A Special Treat - From the "Dream Team" . . .

Well, this certainly sets a new standard.:)

Fantastic job. Loved the attention to detail, composition, the hand held touch, and the score as well.
 
This film exceeded my expectations in every respect. In production, I think we were all thinking of LMTF as being the true showpiece of the two -- and in terms of art direction, it probably is -- but as the whole package, Unawakening ended up blowing me away. The acting, camera work, directing, makeup, everything, including the found locations, all conspired to make a pretty kick-ass whole.

Yeah, I was worried we'd get arrested when shooting the phone booth scene, with passersby screaming at us about the lights; I was paranoid that we'd damage the model home in some irreparable way, and that the sound of the gun would have cops all over us; I had all the producer's conniption fits that come with the territory, but hey . . . the results are fantastic.

Very pleased with how this came out. And it's not even done yet.
 
Great job on this guys! Really enjoyable.

David, you mentioned "the sound of the gun". I take it you guys used blanks. How did you manage that situation? (Demolitions guy or just plain being careful?)
I'm very interested in blanks rather than post effects since i like an authentic recoil, muzzle flash, casing ejection, etc. Please do tell.
 
It was by no means a functional gun. It was, for all intents and purposes, a starter pistol made to look like a real semi-auto. The barrel was filled in with solid lead. It fired 8mm starter blanks, so you couldn't even fit live ammo into it if you wanted to.

Even so, we treated it, as you always should, as a live weapon. It was loaded only when it needed to be fired for the take.

The lead actor, Shaun, also produces a local web series called "Port City P.D.", and he's the prop master for it, so he handled the gun at all times.
 
very well done. The use of focus and zoom really complimented the leads state of mind. Technically pro in all aspects: writing, editing, acting, lighting. "Norman" was a nod to Hitchcock? I would love to see how you lit the outside shots if you have any BTS?

This film ironically would be well suited for Lovefest as well.
 
While we are all justifiably proud of LMTF, I have to say that this is the one that I was looking forward to even more. Jack and I went through the script over and over, trying to make sure that we got what we wanted out of it. Mac did a fantastic job with the cinematography, and we had an even smaller crew for this one. We moved fast, we shot tons, and it really turned out well. The cinematography and art direction aren't as polished as LMTF, of course, but for the time we had and the type of film we were doing, I'm delighted with how this turned out.

Especially that eyeball shot, Jack's compositing wizardry is just awesome.

Glad you guys are liking it, and I'm looking forward to seeing the final version!
 
I really enjoyed this film.

Amazing that you were able to shoot it all so quickly. I love MacGregor's cinematography and I thought the edit was tight.

Very well done.
 
You can definately tell the style was different from "A Little Mouth To Feed." It's amazing how much you guys were able to do in such a short amount of time, but that's independent filmmaking to the max. We'd all love to have more time, but when you have quality people around you that know what they're doing you don't always need as much time as you think.

I loved the lighting in the background when the guy was burrying the body. I assume that was that the work of a fog machine and gels, but how many lights did it take to light that area?
 
To quote Army of Darkness
"You found me beautiful once!"
"Honey, you got real ugly!"

Great stuff guys! :shocked:

So was this your Lovefest short?
 
I really dug the film and story.. beautifully shot. framed, edited.. Thanks for the show.

But, if i had to pick something out, I can't say that I liked the jerky camera movements. It seemed almost too much at times. Overkill in some shots. Especially the in and out focus. Maybe I'm just tainted by all the reality TV shows nowadays?

Ooh.. Music? No credit for the composer? or was it stock library music?

again, thanks for sharing. Now to push that feature film out to the world fellas!

/j
 
I too have resevrvation on the snap zoom techniques so prevalent in todays work; this film not withstanding but it was so well executed it never detracted from me

I'm fixated on the traditional work
 
i really enjoyed this, quite possibly the best overall production from you guys. if someone posted this short saying "check out this new pilot from NBC" i would have totally bought it. great job guys
 
TheComo said:
.... How on earth did you do the shot of the girl doing her hair in front of the mirror, with the lead in the background?

10/10!
Click to expand...
It's not that hard. Surely you've stood next to someone who's looking in a mirror and been able to see them and not yoursefl. That's the idea, just keep moving the camera to the side until don't see it while keeping the lens pointed at the mirror.

preston said:
Annabel Lee! - Jack, back when you were lobbying for "Poe-Fest", this was the piece I was planning/hoping to adapt. Looks like you beat me to it! If only that house was on the ocean . . .

Great work all around, guys.
Click to expand...

Yes nice catch there :) Always loved that poem, a profession of love for a dead girl.

bosindy said:
very well done. The use of focus and zoom really complimented the leads state of mind. Technically pro in all aspects: writing, editing, acting, lighting. "Norman" ....
Click to expand...

Yes exactly. The homage shot inspired by Psycho are the shots outside of the house with the lit window.

This whole thing is sort of a riff on - What if Norman Bates had a lucid moment / was on modern pharmaceuticals. Of course in that he sees his mother as still alive out of guilt and in this own it may be tinged with guilt for killing her but its more from love / a desire to hold on to her.

In a way its where the Poe poem and Psycho meet.

Kyser said:
Who did the music?
Click to expand...
Edgen said:
... Ooh.. Music? No credit for the composer? or was it stock library music?

..../j
Click to expand...

It's all stock, hacked and remixed and layered over the top of each other. Used mostly for the sake of time

Video co-pilot has a new sound DVD out that has lots of great horror stings and zingers and some good transitions. Very few of the finished pieces are worth much for scoring, but the zingers and transitions are pretty cool.
 
Really, really liked this. I thought that the pacing was good and the lead actor did a fantastic job. Having said that I will say that I liked LMTF more over all and I think it was because of the shooting, I'm a sucker for the old style too. Also the corpse in this one bothered me a bit, well not all of it just the eyes. Depending on the environment that the corpse would be subjected to (heat, moisture, etc..) the skins leathery texture with the eyes remaining is very, very unlikely. (I worked at a morgue for two years) Yes I know that the body looks great on film but with most decomps after the fluids have seeped out of the body the eyes, which are mostly fluid, would have rotted out long before the skin reached this state. Having said all of that I will say that if this film and LMTF were in the running for the fest they should have taken 1 and 2 over all. Great job guys, I can't wait to see a feature!:thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top