THE THINGS WE CARRY - Geoff Reisner

Lawsuit_Boy said:
No problem, Geoff. I hope it didn't come off too "argh, a WWII film, blah, I'm giving it a one star!" (which I didn't do, haha, you got a good rating from me). I really do think that compared to many other films in the fest, this film is, on a number of levels, pretty dang flawless. And you certainly would be in the finals, if not winning a top spot if this was running the contest.

I'm very excited to see more work from you. :beer:
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Not at all man :) Like we were talking about in your 'Tiny Dancer' thread... it's all about target audience. Mine was myself :) and second to that probably people like Brenden Hill whom is a huge WW2 fan!

So it's nice to hear thoughts from someone who isn't digging the WW2 vibe so much because you're going to be a tougher egg to crack. So it's good to hear things that kept you engaged and the things that distracted you. Thanks again man!
 
chris f said:
Geoff,

Dug the film, especially the cinematography. The editing/pace was very good and kept my interest the whole time. Perhaps like Lawsuit_Boy my first impression, was "not another war film" but you managed to overcome that.

My only constructive criticism would be that the uniforms looked a little too green and too new, at least at the start of the film. Also, a few more extras would have gone a long way in establishing more authenticity and believability.

Overall, good film though. I enjoyed watching it.
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Thanks, Chris.

Yea, echo your thoughts on the uniforms... Glad we shot the film in order so they got worse as the conditions worsened.

Same with extras, wish we could have had em'... this is why in some ways, I'm unsatisfied and wish I had bit the bullet and thrown some money into this.

Appreciate the thoughts and glad you enjoyed it.
 
Geoff_R said:
Not at all man :) Like we were talking about in your 'Tiny Dancer' thread... it's all about target audience. Mine was myself :) and second to that probably people like Brenden Hill whom is a huge WW2 fan!

So it's nice to hear thoughts from someone who isn't digging the WW2 vibe so much because you're going to be a tougher egg to crack. So it's good to hear things that kept you engaged and the things that distracted you. Thanks again man!
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Sure thing! I'm glad you appreciate my point of view.

About target audiences: very true, very true. All films have specific demographics of acceptance.

This egg has a little crack running down the side. :thumbup:
 
This was a real pleasure to watch. I'd say I definitely fall into your target demographic! This has a look I'm familiar with, but was still very impressed with your execution of it. Good stuff man, really impressive.
 
my honest opinion of this film....PERFECTION!

my favorite part is the audio bridge from writing on the notepad to the sounds of gun fire

very cool stuff...
 
Spear670 said:
This was a real pleasure to watch. I'd say I definitely fall into your target demographic! This has a look I'm familiar with, but was still very impressed with your execution of it. Good stuff man, really impressive.
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Thanks for checking it out, glad you enjoyed it!

KTOOFRESH said:
my honest opinion of this film....PERFECTION!

my favorite part is the audio bridge from writing on the notepad to the sounds of gun fire

very cool stuff...
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Couldn't ask for a better compliment, thank you :)
 
Just a general update...

We had our cast and crew screening two nights ago and it was a great time. We all got together, brought a few friends and cranked the sound system to the max. Quite a few people hadn't seen the film so it was interesting to hear their feedback in person.

We also got into a rather large and long discussion considering the ending of the movie... Lots of mixed reactions regarding whether or not the character lived or died and which way was better; different people thought it'd be more powerful to leave this impression, that impression, etc. For the most part, I sat in the back and let people talk it out. This tied in with an earlier conversation the producers and I had regarding the removal of certain lines at the end for the festival run version of TTWC.

After about an hour and a half of listening to all this, we realized we're not going to change a thing. In a lot of ways, it's exactly what we could have hoped for... Some people see the character as alive in the end, others' see him as dead. I think it's up to the viewer to draw their own conclusions. I could go on and on about the minutia of the moment and the points of interest, but I dislike subjectively explaining my work :) All in all, we're glad most people seem to enjoy the film, pleased that so many of you here on the forum have expressed your thoughts, and we're excited to get DVDs made and sent out to some other festivals in the future.
 
Geoff, just finished watching this one. I'm sure it's been said, but I loved the transition from the beginning into the war scene... with the building sound effects. Great idea. This was, of course, beautifully shot, giving almost a poetic look to war. Loved your lighting. Was the rain digital? At times it looked digital and at times it didn't. If it wasn't, how on earth did you get it to pop like that?!

The acting was overall pretty strong. I enjoyed this one!

-Alex
 
Alex,

Thanks for checking it out and glad you enjoyed the film. Matt did a great job on that opening transition scene, good to hear it worked for you. With the lighting, we got lucky environmentally; it was naturally an overcast, rainy day, so the clouds function as a giant soft box. The rain was 100% real in any shot it shows up. When shooting rain, the background and direction of the light are two of the big deciding factors in how it shows up on screen. With the soft light, we were already pretty golden, but shooting against dark patches in the forest helped boost it's visibility.

Thanks for your thoughts.
 
The story for me wasn´t the strongest part but i still thought the movie is awesome. Great sounddesign, cinematography and edtiting. Musik was also great. The actor playing the dying guy was pretty convincing, the hero too, just not all the time in my opinion.

Awesome!
 
aFox said:
The story for me wasn´t the strongest part but i still thought the movie is awesome. Great sounddesign, cinematography and edtiting. Musik was also great. The actor playing the dying guy was pretty convincing, the hero too, just not all the time in my opinion.

Awesome!
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Thanks for checking it out :thumbup:
 
filthrich said:
What the hell were your HVX settings? I can not get my cam to look this good. It kills me that I have the tool but can't fix anything.
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Camera settings are all stock, cine-v. It really has little to do with camera settings, I've shot a ton of HVX footy and I've never intentionally changed the settings from the stock ones. I've only done this when shooting second camera for another DP and I have to match whatever settings he's picked.

And this is not a stock HVX. This was shot HVX + SGpro Rev3 adapter + nikon glass. Exposure and focus are very important when dealing with adapter footage. It's strange how many people still don't expose properly for the image even though you can literally see what you're getting to the pixel itself. And then there's other who don't assemble/use the adapter properly and the focus is very off and on. Adapters, while great tools, should only be used if people are willing to take the time and effort to really figure them out. If you're interested in getting one, the SGpro(blade) series are the ones I most highly recommend, second would be the Letus Ultimate or Extreme.

Most of this is F 4 or so on the nikon aperture and most of those lenses are 1.8 or 1.4. HVX was also stopped down to a 2.4 so that I wouldn't deal with miniature shifts from the focus plane on it's own end (the HVX focus plane).

Most important of all is just framing and comp. A medium shot can be accomplished by standing five feet away with a 35mm lens or three feet away with a 20mm lens... you're fitting the same material into the frame but it looks and feels radically different.

There is no particular thing to do to make the HVX look any better IMO. That's why I don't play with any of the settings. To me, it's the difference between 10% post saturation and 12% post saturation... is anyone going to be able to tell... and is that going to affect anyones thoughts on your image? Probably not... and if they are noticing these 1-2% adjustments... they are not enjoying your movie at all. RED, HVX, D90, none of that matters. It's all the other stuff; framing, comp, focus, exposure.
 
I bet everyone is secretly thanking god you didn't enter.

I have no complaints.
This was unbelievably good from start to end, very impressive work! :thumbsup:
 
Geoff you just blew my mind.. or maybe that was a bullet through my brain. either way, awesome film. you have a solid film there all the way through, completely enjoyable. I wouldn't change a thing.
 
amazing photography, acting, music, and i liked the story too. loved the promises that were laid out. i do believe many men made such promises, i was lucky enough to meet one who fought at Normandy. a true hero. your film is great! congratulations!
 
MrKilloran, Puck, Hoz, thanks for checking out the film! Appreciate your thoughts and glad you guys enjoyed it :thumbup:
 
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