RED SHOES by Susanne Gressmann

Excellent short!

SPOILERS



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I loved the repeated use of red in various shots to reinforce the color. Really nicely done. That's the kind of attention to detail that makes a film cinematiclly strong and cohesive.

I was a little baffled by the old woman the MC helped cross the street. The final look was odd, and maybe added a few seconds that could have been used elsewhere. The look is great, I'm just not sure what it was intended to convey.

For example, those few seconds could have been used to show the MC hop the barrier he crossed on his way to the bike taxi. He runs toward the barrier, then the next cut, he's on the other side. I think a jump would have added to his desperation.

I absolutely love the ending. I'm not sure if you were going for this or not, but I picked up that a bitter memory of the past (the shoes) set up possible love interest for the future.

He comes across as somewhat drab until he puts on the shoes, then his life, or at least how he is percieved by others, begins to change for the better.

Music was great, locations excellent, pace perfect. Nice job.

Alex
 
Sehr schöner Film Susanne. Ich mag vor allem die Farben.

Das mit der alten Dame hab ich allerdings auch nicht verstanden, oder hab ich was übersehen?

Ansonsten klasse.

Frank
 
SPOILERS BELOW!!

Thanks guys for watching our film and making the comments.

Mattykins:

1. The change in colour between the two room shots was intentional to show the passing of time, but maybe it doesn't work? An hour passes between the two, in the first the idea is that the sun is not up, in the second it is.

2. We were a fairly small crew - 4 people (director, DP/cameraman, boom/sound operator, general assistant) plus the actors/extras. We were a little bit worried about getting stopped, so tried not to be too obvious, although we did have a large white reflector. We think that in Germany we are a borderline case - we thought about applying for licences, but decided it might be a long-winded burocratic jungle and we didn't have a lot of time before shooting when we started thinking about it. Berlin is a fairly laid-back city and in the event no-one stopped us and everything was fine. We are well-aware that it would probably be difficult to do the same thing in the USA?

kurtmo:

Yes, audio is something to think about.

Alex/Frank:

1. Yes, the scene with the old lady is a little weak. At the beginning of the scene I wanted the audience to think that the old lady needed help to cross the road. In reality she is a bit of an old rascal who is attracted to Jonas (MC) and his red shoes and wants to have a little fun at his expense. This was the meaning of the last part - as he runs off down the street, she watches him go with a triumphant smile and then folds her stick (which she never needed in the first place) and walks briskly off. Maybe this scene doesn't really work because I originally envisaged an older looking lady with a curved back like Quasimodo. This would have allowed us to show her old and bent crossing the road and there would have been more of a contrast when she folded the stick, straightened her back and walked off.

Alex:

2. Jumping the barrier: This was actually in an earlier cut, but was removed to get in under six minutes. We considered it less central to the story than the Old Lady sequence.

3. "I'm not sure if you were going for this or not, but I picked up that a bitter memory of the past (the shoes) set up possible love interest for the future." We were aware that this was a possible interpretation and were happy to leave it open. The main thing is that Jonas (MC) has widened his horizons a little.

Thanks once again to all of you, we really appreciate all the comments.

Susanne and Jason

P.S. We saw the first 20 films last night. We will start making our own comments shortly.
 
gut gemacht ja, thats all the german i know for now :D
good short, great mood throughout the piece.
 
sweet film. I liked how the score worked to enhance the comedy. glad to see another international offering in the fest. I hope to see more from you down the line.
 
Sehr schöner Film Susanne! Sah sehr professionell! Übrigens, müssen zur Reinigung des Badezimmer vaniety Spiegel, das war böse mit dem Zahn fügen Sie spucken alle übernehmen könnte. Loved it!


Nicely done
Rogan
 
Thanks wesley, monster crew and Dustin for the compliments. Dustin: I love your German - you are very sweet!
At the moment we are watching the films in alphabetic order so I am still looking forward to seeing yours. Afterwards we will make our comments, probably tomorrow.

Much kisses Susanne
 
When he went back to the shoe rack I was hoping he'd put on the moon boots. I was saying, "Moon boots, put on the moon boots." But then the red shoes came out.
Short was very well done. I didn't understand the German but thank goodness you put subtitles. :P
 
Thank you Mobie540. I am glad to see that somebody noticed the Moon boots. My idea was to have as many ridiculous shoes as possible on the shoe rack. I get the Moon boots on ebay in an auction, this May when we had already a temperture of 30 degrees Celsius outside. I am lucky to have found them.

Susanne
 
Susanne!!!!! I adored this film! The score was EXCEPTIONAL and your lead was wonderful. I am a complete sucker for "small" films that give you a vignette into another life or another world. I truly felt as though I was a voyeur in this one. I give you so much credit for working with subtle elements. Honestly, I felt this was truly a mature and beautiful work of art. Thank you so much for bringing this to the fest. Bravo!
 
I like your movie. The acting is great. Nice lighting, exposure and CC. It's very well done for the first movie ever. Congrats!
 
This was an entertaining film. It took me by surprise. It sucked me in and kept me with it to the end. I loved the look of it. Very nice work. :cool:
 
Thanks so much for the compliments from the last massages. It makes me happy to see that people like and enjoy our film. This is really the best reason to do somthing like this. I have to say, that I never could have made by my own this film without the great work of Jason. He was the person who wanted to make a film for TimeFest and his long work experience as a professional photographer was existential for the DP work and the lighting.

Susanne
 
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Where can I get a pair of these shoes I love them? I really liked the sense of running out of time and the whole ex gave me these damn shoes theme. Overall I liked the cinematography too. Nice job.
 
I loved this film! Excellent performances, directing, score, and story. There isn't a single thing about it that I would suggest you do differently. Top notch job!
 
This is a charming short! I was grinning happily throughout the entire thing. This is due, in no small part, to the fun details -- his hesitation before resorting to dusting off the old box, the look on his face as he re-reads the card -- great stuff. I really like this brand of quirky circumstantial humour.

You've crafted a lovely little story in six minutes. And the ending ties it all up so nicely. Well done! Congratulations.
 
Thanks for compliments from the last messages.

Pauly: If you are really interested – I bought the shoes in Corso di Porta Ticinese (this is a name of a street) at Milan in Italy when I lived there, more or less four years ago. It was a birthday present for Jason. When I wrote the script of Red Shoes I thought that we can use these shoes, because they have a big size. Then we got Ulrich as our main character and he is nearly 2 meters tall and his feet are one size bigger than Jason’s. We offered him to find other red shoes, but he didn’t want that. After the first day of shooting I think that he regretted that he didn’t get our offer, because he suffered a lot!

Susanne

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