"Last Touch" - a Norm Sanders film

Thanks for the continued feedback, folks!

Matt, you saw the switch coming, but did you see the reverse switch as well (the double whammy, that made you go"Holy Crap")?

Will, you think the ring glow is too much (I agree, it's too strong & will be toned down), or do you think ANY even hint of something supernatural happening spoils it? I feel there needs to be SOME kind of precursor to the next shot that shows the veins, etc.
 
Maybe it would work with just a subtle sound effect? I don't know. I really liked the shot of the veins that followed, I guess I thought it was strong enough on its own...
 
Norm you completely changed my entire perception of what was going on. I went into this thinking it would be some soppy melodrama, possibly well written, hopefully well acted and definitely with some gorgeous footage.

Dude you blew my ****ing mind.

I still can't believe you turned everything on a dime like that, but you did write this for Twilightfest, so I should have expected something. However since it was adapted for Lossfest, I expected drama. You;ve completely changed my perception of what good drama really is.

I loved most of the shots in this film. The ones during the struggle didn;t really work for me and could have felt a littl more "epic"... bigger in scope than what you actually captured. Location and time may have prevented this, but more movement would have been nice to see. Not shaky cam.. that's used way too much to ramp up the tension. Just something more cinematic that lends more importance to what's going on.

The glowing ring was a little too much for me. I think the sound and the veins effect would have worked all by itself.

Great actors, good direction, great story. Definitely one of my top favs.
 
You have a good vibe going here. The story, acting, lighting, editing, and sound are all excellent. Everything appears to be in place and well planned, but I feel its too controlled, like a soap opera with two or three cameras to cut back and forth on. I have a feeling you had a limited time in the hospital and thus needed specific shots to tell the story and get out. During the hand struggle, I can imagine an overhead shot that moves quickly into the two hands trying to pull apart. During the final scene (I will not mention, so not to spoil), I wanted to see more CUs of hands, breathing tubes pulling taunt, or even snapping and flying up in the air on the recoil, legs kicking, his hands gripping the pillow tight, etc. All these things are cinematic and would give the end more impact. It looked to me you had between 4 to 6 setups, and that's pretty scant for a 6 min film. On the other hand, it has a Twilight Zone production value to it, and it would have made sense to enter this in Twilight Fest. Overall, I liked it. The story is very interesting, the actors had my attention, and the sound is fantastic. It worked. Good luck.
 
Wow. that was freaking intense. Awesome acting, especially towards the end. Nice sound, composition, lighting, and dialogue. Not much criticism to give which I suppose is a good thing. haha. Very nicely done man.
 
Thanks guys, very much appreciated!

Puck (Rodney), thanks so much for watching, appreciate the input as well! Point taken, the glowing rings need to go ... I'll see if the entire glow is gone, or if we can reduce it enough to where it's still there, but barely registering on the conscious level. VERY glad we were able to catch you off guard with this one, and change your perception. :)

Sprocket, some good input on the closeups. While I don't have any footage of the hoses being pulled taught, etc., I may have some other various footage that I could over lay here & there as cut aways, without impacting any sound/score in that section, and can still manipulate the footage some since it was shot in 1080, and we're out putting to 720 ... so there's headroom to play with the shots some as I've already done.

Nick ... awesome, thanks! :thumbsup:


I know the cast & crew are really appreciating ALL of the feedback, but are of course always overjoyed to hear the positives that worked.
 
asdfakleoema[pf dude...

My critiques:

-Please in the future, try to make your films less incredible, because when I watch films that awesome it makes my brain hurt and makes me feel bad about my own skills.

-I really didn't like how your film was virtually flawless... flaws add character you know.

-please stop displaying so much raw talent. Its unnerving.

Hah no my only serious crit (AND THIS IS EVER SO MINUTE) would be to either remove the line "I thought I could make that light" or exchange it with something a little harder to understand/more subtle. Idk just something about saying it outright like that seems like its a little unnatural in terms of what a real person would say. And it wouldn't neccessarily take away from the story if you didn't reveal what the accident was at all.
 
Lol, thanks Orchid, much appreciated. :) I'm still working through nearly half the films, and will check out yours next & respond. Again, thank you.

orchidsofwrath said:
asdfakleoema[pf dude...
Click to expand...


What's that mean?

orchidsofwrath said:
Hah no my only serious crit (AND THIS IS EVER SO MINUTE) would be to either remove the line "I thought I could make that light" or exchange it with something a little harder to understand/more subtle. Idk just something about saying it outright like that seems like its a little unnatural in terms of what a real person would say. And it wouldn't neccessarily take away from the story if you didn't reveal what the accident was at all.
Click to expand...

I COMPLETELY agree with what you're saying, though I'm not sure that line is something that wouldn't be said by someone in a similar situation. While he should certainly not spell out "when we were in the car, blah, blah, blah" ... stuff that she already knows & therefore doesn't need to spell out, this is a very specific thing that's eating him up inside, and he feels horribly guilty about. To speak what's on his heart like that .... well, seemed natural at the time, lol.

Now that I think about it, I'm starting to agree that perhaps it was a TAD expository, not sure ... but I'm certainly not defending it now. :) Anyway, at least for the audience to know it was a car accident, would explain the bruises/cuts, and the sides of the faces that the most visible damage is on for the respective person, etc.

Again, thanks so much, and good input on that last part!
 
Sorry this took so long ---

This looked great, some good editing decisions and framing.
Almost got a little soapy but the emotion felt real and natural enough to push it beyond something like that. Your lead looked like he was showing some genuine concern.

The make-up for this was good, on him, looked like he should be in the bed.
Great use of score to play off emotions, it worked well.
Saw the twist coming, did not see the double whammy, so good show. :beer:
 
I thought I commented on this. Sorry!

Interesting film. Nice look, and great acting!

The story was a little confusing, but it's probably just another watch.

I didn't like ths "You're awake!" line...Felt weird and cheesy.

Other than that, you and you're characters seemed to set the mood really good and it felt very real!

Robbie
 
wow

wow

this was good! I just saw it now and must say: awesome twist to the story, which I like!
I like if the story draws you to some supposition and then twists you around like that and takes an unsuspected turn.
the doctor was the best actor :-) the wife wasnt as convincing as the husband but the whole story was round and wicked!!

this is one of the best films IMO the loss theme is a bit too visible on too many levels but hey, you got me with that final part:Drogar-Dum(DBG):
 
I felt this film was the most technically sound. Just enoyable from start to finish. Th grab at the end was very good and believable.
 
Hey Norm,

I really enjoyed this film. It drew me in.

It was well shot and the actors did a good job.

I liked the story, or rather the question it posed, but it almost came about too quickly... I would like to see this concept explored in a bit longer film, so that the real psychological aspect of what he was facing could be explored rather than simple panic.

The idea of having to choose your love or your life is a real mind #&@*, and I found myself thinking about this film for quite a while after watching it. Good job!
 
Good film Norm.

I liked your story. Right up my alley with the supernatural stuff. I wasn't expecting the twist, and good one on that.

Personally, I felt the lighting/ grading, although realistic, was too bright for this darker story. Also, I thought the music was totally wrong for this piece. It played on the overly sentimental range and was trying too hard to set a mood that I wasn't feeling, especially right off the bat. Maybe if you had more than 6 minutes you could properly set the tone and the music would then work.

The frenetic part definitely built the tension, but I would've liked to see more of a 2-shot so we get more interaction between the characters. You built the tension by some rapid cutting between their close-ups, which worked, but I think maybe a dirty hand-held 2-shot might've been more effective. ??

The acting was pretty good, but I think could've gone a little deeper into pain/ hurt/ anguish/ regret. A difficult place to get to consistently for sure, and I commend you and your actors for a convincing portrayal.

nice Job! :thumbup:
 
Hi Norm, thanks for taking the time today to comment on my movie, your comments were definitely appreciated.

First of all let me say I liked your film alot, I have not read any previous posts in here so I sure most of this is already known by you before you even finished or has been posted about but hopefully something new will come from it! I admit when it started I thought it was some schmaltzy drama but it switched gears and I liked that alot. I thought the two main actors were good, the main guy especially once things started going bad.

There were a few things that pulled me out of it, seems like she should have been in rougher shape if she was close to death, she was still pretty and noone looks good in a hospital bed, especially when they are about to die, I don't know what the right answer there is though, less movement? less lucidity? perhaps sting her with bees so she swells up?

Something about the doctor bugged me, I think it was that he just appeared out of nowhere, in hospitals, those floors are loud so we should hear him coming in maybe? Whether it is just footsteps or even a door. As it is feels like a play almost, he steps into view, says his lines and steps out.

Something I noticed the first time I viewed was once he starts smothering her his hands are free, so would that have stopped the transfer? or was the initial touch all it took? Something that had me wondering.

And at the very end it looks like he turns around to look for the while before he backs up into it, maybe he was just looking around freaked out but it SEEMS like he is looking for the wall so he knows where to fall.

Man, that looks like I didn't like but thats not the case at all, it also looks like I think I know what the hell I'm doing, and that's not true either! I am just trying to nitpick to hopefully provide some helpful info since that's what you asked for haha!

Good story and direction, and I hope I have been helpful. So what steps did you take to get access to that hospital? Did they make you have insurance?
 
Well shot, but I feel like the grading could have been darker. The atmosphere was a little too light for the darker nature of the film. I feel like the ending was crammed in a little too fast. The point in which he turns on his own lover seemed to happen too quickly and was hard to really feel the impact of what was happening. The music could have been a tad more dark and ominous to really capture the feel you were going for. It felt a little too light for my test.

This probably sounds like I did not enjoy it, but that's certainly not the case. It was a very solid piece. Good work!
 
Wow...really good...really messed up...but really good. I enjoyed this short throughout. Beautifully shot, directed. Great colors and lighting. Rich sound. The actor's performances were spot on.

The big thing about this film for me, is the story. We starte with what could just be a drawn out death scence but then progress into a supernatural redemption tale, and then progress into a dark tale about sacrifice. The progression was very natural and fluid. Very well done.

All in all, no complaints about this one. Enjoyed it immensely. Great job!
 
Well lit which was the first thing that caught my eye, good colour tones, the sound editing was a little off for me. There was hardly any background noise which made it feel more dreamlike. The acting was on point, kept me interested right until the strange shocking ending.
 
Awesome feedback, folks, THANK YOU!!!

I'm scurrying to get through all the rest of the entries myself now.

Yeehawnow & Morox. I get what you're saying on the lighting, however in this case I did it on purpose. I wanted to set people up for one mood, and then hit them with the unexpected. I wanted the look & feel to be in stark contrast to what was unfolding in front of them. Chaos, in a sense.

Similarly with the music. Although Justin kept things a little 'cleaner & lighter' than I initially envisioned, I liked what he had done because it again added additional contrast (as you've pointed out). So instead of everything meshing together, one propelling the other, I wanted to have kind of a canvas of contrasts, so to speak.

Chris, you are VERY perceptive & REALLY watch things. Nice eyes! Yes, their hands DO let go. It was unintentional, but it was also the best take & I hadn't noticed that until more closely going through the footage in post. I guess the struggle was so intense (and real, as she's litterally getting smothered to a degree), that they weren't able to keep their hands together.

Scoring the hospital location took a while as there was red tape to go through, etc. Which is the reason we never got started on this for TwilightFest, but thankfully the script fit for LossFest, so we were able to move forward once the location became available. This was the 3rd floor of a decomissioned hospital, which is also reported to be haunted (security guards won't even go on this floor). We had the run of the floor, and ended up choosing one of four neo-natal (sp?) surgery rooms, where you can imagine countless lives passed here over the years. We were all spooking each other out at times (mostly the cast & crew trying to have fun at my expense!).

The room we used (as had all of them) was totally stacked nearly to the ceiling with old storage, furniture, equipment, etc. We pulled everything out & dressed it, as you see it. They required no insurance, thankfully.


You've all been immensly helpful, so again HUGE thanks!
 
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