"Without Provocation" - a Norm Sanders (Envision) film

Another funny BTS video

Another funny BTS video

I'm rounding up more & more of these, but until we get our edit/modify abilities back for our posts, I can't do the big Director/Producer journal I want to do for this production on the front page ... which will be peppered with little videos throughout.

In the MEANTIME, I want to give a quick backstory to what you're about to see. Matt (posted on this thread as idesofmerz) kind of grew up in my youthgroup, back when I was a Youth Pastor/Director for several years at a local church. So you can understand why I was a LITTLE hestitant about having him join the set as a PA, because it just felt odd making this kind of movie with him there.

That said, he was eager, very eager to come on set & see what goes on with a narrative production. So I said, sure, come on board.

Now those who know me, know I'm kind of what I'd call a 'community director' (see WHERE SILENCE FALLS behind the scenes at www.eefilm.com/silence) , and I always welcome people's input & suggestions while on set ... to a point. But I've never had anyone actually try to stand over my shoulder and direct me, lol. So there was a point that a question as to the motivation of my character (SELLER) came up, and Matt very passionately offered what he felt my character should be like, and why. And then he proceeded to bring the script over & go through it with me, litterally taking on the role of director at that point with me.

Eh, perhaps a tad farther than I'd usually like in the 'community' approach. No harm, Matt. Don't do it again. :evil:

Anyway, after this, we were doing a wide shot, and we wanted the picture frame I was holding to be in view. Matt jumps in, and, well ... you can watch the video.

Hope you don't mind, Matt, and it truly was great having you on set. But when I found this in the footage, I just had to share it as I kept laughing outloud to myself, watching it! :)
 
Norm Sanders said:
Hey flmmkr, thanks for the feedback! Also, great job with SORRY ... very well done & entertaining! Glad you guys placed!

For the stairs, yep ... too long. I can see about making an adjustment, but see above on my concerns about ROI.

The jump cuts are to keep the flow, really. Since the cuts are so frequent from character to character, I felt the need to give a little pop or some kind of camera action/movement if we stayed on a character for any length of time ... just to keep the pace & sense of movement going. I would NEVER do that in a film like WHERE SILENCE FALLS, for example. I also wanted to add that slight sense of being in the room with them, or documentary style, where the camera is adjusting as we move along in real time.

Good idea on the additional contrast ... I'll do some tests to see how it works out.

For the continued ringing phone, when SWAT breaches a location, their main purpose at that point is to prevent injury/death to themselves and/or any potential hostages/innocents. The phone would be a distraction to them vs. cluing them in that they may be trying to come in after them, etc. Same thing with a flash-bang ... it's to catch them off guard (stunning them), so they can apprehend them, if at all possible without fatality. So that's why we had the phone continue to ring.
Click to expand...

Hey Norm, I'm glad you like Sorry. It was a lot of fun to work on.

I understand why you have the jump cuts there, but I don't think they are effective enough. It's not enough of a jump. Meaning, you should start from a medium or wide shot even, then jump to more of a closeup. You seem to be jumping from a medium shot to a medium shot that's only slightly zoomed in or a cu to a cu that is only slightly zoomed in more. It looks more like a glitch to me and makes me question what just happened while I'm watching it. It's another distraction.

Now I'm not a cop or SWAT officer or anything, but I've seen a lot of movies with cops and SWAT teams and they do try to mimic actual protocols whenever possible. I've never seen a scenario where they continuously call in to the suspects while raiding. I'm not saying you're wrong or anything, but I do question if it's realistic since I've never seen it. I admit I haven't seen every movie out there either, so I could be wrong. It just doesn't make sense to me.

As far as the shot through the railing goes, give this a shot. I've done it before and it worked great.... Try removing the shot, replacing it, or shortening, whatever you need to do. Cut out the music at that very moment as well, but have the music track with no gap. Add a +3db crossover audio transition filter. Adjust the length of the transition to 2 frames, 4 frames, 6 frames, etc until you find the right legth so everything matches. If you end up with some wierd sound you can slide the cut + or - a frame or to and see if it fixes. You can also try a +0db crossover and add a sound effect right at that moment to cover up the cut/break/change in the music. This would be an easy way, a compromise, to fix the problem. The best way of course would be to have your composer remix the music to match.

For the color correction, when you add the contrast to the picture, try some different color tones as well. I suspect a very slight bluish tone would work well since it seems to be night outside, but red could work as well.

Anyways, hope my suggestions help you out with making your film even better.
 
Actually they would continue to call in whilst raiding the house.

First off, SWAT members are the entry guys. The person making the call would be the negotiator. A girl I knew in college, her dad was a negotiator, and his job was to get called to such situations to negotiate. I believe he was skilled in not only police matters, but also psychology.

If negotiations fail, and it is decided that they must rush in due to gunshots being heard, it is very likely they would want the negotiator to continue to call so as to provide further distraction. You would not want the silence and lack of ringing to indicate an impending raid.
 
Community filmmaking

Community filmmaking

Norm-

In regards to the angles that could have been used:
It's a bit hard to explain this technique that would have given Seller more power, but I'll try.... In reference to just before he pulls his gun out and takes total control from the rest of his group: Seller walks towards the kitchen with his back to his team. Place the camera in the kitchen so that he walks into the foreground, facing the camera, with his back to the group. Cut to a shot from Rebecca's POV, facing Seller's back. When Seller turns around and looks into the camera he is subconsciously telling the viewer that no matter where you run to, I'm looking right at you, I'm in control. This strips everyone of their power, including Rebecca's character, who is desperately trying to maintain some measure of control.

In regards to Anita's sexuality: Take a few more frames to let the shot linger on her. Add shots of her body in profile; her graceful movements as she stands; her tummy as she exposes her mid-drift. As an actor in that role, her sexuality, over her gun, can be her fiercest weapon. That same sensuality turns into fierceness when she tells Carter not to make himself "a liability".
I realize you were tring to give the film a frenetic feeling, but let the viewer see the difference between the characters. This is just as much the director's responsibility as it is the actor's.

As you said, "It is art, it is subjective, and there are reasons behind every decision." There is, however, a difference between a subjective shot and an objective shot. For example, ET is mostly subjective from the POV of a child. Angles are specifically chosen to enhance that point of view. Seeing an adult from the waist down is a child's POV. On the other hand, a film like Reservoir Dogs is mostly objective. I hate using Dogs as an example of this, but I'm guessing most people have seen both these movies and can relive them easily in their heads.

A good way to learn more about composition is to watch some of your favorite films on mute. This will not only help you focus on the artistic choices made, but show you the differecne between a good filmmaker and a great filmmaker. Do you still know the story, even though you can't hear the spoken words?? That's a great filmmaker. Afterall, look at Chaplin...

Sorry if I overstepped my boundries on the set, Norm. I saw two performances that were going a direction they wouldn't go in reality. You had a heroin addict acting like a cokehead and a cokehead acting like he was riding the H-Train. There's a big difference between those drugs and their affects on people. Researching your topics can help when it comes to things that are foreign to you. I wouldn't write a script on the plight of Native Americans in modern society without making a trip to the rez first, ya' know??

Also, I know that time was of the essence on this set and that you literally had a million things on your mind. Just thought I would add my two cents from outside of the chaos that was in your head for those 16 hours. Something about "best intentions"....Hope I didn't offend too bad:)

Well, I think that's about it. I've given my two cents and am expecting change.:grin:

By the way, you're the only youth pastor to ever give me the finger (though I probably deserved it years ago).

Take care, good night, and stay classy San Francisco,

-Matt.
 
Matt, good suggestions about SELLER's character, but you'll also recall that we didn't have blinds on two of those large windows directly behind us, which at that point were acting like mirrors ... so we were also quite limited on the angles we could choose, etc. The fact that we only got to block the shots & rehearse as we got there that day, didn't help matters any either. That said, good thoughts, and had we had more time and/or not had the window/mirror issue, I'm sure there are things that would have turned out a little differently.

Regarding Anita's sexuality, this really wasn't in my original vision anyway. I think you personally saw her as a more sexual character than I did. For example, when you kept suggesting how she should stand, I didn't fight it because I didn't see how it could hurt, but it wasn't a focal opint for me either. I usually won't fight opinions/suggesions on set, unless they're going against a vision I had.

While you may have good points on the drug facts & how they would cause people to react, I'll simply take your word for it. The script was only officially written 4-5 days before we shot, so I couldn't take the time to research all of the drug facts on how they would impact people, etc. Since I guessed that the majority of our audience wouldn't have the in-depth drug knowledge that others may, I wasn't too concerned about the minority that said "Hey, that's now how he should act on heroin!". :Drogar-KnockedOut(D:Drogar-Thinking(DBG

No, you didn't offend me too badly. :)
 
I had problems with the coloring of the comicslike effect
Why did you mutilate yourt film like that
I'm sorry but I couldn't watch it with that effect
I think your movie would look great without it from what I did see.
It seemed like very solid acting/directing
maybe consider taking it off?
 
ok
Just watched the version without the comics effect
No doubt about it this is the best film made in the fest.
great directing and acting
The only problem was too many close ups
What happend to the medium shot? full shots? Other shots?
anyway the problem was with the editing in my opinion
 
Norm's intention with this film was actually to have a claustrophobic, in your face approach. It was shot with the close ups for that very reason in mind. Glad you thought highly of it. There were a lot of mixed feelings about the "cartoon" effect, so you are not alone in that. Thanks for checking out the film & giving feedback!
 
clastrophbic was nice thinking but it was a bit too obvious and caused me to feel the manipulation
I think it could use some re editing
 
Thanks, dangal, but there really aren't any other shots available. We shot the wide master, and the CU's ... that's it. Little to no mids. So it's not an editing thing, so much as it was the choices we made at the time for the actual camera angles. Also, the time limitation (having shot this all in one day) did not allow us further shots/angles.
 
From The Ashes or Reborn; whatever you want to call it, BERLIN is back!

From The Ashes or Reborn; whatever you want to call it, BERLIN is back!

A new official thread has been opened for BERLIN: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=113648

First weekend of principle photography wrapped this past Sunday, and we'll finish shooting this 20 minute short film this coming weekend. I think you'll be blown away at the production value that has come together for this film, all in thanks to the amazing cast & crew that has come aboard to make it.

For those of you who were following it for DVXuser's SpyFest, up to the point that production was cancelled, now is your chance to catch up & see how the film is shaping up in comparison to expectations you may have had. :)

Check it out ...
 
For anyone attending the Action On Film Festival, in Pasadena, CA: Where Silence Falls will be screening on Monday, July 27th in the 2pm block, at Academy 4.
 
Geez, Herman, THAT was quick! When did you submit that? I've got an invite code through WAB to get this & some others up on IMDB, and was going to this week. :) THANKS! :beer:
 
It took about 4-5 days to go online. Apparently IMDb really loves the AOFFest :D Cause for some films playing at other festivals it has taken far longer than that to appear online.
 
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