"Given" by Dustin R. Rogan

I realized after shooting whilst I was editing that the "I'm going to be a father" line was gonna go 50/50...you either got it or no...depends on if you're looking at the actress before he said it...I'm glad the CC was pleasing all around...i was worried about that...to be honest I thought I was doing it wrong. The transistion scene didn't come out the way I wanted it to but with a full time job and the kid half the time its kinda hard to do a reshoot on my schedule working at 4am 6 days a week. but one can only get better from here right. Camera Movement will definatily be in my next short! So keep watching I'm not finished, hell no, not by a long shot! With all that said, I am pleased with everything in general for my directorial debut. DVXuser.com is such a blessing thanks to everyone that watched and criticed and to the mods for hosting!!!
 
Nice job, Dustin. I enjoyed this even though it was fairly predictable. I never had any doubt which button was going to be pushed. This looked nice and I'll agree with a earlier review that the montage was probably the weakest part of this film.
 
I like this one on theoligical discussion alone, but what really lacked in this film was voice over work for you main dialogue.

As for what button I would push concerning the story, . . . Up.
 
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I liked the camera work especially the outside scenes early in the film. The pans and angles were nicely done. I also liked the filming in the hospital sequence. Acting was solid, but not standout. I wasn’t surprised by the story or the ending, but it worked. The music was well done.
 
Bravo on aiming for something high and showing love in a different light. You've done some good things, but in the interests of improvement, I'll highlight a few things that didn't work for me.

First off, the transition from life to death didn't really work. There needed to be more of pop, and we needed to see him get up, confused, etc.

Secondly, and I feel bad for saying this, the actress just coudn't do it. I didn't believe her sadness. You could have helped her out by not showing the moment she learned. It's hard to write songs with high notes when your singers can't hit them.

The ending was predictable, but still kudos for going for the spiritual. I'm glad I watched it.
 
shawneous said:
First off, the transition from life to death didn't really work. There needed to be more of pop, and we needed to see him get up, confused, etc.

Secondly, and I feel bad for saying this, the actress just coudn't do it. I didn't believe her sadness. You could have helped her out by not showing the moment she learned. It's hard to write songs with high notes when your singers can't hit them.

The ending was predictable, but still kudos for going for the spiritual. I'm glad I watched it.
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The transition between getting hit by the car and afterwards was originally going to have the title there....wasn't till i re-read the rules that I put title at beginning...kinda confusing because I saw some films that had title after beginning...so now i'm kicking myself b/c I should have asked someone if it were ok...but I didn't want to be dq'd on my first film, you know?
 
I enjoyed your film. Very ambitious subject matter. I liked the ending... I wasn't sure which way he was going. Up was the right choice! :)

I might rethink the poster. It's kinda creepy to tell you the truth. Doesn't do your film justice.
 
interesting film! solid cinematography - there are some issues with pacing and story here and there, but this is great for your first short!

i'm surprised no one has mentioned the death scene! i'd love to hear some details on how you set up and executed the car accident. it played so well i (sorry to admit this) that i stopped your movie and watched 3-4 times before going on.

i have to give you credit for best fx/stunt in this fest!
 
Cliff Wildman said:
interesting film! solid cinematography - there are some issues with pacing and story here and there, but this is great for your first short!

i'm surprised no one has mentioned the death scene! i'd love to hear some details on how you set up and executed the car accident. it played so well i (sorry to admit this) that i stopped your movie and watched 3-4 times before going on.

i have to give you credit for best fx/stunt in this fest!
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Thank You...finally someone noticed lol...we made sure street was clear....actor crossed street, acted like car hit him, then couple seconds later i had the car zoom on through. Then in post I masked him frame for frame and it worked perfect...Thanks for noticing!
 
This was a well done film. I liked a lot of the choices that you made. My only issues were that the CC seemed to change within scene when the main character was sitting down and was told that he was dead and the transition of them walking into the camera always kind of bothers me but that's more of a personal hang up. Overall it was well made and nicely shot an lit. Good music. Nice job.
 
Wow! I cant figure out how you did the car scene at the beginning. My only criticism might be the acting at times. Entering his house, wife’s upset and homeless man sitting at the piano. It’s tough with heavy dialog, but I wanted him to be more terrified maybe throughout. The story, locations, camera work, music and lighting where excellent. Great ending.

Watch my Lovefest Entry! goodSAM here
 
Anthony Pierce said:
Wow! I cant figure out how you did the car scene at the beginning. My only criticism might be the acting at times. Entering his house, wife’s upset and homeless man sitting at the piano. It’s tough with heavy dialog, but I wanted him to be more terrified maybe throughout. The story, locations, camera work, music and lighting where excellent. Great ending.

Watch my Lovefest Entry! goodSAM here
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Had the actor cross the street when he hit his mark, he acted like he was hit by a car. then once he was safely off the street, had the SUV come barrowing down the street. Then in post I masked the actor frame by frame to match the SUV perfectly. Thanks for watching!
 
dustin - if you have some time could you post a few frames of the car accident and explain yourself in more detail. i 'get' what you did, but i don't GET what you did.

like i said before that was a standout to me and i'd like to subscribe to your newsletter. :2vrolijk_08:
 
damn, that guy just got hit by a car! that looked really cool.

ambitious story, props for that. predictable yes, but thats okay.

the lead's acting was okay but not great, he had a LOT to go through as a character and i didnt quite believe he did ( he just died, man! ). the woman was okay. the caretaker of purgatory was good.

i liked the shots in the hospital and loved the street scene in the beg. not too crazy for the living room scenes where he sits next to his pregnant wife. they were kinda cheesy and distracting but i think the idea of showing this part of the story was a good one, i dont know what i'd do differently there. and the elevator in the end was a good way to finish the film. congrats!
 
Hey Dustin, I just enjoyed watching your film again. Really well done. And then I was reading through your thread and catching the comments people made. A couple stood out...

The first being that THIS IS YOUR FIRST FILM???? Whoa! I had no idea! This is pretty incredible for you FIRST FILM!!! (It would be good for your 10th film!)

You have such wonderful blocking and framing going on here. And the lighting is that of a seasoned pro. Really well done!

The second comment of mine comes from Will's post.

Wild Imagination Films said:
I don't understand Ted's confusion though. She clearly says, "What are we going to do?" While rubbing her belly when she finds out he died. Pretty clear to me what's going on.
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In watching this a second time, yes... one could find that it is obvious what is going on. (and I think that Will finds it clear because he obviously worked with you and knew the story prior to this debut.) But seriously, I would never guess that this guy would come to this conclusion (that his wife was pregnant.)

What would have worked nicely for me (and made it clear) would be an tight insert shot of her hand on her belly. Honestly, I thought that it was an actor's choice to show that she was so upset that she was grabbing her stomach while she was wrenching in pain.

Not a biggie. Just defending my opinion by the comment left by Will.

....

The bigger picture here is that you have wonderful entry and a "first film" that you can be very proud of!

I find that storytelling is the most difficult aspects of filmmaking. One of the things that I am really trying to work on myself.

Great job! I look forward to more of you work!

-Ted

And kudos on the car accident! NICE!
 
wow! thanks for the comment ted! I enjoyed killing my main actor...lol Thanks for watching again, I can assure you I'm nowhere near finished with this career!!


Dustin
 
I agree. Nice film Dustin. The story was good and the acting was fine. It probably could have been a little better, but it still worked I think. And the car hit still has me racking my brain. That was really good. Looked so real. I'd be really curious to see how you did that one. Really nice job for a first film! I'm like Ted, I would never have guessed it.
 
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