Bob & Sam

Yeah its an illusion :) Thats just how messy my garage is. I did take some time to dress Bob's "desk" with the appropriate desk things for Bob to play with. Then Dan had the fantastic idea of having Bob have some allergy problems and created a nice pile of used tissue. Worked well since Dan was actually having some allergy problems. Sadly while cleaning the desk up later I wasnt really sure which tissues were props and which were real... oh well...

The living room actually was dressed though. My real living room is a tad odd in that it has a 10 ft wide projection screen hanging from the ceiling and that just didnt fit the story for me, so we flipped the furniture around and brought in a smaller normal tv and adjusted some pictures to kind of fill up that corner a bit.

I'm surprised no one has noticed that you can see a bit of the green walls from the kitchen as Bryan and Sam enter Bob's office. Maybe I'm the only that recognizes that as Bryan and Sam's kitchen and I should just be quiet. Shhhhhhhh....
 
meh... it was noticed but not so much that i thought i was a big deal... i just, "hey isn't that.." then before i completed my thought about the kitchen... i carried on watching...

i would say it was magnificently absurd... great use of "Oklahoma", that made the commercial awkward hence funny...

My only criticism would be a touch of over-acting here and there, but over all i thouroghly enjoyed it, looking forward to the 13 min directors cut

~stev

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I was a bit curious at the beginning of the film, dreading the potential for this film to run into awkwardly structured situations with over-zealous deliveries of contrived lines. This is always a fear of someone embarking on a low-budge comedy film's journey.

I was happily proven wrong.

I found the documentary-driven shooting style quite refreshing. Not only is it the way the film works--while cutting in television newscasts and cheese commercials with extra "cheese," but the central conflict arises from a young, aspiring actor who feels stifled by her filmmaker boyfriend. Not only is he frequently turning her into an actor, but he's also coaxing dynamic performances out of her instead of what the sleazy Bob Loosier manages. This benefited the timing and texture of the comedy, allowing for jokes about the sound guy with no pants, listening to music, the director who's frequently preoccupied with other details, and an odd love triangle of sorts.

Now, I do wish that the story would have had enough time to add a little more to the sudden disappearance of the boyfriend documentarian. It's understood that she tossed out the legitimate filmmaker boyfriend for the slack and lethargic sound guy, thus creating a twisting spat of satire aimed at ostentatious nobodies that sometimes sweep in and steal the glory. Of course, it also represents a myriad of other relationship and work dynamics. It's very funny, but because of the time limit, it never really gets to become something of substance. It's more of an, "...oh" reaction to the boyfriend being booted. One knows it's coming, but as filmmakers ourselves, I'm sure many felt sorry for the guy.

I was extremely impressed with the sound work. The dialogue and foley work was mixed very well and game out smooth and full-bodied. I really didn't notice any major hiccups or slips in the mix. That immediately makes the viewing more pleasurable.

The image was also solid. The color palette, blocking, and focal lengths all lend a hand to the documentary sentiment. There were a number of areas in which I felt the film was simply oversaturated and exhibited far too many blow-outs, though. These elements can be controlled more easily even without excess amounts of equipment. In general though, the cinematography is smooth, consistent, and fitting.

The performances were all quite good. The comedic beats felt well timed and well delivered. The writing is very fine and the minute details (like the girl scoffing at the camera trying to sneak a shot) that the performers add are very much appreciated by this viewer. It demonstrates confidence from those in front of the camera, confidence from the director, and a strong working relationship among all. There were minor instances of over-acting, but it wasn't severe.

This is a very strong entry in the fest and certainly one of my favorites so far. Very nice work. :thumbsup:
 
Lawsuit Boy - thank you so much for taking the time for such a thorough review - and its a good one at that! Glad you enjoyed it.

Regarding the subplot of the replacement boyfriend - it was kind of an odd last minute addition, and yeah I wish we could have dropped some more hints at it. In the longer cut we do get to see a bit more of the struggle between Sam and Bryan with some tiny tiny hints (if you can even call them that) to what is to come.

I've got to owe alot of your praise to the actors reagarding the writing - they're just funny people and so much of that came up on the fly. Between takes there was alot "holy crap - do that part again where you did..." And then the next take it would get a little bit better as the other actors would add a bit more and it was just a fantastically fun shoot to be a part of.

As for the blowouts and oversaturation - the saturation was just a choice I went for. THe blowouts were lazy lighting backed up by a desire to have a much less than perfect picture since its just a crappy documentary. Doing it again I'd definitely change a few things mainly to remove some of the nasty highlights on the faces in the living room and bring in some more eyelight in a few scenes.

Thanks again for the review - much appreciated by myself and cast/crew!
 
Really glad the review was helpful, Jeff. I'm always willing to give another point of view. I just hope I can get to the rest of the films before viewing closes. I'm only about half way. Three scripts in progress takes it out of you. Talk about overload!
 
Just watched Bob and Sam and I really enjoyed it. The actor who played the talent scout Mr. Loser was great, he nailed it. It looks like you guys had a great time making this and that made it fun for me. I really dug the absurdity of the barely there garage set. Also, editing the piece down to 6 minutes only added to the ludicrous nature of the film. Nice job!
 
Really liked this short it was well done and simple, nothing too complex. The one thing that took me back a little was when she had the sound guy for her boyfriend and not the other guy who was the one behind the documentary, and I wasn't entirely sure if the camera everyone was playing to in the last scene was the documentary camera or the news camera. Anyways, that having been said, enjoyed the short, one of my favorites thus far.
 
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