"Circles"

I really enjoyed this film and I'm amazed at the filmmakers on this site that can fit so much into six minutes. Were you ever worried that you wouldn't be able to fit it all in?

I liked the fact there was no dialog; the music was at times just right but sometimes a little overpowering.

The backpack on the little girl is almost as big as she is.

I apologize for laughing when the guy taped a bag around his head. Too funny. What a way to kill yourself.

I think what I enjoyed most about this film was the clever way that all the different bits of the story came together as the ring made its travels. Yes, I agree, the ring was really the star of the story and I liked how you paid homage to it with the colored o's in the credits.

Very nice work!

John
 
I enjoyed this film very, very much. It was a most visually perfect and intriguing sequence of images. They were beautifully composed, as though each a still photograph. The silent aspect of the film worked fine with the actors performances. I love the story idea of following a small item, and all the karma that the holder bestows upon it and every character it touches. A great treatment for the overall theme of the competition. Best of luck with it.
 
I gotta say, I really liked this piece. You had some solid performances and some great shots to work with, everything coming together to make very enjoyable film following this little circle of doom wherever it went. My only wish would for you to have tightened up the editing on the people talking. Seeing conversations that we can't hear and so many of them.. it made me want to know more about the content of the conversation. It's more of balance of style over content right there and I can only imagine the huge amount of coverage that would require. But's that's reallly my only gripe and it's a minor one. Outstanding entry, enjoyable.

Glad to have you here with us.
 
i liked this piece how everything came together. good job all around and the actors were all great. well shot and well done
 
Nice film. You were able to tell a complete story without dialog, which is pretty good. Great job!
 
Thanks everyone for your comments and compliments! I am chomping at the bit to return the favor but just a little tied up at work. Tonight is the night! Our producer and I watched all entries from start to finish yesterday and it was quite an adventure. I can't wait to get some comments up for everyone!!!!
Cheers,
Sam.
 
SPOILERS!!



Story: Very impressive. It was obvious from the title how this was going to play out but it worked very well. The ending was really good. I am thrown by the first guy killing himself though. She obviously had ZERO trust in him to dump over such a silly thing.

Acting: Pretty good. Without sound you need the characters to emote properly. Less with their hands and more with their faces would have helped. Pretty good overall though.

Technical: The last shot was money! Very well done. Everything else looked great to me. Maybe a bit more camera movement. I thought the music was pretty cool as well.

Very nice film.

MAH
 
Very much enjoyed the film. The lack of dialogue totally worked for me and the actors for the most part pulled it off. The story was good fun - I happened to be watching it at my mother's house during a family gathering and she sat down and watched and enjoyed it as well! LOL.
 
Very, very interesting film. Some really great shots. I liked that there was no dialogue, I thought for this film it suited it well. Loved the little titles, the “Lucky find” etc. That was really cool, and helped with the fact that there was no dialogue. It really did tie everything together.

The different parts to this were great. The little girls picking it up and fighting each other, that was fun, really cool too. You could have gone straight for the guy picking it up, but you didn’t – and this addition was very good.

As for the score. Very daring! You know, in parts, this worked great. Since there was no dialogue the film was definitely carried by music. And I actually liked the score, I just don’t know that it worked with the film at all times. The opening was great. Loved the modulating sound stuff with the girls. I think that was super, super awesome. It’s the bit around 2:20 that distracted me. But actually – only on the first viewing. Second viewing was fine.

Definitely the most interesting score I’ve heard so far out of these short films. And to be honest I really do quite like it with this film. No dialogue, and we’ve got this really interesting soundtrack. Nice work, Aaron Kemp.

I like the look of this film, and as I mentioned earlier, some very cool shots. Very motivated, moving the story along. Great. Acting was also very good. I was very interested in all of the characters, never thinking about their performances – just curious about what was going on. So very good.

Memorable Moment

The really low angle shot where the girls discover the ring and that cool score there. I thought it was a very playful, fun little sequence.
Overall – impressive work. I really did enjoy this one. Congratulations.
 
So cool to see another silent film in the fest (mine is as well).

I love the title and circular nature of this story. It all worked for me. I especially LOVED that shot of the feet hanging - awesome composition.

Well done.
 
Beautiful looking film. Very cleverly executed with the way the ring is followed.

Great score.

Only thing that bothered me was the sound, or lack thereof, especially when they talked and we didn't hear them. It also just seemed that the piece was supposed to have sound, but you thought it was easier to just cut it. Not saying that was your thought process, but it seemed like that.

Regardless your visual story telling is perfect. Each shot was effective and served it's purpose. Nice work.
 
I don't mind there not being dialog in the film, it was an effective way to avoid subtitles (I assume that is why you did it), but I would rather your actors tell the story with their actions rather than seeing their mouths move without hearing them.

The man with the beard didn't really seem all that concerned that his friend was trying to kill himself. I don't know if you were going for this, but I found it comical about how many routes the man took to kill himself, pills, bag over the head, hanging... did he slit his wrists and shoot himself too?
 
Thanks everyone for the comments.
Regarding the dialogue, I wrote the story with actually no dialogue and the intention was not to avoid subtitles but to let the actors performances, the visuals and the music tell the story. A little ambitious? Yes. Especially given that this was everyone's first time on film...I mean EVER. I don't think anyone even considers themselves as 'actors' per se. Also as a first festival entry, I think there were loads of mistakes that I made as a director, editor etc... I will be writing up some more thoughts in future about the process and lessons I learned (and learned AGAIN!). One of those mistakes was allowing our actors to use dialogue to facilitate their performances...I know, I know I should have not bent on that!!!

Now there is some confusion with the story I think, so I want to clarify what happens:

SPOILERS BIG BIG SPOILERS
We see Mika's husband leave...after grabbing the suitcase and passport it's obviously for an extended time...or so we think
Mika waves goodbye to the husband (that we never see...except shoes and a hand) and then off she goes to meet her new love interest dodgey Shingo-Joe. They walk and the ring, Mika has so carelessly thrown in her bag, falls on to the road.
The sisters find it. A fight occurs and the older one, realizing what trouble this ring is, throws it.
Kenji (NOT MIKA'S HUSBAND) finds the ring where it landed...next to his car.
He puts it in his coin tray and drives off to meet HIS wife (Natsuki)
Natsuki finds the ring before Kenji can even explain how he came by it. She obviously has zero trust in him and I wanted to imply through her swift termination of their marriage that he was guilty of doing something naughty in the past.
We next join Kenji in his apartment. He has been drinking and taking pills.
Shingo Joe turns up (he's Kenji's "friend" as it turns out).
After Kenji explains how his wife, Natsuki, has left him he gives Shingo-Joe the ring; after all it has been nothing but bad luck. Shingo-Joe accepts the ring greedily and then, after receiving a message from Mika, leaves without giving his mate's predicament a second thought...if it isn't apparent, he is a royal a$$hole.
Kenji, now alone, decides he's going to follow through with he plan (hence the bag and tape on the table) and kills himself

****NOTE***** I wanted to have the suicide something original. Not guns or slashing. Also, in Japan gun laws are really strict so a everyday guy like Kenji would not have access to firearms.

Right, then we join Shingo-Joe at his rendezvous with Mika in the park. After some loving, she discovers the ring in his pocket and thinks he has nicked it from her (it is hers after all)...
She ends it and goes back to her apartment....Shock, horror, there's HER husband's iphone with his ring on it....she turns it on and sees the picture her husband has taken of her and Shingo-Joe....apparently her husband was aware of the treachery and took the photo...
Mika opens the door and well you know the rest.

So that's the story... Was it too complicated? Probably, but I wanted to have a story that was original, connected and made the audience think.
Like I said, I'll be writing more thoughts on the process a little later....should be fun!
Again thanks to everyone who has watched and made comments. When you are so involved in a project (whatever it is) it is vital to get as many differing perspectives as possible!!
Cheers,
Sam.
 
Nice job. I liked the way the score slowed during the jack daniels scene. I agree with the above post about the dialog. I would have rather there mouths not moved because you did such a good job of tracking the ring visually. It was cool!
 
This was a BIG first step for you. I personally cannot believe the films that first-time filmmakers are making! Almost makes me feel ashamed of the AWFUL movies that I was making back in college. :)

I just watched 'The life of David Gale' and they used the bag/tape over the head method, so that part of the movie was very strong for me, it just seems like an awful way to die. As far as the story goes, I think eliminating one of the characters would have made it more instantly understandable, but it wasn't too hard to follow as is.

And, of course, cyclical stories are very cool. Great job of putting a moving story together with the limited resources that you had.
 
This made me cry. I know where misinterpretations severely hurt people outside the fact that this one touches me having married divorced and married again. I was confused and thought my audio on my computer was messed up until I saw on this thread that there was no dialogue; and like others I enjoyed where the soundtrack paced the activity in the film. Now seeing that this was your first film and you had non-actors; I'm really blown away by your effort.
 
I actually got the story, so given how complicated it was, you did a very good job.

I'm glad you always intended to have no dialogue. I do wonder whether the piece would be stronger or weaker with sound for all the incidental things happening: doors slamming, ring clinking on the ground etc.
 
Thanks for the explanation Sam. There was a lot I liked about it, the concept for sure, but I think there were some giant leaps in the story that I wasn't on board with, and that kept me from understanding fully. Still a great first achievement. You should be proud, and I look forward to more work from you!
 
I liked this film and how it came back together. The quality and shots were very good and the acting believable (maybe except for the slap). Good job on creating and crafting an excellent story. Look forward to seeing more films from you.
 
Being a sound designer I miss some sounds like falling down of the ring...

I don't see that the ring is actualy close to falling down and I don't see that there is a hole in the bag..
Well I see it because I watched it a few times because suddenly the ring was on the ground.

The women finding the ring in the car.... bit weak I find... Or is it because I'm a guy and can not think as a woman :p

I miss dialogue....

Shots and light is nice.

I do like the "circle story". Although I forgot that the guy was the same guy... so some dialogue, sound of footsteps typically to him would have helped to recognize him.

It's a beat weak... which has to do with missing sound... I find
 
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