WISH - a short movie by Dudley Christian

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Very tough working with kids, especially that young. Nice work.
The health of the brother kind of caught me off guard but it was nice to see the way this turned out.

Great storytelling, really nice music, and good framing!

Cheers,

 

[kurtmo]

I thought this film was well done. I liked the setup and the reveal. It worked for me. Cool shooting star effects.
I thought the opening star section could have been composited better, maybe some added motion blur and darker coloring. Also the keying towards the end was noticeable on my second time through. Where were you shooting those shots? Were they green screened?

I liked the use of the helicopter and how you worked that into each scene.

The camera work was good. The pan from element to element like at the beginning of the birthday scene worked well. The dolly shots vibrated a bit. I’m having a similar issue with my homemade dolly. What kind of a dolly did you use?

 

[artofsuntzu]

Also the keying towards the end was noticeable on my second time through. Where were you shooting those shots? Were they green screened?

Hey, thanks for watching and for makig the comments.

Yeah, that keying thing. Our FISH 'R US shot was shot at a TOYS 'R US and was going to be an easy 'blue sky' key... but eventually turned into an unexpected need to rotoscope. In hindsight I'd have just created the elements from scratch on green screen.

So, the only green screen used was a clean shot of the girl at the end with the "love you" line.

 

[artofsuntzu]

Very tough working with kids, especially that young. Nice work.
The health of the brother kind of caught me off guard but it was nice to see the way this turned out.

Great storytelling, really nice music, and good framing!

Cheers,

You're very kind to comment. Thank you very much for your feedback.

I wanted to experiment to see how much dramatic information I could get from a kindergartener without telegraphing things with V/O and such. It was a big gamble.

From the subject, to the items you mentioned, there were a lot of risks I wouldn't normally feel comfortable attempting. This fest is a great catalyst.

 

[Ted Arabian]

Hey Dudley, Nice Work!

You have a very touching and endearing story here. I loved the story.

I feel that there is some work to be done on the camera work. There are some very pretty shots and some not so pretty shots. But I am sure that you are aware of that.

Wonderful soundtrack. Sent chills down my spine at the end.

Really nice film. Nice story and a nice "twist."

Congrats!

-Ted

 

[artofsuntzu]

WISH -- Very mature subject matter to tackle, here. Spoilerish

This is a tough one.

Thank you so much for putting so much detail into your feedback. I respect everyone's comments/critiques so much.

<<spoilers after this point>>
There's some interesting things people look at on the second viewing. I'm getting feedback on when they notice the same Pajamas being worn over months (birthday, Christmas, Valentines) that it was a subtle way of showing that the illness was on-going.

Yeah, the subject. It's not happening to me, thankfully. I took Jack's storyline from actual accounts from the BC Transplant Society and personal experiences at our Children's Hospital. Things like waiting list timelines and infections were considered in the story.

But the most striking thing about the accounts is the similar experiences people have at the psychological level: mainly guilt. Guilt about things like the way the girl seems to want things outside of the family drama. Guilt about how to treat rivaling siblings when one is healthy yet that one is acting in a natural but selfish way. Not to mention the sense of transplant list 'lottery' and waiting.

<<<spoiler end>>

I do admit, there are a lot of risks in that one.

 

[artofsuntzu]

Hey Dudley, Nice Work!

You have a very touching and endearing story here. I loved the story.

I feel that there is some work to be done on the camera work. There are some very pretty shots and some not so pretty shots. But I am sure that you are aware of that.

Wonderful soundtrack. Sent chills down my spine at the end.

Really nice film. Nice story and a nice "twist."

Congrats!

-Ted

Ted, the Cinematography Award is not at risk here. Wow, there's some high-bar, gorgeous work in the fest!

Thank you so very much for all of your input.

I can't tell you how much I value people taking the time to watch and then to comment. I love the way some have enjoyed the story and how some have felt about the ending.

I enjoy that I was able to take some people on an emotional journey. But, I am anxious to weed-out my obvious deficiencies, too. So, thank you, again, for the reviews.

 

[Ted Arabian]

I enjoy that I was able to take some people on an emotional journey.

You did. I was really touched by your film.

 

[Chris Messineo]

Overall, this was very sweet.

However, as someone else mentioned I was surprised when I found out the boy was sick. Initially I thought the girl was mad at her brother over the death of her fish and her candle. I actually thought she was going to wish him away. I don't know if you meant for that kind of a twist, but I wanted to be honest about my first reaction while I was watching it.

 

[Gohanto]

I'm back and forth on this one. There are some parts I really enjoyed and others not so much. I LOVED the first shooting star, but then when more started coming I really didn't think much of it. Just took me out of it, but I can see where the idea came from, just didn't work for me personally. Music was GREAT. I did really like the star field opening (didn't even notice it was rotoscoped till 2nd viewing), but I noticed the sky is shown in the reflection of the window in the opening shot without stars. Would've been VERY hard to get that right, but something I noticed.

The fish picture on the fireplace was nice and the use of the helicopter was interesting as well.

The music at the end was great, but the fathers reaction was a bit cheesy for me. I think I would've rather seen him look at his cell phone, and collapse to his knees instead.

Great job.

Now one thing I'm very curious is how on earth did you get that overhead shot of the car door opening towards the end over the streetlight? Working with a super-crane?

 

[artofsuntzu]

Overall, this was very sweet.

However, as someone else mentioned I was surprised when I found out the boy was sick. Initially I thought the girl was mad at her brother over the death of her fish and her candle. I actually thought she was going to wish him away. I don't know if you meant for that kind of a twist, but I wanted to be honest about my first reaction while I was watching it.

Thank you so much for giving it a watch.

*** here's a quick analysis of the twist ***

Yup, the misdirection was entirely intentional. The setup only hints at her wishing about her fish. For example, the father makes the comment... but not her. For example, the book suggests pages about her fish... but we never see any concrete evidence about the fish.

It's not until Valentines that we actually see the pages... and the true wish for the brother's heart. Now, we can go back and see that clues about the brother were always there: coughing is constant, his picture is just as prominently displayed on the mantle as the fish picture, the pajamas are constant, the girl never mentions a wish for the fish.

You are entirely right to feel surprise at the 'twist'. I used the father as a proxy for the audience's assumptions. He even comments--around the same time that the audience is informed--that he doesn't know what the girl wants... he learns it isn't the fish at the Fish 'R Us.

The book goes on to show that the girl first understands her brother's mortality after learning about mortality through her fish's death.

That's why she looks crushed at every failed wish... because she knows there's a ticking timelock concerning her brother's need for a heart.

The reveal had to undo a lot of assumptions. The shock of the blood was an Overt Reveal to help focus the audience on the image on hand. For those who prefer a more Metaphoric Reveal, I also included the fact that there's a Heart given at Valentine's Day. EDIT: oh, and talking about metaphors, the fish was a Red Herring.

We spent some time trying to keep the clues consistent during repeat watches... in some way it's kind of like Fight Club meets ET.... in some way.

 

[artofsuntzu]

Now one thing I'm very curious is how on earth did you get that overhead shot of the car door opening towards the end over the streetlight? Working with a super-crane?

LOL. We found a location that matched the look of the parking lot. The location was under a bridge. I merely radioed the actors down below as I hung over the edge of the bridge with the camera. The coolest part about the shot is that it's somewhat motivated... as a reverse angle from the shooting star's pseudo-POV.

 

[Bryce A]

cute kids

 

[ilauzirika]

wow, great film.
I loved the ending, its so powerful.
The music is also great and flows with the images.

congratulations!

 

[artofsuntzu]

cute kids

Thank you. Even at their ages, they'll be happy to hear that. Luckily, they got their cuteness from their mother's genes.

Had they got their looks from my genes, I'd have had to do a lot of CGI work to take it out

 

[artofsuntzu]

wow, great film.
I loved the ending, its so powerful.
The music is also great and flows with the images.

congratulations!

Thanks so much for the nice review.

I'm glad that you enjoyed the ending. At times I wondered if I should add more exposition for the ending. But I'm very happy to hear that you enjoyed it as is.

Thanks.

 

[mentatDUKE]

SunTzu, this was a touching film. I like your child actors. They seemed pretty natural. I found it interesting that you used a few humor beats within a pretty serious story (The car door in the crotch). I didnt get that the brother died. I thought he got better at the end from the wish. Did I completely miss the boat on this? Kholi's statements lead me to believe I may have.

If he did die, I'm not sure I like that ending.

Good job making us care about the characters.

 

[artofsuntzu]

SunTzu, this was a touching film. I like your child actors. They seemed pretty natural. I found it interesting that you used a few humor beats within a pretty serious story

Thank you so much for getting into the little movie. I tried to interject humor so that the audience 1) has an appropriate time to release tension and laugh; and, 2) has a deeper emotional drop from the drama after experiencing an emotional high from any humor.

I thought he got better at the end from the wish. Did I completely miss the boat on this? Kholi's statements lead me to believe I may have.

Your interpretation was exactly how I intended to tell the story. He DOES get better at the end. The Text Message was my way of letting the audience know that a heart was found for the boy. I had a version of the film that would have had more exposition... but I've found that the current cut was enough for people to figured it out without additional dialogue.

I hope that the majority of people understood that the wish saved the boy. If the wish didn't save the boy, then that ending would have been too depressing for me, too.

EDIT: the boy had to live, anyway. My wife wouldn't have ALLOWED a depressing ending.

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

He DOES get better at the end. The Text Message was my way of letting the audience know that a heart was found for the boy. I had a version of the film that would have had more exposition... but I've found that the current cut was enough for people to figured it out without additional dialogue.

I hope that the majority of people understood that the wish saved the boy. If the wish didn't save the boy, then that ending would have been too depressing for me, too.

EDIT: the boy had to live, anyway. My wife wouldn't have ALLOWED a depressing ending.

Yah, I thought the boy lived as well. The text he received made it pretty clear I thought.

Cheers,

 

[ilauzirika]

Thank you so much for getting into the little movie. I tried to interject humor so that the audience 1) has an appropriate time to release tension and laugh; and, 2) has a deeper emotional drop from the drama after experiencing an emotional high from any humor.

It really dropped me, I was really touched by this movie.