"Picture" - A film by Amy Beth O'Brien

shawneous said:
Hey Amy! I enjoyed watching this. Absolutely beautiful to watch, I didn't understand what happened. I thought the girl was a ghost, but then she goes to the hospital, and then you end on a shot of a living premature baby, so not sure what the point was. The bummer for me was that you spent 6 minutes on one setup: mommy, take a picture. And then you didn't pay it off. I'd have loved to see less repition of 'oh look, ghost girl saying the same thing again' and more payoff about what happened.

That said, i think you are growing tremendously as a director. You have a strong sense of vision, big bravo.
Click to expand...

my impression was we were to make the "ghost" assumption upon seeing the girl (and her disappearing act), and then with the reveal of the baby fighting for its life, it revealed that young girl to be a future echo of the girl the baby would grow into. i'm not saying it's right, but that's the thought process that ran through my head as i watched it.
 
Nice film Amy. As far as the ending goes some people seem to forget it is the Twilight Zone!! If it gives you something to think about then it work....
 
Zak Forsman said:
my impression was we were to make the "ghost" assumption upon seeing the girl (and her disappearing act), and then with the reveal of the baby fighting for its life, it revealed that young girl to be a future echo of the girl the baby would grow into. i'm not saying it's right, but that's the thought process that ran through my head as i watched it.
Click to expand...

that's what I got Zak... you just put it into better words.
 
I enjoyed this film, like Zac I thought it may be a ghost, or just her mind playing tricks on her, I really enjoyed it, I like the dark but well defined lighting, the acting was good as was the camera work, topped off with a good story great job
 
I keep thinking there's no more good films to come but I thought this was really well made and subtle. Your actress was perfect. Technically great, lighting, camera, sound - apart from one element - i could not make out what the guy was saying on the phone.

Other than you made some great directorial choices and the mood of the piece was pitched just right.

SPOILER AHEAD

I have to ask about the end as we're a little confused. Did she go to see the body of her daughter and then put the pictures back into the frames or have we mis-read it? Either way I assumed she confronted some repressed feelings about facing her lost child.
 
Wow, take a day off to help a friend with a movie and look what I come back to!

First, thanks for the compliments and comments. I'm glad people are enjoying the film. I've passed your comments on to Sam, my DP, as well.

I'm not really sure as to how far I should go into explaining things. I don't want to venture into "defensive" territory. I intentionally left certain things vague. Hopefully, that doesn't come across as a cop-out. I have a clear idea of the story and back story, and if people see it the way I do, great. If they get something else out of it, I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. If you want to know how I see it, check out Zak's answer a page back. He hit it on the head, and quite eloquently.

If you want a further peek into my thinking, here goes (highlight to read):

In short, no, the baby isn't dead. She's alive the the NICU. Rebecca is processing her guilt and grief over the situation, and hasn't quite come to terms with it. Taking her baby's picture is accepting the reality - a picture is a record of history, it is saying "Yes, this is happening." One of the pictures is of the baby being held by her mother. FYI, these are actual pictures from my daughter Cheyenne's 12 week stay in the NICU.

I won't go to far into defending my story, but I have to say that I disagree the idea of a mother not going to see her child in the hospital is far-fetched. Post-partum has different effects on different women. That's all I'll say about that.

It wasn't my intention to confuse people, just allow some room for thinking. I don't need to get into a whole long discussion about it here. I felt I should offer my perspective on things. Not syaing I won't talk about it at all - I'd be happy to have a more in depth conversation with those who want to in PM's or email. Don't think we need to fill this thread with it.
 
yeehaanow said:
The part that sticks in my mind is the diffused light from the hospital doors. How was that achieved?
I have to commend you for such great direction of a kid. I learned that it 'ain't so easy!

You really fooled me and creeped me out along the way. Awesome work.
Click to expand...

As for the lights, we put a couple of 1K Arris behind the doors, but that created hot spots. In Motion (I don't know After Effects that well, but I'm sure you could do the same thing in AE) I applied a "Glow" filter that blew out the windows to even out the lighting. That's it. I had to mask out the ceiling lights so they wouldn't blow out any more than they already were.

And, wow! I creeped you out? Anti_De_Presence is far creepier, so thanks.
 
Last edited:
That was awesome! Wow. Really wow. The pace was so spot on. It was a slower pace but never lulled. It felt so real. I actually gasped a little and said "da**it" when the glass broke in the sink and she cut her hand. The lighting was so natural. The entire time I never once felt like I was looking at something that had a half dozen people behind the camera standing around working. Subtly gorgeous, really. And the music was PERFECT. Great job, again, it looked and felt SO real to me. Wow.
 
Amy - you are extremely incredibly professional with lighting and framing. I love the score. The story and the acting were so emotional. Very nice work - it's one of my favourites! :thumbsup:

Susanne
 
Thanks for the comments! I can't take all of the credit, so I'll pass along your compliments to my awesome crew.

Galbac - we used a combination of doorway and pocket dollies.
 
Great to see you in the fest Amy,

This is a bit more serious than your previous work and its good to see you spread your wings. I really like the score with the music box notes in the beginning. Creepy and appropriate for the subject matter.

The lighting is very naturalistic, it could be raised in a few areas but I would rather error on the darker side given the tone. I think it would help if you rerecorded the answering machine male voice. It's a bit inaudible at times and it easy enough to fix. The jump cuts in the bathroom are a nice touch, I would have like to see the performance be a little less linear to give them greater impact. It feels like only a half of second or so passes and I think they could be broader to show a steeper arc of grief; crying hysterically, staring into space, sobbing. Love the dolly out at the end of it though.


One of my favorite shots in the entire fest is the hospital hallway shot. Steady cam, camera sped up and the subject in silhouette as she walks toward the doors. beautiful! your lead actress is good thought but I really like her performance on the phone, very subtle given the climactic info.

No problem understanding the story, well executed.

Great job!

Jim
 
Thanks Erez and Bosindy.

I love the hospital shot, too. It came out just as I envisioned it when I wrote it. It was the reason I stepped up to the HVX (as opposed to my DVX) and shot 720pn rather than 1080 so I could take advantage of the frame rates. It's all about knowing what you want to accomplish and choosing the right tool.

The answering machine was recorded "clean" so I can go in and play with the post effects to make it more audible. Thanks for the advice.

Glad you enjoyed it. I think next time I might try my hand at a little bit of action . . .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top