"schism" feature length film (DVX100a)

Norm Sanders said:
Hey John,

[*]When we show the chair, then a bit of another angle, while I don't feel so much that a line was crossed, it did feel 'off' to me.
Click to expand...

behold the work of someone really bored..

180-LINE.jpg


Green = camera placement that doesn't disorient.
Red = current shot.

Line was definitely crossed here. It feels 'off' because it is off. As soon as it happened I stop and rewatched.. it took me out of it that much... :/

She is looking camera right in the first shot... so in an OTS we expect her to be look in the same direction...
 
to Norm

to Norm

Norm Sanders said:
  • When he mentioned someone's in the chair, there's no chair that I can see in the shot, so I'm confused.
  • The lines delivered felt a tad cold, or stilted ... some compelling score, however, could really bring the piece together more, as it would fill in any voids, and continue to help drive home that he's lonely, imagining things, etc.
  • The smash cut to him in bed threw me.
  • Didn't get the nurse disappearing with the lamp click- was she also an illusion?
Click to expand...

Norm,

Thanks man for the great run down!

THE CHAIR
I preferred to not show the chair until she looks and reaches towards it. I think if I showed the chair in the opening shot it kinda spoils everything upfront and wouldn't nearly set the tone it does here. She kinda snaps him out of it so we see obviously there's nothing there. But when this clip ends, we'll see what Neil sees, which I'm not giving away.

THE VOIDS
I really embraced the voids in "schism"! As often as I could. That's oftentimes life in a nursing home. Hopefully this will all feel more real (and be more successful) in the movie as a whole piece. I can understand the issues when just seeing a clip like this from a random/unknown part in the film. But I'm all about voids here in general.

TIME, PLACE, DEVICES
When you have Alzheimer's and especially with Alzheimer's dementia, as our lead here does, there's oftentimes no concept of time and depending on the person's progress a mix of reality and hallucination which increases over time. All the rules are out the window when telling a story from that point of view. Trust me, I've had many conversations that I based a lot of this off of. The nurse is there and then she's not. Totally possible. If it feels awkward or pulls you out of it, that's actually fine to me. That's the point. Imagine living that. Was she really there? And do I believe her that no one is in the chair when I can see them clearly? "schism" is my real life horror movie.

The movie is from Neil's point of view, so things jump around sometimes without warning, but that's what I wanted to show, purposely. Oftentimes I show clocks and other time passage devices to make things a bit more obvious for the viewer. But especially as the movie and Neil's condition progresses, I really wanted to try and convey that experience directly to the viewer what someone with this disease experiences. This scene in his room, by the way, occurs in the 2nd half of the movie.

Again Norm, thanks for the detailed response! Maybe I made some things clearer, maybe not. Of course my hope is once you see the full piece there won't be a need to explain some of these choices.... Time will tell! But it's great to hear these comments on the stand-alone scenes.
 
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to Loki

to Loki

Loki said:
She is looking camera right in the first shot... so in an OTS we expect her to be look in the same direction...
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Loki,

Thanks for watching!

To me, I don't show the nursing aid's head at all in the opening shot and her body is turned slightly right. Neil's head is straight to her by the end of it. Then in the OTS of Neil her body appears, to me, to be turned slightly to the right (as in the opening - look at the V-neck line of her uniform). I wanted the lighting here so that she just barely popped out of the darkness from Neil's POV. If it was lit traditionally her left shoulder would have gotten more light than the right (we flagged her up close if I recall to keep it black directly behind her) and you wouldn't have noticed this - maybe. But that's what I wanted, kinda backing up the whole time and place thing I typed a bit on in Norm's comment: people, places, and things pop in and out sometimes without rhyme or reason.

But hey, if this is our worst line crossing in the movie then I think I have most of the majors beat on continuity - he he! Seriously though, I appreciate your comments, diagram, and just the fact that you took the time to dissect that brief scene. Thanks!
 
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John... I am sorry it has taken so long, I'm going to submit comments on your two clips sometime this weekend... I just got off a 23 hour shoot... so I am wiped... but soon!
 
teaser poster, website, and first (private) screening

teaser poster, website, and first (private) screening

The official website is still a work in progress, but you can get a bit of a sneak peek here: www.schismmovie.com

Also I just posted the teaser poster on our blog site, wanted to share it here as well though: click here for large poster.



Also this weekend we had our first screening of the film for people not necessarily in the cast/crew. It was a private screening for the residents, families, and staff of the nursing facility where we filmed the movie - Brevillier Village. I was the most nervous about this screening, and I knew it would be our toughest audience, but I think it went over well. There are some photos from the screening on the blog as well.

click here for the schism blog.

Have a good one!
 
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k John.. time to review the two scenes..

I really liked the dance scene, thought that was well done...I liked the beats a lot, and the shots as well...

The other scene felt disconnected to me... beats seemed off...but maybe that is what you were going for there...

That scene almost felt creepy to me... made me uneasy...
 
Brandon Rice said:
The other scene felt disconnected to me... beats seemed off...but maybe that is what you were going for there...
That scene almost felt creepy to me... made me uneasy...
Click to expand...

Brandon,
Thanks for checking out the clips! I'm glad you got uneasy/creepy vibes with that brief scene - that's what I'm going for there. The lead has Alzheimer's dementia and often has hallucinations, but as the movie rolls he has more and more as the disease progresses and so sometimes, as a viewer, (much like the character) you aren't quite sure what's going on and if any of it is "real" - oftentimes just watch your mind run wild on you (for lack of a better explanation). This aspect gave us a lot of artistic freedom, really anything can be possible when the mind is losing it's grip, especially when you start believing what it's telling you. This scene is obviously just a tease, but I'm glad you felt that from so little.

JDS,
Fixed the teaser poster - thanks!
 
reviews/feedback so far...

reviews/feedback so far...

“I was impressed…held my total interest” – Chuck Palahniuk, author Fight Club and Choke


“ * * * ... Nuanced and arresting” – FilmThreat.com


“About as solid an indie film as one could ever wish for…Bravo! Bravo!” – Greg Ropp, president Eerie Horror Fest
 
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first public screenings

first public screenings

screened "schism" to the general public for the first time this weekend (Thurs and Fri night). 2 screenings.
1300 people attended. pretty mind blowing. here's some pics:

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we gave everyone that attended these anonymous rating sheets to put in boxes as they left. once we go through them and get a tally ill post it here. some people were in tears by the end of the movie - which is a good sign. the Q&A's both nights were very active as well.

hopefully this is just the beginning... :thumbsup:
 
more "schism" reviews...

more "schism" reviews...

"A brilliant achievement"
Erie Times-News (full review)

" * * * 1/2 ... Smith is amazing in his flawless portrayal of “Neil” "
DreadCentral.com (full review)
 
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anonymous exit ratings...

anonymous exit ratings...

EUPratings-piechart.jpg


now we need to somehow take all this recent positive feedback and get the movie into some venues! exactly as you said smashedburrito - "the rest of this". the battle's just begun...
 
Congrats on the great reviews, I wish you luck on the rest of your promotion of the film, Let us know as soon as a trailer is up and when it is available on DVD i will be sure to buy it, i cant wait to see this.

If you happen to get any showtimes in the Phoenix, AZ area let me know and i do my best to get to one.
 
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