COLD CALLS by John Whalen featuring Blanchard Ryan (OpenWater) & Ben Bailey (CashCab)

Jack Daniel Stanley said:

So: Did you see that the door was pulsing to the beat of the heart beat? And same goes for the door knob - vibrating like the water glass in Jurassic park?
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if you don't mind me stepping in and without giving it a second look.... I thought there was a slight compression error with the doorknob when I first saw it.

I'm now going to run back for another look.

Mike
 
Just took another peek. Yah, maybe a little too subtle.
I still had trouble catching it even though I now knew what to look for.

Love his "cubicle" though. That was a great setup! :grin:
 
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by MrKilloran
I could swear I've read the script to this... I can't remember where though...

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=135873 :)
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:nads: Oh man! That's right ... I am an idiot, I completely forgot about that. It all makes sense now. Great script and a great film. :dankk2:

Oh and I got the "AHA" moment and thought it was more the heartbeat/pounding that gave it away, but it was well played sir.
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
Just took another peek. Yah, maybe a little too subtle.
I still had trouble catching it even though I now knew what to look for.

Love his "cubicle" though. That was a great setup! :grin:
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MrKilloran said:
:nads: Oh man! That's right ... I am an idiot, I completely forgot about that. It all makes sense now. Great script and a great film. :dankk2:

Oh and I got the "AHA" moment and thought it was more the heartbeat/pounding that gave it away, but it was well played sir.
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Thanks guys. Would like to hear from anyone else to but it looks like we have our answer.

Jonathan, yeah, good that you got it, the heartbeat alone is maybe enough for some, but hopefully we can get that to tie to a visual. Nate did a great realistic job. Maybe we need a camera shake in rhythm to the heartbeats. That would probably do it. We discussed it and I told him not to worry about it for the fest version.
 
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
T
Also cooler is perceived as sharper, which can be a good thing when using an adapter on a fast schedule.

Help me and Nate out here. He did some great VFX work in just one day, maybe too subtle though???

So: Did you see that the door was pulsing to the beat of the heart beat? And same goes for the door knob - vibrating like the water glass in Jurassic park?

The way that beat is intended to work is she runs by the door and WE see it first as pulsing throbbing, then the camera tracks over to see that she sees it too. So - dramatic irony: we should have the aha moment on hour own before she does, which gives us a touch of suspense as the camera tracks over to where she is, and no need to see her aha moment, we'd get it off that. But I think it's not working so much because we haven't clearly come up with the audio / visual effect that clearly ties the heart beat to the door.


Let us know how that's reading (anyone and everyone) sounds like it's not reading as strong as we'd like.
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OHHHHH!

No, I didn't get that at all. I was re-watching through the laptop speakers (shame on me), so no thumpy thumpy either. (if it's there) Have to watch it again now.....

... Ok. I do see it, but I really had to look for it. It's just a slight wiggle. I think it should build more towards the climax of opening the door.

As a related note. The audio levels overall are too low. Seems like the whole mix just needed mastering. The heart-beat effect could use some higher frequency stuff so that it will play on laptop speakers. (I'm sure many users only play these things on their laptops. eewww. cringe)

I'm glad to hear you did this in 3 days. if you would've said 1 day I was gonna pick another profession. Thanks for posting the breakdown! So helpful.
 
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
Shot-list-by-day.jpg
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Thanks for posting this! I think the real reason why I've never really used one is because I'm wearing all the hats in the production.

Still, this would probably help me out quite a bit. It would also save a lot of "What's next?" from my cast. :)

Thanks again for this insight.


Mike
 
Yeah, I second that it was too subtle. I didn't catch it until I knew what to look for. Also, most of us are viewing the films on our computer monitors, so it may have been a different story had it been on a big screen.

However, it really didn't take me out of it at all. Still loved it.

My only note, and it's a small one, is the ending. I agree with whoever said that it should have ended on the line "it's probably gonna be for you". More of a punch.

Great film. My favorite!
 
I definitely think the doorknob is too subtle. I can hardly see it in the final version and I knew it was there. Problem being was that I thought it was coming out too strong and kept pulling it back little by little; guess I should bump it back up :) I also noticed that I didn't hear the thumpidy thump thump at first since I was just using my laptop speakers. Plugging in my headphones I could hear it again, but overall it felt a little weak.

Maybe we should make the visuals and audio a little stronger?
 
Only 3 days to shoot all of that! That sure does sound savory.

Thanks for posting the Shot List, like Michael said, I too wear all the hats for production so I don't usually use this but it certainly looks like it comes in handy. Will be helpful in the future so I'm not always second guessing my shots or doing it on the fly.

Great that you posted it.

- "speedy McSpeedster"
 
LOL JDS you have done it again.

ball to face ending lol,


Edit:
wow, just realized this had such an allstar cast & crew. CHEATER! lol.

good job everyone that worked on this. I enjoyed this mucho.
 
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Looked great! This is certainly a contender for best looking film. Very pro all around.

I was not a fan of the story. I thought it was amusing up until the "climax." The big reveal was not at all funny to me. It was rather surreal, granted, but I just didn't get the point. If she opened the door and saw a pink elephant it would have about the same impact.

I must say that this is still one of my favourites, and I have no doubt you will finish in the medals. :beer:
 
great music, great sound, REALLY great sound.
love the lighting around 3:30. cool story. really liked the ball bouncing off his head at the end. :) I didnt see why she opened the door till i read about the pulsing. Great work as usual. Waiting for my next installment of JDS-vision!
 
This one looked really great.

One only nitpick: I was taken aback by the sudden shift in tone -from creepy to funny- but nonetheless I found myself chuckling. So it worked.

This looks very very pro. And was a pleasure to watch.

Looking forward to watch more of your films.
 
TimurCivan said:
size of the bathroom....

its colossal
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Oh that :) Yeah I guess I wasnt surprised necessarily by the size but the arrangement - expected alot more empty space where the mirror/wall was. Yeah anytime you can get a crane and boom op and the rest of the crew in a bathroom... I suppose thats rather large... and 4-5 person tub. thats a tad big...
 
This movie is bomb. It is something we all can relate to, with a twilight twist. My favorite part was the reveal that the ball in the closest was making the heartbeat sound.
Very enjoyable, mad kudos to Cash Cab.
 
I'm sorry I couldn't make this one Jack... damn, I would have really enjoyed being on-board for this.

That flick is tight... well-shot... well-directed... well-written... and performed well. SOLID!

Gotta' love Ben Bailey... his stock just went through the roof... congratulations to the whole cast and crew!
 
“My God, Woman! Get out now!” There should be an award for best line delivery. It would go straight to DJ Hazard.

Seriously great film. Great this great that, etc… and you know it. What gets me is how superb the comedy is compared to the other non-serious entries in the fest. You managed to get quite a few genuine laughs and never let down on the pacing. John Whalen’s script is perfect coming from the mouths of the actors. AND they pull it off without seeming to break a sweat.

I’ll throw in a quick gripe I gave the Broadcast crew about production value (that’s all encompassing of the production's quality): Once or twice a fest a film comes and hits like an atomic bomb blowing everyone else out of the water. We don’t stand a chance! Yipes!

Great work cast and crew.
 
Great work by all involved! I enjoyed it immensely.

Didn't get the pulsing door, which seems to be the consensus.

Only other criticism, (which honestly you can't fix now) was the look of the telemarketer's workspace. Reading the script, I imagined him with his knees crunched into his face, wires and chords everywhere, and the walls covered with things. I think it could've played more surreal and funny with an even more outrageous space.

Great short, though, and fun to see a Scriptfest entry brought to life. Also refreshing to see a comedy in a fairly dark fest.
 
Just wanted to say that this is some beautiful stuff Timur.
My favorite of yours.
I'll post later with thoughts for you jack when I have a little more time.
 
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