Attack Of The Killer Automobile

First off,

I want to thank all of you for the positive comments. I worked hard on this film and your feedback is so rewarding. I guess I set out to make a film where the "monster" is the star. I had this old beat-up volvo (which has made appearance in nearly all of my films) that had been sitting in a parking lot for two years (I've been at college). I decided to pull her out of retirement and shoot this picture. This car, which hasn't been started in two years, gave me so much trouble. I had it towed and checked out. In fact up until the night before shooting, I wasn't sure the car would run.

But she performed perfectly.

As far as the car rigs and mounts go, I've worked at an equipment rental house in Brooklyn called Eastern Effects for the past two summers and they generously donated a few of their car mounts for my shoot (a hood mount, and a side door mount). I've never used either of these two rigs, but my crew and I assembled them in no time.

I appreciate each and every comment and feel I must respond to each...

Shaun Patrick:
First comment, thank you. I agree about the film lagging when that dialogue scene hits. I'm from Essex county, about 30 minutes outside NYC... Proud to hear you watched it again the next day.

Nitsuj:
Twice in one night! Awesome, thank you.

EditPhish:
I actually just did a "recut" and took out the missing reel gag before the dad's garage scene. I agree about have too many of them. To achieve the "no-driver" effect I simply had my buddy drive the car and lean as far to the left or right (depending on shot) as he could... sometimes sticking his whole body outside (with a huge car rig on top). The music I actually recorded with my brother, glad you enjoyed it.

MrFluffy:
Thanks - I really liked Diabolus Domi too.

Ramsaur:
The point of the film was the car survived off blood. I kinda forgot that fact while I was editing the final sequences. I wonder if I intercut the dialogue scene with shots of the fuel gauge (implying it wants to eat) I'll get a better response. The car rig was awesome.

Oedipax:
Thanks.

Denis Haineault:
Yeah the missing reels were little in-jokes (winks). The first kid is supposed to get "eaten" but the audience isn't supposed to know exactly. Maybe if I had like his shoes hanging out of the grill or something.

dust'n the callipygous:
Yeah after I read your post I wish that the umbrella came back with a punch. The shot where the mom gets eaten, the umbrella accidently got stuck in the car's "mouth" - a very happy coincidence. Again I agree about the missing reel bits, few too many but the last one nails it.

J.R. Hudson
Thanks, I like "an original spin on an old idea."

Kennethhurd:
Agree about the missing reels.

jasonthewho:
Yeah that kid wouldn't stop laughing... thanks for the style props.

Marlon Ladd:
The goal was - make the monster the main character and I really tried to give this inanimate object as much personality as possible. Good idea about the muffled SFX with the dad hitting the window!!!

Michael Anthony Horrigan:
I agree that the strongest part of the film is the last few bits.

TMerry:
I'm happy to hear you say I steered away from the Christine cliches. Glad to hear you'll watch it again! You liked this more then Death Proof too??

Mark Johnson:
You liked this more then Death Proof!!?? I'm honored.

Chris_Keaton:
Yeah, it was funny.

Jason Ramsey:
Glad to hear you found it clever and not stupid. Put a pretty good deal of time designing how each person would be killed. Originally I had the car pin the dad against his tool bench (in the garage), the dad then grabs a sledge hammer and smashes the window.... etc.

Kholi:
Thanks dude, awesome as hell.

cinealma:
The script could absolutely have used a LOT more tweaking. Tarantino said that the time in between the midpoint of the film and Act 3 is basically fluff. The missing reels in Grindhouse basically 86 the fluff. I kinda ripped that I guess for my flick.

Bob Loblaw:
Yes, the car owned the spotlight - that's awesome. Thanks for the music comments too.

Edgen:
Bits and Pieces is the coolest dude. I've really enjoyed hearing your score pop up in a bunch of these films. Thanks for your positive remarks. I got another movie I'm working on, a 1950's B/W space b-movie. I'm almost done editing, it'd be cool to hear your thoughts about how to score it.

Charli:
Watching it again I completely agree, the skaters aren't about to get hit by a car... they're just skating.

Matty_g:
Thanks man, I'm pretty satisfied with the sequences. The film effect, I didn't have time to tweak it perfectly because to render 6 minutes took 3 hours. When I do my next cut, I'll go through and tinker a little more.

Sprocketboy:
The bad acting being a requirement for this film - 100% agree! Haha yeah the window slices it off no problem!

sfoster:
Pure genius, awesomeess - big words thank you! Top 5?? Hell yes, some real criticism... I agree about taking out a missing reel (already did it in a new cut) but I'm not sure about moving the fathers death to after... the umbrella wouldn't be in the grill and stuff... But you're right about the climax needing to come sooner. Interesting comments about the dad, I hadn't really put all that together... And yes the fueling - I left out a few shots of the fueling because it felt redundant (missing reels?) when I watched some rough cuts. Thanks for your comments, I will absolutely take them into consideration for my next cut.

NOBELO:
Doing these shots was such a daunting task. Originally I wanted to get a tow truck, tow the car, and have someone hide under the wheel and just turn it arbitrarily (a joke because the steering would NOT match up with the road...) but tow trucks are expensive. Instead I had my friend hang out the door with his hand on the wheel and his foot on the gas... and an HVX mounted to a beat-up old Volvo. So nerve-racking. Yeah I'm really happy about that door open decapitate shot. That was basically my first concept on how to give the car a little personality.

Dauntless:
Thanks, party city blood!


So whew. All the comments. So constructive - thank you I feel like a whole new cut is in order!

If you want, I posted a slight re-edit on youtube right after uploading it here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMYk6CBZVDY
 
Johnson recommended this one to me and I've got to say it was a fun watch. The sheer audacity of the piece. Great.

I like the way you attacked the "grindhouse" theme and the music was perfect. I know you were using the "missing reels" as an homage but the piece could have done without them.

The weakest part of the movie was the dialogue. Everything else, great. I loved the old lady getting caught under the hood. And the girl's decapitation was priceless.

Good job.
 
This was a really fun film. I liked this on so many levels. Great job with the Grindhouse look & feel....that includes the music. The decapitation couldn't have been any better!

Congrats to all!
 
I got a kick out of this one. It was good to not have to take a film seriously. You made lots of choices here that were intentional. Nothing looked as if it were poorly executed because of any lack of talent. It all looked intentional and campy and that is a very thin line to walk. Quite the tightrope act actually. You were consistent all of the way through and seemed you had a good time with it, so I had a good time with it.

BTW: best use of carbon Monoxide EVER!

Great showing dude. Thanks for the laughs.
 
as soon as i saw the volvo as the car of choice i knew i was going to like this thing. i did. well done!

this was fun to watch!
 
This could have easily been a lost reel from Grindhouse! I think you grabbed the genre by the teeth, devoured it and then somehow completely embodied it. My only rant is that maybe It had too many missing reels, for a 6 odd minute film. Great job!
 
Very entertaining. Loved that you used a Volvo, the most uncool car I can imagine (no offense):). The girl's decapitation gag worked amazingly well! I rewatched that a few times.

Felt very 70s, in a good way. Some parts reminded me of "Duel."

Well done.:beer:
 
the missing reel bit is a great way to combat the 6 minute time limit... and you took advantage of that. this was exactly what i expected it to be and executed well. nice work with all the car rig shots, they looked good.
 
For a few seconds into this scene I thought someone was pulling my leg.

Your father, I assume, looks quite similar to Steve from the Wilkinsons, who live the next town over from me.
So I immediatley looked at your avatar for a location and nope, your not from around here. And then the following angles showed a slight difference.
Wasn't going to mention it, but, why not. Thought you might get a chuckle out of it.


Lookalike_Wikinsons2.jpg
 
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Holy shmokers, that's a lot of gear! Respect for shooting so much on moving vehicle. I enjoyed the film and found it entertaining, and while the Grindhouse/Death Proof theme isn't unique, for some reason I found this film to be pretty original.

Nice work!
 
Really enjoyed this one. Loved the style you went with, totally works with this piece and brings so much to it. I like how you have that emptiness before the titles come up in the beginning and the car comes into the shot... it's almost a second too long before anything happens... but because of the tone/style... it works perfectly and I notice these tiny imperfections which all the more make this one work for me.

I can tell a lot of creative work went into planning and obtaining many of the shots. This was one of my favorites and got high marks from me. Thanks for sharing!
 
This is an amusing and seemingly self indulgent experiment in retro grindhouse style that is sure to appeal to filmmakers here - but would otherwise result in tired groans from most audiences outside immediate families and friends.

That's not to salute the cinematography / gripping on display here with the car - I actually find that impressive and i did get my giggles in a twist at various scenes!

What i can't shake off though is the impression that this is a film made by a group of kids with the help of Paw, Maw and Big sis!

Now - obviously this isn't aiming to be a particularly intellectual film. (It could have been another Christine if you tried harder!)

As a grindhouse film however, its... not particularly evocative of that period (the car actually is!!!) Which is ironic actually, because just a few retro clothes for your leads and a determination not to blow out the skies or other 'video look' features, and you could have had a genuinely 'authentic' feeling guilty pleasure.

As opposed to a kind of idiosyncratic self pleasuring for the sake of your jeans and to the detriment of a public audience. Ruthlessly I will say that it would not be wise to connect a finalist entry from these votes as indicative of a wider acceptance among public audiences either. This film is a bit like pornography to the chaps here who remember themselves filming mediocrity in there gardens... in their teens... (I mean i know i was!)
 
Hey guys, cool little flick and I enjoyed watching it. The acting was fitting for what it was. The only performance that bothered me was the dad. He seemed to be yelling about everything...

The only gripe I have is that it was a bit long for what it was. I think it could have run about a minute / minute and a half shorter.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with next. :beer:
 
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