Calls From The Führerbunker

jojopop said:
This has jumped into my top ten. I love the sheer concept (not to mention title) of the piece. It's such a Twlight Zone-y / Outer Limits / Perversions of Science idea that I can't NOT like it.

I loved the cinematography and other than issues with the sound mix (granted, POS speakers don't help) this just felt right. The environment / atmosphere were great. And I really enjoyed the German voice acting and while your lead wasn't perfect, he was still able to sell the film for me.

Great job with this!
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Thanks!

I'm slowly learning how to shoot a movie and trying to improve every fest. So on a personal level I'm glad the cinematography worked for you.

The German voice acting was a real treat. I owe those guys!

Cheers,

Mike
 
Hey Mike, you did a great job on this one. I liked the story and thought the pacing was well done.

What threw me off was the guard, but, from reading the other replies regarding the guard, I see what you were getting at. What kind of bothered me, I guess, was the reaction to the guard. It seemed somewhat forced and not quite natural. That's really acting ability though and it seems like it was directed well, just not quite there from the performance.

I liked your lead actor better in this than in "The Watchman". I think the main problem I had with his performance in that was that he was indicating quite a bit - he was using physical gestures to convey the emotions in the scene and it wasn't working. As an example, when he's in the car getting frustrated by the neighbor, he bangs on the steering wheel and throws his head around. I didn't feel that he was frustrated. He was just banging on the wheel. Maybe you have to be an actor to see what I mean...

Honestly, whether it was conscious or subconscious, I think your directing was better in this because you were able to see that particular actors strengths and weaknesses and work with that.

:beer:
 
Mike - just watched this tonight and I have to say I really enjoyed it.
This is definitely the strongest work I've seen from you.
I feel you really nailed the mood of the piece - the opening scene in the tunnel definitely did a good job of setting us up for what was to come.

My only critique would be that at times I felt you didn't give the audience enough credit - or conversely that maybe you didn't show enough confidence in your own storytelling. For example, when the main character is looking at the cables on the back of the radio - we clearly see nothing is connected, and you show us the unplugged power cable - there was really no need for him to talk to himself and tell us flat out that nothing was hooked up.

The same goes for the series of shots of the switchboard operator - I felt you may have hung on that a bit too long.
I'd have to go back and watch it again to pick out the moments, but I felt there were a few things like this throughout the film.

Your location was great, and your shot selection was strong - so much of the story was told visually that I actually would have liked to see even less reliance on dialogue overall (after the opening scene anyhow).

But all in all, I'm nitpicking. I thought this film showed a great sense of style, it was clear you knew what you wanted and that really came through. I enjoyed this a great deal and am really looking forward to seeing where you go from here.

Really good work.

EDITED TO ADD:
Also, the sound design work on the radio was great - as was the score.
Both added a lot to the overall quality of the film.
 
Pretty good short overall. I agree with most of Luis's comments as well.
The ending came fairly quickly though. If at all possible, it would be nice
to let the viewer marinate for a little while after the discovery.
The location is amazing which screams wide shot+X-Files flash light and
or strong single overhead lamp light. I was hoping to feel confined with
unknown sfx coming from the shadows. Either way, this fit the Twilight
theme which seemed to elude most of the entries.

Excellent job!
 
Thanks, guys! I'm making notes as I go. :)

I really appreciate all the praise, as well as the critiques.

I'm removing the "Everything's disconnected" line from the cut, but I'm leaving the "Must be a recording" line since that sets up the next scene.

Tom, it's nice to finally get a review on the acting..... for my last film. :) LOL!
I actually disagree with you on that, as I'm sure others will too. Ian did a masterful job in The Watchman. He received many "Best actor of the fest" comments last fest.

I thought he did very well here as well since I didn't give him a lot of range to play with. His reaction at the end is perfect IMHO.

I don't know how he fairs in the "From one actor to another actor" category but I'm sure you guys are extra tough on one another. Much like how we directors are tougher on other directors. So I get that. Glad you enjoyed his performance more this time around. :thumbsup:

Luis, thanks again for the kudos to the sound team! They did a wonderful job! Listening with headphones is a real treat!

EDITED TO ADD: The ending came strong and fast as some of you have noted, not really as a criticism, just as an observation. The music really played up to this as well while the information was flooding in. It really had to. If it came too slowly it would have given everyone time to figure out the twist. I wanted to hit them with it. As for having time to linger after wards... there will be time in the Director's Cut. :)

Cheers,

Mike
 
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I just wanted to steal this from Jack...
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
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.
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Herman and Rutger did some amazing work on CFTFB. If you haven't already... use headphones and you'll see what I mean.

Cheers,

Mike
 
The making of: Calls From The Führerbunker

...continued

You can check out the previous segments here....

LOCATION
WRITING
CASTING
DIRECTING
LIGHTING
CINEMATOGRAPHY

Now on to the next segment.

EDITING

First a little information on what I use. CS3 for Mac. Let's just say this.... it's pretty damn buggy.
Always starts off fine, but the longer the project goes, the buggier it gets. Frequent crashes start to occur.

After I'm finished with CFTFB I'm trying a complete re-install of everything, including Leopard. We'll see how that goes.

I don't know how everyone else does it but after every shoot I go straight to my Mac and import what I need from the shoot.
Same day/night, doesn't matter, I can't wait.

I then slice it all together to see how it's starting to shape up. I also start to CC or grade right away. Probably shouldn't, but I do. By that night I have a rough cut of what we have shot. This of course changes dramatically with every pass. I chip, I shape, and I always cut it down in size. I also start to mix up the shots with scenes that I shot from different angles and whatnot. I start with the basics of what I need for the scene to work, and then play with the other shots in order to jazz things up.

One example: I had a jib shot of Chris Flegel (Ian) that started under the table, revealing "the ball".
I cut it in half as I didn't like the transition and we just JUMPED into his apartment. Seemed jarring.
I decided to cut it and add the new shot showing the ball in a more natural way. It also allowed me to show the building before we jumped into it.
That was the transition that the film desperately needed and I added it at the last minute. Let's just say that Herman and Rutger were a little surprised. :huh:

Then I look at what needs to go for the 6 minute fest. Some just needs to leave due to the time limit, and some needs to go because it doesn't help to move the movie forward.

In the case of CFTFB I had to add subtitles (that was fun) and match up the voice overs from the phone calls with what was going on onscreen.
Luckily I had a recording of the calls (Thanks Jason and Susanne) to play back while filming those scenes, iPhones are handy! That helped a lot.

Once I'm really close to the final cut I play with the grading more. Transitions as well. Then it was off to Herman and Rutger for score and sound design.

More about that later.

Mike



 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
One example: I had a jib shot of Chris Flegel (Ian) that started under the table, revealing "the ball".
I cut it in half as I didn't like the transition and we just JUMPED into his apartment. Seemed jarring.
I decided to cut it and add the new shot showing the ball in a more natural way. It also allowed me to show the building before we jumped into it.
That was the transition that the film desperately needed and I added it at the last minute. Let's just say that Herman and Rutger were a little surprised. :huh:
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But the new ball scene with your daughter is so much better and so lovely casual! I hope that Herman and Rutger forgave you?! :happy:

Susanne
 
Herman Witkam said:
Thanks Mike! :)

And thanks to everyone who commented on the score / sound in general :beer:
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No problem, Herman. You deserve it!



Susanne G. said:
But the new ball scene with your daughter is so much better and so lovely casual! I hope that Herman and Rutger forgave you?! :happy:

Susanne
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LOL! :)
They were both quite good about it actually, just a little surprised. They adapted to the change quite quickly.
 
great film man

liked the whole B&W thing

made it feel kinda like a twilight zone film, and the twist at the end was great man definately could have been one of the original twilight zone films. The only thing i would probably suggest is when he goes in the back room to check the cables for the machine. He doesnt have to say things like "its not connected" (not exact quote) haha we get the idea with him pointing the light, he would just have to say
"it must be a recording."

and maybe just a bit more of a development to show that the phone was annoying him. the film is great as is nontheless but i figure if im gonna give praise might as well give some criticism. loved the actors man, greatly cast.
 
chaconkevin said:
great film man

liked the whole B&W thing

made it feel kinda like a twilight zone film, and the twist at the end was great man definately could have been one of the original twilight zone films. The only thing i would probably suggest is when he goes in the back room to check the cables for the machine. He doesnt have to say things like "its not connected" (not exact quote) haha we get the idea with him pointing the light, he would just have to say
"it must be a recording."

and maybe just a bit more of a development to show that the phone was annoying him. the film is great as is nontheless but i figure if im gonna give praise might as well give some criticism. loved the actors man, greatly cast.
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That's a sweet review, man. Thanks! Yah, that one line of dialogue may hit the cutting you floor. Easy enough.

Glad you liked it!

Cheers,

Mike
 
BigChrisfilm said:
Hey man, cool film. I was a little confused, can you explain to me what was going on, and what the twist was?
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Well, if you can read this post, you can probably read the subtitles that go with the last phone call and figure it out for yourself. :)
It's all there in back and white.

Not much of a mystery. :beer:

Cheers,

Mike
 
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Mike I wonder if you could have went into more detail about the bunker? Why do you even need a bunker? Just kidding,,,,Calls From The Fuhrerbunker is probably the closest of any of the shorts to a old Twilight Zone episode. I've went through my top picks twice now and it is hard to beat.
 
Zim said:
Calls From The Fuhrerbunker is probably the closest of any of the shorts to a old Twilight Zone episode. I've went through my top picks twice now and it is hard to beat.
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Thanks, Zim! Glad you enjoyed it so much.

Chris Messineo said:
This film had a great old fashioned twilight zone vibe. I really enjoyed it. Very well done.
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Chris, I really appreciate this. I know you seldom comment so I'm glad you liked it enough to do so.

Cheers,

Mike
 
I knew it! Elvis is still alive!

:grin:

I must admit, the first time i watched I didn't really get it, but that's because it was what-40th or 50th in a row+I had opened tons of programs and tabs and got bugged by MSN/Skype/Random peoples so I misheard some things and thus said to myself to rewatch it again, in normaln cirmustances.

Well, now they were normal and I really enjoyed it. One thing though, I don't get that part in toilet when Fegel bumps into guard. Was that scene just there, or it did had some meaning? Somehow I got the feeling that scene is too long to be just 'some' sccene, or it's just too short to be meaningful for the story.

Or is it cameo appearance of someone of the film crew? (or I'm as usually getting unnecessary headache)

I liked that facial expressions, they made it look more realistic. The ending is perfect-no need to exaggerate, and I just didn't find the music all-way satisfying. Not that it's bad or anything, I just didn't 'get her', but this film does not depend on the music itself. so it's really not that important.

Heil Elvis! :D
 
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