"An Entanglement" Short Film Shot on the FS700 + O7Q Finished In 4K

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blackdogdylan

Active member
Hey Everybody-

Thought I would share with you all the online premiere of a short film I directed/produced that we finished a little while back. It's called An Entanglement and it stars Shiri Appleby (currently headlining the critically-acclaimed series UnREAL, which premieres its second season this Monday.) It was the product of me calling in every favor I've earned in this town (and a few I had no right to expect.) We shot on my camera, the FS700 with Odyssey 7Q recording in ProRes and actually finished out to a 4K DCP. It's a pretty dark crime thriller and is probably VSNSFW (very slightly NSFW.) Anyway, please check it out. I'm always happy to answer any questions. And if you happen to like it, please share it and follow us on Twitter @EntangleMovie.

-Dylan

http://filmshortage.com/dailyshortpicks/an-entanglement/

An Entanglement
A woman's world comes crashing down when a stranger reveals he's been hired to kill her. What follows is a dark proposition: pay double, and she can turn the hit back on her murderous husband.
 
I liked it! And that's quite an achievement, because most things I probably wouldn't like. I think you did a good job directing, the actors were good - although I found some of the husbands actions and lines questionable. I really liked the look of it as well, so overall I think you and your crew did a good job and have talent.

My nitpicks most of it is plot/writing related, but at least I was engaged so don't take it as a diss. She didn't ask why - that's a 2-way question as to why the husband wanted her dead and why the killer was telling her. I understand the killer is "up'ing the ante" but where does that end? - and the cops were dealt with by her 'doing the math' comment by the killer which one might assume the couple isn't innocent. My issue is the husband character doesn't seem like he would hire the killer and didn't try to run at all and just sort of got in the tub.

My conclusions is that he'd run them both dry and either kill them both or just leave if they have a shady past.

Did you think those as potential questions? Did you yourself have answers or not? Again, me thinking about it like that is a complement, I enjoyed it.

Also what lenses did you use? And when you say you finished in 4k, did you record 1080p pro res or 4k? it's cool seeing a nice short like that being shot on such a resilient camera!
 
blackdogdylan said:
Hey Everybody-
Thought I would share with you all the online premiere of a short film I directed/produced that we finished a little while back. It's called An Entanglement and it stars Shiri Appleby (currently headlining the critically-acclaimed series UnREAL, which premieres its
Click to expand...

Dylan,

I don't normally comment on these but i really enjoyed it. I like the muted range and the understated camera work. I found the whole production worked together very well, pacing, acting and directing. The performances were not theatrical, they all did well. A really great job. I assume you've been through the festival circuit with it, how did you fare?

cheers
Paul
 
thanks, fatman (doesn't feel quite right saying that, but I don't know what else to call you ; ) for the comments.

first, the technical stuff out of the way. we captured 4K ProRes SLog2 to the O7Q. we transcoded to 1080 DNxHD for all editorial and then "roundtripped" with Resolve to a 4K grade, outputting a 4K & 2K DPX. not something I recommend for just any project, but since it was short and the resources were available, then we saw it through. lenses were an older (but nice) set of Zeiss Super Speeds.

as for the things you noticed, all valid observations. I always thought of it as more of a heightened nightmarish parable than procedural, so you have to suspend some disbelief for the scenario to "work." no one is innocent in the story much the same way that really "normal" people do things every day that are monstrous and unexpected. I guess I always figured they all have secrets. and you're right, having questions was part of the idea. I liked that even though there's symmetry in the tale, it's very ambiguous. is it all just a long con? when will it end? I have my own answers to these questions but I like different interpretations. even the actor playing "the man" had a very different idea than me. all good as far as I was concerned. since I didn't have to answer the same questions I might with a feature, I figured some open-ended-ness and mystery would be alright. that said, I know it can feel a bit like filmus interruptus if you're expecting the loose ends to get tied up. anyway, glad it left an impression and thanks for the comments.
 
paulcurtis said:
A really great job. I assume you've been through the festival circuit with it, how did you fare?

cheers
Paul
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thanks, Paul. I really appreciate the kind words. the goal was to do fests with it, yes. we finished the film 10 months ago and had been preserving premiere status this whole time. but every festival we submitted to turned us down. 15 in total. the last one let us know in the end of May, so we released it online. we're still submitted with a handful of other fests (that don't have premiere requirements), but I'm really tempering any hope at this point. as you might imagine, that was hugely disappointing since I never saw it as the kind of film that does well on the web. it's NOT a viral video, you know what I mean? but, so it goes. guess it wasn't what any festival was looking for. the people who do take the time to watch it generally seem to like it, so I guess I'll settle for that. anyway, thank you!
 
blackdogdylan said:
thanks, Paul. I really appreciate the kind words. the goal was to do fests with it, yes. we finished the film 10 months ago and had been preserving premiere status this whole time. but every festival we submitted to turned us down. 15 in total. the last one let us know in the end of May, so we released it online. we're still submitted with a handful of other fests (that don't have premiere requirements), but I'm really tempering any hope at this point. as you might imagine, that was hugely disappointing since I never saw it as the kind of film that does well on the web. it's NOT a viral video, you know what I mean? but, so it goes. guess it wasn't what any festival was looking for. the people who do take the time to watch it generally seem to like it, so I guess I'll settle for that. anyway, thank you!
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Wow, I'm surprised. Shame on the festivals because it's seriously much better than most short films I've seen or know of at least locally that get in. The only reason I can think of is that it's not a novel way of filming (most of which is usually lame imo) or that the plot wasn't a major ridiculous twist like you alluded to "viral".

I'm mostly a director myself, but if I put my producer hat on, the great thing about your film is it would give me the confidence to hire you or trust that you'd do a good job directing a film. Within 24 hours of watching yours I watched another that at least has the appearance that it's doing quite well since they are really doing the marketing machine thing - BUT - it's was an absolute POS, like a quasi music video with bad acting and a weak attempt at a 'plot'.

Anyway I think you and your team should be proud of it regardless because it really is good. Cheers.
 
Fun stuff....I haven't watched a short via this site in a long time. Kind of a throwback to some of the fest films from a few years ago, IMO.

Had a real nice look for sure, FS700 shining through. A few nitpicks, but kudos to anyone with the motivation to get out there & produce something original.
 
fatman said:
Wow, I'm surprised. Shame on the festivals because it's seriously much better than most short films I've seen or know of at least locally that get in. The only reason I can think of is that it's not a novel way of filming (most of which is usually lame imo) or that the plot wasn't a major ridiculous twist like you alluded to "viral".
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glad to hear my sentiments echoed as well. I've attended festivals. had projects I've worked on do the circuit. I was equally surprised by the lack of interest. obviously, I'm biased, but I also, as a generalization, find a lot of shorts hampered by amateurish performances, bad sound, simplistic concepts, not enough restraint, etc. all reasonable faults given the constrictions a low/no budget short faces with inexperienced directors regularly cutting their teeth for the first time.

the only thing we had that those don't is some really great talent in front and behind the camera. skilled technicians and actors with A LOT of experience. but we were under-budgeted, under-scheduled, over-worked, stretched-thin, just like the rest. only hard costs were paid for. it was literally every favor I could call-in, accumulated over nearly 20 years in the business.

anyway, just happy to not feel like I'm the one that's out of touch. thanks for checking it out. may some fests catch on soon!
 
Scott F said:
Fun stuff....I haven't watched a short via this site in a long time. Kind of a throwback to some of the fest films from a few years ago, IMO.

Had a real nice look for sure, FS700 shining through. A few nitpicks, but kudos to anyone with the motivation to get out there & produce something original.
Click to expand...

thanks for taking the time to check it out, Scott!
 
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