"1-UP" A Brian Parker Film

Lawsuit Boy - I just left a review of Tiny Dancer over in your thread. It was...well...I'll just let you read it.

Wow, thanks for the awesome feedback man. Tiny Dancer was so good and the fact that you liked my film is pretty cool.

I hate to admit it but I'm not to well-versed on Goddard's works yet. Any reccomendations?

I'm glad you liked the protagonist and were able to relate. That was a very important thing for me, especially considering who the initial audience is. I was a little hesitant about switching betwwen ratios for the "reality" and "immagination" sequences but it looks like it paid off. I'm definately working on improving my technical details. Which shot in the noir sequence was off?

Thanks again for leaving such great feedback. I love these fests primarily for that reason. This stuff is gold! I'm glad you enjoyed the film man becuase I enjoyed making it. :beer:

Michael Anthony Horrigan - Oh yeah. I learned a lot. Looking forward to your future projects as well.

SMarston - Thanks a lot...really. That is an amazing compliment. I appreciate it.
 
Champloo said:
Lawsuit Boy - I just left a review of Tiny Dancer over in your thread. It was...well...I'll just let you read it.

Wow, thanks for the awesome feedback man. Tiny Dancer was so good and the fact that you liked my film is pretty cool.

I hate to admit it but I'm not to well-versed on Goddard's works yet. Any reccomendations?

I'm glad you liked the protagonist and were able to relate. That was a very important thing for me, especially considering who the initial audience is. I was a little hesitant about switching betwwen ratios for the "reality" and "immagination" sequences but it looks like it paid off. I'm definately working on improving my technical details. Which shot in the noir sequence was off?

Thanks again for leaving such great feedback. I love these fests primarily for that reason. This stuff is gold! I'm glad you enjoyed the film man becuase I enjoyed making it. :beer:

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Thank you for the wonderful words, Brian! I appreciate it so much. I've been worried about the film lately, but you and the critics I know over at Rotten Tomatoes gave it fantastic feedback as well as everyone else, so I'm not so worried anymore.

Anyway, Godard...I recommend starting with Breathless, which is one of the films that really established the French New Wave, along with Truffaut's "The 400 Blows" (which I recommend HIGHLY. Now, Truffaut is my favorite of the two, and there are of course other french new wave filmmakers, but Godard is a taste that must be aquired. After Breathless, I recommend checking out A Woman is a Woman (where a lot of inspiration for Tiny Dancer stemmed from), Contempt/Le mepris in french (which is fantastic), Pierrot le fou, Band of Outsiders, Alphaville, and Masculin/feminin.

Heh, that's quite a bit of homework! I'm an enormous international film buff and am constantly filling my collection with Criterion Collection dvds (I know that sounds snobbish, but I'm really not. They're just fantastic films). I just feel that while America turns out some amazing films, other countries turn out stuff equally impressive, if not more impressive. And all of the film movements since the advent of sync sound are worth looking into. I really recommend seeking out some German expressionist work too.

Anyway, hope that helps!
 
OH! And if you're into political satire at all, check out Godard's La Chinoise. Great film with some fantastic cinematography.
 
"if only i could make a film by myself" well put!

ya know, the difference between actors and directors is the stress level haha. while directors have in our minds every single intimate detail of every scene. we know what we want it to look like, we know what need it to be, we try to get the best people and the best places to make our imagination come to life. while actors are able to separate themselves from clip to clip only focusing on what needs to be done right then.

you have managed to pull off both roles and made it look damn good. amazing job
 
I really liked this one. The premise was funny, and the comment about making a film by yourself definitely struck a cord with me. :) The CG was also impressive. Not feature film quality, but very good for a short like this. And I know how quickly a "short" animation like that can eat up your time.

My only crits are that the comedy scene didn't have enough comedy. My expectations may have been misplaced, but I was thinking it would be a sitcom style with shallow jokes and lots of laughs. Because of that expectation, the reality was a let down.

Also, in the sequence that starts at 1:10, the close up dolly shots, the hand-held nature of the motion took me out of the scene.

Still, it was a great effort, and I enjoyed watching. Thanks!
 
Brian, I loved the concept & the originality of this compared to many of the other fest entries. Loved seeing the little splices of other films you put together.

You've got a penchant for the written word, and loved the writing in the noir/detective piece.

Technically, I felt some of the acting was off at times on the delivery, most notably with the room mates, and some of this really came down to editing, which if there was some tightening up, it'd help the deliveries better, in my opinion, to keep the dialogue quicky, whitty, and almost on top of each others, so basically just speeding up the pace a little more.

In my mind, I think to REALLY have sold this film, and all the clips within it, since we're dealing with the filmmaker's imagination here & he was just brainstorming, would be to have everything OVER THE TOP. The action opening with some ducks & rolls from the main character (gun fire coming from some where), the drama could have the actress have a HUGE tear running down her cheek with REALLY moving/swelling score, the comedy to be more animated, fast paced, etc.

The detective one was so perfect, because of the writing/dialogue/narration in it, and made the others pale in comparison because they seemed more flat ... again, since we were in his imagination, may as well had fun with it.

BTW, GREAT animation on that CG section ... the gal's face had incredible expressions on her!
 
I had a long day and just sat down to watch and review a dozen films. Your film is the first. I'm so glad I did. I needed a laugh and you certainly have me one. Thanks. The writing is real good. I like both the VO and sync material. They both have a natural tone, not forced. The performances are actually quite good, but the editing affected the pacing a bit. There are several moments in the kitchen when I would have laughed, but didn't, because of the editing.

I caught a glimpse of what Norm wrote and agree about the beginning action scene. That should have been a no-holds-bar shootout or chase. There was also an editing problem with the POV of the cop. You had him run up to the camera in almost a full shot and then cut to the POV. The POV can only be only shown after the CU, not that full shot. Then again, you may have not had the shots to continue continuity to get to the CU. That's a nit pick and I'm lingering too long on it. There are edits like that throughout which if done correctly would give this short some wings. Like I said the writing and acting are there, they are the two hardest things to get, now you need to tighten up on the technical end. That techie stuff is the easy part.

Keep up the good work. I want to see more from you.
 
Champloo, loved the film! Very entertaining and funny with a very original idea. As filmmakers we all go through that process while writing a film, so that was very cool. The only thing I could nitpick at is your voice in the kitchen seemed off a little at time (seemed like it was adr) and there were just a couple of things or shots rather, that would have been better had the camera been on a tripod. Like in the drama piece, showing all the pics and books. A small thing, there so no biggie. Anyway, a very creative film and I commend you for wearing all the hats that you do (I know exactly how that is and how hard it can be).
 
KTOOFRESH - Wow, thanks. That's a big compliment. Glad you felt that I made it work. Thanks for the feedback. :beer:

jmc - Hey jmc. Yeah, based on the feedback I've gotten, I realize that picking up the pace on the comedy sequence would have created better impact. It's my first time seriously attempting comedy and I learned a lot from it.

The shaky cam on the drama piece bothered me too and I didn't have time to reshoot. I'm going to have to invest in a stabilizer.

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks!

Norm Sanders - Thanks man. Im always a little insecure about my writing capabilities.

I see what you're saying about the roommates. I'm really feeling a little down about the comedy piece. I'm planning on doing a re-edit but I hate the feeling of dropping the ball.

You know, I never really thought about pushing the super shorts to the extreme like that but it does make sense because it's imagination.

Glad you enjoyed the cg. The bizzare thing, is that animating her was very much like working with a real actor. I'd animate the facial expressions and then render out a "take" and if It didn't work, didn't have the right timing or emotion, I'd reanimate and we'd try it again. It was kind of surreal.

Thanks for all of the great feedback and advice Norm!

Sprocketboy - Man, thanks. I'm really glad it gave you some laughs. That's what I really hoped for. I vow that the comedy scene will be re-edited to be better paced and effective.

Thanks for the correction on the Cop POV shot. I didn't know that. I'm learning so much invaluable info from the feedback. Yeah, I was a little short on footage for that sequence due to location elements but I definately see what you're saying. Really glad that you like the writing and acting and I'm going to keep grinding away to learn the tech stuff.

Thanks for all the feedback. Looking forward to seeing more from you too man.

Marlon Ladd - Thanks Marlon. Yeah, the creative process is the old gift and the curse. Yeah, there were some sound issues during the kitchen scene. Still trying to get audio. The tripod thing was just me slipping. Heh heh...I can admit that. Thanks for checking it out Marlon. Glad you liked it. I'll be getting to yours soon.
 
Good stuff. You kind of took the approach we did: the fact that you couldn't come up with an idea IS your idea. And the way you shoot each idea down is pretty dead on -- I found myself agreeing with you for the most part, except on the comedy tip. :costumed-smiley-047

Word. My favorite bit was the comedy.
keep it up!
 
just creative work here! i totally enjoyed this one. The actress had some great lines! she is really good. i loved the animation sequence
 
Abraham - Thanks man. I haven't seen Lost at Sea yet but I've heard a lot about it. I'll be sure to stop by your thread after I watch it.

TiJo - Thnaks! Glad you had fun with it. Yeah Quynh is a blast to work with. That's why she always winds up in my projects. Glad you liked the animation too. Thanks for the feedback!
 
Hey man I thought this was a lot of fun to watch. I enjoyed the range you showed with the all the mini film ideas we got to see. While the comedy could have been better, I really enjoyed the noir feel and the cg stuff was really cool.

Films that address the creative complications we as filmmakers (and especially us writers) face are always a joy to watch when done right and this was definitely a joy!
 
Favorite part: The writers block montage with the toe-nail clipping and dancing.

What would have made me like the film more: A secondary conflict. What does the protagonist lose if he isn't able to write a great film?

Overall I enjoyed the film. It kept my interest. Good work.
 
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This was very enjoyable, and a great improvement on your Twilightfest entry. I was laughing MAO.

The biggest laugh was the Noir/ detective scene. Great VO and writing on that one.

Second biggest was the comedy scene. The pace could've been upped a tad for my taste, but it still played really well.

I think you captured the feeling of the genre in the action and drama sections, but I wanted to see a mini story in there like the comedy and noir sections have.

The CG stuff was very impressive. I was saying, "he actually MADE this?" Cool.

I liked the VO throughout, and it probably echo's the thoughts of all of us here when were trying to come up with an idea for the fest.

You gave me a big smile and some good laughs. I look forward to more from you.
 
Spear670 - Glad you had fun with it man. It was a lot of fun to make. Yeah, I enjoy films like that a lot as well. So relateable. Thanks for the feedback man!

Drew Ott - Glad you enjoyed it. You make a really good point about the secondary conflict. Would have uped the ante. Thanks for checking it out!

yeehawnow - Thanks. That's a big thing for me. As long as I'm improving. Glad it got some laughs out of you.

Yeah, the noir was fun. I've been such a big fan of noir since I was a kid. Heh...I've already recut the comedy section to pick up the pacing...shaved off like half a minute. I would have loved to flesh out the drama and action more.

The cg was crazy to do but fun in it's own way. I have an animation history so it was nice to do something with it again. Glad you could connect to the conflict in this one and that you had fun with it. Thanks for all the feedback man.
 
Cool idea. Well shot - especially liked the opening scene. Well edited - really liked the film reel transitions.

I didn't love the comedy section, but looks like you've already changed some of that.

Overall, I thought this short was pretty good, but I think it could have been much better if the Writer contemplation scenes were a little more interesting. These scenes were basically silent film pieces, so I think you could have gone a few ways to make it more interesting here. One way could be using more overly expressive acting. Conversely, you could have used extreme close-ups on more subtle acting. Also, I think the art direction could have gone a long way to make the Writer scenes more interesting. As it is, I don't think the set lends much to the building of his character. Lastly, the VO, I think, was a bit weak - not quite expressive enough.

Again, though, I really did like the concept and I thought the production quality, especially with the many genres used (and animation!) was really great.
 
eustace - Glad you liked the opening. It was fun to shoot. Yeah, comedy is being recut.

With the contemplation scenes, I used the empty room to try create a kind of stark void. I wanted those scenes to be muted in comparison to the film idea sequences so I left the room empty, didn't do any real ligjting, no color correction, etc. I guess I did overdo it a bit to where it became detrimental to the film.

Glad you liked the concept and if the production quality of my films improves each time, then I'm happy. Thanks for all the feedback!
 
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