"The Gift" a film by Dick Campbell

Great film. I enjoyed the story. I think the black and white really worked for it and added to the whole production. Felt like a clip of classic tv. Also liked the classic car at the beginning. Would have liked for there to be a little more emphasis on the ending, maybe a reaction shot. Overall, really good work.
 
I enjoyed this. Good looking black and white cinematography, good acting, and an enjoyable story. Someone may have mentioned it, but I'm pretty sure at 4:53 you can be heard saying "action". I also kind of wish that first shot would have gone on long enough for the car to pass by the camera.

Good movie though.
 
Appreciate the plusses. The other comments are right on also. (the "action" snuck in when I addded a cross fade transition to the audio and it sucked in the extra frames. its corrected now - thanks).

the car shot does pass by - I had to edit it shorter for time.
 
Very nice story. Loved the look, felt old.
Some of the acting was a little stiff at times, as if the dialogue was being read right from the script. I liked the guy by the window though, he seemed quite natural.

The opening shot was quite nice! I would have started it just before the car appeared so that we would have had more time to see the car get closer.

Loved the big reveal as well.

Very nice work.

Mike
 
I was kind of expecting something like the revel but you surprised me with how subtle it was. I may have chose something more like space or a post apocalyptic background. Good choice on the black and white, good acting. I enjoyed this one.
Pauly
 
Liked the story ending a lot, I would have liked to see you hang on to that shot a little longer to let it sink in. The beginning is interesting; what frame rate did you use? I would have liked to see a few more moving shots to spice things up a bit.

Enjoyed it, good work!
 
This film took me by my emotional side - I was nearly crying at the end. The man who died did a great acting. I loved how he explained all the things which were happened in the park by his fantasy. The acting of the nurse was in the first scene in the hospital a little bit rigid, but afterwards it was more nurse-natural like. I had the feeling that your black and white film was very light gray and the white light irritated me sometimes. The score did a great work to underlined the tragic, but also human atmosphere. All together a enjoyable nice film - Thank you! :)

Susanne
 
Interestingly enough I had just heard the story that this was based off of a couple weeks ago and put together a script revolving around the idea that I plan to make soon. I looked for an author online but everywhere I saw it it was posted with an author unknown. Anyways my script for it is much different but with the same general idea behind it. If that's not a strange coincidence for ya then i don't know what is! haha great film though I loved the choice to go black and white!
 
several people have told me they had heard variations of this story. Mine came from a devotional study book whose author, Moore, is listed in my credits.
 
yah after seeing your film i went and looked him up, i found the book but obviously couldn't find the specific story in there as I haven't purchased the book I had heard the story practically just as you told it though, so it was interesting to see it put visually.
 
The black and white imagery really gave it an old Twilight Zone feel. Your actors were well cast and believable. Good story with a message.
 
sweet story. good choice to use black and white. it really felt like something on A and E classics. well shot. well acted too. could see the ending a mile away but still liked it! i like the use of a brick wall too, this worked fine!
 
Carrying on the tradition from Timefest, the AIM sessions have returned, a live stream of whatever may come out of our heads as we watch your films. Here are Ben Sliker, Brad Mate, and Justin Kuhn's thoughts on "The Gift."

Since for some reason, since we couldn't get Adium, AIM and iChat to all agree with each in one chat room, we had to go to an online chat room for the 3-person chats. After almost being molested by a forty year old man in a chat room for "privates" (ben read private chat), we managed to hop on to the chatzy client, which worked well. Note: Never search "free chat" in google and expect what you are looking for.

Ben: THE GIFT
Ben: by (awesome name) DICK CAMBELL
Ben: red?
Kuhn: rdy
Ben: 3
Ben: 2
Jebus: set
Ben: 1
Ben: GO
Ben: i feel like ive seen this intro before ...
Kuhn: TING
Jebus: yay for simple titles!!!
Ben: long time ago me and my brother kyle were hitchiking down a long and lonesome road.
Jebus: and he said...play the best song in the world
Ben: that guy just PWNED himself.
Kuhn: I guess that was an accident yeah
Ben: HEY MR. WILSON!
Ben: I'M COMING OVER TO PLAY!
Kuhn: when he moved the camera...no sound effects...?
Jebus: why dont you move me to another room *****
Ben: it's a one room hospital
Jebus: is this hospital only one room
Jebus: GOD
Ben: NINJA'd!
Kuhn: fondle this
Ben: i wouldn't want to talk to that douche
Ben: YOU ARE THE SOURCE OF MY BOREDOM
Jebus: is this hospital run on solar power? how can they not run a tv in there?
Ben: HOW BOUT YOU STRAP A PLASMA TV TO THE CEILING ... STOP TELLING ME ABOUT YOUR WINDOW ...
Jebus: OH NO TURN OF THAT CLOCK IT WILL MESS UP HIS MACHINES
Ben: another timefest entry apparently.
Kuhn: god I'm really emphasizing with that guy
Ben: emphasizing huh?
Kuhn: i couldn't handle the boredom,
Ben: his true feeling come out
Ben: FLOATS?
Kuhn: there's no window
Kuhn: it's a brick wall
Jebus: ........HE CAN GET A TV NOW HE DOESNT NEED A STUPID poo pooING WINDOW
Jebus: HOW CAN HE SIT UP
Jebus: WTF
Kuhn: I guess it was a week later or whatever
Ben: justin did you call that or did you see it?
Kuhn: I called it
Kuhn: so called it
Kuhn: it's kind of an old story
Jebus: nice call. though it was a bit obvious. that guy could see a shi* ton out that window...
Ben: i'd like to emphasize how much i empathized with the protagonist.
Kuhn: fo sho
Jebus: nice
Ben: me grammer and speeling good
Jebus: lol
Jebus: lollercaust
Ben: seconds until justin catches on?
Ben: 1
Ben: 2
Kuhn: roflcopter?
Ben: 3
Ben: 4
Ben: 5
Ben: 6
Jebus: so never
Ben: 7
Ben: 8
Ben: 9
Ben: 10
Jebus: (he's making fun of you)
Ben: i give up.
Jebus: its a grammar issue
Kuhn: in the interest of expressing my thoughts as fast as possible with as little thinking as possible...
Jebus: interesting
Kuhn: so add an h
Kuhn: and get on with our lives
Ben: jesus, way to be debbie downer justin.
Kuhn: that's what they call me
Ben: *insert debbie downer SNL pic*
debbie_downer.jpg

Kuhn: NEXT SONG

Dick, liked this one a lot, good solid storytelling. Like I said with Anti De Presence, I'd rather see something that's familiar and done really well than something that's "completely original" but sucks. There were obviously a few logistics issues that we had problems with, but nothing that would detract from the piece as a whole. It engages you enough for you to forget any minor quibbles. Look forward to more! :beer:
 
Liked the flick. Nice sweet gunless and gangsterless story (though there was death!). I really enjoyed Tom McHenry and Andy Mullins. Both had a welcoming quality that really made me feel like eating stove heated quaker oats by a warm living room fire while watching it snow outside a log cabin (yes, that's odd, but it's the feeling the film gave me). I thought the ending was a bit abrupt, but effective. Nice job.
 
I liked this Dick. Good performances, great location and the script rolled along very nicely.

We did see the end coming a long time in advance (as you say mainly becasue its a spin on an old theme), but in some ways it didnt matter because it still had it's emotional impact when it came. I'm not sure what part of this is 'twilight', but nevertheless I still enjoyed it and thought it was a complete a well executed short.

I have to say at the end when he asked to be moved over to the bed near window, I thought he was going to start getting better and then they would bring in another near death paitent, and the story starts again but with him telling hte story. Maybe it's that bed that kills people!!!! lol But I guess that would have been total cheese - which is probably why I thought of it!
 
I already had the story, and when I saw the opening rules of Twilightfest ("Theme: Everything may not be as it appears"), I knew this one would be agood one.

Sorry you saw the end coming, I"ve enjoyed the reactions of folks who didn't. Thanks for the time.
 
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