too am in the 'entered my undercooked spyfest flick' category. Mine won't be finished for a little while too. Looking forward to seeing this, will be able to download in next few hours thank god.

Good luck to with the pitch to Sony.
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Thanks!
 
imjust saying the story wasn't there.and the efrects didn't seem to be helping it if it were there. I will say nice 3d effect but other than that i don't know what i saw. if it were done maybe but the tracking need major help.
 
spidey said:
imjust saying the story wasn't there.and the efrects didn't seem to be helping it if it were there. I will say nice 3d effect but other than that i don't know what i saw. if it were done maybe but the tracking need major help.
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It is true that some heavy story elements were not there. The motivation of her stealing the chip was not apparent because the chip is not created yet. Also her stealing the money from the vault for an apparent ransom was not there because the money is CG as well. Because of that, the story is a bit hard to follow.

About the tracking. It is obvious it needs major help as it is a proxy at this moment. All will become clearer when it is completed... the final movie has an entire extra scene added to it that helps a bit in the story department. Also..the opening dialogue is longer as is her talk in the vault.

spidey said:
it was sci-fi when it should have been spy.
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Spy can be drama, action, comedy, sci fi, or horror.
It is just wise to know what you are talking about before you declare that someone has not embraced the genre of the fest.
 
Hooray!!!

Hooray!!!

I LOVE it!!! even the unfinished version is fantastic!!! Now I really can't wait to see the final cut!! You've got me so excited about it!! but oh my gosh!! I can't believe what you guys accomplished in such a short time! The ending is already fabulous! The actors were fantastic, considering how cold and wet it was during filming! Yeah!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm gonna go watch it again now!! :laugh:

love you guys!

Booger Bunny....oh, I mean
Heather! :kiss:
 
Smile!!!!!!!!!!

Smile!!!!!!!!!!

maybe some people who post should take my advice in my signature....cause life looks much brighter when you just SMILE!!!!!!!!

now go get a chocolate chip cookie and a glass of milk and then go watch it again....I promise you'll be in a much better mood!!

:kiss: :laugh: :cheesy: :love4: :happy: :bath: :engel017:
 
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I've been a fan of matts film(s) for a while now, and I just pipped in to see his latest creation. Nice job technically. I can't fault you on that front. The sped up edits made a nice visual change and added to the overall feel of the piece.

What I've noticed lacking in your previous productions I found again cropping up in this one too. That's the acting.

I think for you to elevate as a director I think it's time you worked with some pre-pro/ SAG/ex-SAG, etc, type actors. I think this'll really bring your game up from to a more professional level.

I also thought the story didn't fit very well in the 5 min time frame. It felt more like a sequence from a movie than a short film that had a beg. middle and end.

Just my 2 cents.

EJ
 
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I see what you mean about the story. It was really made to have a beginning middle and (to be continued) feeling.

Thanks for watching my previous stuff. I believe the acting was great in this one but that Mark and I need to sit down with Mike (Audio guru) and go through to pick the best voice over performances the actors gave. I am so proud of those two actors.
 
It is hard to release an unfinished movie for scrutiny. Sometimes we are happy we did and other times, we wonder if we should have. We like when people can see the big picture of what it will be someday. I hope it helps some of you feel the process and feel as if you ae part of the process. We, of course, wish it was the final project but that would have been impossible. So it is both depressing and exciting to have it listed in this fest. Enjoy it for what it is, and if you can, just imagine how cool it will be later! :thumbup:
 
So, the first time I couldn't make it through. The unfinished effects just made for the blah. I sat down and watched it again (I'm rendering out some stuff so why not?) and got through it.

Matt, you've gotten better. Got a good eye for placement, some confident yet inspirational camera action...

But, like all of your shorts, it lacks heavily in story. I can relate this to ULTRAVIOLET, and that's not a good thing.

I hope you guys finish this, in the future if you plan on pitching anything to SONY or whomever, you'd do well to get a writer on your side. Your work suffers mostly from the script.

Sometimes ya gotta put away the special effects until the end of writing.
 
msconce said:
It is hard to release an unfinished movie for scrutiny. Sometimes we are happy we did and other times, we wonder if we should have. We like when people can see the big picture of what it will be someday. I hope it helps some of you feel the process and feel as if you ae part of the process. We, of course, wish it was the final project but that would have been impossible. So it is both depressing and exciting to have it listed in this fest. Enjoy it for what it is, and if you can, just imagine how cool it will be later! :thumbup:
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Thanks guys for letting us watch it!

Personally, I don't like to watch things like this because I think it's cool not to know how the "magician's tricks" were pulled off. It kind of kills it for me. However, as I am know starting to work with a little VFX myself in my films, your "half-finished" film really is enlightening and helpful to me.

Again, many thanks for sharing.
 
Kholi said:
But, like all of your shorts, it lacks heavily in story. I can relate this to ULTRAVIOLET, and that's not a good thing.
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SPOLIER ALERT

What is was supposed to be was a girl who's father was missing gaining access to high tech stuff, stealing a microchip (but people think she is getting ransom money) (which has not even been added to the movie yet as it is all CG) AKA right now a big plot hole.

She is being watched by somebody. We assume he is evil.

That somebody turns out to have supernatural powers (again not added yet) and know there is a creature within the girl manipulating her. We discover he is good. He finds the chip, calls out the creature, and they battle.

A large portion of this was cut for the fest but this made to be part of a trailer that is based on an entire novel already written. It is supposed to be an event taking place in that world. Hope that helps.

Please inform us as to how the story was lacking?
 
msconce said:
SPOLIER ALERT

What is was supposed to be was a girl who's father was missing gaining access to high tech stuff, stealing a microchip (but people think she is getting ransom money) (which has not even been added to the movie yet as it is all CG) AKA right now a big plot hole.

She is being watched by somebody. We assume he is evil.

That somebody turns out to have supernatural powers (again not added yet) and know there is a creature within the girl manipulating her. We discover he is good. He finds the chip, calls out the creature, and they battle.

A large portion of this was cut for the fest but this made to be part of a trailer that is based on an entire novel already written. It is supposed to be an event taking place in that world. Hoep that helps.

Please inform us as to how the story was lacking?
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It's cool that you know what it's about. If the crowd doesn't get it, what you know has failed us.

Your story feels like this minor detail you threw in to have a reason for lots of glit and glam, which you couldn't complete on a timeline.

Your VFX would do better as pie crust, with the story as the filling; not the other way around.

I know it's only six minutes? I could've cared less if she got killed, about any technology or hoo haa. And that's not because I'm not interested in demons, samurai swords, etc. Trust me, I am. It simply lacked any dimension.

Don't take it as me trying to put you down. I'd like to see you tackle something well-written and thought out.
 
Did you not understand the story? What part was unclear? Was it because you thought she lacked motivation? Did you understand she was stealing a chip? All that is a plot hole now because it is not included. I am trying to find out why you thought Stricken and Sleeper were poorly written?
 
Because the characters are poorly written. They aren't characters, they're toys. I understood she was stealing some sort of technology, but I didn't care.

It's more like "Uh..so?" It honestly felt like ALL of the focus had been placed on Visual Effects and cool things versus developing characters and a story that moved along those visual goodies.
 
EJ Pennypacker said:
Did the actors you worked with have any previous professional experience Matt? Just curious.

EJ
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Paige was in Stricken as a supporting actress. Shane is in and makes movies with his own production company.
 
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Kholi said:
Because the characters are poorly written. They aren't characters, they're toys. I understood she was stealing some sort of technology, but I didn't care.

It's more like "Uh..so?" It honestly felt like ALL of the focus had been placed on Visual Effects and cool things versus developing characters and a story that moved along those visual goodies.
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I see what you are saying. You feel the characters did not make you care about them, and because of that, it was a poorly written story. :crybaby:

You were not supposed to know alot about the girl until the end because she was not a human. And the guy was supposed to be unknown as well. AND story elements are missing because it is not done.

How would you have made the characters make you care in the same time frame? I would like to know because if Mark and I are missing something, we would love to not be missing it.:huh:
 
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