"ABHORRENCE" - A ZazaCast Film

just seeing this thread now! glad you got a short done, love the teaser, very effective, especially the backwards voice. are you serious about a mono mix with 5 subs?? never heard of that.
 
SPOILER REVIEW: Do not read if you haven't watched the short (still can't find the spoiler tags)

What I liked: I liked that the first shot was on a slider. "There'd better be a slider shot in this," I said before pressing play. I liked the tension that was built throughout as well. The whole time, there was a slow build, and it worked well. Definitely hard to do in 6 minutes, even more so in 4. I liked the coloring of it, too. Audio sounded good throughout! Also enjoyed the humor in this. Definitely a plus! Also liked the fog / smoke under the door.

What didn't work for me: The lighting wasn't my favorite. The shadows were too harsh on the walls. It made the walls stick out too much for my liking. Also, at the top of the stairs, it seemed like the light was on the floor, and the critical side of me asked, "Why is there a light on the floor?"

Favorite part: The coloring. Simple, but constant throughout. Really added a lot.

All in all, good piece. Made me scared, and made me laugh.
 
It's hard for me to discuss this without giving anything away, especially the huge twist at the end!
But I think this is your best yet Joe, It was very professionally done, especially for a one man band like yourself.
You took your time, built the tension, and had some great camera angles. I love that you used my music as he walks up the stairs,
it really works. And of course I love the ending, didn't see it going there and the guy delivers his line perfectly.
I got quite a chuckle, I won't say anything else. Oh yeah... needs more dolly shots!
 
REVIEW!

Alright so I liked this one a lot, mainly because it was scary, but also funny/not serious. I like when the themes are taken a little out of context as it is usually refreshing.

What I liked a lot - You built tension really well, and you told a simple straight forward story. I think a big challenge is to complete a story in 6 minutes with no questions or confusion for the audience. I really liked the shot when he opens the basement door as well as the shot coming up the stairs. I also liked the lighting for the most part (I'll add to this below)

Things I didn't like as much - As stated earlier I liked the lighting setup with some shadows pretty visible on the wall especially when he starts to go upstairs I think it helped with the tension a lot. However, I did not like the harsh shadow as he walked in the door. At this point we have no reason to believe this is scary, so it just kinda stood out too much. When he gets to the top of the stairs there were a couple quick cuts that just didn't work for me (around 2:55-2:59 I think). Also, around there you cut from a closup of the smoke under the door where he is clearly right next to the door to the shot from the bottom of the stairs. I didn't like this for two reasons. 1) You were building tension drawing closer and closer to the door, cutting back to the wide shot took me out of it. 2) Continuity as he is still walking towards the door in the wide shot

In the grand scheme though this was well done and a well told story that I really enjoyed. A few critiques about different cuts are nothing major and are usually personal preference as well. I think you did really well and I enjoyed watching this (as I have enjoyed watching pretty much all of your past entries)
 
Hawk Teflon said:
SPOILER REVIEW: Do not read if you haven't watched the short (still can't find the spoiler tags)

What I liked: I liked that the first shot was on a slider. "There'd better be a slider shot in this," I said before pressing play. I liked the tension that was built throughout as well. The whole time, there was a slow build, and it worked well. Definitely hard to do in 6 minutes, even more so in 4. I liked the coloring of it, too. Audio sounded good throughout! Also enjoyed the humor in this. Definitely a plus! Also liked the fog / smoke under the door.

What didn't work for me: The lighting wasn't my favorite. The shadows were too harsh on the walls. It made the walls stick out too much for my liking. Also, at the top of the stairs, it seemed like the light was on the floor, and the critical side of me asked, "Why is there a light on the floor?"

Favorite part: The coloring. Simple, but constant throughout. Really added a lot.

All in all, good piece. Made me scared, and made me laugh.
Click to expand...
Thank Hawk! All good comments & very helpful...but the shadows were on purpose (like those old vampire films)...that's what I was going for. Same goes for all the dutch angles.

Matt Harris said:
It's hard for me to discuss this without giving anything away, especially the huge twist at the end!
But I think this is your best yet Joe, It was very professionally done, especially for a one man band like yourself.
You took your time, built the tension, and had some great camera angles. I love that you used my music as he walks up the stairs,
it really works. And of course I love the ending, didn't see it going there and the guy delivers his line perfectly.
I got quite a chuckle, I won't say anything else. Oh yeah... needs more dolly shots!
Click to expand...
Matt... the checks in the mail! :happy:

Rodney V. Smith said:
Zaza.... you're going to have to wait for my review. :evil:
Click to expand...
...have to use the bathroom first? :undecided

thetvirus513 said:
REVIEW!

Alright so I liked this one a lot, mainly because it was scary, but also funny/not serious. I like when the themes are taken a little out of context as it is usually refreshing.

What I liked a lot - You built tension really well, and you told a simple straight forward story. I think a big challenge is to complete a story in 6 minutes with no questions or confusion for the audience. I really liked the shot when he opens the basement door as well as the shot coming up the stairs. I also liked the lighting for the most part (I'll add to this below)

Things I didn't like as much - As stated earlier I liked the lighting setup with some shadows pretty visible on the wall especially when he starts to go upstairs I think it helped with the tension a lot. However, I did not like the harsh shadow as he walked in the door. At this point we have no reason to believe this is scary, so it just kinda stood out too much. When he gets to the top of the stairs there were a couple quick cuts that just didn't work for me (around 2:55-2:59 I think). Also, around there you cut from a closup of the smoke under the door where he is clearly right next to the door to the shot from the bottom of the stairs. I didn't like this for two reasons. 1) You were building tension drawing closer and closer to the door, cutting back to the wide shot took me out of it. 2) Continuity as he is still walking towards the door in the wide shot

In the grand scheme though this was well done and a well told story that I really enjoyed. A few critiques about different cuts are nothing major and are usually personal preference as well. I think you did really well and I enjoyed watching this (as I have enjoyed watching pretty much all of your past entries)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the review (I love to hear this stuff...it is VERY helpful to see what works & what doesn't for people)! Again, the shadows are on purpose...it's a short and the idea was that the character 'walks right into a scary, weird situation'. Junk food on the table, computer on, his friend (Dude) nowhere to be found, tes kettle, etc...

Thanks again & please keep the comments coming! :thumbsup:

I'm downloading all the films now and will be posting my comments over the next few days.
 
Yes, that was pretty epic. I still have a grin on my face. This is my kind of short. On a serious note, you built the tension well. I had no idea what was happening. Nice series of shots. When I put together mine that's one thing I'm not good at is building slow tension/suspense. You did it well.
 
Funny! Hope you don't live in that house with that basement. Too afraid to film downstairs?
Agree with prior review on the cool lighting. Also on the light under the door and shaking knob.
Enjoyed much!
 
Funny, but if anything probably a little long. I know you were trying to build tension, but I wasn't feeling it. I was feeling that this was going to be a gag and once I figured it out I wanted you to get to the punchline already. Maybe I'm the only one. Overall a good job.
 
holy crap.

Ok, I opened up the film to see a cheesy monster thrown up on screen to the credits. "Oh gawd.. I'm gonna have to stop this film." Then, there was this actually really nice dolly outside the house and I thought, well, maybe I'll give it a second chance.

Then, I see a Home depot lamp in the corner lighting your scene. "Is this a slap in the face to the fest?" Was the camera guy actually aware he had the light in scene?" Ok. So, I'm going with it. It's hokey. I'm sold. Let's see where it takes us. We go upstairs.. slowly, quietly, music corny and campy as all get out. I know it's not gonna be scary, but lets see... He creeps to the door.. MAN! I'm actually into this film.

Then. the reveal.
****in' a. What a waste of my 'shitty time'. Comon'.

I think your film had some potential in getting my nerves on end, but at the same time way highly sloppy in execution. From the depot lamps, amaetur lighting, to the over use of the word dude.. There's a lot of things you could have done but to be let down by this, i'm afraid I just felt it was a waste of my time.

I truly hope you get your act together next time and make a serious film. I know you've got that potential. You've been around the forums a while now. Show us what you've really got and don't string us along on a ride that reveals a roomate who just took a **** in the bathroom. Yes. Spoilers to everyone else.

/j
 
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