The Last Kiss - hienben

hienben

hienben

Well-known member
I downloaded my own file to check how it looked and was disappointed to see it appearing to be stretched. I'm hoping to re-upload the file in the future so it can be viewed as 'normal'.

I was fairly pleased with the final film given the time and resource constraints that I had. Once again it has been a huge learning experience that has helped me to improve my skills in many different areas.

This was another 'one man and his dog' production with the only help coming from my wife. At one point I was looking into the LCD and saying 'why does the picture look so red?' She replied 'Maybe you forgot to white balance.' Ah yes, of course.

The film was shot with a DVX100A, no extra accessories. CG was done with 3DMax and put together with a mixture of greenscreening and cookie cutter from Vegas.

I hope I can upload the 'unstretched' file soon as it looks much, much better...

thanks, Ben
 
Dude...love the fact that you created all of this with a limited creative 'tool-box'. The DVX, Vegas, and 3DMax. More and more I'm wishing the contest had clearly defined a specific list of allowable creative tools...thereby putting the emphasis on the individual's creativity and originality.

Hmmm...I felt like I was watching the intro's to new video games on more than one occassion. Like the scene with the slaming door...I was ready to pick up my game controller and...do something...heh. Or the bright light mocing across the body of water towards the city...again..ready to pick up my controller and kick some alien booty.

It was interesting.

Cool.
 
I loved your production design. You took me to an interesting location and fed me with cool visuals. The overall was "cool" on a couple of levels. A little too dark in a couple of places, it could have used just a little light to highlight the onscreen action. I thought you did a good job and I liked it a lot.
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btw, the fear of machines developing emotions and their being given limited lifespans was straight out of Blade Runner, was it not? ;)
 
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Thanks for the comments. The 3DMax work was really time consuming and animating the robot was a real challenge.

I loved Blade Runner but any similarity in plot is just coincidental (honestly!) I suppose it's hard to think of a sci-fi story in which some element or other hasn't been used before.
 
I can't believe you're not getting more feedback. I thought this was a remarkable "film".
 
Blaine said:
I can't believe you're not getting more feedback. I thought this was a remarkable "film".
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Thanks Blaine, I appreciate your positive comments. I suppose more feedback will come later, there are alot of films to get through.

Have a great 'sci-fi' weekend!
 
Good Stuff. Ok, I'm biased because i did something similar years and years ago :)

I liked :

- the female voice and effect. it was pleasant, soothing, and felt very Corporate/futuristic.
- the music/score fit your scenes beautifully.
- the scene of the girl floating (in yellow) was gorgeous.

maybe coulda' been improved :

- the CGI (although I dug the overall look you were going for, it was just too different from the live footage to blend naturally) but it's not a huge thing :)
- some of the scenes were too dark on my monitor. Examples, briefly in the stairwell, and running down the hall.
- the animation of the door opening to the girl seemed unnecessary (a real door would've not taken me out of the moment).

Beyond that I enjoyed your film. I had a couple of questions that may be inconsequential, but why did the guy drop the mop ? What set off his race to the girl ? The activation of the robot ?

I like the minimalism vibe and the lowkey CGI. Perhaps, a tightening of the story, and possibly adding some backstory instead, would have made it more effective. Either way, congratulations.:beer:

Keep the films coming :)

Cheers.
 
Thanks for the comments D and G and thanks for taking the time to watch the movie.

The idea was that the guy and girl were android workers. The girl was approaching her 5-year recall and this prompted the guy to down tools and race off to see her. If I had more time I would have included a flashback scene to where the two of them first met.

The scenes look dark on WMV. They were originally CC'ed for Quicktime and looked just how I wanted them, still dark but acceptable. I think WMV makes files look darker and more saturated.

thanks again for the comments, Ben
 
great locations/scenes! I liked a lot of those shots, the floor mopping scene had a great look and feel. What was the location for the scene at the 1:58 mark, alarm going off and running down a hall that kinda looks like some kind of shuttered mall? are those all existing lights?
 
Shawn Murphy said:
great locations/scenes! I liked a lot of those shots, the floor mopping scene had a great look and feel. What was the location for the scene at the 1:58 mark, alarm going off and running down a hall that kinda looks like some kind of shuttered mall? are those all existing lights?
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You're exactly right! it was a shuttered mall in the basement. none of the units are being used. I also took some stills which allowed me to comp. the sentry robot.
 
First of all, I do have to say that I think this film was very well produced. In terms of production value and overall look, I think that this was one of the best I've seen. I thought the camera visuals were stunning, and the CG stuff was very well composited given the resources available.

Nonetheless though, this film did not stand out for me. I watched it, and was impressed by it, but not excited by it. It just didn't grab my attention, or make me feel compelled to watch. I could tell the shots, locations, lighting and everything else were very well planned, but the story just seemed a bit predictable and flat.

That's not to say it was a bad movie. I just didn't find it to be a compelling movie. But that's just one dude's opinion.
 
Loved the blue floressent lights and the cool colors throughout.

Some of the best establishing shots of any film in the running.

Some CGI better than others but as I have no knowlege of that subject I will not speak to it.


Hi marks for the Juno 106 ish pad sound in your soundtrack.


The story could have used a little clarification...why did he putthe broom down before the alarm sound and go and look into the mirror?

You could have had the alarm ring he dropped the mop and ran down the hallway???? That would have made more sence to me.

And why the swirling leaves around her? I did'nt get that.

But those are minor points.


You have alot of talent, I watched it 4 or 5 times alerady.

Kip Kubin
 
Dug the CGI... and even if the story is not clear, I was still entertained.

Which really is the purpose at its most basic level.

Rock on
 
THX-1138 said:
Loved the blue floressent lights and the cool colors throughout.


The story could have used a little clarification...why did he putthe broom down before the alarm sound and go and look into the mirror?

You could have had the alarm ring he dropped the mop and ran down the hallway???? That would have made more sence to me.

And why the swirling leaves around her? I did'nt get that.


Kip Kubin
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The guy threw down the mop because he felt resentment towards the system that had given him a dull job and taken away his girl. This set off the alarm and activated the sentry droid thing. The swirling leaves was a mixture of memories and emotions, a blissful moment before recall.

If I had more time I would have filled in some of these 'gaps'. I would have also liked to extend the sentry chase sequence because to me it felt a bit short.

thanks for the comments, keep em' comin'
 
The scene with the girl was beautifully created. A mysterious film.


Dude...love the fact that you created all of this with a limited creative 'tool-box'. The DVX, Vegas, and 3DMax
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That's all I used on mine. I certainly wouldn't call it "Limited".
 
hienben said:
The guy threw down the mop because he felt resentment towards the system that had given him a dull job and taken away his girl. This set off the alarm and activated the sentry droid thing. The swirling leaves was a mixture of memories and emotions, a blissful moment before recall.

If I had more time I would have filled in some of these 'gaps'. I would have also liked to extend the sentry chase sequence because to me it felt a bit short.

thanks for the comments, keep em' comin'
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Now I get it!

Thanks.
 
Kaz said:
The scene with the girl was beautifully created. A mysterious film.




That's all I used on mine. I certainly wouldn't call it "Limited".
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That was the hardest scene to create, a bit of a mind-bender in terms of composites and layers. Glad you enjoyed it!
 
Ben, the FX/CG on this was extremely impressive ... some of it flat out amazing! The only thing that stood out to me as inconsistant with the rest of the CG quality was the animation of the robot, specifically the walk & how the feet interacted with the floor ... especially the initial shot of it as it's walking towards us.

The film was a little harder to understand, but I did generally grasp your explaination before you had to explain it in this thread. As far as story goes, however, this seemed to focus around an event more than a story as the only real footage we see is the guy dropping his mop & dodging the robot so he can go kiss someone ... who I never quite knew if she was a bot, or the last woman who was being cloned, etc.

Otherwise, fantastic job on a film that I'm sure took a TON of time. The compositing was top notch.
 
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