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

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Jack, this film is an exceptional piece of work. For awhile we thought you guys might actually choose to shoot this out here and we were hoping to have the chance to crew on it. I've got to grudgingly admit that you certainly hit a home run without us and I can't imagine you doing any better than with this cast.

Before I review the film proper, I wanted to comment that this script is truly a classic Twilight Zone fit. I actually had wondered how many people would choose to produce a comedy given that the original Twilight Zone relied on several comedic episodes each season. Some examples would include "Once Upon A Time", which was an outright slapstick romp that starred Buster Keaton and others were more nuanced comedies such as "One for the Angels" starring Ed Wynn. In fact, casting Ben Bailey in this role is so reminiscent of the type of casting that Rod Serling used to go for in the original series.

Yeah one of my favorite comedic episodes would be the Mr. Bevis episode:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Bevis
Pt.1
"In the parlance of the twentieth century, this is an oddball. His name is James B.W. Bevis, and his tastes lean toward stuffed animals, zither music, professional football, Charles Dickens, moose heads, carnivals, dogs, children, and young ladies. Mr. Bevis is accident prone, a little vague, a little discombooberated, with a life that possesses all the security of a floating crap game. But this can be said of our Mr. Bevis: without him, without his warmth, without his kindness, the world would be a considerably poorer place, albeit perhaps a little saner."

Pt.2
"Should it not be obvious by now, James B.W. Bevis is a fixture in his own private, optimistic, hopeful little world, a world which has long ceased being surprised by him."

Pt.3
"James B.W. Bevis, on whom Dame Fortune will shortly turn her back, but not before she gives him a paste in the mouth. Mr. James B.W. Bevis, just one block away from the Twilight Zone."

"Cold Calls" fits the template of the series perfectly in that it twists the knife in the end by using a scenario very familiar for the viewer in an incongruous context (the layers of irony in the short are awesome). So, I expect this gem will be on most people's very short lists indeed if they appreciate how neatly it fills Rod Seriling's prototype for the series in addition to its obvious technical accomplishments.

Ok, now let me discuss some of the elements of the film that I noted.

The camera work is brilliant, in my humble opinion. That opening shot with the rack focus is extraordinary. The phone is almost irridescent and the reveal of Blanchard better show up on your reel or you're an idiot.

The opening title float tracked in the kitchen is best of show for me.

Great work on the sound design and mixing. Ben's voice is astonishingly perfect for this role. His personality comes through just like it does on Cash Cab.

F*cking great dog-wrangling. Did that little sucker come with the house? Having the dog-bed right there is one of those little details that makes such a difference too.

Yeah getting him to cross the frame was easy. One wrangler held him off frame while another proffered a piece of cheese on the other side of the frame.

On "Action Lalo" he was released, and he did it perfect about 4 takes in a row.

By the way, Blanchard's wardrobe is so well done. Everything seemed so natural. Did you guys have her bring a bunch of stuff to choose from or did you work it out in pre-production what you specifically needed. She's a great presence on screen and seems to really inhabit the space rather than playing a part.

We talked about things before hand and she brought one or two options for each, with the exception of the pink hat and gloves for gardening, which I purchased and brought.

When you cut from the entry hall phone to the bedroom it's perfectly registered. Insanely so. Was that eyeballed or did you actually measure camera position for both shots?

As Barry said we used the saran wrap on the LCD traced with a sharpie trick. A technology I first implemented in "Shed" with a dissolve from the outside shed to a toy one inside.

While the phone was positioned correctly in 2-D space, it's rotation was slightly off, so I used the "Basic 3D" filter in FCP (VIDEO EFFECTS/PERSPECTIVE/BASIC 3-D) tor rotate the phone slightly to make it more exact.

There's a lot of subtle sound work that makes the difference between film school and pro work. For instance, when Blanchard sits up in bed that little "whoosh" accompanying the zoom is subliminal to the point of being almost invisible. However, it completely charges the scene perfectly.

The only sound I had some trouble with was the footstep foley en the foyer. Basically I could never use any of the sound between Blanchards lines in her solo camera scenes. Reason being that before she answered the phone, it was making a paging alert as it was dialed from a second handset. After she picked up, myself or Barry or Chris Messineo on one occasion was reading Ben's lines. So this meant that every sound when she's not speaking had to be from scratch. All of the cabnets opening and closing and pots and pans clanging around in the first scene for example, all had to be replaced with foley. But the foyer footseps I could never get quite right. She's wearing heals and it's a marble entrance way and none of the hard healed on marble samples from my foley library sounded quite right.

The montage score with the hyperbole of the VO is my favorite part of the film. I love Blanchard's expressions and found myself wondering how you got all of that shot in the time you had.

as Barry said when you don't need sound (all of the dog noises are foleyed) you can move quicker. Also they were just tableux. We had gotten behind schedule before we shot this sequence and actually used it to get back on track. I said to Timur "Ok for the next four scenes we're in 24 hour film contest mode." And popped them all of in a few hours, the toughest being the excercise ball / Lalo (the dog) scene. While Lalo was spot on wit his cross in the Kitchen, the interspecial communication barrier reared it's head in shooting this scene. Lalo would great all of us each day with enthusiastic jumping and pawing at our shins. I had hoped to capture this on film im the exercise part of the montage, but three things hindered his performance. 1) we'd been there all day already so the thrill of first seeing us had warn off 2) Blanchard was laying down not standing 3) he was too well trained to sit and wait patiently for treats. During that scene Blanchard is palming a piece of cheese in her hand on her abdomen.

Did you use a smoker to put that haze in the closet during the "cheese of the month" dialogue? I liked the look but it seemed to bloom a little bit continuity-wise in the close-up shot. I do feel the overall lighting is the best I've seen in this fest. Really beautifully shot frames, guys.

I like the look of the closet in that sequence except for one shot. After Det. Burton gives her "the news" and we cut to the lateral dolly shot there are clouds of smoke rather than a haze in the closet. But it's a short shot with dynamic movement and Blanchard is the focus, so I'm living with it sense that take was best for performance and camera.

God, the reveal of Ben with the ball is a classic. Again, if you don't put this on your reel you are an idiot.

Such great production design of that space. The fan is priceless!

***

Overall this was just so beautifully cut that I can't imagine how it could be improved. I do hope people really give attention to the way the score and sound design are put together with the edit to make this thing work the way it does.

If you aren't listening on headphones or decent speakers you're missing 90% of the musics effectiveness due to herman's spot on score. You haven't seen this film if you've only watched with built in computer speakers.

Comedy is SO friggin' difficult to pull off and you make it look effortless. This short deserves to be on Funny or Die or a similar site for certain.

This is easily a finalist and likely the winner of the whole enchilada. People have high expectations for you and I'm just wondering how the hell you always exceed them. Brilliant work, Jack, Barry and Timur. We really look forward to shooting with you soon. If we gotta come there, we will.

Mark (the Dude)

Thanks Mark, your check is in the mail.
:beer:

 

[Tim Joy]

jack, sent you a PM....

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Extremely entertaining short! Everything was in the right place at the right time. Tech wise
I would stay away from the vignetting, but it does bring a certain amount of focus inward to
the character. Dead pan delivery always works on me Good stuff. The only thing that bugs
me is imo the short sits on the very edge of the Twilight theme

I'm glad you liked the short and I appreciate the time you took to view and comment. :beer:

I do have to take exception to the last line however. I'm sure your comment is wholly innocent. But we often get a rash of posts about "this film doesn't meet the theme" or one or two vocal individuals claiming that they don't think most of the films fit the theme and even at times crusading that people should vote more or exclusively on theme adherence and not the film itself. Certainly such discussion is fine and theme expression is part of the contest, but in some ways such comments are moot because the films have already been through a screening / qualifications process - by the individuals running the contest, and yet some participants seem to think they may somehow have a better handle on what should be allowed as theme rather than the creators of the contest who picked and defined the theme.

We've had 7 or so comment on how well some thought the film fit the theme while still being unique and outside the box. Yours is the first comment even remotely contrary to that notion. So in small part in response to your innocent post and in large part in response to heading of any steam such a sentiment might gain, and if you will forgive my rhetorical / argumentative streak, here's my case:

Firstly, my avatar and other instances to the contrary, it is not Twilight Zone fest, but Twilight Fest. The distinction is not made for purely legal reasons. Basically, at some point, without assigning some Twilight Zone scholar who would decide whether each film fit or not, we had to make our own fest with our own criteria, so that we could put something tangible out there for everyone to adhere to. While this may be true, I can nevertheless give you convincing arguments on two fronts, both as to why the film falls resoundingly withing the parameters set forth in the rules and also regarding why it would be apropos for a purely Twilight Zone themed fest anyway. I'll get back to these points in a moment...

Secondly, remember that theme does not have anything to do with vocabulary or genre. We took the THEME of the series - that something is amiss, there's a hidden reality, and things turn out other than they seem. Sounds like Cold Calls to me. But the point is that Scary Movie is appropriate for a Horror "themed" contest (even though Horror is also a genre). "The Count" from Sesame Street in a musical short film for children would also be appropriate for Horror Fest. Vocabulary and Genre do not theme make.



OK here's the case for the film for in a purely Twilight Zone themed contest.
COLD CALLS
CALLS FROM THE FUHRER BUNKER
ANALOG
And I'm sure a few others I haven't seen, would fit the Twilight Zone rubric of:
"unaccountable telephone calls in the middle of a stormy night"
Whether that be a metaphorical stormy night as in ANALOG, a more literal one in FUHRER BUNKER, or part metaphor / part literal as in COLD CALLS.

These entries and the TWILIGHT ZONE episode NIGHT CALL (wiki)

Deal with a communication via some modern device that can't be rationally explained. While it's true that in FUHRER BUNKER, ANALOG, and NIGHT CALL the story deals with a communication from beyond the grave, COLD CALLS does a variant on this, a variant which makes it an absurdest parody. Again, genre and vocabulary are not dictated by theme.

"Miss Elva Keene lives alone on the outskirts of London Flats, a tiny rural community in Maine. Up until now, the pattern of Miss Keene's existence has been that of lying in her bed or sitting in her wheelchair reading books, listening to a radio, eating, napping, taking medication—and waiting for something different to happen. Miss Keene doesn't know it yet, but her period of waiting has just ended, for something different is about to happen to her, has in fact already begun to happen, via two most unaccountable telephone calls in the middle of a stormy night, telephone calls routed directly through—the Twilight Zone"

You may say "But this is just a telemarketer, not some ghost or communication from the past." But that doesn't really hold up past the time it takes to read the sentence. He's not just a telemarketer, unless that is, you can provide a rational explanation for why this guy is in her broom closet calling her about baby toupee's and big foot insurance policies. I mean there is no rational explanation for that unless you literally believe that he works for a company that hawks for toupees for toddlers, non exploding gas, chinchilla fancy magazine, long distance calling plans, cheese of the month club, etc. and that said company has recently taken to "outsourcing" which involves either a Star Trek transporter like device or a rabbit tunnel that allows him to manifest in her broom closet at all hours for the last two weeks where he's been calling her completely undetected. No there is no rational expectation. Far less so even than the Twilight Zone episode NIGHT CALL, ANALOG, and FHURERBUNKER in fact. There are those that hold spirituality as a stone cold fact, and for disbelievers ghosts and the Judaeo-Christian idea of the afterlife are codified, putting a very familiar system of meaning in place. So whether you believe in that type of thing, are open to the possibility, or dismiss it outright, its part of a vocabulary we can understand. COLD CALLS then, is even more "unaccountable", to use Serling's word, than the three aforementioned supernatural narratives.

ANALOG, COLD CALLS, FUHRER BUNKER, and NIGHT CALL all also have the Twilight Zone twist.

So that's the argument for it's qualifications not as a Twilight Zone Episode - the goal here is not spec scripts - but as fitting for a purely Twilight Zone THEMED collection of films, which again would not dictate vocabulary or genre.



Here's the argument for it's inclusion in this fest,
named "Twilight Fest" but inspired by the uncanny fiction of
"Tales from the Crypt, Night Gallery, The Outer Limits, American Gothic, Tales from the Darkside, Amazing Stories....etc."
(from the rules thread)
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=141503
So arleady the scope is broadening.

And finally the CONTEST'S definition of the THEME which should probably be the one that matters: Theme: Everything may not be as it appears...perhaps there's a sneaking feeling that something is seriously wrong here...or maybe you're caught between two worlds or realities where anything can happen... ... Films can be in any genre as long as they adhere to the above theme ... in general the theme will need to include some fantastical, science-fiction, supernatural, or otherwise unexplainable element or elements."
(from the rules thread)
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=141503

In COLD CALLS, everything is not as it appears. Dana has a sneaking feeling that something is seriously wrong. Anything can happen (detectives are obsessed with flatulence, telemarketers live in your closet). And it is unexplainable. Unless, again, you can explain how/why, and most importantly, by what means this man has been living undetected in her closet calling on behalf of a slew of companies too absurd to all exist in our world.

Perhaps the suspense thriller aspect threw you? But again, theme is not genre. Perhaps the comedy element threw you? If so see Mark's post and my responses above.



Lastly, I will leave you with my Twilight Zone esque blurb which I included with the upload for COLD CALLS.

"Submitted for your approval: Ms. Dana Ewing, an unsuspecting woman who, until recently, lived a life like most of us, one upset only occasionally by the odd telemarketer. But “odd telemarketer” is perhaps a poor choice of words, for nothing could have been stranger than the calls Ms. Ewing would receive from an eager if not obsessive hawker of increasingly bizarre goods - calls dialed from a call service center deep within … the Twilight Fest ."

 

[Tim Joy]

Are you a lawyer in real life Jack, or do you just play one on dvxuser? Eventhough you didn't have to convince me, I think you made an air-tight case.
And Cold Calls rocks!

 

[Darkline]

I never mark on how well a film fits the theme. I don't want to watch 70 copycat twilight zone episodes, I want to see a film-maker turn that theme into something that is meaningful to them and wrap their vision around it. Half the fun is seeing how people interpret the theme.

I see the fest themes as a loose way to group the entries, but it's main goal is to get people making films and to get them out there and commented on. I look at it this way - if the film was presented to me outside the festival as a one off film, what would be my reaction to it? that is all that's important. After all, outside this fest the films have to stand on their own and the theme becomes mute.

As you say, leave the judging of the theme to the moderators. If it passed the test then it's in the fest.

But people will vote how they please; someone was going to mark down the films that didn't have credits (which would include mine too). what can you do? ;-)

 

[Mark Johnson]

Yowsuh. No question about it. I'd go so far as to describe CC as archetypical -- Rod Serling would have loved it. Check out the "Lost Episode" he did with Jack Benny: http://www.jibjab.com/view/256760

 

[Jeff Anderson]

Got to agree with Mark - Cold Calls nails the theme IMO - approaches the comedy side a bit more than some it, but it still nailed it.

 

[Michael Anthony Horrigan]

Yowsuh. No question about it. I'd go so far as to describe CC as archetypical -- Rod Serling would have loved it. Check out the "Lost Episode" he did with Jack Benny: http://www.jibjab.com/view/256760

LOVE the smoking plug at the end. :grin:

That was quite a spoof episode though, but I get what you guys are saying.

Cheers,

Mike

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

I never mark on how well a film fits the theme. I don't want to watch 70 copycat twilight zone episodes, I want to see a film-maker turn that theme into something that is meaningful to them and wrap their vision around it. Half the fun is seeing how people interpret the theme.

Ooh - BROADCAST would also fall under or certainly be a riff on the "unaccountable" communication via technology. Only the cool take in it is that it's from the perspective of the unaccountable caller (broadcaster in this case) and perhaps only he is having a stormy night. And the twist is left up to the audience member.

So from the perspective of Elva Keen's dead fiancee in NIGHT CALLS.
From the perspective of the bygone soldiers in FUHRER BUNKER.
From the perspective of the ghost or vision or alternate reality - pretty cool idea.

I see the fest themes as a loose way to group the entries, but it's main goal is to get people making films and to get them out there and commented on...

DING DING DING DING

Riff. Be Inspired By. Interpret. Flip. Personalize.

... As you say, leave the judging of the theme to the moderators. If it passed the test then it's in the fest.

To clarify, all the mods have some input into the fest theme. But as to whether it adheres to the theme or not is only up to the screener mods which are Larry R and Mikko.

But people will vote how they please; someone was going to mark down the films that didn't have credits (which would include mine too). what can you do? ;-)

To clarify. Not saying Inexistence was saying he would vote according to this or that, or that he would encourage others to do so, but we've seen that wild fire spread in the past. So I wanted to say both why I thought Cold Calls fit and more importantly - what the THEME actually was as defined by the contest. I guess for the sake of our film, but more so in the larger sense.

As for not voting for your film or any other because it didn't have credits ... well that's flat out stupid.

 

[sean90291]

It was just a HPX170... nothing special..... 35 adapter.... my canon lenses... nothing you guys haven't seen before....

Ah, I didn't realize that. Well, you delivered a great look from the camera. I assumed it was Red! Very clean. Nice DOF.

 

[Darkline]

Hey Jack

thanks for the speculation, but I wont hijack your thread ;-)

I thought your film fit the theme fine. If a guy suddenly appearing in a closet making telesales calls (as his normal base) isn't an alternate reality, then I might be in for a shock when I walk into my shower tomorrow.

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

haha thanks.

Sorry I haven't commented on yours yet, will get to your thread tonight or tomorrow. Have to go back to bed now after getting up at 5 AM and standing in line for an hour to do that which shan't be discussed on DVXuser but which 50% of Americans will do today (hopefully more this time).

 

[Mark Johnson]

Go Big Blue ....

 

[galbach]

Awesome short...My wife and I got a really good laugh...Thanks!

 

[bosindy]

haha thanks.

Sorry I haven't commented on yours yet, will get to your thread tonight or tomorrow. Have to go back to bed now after getting up at 5 AM and standing in line for 2 hours to do that which shan't be discussed on DVXuser but which 50% of Americans will do today (hopefully more this time).

As Whitman said in Leaves of Grass, today is "America's choosing day." no less significant, soon will be dvxuser's choosing day. The world is watching in breathless anticipation.

 

[RobinFrank]

This flick was awesome! Ok, so you took a few genres and spliced them together, grabbed some shots from other films, but who doesn't. You put together a great little fall comedy/suspence flick that had excelent acting (Ben Ketai has now gone from cool game show host to hilarious comedian and good actor in my book). Great shots and color, with amazing detail to the environments.

This is a well rounded and evenly paced flick that makes me think you are someone to really watch.

great work!

Now, go watch Possible Charlie. heh!

 

[leteeci]

Wow!!!

Totaly professional!!!

I watch it several times, and I like it completely the way it was done!

Good acting, and very beautiful actress..

One of the top movies of this fest, on my opinion!

:beer:

 

[Mobie540]

Loved it, read the script from the previous scriptfest and this was well executed.

 

[tykrusch]

I missed the door's heartbeat the first time around. Very nice touch, well played.
:thumbup:

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Thanks for the comments all. Glad people are continuing to view and enjoy this quirky thing we had fun making.

This flick was awesome! Ok, so you took a few genres and spliced them together, grabbed some shots from other films, but who doesn't. You put together a great little fall comedy/suspence flick that had excelent acting (Ben Ketai has now gone from cool game show host to hilarious comedian and good actor in my book). Great shots and color, with amazing detail to the environments.

This is a well rounded and evenly paced flick that makes me think you are someone to really watch.

great work!

Now, go watch Possible Charlie. heh!

Hey thanks for watching and commenting.
:beer:
First a dislcaimer: I really do appreciate your comments. My response may seem like a challenge, but really I am just curious what you mean and would like to ask some questions about your comments because they interest me from a growth standpoint/how someone else looks at something stand point. In a bar over a beer "whuchu talkin' 'bout?" comes across lively and engaged. On the internet it usually comes across defensive. So please, imagine the following follow up questions in the former more convivial atmosphere.

I'm not sure what you mean by

OK, so you took a few genre's and spliced them together ...

It sounds like you are begrudgingly allowing me to be referential because everybody does it. But I don't get it because for one thing genres are form not content and splicing more than one together would be more inventive than just doing one or the other. Kind of like saying to Jos Whedon "Ok, so you took the western and scifi and spliced them together but that's OK I guess becaus who doesn't mix genres." But nevermind that, that's the whole point of the piece in that it's absurdist parody - you can't be wholly original and parody anything - you have to be like the thing you are parodying. So this part of your comment really confuses me.

As far as

grabbing a few shots from other films...

... as far as I know there are a total of 3 stolen shots. And they are intentionally referential, again as is all parody. I have no issues stealing ("good artists borrow, great artists steal", Picasso/T.S. Eliot) but it's kind of different when that's the entire point (like it is here) vs. when it's done in earnest in a film. Kind of like saying to SNL when doing a parody of Reservoir Dogs "well, you stoled some shots from Tarantino, but who doesn't steal from Tarantino so I guess it's OK" - doesn't make much sense in that context, nor does it to me here.

... nor would it make sense to me to say "Jack, your poster isn't very original"
since, again, that's the point

BUT ... and here's the whole point of my response / post, highlighted lest it get lost in this long thing I've written here: I am curious to know which shots you recognize and from where. Reason I'm asking is, if I'm directly quoting something visually, I'd like to know where so I can more closely examine the source material if it's subconsciously influencing me strongly enough that I'm drawing from it verbatim. So if you could point out some specific moments I'd be really appreciative. Thanks. Again, I hope that doesn't come off as an "Oh yeah? Well prove it comment." More that your comment has me very curious and I'd like to examine the moments where you think I'm stealing shots for my own self examination/growth. It may be that because the whole thing is referential of several different things so it may feel like there are stolen shots and if you were commenting more generally along those lines that's OK too of course.

.(Ben Ketai has now gone from cool game show host to hilarious comedian and good actor in my book). Great shots and color, with amazing detail to the environments. ...

:grin: As far as I can tell Ben Ketai is the writer/director of a couple of TV versions of 30 Days of Night. Ben Bailey is the longtime stand up comedian who toured all over, was on all the late night shows, and had his own comedy central special before becoming the host of Cash Cab.