Cure for Writer's Block: No. 9

jpbankesmercer said:
Just wanted to know. Did you start making this film with the typewriter in-front of the body image in your head?
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The image of a writer being pulled into his typewriter came at a later stage of thought, but was one of the first real visual images that revealed itself. The first thing that really came to me was the speaker and how it could be a conduit to another place, or even a state of thought. Eventually, it led to the suffering seen in the room.

There is much more to the speaker and this will be seen in the longer version of this film.

Thanks for watching! I'm glad you like it.


John G.
 
cinealma said:
Thanks for the comments. Much appreciated.



Firstly, let me say that I generally don't like to explain my films. I don't really set out to create a puzzle for people to figure out. Some people might interpret my film as I wrote it. Some people might relate to all of it or a little of it in their own personal way. Some might not be able to relate to a single frame. In the end, one person's understanding is just as valid as another's, and I am ok with that.

Back to the vent. Well, it's actually supposed to be an old speaker. That's all I'll really say about it.

With this film, everything is what it is. A rose is a rose is a rose... you know? Every character, every object, every space plays a role.

But I will say this: the ACTUAL time frame of this film is very short.


John G.
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Sorry, didn't mean to pry.
 
TheatreGuy said:
Sorry, didn't mean to pry.
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I hope you didn't take my reply to your question as a put-off. I apologize if it sounded that way. Damn, I hate texting!!!

No, you asked a real valid question. I just don't really want to answer it as I feel this is a totally personal film open for interpretation. I don't want to say, ok, the speaker respresented this and blah, blah, blah. A lot of people thought it was a vent. I didn't correct anybody, as you can see. It's VERY SATISFYING to see how other people interpret your art and what they can relate to and how. It's kind of like listening to music. You might interpret the lyrics one way. And then you happen to listen to an interview with the songwriter and they explain it and you're like, F*CK, so that's what it was really about??? And then it kind of kills the mood and feelings you had for the song. And then it's gone and you can't really get it back completely, if at all.

I hope you understand that I wasn't trying to be an assh*le or anything.

Again, I'm sorry if I came off that way.


John G.
 
Cinealma, just wanted you to know my review was short. The reason because I couldn't fault it. The time flew by so I wasn't taking notes. This film had a real impact on me. I truly love it.

J.P.
 
cinealma said:
I hope you didn't take my reply to your question as a put-off. I apologize if it sounded that way. Damn, I hate texting!!!

No, you asked a real valid question. I just don't really want to answer it as I feel this is a totally personal film open for interpretation. I don't want to say, ok, the speaker respresented this and blah, blah, blah. A lot of people thought it was a vent. I didn't correct anybody, as you can see. It's VERY SATISFYING to see how other people interpret your art and what they can relate to and how. It's kind of like listening to music. You might interpret the lyrics one way. And then you happen to listen to an interview with the songwriter and they explain it and you're like, F*CK, so that's what it was really about??? And then it kind of kills the mood and feelings you had for the song. And then it's gone and you can't really get it back completely, if at all.

I hope you understand that I wasn't trying to be an assh*le or anything.

Again, I'm sorry if I came off that way.


John G.
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Hey John, No... sorry, I don't think that your an a$$hole or anything. I did feel like you didn't want me to ask, so that's why I backed off.

I do appreciate where you are coming from and I respect that. I have never participated in a festival like this before. I feel like we are submitting our films for critique and feedback. I maybe felt TOO comfortable by asking what the filmmaker was thinking.

It has just been an incredible week of sharing.

Thanks for following up.

Seriously nice work you have done here. You know that.

Ted
 
TheatreGuy said:
Hey John, No... sorry, I don't think that your an a$$hole or anything. I did feel like you didn't want me to ask, so that's why I backed off.

I do appreciate where you are coming from and I respect that. I have never participated in a festival like this before. I feel like we are submitting our films for critique and feedback. I maybe felt TOO comfortable by asking what the filmmaker was thinking.

It has just been an incredible week of sharing.

Thanks for following up.

Seriously nice work you have done here. You know that.

Ted
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Ted, I don't mind the inquiry. It actually MEANS A LOT that you are asking. It shows that you found something in the film that was worthy of continued thought. That really affirms a lot to me as an artist. Now, I might not be able to answer some of your questions, but I will do my best to answer those I feel I can.

Thanks for understanding,


John G.
 
No real review at the moment, i'll try later in october. This was an interesting short. At times it felt very much like a sort of lesser Cronenberg movie, and trust me that is a very big compliment coming from me. Great job!
 
nicely shot with some really compelling imagery
llke Sameul Beckett, Cronenbeg, LYNCH, and Burroughs had a beautiful black and white celluoid baby.
 
Hey John! CONGRATULATIONS on your film! What a great piece of work!!!

I loved it!

Best of luck to you!

Been a great time!

Ted
 
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
nicely shot with some really compelling imagery
llke Sameul Beckett, Cronenbeg, LYNCH, and Burroughs had a beautiful black and white celluoid baby.
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Thanks Jack! There's been a lot of comparison to Cronenberg and Lynch and I am very gracious.

But, the Beckett and Burroughs reference, though, touches me the most.

Thanks for watching.


John G.
 
This was extremely compelling and provocative. The cinematography was excellent. Probably the best out of the fest.

The imagery and motifs were very interesting. That kid. Very odd and disturbing.

Your actors were very emotive and possesed character. Your son? was great. The dirty feet, the way he jumps down. Dragging the box. Nice.

Storywise... well it's a very impressionistic piece. Almost an inkblot test. Not my style per se, but I can tell a lot of creativity went into this so I respect it even though I'm not wowed by it.

Very good sound effects. The visual effects were good too. Practicals. Isn't that nice?

I liked this. Well done.
 
POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD


Wow holy ****. This movie has to be the only one in the competition that actually freaked me out. The sounds/score was amazing. I kinda wanted to hear him typing on the typwriter/cranking it, but I could do without.

I didn't really know what was going on, but thats OK. I felt like I was watching that tape from "The Ring". Very disturbing, very scary. Awesome, Awesome, Awesome movie.

::Watches the phone:: ¬_¬
 
CINEMATOGRAPHY:

You had some really good shots, and I think you did a good job with the lighting. In the opening shots with the CU on the man, I really liked the lighting job. I liked your shot selection and they all seemed to fit the mood and pace.

EDITING:

Nice and simple. As much as I like watching films with flashy editing and interesting visual effects between cuts and whatnot, I'll always love watching films that have a simple, yet effective editing style. It allows me to pay more attention to the story then get caught up in the appearance of a good film because of flashy effects. I liked how you varied the time between cuts.

SCORE:

I thought that the score was a good match with the film. It had a nice atmospheric feel to it.

SCREENPLAY:

Well, I wasn't exactly sure what the story was about when I first watched it, and after watching it again I'm still not 100% sure. Maybe it's because I'm not sure what the story is, but it just felt as if it took way too long to get into it. I wasn't sure what to expect after going through about 3 minutes and nothing had really occurred. When the type writer began to attack him, I was really surprised and seeing what was happening to him was pretty disturbing. That was a interesting way to show an attack.

ACTING:

I didn't really notice anything that was wrong with the acting. The man appeared to fit the mood and feel of the film so nothing jumped out saying it was awkward or fake or anything of the sort.

Overall, besides not really understanding the story, I thought that visually this film was good. Like I said, you had some great shots and great editing. I wasn't exactly sure what the object was that kept flashing on screen so I'm curious to know what it is.
 
I loved this. The cinematography was just awesome, and your in-scene fX were flawless. And, of course, gotta love that old Underwood; I have the same model... Congratulations on a great job!
 
Just finally getting the time to copy the notes I compiled in a Word doc while watching the shorts:

I’m at a TOTAL loss on what this was about, other than a writer had a hard time coming up with something, and the typewriter killed him. No clue what the boy dragging the tool box was for or doing, other than changing numbers of what experiment was next? The VFX were fairly good, once his brain started to get munched & diced, but prior to that it was a little weak. Sound was weak too in that the sounds sounded like they were all post production vs. anything from on set, no real score to speak of, and didn’t know what the growls from the vent were for. All that, which I know sounds harsh, but I will say that the opening really had me hoping for more because that opening shot of the keys was absolute MONEY! Beautifully timed, the lighting, etc. was excellent. Also liked the simple courier font you were using, which of course couldn’t be more appropriate for the title.
 
I just wanted to say thanks to everybody that watched my film, those that voted, and especially to the people that left feedback. This was my first "real" film project and I have learned a lot. HorrorFest for me was mainly an impetus to get off my ass and do something. I think it was Bill Cosby that said, "If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you need to do is wake up."

I'm now awake.

This film finished up in 11th place out of all competition films. Not too shabby, I say. I am going to be shooting some additional scenes and give this film a lot more attention in the sound department as not enough time was spent in this area. I will keep you all in the loop during the post-post-production and inevitable release into the festival world.

Thanks again. And to all those who are still sitting around, waiting for the "right time", I say this:

Get off your ass! Life is short! Go make a f*cking film already!


John G.
 
cinealma said:
I think it was Bill Cosby that said, "If you want to make your dreams come true, the first thing you need to do is wake up."

I'm now awake.

...And to all those who are still sitting around, waiting for the "right time", I say this:

Get off your ass! Life is short! Go make a f*cking film already!


John G.
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Very well put. This festival did the same thing for me. Even though I didn't get a chance to meet the deadline, we still got out there and made the movie... the first step to achieving a dream...
 
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