"The Contract" - A film by Neal Buconjic

[hoz]

nice twist!

didnt read all the threads so sorry if i repeat something... really cool fire fx!, esp when the dude was being crispied.

story was cool too, not the totally predictable sell your soul tale. nice work with this.
acting was okay, santana came off a bit cheesy as did the his encounter with the magician. the trade happened kind of fast, i might've bought it if the magician became more emotional while he was trying out the powers. my two cents... also the crowd didnt show all that much emotion while they watched the magician turn into a kebob. people would be completely freaking out.

fun flick overall!

 

[Bryce A]

Wow. I think you get the award for actually creating an episode of Night Gallery. You also get an award for finding Peter Fleming. Let me guess: you were out of luck and cursing yourself for not coming up with a twilightfest idea, then you saw Peter leaning against a brick wall. he told you he and chuck would be in your film if you sold your soul to him. am I right? He and chuck Holgate were perfect! The script was great and the structure was so friggin old school.

I really loved this film. You had some issues with the visual effects (though maybe they were on purpose for the night gallery effect?). But, wow. You know what, I don't care about anything other than how amazingly authentic it was.

Keep it up!

 

[Brian Parker]

Cool film Neal. Enjoyable and as Bryce said, it really fit into the spirit of the fest. Nice job on a lot of the FX shots as well. My only issues was with the bar owner's speech at the end. It was a little expositionary and could have been conveyed with a conversation with Santana or something. Other than that, enjoyable flick man. :beer:

 

[RobbieExtra]

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

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:[/QUOTE]

Hey Neal I hate to be a nit-picker, but this dirty glasss issue that you keep speaking of, is going too far. I mean c'mon, its a dirty glass. I thought this was supposed to be a crappy bar, would they even have clean glasses? To me, I loved the dirty glass. It has a texture and atmosphere. Since the shot is basically static for so long, I found myself looking around at all the little details, and the dirty glass made me think he was up for a long time drinking. In a film, it's just those little details that draw people in. Costume and set designers deliberately avoid flat designs that just bounce light and don't look interesting. They always go for something that has texture and character and gives the light something to play off of and the camera something to chew on so to speak. I thought the smudges were intentional and they were attention to detail like your DVX USER beer bottle . Point is, if the bar is supposed to be crappy and dirty then it should extend to everything, to create a world. I see that you were going for this look, but honestly, everything looked a little too neat and clean. (except for the glass of course! )

 

[Neal Buconjic]

nice twist!
... really cool fire fx!, esp when the dude was being crispied.

...story was cool too, not the totally predictable sell your soul tale. nice work with this.

Thanks for watching hoz.
Jason did a good on the vfx, given the short amount time he had.
I'm glad you liked the story line. I was hoping the viewer would be suprised that Nick was in on it with Santana.

Wow. I think you get the award for actually creating an episode of Night Gallery. You also get an award for finding Peter Fleming. Let me guess: you were out of luck and cursing yourself for not coming up with a twilightfest idea, then you saw Peter leaning against a brick wall. he told you he and chuck would be in your film if you sold your soul to him. am I right? He and chuck Holgate were perfect! The script was great and the structure was so friggin old school.

Yes, I sold my soul to Peter, but I can "buy it back" if I make 5 more films with him! LOL

I really loved this film. You had some issues with the visual effects (though maybe they were on purpose for the night gallery effect?). But, wow. You know what, I don't care about anything other than how amazingly authentic it was.

Keep it up!

Umm, yeah - the visual effects were on purpose for the night gallery effect!
Thanks for the kind comments, Bryce.

Cool film Neal. Enjoyable and as Bryce said, it really fit into the spirit of the fest. Nice job on a lot of the FX shots as well. My only issues was with the bar owner's speech at the end. It was a little expositionary and could have been conveyed with a conversation with Santana or something. Other than that, enjoyable flick man. :beer:

Thank you Champloo. As you may have read earlier in the thread, I'm considering taking this feedback and creating a revised scene between Nick and Santana.
Thank you for the feedback.

Hey Neal I hate to be a nit-picker, but this dirty glasss issue that you keep speaking of, is going too far. I mean c'mon, its a dirty glass. I thought this was supposed to be a crappy bar, would they even have clean glasses? To me, I loved the dirty glass. It has a texture and atmosphere. Since the shot is basically static for so long, I found myself looking around at all the little details, and the dirty glass made me think he was up for a long time drinking. In a film, it's just those little details that draw people in. Costume and set designers deliberately avoid flat designs that just bounce light and don't look interesting. They always go for something that has texture and character and gives the light something to play off of and the camera something to chew on so to speak. I thought the smudges were intentional and they were attention to detail like your DVX USER beer bottle . Point is, if the bar is supposed to be crappy and dirty then it should extend to everything, to create a world. I see that you were going for this look, but honestly, everything looked a little too neat and clean. (except for the glass of course! )

Robbie, if that's all the nit-picking you've got to do - I'm a happy man!
Thanks for the detailed explanation. Funny you should mention it's too clean. When I wrote the script, I had intended the place to be a real dive. Trouble was, this location wasn't the gritty rat's nest that I was hoping for. Well, you make due with what you have, right?:thumbsup:

 

[RobbieExtra]

Robbie, if that's all the nit-picking you've got to do - I'm a happy man!
Thanks for the detailed explanation. Funny you should mention it's too clean. When I wrote the script, I had intended the place to be a real dive. Trouble was, this location wasn't the gritty rat's nest that I was hoping for. Well, you make due with what you have, right?:thumbsup:

Well, now that you mention it.. there are more but they more or less have been done to death on here (vfx, framing, camera movement, pacing etc.) No sense in beating a dead horse. I just felt compelled to point that out. Hopefully you have better luck with your director's cut.
:thumbup:

 

[Neal Buconjic]

Thanks to those who watched the film. I appreciate the comments as well.

I've learned a lot and will apply the suggestions to future projects.

As I've mentioned, The Contract is being "re-tooled" and will be bigger and better.

Stay tuned.

 

[bluesgeek]

Neal, have you posted a link somewhere in here to the film?

 

[Neal Buconjic]

To the "Director's cut"? No. I'm assuming the original is accessed via www.dvxfest.com

Actually, I just shot a new scene this morning. I'm under the gun to get the new version completed soon as the film has been accepted into a film fest and they're letting me screen the new version if it's completed in time.

 

[bluesgeek]

IC. I have seen posts on this thread complimenting your film, so I thought there was a link to view it. I hope to see it someday. It looks like have a some good creative people on it. Good luck.