TROIKA -- A Short Film by Brian C. Parker

Alex: Hey, thanks for checking it out. Glad you liked the dialogue. I was really hoping for a little more dimension to the lead performance but I felt like he did a decent job. I'm trying to push myself to interact with the actors more so that the performances can be cultivated and produce even better results.

Haha, glad you liked the part about being in a movie and if I can be considered directing boldly than I think I'm starting to move in the right direction. Thanks for all of your feedback man.
 
The commonality between the three women is the heartbreak they communicate while he tries to undermine that truthfulness. But I feel like his reality is far darker.

Pleasing Work (Three Stars)
 
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gvansant: You know, that was exactly what I was going for! :grin: Thanks for the feedback and for checking it out!
 
Ah man! For a second there I thought he had killed all three of those women and they were the ghosts/delusions of his mind.

At first I thought you used a bad 35mm adaptor, but looking at your BTS pics I see you used the stock camera. So did you just go overboard on a radial blur? It was too much.

Your audio was distracting. I'd recommend getting the mic ALOT closer to the mouths. Your dialogue was good, let's hear it better next time.

Melody was the hottest.
 
shawneous: Man, that'd been messed up if he had killed them.

Yeah, I was trying to make things fuzzy and the general concensus seems to be that it was too much so I already started toning it down and tweaking it for the Director's Cut.

Audio has always been my achille's heel and I know you have no frame of reference but I've been trying to improve it from my previous work. I know how critical it is to a good film and spent a lot of time trying to fix it in post although that only helps a little. Glad you liked the dialogue.

You mean Melanie? Yeah, she was wearing jeans originally but opted to shoot her scenes without them on. Who am I to argue? Thanks for all of the feedback. I really appreciate it.
 
Brian - just watched it for the second time.... and I haven't read through this thread so you can get my honest reaction - so here we go:

First off - interesting concept, though I felt some of the exposition in the dialogue didn't come off as well as it could have. Though honestly I don't know if the issue is with the dialogue itself, I suspect it's more with the performances - I just wasn't feeling a whole lot of chemistry between him and the women (except for a few moments with the one that was laying on the bed). Overall I think this piece has a solid idea going at the core of it, but more sincerity in the performances would have sold it to me. I didn't really believe this guy was ever upset enough to consider shooting anyone.

Techwise I'm sure you know what the issues are, so I won't spend too much time on it.
Their was an aspect ratio issue wiht the file I downloaded, so everythign seemed a little squished. The audio also was a bit weak. But these things to me are all forgivable and easily fixable in the future - so story is what I would concentrate on.

The thing I do have to give you a huge congrats on is keeping the piece moving visually. There isn't a whole hell of a lot you can do in a hotel room shotwise - but you did a great job of keeping them moving, keeping the blocking smooth and changing up your shots - all without confusing me as to who was where in the room. That is a hell of a feat in my book. So as far as your shot construction and blocking goes - which is an area I think I personally need a lot of work on - you did a great job with a very limiting location.

Editing wise I feel the pace could have been picked up a bit, and there were a few times I felt you were relying on the music a bit too much to move things along. But with a quicker pace to the dialogue and more honest reactions from the actors - this could be a really solid piece.

Going back to the acting for a second - I think that is what was bothering me ... they didn't seem to react to eachother much. Acting is all about listening to the other person, and often times I felt they weren't really listening to eachother but just waiting to say their next line.

I hope you find these comments helpful (because that is how I intend them) - overall I think you should be proud of the work you did with your blocking and shots, which is a huge part of directing - and would concentrate your next piece on getting the best performances out of your actors that you can.

Nice work - interesting concept - and thanks for sharing it with us.
Looking forward to seeing you enter the next fest.
:thumbsup:
 
Luis: Wow. Thanks for all of the great feedback. This is the kind of stuff I've really been hoping for.

Yeah, the technical issues still trip me up. This was my first time shooting in HD and I spent a while trying to adapt which led to some complications on the exporting to final format. As far as the audio goes, I dropped the ball on mic setup in some places. None of this is to make excuses but moreso for my benefit to reinforce what I've been learning from all the feedback that I've received.

Thanks for the compliments on my shots and blocking. It's an area I'm still a little nervous about and the fact that you think it worked is awesome.

As far as editing goes, I wonder if I'm too close to the work and if I should pass it off to somebody else to edit in order to cut extraneous bits. I'm definately not stuck on the one-man-show bit but I know that sometimes I shoot sporadically and I'm hesitant to assume that somebody can sort through the mess that is often my raw footage.

Ah, the acting. Yeah, I definately understand what you mean. I've always liked the idea of being an actor's director but I often get bogged down with the technical and logistical aspects of the shoot and kind of neglect my actors. There wasn't a lot of rehearsal unfortunately and when we shot, I was doing my best to move briskly in order to allow for people's various schedules. It's an area I definately need to focus on (got myself some Judith Weston books) and I hope to be able to grow.

I definately do find your comments helpful and I'm really glad that you stopped by to give them. Your film was one of my top favs from the whole fest and it means a lot to me that you'd share them with me. Thanks Luis. I appreciate it man.
 
Champloo said:
Mark: Thanks Mark. I'm really trying to improve on my skills working with actors.... one of the first things I need to do is connect with a good DP who I can trust so that I can give the actors a little more time.
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Hey Champloo, I think you have a great understanding of what you want in the future. That is a 100 times better than making a mind blowing film and not looking for improvement. You have a vision and a passion for getting this stuff off the ground. Those are the keys you need. Looking forward to your next project. Oh and great job on casting a million beautiful people.
 
Champloo, I liked the story here. The acting could have been better, but we all have to work with what we have. Sometimes you can't tell your acting isn't believable until you get into the editing room. I learned that after it happened to me a couple of times. So, now I make sure when I'm on the set that I really believe it there. If it happens there, then it'll even be better once you're editing. I did also think that it looked a little too soft. Other than that, I liked it. It was cool how you had to try and figure out exactly what was going on with the different women just suddenly appearing. I'd like to see it again if you plan to change anything. Good luck.
 
BRYCE: Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad that you see those qualities in me and I'm going to try my hardest to cultivate them. I'm flattered, especially considering how much I enjoyed Tailight. Looking forward to seeing more of your work as well. Oh, and thanks for the compliment on casting. Aaron has a good look and the ladies are definately beautiful...the three of them were often a little distracting. Thanks for the feedback Bryce.

leenewton: Glad you liked the story. Yeah, I'm planning on really trying to focus more on the performances now. Thanks for the tips. I'm gladly taking in all of the great advice I've received. I've been putting together the Director's cut and I've toned down a lot of the fuzzy look as well as recut a 9 minute version which I feel gives the actor's performances a better and more consistent flow. I'm thinking about posting it somewhere for anybody who'd like to see it. Looking forward to seeing more of your stuff. Thanks for the feedback man.
 
Good job mate. So the lead was going to shoot himself for failed relationships? (or shoot the ex's - sorry I'm tired, brain not working).

I see in the BTS shot of you filming there's an xlr chord, I thought sound was camera mic. What was your setup then?

There's some problems with the film but they've all been mentioned, have to say though I hope we can all take a page out of your book and be appreciative on constructive critisizm.

Looking forward to your next one.
 
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