"5.00" by Mik

SPOILERS BELOW

Si, si, si - bellissimo!

MIK, Susanne and I will comment on the other films separately but, having both lived in Italy, we have decided to make this a joint critique. So:

A great short, a lovely little piece of political satire.
The photo of Berlusconi was perfect and central to the piece. You really managed to capture the atmosphere of present day Italy and the work situation. The character and arrogance of the boss were perfect, the dialogues right on the mark. Lots of lovely little details too - the sheets of paper in the stairwell, the old lady's surprised look on the street, etc. We liked the way the running scenes were filmed - the camera movement seemed to evoke the precarious situation of the main character.

That said, a small criticism:
It seems that not everyone understands fully the film, so maybe it's a little too much for Italian "insiders"?. Since workplace precarity and short-term contracts are a tendency everywhere (although maybe more so in Italy), you maybe have to ask yourself why? Perhaps you did need a little more setup so that the audience understands the problem at the beginning? Or perhaps you needed to lay it on a little thicker in the final scene, making it clearer that he is being offered a five-minute work contract (contratto a termine di 5 minuti - bellissimo)?

Well done, we really enjoyed it. We will send the link to Italian friends who will, we are sure, also love it!

Jason and Susanne

P.S. Your subtitles weren't wonderful. If you need some help with the translation next time, let me know.
 
I thought the acting was pretty natural for the most part! They seemed focused and relaxed.

Good short, dude! I agree with a lot of what's been said.
 
I alora il italiani! Bravissimo!

Great film. Had a bit of a Don Corleone from GF II touch to it when they start talking in the beginning :) The guy who is hiring delivers pretty well, I thought.

I loved seeing those cobblestone street shots. Added such a refreshing visual difference to the festival.

Good job!
 
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Horncastle said:
SPOILERS BELOWIt seems that not everyone understands fully the film, so maybe it's a little too much for Italian "insiders"?.
Perhaps you did need a little more setup so that the audience understands the problem at the beginning?
Click to expand...

Looking back at it... yes. True.
But we were thight on schedule (i ended re-shooting end editing a few days before the deadline of a local festival).
 
I have to admit that when I watched it, I was at a bit of a loss concerning the whole contract issue. Thanks to Horncastle I believe that I understand it now and it is quite funny. You definitely had a problem with the subtitles. I'd suggest getting someone who speaks (writes) the language well to help you with those since it comes off as very unprofessional when there are misspellings and grammatical errors. Good job, thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:
 
Good job! I think your film looked great, very cinematic. Although I too love the Bourne films, and you did a good job emulating the frenetic cine-verite look, perhaps the action went on a little too long. Also, during his mad dash, you might consider intercutting various shots of clocks (his wrist watch, clocks on old buildings, a digital clock in a bank window, etc.) to show time running out, and increase the tension...

Look forward to more films from you.
 
Really enjoyed this one. Agree with the subtitles issue, and like the suggestion above to show various clocks around the city as he runs.

SPOILERS BELOW






I kinda had a feeling there was going to be a gag twist at the end.

Loved the shot of the paper falling down the stairwell. Crisp and well lit. The little dance with the man trying to get out of the way felt over-choreographed. Maybe lose half of that to get a more spontaneous feeling.

Do you not know any female actors? All men in this one, even the peripheral characters. Did I miss one?

Nice job!

Alex
 
The boss co-worker initially was a female character, in fact it was his secretary
-and she was going to say more lines- but a few days before the shooting she was sick and we replaced with the guy.

SPOILERS BELOW









The central bycicle scene originally started with a shot of the main church clock, than with a pan down toward the guy arriving with the bycicle... But we missed the right time to be there (11:57) and skipped the clock thing.
But i think that the clock thing is a matter of personal feeling an i feel that did'nt needed more.
 
Just to comment on this possibly being too much of an "inside joke", I know nothing of the work climate in Italy, but loved this short. It was the first I watched and set a great tone. Actually it's been hard for subsequent films to live up to the bar set by your short.

I think the "inside joke" is just a bonus for those that are familiar with the area and the situation. While I dont know anything of the situation behind it, it is not hard to follow what has happened. Great short and fantastic job with the action in the streets.

Thank you for sharing this with us.

(and so there is no misunderstanding, I dont literally mean JOKE in "inside joke".) :)
 
The scene where the main character almost runs over the pedestrian with a bicycle was very funny to me. It was shot in such a way that it looked like the main character was TRYING to wipe the other guy out and that just made me laugh for some reason.

I enjoyed the shoot. As previously stated by others, I enjoyed it more after I read the comments and was clued into the Italian working angle. You use of fast shutter worked very well for you.

Congratulations. I always enjoy seeing the films from across the ocean.
 
SPOILERS (kinda)

I automatically thought Bourne, but there were times...the actor wasn't in the frame...(guess the camera man had a hard time catching up with him) LOL, being honest, the running was very distracting...and couldn't get into it as much as I'd like to.

Rogan
 
I actually loved the way this was shot! You did a lot in the time frame and I was immediately sucked in. Your framing was excellent at times, even if a bit chaotic. But that helped the feel of the movie.

Great varied shots and the actors were excellent!

Very well done.

Mike
 
Alex, you're right, I hadn't noticed that. My first thought was that MIK had flipped it for continuity reasons (i.e. keeping him always going in one direction on the screen while he goes for the coffee and in the other on the return journey, which might actually have been nice), but it doesn't seem to be that.
 
First of all, thanks to everyone for watching and posting a comment :)

Dustin R. Rogan said:
SPOILERS (kinda)

I automatically thought Bourne, but there were times...the actor wasn't in the frame...(guess the camera man had a hard time catching up with him) LOL, being honest, the running was very distracting...and couldn't get into it as much as I'd like to.

Rogan
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Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
I actually loved the way this was shot! You did a lot in the time frame and I was immediately sucked in. Your framing was excellent at times, even if a bit chaotic. But that helped the feel of the movie.

Great varied shots and the actors were excellent!

Very well done.

Mike
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I take those two comments as example of how you like or dislike the same thing.
I personally like how the running scene came out; and is almost like i had in mind before shooting it; exept the 12 sec. sequence (yes, the reversed one... it was to keep the right direction on the screen... trust me, i tried leaving the original but when watching there was something that did'nt worked); i think is effective even if the frame is far from being perfect.
This was a thing that came into my mind when shooting one of the bycicle sequences. I was thinking "Ok, you need a lot of fast of cuts, brief sequences... but why don't show that he was actually running very fast". I shot an even more long sequence, i was running behind him on the house side (behind the cars), than we got out nearly in the same time and kept running in the street. Only the second half of this running is into the short. To me it add a bit more of realism.
In the same vein, some of my friends liked it, while some found it too distracting. Personal taste :)


@krestofre: we tried to shot another scene with the the pedestrian/bycicle, but it was on the maket street, an each time we tried, someone passed in line through the camera and the subject... the final one is really a bit too "cartoonish" but add a little fun time. The pedestrian is a filmmaker friend of mine, i helped him in a couple of project and he helped me (he's the same guy inside the car)
 
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I liked this film. I thought there needed to be some steadicam work in it but soem shots looked good shaky. The theme was funny and I liked the end. Good acting and funny movie!
 
Hey,

Just caught the flick. Really enjoyed. Are they really that harsh in Italy (you're in Italy, right?) about the work?

Really loved lots of your compositions. The close-up of the hand writing, the papers falling, the lead re-entering the building. All very nice.

Did you use an adapter for this? These are some amazing colors and looks. I didn't know the XL2 could look this good. What's your secret (besides having a beautiful city to shoot in).

I thought the editing needed some fine tuning. There were parts where I think you cut a little too early (????? shot starts at 3:15. He might be running up a hill or something but it looks like he's staggering or getting up werid. To me that is).

Overall I liked the pacing, the adreneline, and the feel of the whole thing. Quite nice. Keep up the good work. Looking forward to seeing you in the other fests.
 
Danielleus said:
Did you use an adapter for this? These are some amazing colors and looks. I didn't know the XL2 could look this good. What's your secret (besides having a beautiful city to shoot in).
Click to expand...


No, i used a stock XL2 and a custom preset, i cannot remember the specific settings apart from the fact that the blacks are crushed and the colors rich and a bit saturated.
 
Really nice short. I liked it a lot. Camera work and editing were both top notch. The acting was also very strong.

I'm sure it has been said, but there were a lot of misspellings in the subtitles.

That's really my only complaint. Great work!
 
A lot of fun... nice cinematography! I was a little confused with your choice of shots, like the interior of the car, and I felt that this slowed down your momentum, but all things considered... nicely done.
 
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