Joel 3:15

[DarkMatter]

I loved the scope you gave to the story, it felt like it was taking place on a large scale. Very Effective!

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Awesome stuff. The question would also be, how would the government react to a situation like this?

Would they try to keep people from killing themselves? Would they offer food? Would the government just disband and say "everyone for themselves?"

Would there be chaos on the streets? What, aside from going underground, would people try to do to keep alive? What would people do if the government disbanded? Would it eb the wild west?

Ahhh! So many questions!

Would be nice to do a feature on this subject...

Thanks! I've thought about it... a feature that is. I'm not quite ready though.

That was one nice point--basically implying that every world leader had escaped to their well-stocked hidey-holes, leaving their citizens to fend for themselves.

I thought that would leave the desolate feeling even more alone and helpless. Thanks again, Barry.

Hi Kyser. Good job on your film. Especially with having to perform all of those duties yourself. I'm a fan of "end of the world" movies, so this was a treat. I realized that I was drawn into your story when I started zoning out while the radio announcer was talking. I thought to myself "what would I do if I had 6 days to live?"

They say a good film is like a pebble in the shoe, so I'd say your film did its job.

I love reading how people feel while watching my work. Thanks for that! Yah, it was tough there for a while... I really need a crew!
:dankk2:

i'm tryin not to read your thread. My hallows fest starts tomorrow. I can't wait to see this one.

Then what are you doing here!?? Get the hell out! Just kidding! Looking forward to it!

I loved the scope you gave to the story, it felt like it was taking place on a large scale. Very Effective!

Awesome! I was really hoping that the opening might help sell the premise without using special effects. I suck at SFX work.

Thanks again to everyone who took the time to watch and comment.

Great bunch of people on this forum.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[strancali]

Very nice Kyser! You did the HV20 justice! I agree with Barry S about the seen where he didn't say anything to the neighbor. Loved everything else. Keep the films coming. Oh yea, you got my top 3.

 

[Maximus]

I've only seen two films so far, Joel 3:15 and Cabin, and ironically I can't imagine two other films in the festival being more different. I will review Cabin more thoroughly in it's own thread, but to summarize my impression of each: one is style over substance, the other is substance over style. No insult intended, as both are very well made.

On to Joel 3:15 - you took the theme of darkness literally, and it worked! The film is very sombre, not a "fun" movie, and that is definetely dark.

You have seemingly done a lot with very little. Very slow and deliberate pace. No hysterics, at least with the people we meet. I found that to be a realistic depiction of their situation. I was on a plane once that was hit by lightning, it was very dramatic - flash of light, the plane dropped and bounced, and nobody screamed.

I found your approach to be very mature, well thought out. Your use of the radio announcer and internet was a very clever way of expanding the scope of a small arena. Your film feels small, but it works perfectly. Nicely shot (that HV20 takes some purdy pictures - all that for $900!). Music good. Sound good. Acting understated, subtle, believable...

Hey, I've only seen two so far, and I'm boldly predicting you'll be in my top three!

Great job! :thumbsup:

 

[Marlon Ladd]

I agree about how it did appear that this was taking place on a large scale too. I really liked the look and style of it.

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Very nice Kyser! You did the HV20 justice! I agree with Barry S about the seen where he didn't say anything to the neighbor. Loved everything else. Keep the films coming. Oh yea, you got my top 3.

That's awesome! Thanks. The HV20 is a nice little camera, light on the manual controls but what can you do. It's cheap!

On to Joel 3:15 - you took the theme of darkness literally, and it worked! The film is very sombre, not a "fun" movie, and that is definetely dark.

You have seemingly done a lot with very little. Very slow and deliberate pace. No hysterics, at least with the people we meet. I found that to be a realistic depiction of their situation. I was on a plane once that was hit by lightning, it was very dramatic - flash of light, the plane dropped and bounced, and nobody screamed.

I found your approach to be very mature, well thought out. Your use of the radio announcer and internet was a very clever way of expanding the scope of a small arena. Your film feels small, but it works perfectly. Nicely shot (that HV20 takes some purdy pictures - all that for $900!). Music good. Sound good. Acting understated, subtle, believable...

Hey, I've only seen two so far, and I'm boldly predicting you'll be in my top three!

Great job! :thumbsup:

LOL! Thanks, man. Thanks for the in depth review.

I agree about how it did appear that this was taking place on a large scale too. I really liked the look and style of it.

I was hoping it would come across that way. It was tough to do without visual effects but I really wanted to keep it simple and concentrate on the story.

Thanks for watching!

Mike

 

[Ian-T]

Man...it seems like you are getting better and better with every short. I loved the dolly like movements.....kept everything moving instead of staticky....very professional. The use of the radio announcer and the internet pages was nice. You made me think I was watchng one of those 5 minute shorts on HBO just before a feature presentation comes on...the HV20 is so crisp. Can't wait to see more of your work.

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Man...it seems like you are getting better and better with every short. I loved the dolly like movements.....kept everything moving instead of staticky....very professional. The use of the radio announcer and the internet pages was nice. You made me think I was watchng one of those 5 minute shorts on HBO just before a feature presentation comes on...the HV20 is so crisp. Can't wait to see more of your work.

Thanks, Ian. Quite the compliment!

Cheers,

Mike

 

[deedive]

I watched it a couple time now. Definitely like it! It is shot well. 0:52 is a great frame. Like the hard, sharp and desaturated look. Love the slow pushes and pulls. great move. Acting was good. Would have like a wide shot at the end.

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

I watched it a couple time now. Definitely like it! It is shot well. 0:52 is a great frame. Like the hard, sharp and desaturated look. Love the slow pushes and pulls. great move. Acting was good. Would have like a wide shot at the end.

Thanks! I appreciate the fact that you took the time to watch it more than once!

I've thought a lot about re-editing that last shot. I might just do that.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Joops]

Nice work Mike. It looked great. I liked the story (message). Some of the announcer and web shots dragged a little for me. But I suspect your pace was intentionally calm. Good work.

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Nice work Mike. It looked great. I liked the story (message). Some of the announcer and web shots dragged a little for me. But I suspect your pace was intentionally calm. Good work.

Thanks!

I had a lot of different angles shot (especially with the radio announcer) but I really wanted people to pay attention to the dialogue.

I just tried to use the more interesting shots. You also had quite a bit to read in the web shots, it's not just the headlines. Look closely.

Thanks again for the great comments.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

The last post gave me an idea... I'm not sure if everyone caught everything on the web page. Click the picture for a larger view.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Ben Sliker]

Kyser,

Very interesting little piece you have here. You did a fairly good job of encapsulating a large scale concept into a very small area.

I had a small issue with the CC in the beginning, seems like you have a nice even de-saturated look through the whole thing, but the beginning, from about :17-:27, your whites and colors seem to spike in a couple places. But that's my only technical gripe so good job squeezing out all that image out of the hv20.

I liked the sustained melancholy mood throughout the piece, instead of this panicked feel you could have easily picked up on, you instead chose to go the complete opposite route, which I respect! It's a nice way to ask the audience "what would you do?" without people running all over the place screaming and trying to survive.

Nice work!

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Thanks, I'll take a look at that time-frame to see if the CC is off.

I'm glad that it drew you in enough to think of yourself in that scenario.

Thanks for watching!

Mike

 

[wwsdmf]

i enjoyed your film. the script was good as was your camera, editing, music and lighting. good quality all around.

 

[DarkMatter]

Ok, I just watched this again, and i think you captured what was going on in the heads of those present when War Of The Worlds first aired on the radio and people thought that the world was being taken over by aliens. So congratulations on making Steven Spielburg look like an amateur.
I was super impressed with this Mike, your shots were tight, the soundtrack was very fitting, and it was a nice step above Fear!

 

[Matt Harris]

Hey Kyser, GREAT FILM. I have been planning some small apocalyptic films myself, and youre was truly inspiring. obviously its hard to portray a worldy event with limited budget, but you did a few things that were really smart: the radio feed, the shot of bush on the internet, the "evangelicals" line, smart stuff. Good score too. Oh and good title sequence and credits, very professional.

one idea that might have ramped up the suicide at the end, just a sound design thing: your moody score is cool, but maybe at the very end right as he's about to pull the trigger, you really bring in a building horrifying sound effect that gets louder and louder and BAM-gunshot. and then credits come in with the more mellow score.

obviously thats a nit-pick, you did a great job man.

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

i enjoyed your film. the script was good as was your camera, editing, music and lighting. good quality all around.

Thanks!

Ok, I just watched this again, and i think you captured what was going on in the heads of those present when War Of The Worlds first aired on the radio and people thought that the world was being taken over by aliens. So congratulations on making Steven Spielburg look like an amateur.
I was super impressed with this Mike, your shots were tight, the soundtrack was very fitting, and it was a nice step above Fear!

Thanks! Yah, I enjoyed making FEAR but it's nice to see improvement from one short to the next. Thanks for the generous comments.

Hey Kyser, GREAT FILM. I have been planning some small apocalyptic films myself, and youre was truly inspiring. obviously its hard to portray a worldy event with limited budget, but you did a few things that were really smart: the radio feed, the shot of bush on the internet, the "evangelicals" line, smart stuff. Good score too. Oh and good title sequence and credits, very professional.

one idea that might have ramped up the suicide at the end, just a sound design thing: your moody score is cool, but maybe at the very end right as he's about to pull the trigger, you really bring in a building horrifying sound effect that gets louder and louder and BAM-gunshot. and then credits come in with the more mellow score.

obviously thats a nit-pick, you did a great job man.

Well, I couldn't get anyone to actually score my movie. (I usually don't give them enough of a "heads up" ) So I borrowed some very dark music that I felt best fit the "mood" and placed it within the time-line. Justin's music is excellent and seemed to fit pretty well. I agree though, a little more build up towards the end might have been nice.

Thanks for comments. It's tough to cram this kind of movie in less than 5 minutes so I appreciate the kind words.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Navitas' Review* of JOEL 3:15

I like this type of movies! I’m in love in everything catastrophic so this one was a great pause from everything bloody I’d add some more news – maybe tv to create a little bigger “space”. Anyway it is one of my favorites! Of course great job on lightning camera and everything technical…

*Removed major spoiler.

Thanks for taking the time!

Cheers,

Mike