Collections vol.4: Mint in box

Zak Forsman said:
hey guys, nice work. loved the muted hues and rich browns in the interiors. some of the edits worked against the stellar performances as they betrayed a continuity of performance. one in specific was outside when our geek hero started stuttering over himself on the sidewalk, some of the cutting there seemed to be in service of using the best beats of multiple takes, but it fractured the performance because there was a lack of "emotional" continuity across the cut... if that makes sense.

geek girl was really great. very earnest performance, although I was scratching my head a little over why she was so into getting inside this guy's apartment and then not so into him on the couch -- but i can take that as a complexity of her character as well. and last, your big payoff, smashing of the toys, went on a little long for me. the whole thing felt like it was riding a certain level of realism (despite the double moons) but then veered off into farce/slapstick.

these are all minor though. on the whole it was solid work and I only offer them up as fodder for creative consideration. well done.
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Yes, I would have to agree that that is all just Bantha Poodu, no matter how geeky the girl or how into geeky guys the girl is, they still want a guy to make the first move, and not be coughing while he does it. He was probably cool as a cucumber until they got into his place, and then he became a freakshow. The only thing that I would say is a stretch is that neither of them made one obscure, even accidental SW reference on the entire date? Isn't that what we all do when we're nervous, am I wrong? But I absolutely loved it, great dry and uncomfortable humor, went where it needed to, when it needed to. Loved the lighting and the shooting. Did you use some kind of "magic bullet"-ish color/contrast plugin? Just wondering. Definately entertained me dude, and that's the point of all of this... not to entertain me, but to be entertaining... incase there was any confusion.
 
The reason Cinematography/Special Effects got C.
I did not see any lighting, lens choices, composition, exposure, or filtration that stood out.

I know it's a comedy and I thought the movie was very funny and enjoyed it very much. Keep it up.
 
this one made me laugh out loud. great actors and a great story. i thought maybe he got a little too broad during the flip-out but it worked. good movie!

(i also loved the anamorphic flares, makes it feel more profesh)
 
Very funny.
Maybe a touch broad on his flip out but still worked.
The awkwardness around the kiss was great, funny but very real.
I did notice the anamorphic flares at the end, which are very Speilberg / Lucasy to me, so enjoyed that.
Nice editing and acting.
:beer:
 
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
Very funny.
Maybe a touch broad on his flip out but still worked.
The awkwardness around the kiss was great, funny but very real.
I did notice the anamorphic flares at the end, which are very Speilberg / Lucasy to me, so enjoyed that.
Nice editing and acting.
:beer:
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Thanks man. The flares were a lot of fun to play with, and the idea of them being called speilberg/lucasy makes me happy.

On the eve them announcing winners, I just wanted to say that the whole experience was a great ride and I'd love to keep bringing the stable of actors / comedians that I work with to these festivals.

thanks for everyones kind words
 
I'm going to repost part of what I put into the announcement thread but also expand upon it!

This was a really fantastic experience to be a part of. Congrats to all of the winners and applicants. This is certainly a community and world that i'd love to keep bringing the actors and talent that I work with in my day to day life into.

This project was really important to me for two reasons:

1) It involved me physically breaking my childhood nostalgia. I really wanted to put these strange toys that I had collected by shoveling snow and mowing lawns as a child to good use. I wanted to use them in a way that paid tribute to that time in my life but also commented on how they currently fit in my life and my current outlook. I felt like the most appropriate way to examine and display them would be in a way that hopefully furthered what I am currently doing - making films. I feel like we did a pretty good job of this.

2) I've been so wrapped up in nearly a years worth of contract negotiations and pitches that this was the first project in a long, long time that I really just got out and shot. It honestly kind of busted a slump for me and in my own way signaled a turning of things. Since shooting this project I've been feeling much better about my work and the projects in front and behind me. It can get pretty discombobulating when looking over contracts for so long. This community was just what I needed.

Thanks to everyone who supported our short. Comedy is very important to me, it's what i'm making my life doing and I feel that most comedy doesn't make the most of the genre in terms of story, character, technique and visuals - I hope a little bit of that restlessness came through in this.

Everyone who liked our short (sprocketboy i'm looking at you) for their own reasons is certainly a part of our winning.

A huge shout out first and foremost to Matty_G. One of my best friends and collaborators. This guy is going to be a huge talent. Couldn't have done it without him. The small crew he brought in, Dave and Geoff , for this no-budget production were incredible.

This sounds cheesy as hell but without my parents being so supportive of me being such a nerd, this wouldn't be possible

I'm sure most of you can relate to this, but sometimes I feel most happy and on the right path when i'm in the middle nonsense. Those moments when my roommates walked through the door to a battlezone of an apartment with a makeshift star wars shrine set up and thought 'what the hell is going on?'.

thanks to DVXuser for putting this whole thing on. They've built an enormous community of talent helping talent. Shout out to all of the other finalists and Forsman for really holding it down.

Congrats to everyone.

See you in quest fest!
 
the question I have is: did you part with all your toys or do you now have a closet full of broken star wars toys?
 
Zak Forsman said:
the question I have is: did you part with all your toys or do you now have a closet full of broken star wars toys?
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surprisingly not too many of them got hurt. I have 1 box full of broken toys and several other of still Mint in Box gems.
 
Man, congrats. This film was phenomenal.

Great talent, and WOW... LOVED seeing that you held back nothing during his destruction/meltdown. So good, and totally deserving of the award.

Kyle
 
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