"MY NAME IS HAROLD ALLEN" - A Film By Ben Sliker and Justin Kuhn

Awesome stuff! This is probably one of the best that I have watched so far. The story really sucked me in and I would absolutely love to see an expanded version of it. Great Work!
 
deedive said:
harold is part of the army of the 12 monkeys, lol
Really liked this piece, you used the montage perfectly.
Loved the way you handled his memory.
One of the best paced films i have seen in all the fests.
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haha, our stencil isn't nearly as cool as that one!
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filthrich said:
One of my favs. No problems at all with this IMHO. It felt much longer than six minutes. Great locations.
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believe it or not, all of the locations were within about a 1/4 mile of each other. The studio we shot the greenscreen and "cheating" scenes has this phenomenal outdoor area around it and is also under construction so it looked really beat up as well.

Jarrod Homer said:
Awesome stuff! This is probably one of the best that I have watched so far. The story really sucked me in and I would absolutely love to see an expanded version of it. Great Work!
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Thanks Jarrod!
 
I posted this in the other thread Mark refers to, but here it is again:

Loved it! My favorite work I've seen of yours yet.

The editing was excellent, esp. in his memory sequences. Kind of I Heart Huckabees, but still unique in its own right. The shifting memories ("She hated bacon!", replace with apples. Awesome) were done perfectly and were interesting, cinematic, and clever.

Loved the water symbol, and the chime sound cue that accompanied it.

Also liked his name search, a great way to tie it all together.

My big complaint is that the end lacked some clarity for me. I didn't quite get that it was seeing the symbol that brought back his memory. I think only having one shot that connects him to being part of the water poisoning is not quite enough. It slipped by me on the first viewing.

I showed it to my wife, and she really liked it too. Her criticism was that she didn't understand the timeline. If the world destruction was recent, why was Harold hunting for food, when he could easily have found tons of canned food in all these newly abandoned homes? And if it was a long time back, why were his clothes still in such good condition?
 
Thanks Mark and Jason!

I'll re-post Mark's comment, cause he obviously took some time to write it out, a link doesn't do it justice.

Without question my absolute favorite of the many "classic" film scenarios is the "last survivors on earth" varietal. I'm a sucker for all of them that are successful in creating a sense of isolation and desolation. I was floored by "On the Beach" - a true masterpiece - but also must admit that I enjoyed almost as much watching the low budget B-flick "The Earth Dies Screaming" (which I would bet money was part of the inspiration for "28 Days"). I still hope desperately for a decent remake of "Day of the Triffids" and for somebody to make a film from the Luna Brothers' graphic novel "Girls." As much as I hated the flaws of Will Smith's "Legend", I still have watched it repeatedly just for the almost flawless rendering of a deserted Manhattan. ... So, it is with great pleasure and no small amount of admiration that I announce that this little 6-minute gem is a happy addition to my personal collection of favorites.

When Ben first asked if we might help him find someone to assist with the closing FX I made a mental note to try and keep the project in the Monster house once I learned what it was. I've always wanted to do a ruined city scene (see, e.g., the DVXUSER VFX Fest "Urban Destruction.") and was delighted when Ben chose to wipe out a substantial portion of the planet.

I also have to give him great credit for rolling with the flow and not descending into panic when the deadline approached and we had not finished the shot. He knows of what I speak and why I am grateful that he has some serious chops of his own to make things happen.

To be able to craft this much scope into this short a piece is a real credit to you guys. This was a great film in the first rough cut I saw, and it is polished and wonderful now. Kudos to everyone involved with pulling this off. We are so honored to have been able to play a small part.

The Dude (for Fat Monster)
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And here's Jason's "other" post.

Just realized you already said it is a lead in to a longer piece. Well, glad to know I was right. :)
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Jason, I'm really glad you liked it, we left the story where it is cause trying to explain anymore would have been disastrous in the 6 minute arena, unfortunately, this leaves viewers like you a little out in the dark, or as you said, with less clarity than needed. What we wanted to leave the viewers with was that something VERY bad happened and it started with him.

I'm surprised nobody's asked me if that was a real rat ... :)
 
"Viewers like me"? What are you trying to imply?

;) Just kidding, I know what you meant. At least, I hope I know what you meant.
 
Hey, guys! Nice work.

I think your banners kind of gave things away a bit, at least that's how I felt while watching. Still great stuff though.

I need more though. Which isn't a bad thing as long as that's what was intended.
Beautifully shot. You guys are really making great looking movies and are definitely hitting your stride. You have a look that I really dig.

Good acting as well.

Nice work, guys!

Mike
 
jasonthewho said:
"Viewers like me"? What are you trying to imply?

;) Just kidding, I know what you meant. At least, I hope I know what you meant.
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lol ... viewers that need more clarity, like you ... cause ... you said you wanted more clarity ... :beer:

Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
Hey, guys! Nice work.

I need more though.
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WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM US MIKE? WE GIVE AND GIVE AND ALL YOU WANT IS MORE! WHAT WOULD MAKE YOU HAPPY MIKE?! MORE SHORT FILMS FROM US? WOULD THAT MAKE YOU HAPPY? TELL ME! I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS. AND YOU KNOW I'M YELLING CAUSE I'M TYPING IN ALL CAPS.

all goofiness aside, thanks for taking the time to watch and comment, is there anything specific you would have liked to have seen in the 6 minutes? or just more specifics in general? or do you think the story was too large for the time limit?

Thanks Mike!
 
Ben Sliker said:
all goofiness aside, thanks for taking the time to watch and comment, is there anything specific you would have liked to have seen in the 6 minutes? or just more specifics in general? or do you think the story was too large for the time limit?

Thanks Mike!
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No problem.

I think it was a little large for the six minutes. I would have liked to have seen a little more on what he did to cause the problems with the water. And maybe a hint as to how it managed to spread so much.

And yes, I want to see more from you guys! It's always a nice ride.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Thanks Mike! I really value the in-depth commentary like that. Like I said, we fleshed out a longer back story so that this short story would make sense. Here's what it included.

Numerous secret underground organizations.
A food shortage.
Nuclear War.
Mutated Humans.
A search for a loved one.

Now that i think of it ... that probably doesn't clear anything up for you. Just know that Harold is a small but vital piece to the end of the world. :)
 
Ben Sliker said:
Thanks Mike! I really value the in-depth commentary like that. Like I said, we fleshed out a longer back story so that this short story would make sense. Here's what it included.

Numerous secret underground organizations.
A food shortage.
Nuclear War.
Mutated Humans.
A search for a loved one.

Now that i think of it ... that probably doesn't clear anything up for you. Just know that Harold is a small but vital piece to the end of the world. :)
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No problem, Ben. I would line up to see the longer version with all those elements. :thumbup:

Glad you appreciated the comments. I would actually like a real Ben Sliker review when you have the chance.
That's why I didn't sign up for an AIM session this Fest. I can never tell what you really think in those.
Although I enjoyed getting the first one last Fest. :)

As a filmmaker who really respects your work I'm looking forward to reading what you thought. When you have six minutes slap on the headphones (Herman and Rutger's work is amazing) and let me know your thoughts.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Really nice job guys! The cinematography, sound design, acting, and pacing were top notch.

My only minor critique would be to see more of how he created his fate. I know this is hard to do in six minutes, and I bet the longer cut would take care of that.

I really love the low angle dolly shot. Amazing. Such a pleasure to look at. I felt everything in your framing was deliberate.

Very high on my list. Cheers!:beer:
 
Ben Sliker said:
Alright, here it is.

Mrs. Kuhn (insert Justin's mom joke here) did a wonderful job on the costume for Harold and perhaps the 640x360 size of out file didn't show that detail.

Here was our thought process in creating the costume - He's supposed to be dirty, but if I was the last person on earth, i'd want my clothes to last as long as possible, and NOT be dirty. This is evident in the small repairs that he's made to his overshirt, most notably the pocket sewn back on to the overshirt and hole patched on the right shoulder of the undershirt. I would avoid rolling around in dirt and grease as much as possible to avoid having to trudge around in my own muck.

I think what Mrs. Kuhn came up with was a great compromise of an outfit that looks really worn and is dirty, but at the same time, Harold has tried to keep as nice as he can.

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Jeremiah, thanks for giving me something to post about! :) And just for the sake of curiosity, why would you think he needed to be more dirty? JOHNNY 5 NEEDS MORE INPUT!
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Yup, definitely a rez issue. I stand humbly corrected. I loved the shoes, btw, if that helps. I understand the problem, Ive had to make things REALLY dirty to look dirty enough on my DVX, even at 853x480. It just seemed a little too clean around the holes, where it should have been worn/stained through, in my opinion. But again, it looks plenty fine in the pics you posted, so maybe the grading could have brought that out more, ot maybe I'm just being nit-picky :)
 
majikfraug said:
Yup, definitely a rez issue. I stand humbly corrected. I loved the shoes, btw, if that helps. I understand the problem, Ive had to make things REALLY dirty to look dirty enough on my DVX, even at 853x480. It just seemed a little too clean around the holes, where it should have been worn/stained through, in my opinion. But again, it looks plenty fine in the pics you posted, so maybe the grading could have brought that out more, ot maybe I'm just being nit-picky :)
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Ah for sure, that makes more sense. I think some of the intricate gritty details were lost, it's almost like stage makeup i guess ... if we made him really dirty it would look good at 360p, but at 720p, people would be like "damn ... now that's dirty"

majikfraug said:
Oh and: they wouldn't be related to any Kuhns living in Apple Valley, CA, would they?
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I have no idea. Don't know if Justin is crawling this thread much, I'll ask him. Apparently there's a lot of Slikers in Jersey, haven't met one of them.
 
Hey great film! I thought that everything played out perfectly and i loved the whole story line and the cinematography! Just a question do you think you could PM me your export setting? What do you use?
 
Here's my question about the clothes. Why doesn't he just break into people's houses and steal clothes out of their closets?
 
jasonthewho said:
Here's my question about the clothes. Why doesn't he just break into people's houses and steal clothes out of their closets?
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presumably ... everyone is dead and rotting. or a mutant. or on fire. so ... considering he can't remember a damn thing. it's not a top priority for him? that's all i got.
 
clarkage said:
Hey great film! I thought that everything played out perfectly and i loved the whole story line and the cinematography! Just a question do you think you could PM me your export setting? What do you use?
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will do. and thanks for the watch! I use QT pro, best 30 dollars ive ever spent.
 
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