"The Five Worst Days in the Life of Bartholomew Saxton" - Jason Spinos

Your adult actor was Cary Elwes-like. I enjoyed the way he played the role. Nice score. I like the fact that this is a tongue-and-cheek gallows humor comedy. The typwriter on the head reminded me of a Warner Bros cartoon where they drop an anvil. Nice work! :laugh:
 
Thanks Gary!

Cary Elwes, huh? You know, I can see that. I actually think he's more Jim Carrey, and Dustin thinks he's Jared Leto.

All I ever get is Jason Schwartzman. But I'm okay with that.
 
This is a very solid short film. I absolutely love it up until the "second-worst day" out, at which point it went in a direction different from where I wanted it to. The first half was hilarious, but from that point onward it seemed more tragic than humorous.

I think the acting in this entry might be the best I've seen from this fest so far. I'm sure your direction has a lot to do with that. I honestly can't think of any technical criticisms for you, which is great. I don't like where the story goes, but that isn't necessarily a critique, simply a personal preference. Everything about this is well-executed. I love the presentation and the tone. Nicely done.
 
Hey guys,
I loved the quirky tone to this short. Really, it felt like a real movie I might watch on the tele. The scene of him discovering the baby was frickin great.

Acting was pretty good all around. I never really was taken out of it by anything. Just an all around solid piece. Good job mofos.

BTW: Loved the opening titles/graphics w/ the voiceover. Nice touch and very pro.
 
Duff said:
This is a very solid short film. I absolutely love it up until the "second-worst day" out, at which point it went in a direction different from where I wanted it to. The first half was hilarious, but from that point onward it seemed more tragic than humorous.

I think the acting in this entry might be the best I've seen from this fest so far. I'm sure your direction has a lot to do with that. I honestly can't think of any technical criticisms for you, which is great. I don't like where the story goes, but that isn't necessarily a critique, simply a personal preference. Everything about this is well-executed. I love the presentation and the tone. Nicely done.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the compliments! Actually the tonal shift was exactly what I was going for. That you start out laughing, and you end up crying (well, maybe not exactly, but sad at least). However, I totally get that it didn't work for you, and that's completely legit. I'm glad you enjoyed it otherwise! Thanks so much for commenting!
 
I like the movie. The acting is good. The lighting and music are nice. The ending is a little bit weird to me. I was expecting the ending to be something that went with the theme of the movie. Anyway, your movie is one of the well made ones in this fest.
 
Jason,

This was one I was really looking forward to coming back to and I'll say that the second viewing was just as good as the first. I loved it all really: script, dialogues, acting, location, lighting, camera work and art direction.

Your family tree intro looked very professional and then the opening scenes with the tracking shot and the view of the father looking into the bin set the tone perfectly. I have a little criticism with the 4th worst day: Bartholomew grabbing the typewriter doesn't look like a very natural movement to me. The 3rd worst day worked brilliantly. Young Bartholomew was excellent and he had some of the best lines in the fest ("The clock's broken, the stupid bird won't shut up" and "Richard, I want you to make that bird stop"). These scenes also had some great cinematography and I loved how you had Young Bartolomew's haircut.

I liked the ending too. Changing the tone and ending on a happy note was not misplaced here in my opinion - give the poor guy at least one nice day! And I thought the awkwardness in the meeting was just right.

Cheers
Jason
 
Thanks Jason!

Yeah, I understand about the hand grabbing the typewriter thing. In the script, I wrote that he grabbed onto it as he fell, which I think would have made it less awkward. I can't remember why we didn't film it that way. It might have just been too dangerous.

Thank you for all the specific compliments! It's great to know exactly what worked for people.
 
Great Film Jason! Very ambitious and I loved the house. Looked really good. I was a little confused by what happened to his wife, but that's a small matter. Really enjoyed this one.

By the way, where in VA are you from?

cheers,

JP
 
Thanks jpsheets! Yeah, I was trying to leave the wife thing a little ambiguous.

SPOILERS!!!!!!

What the audience is supposed to get (let me know if you got this much) is that on their wedding night, they realize that there is something seriously wrong with her. Then in the worst day, some time has passed and whatever is wrong with her has progressed, and she passes away.

I'm from Midlothian (near Richmond).
 
jasonthewho said:
What the audience is supposed to get (let me know if you got this much) is that on their wedding night, they realize that there is something seriously wrong with her. Then in the worst day, some time has passed and whatever is wrong with her has progressed, and she passes away.
Click to expand...
Got it. :thumbsup:

This was a pretty ambitious piece and I think for the most part, you did okay. My biggest complaint was that your 50 year-old Bartholomew didn't look anywhere near 50. It took me out of the movie so early that I found it difficult to climb back in. You either needed to use an older actor OR better yet, work a lot harder on aging him with make-up, which, considering the scope of the story would have better sold the age thing.
 
Blaine said:
My biggest complaint was that your 50 year-old Bartholomew didn't look anywhere near 50. It took me out of the movie so early that I found it difficult to climb back in. You either needed to use an older actor OR better yet, work a lot harder on aging him with make-up, which, considering the scope of the story would have better sold the age thing.
Click to expand...

You're the first person to mention it. I thought I got away with it. :)

Yeah, the actor actually did his own makeup. I had tried to get a makeup artist, but failed. And I agree that an older actor would have been better, but with time constraints, and living in Waco, that was hard. Very legitimate complaint.

The biggest lesson I learned here was, don't write a character at all different ages of their life unless you have a really good casting pool or a really good makeup artist.

Thanks for commenting Blaine!
 
I like these movies that end on positive notes. However, I’m confused on the second and worst days of his life. Was the second day where his fiancé got sick? Then the last where she died?

Your lead was a good actor. Good direction and good cinematography.

Congrats on entering the fest.
 
I enjoyed this film, but feel it would have been stronger without the narration. Upon multiple viewings it seems like I'm visually getting all of the information and if the only ancillary information that I'm given is the title cards proclaiming which day it is, the film plays stronger. The narration takes some of the mystery away from me, which is an element I enjoyed.

Still, overall a good film.
 
I think there is narration that may be extraneous. However, I think there are several things that are necessary, at least, with the way I told the story.

In the opening scene with the family tree, I don't know if the graphics alone would make it clear that Bartholomew was not born a Saxton.

Without saying that the fifth worst day was the day he was born, one might think that Edward Saxton is Bartholomew Saxton, and that the fifth worst day in his life was when he discovered a baby in a trash can.

Without the line of narration prior to the day Bartholomew met Veronica, I think this day's inclusion may not seem fluid and might seem like an unexplained contradiction.

Mainly, I wanted the narration for the style of the piece as being more of a book, more of a story being told. Think the beginning of The Royal Tenenbaums.

I understand that the narration does not work for everyone though. I just think that without it, the way the movie is written, it would be incoherent.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top