CLARA by Defcon aka Matt Harris

Matt Harris

Matt Harris

Veteran
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Hi everyone, I'm way late with the thread but better late than never
considering viewing starts... now.

I didn't quite get CLARA to where it needs to be, but i managed to
get a solid edit uploaded for compete.

That being said, I will be completing the Director's cut within the next 2 weeks
so all your feedback will really help (although i have a laundry list of stuff that
i KNOW i gotta fix.)

I have been following this fest very close for the past few months and i am
very excited to be a part of this with everyone.

CLARA Behind The Scenes
(Or How Much Does Matt Look Like A Tool When He's Working With Actors)

http://www.soulstudio7.com/clara-bts.html

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SPOILERS:


Very cool! Loved the idea....
The movie looked great! The effects were pretty good as well. I also really liked the main actor, he was great. Loved all the cool posters in his apartment...
Blade Runner, Alien, Close Encounters, Flash, can't remember them all... :D

The ending was pretty cool as well but I really wondered how long she had until the police showed up. And why she wasn't preparing for that... but that's nitpicking.

Nice work!

Mike
 
I really want to go on a date with Clara. Great work, I loved the perspective you were able to give on the storytelling element. Cheers.
 
Hey Defcon!

Really well done. Again the visuals were great. Good story and script. Your lead actor did a great job. I think you handled the problem of near future production design really well. Things don't change that much.
Loved the poster!:)
 
Wow, if only my girlfriend had a logic board to remove...

Good spin on the love theme. I liked seeing a sci-fi idea put in the mix, and this is what I like about moving to themes in the fests. You can apply any genre to the theme.

The only comment I would make is that the music was a tad overbearing and "carpenter-esque." Works in his cheesier films, but this one seemed to be staying away from the cheese, and I think it might work pretty well with no music at all, and maybe the sound design "inside Clara's head" providing the "music."

Good work.
 
SPOILERS!!!!!


Hhmmm when the robo first said he had feelings for him, I though...Gay Robo? Then i said no its definatily a Hot tempting lady robo. I kinda laughed when i saw someone in the shower when he went to the bathroom. Made me laugh. Over all Loved it, loved the idea, great work!
 
Hi guys, thanks for watching and commenting!

Mark, you are so right on the music, I'm a huge early Carpenter fan and i always compose stuff to sound like him just for fun.
But youre right, a tad cheese and it goes on too long. That was a deadline issue for me, i need to rework the music and much of the sound design as well. And you're right, the short actually plays fairly well with no music. I should probably leave some
scenes with no music.

Dustin, you caught me in the shower, yup, too many mirrors and no place to hide.
 
Defcon, this was a cool short. Loved the production design and visual effects. Nice job. I wish you had the sexy lady computer voice though.

"System meltdown in 90 seconds...."
 
I liked this a lot.

I thought the editing and look of it was great. I especially liked the "Clara POV".

I wish her voice had been a little more feminine and sexual though. I think it would have worked better.

Overall, good story - well told.
 
Hey, man.

I enjoyed this. It was probably one of the more unique takes on the theme of Love.

It was well shot, and you had some interesting set dressings that helped to show off the time period that you put us in. It can be difficult to do a period piece (in particular a futuristic one) on a shoestring budget. But, you were also smart in setting it in a time in the not so distant future, so some more modern things mixed with other elements played pretty well together.

Story worked well for the time limit, and didn't feel too rushed. It was also probably a nice thing with the little glitches and cuts and fades and such from CLARA's perspective, as it also allowed you to cut where you needed to for time purposes without distorting continuity, etc.

I enjoyed the color palette that you gave us.

Your lead actor was very good as well.

About the comments on her voice... Honestly, I kinda don't mind the man-bot voice :) It works for me... It is after all a robot, and it contrasts well with the physical appearance of CLARA that you gave us at the end.

All in all, I enjoyed this piece, and I'm glad you shared it with us.

Thanks.

Later,
Jason
 
really interesting take on the AI love story. i liked the effects here, and the set dressing. your lead did really - especially considering that he was the focus and had to carry things from scene to scene.

i really dug the set dressing - like jason said right above here - good mix of now and 'future' to put us there.

good job!
 
CLARA -- Shockingly great conceptual matter. Pun Intended. And so was that small spoiler.

Hey Matt! Really good concept you chose to go with. This specific take on Artificial Intelligence is always an interesting one. What makes it shockingly great is the perspective from which it's told: First Android.

I would hate to say this and be completely off base but I thought it was pretty hilarious. "I know you slept with that woman." The second I heard that, I cracked up so hard. I'm very sorry if that was not the intent. I think it was because the Android prattled off these amazing facts then IMMEDIATELY became human.

And, then, the Android powered down then powered back up, creeping to the bedroom door. This thing is really a female, man.

The beginning, the bathroom and the ending-- while okay separately-- all feel non congruent to the rest of the footage. I would've been completely fine remaining with the Android's point of view the entire time but that's probably just me.

I love the Android POV. The Wide Angle really bow and the graphics add a lot visually. It's also not a huge story at all, I think revisiting it with time to execute carefully would really be nice.

Thanks for showing! And, again, I'm sorry if those parts weren't supposed to be funny.
 
Kholi, great comments man, and you are spot on with a lot of stuff.

Good call on CLARA not showing enough transition, i plan on adding
some CLARA dialogue before the "I know you slept..." to make a more gradual transition.

It is supposed to be slightly spoofy and funny, so im glad you got a laugh,
we were having a blast making this.

This is my nod to early 90's near future sci-fi movies like Robocop, Fortress, Total Recall and No Escape.

The Intro, bathroom and ending were all handeheld while CLARA's scenes were on a dolly which i think works when comparing humans to robots visually. does that make sense? But i can totally see why those scenes might not be cohesive.

I'm really gonna try and work it all out on the director's cut. Thanks for posting!
 
I really enjoyed this one !

I was so caught up in the short and felt in the future, so to speak. I loved the POV approach and can barely summon any Hudson .02.

Subjectively ?

Perhaps more set design to really give us a sort of futuristic world ? Would have loved to have seen some exterior shots from within the apartment showing us a world

I only say this to enhance the idea of the future

Overall, wonderfully done and creepy good.

-

In using POV's, I would love to have seen the robot look at the answering machine when the woman called !

Changing to a womans voice for the robot is mandatory !

GREAT JOB !

Very fun and well shot !
 
Great short. Fun cool concept and superbly executed.

The look was crisp and sterile yet visually rich and colorful at the same time. Liked the apartment, especially the "retro" movie posters. It really felt like near future setting. Everything was tight and well put together.

I gotta agree though that Man-Bot 2000 voice was kinda creepy but it doesn't detract from the film. Great job.
 
Chris Messineo said:
wish her voice had been a little more feminine and sexual though. I think it would have worked better.
Click to expand...
Gotta agree with Chris here. It would have upped the ante on CLARA'S new found love for him.

Beyond that, though, I liked this one. This fest has brought out entries in many different genres. I love that fact that you tackled sci-fi. Good job.
 
Thanks Blaine, I'm in the process of trying to pitch up my voice to sound more feminine.
If that doesnt do the trick i'll probably re-record it with a sexy chick, and run her vocal through a vocoder.
 
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