"The Contract" - A film by Neal Buconjic
- Thread starter Neal Buconjic
- Start date
Mike Manning
Well-known member
Hey Neal...
Thought I post the comments I emailed to you before...
For me the biggest issue was with the shots and camera style. I think on your next film, you need to work on having a wider variety of shots than what you have here, which are predominantly locked off wides and mediums. The best shot in your film is the slow zoom on the devil during the magic act... the reason is.. it's the only shot that moves. Even if you can't afford a dolly or a jib or whatever, the tripod is a very versatile too and on that you shouldn't be intimidated by. Zoom in tight on your actors and pan and tilt to follow their movements. I made these same mistakes in some of my first films... I'd frame the shot, press record and call cut when it was over. It's like, yeah the shot looked good when i framed it, and the actor was holding his mark, but what happens when he moves? Then it's no longer a nicely framed shot and worse, it's gonna be hard to cut with other shots.
Another thing that might help solve this problem is to shoot more inserts. For example, the scenes where the magician is doing his act... you have him framed in a medium doing tricks with small objects in his hands (the ball, the rings, the scarf).. While it was a good looking shot, it doesn't hold its weight for the length of time we're looking at it. Next time, try getting tighter inserts... get close on the ball, show the beads of sweat roll down his face as he's nervous about his shitty act, things like that will help you cut away from the medium without having to cut away from the action of the scene. Cuz you have cut aways, but they're reaction shots that take us away from the action. Inserts would keep us right there with him, while providing different images to look at.
I hope I'm making sense... haha
Anyway... all and all you should be very proud of yourself for having made the film. Not many people can say they've made a film... it's a big accomplishment. So yeah, next time out, try experimenting with different shots... mimic other films (that's what ever other director is doing!) And also... next time, don't burden yourself with special effects... try shooting something simpler so you can develop a clearer style
Thought I post the comments I emailed to you before...
For me the biggest issue was with the shots and camera style. I think on your next film, you need to work on having a wider variety of shots than what you have here, which are predominantly locked off wides and mediums. The best shot in your film is the slow zoom on the devil during the magic act... the reason is.. it's the only shot that moves. Even if you can't afford a dolly or a jib or whatever, the tripod is a very versatile too and on that you shouldn't be intimidated by. Zoom in tight on your actors and pan and tilt to follow their movements. I made these same mistakes in some of my first films... I'd frame the shot, press record and call cut when it was over. It's like, yeah the shot looked good when i framed it, and the actor was holding his mark, but what happens when he moves? Then it's no longer a nicely framed shot and worse, it's gonna be hard to cut with other shots.
Another thing that might help solve this problem is to shoot more inserts. For example, the scenes where the magician is doing his act... you have him framed in a medium doing tricks with small objects in his hands (the ball, the rings, the scarf).. While it was a good looking shot, it doesn't hold its weight for the length of time we're looking at it. Next time, try getting tighter inserts... get close on the ball, show the beads of sweat roll down his face as he's nervous about his shitty act, things like that will help you cut away from the medium without having to cut away from the action of the scene. Cuz you have cut aways, but they're reaction shots that take us away from the action. Inserts would keep us right there with him, while providing different images to look at.
I hope I'm making sense... haha
Anyway... all and all you should be very proud of yourself for having made the film. Not many people can say they've made a film... it's a big accomplishment. So yeah, next time out, try experimenting with different shots... mimic other films (that's what ever other director is doing!) And also... next time, don't burden yourself with special effects... try shooting something simpler so you can develop a clearer style
Michael Anthony Horrigan
More Cowbell Pictures
Yes, more variety in your shots would help out quite a bit. I really enjoyed the story quite a bit though. I especially liked how the movie ended, perfect look!
The effects were a little sketchy but that was tough to pull off.
You definitely nailed the theme!
Nice work.
Mike
The effects were a little sketchy but that was tough to pull off.
You definitely nailed the theme!
Nice work.
Mike
MrKilloran
Well-known member
Neal, I have to agree about some variety with the shots, they feel rigid. Add a couple close ups in your film to heighten certain moments, like when he's signing the contract.
The story is perfect for the fest, you nailed the theme. I feel like Oscar was swayed too easily to sign, maybe have a bit of conflicting thoughts expressed on his face. I thought your actor for "Santana" ( I lol'd a little :grin
was great, the way he delivered his dialogue was not to imposing but had an ominous feeling about it.
I thought the ending was perfect for the story, also, nice final line and the guys face is priceless.
Great work!
The story is perfect for the fest, you nailed the theme. I feel like Oscar was swayed too easily to sign, maybe have a bit of conflicting thoughts expressed on his face. I thought your actor for "Santana" ( I lol'd a little :grin
was great, the way he delivered his dialogue was not to imposing but had an ominous feeling about it.I thought the ending was perfect for the story, also, nice final line and the guys face is priceless.
Great work!
Neal Buconjic
Well-known member
Thank you for the comments guys. I appreciate you watching the film and giving your feedback.
Yes, I agree that more camera movement would help the pace of the film and prevent it from appearing so static. The irony here is that I HAD shots with camera movement but had to cut them.
Most of my camera movement was to establish the beginning of the scenes as well as the end. However, in order to go from a running time of more than 9 minutes down to 6 minutes - well, those shots were the first to go. I also have more movement during the bar owner's confession, but half of his confession was removed to make time.
As far as the magic acts, I actually chose NOT to use inserts of close-ups etc (though I shot them) because I wanted to make sure that the tricks weren't construed as editing magic. All of the tricks performed by the actor (even the 5 that didn't make the film) were learned and executed by him. The fact that he was quite rough at performing them worked! Actually, I chose to not include several of the tricks he performed because I thought they were TOO GOOD. They had a skill level that was beyond Oscar's capabilities. It's not that Oscar is a BAD magician, it's that he has no stage presence and the caliber of his tricks is lacking. One other thing I tried to accomplish was to ensure the viewer was also unimpressed with his magic. I felt keeping the shot style for the act as bland as possible would contribute to this.
As to the VFX - well, we simply ran out of time. Jason did a lot of work, but the quality of the flame footage I provided was lacking and made it difficult to use effectively. Work on the VFX continues and they are being totally re-done. As I write this, 1/3 of the effects have been completed and look great IMO. You'll have to watch for the Director's Cut in the "User Films" section in the future.
Thank you for the comments. Keep them coming. I'll be sure to think about them while planning my shots for the next film. This has been a tremendous learning experience and I believe we'll all grow and be that much better on the next one.
Yes, I agree that more camera movement would help the pace of the film and prevent it from appearing so static. The irony here is that I HAD shots with camera movement but had to cut them.
Most of my camera movement was to establish the beginning of the scenes as well as the end. However, in order to go from a running time of more than 9 minutes down to 6 minutes - well, those shots were the first to go. I also have more movement during the bar owner's confession, but half of his confession was removed to make time.
As far as the magic acts, I actually chose NOT to use inserts of close-ups etc (though I shot them) because I wanted to make sure that the tricks weren't construed as editing magic. All of the tricks performed by the actor (even the 5 that didn't make the film) were learned and executed by him. The fact that he was quite rough at performing them worked! Actually, I chose to not include several of the tricks he performed because I thought they were TOO GOOD. They had a skill level that was beyond Oscar's capabilities. It's not that Oscar is a BAD magician, it's that he has no stage presence and the caliber of his tricks is lacking. One other thing I tried to accomplish was to ensure the viewer was also unimpressed with his magic. I felt keeping the shot style for the act as bland as possible would contribute to this.
As to the VFX - well, we simply ran out of time. Jason did a lot of work, but the quality of the flame footage I provided was lacking and made it difficult to use effectively. Work on the VFX continues and they are being totally re-done. As I write this, 1/3 of the effects have been completed and look great IMO. You'll have to watch for the Director's Cut in the "User Films" section in the future.
Thank you for the comments. Keep them coming. I'll be sure to think about them while planning my shots for the next film. This has been a tremendous learning experience and I believe we'll all grow and be that much better on the next one.
Mile Bozicevic
Well-known member
Hi, just watched your film the second time now.
I like the music when Santana appeared, and his very character act.
I agree with a little more shots included-there's a lot of dialogues that could be edited differently (close up, medium, close up, detail, medium etc). One thing though I found as mistake is that audience itself shows after the very half of the movie. In beggining, we hear that they didn't approve his act and so on, but at least two shots of them while looking not-interesed would make everything a little more realistic (because really, I thought there won't be any audience at all through the whole film. The late appearance of audience has only confused me).
Other than that, I like the story and I get you for shorting this to 6 min-I had kinda the same problem. Nice fire effects there, I'll sure watch the directors cut.
Keep up!
I like the music when Santana appeared, and his very character act.
I agree with a little more shots included-there's a lot of dialogues that could be edited differently (close up, medium, close up, detail, medium etc). One thing though I found as mistake is that audience itself shows after the very half of the movie. In beggining, we hear that they didn't approve his act and so on, but at least two shots of them while looking not-interesed would make everything a little more realistic (because really, I thought there won't be any audience at all through the whole film. The late appearance of audience has only confused me).
Other than that, I like the story and I get you for shorting this to 6 min-I had kinda the same problem. Nice fire effects there, I'll sure watch the directors cut.
Keep up!
Robbie Comeau
Como's back. back again
Neal, where in Ontario did you shoot this?
I liked it. I don't like how we didn't se the crowd till later in the film. All of a sudden you showed a shot of them clapping and I said, "Oh, there WAS a crowd there instead of a fake audience sound clip (Maybe there was for the first part) But I would've liked to have seen more of them in the beginning, made it felt more "real" to me.
nice fire effects. I know that's hard to pull off, but you didn't do it so bad, so good job on that.
The actors looked good, and they fit pretty good to.
I like the twist in the end, man. Really surprised me.
I just felt this was to much like Ghost Rider.
Thanks for sharing,
Robbie
I liked it. I don't like how we didn't se the crowd till later in the film. All of a sudden you showed a shot of them clapping and I said, "Oh, there WAS a crowd there instead of a fake audience sound clip (Maybe there was for the first part) But I would've liked to have seen more of them in the beginning, made it felt more "real" to me.
nice fire effects. I know that's hard to pull off, but you didn't do it so bad, so good job on that.
The actors looked good, and they fit pretty good to.
I like the twist in the end, man. Really surprised me.
I just felt this was to much like Ghost Rider.
Thanks for sharing,
Robbie
ZazaCast
Major Contributor
Really good film! I liked the story, it was interesting and moved along nicely. Good "look" too...although there were some dark shots I think could have used a tad more back light. Some of the ADR was a little off & jumped out at me. I don't know how much footage you shot, but I would have liked to see some more variety of shots & camera movement. (check out the DIY slider I built for this fest... it's cheap and comes in really handy!). The weakest part for me was the VFX. This seemed like a hugh task to take on and would have to be done flawlessly. I tip my hat to you for taking this on. Acting was good. My favorite was Santana..."My friend"...
Loved the 'coke nail' Santana used to draw blood for the contract signing! Call me crazy, but I also really liked the shot at 4:18 with the glass & bottle liquor pour...if only the glass didn't have so many fingerprints on it!
Over all, really good film and an enjoyable watch! Congratulations the cast & crew on a job well done.
Loved the 'coke nail' Santana used to draw blood for the contract signing! Call me crazy, but I also really liked the shot at 4:18 with the glass & bottle liquor pour...if only the glass didn't have so many fingerprints on it!
Over all, really good film and an enjoyable watch! Congratulations the cast & crew on a job well done.
alex whitmer
Veteran
This is one of the shots that was on the fence for editing. It stayed in just for the great color variety it added, and to set up the next scene. But yeah, it rode the fence due to the smudged glass.
It's one of those nagging 'attention to detail' things that slip through the cracks in the heat of the moment.
aw
Neal Buconjic
Well-known member
Hi Mile,
Thank you for watching my film and giving me some feedback.
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I think that Sid Barnhoorn did a tremendous job on the score - far exceeding my expectations. I'm glad you liked his music (As a side note - I messed up on the compression settings for the sound - they were set to 22k instead of 44 or 48 - my bad).
Peter, the actor playing Santana also did a great job. He was ominous without going over the top, becoming a caricature.
I didn't mean to throw anyone regarding the audience. To be clear, when shooting the magician on stage for scene 1 and 3, there was no audience present. Days later, their reactions were shot. In the full cut of the film (running time of 09:11) the audience appears in both scenes. Again, due to the trimming, I felt I could cut their reactions out because you can HEAR their reaction. I was just trying to shave off some much needed time.
I'm glad you're going to watch for the Director's Cut, as you'll see these missing pieces!
Oh, by the way - my grandfather was from Croatia!
Neal.
Neal Buconjic
Well-known member
LOL, Robbie you PM'd me that question about 6 weeks ago! I live in Sault Ste. Marie. Six and a half hours (drive) North of TO.
I explained this in the previous post. I left out the clips of the audience reaction to save some running time.
Thanks, but I can't take credit for them. Jason Miller did the VFX. You should check out his reel. http://wafflefilms.com Cool stuff.
I was pleased with how the cast did. They followed direction well and showed up on time!
It surprised me too! I was doing a re-write for after Oscar's death when it suddenly occured to me, "what if Nick set him up?" I was actually taken aback by the revelation. I'm glad that you were surprised, too. Half of his "set up" for this reveal was removed to cut down the running time.
You mentioned this in a post a few pages back. What is familiar about it? Souls? Fire? It couldn't be the fire, because when you originally said it, you didn't KNOW about the fire...
Thanks Robbie.
Neal Buconjic
Well-known member
Thank you Zaza. I appreciate the comments.
Funny thing about the ADR and the volume in general. I've watched the film on several different PC's and I've found the volume different each time. Sometimes I'll find that the Score volume is lower than when played on my PC or the walla track is too low. In this case, yes, the ADR would probably sound significantly louder and cleaner when the walla track volume is too low. I need a sound designer! LOL...
I saw your DIY thread for the slider. I'll contact you about it. I agree it would make some nice moves without the need for a cumbersome dolly.
You'll see a huge difference in the VFX in the Director's Cut. There have been many positive learnings from making this film, but one of the biggest for me was getting my feet wet with After Effects. I had no idea how to use it up until 23 hours before the submission deadline. There was an emergency that required me to learn very quickly.
Jason uploaded the VFX footage to a webserver (a 10 hour-ish upload time) then had to head out of town. When I received the footage many hours later, I dropped it in to the timeline. I was shocked to discover that 6 seconds of a 9 second clip were missing. After some investigating, I found out that I had dropped the ball. I had sent him a 3 second clip (when the flames on Santana's body die out), but later I requested that his hands stay lit. I forgot to re-send him the remaining 6 seconds that follows the 3 second clip. So what we saw was the fire die out on Santana's body and his hands remaining on fire, then suddenly his hands stop burning for 6 seconds, followed by the next clip when his hands are on fire again, followed by another where the hand flames go out.
I had to learn how to composite in some flames in his hands, then ask for some guidance to learn how to track the motion of the hands. It's significantly rougher than Jason's work, but it was a band-aid fix. The alternative would have been NOT to enter. Not a road I wanted to travel. I'm amazed how really simple AE is once you know the basics. Granted it has a million features that I have NO CLUE how to use.
Yeah, I wrote in the blood letting with the nail... it was Peter's choice to paint the nails black.
Ahhh, yes... the dreaded glass. I agree it's a nice shot, but those fingerprints drive me! It wasn't until I reviewed the footage that I went "Ewwwwww".
Well, Nick said that the place wasn't what it used to be.... maybe they don't have CLEAN glasses anymore?!
:dankk2:
pauly_the_hitman
Veteran
It was a bit predictable for me and that always throws off my interest. I thought the special effects could have been a little better in parts but overall sold the whole concept for me. I just got tired of seeing sell your soul to the Devil movies. Good job despite that. The guy at the end solid actor for sure.
Pauly
Pauly
Neal Buconjic
Well-known member
Thanks for watching Pauly.
I guess I should have kept it a secret that there was "soul selling" involved! I appreciate you watching despite your displeasure for this type of film.
Yeah, Brendan (playing Eric Watts) comes off very naturally. I had no idea he was going to do an accent until we started rolling!
alex whitmer
Veteran
That wasn't his real accent? Fooled the hell out of me!
a
a
Neal Buconjic
Well-known member
LOL! Nope.
He was cursing his choice to do an accent when he had to repeat it in the ADR session!
He was cursing his choice to do an accent when he had to repeat it in the ADR session!
John LaBonney
Well-known member
Ah, I get to compare yet another devil character to the one in Barn Dance. Santana was very good. I thought the acting was good overall.
While I didn't see him burning up onstage coming, the instant you hear the knock at the door the end of the film is pretty predictable. The dialog with the bar guy was a little long winded.
The fire effects have been commented on already, I give you credit for attempting something big here.
All-in-all, nice job.
While I didn't see him burning up onstage coming, the instant you hear the knock at the door the end of the film is pretty predictable. The dialog with the bar guy was a little long winded.
The fire effects have been commented on already, I give you credit for attempting something big here.
All-in-all, nice job.
Neal Buconjic
Well-known member
Thanks for the comments, John.
Yes, another devil character... they're a staple of the twilight genre aren't they? At least in your film (good BTW), your central character had the fortitude to resist!
Sorry to hear that the knock on the door was a dead give away for what was about to come. Long winded dialogue? Then it's a good thing half his monologue got cut!
Thank you for the pat on the back for attempting the heavy VFX. I've learned that I won't write something (for a fest entry) that relies so heavily on VFX. Live and learn...
:thumbsup:
jefflebowski
Member
I was immediately drawn to Nick. His acting is a cut above and I'd say he was cast well.
The script itself is yet another play on the concept of selling your soul to the devil, which for me, never gets old. So, good going on the basic premise. I felt drawn in immediately which is a good thing because I have found many of these shorts tend to stall in the beginning. I also appreciated the special effects. From a writers standpoint, I would have done one thing differently. Nick essentially spilled his guts (talking to dead Oscar) about his deal with Santana. I would left a little to to viewers imagination. Perhaps a more cryptic explanation of Nick's own deal would have sufficed and then Nick openly inviting the guitar player into the bar would confirm that he is working for Santana.
Overall, great story...one of the better ones. Bravo
The script itself is yet another play on the concept of selling your soul to the devil, which for me, never gets old. So, good going on the basic premise. I felt drawn in immediately which is a good thing because I have found many of these shorts tend to stall in the beginning. I also appreciated the special effects. From a writers standpoint, I would have done one thing differently. Nick essentially spilled his guts (talking to dead Oscar) about his deal with Santana. I would left a little to to viewers imagination. Perhaps a more cryptic explanation of Nick's own deal would have sufficed and then Nick openly inviting the guitar player into the bar would confirm that he is working for Santana.
Overall, great story...one of the better ones. Bravo
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stinkpot
Well-known member
Neal, I enjoyed your story. It felt kind of rushed in parts but that's what a six minute time limit will do to you sometimes The fire effects looked good and were not overdone. I especially liked what you did with the charred body. Good film and well worth watching.
Hope to see more of your stuff soon.
:beer:
The fire effects looked good and were not overdone. I especially liked what you did with the charred body. Good film and well worth watching.Hope to see more of your stuff soon.
:beer: