WHERE THE HEART LIES ... Johnson, Hyten, Golden & Bullis

Hey David! Thanks for stopping by. Actually, Electric Image was used in two shots that are NOT in this 6-minute cut of the film. There is a crane shot and an exterior shot that used EIAS, but we didn't have room in this short version to include them.

For those of you who hang out here in the fest threads without spending a lot of time elsewhere, David S is one of the real HVX mavens on the forum and a good friend with a production company in Washington.
 
Mark, I haven't read any of the other reviews for your film yet, but I'm sure they will echo what I'll say. This was an excellent film. Everything about it was strong; the acting, editing, directing, lighting and the story. I really enjoyed it. Just a very professionally done piece of work.

I did also like the story, but I knew something was going to happen and that he (the husband) was at a different room than where his wife was. The buddy doing the deed seemed to come out of nowhere, but of course once the hubby was shot, you knew it had to be the buddy. Unless I missed something, it would have been nice to see a very subtle indication early that the buddy was or would be involved some kind of way. Maybe a funny look or something that you could go back to and say, "so that's why he looked like that" or "that's why he said that." Like giving the audience a chance to figure out the plot (even though they won't). Makes them feel that they should have been paying more attention.

I also wanted to mention that the sound was flawless and I loved the transition shots. Good work. You definately know what you're doing. Good luck.
 
leenewton said:
... Unless I missed something, it would have been nice to see a very subtle indication early that the buddy was or would be involved some kind of way. Maybe a funny look or something that you could go back to and say, "so that's why he looked like that" or "that's why he said that." Like giving the audience a chance to figure out the plot (even though they won't). Makes them feel that they should have been paying more attention. ... .
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Excellent point ... and one made by others here. This is the kind of thing that makes these fests so valuable. We have been giving serious thought to how we might address this with a little foreshadowing that wouldn't give away too much. I have been thinking that I wish we had shot a short scene with Jack (the buddy) and Lisa (the wife) together that wouldn't give away the affair but would be clearly seen as an indication of it after the twist plays out.

THANKS so much for this kind of feedback.
 
I have been thinking about this quite a bit and I was thinking what if you showed Lisa in a sexual act in a series of shots throughout the film and then end with the reveal of Jack and her at the end having sex.

Maybe have the first shot of a silhouetted man as he walks into the room with Lisa on the bed in act one. Then the next shot in the second act of Lisa in the throws of passion and then in the last act, the reveal. This give something more solid between the two and it helps unravel the twist. just a thought.

BTW I want to reiterate again that this was an awesome film
 
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Jack Daniel Stanley said:
tic toc tic toc boys :)
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Jack, thanks for the comments in this and the thread on the main page.

We just got back from Catalina Island where I was best man for my old college roomie's wedding. I drug Tim along to shoot video with a promise of food, beverages and bridesmaids. Lots of interesting occurrences and resulting skepticism that maturity is coming to Fat Monster any time soon.
 
bosindy said:
I have been thinking about this quite a bit and I was thinking what if you showed Lisa in a sexual act in a series of shots throughout the film and then end with the reveal of Jack and her at the end having sex.

Maybe have the first shot of a silhouetted man as he walks into the room with Lisa on the bed in act one. Then the next shot in the second act of Lisa in the throws of passion and then in the last act, the reveal. This give something more solid between the two and it helps unravel the twist

BTW I want to reiterate again that this was an awesome film
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BTW I want to reiterate that shooting a sex scene with Ana Alexander is an awesome suggestion. :) In all seriousness, the more I think about this, the more I think this is a really interesting suggestion. One thing, though, that comes to mind is the need to avoid the plot hole that comes in IF it appears that Lisa is truly believing she is flirting with the college buddy Sean. If that is the case, it is difficult to make believable that Jack would be willing to go along with things. We think it is important to make sure the viewer puts togther that Jack tips Lisa off as soon as Matt discloses the subterfuge.

Anyway, any other ideas or comments are GREATLY appreciated.
 
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Mark Johnson said:
BTW I want to reiterate that shooting a sex scene with Ana Alexander is an awesome suggestion. :) In all seriousness, the more I think about this, the more I think this is a really interesting suggestion. One thing, though, that comes to mind is the need to avoid the plot hole that comes in IF it appears that Lisa is truly believing she is flirting with the college buddy Sean. If that is the case, it is difficult to make believable that Jack would be willing to go along with things. We think it is important to make sure the viewer puts togther that Jack tips Lisa off as soon as Matt discloses the subterfuge.

Anyway, any other ideas or comments are GREATLY appreciated.
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Yea, that is a hole, but a women like this clearly has the upper hand with the men in her life that they can't help themselves. The way Tim cut it, which was great, might make the cut to the sex scenes a little tricky because there are already flash backs and now you are adding flash forwards, but I think it can be done.

I noticed you cut the "you always were the smart one" bit of dialogue at the end and that might have helped to clarify the twist. I know exposition through dialogue is not always the best, but it wasn't overly intrusive.

Although I got it the way it is right now.
 
bosindy said:
Yea, that is a hole, but a women like this clearly has the upper hand with the men in her life that they can't help themselves. The way Tim cut it, which was great, might make the cut to the sex scenes a little tricky because there are already flash backs and now you are adding flash forwards, but I think it can be done.

I noticed you cut the "you always were the smart one" bit of dialogue at the end and that might have helped to clarify the twist. I know exposition through dialogue is not always the best, but it wasn't overly intrusive.

Although I got it the way it is right now.
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Yeah, Jim, you saw the scripts and even the shooting script had some exposition there at the end but when we were on set it just wasn't working so we scrapped that dialog. We did shoot some telephone conversation that may serve the purpose, so we'll have to revisit the coverage we have. I'm also thinking that if you did the sex scenes intercut during the film you would probably have to eliminate or drastically change the flashback cutting.

I know that Blaine is very interested in seeing a rough cut of the original linear plot and I am also thinking it will be instructive to see how it plays. We departed from the linear version because we couldn't make it fit the 6 minute limitation (the flashbacks dramatically allowed us to cut out portions of scenes). So, without the time limitation it will be interesting to see how it all flows and actually consider whether using a device like quick ambiguous sex scenes might amp up and give some cohesion to the story.
 
What can I say that hasn't been said? Didgeridoo. There. As far as the film goes, there's really no need for my analysis. Kudos, thumbs up, great job.
 
I just watched this film and oh my goodness. So good. Soo, so good. I am actually slightly jealous. Can we be friends or something?

I even had to show my mother and she really liked it. For a film thats in some sort of competition with something I made, that's a real honor. Be proud.
 
Hahaha, Ryan. I love the fact that you showed this to your mother and that she liked it. Thanks for sharing that and thanks for taking the time to watch.
 
Mark Johnson said:
For those of you who hang out here in the fest threads without spending a lot of time elsewhere, David S is one of the real HVX mavens on the forum and a good friend with a production company in Washington.
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Mark and I go back to when he was using Photoshop without layers, and we were outputting video using a VideoVision Studio board that utilized pixel doubling.

840 MEGABYTE AV drive ran $1K
 
MARK, TIM, BLAINE, BULLIS....

HOORAY FOR YOU GUYS!!!

I LOVE FAT MONSTER FILMS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congrats guys! Really proud of you boys!

-Ted
 
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