"Bits and Pieces" by: Justin R. Durban

ramsaur said:
Two things I noticed when watching again.
At 5:28 - 5:33 you have a dolly shot moving then it stops for a moment then picks back up moving. Was that meant to happen?

And at 3:21 when the monster says, "You are very special" it made me chuckle because his voice almost reminded me of Yoda from Star Wars heh
Click to expand...

My bad the dolly was acting up that take, but it was one of a few takes that had the fly in so I think that is why it was chosen.

Maybe here is another cause:
Day one of shooting, 4 hours behind schedule.
Justin D.
"Have you built the dolly yet?"

John (me, D.P.)
"Uh, no I'm still messing with the lights"
....
"yeah ok I'll whip it up real quick."
 
Very beautiful. Especially the light in the Mummy's liar. The sound design and score was perfect as well. SPOILER ******* the moment the Mummy lashes out at the girl and we see the stake (or bone, or whatever) impale her and we see her shadow slump and hear the sligh sound of a cry or air escaping from her lungs for the last time - was really nice.

The little girl really did a great job. The Mummy's voice was so-so for me. Didn't hate it but it didn't feel quite right either. I felt the section when he first gets her back and they are talking was a bit awkward, but not a big deal.

Did you shoot on the 7D? Did I read that earlier?
 
Awesome work Justin & John! 7D rocks! :) Thanks everyone for the lovely comments.

-Sush
UPM
'Bits & Pieces'
 
Outstanding Job!

Outstanding Job!

Justin, You and John and Leah and everyone involved in this project should be very proud. I only wish I could have been of more help. From the looks of it, I would have simply enjoyed learning from you guys.

Great job!!

:nads:
 
Some stills from the 7d we shot this on.



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johnhafner said:
Day one of shooting, 4 hours behind schedule.
Justin D.
"Have you built the dolly yet?"

John (me, D.P.)
"Uh, no I'm still messing with the lights"
....
"yeah ok I'll whip it up real quick."
Click to expand...

Ha!!!

or another: (about 5-10 minutes after the previous convo: )

me:
"John!"

john:
"What?"

me:
"what are you doing?"

john:
"Making a skateboard dolly..."

me:
"Wtf? LIGHTS! Lights! get those lights up! Don' worry about the skateboard dolly!"

:nads:


/j
 
Matty_g said:
What was your lighting set up like for the mummy stuff?
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Mummy 'House'
For the key light 'window' We had 1 Softbox with 5 42w Daylight 5500k CFL's with 3 layers of half cto and 1 250 diffusion. I added or removed gels and diffusion to set the time of day. My initial plan was to try and angle the light but that was abandoned due to time contraints.

For the fill I had a 6 bank kinoflo diva light knockoff that was CTOed and diffused with at least 10 layers. And half the time it was pointed away or at the ceiling.

The texture lighting was created by 1-2 650w open faced hotdamn lights that love to burn the hell out of me. We shot those through a ceiling made of black plastic coke bottle crates, and it make the most amazing complex textures on the walls. I borrowed the 650 kit and it came with no scrims so I creative use of a $2 walmart sunshade.
 
This was amazing! ... I loved it.. I really liked the golden light that came through the window in the monsters shack.... The little girl's acting was great... Nice story, I didn't see that ending coming... great job, one of the best for monsterfest.
 
Much Thanks

Much Thanks

Thank you guys very much. I am glad you lilked our short. Film is so much fun, so many textured layers to tell a story. The color and fantastic lighting conveyed a wonderful mood. (DP John Hafner) The monsters makeup (Jess Isam) one creative chick! (Ask us what she made the mask out of? You will never in a million years guess) Aileen was a dream kid of course, great actor. David Collier whose body language in a ton of costuming conveyed kindness and sadness and tons of other stuff. James's amazing hand crafted canopic jars. Nicole's delivery of her lines and frost face, brrr. So many people came together (eep sorry to the ones I haven't mentioned) and worked to do this and to do it well, but the one person I really want to shout out to is Justin Durban. Reading this thread apparently most of you know him as a composer. I watched Justin Direct. He has the eye and the gift. As a writer we are taught that when you give your script out say bye-bye. Chances are you will stand helplessly on the sideline as it is ruthlessly butchered. No so with Justin. I have rarely been in such a collaborative partnership that was so comfortable and so focused on getting the story out in it's truest form. It was amazing. The absolute best thing I can say about him is that not only does Justin create amazing and original work but he is secure enough in his own gifts to allow other artist's to create as well. Keep watching him..he is going to go far. BTW I am Leah of the odd and twisted writerly mind. Thanks guys...:-Happy(DBG):
 
Your film looked and sounded great. Production design was very impressive, and I've come to expect that from you. The monster costume was very well done (my favorite part). The cg face was well executed, but I wonder if it would have been better to leave it unseen.

The murder was shocking and unexpected. I felt sad for the little girl. Darn monsters.

Great job. :beer:
 
The opening scene is well done. Visually I'm drawn in and you've got good shots, good production design here with the location and all.. music is spot on... nice and subtle... location sound audio seems to be a little under par though, the dialogue doesn't sound smooth to me. I feel like the mic was too far away or the space itself just lent way to much echo into the recording. This aspect is the only thing that initially caught my attention from a production quality standpoint.

Lighting and production design are very well done in the monster location. Lots of nice subtlety here and I can see the underlying work and effort that went into the shots and setup. The monster is a nice blend of practical and CG and the most well done effects in the fest IMO.

The story and dialogue didn't click with me all that well. It's just not up my alley and that's purely subjective taste. I can still appreciate what you set out to achieve with the piece. From that perspective, it seems like you accomplished what you intended to during the production. The film feels mature and complete. And this is certainly the most solid work I've seen from you. Thanks for sharing man.
 
Leah said:
Thank you guys very much. I am glad you lilked our short. Film is so much fun, so many textured layers to tell a story. The color and fantastic lighting conveyed a wonderful mood. (DP John Hafner) The monsters makeup (Jess Isam) one creative chick! (Ask us what she made the mask out of? You will never in a million years guess) Aileen was a dream kid of course, great actor. David Collier whose body language in a ton of costuming conveyed kindness and sadness and tons of other stuff. James's amazing hand crafted canopic jars. Nicole's delivery of her lines and frost face, brrr. So many people came together (eep sorry to the ones I haven't mentioned) and worked to do this and to do it well, but the one person I really want to shout out to is Justin Durban. Reading this thread apparently most of you know him as a composer. I watched Justin Direct. He has the eye and the gift. As a writer we are taught that when you give your script out say bye-bye. Chances are you will stand helplessly on the sideline as it is ruthlessly butchered. No so with Justin. I have rarely been in such a collaborative partnership that was so comfortable and so focused on getting the story out in it's truest form. It was amazing. The absolute best thing I can say about him is that not only does Justin create amazing and original work but he is secure enough in his own gifts to allow other artist's to create as well. Keep watching him..he is going to go far. BTW I am Leah of the odd and twisted writerly mind. Thanks guys...:-Happy(DBG):
Click to expand...

Thank you Leah.

*blushes*
 
Really great look/feel on this film. I liked the pacing, the lighting etc. was outstanding. Nice work on the monster and great make-up for the little girl's scar.

POTENTIAL SPOILERS....

One part that stood out for me that I didn't like was the "play" sequence in the middle with the monster and little girl. It came really close to feeling campy which took me out of the mood of this sweet little monster and sweet little girl. That sweet mood is necessary for the payoff at the end to really be shocking.

Speaking of which, about 2 mins before then end I was thinking "he better not kill the little girl", which meant you were doing your job right and drawing me in. So the killing wasn't unexpected for me, but it did kind of piss me off! So, again, you did your job!

Nice work.
 
I Love it... Credits himself with the Music before all else...

Hey man, though I haven't watched many of these yet, I can already this ones a winner. It was wonderful all around.. as many others have said.

If I had to nitpick, and I feel I must because I gave the film a 9 instead of a 10.... for me the film got off to a rocky start. The sound isn't so great in the opening, the lighting's pretty flat (especially compared to how beautiful it is in the monster's lair), and the woman scolding the girl is a little over the top.

It must be noted that working with children is EXTREMELY difficult and a potential for disaster. Aileen certainly pulled her weight in this film and you got a great performance out of her. With that said, it's also important that the adult actors on screen with children are giving their best as well, and not trying to coach or lead the child through the scene. To me, that was difference between the two adult actors in the film... The woman seemed to be leading Aileen to help evoke her reaction, whereas the Monster was actually acting with her. The dynamic between these two is what drew me in after the rocky start and led to me jumping back when the monster finally revealed himself.

Great stuff!
 
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