Secret Admiration - a film by Gary French

Kyser said:
First off, I think I'm in love! Just don't tell my wife. :)
The lead actress actually looks a bit like her.
Mike
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yeah my wifes name is Brandi (with an 'i') so it got kinda confusing on set having to say my Brandi all the time

:dankk2:Thanks for the comments, i'm already eager for the next Fest!!!! :grin:
 
Great concept and fairly well executed I thought! I enjoyed the voice over....really needed to see him spying on her more though, rather than just the shots of her. Even if they were just him the background of what she was doing....wanted to feel that spy turned stalker thing a lot more. When she shoots him I was like "WHOA!" I didn't see that coming, but the lighting when it switches to that shooting scene looked a little different than the rest and his reaction to being shot was a little wonky. Great movie my friend....every enjoyable!
 
I got a Beauty an the Beast feel from it. The Linda Hamilton show. I liked it and then the last line happened and I then loved it. Made me laugh after a tough day at work. I don't mind a 6 minute set up for a well delivered crack at the end.
 
bosindy said:
I got a Beauty an the Beast feel from it. The Linda Hamilton show. I liked it and then the last line happened and I then loved it. Made me laugh after a tough day at work. I don't mind a 6 minute set up for a well delivered crack at the end.
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WOWZERS! I like comments like this one!! :dankk2:Thanks even if you are calling me the Beast lol

and as for my death acting skills...i was kinda the last choice since our lead actor went all Diva on us...i'm in no way an actor...lol. Lets just say it was a very humbling experience on my part
 
Nice film. Great twist. I too would have loved to see him in the background more. Also, and this is a thing of mine having done B&W journalism photography, but I appreciated that you didn't just use the "desaturate" filter on your color footage. Your black and white look has great contrast, with nice deep shadows and detailed white highlights.

Good work.
 
Honestly, I was surprised at how well the DVX did with B&W as well. It makes me want to go shoot something in B&W. :)

I think it not only suited your story, but your actress as well. She looked good in the BTS shots, but she looked great in B&W.
 
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Gary and Dustin,

I liked this one a lot. Really good - and the fact that it was only a little over 3 minutes in length was great.

Stuff I really liked:
  • The B&W treatment. Again. Very nice.
  • Your lead actress. Really beautiful in so many shots. You shot her very well.
  • I LOVED the shot immediately following the gunshot moment. Wow.
  • The story. Original (I thought).

Stuff I wasn't so sure about:
  • The VO. Hate to say it, but it didn't do a lot for me.
  • The punch line at the end. I'm likely out of step here with others' views, but I wouldn't have included it. But that's just me.

Really great. Nice job. Thanks for making it.
 
Ok, I loved this one. It's not perfect, but I the atmosphere it created was very sensual and obsessive, which obviously fits with the piece. This could have very easily come off as pretentious or an ode to a Calvin Klein fragrance commercial, but it was executed very well.

This is not so much a story as an experience, if you know what I mean. And when the twist comes, you really don't see it coming.

The filmmaker in me has to give you a few "here's what I would do" points, basically because I like your film so much, so here it goes:

1. B&W: I'd play with the curves a little more and really use the histogram as a tool. There's definitely too much of a "video" look, which I'm not saying is bad thing generally, but for your film you need more of those "gray holes" filled in. It doesn't have to be soft. Contrast is good, but I think it just needs to be a smoother look for the subject matter of your film.

2. You've got to kill the voice over. The phone call works great. The cuts from the guys eye to the taped images of the woman really build up that obsession. But the voice over once it gets going really takes me out of it. You said that you ran out of time, but maybe you have enough pieces you can cut in there to show that he is following her. You won't need much, as you should have mostly shots of the woman on the screen, so that WE, the viewers can obsess as well. I watched it a second time and turned down the volume once we were in the streets, and it even without the sound it worked 1000% better than with the VO. Trust me.

2b. Killing the VO will kill that last "*****" line. Might be a favorite, but sometimes you have to kill your darlings, as they say. This last line almost adds a bit of humor to the film, which it doesn't need in my opinion. And without it, it makes the whole twist at the end even more shocking.

2c. Kill the dialogue of the woman talking into her watch/com-link. We can see he lips moving and talking into something. After the whole introduction with the conversation on the phone, we know we are in a "spy" or other covert world. We would get it, without her explaining it to us. And it's even MORE powerful. Heighten the music up as her lips move, the gun, the guy bleeding to death on the ground... wow.

3. The colorizing of the blood: you don't need it. Enough said.

4. The voice on the phone, I wouldn't distort it so much. You might even want to re-record it with an older person with a more "fatherly" voice.

That's all I have for now. I'm sure I'll think of more. This film is right up my alley and has all the potential to polish up in something I would always remember.

Fantastic job. Thank you so much for screening.
 
wow, on my behalf of my parts in the movie, thank you guys. these are the kind of comments I was looking for positive criticism. For our first film, we seem to be getting good feed back on helping our growth as filmmakers. I'm glad you guys liked it, as you probably read on this thread you prolly noticed we had a few major bumps in our road...prolly the big one of the compy crapping out and we're freaking out, and hoping we weren't going to have to drop out of the SpyFest. Needless to say I'm like a virgin on prom night ...eager to do the next fest!!! 'Cept next time Gary and Myself will prolly do our own flicks. maybe, still working together just we each direct a flick each... Anyhoos thanks again for the feedback.



:Drogar-Love(DBG): I LOVE THIS SITE!!!! :Drogar-Love(DBG):
 
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I just wanted to let you guys know you did a wonderful job. I actually like it that the camera played as his eyes more instead of showing him to much in the film. Sorry Dustin :grin: Oh and Love the ending line!
 
I was totally surprised by the ending. I didn't see it coming. :-) Oh, the ending line totally killed it for me. I did not feel it fit at all. Don't get me wrong though. I enjoyed the short! Good job!
 
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EDIT: oops I posted a review for the wrong film here, lol.

Will watch and review yours next.

Sorry I have a summer cold ... too much cough syrup. :grin:
 
Keystoned said:
EDIT: oops I posted a review for the wrong film here, lol.

Will watch and review yours next.

Sorry I have a summer cold ... too much cough syrup. :grin:
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hehe oh well it happens, at least its a bump up on our thread!! :beer:
 
msconce said:
I was totally surprised by the ending. I didn't see it coming. :-) Oh, the ending line totally killed it for me. I did not feel it fit at all. Don't get me wrong though. I enjoyed the short! Good job!
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well to each his own right! Thanks at least for watching! :dankk2:
 
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