"Contraband" - DahopaFilms

mikkowilson said:
Yeah I do contradict myself don't I?

...

On furthur reflection, I did like the piece over all. Just the weak start (graphics/text) and guessing the ending spoiled any overall plot development for me.

- Mikko
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Mikko, no contradictions at all - I appreciate your comments. Mine is not as close to perfect as many other entries here and I really find your comments useful so I can compare to my own views and to previous comments I have received.

I agree on the opening titles and think I'll re-work those for the "final" version - thanks to you for your input.

Cheers. And thanks again for the very constructive and valuable comments.
 
Here's my 3rd reponse to eloborate even mroe on what I said a moment ago.

Ok, I watched it again...

It's better.

But I have some bad news for you. Wanna take a guess at what line gave away the plot?


"Every combination of molecules in the galaxy had an owner"
Boom, right there, first damn frame of the movie. "combination of molecules" just screamed "IT'S A PERSON (but we don't want to give that away)" to me.
Maybe the simple word "thing" would have been better.

First time through I must have got hung up on that line as it confused the next set of text. The actual video of the opening looks great!

Then the river. It's great location, but I didn't originally recognize it as that. I've lived for years in Southeast Alaska, so that the setting was like my back yard to me. It was just very normal and didnt' have that "far away place" feel to it like a desert does.

The lazer hit. You beat my speculation with your explanation, but i was goign to go with: Metal plate for safty, flash power, plus something for the red color, ignited with a model rocket ignitor. I love how the smoke lingers. It takes jsut eh rigth conditions for it to do that withou dissapating too fast. The clothes held it in great, and the moit air from the river kept it down a close to him.

As for the actual lazer.. it don't look that great. It's a dotted line! - maybe that's just the speed over framerate and shutter, but i'd expect it to be continious - even if moving.

The plot of the girl was finally confirmed (still ahead of it's time) when the judge said the contraband will be disposed of - and the mother's reaction.

I dind't like how long the girl was in the dark for as she was bought forward. I'd have liked to see her enter the light almost right away as we knew it was her. no need to keep it in the dark anymore as we could still see her right away.

The "mommy" line was good, a little stereotypical, but necesary to show the childs lack of understanding of the situation.

I think with a few different choices of words (not so much hinting/forshadowing) the climax couldhave been built more sucessfully.

But I am liking it more each time I watch it. (as I 'know' the ending properly now) It definatly has good production value, and that counts a lot for me.

- Mikko
 
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Dahopa:

I really thought your lead actress and the older judge gentleman were really good actors! Great finds! But, why were the two police guys, actually hot chicks?
 
penfever said:
I thought this film had a well-defined style. Admittedly, not a style I tend to go for gung-ho, but a style, nevertheless. That's a big up.
Another big-up. Costumes. This man paid attention to his costuming. Why, oh why can people not learn this? Costumes are not to think of after the fact. Costumes SELL this film. 100 per cent, baybee. So big ups for that.
Big ups for your female lead, the mother. A simple part, but she played it well, and convincingly.
Not so big ups for your husband and daughter. The husband just didn't seem to serve a purpose. And then he got shot. Proving me right, I guess.
The last scene was so bloody talky, as was that print-heavy introduction. I couldn't understand most of it because after a certain amount of dialogue without visual excitement, my ears glaze. It's a pacing thing, pure and simple - too much needed to be crammed in too quickly in order for this story to make sense. I think a couple of sessions trimming the script's rough edges would have done wonders for this film.
And a hair too long - maybe 30 seconds. But not killer too long.
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Penfever,

Thank you for your thoughtful comments. All appreciated.

I must again give credit to Craig and the actors (especially Charlene) for the costumes. I was more in the background giving a nudge or two on that front.

As for the actors (esp. the husband and daughter) it sounds to me like perhaps you have more of a script issue than an acting issue here (for which I accept all the blame). Simply put, the husband (Mike) was there because (i) we needed a "family" and a husband fits as a component to the stereotypical family; and (ii) I needed to kill someone (kinda like Crewmember #3 in the Star Trek series) and the husband was it. This was Dejeanna's (the daughter's) first real acting job and she was a trooper. And her character's presence was central to the story.

I hear you on the courtroom scene. I'm also a big fan of trimming (holy poo poo, you should have seen the first four versions of the script - or maybe you shouldn't!). It's hard to make a courtroom scene into an action scene (perhaps an intercut car crash?) - and I know that's not what you're saying - , but I hear you on the dialogue - and yes we needed to get through a lot to wrap up the story. Your comment is valid and I thank you for it.

Again, thanks for your comments. Very helpful to me and very thoughtful.

Cheers.
 
NBCshooter said:
Dahopa:

I really thought your lead actress and the older judge gentleman were really good actors! Great finds! But, why were the two police guys, actually hot chicks?
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You're the first to ask about the "police guys" (!).

Why cast them? Two words: Wrap Party.

Kidding (well, kinda). I just wanted the surprise when the balaclavas came off (hence the voice change). I also wanted them looking as close to each other as possible, so we went hunting for an actress that looked as close to Kristine as we could find (as she was already cast), and Kristine put us on to Joy (rim shot). They were both very professional and great to work with (Joy for the first time for me).

And if you were genetically designing a race of Agents, would you honestly make them look like Abe Vigoda? Think carefully now ...

And I'm thinking that maybe that wasn't a serious question so I'm kinda embarrassed now and ...

Never mind.
 
Envision said:
The ending had such a Twilight Zone/Outer Limits feel to it.
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Ha! That's exactly how I felt. The whole piece felt like an Outer Limits episode (in a good way). I really enjoyed the acting. This has to be in the top 5 of acting out of the films I've watched so far. Lighting was also very nicely done, especially in the court room scene.
 
Enjoyed the opening shot on the river , the dark room (trial) .didn't expect the child to be taken away and disposed of ...felt a chill on that one .
All in all I enjoyed watching this one.
Ian
 
angrynerdrock07 said:
Ha! That's exactly how I felt. The whole piece felt like an Outer Limits episode (in a good way). I really enjoyed the acting. This has to be in the top 5 of acting out of the films I've watched so far. Lighting was also very nicely done, especially in the court room scene.
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High praise and I thank you very much for it.

The actors did a great job in spite of the poo poo director. Nice people as well. Kinda Stepford-actors, if you know what I mean. Go figure.

Delighted with your comments on the lighting - thanks. Again I wanted a specific look to the Courtroom scene in general and the lighting in particular. Beyond the concept, my DP and Cody Mcdonald and Craig Webb lit it and did an awesome job. They get the main kudos here.

Thanks again.
 
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I haven't read what anyone else has posted, but here is my review:

Contraband – I loved the beginning, but had to watch it twice just to get it all. I thought it worked really well, and the yellow type just immediately made me say that I’m in for a good ride. The moment the ship touches down the sound kicks in, and I wasn’t disappointed. The male actor just seemed stiff, while I did enjoy the child and mother character. The court scene though seemed just a bit too synthetic for me. The score was good, and were only topped by the effects (voice effects laser fire). The magistrates or whatever bothered me, they seemed a little stiff. This is an ideal use of effects in my opinion, something simple that doesn’t pull away from the story. Good job finding a nice balance there. The ski mask thing disappointed a bit, I don’t know, maybe some gas masks would have sold it better for me. The contraband vs. herb thing got a little twisted at the end, and the story lost me a bit at that point. Overall I really enjoyed the film and good job on solid sound mixing, score usage, and lighting. Good project.
 
Funny Yankee, the ski masks bothered me too.

I thought the lighting was excellent, especially in the second half. The UFO at the beginning looked great. Attention to details was excellent... costumes, setting, music, sounds, etc... which is why the ski masks bothered me that much more. They looked so out of place to me.

There were some sound issues with dialogue during the stream scene.

The music was excellent, and the acting was very good... just a little "off" at times, but still overall well done.

The story was an interesting one, and I liked the concept. It held my interest and I liked the little twist at the end, but figuring it all out wasn't exactly easy. I don't like big "read" setups at the beginning of movies either (I commented on that in another review). And unlike Yankee I did NOT like the yellow type... I thought it was one of the only things that looked amateurish.

Great effort, great lighting, good concept and overall a decent watch. Thanks for sharing your film with us!
 
TheYankee said:
I haven't read what anyone else has posted, but here is my review:

Contraband – I loved the beginning, but had to watch it twice just to get it all. I thought it worked really well, and the yellow type just immediately made me say that I’m in for a good ride. The moment the ship touches down the sound kicks in, and I wasn’t disappointed. The male actor just seemed stiff, while I did enjoy the child and mother character. The court scene though seemed just a bit too synthetic for me. The score was good, and were only topped by the effects (voice effects laser fire). The magistrates or whatever bothered me, they seemed a little stiff. This is an ideal use of effects in my opinion, something simple that doesn’t pull away from the story. Good job finding a nice balance there. The ski mask thing disappointed a bit, I don’t know, maybe some gas masks would have sold it better for me. The contraband vs. herb thing got a little twisted at the end, and the story lost me a bit at that point. Overall I really enjoyed the film and good job on solid sound mixing, score usage, and lighting. Good project.
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Yankee,

Thanks for taking the time to comment. I'm starting to buy in on others' comments regarding the opening titles, but I certainly appreciate the fact that you liked them.

I think you're the first to comment on the music - for which I thank you. Worked hard on that (not on composition, but in placement of the score into the piece and trying to get the tone and beats right).

The "stiffness" of the male actors was as a result of the poo poo director - they were just following instructions. And at least as far as the courtroom scene was concerned, have you been to Court lately? Stiff. Stiff. Stiff. Maybe it's good we captured that - maybe not.

I hear you on the balaclavas. I wanted to put the budget into other things and they were a compromise. Originally I was looking at air-brushing and modifying two welding helmets (found the perfect ones, too), but I just couldn't justify the cost (an extra $450) for the improved effect.

Thanks for taking the time to watch and especially to comment - genuinely appreciated.
 
I gotta say, I really liked this one. Most of the acting was great, and I really loved the opening saucer-landing type shot. The story was really good, as others have said, in that Outer-Limits tradition.

My few complaints are fairly nitpicky. Like others, I had some issues with the sound mix. The rushing water sound was great, but up a little high, and amongst all the very clear dialogue, one lower-decibal line really stood out. I also had an issue with the ski-masks... The costumes for the most part looked really good, but just ski-masks on their faces gave it a kinda cheaper more student-filmy feel. Nice reveal when they took them off, though.

I liked the court room scene a lot. I didn't mind the more wooden feel to the lawyers, as I doubt space-lawyers emote overmuch. The delivery by the father in the beginning did bother me, it just souds like he had trouble getting into voice-over work. Overall I'm really impressed by the casting, you got genuinely good people who genuinely fit their roles. And you found a very sympathetic cute kid.

Oh, I'm gonna agree that I wasn't huge on the opening text. It just seemed a little too "fonty", if you know what I mean.

But, like I said, most of my problems are minor quibbles, I really enjoyed the film from start to finish.
 
The outdoor light and camera framing was very good to me.
But i did not like the props... i think it is better not to show anything, instead of showing Bseries props.

I think i am missing something in the speech since i dont get the story very well.

The blond alients remembered me "dude, where is my car". ;]
 
the props where kinda hit and miss.. that blinking thing was a little gay but Brian had a $1.99 props budget and he blew $1.25 on donuts on the way to the set so when he arrived he had a really guilty look as he pulled it out.

I only was there to light and shoot the film.. then I had to go off to LA for the big move.. so i left Brian scratching his head what to do with the sound.. he ADR'd almost the entire thing, and i think that is the biggest hole.. not that he didnt know what he was doing, but considering this was his virgin pretty much everything in post and did it all himself it didnt turn out as bad as i thought it would.
 
Nono, the audio is not the problem. I am the problem, that i did not understand all they say.
I need subtitles ;D
 
Jarred Land said:
Thanks man :)
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LOL!

Did I mention we had to use a lot of footage from the "B" camera because the "A" camera operator ...

Oh, never mind. I can't lie.

OK - And I can now disclose my favourite pretentious line from the shoot utted by - you guessed it - my favourite DP (as he was setting up his DVX at the river):

"Cool. DV tape - haven't seen this in a while ..."

HVX snob, IMHO.:D

(thanks again, bud. awesome job)
 
Z B Brox said:
I gotta say, I really liked this one.

...

My few complaints are fairly nitpicky. Like others, I had some issues with the sound mix. The rushing water sound was great, but up a little high, ... I also had an issue with the ski-masks ...

... The delivery by the father in the beginning did bother me, it just souds like he had trouble getting into voice-over work. Overall I'm really impressed by the casting, you got genuinely good people who genuinely fit their roles. And you found a very sympathetic cute kid.

Oh, I'm gonna agree that I wasn't huge on the opening text. It just seemed a little too "fonty", if you know what I mean.

But, like I said, most of my problems are minor quibbles, I really enjoyed the film from start to finish.
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Z B Brox,

Thanks for your helpful and constructive comments.

The rushing water was used to disguise ... the stuff that wasn't there and the errors I had made in the ADR. Actually, the real river was loud, but I needed it even louder ...

With regard to the delivery by the father on the ADR, I take total blame for that. Mike (the actor) is an awesome guy who did a better job than I have the talent to show. The other actors were great, too - especially Dejianna (the cute kid). The out-takes of her are awesome - she should keep up with her acting lessons and make a go of this! Same goes for her Dad (kidding, Rick).

Thanks for your comments!
 
Jarred Land said:
the props where kinda hit and miss.. that blinking thing was a little gay but Brian had a $1.99 props budget and he blew $1.25 on donuts on the way to the set so when he arrived he had a really guilty look as he pulled it out.

I only was there to light and shoot the film.. then I had to go off to LA for the big move.. so i left Brian scratching his head what to do with the sound.. he ADR'd almost the entire thing, and i think that is the biggest hole.. not that he didnt know what he was doing, but considering this was his virgin pretty much everything in post and did it all himself it didnt turn out as bad as i thought it would.
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This guy kills me. Who are you, anyway?
 
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