"1-UP" A Brian Parker Film

I enjoyed this one. Definitely a fun short. It could have improved slightly technically, but you were able to achieve a "look" for each of the genres, so I thought that was pretty cool. I agree that the sound could have been improved as well.

Congrats on a unique piece,

Kegan
 
I liked this one; the way the story flowed about the film. Though, a few things could have been tweaked, but good short.
 
armisiano- Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, my old nemesis sound strikes again. Glad you enjoyed it though.

puck- Yeah man, Krog Street has a great look. The actor was a little hesitant to pull out a gun but we just did it real quick, guerilla style. I did have quite a few technical issues during production but that's the best part in a way. It means a lot to me that people be entertained by it because I did have fun making it. Thanks for checking it out man!

Warau- Arigato. Glad you enjoyed it.

filthrich- Glad you enjoyed it man. Yeah, I use her a lot but it's because she takes acting very seriously and she's a blast to work with. She's funny too. That scene is her playing herself.

Kegan - It was fun making it so if people have fun watching it, I'm happy. Gonna keep working on the technical stuff but I'm glad you got something out of it. Thanks!

ramsaur- Thanks! Looking forward to checking out yours as well.
 
Champloo, great short. Definitely enjoyed it.

I felt it slowed a bit during the comedy, but I enjoyed all the other bits.

Good work!
 
I totally enjoyed this. In fact, I even made a similar film once when I entered a contest and had trouble coming up with an idea (only I think your film is probably much better than mine was).

I especially liked the way you started in the action film and then the way we fell out of it. Very clever.

I liked all of your actors and it was fun to see what genre's you would be tackling next. Well done.
 
Very entertaining. You handled all the different genres very well. Any of those movies would have been fun to watch. I found it ironic that when the 3D scene ended, you said, "I couldn't do that." and you probably did.

Good job! :beer:
 
From a cinematography perspective I was a bit distracted from the story as everything seemed over lit and a bit un natural looking. There were a few points where your focus point was off, so I was looking at the wall instead of you. Sound also suffered, the comedy skit as an example, whenever she spoke because of the sound reflection her tones were giving mea headache.

I think though you took on a tough concept and did a pretty good job of fitting all the pieces together. It was entertaining and thats the toughest part.
 
Brian, this was definitely a cool concept. I like the way you structured it and it had the right payoff in the end.

I would have liked to see either different actors in each scene, or the same actors in each scene, rather than a mix. I also agree with that the comedy scene was a bit slow - but the film noir scene made me quickly forget that. The only other thing is that I wish you had done a little more production design with the room where you are trying to find inspiration.

Nice job overall.
 
Creative for sure, using writer's block in your advantage so that we get vignettes of many films. I liked the look of each individual concept, each has its own style and feel that really fits well.

The audio work with some of your dialogue (such as the narration and comedy sequence) could use some smoothing out, the lighting for the noir and comedy just seemed off to me but honestly it works in regards to the style of this film, like an idea still in development, it definitely works and I had fun watching.
 
the beginning was really cool how we cut from the gun to the writer axing it out. liked the black and white mystery part too. good acting, especially from the writer. could've been faster paced with some of it, but i like that you tackled so much.

good film!!
 
Good job here guys! I think this was the first film I watched and I wasn't sure what to expect.

I loved it when you cut to him writing the first time...very unexpected! Good transition in and out of the various "scenes".

Really enjoyed this!

Daniel
 
AJ Brooks - Thanks man. Glad you enjoyed it. Yeah the comedy did run long but I was having fun with it. Really should have cut it and put in another clip though. Thanks for watching!

timbook2 - I like that you liked it! Thanks for the feedback.

Chris Messineo - Yeah, I think that the whole idea block is something we all suffer through at some point. The action scene was one of my favorites...it was hard not to finish it. Glad that you enjoyed the actors...it was great working with them and glad you enjoyed the film. Means a lot to me.

Maximus - Thanks. Glad you liked the super shorts and yeah, the 3D scene was a trip to make. Thanks for checking it out! :beer:

Noel Evans - Thanks for all of the constructive feedback, really. It's one of the best things about this fest. I'm still very much learning and struggling and always looking for input. The fact that you got something out of it makes it worthwhile.

Will Clegg - You know what? Keeping the same actors in each scene never even occured to me but I definately see what you're saying in terms of a consistency. Yeah, the comedy did drag on but glad you enjoyed the noir. I did think about adding more to the room where the search for inspiration took place but I was hoping that the emptiness would add to the sense of stark void that one has during creative blocks....might have overdone that though. Thanks for checking it out!

MrKilloran - Yeah, still trying to iron out those technical flubs. My goal is to just get better with each film. As long as it works. Glad you had fun with it.

hoz - Pacing is something I'll be focusing on improving. Glad you liked the acting and noir elements. Thanks for the feedback!

pia12254 - Not sure what to expect? Nice. Glad you enjoyed it man. Thanks Daniel!
 
worked out well...love the animation sequence -- good job there!
puckthemad was right about the comedy sequence being a tad too long -- it is def a hard thing to nail.

overall, well done!
 
Cool concept, and great job showing you can handle all the different genres in one short.

I really liked that overhead shot of the filmmaker. Hopefully you know which one I mean.

Some distracting elements were a few out of focus shots, and the fact that the filmmaker scenes were properly ratioed, but the "film" scenes were squeezed. I think maybe you wanted to give them more of the cinema ratio. In that case I would have cropped them instead of squeezing them.

Good job with an ambitious project!
 
singleframe - Glad you liked the animation sequence. Yeah, I probably should shoot another genre sequence and trim the comedy down. Thanks for the feedback!

jasonthewho - Thanks man. I know which shot you're talking about. I made some cardinal filmmaker sins with this short but some things turned out ok. I shot the film sequences with my XH-A1 but used a Canon HV-10 for the filmmaker parts because I wanted it to feel gritty and low grade as compared to the cleaner look of the film sequences so sacrificed some focus there. LOL, I'm afraid of cropping but you're definately right.

Thanks for all the feedback. It definately helps!
 
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Very enjoyable. Loved the journey through filmmaker angst. Really enjoyed the genres, especially the tongue-in-cheek take on comedy. Pretty funny. I can see a lot of effort went into making it 'not funny'. Acting was great!

Animation was nice.

always enjoy your work.

aw


www.alexwhitmer.wordpress.com


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You have made giant strides since "Troika" which had a lot of problems.

This one caught my interest. The first transition to the writer caught me by surprise and was very clever. I loved the personal touch you gave this.

I thought the "comedy" skit was a bit long as things started to drag there and you were in danger of losing me. But you pulled it out with the "mystery" skit. Loved that one.

There were some small technical issues that others have mentioned so I won't bother, especially since your story was good enough that I wasn't distracted that much by the technical. With a bit of tightening up (especially the comedy skit) you could take this 1-Up.
 
alex whitmer - Glad you enjoyed it. The fact that you work with talent and you think the acting was good means a lot. Thanks. I apprecite it.

Blaine - Wow...the fact that you remember Troika and have noted an improvement means a lot to me. If I can just improve each time, than I'm happy. That's why I love the fests. The feedback is infinitely valuable. The prizes are the icing on the cake.

Yeah, in retrospect, I need to trim the comedy down. Glad you liked the mystery segement. I have been a HUGE fan of noir stuff since I was a kid. I know I need to work on a lot of technical aspects but if you got some enjoyment out of the story then it was all worth it. Thanks so much for your feedback Blaine.
 
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