My Soul To Keep - presented by Easy Water Films

pauly_the_hitman said:
Its called Gorilla film making, when all else fails just show up and shoot...


OK so here is my review of this one. Alex the story was awesome I wish this would have turned out more like I was hoping it would. The story has such a great beginning, middle, and end but due to bad acting and strange effects that killed it for me. It was obviously shot on quality equipment but the performances lacked any sense of reality for me and the period costuming didn't work. Even after all is said and done it was still an enjoyable story.
Pauly
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Yes, good 'ol Gorilla film making. Sometimes that ends up your only option.

Glad you liked the story. Sorry the finished film didn't knock your socks off. I value your input with your film experience.

We'll get them next fest!!!

Maybe Tom will come out and dress up as a little girl. Loved him in Accidental Hitman!!

Thanks for viewing.

alex
 
pauly_the_hitman said:
Its called Gorilla film making, when all else fails just show up and shoot...
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Not on my watch. All of my I's are dotted and my T's are crossed. Any location is required to sign a location agreement providing permission. All shoots that I do are covered by insurance.

Aside from that I appreciate your honest review of the film.
 
That one was original and interesting, but I feel it could turn out a lot better.

First, the acting-I'm no actor or director to judge someone's act performance, but most parts in this film I didn't find convincing-it felt 'wooden', unreal. The parts where the man is alone are ok, but when it comes to dialogue, it just seems to unrealistic, the hosts are just intertwined where I cannot see the expressions when I expect it the most.

Next, I find a little odd that man didn't react to sightings of a little girl/s. I mean, some kind of reaction, they are after all dead, so some kind of surprise in his voice or stunning look would help by that matter.

At the part he's talking to the girl with a ball, his face is half-shadowed while her is clean under the light. I don't know if this was on purpose, but I somehow feel that it should be opposite; his face should be in light because we already know who he is and what does he look like, and she, the mysterious little girl who threatens him should have half of her face in shadow. I just find that more logical, but it's just a matter of taste.

A little nitpicking now:D-the music started at 04:40 instead 10 seconds earlier when that fade out->in came. It's not a rule, but that fade out has ended the night, ended that part of twist, and I think it's much smoother to lead us into another one with a music that starts even before the shots itself. That said, (I know you probably shortened the film to 06:00 min), it wouldn't be bad to leave a little of that black part with an easy fade in into music. I guess you wanted the music to start when he begins to work on her gravestone.

You shot a lot of dialogue outside while the wind was blowing-that is hard and unthankful job, but I think you pulled it ok-it's not perfect, but it turned out ok.

This movie is what I would like to call magical cause that's what story has in itself, the location outside is nice an relaxing and the piano music is really nice put in all of this.

All in all, I liked it, except couple of things mentioned up there.
AND I found this film as invitation to watch whatever the next one may be.

Cheers!
 
Mile Bozicevic said:
A little nitpicking now:D-the music started at 04:40 instead 10 seconds earlier when that fade out->in came. It's not a rule, but that fade out has ended the night, ended that part of twist, and I think it's much smoother to lead us into another one with a music that starts even before the shots itself. That said, (I know you probably shortened the film to 06:00 min), it wouldn't be bad to leave a little of that black part with an easy fade in into music. I guess you wanted the music to start when he begins to work on her gravestone.
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This was intentional, but your take on it is an interesting one, and not a comment that I expected. Thank you for sharing your point of view.
 
Very nice story Alex and I also like the score. The acting of the older girl with the ball took my attention very well and I like the old man's character - he seemed to me like Pinocchio's carpenter, with his smooth reactions and warm hearted voice. But there was something in the film that it let me feel them very long. I am not sure, but maybe it was simple too much dialog there.
However - Compliments! :love4:

Susanne
 
All kudos go to Chris !!

Score, lighting - his creativity.


Very interesting you should mention the old carpenter, Geppetto, because that is exactly who I had in mind when creating Clarence. I wanted this to have a little fairytale feel to it.

Most of the supernatural archetypes, symbols and themes have their origin in fairytales.

Very observant!

alex
 
Sometimes it feels like there is too much character direction or/and the actors didn't respond enough to the script. There was a lot of attention created for the diversity of locations, some being wonderfully unique while others were too complacent.

On second viewing -I write these while watching them- the subtle direction of the script stands out; creating a aggressive picture of relationships and sexual deviancy in relation to all different kinds of common threads.
learn more about IMO by responding.
 
RobinFrank said:
Sometimes it feels like there is too much character direction or/and the actors didn't respond enough to the script. There was a lot of attention created for the diversity of locations, some being wonderfully unique while others were too complacent.

On second viewing -I write these while watching them- the subtle direction of the script stands out; creating a aggressive picture of relationships and sexual deviancy in relation to all different kinds of common threads.
learn more about IMO by responding.
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Don't get this. Deviancy? No idea where you are going with that.
 
A nice "heart warming" ghost story.

I really liked the first two shots, especially the second with the expansive wide shot. These looked great.

Mr. O'shea didn't seem too concerned that there was a ghost outside his window, stealing his flowers! This can be challenging explaining to an actor that his character is surprised or shocked. Often times what you'll get is something terribly over the top. If that's what you faced, then this reaction was golden.

I found the some of the editing early on to be very heavy handed. I can only speculate that you had to cut down the running time and didn't have a lot of editing options to go with while maintaining the arc of the story.

Going with the B&W look for the shots of the past worked very well. I did however, find the basketball inappropriate (at least it looked to me to be a basketball).

I thought it was a nice touch near the end to have Mr. O'Shea ask that the young girl pass on his love to his wife (without him actually having to say the words).

A warm film, despite being a ghost story! Nice job.
 
yeehaanow said:
Another fine script from Alex Whitmer.
I liked the opening sequence a lot. The space.............. the loneliness, and the intrigue all worked as one with the cinematography and music. It's refreshing to see big wide shots where a person is just a speck in the frame. Very cinematic and uncommon around here, probably due to the tiny LCD's we all look through. I liked how you faded in the ghosts- had me hooked.

My critiques are really two basic things- Tone and Emphasis.
The acting didn't quite fit the tone that you started off with, and I felt it could've used a stronger choice on how this guy feels about these ghosts popping up. Either scared, or intrigued, or wary, or something. It was pretty neutral.

There were quite a few very nice lighting setups, especially inside the house. The exterior day shots didn't quite fit the mood for me, again, I think it's related to that choice.

I had to watch it several times to figure out the story, and for me it all hinges on the lack of emphasis of key lines, the main one being- "These flowers are for my resting place, nobody ever pays me a visit" This line tells us what the story is about and she had her back to the camera and swallowed the line. I missed it four times. There were a couple other similar lines, but I think you get the point.

When I skip from the beginning of the movie to the end, I can see the transition you made from the desaturated look at the top, to the over-saturated look at the end. I think that's a good choice, and tells us that these girls are at peace now. It might've been more effective if all of the other ext shots were either at night, or on a cloudy dark depressing day, so the emphasis was stronger. I'm sure shooting schedules and realities of weather not being under our control (Damn!) would've made that tough.

The B&W moments I liked a lot.

Overall a decent short with potential still left in it in the areas of color correction, another take for those key lines, and maybe even more sound design to enhance the mood. Nice job.
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Hey, finally getting back to this!! Very nice review. Not sure if Chris will revisit this one after the fest, but we have a few takes, including one of Bere delivering her 'my resting place' line form the front.

Not sure why more folks didn't do the long shots. They really are quite effective.

I think so far you are the only one who picked up on the change in saturation. It's an important background metaphor.

Lot and lots of good stuff in the review, thanks.

aw
 
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Neal Buconjic said:
I did however, find the basketball inappropriate (at least it looked to me to be a basketball).
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Thanks for your feedback Neal. Question on this. Did you find the ball an inappropriate element, or did you just not like the fact that it looked like a basketball to you?

The ball as a story element is intrinsically important in my opinion as it's a primary motivation for the children. All of the events that transpire really happen because of that ball, and it later becomes a link that Anais clings to as a ghost.

If it's just the look, then so be it. It was a leather ball, and not a basketball, for what it's worth. They didn't have basketballs in the 1700's. :)
 
alex whitmer said:
Not sure if Chris will revisit this one after the fest, but we have a few takes, including one of Bere delivering her 'my resting place' line form the front.
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I thought that yeehaanow pointing that out was a very astute observation and definitely something that I'll investigate to see if that scene can be restructured.
 
I thought that this was a lot of story to jam into six minutes, and I think that you managed it nicely. How many pages was the original script.

You've got some great shots in here, and some that don't transition so well.

I agree with the comments that have been made on the acting.

Good for you going with location releases and insurance. It's an expense and a hassle but the peace of mind is worth it in my opinion.
 
I was reffering to some of the humor in the script. It had a few comical references in that vein. Maybe I'm just seeing that...damn, Im a deviant. :(
 
krestofre said:
Thanks for your feedback Neal. Question on this. Did you find the ball an inappropriate element, or did you just not like the fact that it looked like a basketball to you?

The ball as a story element is intrinsically important in my opinion as it's a primary motivation for the children. All of the events that transpire really happen because of that ball, and it later becomes a link that Anais clings to as a ghost.

If it's just the look, then so be it. It was a leather ball, and not a basketball, for what it's worth. They didn't have basketballs in the 1700's. :)
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I thought it was a basketball... B&W and small viewing size playing tricks on my eyes, I guess. I have no issues with the ball as an element, I simply thought it looked like a BB and was out of place.

Issue resolved. :thumbsup:
 
Nice work guys. Liked the story and the way it played out. Liked a lot of the shots, especially the wide open outdoors shots and the contrast of the tight indoor shots. Some of the lines had wooden delivery but the cast was likeable and did well. I'm kind of bouncing all over the place but I'm listing things as they come to me. I liked the way you crushed the blacks in the b&w shots.

All in all, it was an enjoyable film and I think you guys did a really good job. Cheers!\
 
John LaBonney said:
I thought that this was a lot of story to jam into six minutes, and I think that you managed it nicely.
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John pointed out something that slipped right past me. He's right. You fit a ton in there and it played out just fine. Like it's just SO easy. heh.

Otherwise
Nice thoughtful ghost story. I like that you chose a er… wholesome story. Is that the word? Anyway, that’s how it felt. I’m sure you’ve heard the acting is a bit stiff. But that doesn’t get in the way of the heart of the piece. Look forward to more.
 
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