a ralph oshiro film--"LEVEL 4" spyfest 06.07

Hi Ralph.

I sense you're too hard on yourself.

I'm looking forward to your short despite the quasi-spoilers (premature self-generated critiques?) in your post.

Hey! It's film-making buddy. Despite all the poo-poo, it's still better than cleaning toilets. And I'll bet it's really entertaining.

And on that note, if only we could get our respective cast members together for the wrap/premiere parties ... can you even imagine?

Cheers, man.
 
Dahopafilms said:
Hi Ralph.

I sense you're too hard on yourself.

I'm looking forward to your short despite the quasi-spoilers (premature self-generated critiques?) in your post.

Hey! It's film-making buddy. Despite all the poo-poo, it's still better than cleaning toilets. And I'll bet it's really entertaining.

And on that note, if only we could get our respective cast members together for the wrap/premiere parties ... can you even imagine?

Cheers, man.
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Thanks for the kind words, Dahopa. No, I was mainly criticizing the fact that my submission is INCOMPLETE! It runs far short of the alotted running time. I just wanted a chance to write a huge "mea culpa" post, not to excuse or explain, but to simply point out what I thought went wrong. Chief among the culprits was only my own incredible laziness and severe lack of motivation. That's the primary mea culpa I wanted to address, not the numerous, "poor me," production-related kinda problems, the kinds of problems which everyone of us has to deal with. But thanks for the thoughts!
 
REVISION THEORY:

Well, I've thought about it all night . . . thinking, and thinking. What makes this short, all my shorts, so, uh, unreal? So fake? So, "so what?" I thought and thought and thought . . . and then in the shower, I had some epiphonies. Got some good kernels of story ideas. Based on those ideas, I had a few thoughts on some new filmmaking rules I've made up for MYSELF:

• Don't try to make a cheap version of a big Hollywood film.

It's just never gonna happen. And it's just never going to compare. I've always wanted Jerry Bruckheimer production value. Jerry Bruckheimer dolly shots. Jerry Bruckheimer lighting. But what does that get you? What filmmaker would ever want to aspire to be Michael Bay? Yeah, all his films look great . . . but who cares?

• Try to imbue current political affairs and/or real situations or events into your story's subtext or setting whenever possible (again, this rule is only a personal one).

Making this representation credible is often the trick. It's highly doubtful that USA Today, NBC, or CNN will lend their trademarked logos to my stupid little short films. But to make these kinds of representations, in a highly credible manner, is essential to the successful "selling" of these kinds of premises. In my opinion, this is what gives the art of independent filmmaking the possibility to be its most prescient. Remember how reading the secret treatise in the novel 1984 turned that light on in your head? I remember remarking, "So, that's how the world works!" The reasons I liked "Children of Men" and "V for Vendetta" were as much for their subtextual political commentary as for their other cinematic virtues (okay, I liked "V" for one thing, and one thing only—Natalie Portman). This is why political drama can be so compelling. That's what I found so impressive about such an overtly political movie such as, "Syriana," which I thought was incredible. But a movie like, "Babel," on the other hand, while interesting, at the end, I was left with like, "Yeah . . . so what?"

I've been thinking about all this for the last couple of months, while wondering why "LEVEL 4" just didn't do it for me. I hated it because it wasn't greater than the sum of its parts. It has no meaning. No controversy. No reality. This doesn't mean I don't enjoy good storytelling that is completely entertaining and wholly devoid of "meaning" or "message." The horror film, "Saw," or the mystery TV series, "Lost," for example, are both well written, thoroughly enjoyable, message-free genres, and neither has any strong political undertones--it's pure escapism, pure unfettered entertainment.

• Try to focus on the essential elements of the human spirit.

In a sci-fi context, I think this is what movies like "Blade Runner," "Gattaca," and "A.I." did very well (although "A.I." was extremely flawed, in my opinion). When talking about issues concerning the human spirit, there's also that related philosophical sidebar, religion. I'm dying to take on this one. Biblical allegory, for example, is so rich with drama and scope. I mean who can top Armeggedon? Certainly, there are many poetic ways to interpret religious themes in films. "The Passion of the Christ" was one way. The "Star Wars" franchise used its psuedo-religion, "The Force," to great effect to enhance story. But I think my take on religion is going to be far less whimsical, and hopefully a lot more controversial. You know the two things you're never supposed to talk about? Religion and politics? I think both topics will make for some interesting filmmaking. At least, it will ask the viewer to take a position. After seeing a film, I want to say, "What did you 'think?'" Not only, "Boy, that looked great."
 
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Ralph Oshiro said:
...
• Don't try to make a cheap version of a big Hollywood film.

It's just never gonna happen. And it's just never going to compare. I've always wanted Jerry Bruckheimer production value. Jerry Bruckheimer dolly shots. Jerry Bruckheimer lighting. But what does that get you? What filmmaker would ever want to aspire to be Michael Bay? Yeah, all his films look great . . . but who cares?
...
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:) Another 2 notches on the ol' respectometer.
 
REVISION PART DEUX:

• How do the characters REACT to these real-world events? What is the impact of these events on the characters?

• It's not docudrama . . . it's more like fictionalized reality.

• How do real sociological or political events shape these fictionalized, but very real-seeming characters?
 
Ralph,

Even though you didn't get too finish the movie as you envisioned it, I'm really glad you decided to share the work you managed to get done with us anyway. Finished or not finished, reading your last post it seems like it was an insightful learning experience one way or the other.

Looking forward to seeing your submission

p.s. I really enjoy reading the 'reflections' your posting.
 
doncamillo said:
Even though you didn't get too finish the movie as you envisioned it, I'm really glad you decided to share the work you managed to get done with us anyway. Finished or not finished, reading your last post it seems like it was an insightful learning experience one way or the other.
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Yes, thank you, doncamillo. A very high compliment! Yes . . . each DVXfest has really helped me grow, I think, as a filmmaker (even though it may not necessarily show in the immediate work product itself). I think this last one really created some hard questions for my art and for my craft. These are the essential artistic questions that divide competent facsimiles of movie-like works, from work which transcends basic filmmaking skills, and moves the work product to something a bit more than a mere assemblege of pretty pictures with neat-sounding music, and the deft application of proper film grammar technique.

I owe a huge debt to DVXUSER for this continuing, post-graduate, "online film school," and I think with each "mini-graduation," from one fest to the next, brings new learning, and new insight toward achieving the goal of making something, "good." For me, this recent epiphony has been, I think groundbreaking, and has helped me to think of filmmaking in some new ways, that I hope, will markedly change the character and quality of my work. Now, of course, execution is still key. Whether I can actually pull any of this high-minded conceptualization stuff off, is a whole other challenge!
 
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doncamillo said:
Even though you didn't get too finish the movie as you envisioned it, I'm really glad you decided to share the work you managed to get done with us anyway.
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Not that I don't ever plan to ever reshoot or re-edit any of my past submitted projects, but, I personally view these contests much like final exams in college. You cram to get it done by the due date. Once you turn it in, you forget it. Then you get ready to register for the next prerequisite.
 
Ralph:

Got love the three o'clock in the morning treatises! I'm with you in a lot of what you say. I've used these fests myself as exercises with specific goals in mind. HorrorFest, my first fest, was to just get off my ass and make a film. I didn't get to make a DramaFest film. This go around for SpyFest, my goal was to 1. make a genre film, 2. edit dialogue in more than a "Dragnet" way and 3. learn to use After Effects, even if it's just for a couple of muzzle flashes and a title sequence.

Ralph, I think you've got a lot more talent than to just "turn it in and forget about it". Polish those babies up and get them out into the world!

I look forward to whatever you're putting up for us to watch.
 
Ralph, looking forward to your film, despite how much you may have cut it up in advance, lol. I completely understand where you're coming from with regards to just finishing a film & already knowing what you'd want to change differently, what you could have done better ... especially now that you've LEARNED through the mistakes of a current one, etc.

That said, my wife's also given me good advice to try & heed from time to time ... to not rip the film up too much, or it may make the talent/crew that were involved wonder why they took the time to be a part of it in the first place. Now, since I think I recall you actually pay your folks, they may not care as much since they at least got paid. In my case, however, I do have to watch what I say or how I feel about a project, because everyone has put in their blood, sweat & tears on it for no pay, so I owe it to them to also really focus on the positives.

Not to in any way try & say for you to handle yourself differently ... just speaking outloud as I read your posts & then reflected on a conversation I had with my wife just weeks ago. We can all think of the negatives of what could have been done differently ... but I also think there's a lot of good that can come out of knowing what DID work as well & building from those foundations.

All that said, I think you're usually a one-man-crew, so you rock considering all that you do with just that! :thumbsup:

Looking forward to your film. Seriously!
 
So I write this script and everyone sees it and agrees to do it ... then when the shooting begins someone says umm nope not me... had to rewrite the scene 3 times to make it work right... it worked out well for me.. I had two actors drop out .. but fortunately I was able to get them replaced... which is weird considering if you read my thread I didn't think I would have any actors except for Carli... While this is not as extreme as your problems it was still a pain.... You do some amazing stuff and I am ready to see what you came up with even if it is incomplete...
 
Yeah that poster does rock.

Sorry to hear you had such challenges.

Looking forward to it though. Mad props for seeing it through man :beer:
 
Hello fellow dvxusers,
This is my first post. Hehe, i hope i dnt get off to a wrong start

My review:
Saw it 3 times. Didn't get it the first time. Nor the second, nor the third. I mean i read in your first post that the submission is incomplete. OK. Honestly, it's best to show only completed work. But i will say this though, as far look and cinematography, gotta love that almost uprobe shot you had there of the chick going up the revolving stairs if that's how you call those. Overall, I didn't like it.
 
Ralphy, Ralphy, Ralphy... I was wondering what you were going to pull with all of
that run-and-gunning that you do. I like the look of the film, I don't however think
the film has much substance. It's a "hitman" short, not a spy short.

You know what to do with a camera, just add more meat to your story.
 
Ralph-

I know these times be tough times, so I'm not going to say, "Argh, ye be lackin' substance matey!" What I am going to say is HER FEET WERE REALLY DIRTY. Everyone reading this, rewatch. Her feet get pretty grimy towards the top of those stairs. Anyways, you had great visuals in this and it did leave me wanting to know more about the story and why she's in a nightgown, etc. I especially liked the shots of the highway and cars going by.

Tell me, was there some sort of filter on the hitwoman's (sorry to dub her that) shots? It looks like an orange-tinted "dusk" filter.

Zach
 
Film looked amazing, and i have to warn you guys i'm a stickler for continuity...or things that make sense...and i don't know (correcte me if i'm wrong) can you hit someone from a distance in 1 shot from an assault rifle>?? anyways thats my only complaint...absolutly love the quality of the film!
 
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