My Granddad Is A Hitman - by Jamesh & JoshP
- Thread starter jamesh
- Start date
jamesh
Well-known member
Your Granddad sounded like one cool old dude Michael. The Granddad in the film is actually my step granddad, he loves gadgets too. He's always on his computer & he just bought a 42" plasma screen for his front room which we filmed the dinner shots in. Damn, i dont think it's gonna live up to your expectations now, theres not much action to be fair, it's just meant to be a charming comedy.
Michael_Petro
Veteran
jamesh said:
The only expectation I have , is to one day film Carrot Top and Rosie O'donnel in a romantic comedy:beer: so as you can tell you flick will be just fine
smashedburrito
Well-known member
Hey I watched your movie first and I have to say I really enjoyed it. It was a simple story done well. It was well shot, well acted, and really enjoyable. My only gripe is that your tagline gave it away. Otherwise great job and keep up the good work.
Michael_Petro
Veteran
dude that was pretty damn cool. I liked it alot.... like smash said the tagline was a dead givaway.
Grannys got a gun. BLAM :beer: the end made me laugh... i'm sick that way
oo and just loved your intro
Grannys got a gun. BLAM :beer: the end made me laugh... i'm sick that way
oo and just loved your intro
Michael Anthony Horrigan
More Cowbell Pictures
I loved all the subtle effects and use of props in this one. You can tell that you really thought it out.
The film looked great as well.
Very nice work!
Good acting as well.
Mike
The film looked great as well.
Very nice work!
Good acting as well.
Mike
ripupthehwy
Well-known member
I really really really liked this one. One of my favorites. Nice Job
rich nation
rich nation
Last edited:
chris f
Veteran
Standard Disclaimer: I've yet to see a bad film so far in this fest. Congratulations to every film maker, everyone did a great job. All my comments and criticisms are meant to be constructive and helpful and in no way am I trying to take anything away from what you accomplished.
Good: Great job, excellent production quality. Can I steal your DOP? Very original story as well. Loved the grandma with the shotgun. Computer graphics were top notch. Definitely one of the best films I've watched so far.
Not as Good: The film kind of sent mixed signals, I couldn't decide if I should take the film serious (opening scene, computer mission, etc.) or if I should sit back, relax, and enjoy the irony of the story (the light hearted score, the grandma at the end, etc.). Also, I was very surprised at how fake the gun shot at the end was, everything else up until that point was perfect (well except the voices seemed odd in the garage and the guy that got shot looks way younger than his voice sounded)
Good: Great job, excellent production quality. Can I steal your DOP? Very original story as well. Loved the grandma with the shotgun. Computer graphics were top notch. Definitely one of the best films I've watched so far.
Not as Good: The film kind of sent mixed signals, I couldn't decide if I should take the film serious (opening scene, computer mission, etc.) or if I should sit back, relax, and enjoy the irony of the story (the light hearted score, the grandma at the end, etc.). Also, I was very surprised at how fake the gun shot at the end was, everything else up until that point was perfect (well except the voices seemed odd in the garage and the guy that got shot looks way younger than his voice sounded)
jamesh
Well-known member
I agree with your criticisms.
Yes the headshot at the end looks bad. I did it myself and i'm rubbish at vfx, i wish i had gotten someone who does stuff like that todo it now. And yes the voice dubbing is a bit distracting in places, i didnt really have any other choice though, all the actors are my family and my best friend plays the baddy and he couldn't sound at all convincing, so i had to dub him, maybe i over did it, but he looks pretty mean at least i think.
Regarding the mixed seriousness with comedy: we were actually trying to mix it up a little. Wanted the audience to think at the start that they were watching a serious spy thriller, then blow their expectations apart by intoducing our eldery heroes in a light hearted way.
Hopefully people pick up on the age issue, the fact that the eldery can overcome youth and they are not all useless, wrinkly, moaning killjoys.
Thanks for watching.
Yes the headshot at the end looks bad. I did it myself and i'm rubbish at vfx, i wish i had gotten someone who does stuff like that todo it now. And yes the voice dubbing is a bit distracting in places, i didnt really have any other choice though, all the actors are my family and my best friend plays the baddy and he couldn't sound at all convincing, so i had to dub him, maybe i over did it, but he looks pretty mean at least i think.
Regarding the mixed seriousness with comedy: we were actually trying to mix it up a little. Wanted the audience to think at the start that they were watching a serious spy thriller, then blow their expectations apart by intoducing our eldery heroes in a light hearted way.
Hopefully people pick up on the age issue, the fact that the eldery can overcome youth and they are not all useless, wrinkly, moaning killjoys.
Thanks for watching.
cinealma
Veteran
I really like this one. The "old" spy really fit the part. One of those films where the age of the actors who played the "bad guys" didn't quite work for me.
Awesome visuals! The VFX were a little cheap, but you've explained it in a previous post, so it is what it is. I think that if you went back and fixed the dubbed audio and the VFX, this would be a clever little film.
Good job and thanks for screening.
Awesome visuals! The VFX were a little cheap, but you've explained it in a previous post, so it is what it is. I think that if you went back and fixed the dubbed audio and the VFX, this would be a clever little film.
Good job and thanks for screening.
gabrielflorit
Well-known member
There are so many things I liked about this one... let's enumerate:
- the lighting in the intro scene, looks very professional, great contrast.
- in the intro scene, the way you framed his reflected head inside the SYN spinning logo
- the opening titles! sets the tone very well - how did you come up with those?
- the montage where we get a glimpse of grandpa's daily life was very well done - the girl smiling back, the appropriate car for a senior, the quiet and content dinner scene, even the way grandpa uses his cutlery, it all fitted.
- i guess what i'm trying to say here is that i instantly became endeared with the main character. empathy in films is tough to accomplish, but you definitely have it in this one.
- i'm not so sure about the later scenes, they didn't feel as polished, especially the audio in the garage. and of course the exploding effect vx is cheesy beyong measure. i'll assume you didn't have time to finish it.
- i wish there would have been a little bit more talking - i actually can't remember grandpa ever saying something. maybe that's more effective.
in conclusion, a fantastic effort.
- the lighting in the intro scene, looks very professional, great contrast.
- in the intro scene, the way you framed his reflected head inside the SYN spinning logo
- the opening titles! sets the tone very well - how did you come up with those?
- the montage where we get a glimpse of grandpa's daily life was very well done - the girl smiling back, the appropriate car for a senior, the quiet and content dinner scene, even the way grandpa uses his cutlery, it all fitted.
- i guess what i'm trying to say here is that i instantly became endeared with the main character. empathy in films is tough to accomplish, but you definitely have it in this one.
- i'm not so sure about the later scenes, they didn't feel as polished, especially the audio in the garage. and of course the exploding effect vx is cheesy beyong measure. i'll assume you didn't have time to finish it.
- i wish there would have been a little bit more talking - i actually can't remember grandpa ever saying something. maybe that's more effective.
in conclusion, a fantastic effort.
aravance
Well-known member
Great looking film and humorous premise.
I dug some of the sound effects in the beginning and the VFX, though by the end of the film both of those things seemed to be less polished. The audio as well.
I thought the music that sort of plays as the Granddad's theme was pretty awesome.
It fit perfectly.
I did feel however that there didn't need to be as much music as there was. I think it would've been okay without it for some scenes.
I feel that it started off pretty tight but by the end of the film things sort of unraveled in this slapstick sort of way. I think even though the premise is quite humorous, part of the humor for me was how serious that premise was taken. It felt that way in the beginning, but by the end that tone seemed to be gone. I would have preferred seeing that tone throughout.
But anyway, a good entry none-the-less!
Thanks for sharing!
I dug some of the sound effects in the beginning and the VFX, though by the end of the film both of those things seemed to be less polished. The audio as well.
I thought the music that sort of plays as the Granddad's theme was pretty awesome.
It fit perfectly.
I did feel however that there didn't need to be as much music as there was. I think it would've been okay without it for some scenes.
I feel that it started off pretty tight but by the end of the film things sort of unraveled in this slapstick sort of way. I think even though the premise is quite humorous, part of the humor for me was how serious that premise was taken. It felt that way in the beginning, but by the end that tone seemed to be gone. I would have preferred seeing that tone throughout.
But anyway, a good entry none-the-less!
Thanks for sharing!
gabrielflorit
Well-known member
Steve_Arm said:
I think it's because then we would notice the lack of acting skills. I've seen a lot of that in this fest, actors not talking at all. Not sure if it's because the script calls for that, or because most of us have a hard time giving a convincing line delivery. In this case it worked - almost. Like you, by the end I wanted to hear him say something. Anything!
jamesh
Well-known member
It was a concious decision from the start to have the cental character not say a word. A) because he is my granddad who has never acted before in his life & he found it difficult enough to just take physical direction, and B)we thought it might be quite fun if he was like the silent, stealthy ice-cool hitman type character who doesn't even need to say anything. The main lack of dialogue in the film as a whole is mostly down to the fact my family didn't sound convincing enough delivering lines so I tried to tell the story as visually as i could.
I'll agree and say yes the ending maybe does fall away into slapstick but that was also kind of intentional. We wanted the film to start really serious and get more surreal & satirical as it went on. The original music we used for the introduction of the granny with the shotgun was a heavy rock track which helped enforce the comical irony of the ending, but Herman's score was great also.
The audio in the garage was difficult, we were using a crappy mic & boom that we hired from the college, and the the kid holding it was one of my cousin's friends who just happened to be hanging around, and he had never done it in his life, and i had too much on my plate to keep making sure he was getting good clean audio. Most of the audio was foley done by me in post, sfx, ambience etc, we just recorded the voices & garage scene, but even alot of that i made myself, and by the time i got round to that scene i think i was sick of doing sound work, which is probably why it sounds rougher than the earlier scenes, maybe i should have off-loaded that job to someone who knew what they were doing.
The young age of the bad guy actors was also kind of intentional to push this concept of youth vs elderly, and also due to the fact i had no-one else!
I'm not trying to make excuses here. I know the faults with it and i accept them. I'm just telling it like it is.
Thanks for all your feedback, both postive & negative. Because at the end of the day, we're all just learning here.
I'll agree and say yes the ending maybe does fall away into slapstick but that was also kind of intentional. We wanted the film to start really serious and get more surreal & satirical as it went on. The original music we used for the introduction of the granny with the shotgun was a heavy rock track which helped enforce the comical irony of the ending, but Herman's score was great also.
yes! aravance, i think you're right. we were aiming for that but my longing to put a head explosion shot in there maybe spoilt that. I'll blame Andrew Kramers wicked headshot tutorial for that! And yes, i should have spent more time making it look better.aravance said:
The audio in the garage was difficult, we were using a crappy mic & boom that we hired from the college, and the the kid holding it was one of my cousin's friends who just happened to be hanging around, and he had never done it in his life, and i had too much on my plate to keep making sure he was getting good clean audio. Most of the audio was foley done by me in post, sfx, ambience etc, we just recorded the voices & garage scene, but even alot of that i made myself, and by the time i got round to that scene i think i was sick of doing sound work, which is probably why it sounds rougher than the earlier scenes, maybe i should have off-loaded that job to someone who knew what they were doing.
The young age of the bad guy actors was also kind of intentional to push this concept of youth vs elderly, and also due to the fact i had no-one else!
I'm not trying to make excuses here. I know the faults with it and i accept them. I'm just telling it like it is.
Thanks for all your feedback, both postive & negative. Because at the end of the day, we're all just learning here.
