Clean Slate Productions Presents: JOHN ABBOTT MITCHELL

Ben, I’m starting to think you’ve got a warped mind and phenomenal actor. Together, you guys will do some damage in the film world. I’d love to use him as one of my characters one of these days. Just have to write him a part.

The story itself was engaging and I think you pulled off a decent little film. The end was super cool. I just wish I could have seen her just a little bit more on her way home. It was all the sudden if you know what I mean.

The dude is creepy. Such a good find.

The score. Herman, not bad. I think the piano works and doesn’t at the same time. It sets the tone of the character and his demented thoughts but not much layers after that. I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong.. If anything, maybe at the end had something other than piano? Perhaps the sudden credit roll made that awkward?

Speaking of The end credits.. VERY cool spot to put them, but man, you put them in wwaaaay too soon. I would have let that scene play out a bit more as we continued to watch her go through the kitchen nd continue to put up the groceries. She’s so vulnerable and all you want to do is scream, “Get the f out of there!” That would have made this movie and would have stuck in your head like a sore thumb. I know I would have been creeped out by that last shot. Cutting it out looses you.

Congrats and cheers for entering the fest.
 
you do what you do...and you care about it)....I hope to never mail in a performance.....because I care about the audience........thanks for your reply and personal observations.....davis
 
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Edgen said:
Ben, I’m starting to think you’ve got a warped mind and phenomenal actor. Together, you guys will do some damage in the film world. I’d love to use him as one of my characters one of these days. Just have to write him a part.

The story itself was engaging and I think you pulled off a decent little film. The end was super cool. I just wish I could have seen her just a little bit more on her way home. It was all the sudden if you know what I mean.

The dude is creepy. Such a good find.

The score. Herman, not bad. I think the piano works and doesn’t at the same time. It sets the tone of the character and his demented thoughts but not much layers after that. I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong.. If anything, maybe at the end had something other than piano? Perhaps the sudden credit roll made that awkward?

Speaking of The end credits.. VERY cool spot to put them, but man, you put them in wwaaaay too soon. I would have let that scene play out a bit more as we continued to watch her go through the kitchen nd continue to put up the groceries. She’s so vulnerable and all you want to do is scream, “Get the f out of there!” That would have made this movie and would have stuck in your head like a sore thumb. I know I would have been creeped out by that last shot. Cutting it out looses you.

Congrats and cheers for entering the fest.
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Thanks Justin!

Yeah, the end was one thing where we were like "damn shoulda kept rolling", but, of course, none of us thought that on set. In the edit, I was like "wouldn't it be bad ass if this shot was long enough so that I could actually scroll the credits in that little spot?" But we only had a couple seconds of roll on any one of them we shot! Maybe I should give a couple minutes of thought into my end credits next time.

Maybe Herman will chime in about the score, a lot of it was based on what we did in the first film, i know there was "keep with the piano, it's badass" in my notes.

I swear! I don't need therapy! I have a perfectly normal mind! :evil:
 
Ben Sliker said:
Maybe Herman will chime in about the score, a lot of it was based on what we did in the first film, i know there was "keep with the piano, it's badass" in my notes.
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Sounds like a matter of taste to me, and for me, there's no arguing about taste. However...

********POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD********

I thought the piano did bring that emotional depth, and that by keeping it simple, the score would both deny his insanity, as well as confirming it at the same time, maybe confusing the viewer for a moment that his intentions with the girl are sincere. Where in 'In Pieces' I focused solely on the music (apart from a few FX), here I also did sound design, and I was just as interested in achieving depth through sound design and composition with electronic sounds.

In my opinion, an orchestral score might've been too bombastic and overwhelming to get into the mind of JAM.
 
I love Davis Osborne. The problem for me was, he's too good. He dwarfs the rest of the film. When you start off with him on a bench that looks that cool...
It just feels like every other character and every other location miss the mark for me. And I'm not saying they were bad necessarily -in any other short they would be fine, but it's like half of the movie is amazing and, comparatively, the other half is just good. Your best links can only carry the chain so far. Brilliant work otherwise.
 
Well done, good short, didn't quite understand the bit after the beginning, but then I got into the film again and thought the main acting was brill, nice one.
Thank you.
 
Thanks for the continued viewings!!!

majikfraug, i guess the only way that I can reply is that we did alot to focus everyone's attention in on him, because in the end, that's who the story is about. It's not about his victims or the environment around him, but his mind, his feelings and actions. And because of this, I simply just don't know whether we left our audience wanting more from the other characters or not. In the last film, we were able to literally eliminate any other influence, your attention was solely on John. We did the same thing this time, but it's just not as obvious or subjective.

Basically I thought if I gave the ancillary characters in this film too much, well, character, that it would feel rushed and confused. In the way that we did film it, I'm not surprised that you felt he overpowered the rest of the film.

You all are killing me tho! Just when I think I've got the dynamic of this character down, someone throws a wrench in the machine with some new perspective! Thanks again!

Ben
 
Three Cheers for Ben)))....Writer, Director,......Mad Creator.......Many Thanks for allowing me to be a part of this piece.........and A Great Many Thanks.....to all of the very kind comments on my take as the character)...I am just an actor...do what you Love...davis)))
 
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Hey Ben, solid film here. Is this kind of the prequel to IN PIECES, starring the same actor? Davis is solid (think I've chatted with him on MySpace), and plays one heck of a psycho ... would LOVE to see him break what's becoming a type cast that I've seen (the only two roles/films I've seen him in), and see how different he could be. That said, a pleasure to watch him.

Overall it's an interesting film, and held my attention. The music was spot on, and the SFX worked really well also, though I think there could have been a little more pop with the bat in the torture section ... but that's just me, not to mention nit picking.

The OMG moment for me, visually, was the reveal of him in the house at the end. WOW that looked awesome, not to mention well timed and everything to boot!

Great job, and a high ranking film, in my opinion. :)
 
Norm!

Thanks for popping in and watching our film! (and congrats on the nods for Berlin)

Yeah, Davis and I have to work on a happy project next, or more demented, who knows. Either way, it might be different. :)

Alright, I'm on vacation for the next couple days, good luck everybody!
 
Top 5 for sure. I enjoyed this. Great acting. I just wish the fest allowed 3 more minutes so I could see what that crazy bastard did to the woman in the house. Damn 6 minutes.
 
It's all about that last image...

Very good piece, mood, atmospheric and really nice cinematography. The one scene that actually didn't work too well for me was the torture scene -- not that I have anything against that kind of violence, but I just felt it was overproduced. TOO polished, TOO clean.... didn't work for me.

OTHERWISE, really nice work. I'm really looking forward to more from you!!
 
filthrich said:
Top 5 for sure. I enjoyed this. Great acting. I just wish the fest allowed 3 more minutes so I could see what that crazy bastard did to the woman in the house. Damn 6 minutes.
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Well, i just did a cut that's a minute longer ... and you still don't find out. We could accept submissions, tho :) Then people might not think I'm the sicko! lol. Thanks for watching!
 
Don't feel bad.....I dont even know yet......But when I do........I Will Be sure to SHOW you!..............She will Scream for a Reason
 
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