BONE HAND by Jack Daniel Stanley

[TimurCivan]

it wouldnt get attention like this if it werent good, jack.

 

[Brandon Rice]

Jack... I'm rootin' for ya, and think this film deserves to win... really great!

 

[jpbankesmercer]

Jack hope the meeting went well

I think you nailed the genre. Bonehand was a real SuperHero/ Meandude and now we've have got Girl-Bonehand to kick ass in the future. You spent a lot of time on this fun-romp and it paid off. I did laugh to myself on how you must have thought up that character. You made a hand a iconic super symbol, thats gotta deserve a beer? Don't it? :beer:
Great job.
J.p

 

[Isaac_Brody]

everysingle frame is meticulously thought out, usually storyboarded, thought out and masked on set, and then mainpulated to no end in post, shifted left right, up down, rotated, flipped re-scaled, camera movement added, etc.

I will say this -- about 30 percent of the editing choices are damage control in a shoot like this where you never get the coverage you need or want.

Hey Jack, I hope you got some sleep. I think you may be taking some of the critiques personally, maybe cause you're drained. I think you should be flattered. People are reacting because you've built up a reputation for having solid DVXfest films. This one too is solid, even with its weaknesses. Everyone's got a critique, and you can choose to reply to every critique, or accept that people got different things from it.

This thread has over 2000 views. There are films with less than 100 views that aren't getting the careful attention this one is. I do think your dissertation comment is a little insulting. We're here to help each other, and if people feel like their comments aren't appreciated, they'll hold back their honest critique and not give feedback at all. It's difficult to take criticism, especially when you've run yourself ragged trying to make the best film you can. It's even more difficult to take honest criticism when your batteries are run down.

Anyway, relax, :bath:have a popsicle, and enjoy other people's work.

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

OK cathing uo to all the great kudos and criticisms. Thanks for taking the time guys.

Great Job! I really thought that this film was very strong in many aspects: it was filmed well, had good SFX and some very impressive acting.
Overall great job- too bad I can't vote.

You're close man. Give feedback for each of the 25 films. Drop by the cafe and click the new posts button often and you can do it with legit posts.

yea. I have to say I liked this one.

Most people hit the points and looks like i chimed in on the tail and glad to get some explanations.

My Thoughts:
I agree. The story came full circle. I wanted to stop and rewind a few times to see what was going on but I forced myself to watch all the way through first.
Was that a rat? (one of things I wanted to stop rewind)
I think it was great he was just walking along, threw the rat and kept on going.
I like the 'asian' and his sensless beating/revenge.
THugs had the comedic element.
The girl was pretty dang good. i was impressed. THere's probably a few things that could have been better.
Cinematography.. I felt... squeezed. There were a LOT of really tight shots and after watching I wanted to release my breath. That happened at the cemetary. The transition into the girl was perfect..

Yeah I've gotten this note a few times this contest and you guys are definately on to something, I like the eyes to be the focus of the shot. To do one establishing shot and then stay in the closeups primarily. I also like some of the image to over flow the edge. I think one of the reasons the end beat plays so well where she transforms is because I kept it claustrophobic until that wide shot where she transforms, so visually theirs a release as the story resolves.

But its a good note and definately something to keep myself in check for with future projects.

Until she stopped to turn her head and look. That was kinda over the top.

Really? One other guy said that too (offline) and he was very adamant about it. I figure she got to the end of the path and she just looks around before entering the next path ... which becomes symbolic of course and is why you may think its cheesy and to on the nose ... but seems completley natural to me on the one hand AND its a frickin superhero movie -- she can't have an heroiic pose at the end?

We have limited takes to choose from here (we snuck into the cemetery pretending to be a geneoligical research group) so she does the take in all of them. Do you think I should try to end on a freeze frame of her before she does the take or something?

Lemme know -- really cuz I'm definitley considering changing it for the DVD.

Plus some reflections in the glasses?

Dag NABIT! YEp that's a circular reflector that wasn't even hitting her. I'm gonna roto it out for the DVD, but couldn't for the fest as I slid un under the wire.

The Score: Ah yes.. the score. I have to disagree with Brice on this one. I thought Herman's job was absolutely brilliant! It was smooth flowing, had great sounds, great elements and took you on an up and down roller coaster of emotions. My hads off to him on this one. Maybe the electric guitar riffs were a little too much over the top, but hey. It added to the grungy'ness of the film.

I like it alot to and agree on the gunginess - any over the top guitarness is my bad - a result of me saying "more guitar! more guitar!" but I like the guitar as is.

I did not like seeing the same hand footage at the end. Something else could have been there instead.
The VFX were perfect for the film. Not too over the top. Not cheesy. The 'jump off' was great and executed nicely, but had no point. (unless its your reason for him "letting himself go")

All in all... I'm really glad you decided to stay with this to the end. I think it pays off and congrats on the submission.

cheers!
/j

Thanks a ton for the feedback -- I' getting to your thread today. I enjoyed your film.

I think this represented him falling into death so the little girl could live. A conscious inner suicide or release...? Maybe?

ah yes.. that's what I was thinking too. but if he's a super hero he'd probably live from the fall no?

still, i see and feel the symbolism.

/j

Yeah, you're being kind of literal Justin. I mean can the girl fly. Nope. Is this scene REALLY happening? Nope. So whether or not he's a super hero has little to do with his interaction in non physical world. ALSO ... and here's the biggy ... he wears the shades all movie long for a reason -- wierd glowy eyes (though I wouldn't expect you to get that per se), which we see go back to normal after she takes the sunglasses -- so he is no longer bone hand at that point.

but the big point is you got the symbolism

in my head its whats happening in her head to make sense of the tranferrrence. Now I wouldn't necessearily expect the audience to get that. I only cared that they got that there was a transferecne, and that it was treated somehwhat poetically (hence the cohen brothers dream ballet )

Jack, really enjoyed this one, but for me ODD SQUAD still holds the trump card over all your films. Just loved that one.

This one was a tad more difficult for me to follow with regards to the story. I thought the FX were GREAT, both tasteful and comp'd well into the shots.

The camera angles & editing were great, as well as the lighting. I didn't care for the lighting quite as much on the roof top, but that's probably my only lighting gripe.

Didn't really notice the score all that much (that can be a good thing) until the end ... then I thought, gee, that sounds familiar!

So here's my REAL question ... where's my "Special Thanks" credit for introducing you to Herman?! That last part where it jams fits perfectly, and has always been one of my favorites from the composers I've heard.

Great job, Jack. Really enjoyed the film.

haha -- thanks for the feedback -- be getting to yout thread today as well.
you and briceman will be added for thanks in the DVD cut -- was trying to keep the thanks specific to people that gave us and adaptor etc, and include the rest of DVXuser generally, because its hard to draw the line as to how many posts or PMs by this or that person directly influenced the film or made it better. But as Bricey was quick to pointy out - moral support shoul be inclueded too -- although you will see that you are all over the Sci Fest DVD, bee-otch

I haven't read the whole thread yet so my opinion is kind of independent.

Great movie, a bit fast but really good, gongrats Jack & your team.
Very amped intro, everything is showing clearly, how he takes his power, music has the right mood and with the fast editing and motion effects you show the hero's super powers.

What I didn't like was the girl been shot.... I almost cry dude... (yes I'm a father!), but you made up with the Hero giving his life. But again I find it very hard.

Great work again.

Glad it had some impact for you. Hope it wasn't too much. I realized after writing this film (they say that in yout 30's you write about unresolved issues with your parents) that I have made three movies about a parent or a a suurogate parent being willing to sacrifice anything -- even their lives for the childs well being ... I'm a child of divorce at 4 1/2 ... "hello ... pagiing Dr. Freud" :laugh:

Really great film, I got a chance to sit and watch it last night.. when I saw the little girl for some reason I thought " Curly Sue!!!! " Do you remember that film?

She ( Jessie ) was a cutie, and she did a wonderful job!! The ending was great as well, very Crow-ish

No ... what is this Curly Sue?

Great Work. It's all been said already so I wont re-state anything. Amazing utilization of the time limit in terms of story. Really nice.

thanks for taking the tme and the kudos rogar-Evil(DBG):

This is the first one I watched cuz I knew I could start off with a good one. And i wasn't disappointed. The story has a lot of influences, but they're all good ones. And I liked the gun-POV when they're shooting through the door. I think I remember that from the beginning of Leon. It was cool as hell then and it's still cool in this.

Wasn't too keen on the girl, but maybe that's just me being too hard on child actors.

I think all the post work in the image was a bit much though. I just didn't feel like it fit the film.

The effects were top-notch. Very good work.

All things said, a great film, Dude. Thumbs and big toes up!

thank you sir :thumbsup:

Great work! I predict you to win this contest from what I have seen so far.

that's been said before -- twice -- thanks for jixing me bastad! lol -- kiding of course,
:dankk2:, man

Well-done, JDStanley. I appreciate the fact that your film started, told, and completed an entire storyline in the time allotment.

Your child lead was good, especially since it can be such a struggle to work with child actors. Always room for improvement, but I would be proud of what she was able to produce. Especially when she coughed up blood. YUCK!

I was a little lost when it came to the "death transfer" flashes. I wasn't sure what was going on until image of your lead character's lifeless bone hand ... impressive work

that;s cool with me ... something like the death dream ballet transferrence - if its interesting and cool in its own right - can be a good thing if it prompts a WTF? Since that's a question you will watch the next scene to have answered. It becomes a problem of course if I set up the question with some wierd scene and don't answer it.


thanks for your comments all - will catch up with some more in a few

- Jack

 

[OmaR]

I've read till page 6, but I couldn't go on just right now :embarasse

I've to tell Jack is really a great director!

In my opinion this isn't the best short of the contest, but generally it's a great work!

Jack I like the way you shoot, your style... the best thing is that you have your own style: I could watch your movies and understand that are yours and nobody else!

I would like to see a BTS of this short, for the first scene above all: very interesting for me...

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Hey Jack, I hope you got some sleep. I think you may be taking some of the critiques personally, maybe cause you're drained. I think you should be flattered. People are reacting because you've built up a reputation for having solid DVXfest films. This one too is solid, even with its weaknesses. Everyone's got a critique, and you can choose to reply to every critique, or accept that people got different things from it.

This thread has over 2000 views. There are films with less than 100 views that aren't getting the careful attention this one is. I do think your dissertation comment is a little insulting. We're here to help each other, and if people feel like their comments aren't appreciated, they'll hold back their honest critique and not give feedback at all. It's difficult to take criticism, especially when you've run yourself ragged trying to make the best film you can. It's even more difficult to take honest criticism when your batteries are run down.

Anyway, relax, :bath:have a popsicle, and enjoy other people's work.

No no, not at all ... like yout post didn't tweak me at all ... and I get that for the most part they are taking it apart to see why the sum of the parts add up as they do.

But it is a little irksome when one guy tells you offline that the girls acting is brilliant and then online "after having watched the movie 6 more times" that he's decided she's the biggest problem in the movie. Nothing can hold up to that ... and MattinSTL does have a point about papering your walls with grabs from this film. (not that you are a culprit) - and Matt has no reason to be defensive.

So I just felt like making fun of that a little bit. My post wasn't directed at you per se and deflecting your criticism, it just came after your post.

Your post was, is it seems all things you do are, 100% completely approriate and an example of how criticism should be given. (I do have some questions about one aspect of it which I'll get to as I catch up here in a few minutes)

If you look back to Zombie Fest and read the threads for the top 3 films in that and Scifi - you will see a growing shift from "I can't believe you just went out and shot this" and "I had this issue with the content here or there ... can you explain", to "this was great, here's a thousand things technical and otherwise that were wrong with it" This is fine and good but a certain level of decorum would be nice. Do I really need to read empassioned arguments over which part was worse - the girls acting or the editing - for example? Especially whan both have been stated a myriad times, and actully acknowleddged by me as areas for growth (the editing of course, wouldn't agree on the childs acting as lacking here even if i did agree - know what I mean) But to me that argment is just frickin' comical and warrants a having a little fun poked at it.

When I'm really hurt or offended I skulk away or make sad hallmark posts like the Bone Hand vs ODD Squad post, which has been the only thing in here that's been hard to take because AGAIN, I didn't think I had hit my PERSONAL mark for success when I was so sure that I had (and I had never felt that way before)

So anyhooo PLEASE keep the crits coming -- while it has been a lot more proctological this time around, I don't mean to sound defensive. I swear I am enjoying my examintaion at this point. (that's really weird sounding but you get my point).

 

[spidey]

OK so everyone knows me as the overly critical guy so here it is.

The zooming effect?
The ending was seen a mile away.
The acting was eh? the girl was perhaps not the best choice.
The ending with her morphing into the older verison was also a thing that bugs me.
The power was kinda weird. very different.
I dont know when the movie is trying to be serious or funny.
The music is too twinkly.
The girl dying made me giggle.

typical story, I was hoping to be totally different but it was the same. the story remind me of the odd squad in some ways, you zombie film is probli the biggest different movie I've seen from you.

simularites with Odd Squad:

The beginning with the mutant is simular with the thug in this one.
The theme of protecting a daughter or girl is simular.
The sacrafice to escape or save some one.

I dunno. something just bugs me. Now don't take offense with this I'm just trying to point out things from your pervious work and things that just bug me. this is how I always critque. I look for the bad before the good. just how I roll.

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

catching up ...

I would love to find out how you did the smoke effects from the deaths and all. I enjoyed them a lot and wish i could do effects like that in the future....BTS coming?

hopefully, we'll see if I have time or not during the fest to put a few things up ... there's a time lapse of Aram and I jacking up my me and my girlfriend's brand new apartment, repainting it to look like a slum. and also the little girl getting revenge on me by covering me with strawberry syrup (blood)

Jack, as usual a fine movie. Personally, I liked The ODD Squad better, but I think a lot of that has to do with the lead actor and the hard boilded VO.

On this one, I was particularly pleased that you told the story without having to resort to VO to get your idea across. It was totally appropriate in The ODD Squad and it was great that you didn't use it here.

Technically, I thought you did a very good job. Loved the cinematography. You had an engaging story that was complete and had a payoff. The acting was good. Jessie Artemis Baum did a good job overall. A couple of times I "felt" her acting but damn, I shouldn't be nitpicking that. Considering her age and the difficulty of working with children, then requiring her to have to carry such a large portion of the movie...you done good, pilgram rogar-BigGrin(DBG)

The symbolism of him "falling" to his death to save her was excellent. Man, did Joel Isreal remind me of Tim Matheson.

The payoff scene in the cemetary was well executed. I have to disagree with an earlier post concerning the use of the white makeup. I think it was spot on for a character balanced somewhere between life and death.

The only negative thing I have to say about this movie are the shots right after Bone Hand saves Easter. When she "wakes up" the cutting is disorienting and actually pulled me out of the story. At the 4:33 mark the jump cut feels like a mistake or continuity error. Personally, I'd have liked to seen that scene pulled off smoother. It would have made for a more emotionally touching scene. I've gone back and rewatched the movie twice and still feel the same way about this scene. It's just my opinion, you are the filmmaker and as such the decision on how to tell your story is your prerogative. Jeesh, everyone's a critic.

thanks man,

glad the death dream ballet worked for you ... there were a few lines of VO that I was enamoured with at the beginning of the process ... I just liked the lines and thought it clearly set things up as HER story (which it could have been without telagraphing the end) I was gonna have and adult woman V.O.. so you might think it was an anonymous V.O. until the end when she changed. But the line I liked was ... "he once told me that he'd been touched by death ... but now I knew that it was death that touched him" around the time she drops the flower and then morphs into the adult bonehand.

BUT I set the challenge for myself to tell the whole thing w/out V.O., plus it would have been just like ODD Squad with the V.O. bookends ... anyway it took some discioline on my part, so I'm appreciate that you appreciated it.

...
I am a big fan of JDS's work; starting with Shed and fast culminating with THE ODD SQUAD which was so fun and perfect. I was very eager to see what was offered up here with Herofest.

One thing I truly enjoy with the usual suspect's in these fest's is seeing growth from the DVXuser filmmakers; from Zombiefest to Scifest to Herofest and those who participated in all 3 the growth is mostly evident.

However, on this short I found it, not a step back from The Odd Squad, but more so a lateral move. Something tells me JACK's next short may just be a Quantam LEap forward in development and skill.

I love your style in the cutting room but at times feel it abused in this short. For ODD, the manic hyperreal cutting style worked with the 70's funk play but here it was a distraction. Just when I settled on a nice composition or moment in the piece, it changed on me. I kept saying 'Jeez Jack, slow down!'. It was as if there was a lacking confidence is staying with a shot more than a few seconds like today's music video's.

yeah you are on to something. this is a product of trying something new + the length requirement + trying to hard to make it good in the final hours

I really enjoyed the slower scenes; the man and woman talking in apartment doorway, the child and man on couch. This is when I felt we were let into your world. You do action nicely but at times it feels to rushed. Like 'Bam! Slap! Crunk!' and then it's over before it began.

I was trying for a contrast in those scenes with the fight stuff. One area where I felt ODD Squad failed was that the character developments scenes were rushed because of the time crunch, so I was very mindful, perhpas overly mindful of keeping the action/external plot stuff as quick and snappy as possible.

Again -- went too far though (I HOPE EVERYONE GETS THAT I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, LOL) and hopeing the composer will do one last version for me for the DVD as I add some time back in.
...
I love the use of many locations. You suceeded in creating a world for me from the wonderfully opening shot in the alley, to the apartment building, the rooftops and the cemetary. I love when the filmmaker 'Get's out of the apartment'

Not sure if you planned on rain but that served the atmosphere greatly; lucky you! Probably a pain in the arse that day of shooting but be grateful for the asthetic it created!

The score is not only great but it appears custom on top of that. The cue's are spot on and the mood serves unlike some of the other films where it sounds like a soundtrack score laid on top of the film where they just do not jive with what is on screen and way over the top. [/quote]

I love the score ... we worked really hard on it.

In closing; this short is the best of the bunch. Usually I reserve my highest vote for the single film that entertains me the most; for Zombiefest I gave my 10 to The Laughing Dead, for SCIFEST I gave my 10 to We Are Not Alone . I personally found Dahopa Film's SIMILO parody to entertain me more than this one, but am going to reserve my 10 for this piece anyway's for technically being superior to the other films in terms of photography, score, sound design, set's, location's and talent.

Nice job Jack. I liked ODD SQUAD much better, but think the lack of challenger's this go around may give a Wild Card and there is nothing wrong with that. You have the real film chops. You bastard. You inspire me as well as challenge my own inner drive. Damn it.

In short; I'd like to see you slow down and have more confidence visually and in your pacing.

Thanks John

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

catching up ...

Jack,

I thought the girl who is NOT ACTUALLY Aram's daughter was amazing.

Correct -- she is NOT aram's daughtrer -- her last name is BAUM, Aram's last name is BAUMAN. Aram's daughters helped on the movie and are in his often but Jessie was begat by Stan Baum and Kayla Scwartz :thumbsup:

...The best thing in the movie. Remember when we talked about actors vs. non-acotrs? To me, she had such a wonderful simplicity and directness to her performance. Like most kids. I disagree with hudson about kids like HJO and Dakota Fanning. To me, those kids overact soooo much that they don't come off as kids at all, but just as very short actors (ewwwww).

Anyway, if I had one criticism, it would be that I saw the end coming as soon as the girl came on screen. I had the same thing happen when I saw Odd Squad.

Maybe I've just seen too many movies.

yes you have you bastid ... but I'm gonna get amazing kreskin on your ass, next time I want you to stop the flick 30 seconds in, and PM me and tell me the ending, that or come over and have a beer and I'll just stop the damn thing 30 second in and you can prove it.

I think it's part of your power as a filmmaker, that you have such a strong grasp of the basics of movie storytelling, that your work comes off as extremely professional.

Or maybe its your story telling abilities. I find myself watching movies all the time going "what's the most unexpected, yet simultaneously germane outcome for this scenario" and its easy to guess if you are a movie nut and done some writing. 15 minutes into the Village I called the twist, same with The Others. I think with these Genre contests your experience may have less to do with me being HACK Daniel Stanley , and more to do with your understanding of the flippy floppy payoffs that work best, both in a short and in the world of these Genre's. But you have to realize that you aren't just watching with a tell me the story audience hat at that point. I think you are watching with a craftsman / reverse engineer's hat on at that point. Which is fine ... I find I still enjoy movies a great deal and maybe even more so watching them on that duel course like that ... one track going "oh ... ok ... I see what he's settiing up here ... that should be a nice payoff ... uh huh" and the other track siultamneously just enjoying the movie. [/quote]

I just get the feeling that the situations, characters, etc. are a little stock. 5 min is not enough time to really get under their skins and make the JOURNEY of the story yours own. That make sense?

totally - though I would argue that the charactres are Archetypal ( a short hand due to the length) but that the situations and journey are wholly my own, but why wouldn't I think that. Also these contests are an assignment. While my demons invairably make there way in, they are none the less assignments. JARRED: "OK, class. I want 5 minutes on Super Heros on my desk by May 30th" Superheros! (half the class groans, the other half begins talking excitedly and sharing ideas). So they are created to order in a sense and are by there very design formed from someplace where the genre archetypes and my demons intersect. When I start from scratch, and perhaps for Horror fest, since that can be anything in any walk of life, hopefully you will find them more idiosyncratic.

Again, that is SUPER nit-picky and it might just be me, and maybe I'm just pissed off that you didn't let me come work on it too.

not by my design ... lets change that next time

However, I have spent pretty much all day cursing your name and swearing I will not release my next short until it's at least this good. Bastid.
.....

I thin we should discuss it over a beer and some very greasy food say around 5:30? I have an online class at 9:00.

I really enjoyed this film, it was amazing how much story you got in such a short period of time. It never felt like it drug and every piece of "storytelling" seemed to be long enough for me to catch all of it. Their is so much story told that I remember at one point thinking surely this is going over 6 minutes, but when I looked down and saw the bar at under 3 minutes at the halfway mark I was really impressed.

The special effects were top notch, you did a great job integrating them into the film. They fit in as a part of the story and not simply slapped on to impress. I liked the "death" coming into his hands, the smoke looked very fluid and realistic and seemed like it was really there and not just drawn on with the computer.

The framing of the shots was superb...I love the opening shot of the guy biking down the alley...looks really cool. And the coloring all seemed to fit well and help tell the story. The alley way had a bit of a blue-tint to it, made everything a little moody and sinister. Later in the apartment the colors are more rich and full, giving a sense of real life.

The sound was really good, I liked that I could hear all the dialog and it didn't sound like it came from Uncle Billy's camcorder on-board mic. It was full and rich sounding. The ambient noise (rain, etc) and the sound fx were all really clear and well mixed to not overpower the film.

I didn't personally care for the portions of the score that were rock sounding. It fits the story ok, but I'm just not personally a big fan of that type of score.

The story was complete and had a great hook at the end for BoneHand 2

The acting, overall, was pretty good...but not outstanding. I think everyone did a good job, but the only one that left me feeling like I wasn't watching an actor was BoneHand. The others never fully became their character and I never forgot that they were someone else that existed outside of the world you created.

Overall a great job, I'm glad you were able to complete it in time to enter. That is a lot of work to have completed and then be shut out. Thanks for sharing this film, I really enjoyed it.

Peace,
Larry

thanks for the feedback larry, watching yout film and getting to yout thread today.

Just saw this Jack! I must say the cinematography is awesome... the action sequences was nice, the only problems I have were with the actors... not the Bone Hand, but the two guys in the alleyway.. and though she is only a little girl, I hate to say, her acting kind of took me out the story, specially the spitting the blood scene, I actually laugh when i saw that, that scene was suppose to be emotional, but it made me laugh...

And I thought the story was ok... But the look of the film is incredible, cool FX.. though I haven't seen Shed, I must say ODD Squad IMO is the best I've seen from you(Story, acting, FX, cinematagraphy) ODD Squad had it all, not to take anything away from this film, the look of it was Awesome, it kind of lacked in other things, nontheless you're a great film maker... Keep up the good work..

Now I have to go see the rest of the stuff to cast my vote..

Anybody know when is the deadline to vote?

thanks for taking the time.

Jack - I liked this one much better than Odd Squad. This one made me want to see the full length feature version of the story. It was perfect. The only problem I had with it was the acting of one of the thugs who came to the door. Hang on, let me go see what his name is... BRB.

Oh, nevermind. He was good too. lol

Great stuff (once again) Jack. Good luck!

I cast that guy, the shorter thug, because he's so damn good lookin'

I just watched BH and I freakin' loved it... definitely a more complete story then Odd. I would put this one above Odd easily... got to disagree with the others there. I think the little girl was a better actor then the young man mutant in Odd...

Honestly the reason I've kind of dropped back from the fests is because I want to do something worthwhile... and seeing your level of skill (and the others mentioned by JH) means that until I'm ready to compete I don't have much interest in being a total "also ran".

To be considered a good filmmaker you have to be at least semi-consistently good... nobody has great respect for one-hit wonders... and yeah, the community is friggin' critical... but considering you are consistently hitting them off the far wall if not over it... I sure wouldn't beat yourself up on opinionated details.

I kinda' got choked up at the end of your flick... it hit some buttons for me that these festival shorts rarely even get close to.

So is that still 2:35 or are you secretly wanting to evolve to "banner-boxing"?

thanks man, nope still good ol' 2:35.1

Fantastic stuff, Jack! Great idea and brilliant execution. Top notch, sir.:beer:

:beer:

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

The Asian / Racial thing

The Asian / Racial thing

I think the question regarding the racism in the opening is apt -- when selecting the defining incident that will show Bone Hand to us, why racism? Why street violence? How does it relate to his power, to his purpose, to the sacrifice he's about to make in the story?

Sure, it can simply mean, "He's badass and sticks up for the weak." It could simply demonstrate what we already know about super heroes. But it could also mean more, it could integrate meaningfully into the story as a whole. The opening scene could resonate in the last scene. And perhaps it does. But how?

While we lavish praise, we must also increase our expectations.

I believe you may be reading into it a bit. Perhaps Jack can elaborate on this plot point for us ?

I see it as simply an introduction; the race card being pulled out is inconsequential and nothing to panic about. It could have been a (Insert bad guy) .....

Why read into it ?

Jack ?

I have no problem with the racist comments AT ALL. I would "read into" absolutely any introduction, absolutely any scene, and would encourage everyone to do the same. That's what making a film is about, that's why you choose to film certain scenes instead of one of the infinite other possible scenes. Everything should serve everything else. Everything should have something to say. If you don't read into it, you've not given it a chance to speak.

Well Jack you made another great one !!..

Wow how did I miss that racisim thing ....all I saw was a bad dude .

Really enjoyed it Jack.
Ian

Thanks for the comments all.

I tend to agree with widlerworks that in a well crafted piece a cell (smallest element) should contain or comment on the major elements of the whole, either blatantly or in some reduced or distilled manner.

I would also say that standing up for a little guy does have a thematic link with fosterparenting an unwanted child.

But also, in this truncated form, short hand must be used. I have to short hand lots of elements to get to the Bonehand Easter RElatiubship story.

So he's a New York superhero that fights crime in the street is pretty much it.

I could have done a mugging -- too batman and not gritty enough for what i was going for

I could have done an attempted rape -- too much

I chose a potection racket -- no more original than the other two, but what crime is.

I chose the protection racket becaue I wanted a little color in my movie. Manhattan is not an island of white people, so I liked the idea of a little shakedown in China town.

The racist element is there because it makes the bad guy badder and because its funny ... that's right I said it ... funny ... not the racial slurs but the fact that he uses them incorrectly AND then the slurre gets to whoop his ass WHILE correcting his incorrect slur usage ... that's all.

I think we are in a post PC enough era this is pretty mild by comparison to South Park, or Mind of Mencia, or Chappelle Show, or Tarantino's first two movies, particurly Dogs, where its "N" word this and that buy a bunch of white dudes.

 

[Matthew B. Moore]

The idea is cool. The death power is cool. I like the death power effect and I like the first scene.
My deal with this is that I've seen it before. There are chunks of other movies all over this thing. JDAN your ideas get clouded by the films that you have seen. The characters, the situations, the ending. Your ideas should stand in front of the others, not the other way around.
On the whole, I've enjoyed it more than the others I've seen.

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

...
Do you try to get the shot in-camera first and foremost or do you rely on post trickery to pull them off ? I understand all of the shots are meticulously planned; do you plan to shoot static in the first place knowing you're gonna tweak it too hell and back later on ?

I try to frame with some basic rules and guidlines on the shoot. With teh LCD taped off to 2:35, think in 3rds, minimize the head room unless there's a mountain or something interestng back there that needs to be in the shot, and avoid the middle third, not as a rule, but certainly more often than not. This is for standard coverahe dialgue scenes like the roof or the car in ODD Suad.

For storyboarded sequences its that plus using the story boards as a guide.

The reframing in post is for when something goes wrong, or I couldn't control something, or I did get it just like I intended but it turns out to be wicked boring.

...
It is of my opinion that not every shot shares the 2:35:1 space equally. Some of the shots seem claustrophobic, which is the basis of my question.

I'd like to see more of the world in your frame; the Mise-en-scene so-to-speak. I find a bit of that lost in the post craze technique.

I think you are on to something here. I don't know if its due to post per se, its just a bias that I need to be careful of in future things.

...
Thanks for clarifying Jack ! I only hope my Horrorfest entry can compete with what you'll offer.

Who knows, maybe we'll be in the same city and can do something together :thumbsup:

JDS. Just watched it for a third time. Great work. It has a very specific style to it. Your computer must be smokin' while you are editing.

I love the fact that it seems you pushed some boundaries for yourself and in general. I say "boundaries for yourself" only based on your other work, so that is, in part, an assumption. Anything that might have come across as a mistake or misjudgement to some, I'm certain had a specific plan.

Of course any movie will have characteristic of its predecessors, it is the nature of art and invention. But... the #1 thing that I love about Bone Hand and your style is that it takes the information from other movies and tweaks it to a whole new level. It has a feel of organized chaos... and it works. It is much easier to mimic that which has already been done.

I would love to see you in action in post (or any stage for that matter), but I fear I would need to be behind some sort of protective glass.

At any rate, good stuff!

yeah, thanks for the comments and for getting that I was trying something new in the style and all,

Jack

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Spidey and Matthew, though I think Spidey could take a few notes on Matthew's bedside manor, you both raise soom good if not difficult to hear points.

For me I usually start with theme - whatever the argument is of the piece and start from there and let the rest of the stuff fall into place.

Spidey you are right, I have indeed made three movies with the idea of sacrifice at the center and moreover an adult sacrificing to save a child.

I think that's probably one movie to many. Writer's do chase their demons and this one has clearly run its course.

I'll also say, that Shed was the only thingh I made in a vaccuum, or with no context of what works or plays on this site. The rest have certainly been influenced by the successful films of the past contests and loving movies in general.

But your points are well taken, I've kind of thought in terms of vocabulary for these GENRE contests that archetypal situations and characters were appropriate -- in fact it's worth pointing out that for Sci Fest, we three working independantly (with you and Matthew as a team) came up with the hardboiled older cop / young buddy cop in a futuristuc world with a rougue element that must be hunted down and stopped with little regard to rights or process or whatever. Also in both movies, the end turns on the odler cop breaking the rules to save the younger cop (or both their asses in your flick). All very archetypal and done before. So again, that's seemed approriate for these GENRE contests.

Your well meaning notes are well taken however, as it's always a good idea to dig deeper, and stepping out of the archtypal mold is definately a challenge and guide for my next film.

thanks for keeping me honest and "keeping it reel"

JACK


WHew... OK ... all caught up ...wow.

 

[spidey]

yeah those were my only beef the shots were cool and i like the beginning. I like it better than most people. better than most. good job, cant wait to compete next time. we got sucked into a feature lol! but we'll be there for the horrorfest :-D

 

[HybridCreations]

Looks like the link ain't workin'....can't wait to see this.
-Ryan

 

[Jack Daniel Stanley]

Sorry about that, Ryan

-- mirror site updated -- bandwidth was exceeded on the other

Jack

 

[HybridCreations]

Thank you kindly sir, DLing now.

Ok, so first impressions before I watch it again....Amazing as usual. I loved the use of color. I loved the background and wardrobe choices. There were a couple times where I felt like I was watching one of those TV Crime Dramas (and I mean that as a sincere compliment, hope you take it as such.) I think that just speaks to the reality of the world you created. That little girl is one damn fine actress. Perhaps it's been discussed already, but how did you do that spinning crane shot?...looks like a crane anyway. Great job.

EDIT: Watched it again...couple more compliments and some nitpicking.

Story had a nice arc, I definitely wanted to see more. Nice effects, nice raining fight scene. Good hand makeup Nice lighting on the roof for the night shots, maybe a tad much on his albino skin. Again, I love the colors of the buildings.
Love the peephole shot, was that just a mask you put on in post? The blood on her looked real until she woke up, then it was a little thin on her chin, maybe mixing in a little cornstarch could've thickened it up?

Oh, and how'd you get her to levitate? Tell us the truth Jack, did you dress up in Chromakey Green spandex?

 

[wesley]

this was one of my favs (tied first place on my ballot ). had a very unique feel to it. only thing i didn't quite like were the fast edits, but that doesnt matter in the grand scheme anyways. excellent job!

 

[J.R. Hudson]

I was orginally gonna send this via PM to Jack but then thought that perhaps it may help other's or spur more analysis of the idea.


http://www.widescreen.org/examples.shtml

This particular link has wonderful examples of the 2:35:1 aspect ratio being used. I was going to send you this, not because I think you don't understand the difference between 4:3 Pan and Scan and 2:35:1 (which is the sites purpose) but to give you nice examples of ...

How much is going on in this aspect ratio (Mis-en-Scene)

... when you pull back and allow the world to exist sans the claustrophobia or C.U. and E.C.U. you've been using.

Pay particular interest to the amount of headroom allowed, the amount of negative space and weighted space within the frames and the overall balance in the frames.

With you using so many C.U. shot's I think they lose their impact when a C.U should really say something and be motivated.

IMO