VICIS - story explained on Page 22

Tomas Riuka said:
Well, quite a number of people didn't get really the story, so i wanted to explain it :)

heh :) long story with the actress... i will tell you if you come over here to Lithuania while drinking the best beer :)
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More importantly, will you promise that your actress will join us for that beer?
 
I think we all agree your actress brought a lot to this film. Pulchritude is about all I can muster.

Beautifully filmed. Again, time constraints did away with some of the meaning, but in all I think this is a very nice film.

Love the little pub.

A few issues with the subtitles. Nothing major. I'll gladly proofread for you in the future.

Very nice work. Lots to be proud of here.

Alex
 
I agree. I thought the production values were right on in this one. The light in her bedroom was particularly impressive.

And the actors were very very good, small and subtle and simple performances.

Will there be a longer version? I'm not exactly sure I got what happend at the end.

Just read your explanation.

I feel like you might have bought a little more time for clarity by shortening the first phone call and the scene with the sister. They did not drag or anything, but I can see where you might have stolen a good 30 seconds out of those scenes.
 
Very nice production values!! It felt like a real foreign film.

The story did not excite me much, but you did a good job on nearly every other aspect, a real accomplishment.
 
Mark Harris said:
I agree. I thought the production values were right on in this one. The light in her bedroom was particularly impressive.

And the actors were very very good, small and subtle and simple performances.

Will there be a longer version? I'm not exactly sure I got what happend at the end.

Just read your explanation.

I feel like you might have bought a little more time for clarity by shortening the first phone call and the scene with the sister. They did not drag or anything, but I can see where you might have stolen a good 30 seconds out of those scenes.
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Mark,

Some scenes were definitly cut that I thought were essential to the story. If you would like to read the script, let me know and I will send it to you. I did it for Mark. Johnson, that is.

:beer: Cheers,
 
Hey Guys,

thank your for you comments, i appreaciate that!
we live and learn don't we? :) shooting this movie I learned ALOT, and this
is so far the best experience i had in my short movie maker's carrer. Despite
the fact that i watched lots of video materials, read a lot of books, some
things you just have to experience on the stage, so that happened with Vicis.

Furthermore, my intention with the movie pretty much was more to see
all the movie making kitchen, how it works, what are the difficulties etc, and
I am really happy that i reached this goal. now knowing all my mistakes i did
with VICIS, hopefully i can make my next movie way better , especially working
more on the script, story, clarifying it, evaluating time, showing only what's
important and what's not... a number of things...

I want to thank all of you once again, as without dvxuser.com forums there
wouldn't be me as a movie creator! It all started here...

Thank you!
 
ConspiracyPenguin said:
Mark,

Some scenes were definitly cut that I thought were essential to the story. If you would like to read the script, let me know and I will send it to you. I did it for Mark. Johnson, that is.

:beer: Cheers,
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Cut in the edit, or not shot? If cut in the edit, do another version after the fest.
 
Beautiful film! Very good performances as well!

As has been said by others, I didn't quite get the story. Your explanation helps, but as you know, if it's not in the film, it's not in the film. If you had the material, but not the time to show it, there was a lot of things you could have edited tighter, then you could have put back in some of the story.

My one other complaint, when the friend hands the main character the scroll, I'd like to see a close-up of it right off the bat. My sick mind thought that perhaps it was another object a single woman might want.

As I said, amazing cinematography! Looking forward to your next one.
 
I have to say I had a really hard time following this story. I don’t know if its because of the subtitles, but I just didn’t understand what happened. Another film I’ll have to watch again.

I enjoyed the score. It seemed to work with picture. I’ll just have to watch again to get a better grasp on the story.

Congrats on entering the fest.
 
Mark Harris said:
Cut in the edit, or not shot? If cut in the edit, do another version after the fest.
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I wouldn't actually know the answer to this as I was just the one who wrote it. I do know of at least one scene that was shot but not used, but there were certain things that I had written that were taken out due to time constraints that I thought made the story a little harder to follow. That being said, Tomas did a great job considering this was his first film. The shots were nice and the main actress was fantastic.
 
Excellent. Really enjoyed this short, lead actress was brill, totally understood the whole storylinen too. We all have to realise change is neeeded at some stage or other ;)
Thank you.
 
I've only viewed a few films so far, and I'm glad to say that this is the best yet. While there are several areas for improvement (i.e. some of the transitions could have been tightened/improved visually and audibly), and the story explained just a touch more at the end (I was lost on why the phone call about the casting was such a big deal for a closer), perhaps taking some fat away from the beginning or middle to allow more room for the ending.

The music and audio overall was quite good, and I really dug the performances of the female leads. Nice work.

Also, cool concept overall with some nice camera work as well!

Thanks for making this and entering!
 
Hi Tomas

I think you did an excellent job on this film. Yes, the payoff could have been boosted rather, but the rest of it was great. The cinematography in particular was beautiful - I really liked the bedroom scene and the birthday party. Many people have rightly commented on your leading actress, but I also thought the younger sister looked great and did a very good job too. I think most criticisms have already been made. Just to add one detail that maybe others haven't mentioned: I think you could have made your subtitles a little smaller and less obvious - they would still have been readable.

Jason
 
Hey,

Just rewatched the flick. I enjoyed it for the most part. The production value is outstanding: the lighting is excellent, the camera work varied and rich. I really liked the theme you were going for here and thought that little Dr. Faustus-esque agreement is quite good. For a first film (hell, even if it was up to your fifth or sixth film), this was a tremendous effort. Congrats.

For me, I didn't buy into the story. I was with you until the last two scene and then it just got kind of boggled/jumbled. I mirror Mark's comments about being able to cut down/tighten a few things here and there, expecially at the beginning. It just feels like it takes too long to get into its groove. Like I mentioned earlier, beautifully shot but wasted story time., I think.

The VICIS character is a little too blunt for my taste. He come out, does his thing, then vanishes. I'm not a big fan of his sort of just saying the theme/idea of the piece. I think this could have been handled better.
Finally, I didn't buy your ending. I was confused after the first watch but then I read what was suppossed to happen and I don't think it comes off the way you intended. I just don't think we're given the information we need to follow you to your ending. She chooses NOT to go through with it? It seems to me that she has nothing to lose (as she expressed just a few scenes earlier). Also, I know you wanted us to understand that she was thinking about VICIS and what he said but I just didn't get that. The way it edits makes it seem to be for the benefit of the viewer, as if they would have forgotten the scene right before this. BUT, I think a shot of the lead thinking followed by the quick montage you've got in there would really clarify. If gives us the chance to connect what we're seeing with the character and not what the director/editor wants us to see.

Overall, I think this story has great potential and I think it's a killer of a first film. I also think you covered an amazing amount of ground and I am going to keep an eye out for your other pieces. Keep it up. The work already here is quite spectacular.
 
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