Darkline Entertainment Presents 'Broadcast'

Yeen said:
I'm REALLY digging Steve Warren on Page 4...

http://www.octanecreative.com/Parodyville/worst_album_covers/

Plenty of poster ideas for the next fest here. I could have made the Broadcast one-sheet much more interesting...
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Thanks, guys. Now I've spent the last hour looking at the greatest kitsch album covers ever. I MUST own this Mike Crain LP!

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Richie White said:
Thanks, guys. Now I've spent the last hour looking at the greatest kitsch album covers ever. I MUST own this Mike Crain LP!

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Gentle Jesus could really have done with some help from this guy. Pity he was born about 1,970 years too late:engel017:
 
My favorite! Or should I say, favourite? :)

Incredible attention to detail here with an ending that keeps the viewer wondering for days after viewing, what happened? Amazing post production in post apocalypse scenes; color correction and gosh, was that CG or matte paintings?. I'll have to run through your thread to glean howya did it! :)

That stylus brings back memories of my DJ days.

James Parsons, whoa, subtly perfect!

A sinister collage of ambiguity composed of startling contrasts, slowly dissolving into one unmistakable truth, there is no escape...

Cheers,

E.
 
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Your shots are very well thought out and planned. I loved the framing and composition, especially the kitchen shot. I was gonna buy me a cheapo smoke machine too but didnt know if it would be effecient........ Im gonna order one this week. Lol.
 
Darkline said:
Partly this film was meant to take the audience on a ride which at first gave the impression 'he touches that button to speak, they all dissapear'. I wanted him to be talking rubbish basically, and when he speaks the world vanishes. Who wants to listen to him talk crap?

But the following beat is the destruction, so then the vibe changes slightly to 'ahh, something really bad has happened here'. But as an audience member we're still unsure how these two worlds we are shown are linked.

On his approach to the rooftop we're now in a state of 'ahh ok, he is in the destroyed world' and has been from the outset. His broadcast is one for help, looking for other survivors. Perhaps what we saw before were just his memories of the safe world.

Now his broadcast in this devastated world has attracted something, something which hangs up on him, something which invades the studio. This something could well be the reason for the destruction. I try to hint to this by echoing the CC and also we only ever see it's aftermath. I wanted to stay away from the cause and show the effect, so people mid activity fleeing - putting the washing out, drinking in the cafe, on the swings in the park. The same goes for the phone call, as soon as he picks it up the thing has gone and we only see an echo if it's existence.

These shots of devastation never entered our protagonists inner world. He keeps his studio clean, immaculate, a safe haven from the reminder of what has really happened. When this thing comes after him, he now becomes part of that aftermath we saw earlier. A cylce of shots mid activity. Record scratching, car door open, on air light lit. He has now joined the devastated world (echoed by the CC) and in doing so we still never find out what caused it, but again do see the aftermath of it. I think that completes his character arc. (Something has destroyed the world, he broadcasts for help, but ironically attracts the thing that caused the devastation in the first pace. Now he is missing and all that is left of his exitstence is exactly the same as what is left of everyone else's existence - mid activity broken.)

Finally, the twist if you like is the revelation that the woman now hears the scratching over the airwaves - she was hearing this broadcast all along. It was not just his memory of how the world was. The horrible events have not yet occured here, and the scratching of his abruptly ended radio show catches her attention and she turns it up. Now it scratches over the reprise of these shots again. Hopfully now with a more sinister tone as we know what is about to become of them moments later. The end of their world is about to begin.
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This is brilliant on the highest order, save for the explanation in the final paragraph above... If it were me I'd cut out one of two scenes (if your explanation above is to remain solid, in my .02)... I'd EITHER lose the dry-erase board showing WEEKS of his pleas for contact... OR I'd lose the lady hearing (i.e. CONNECTING) with his current predicament in real time at the time of his death... because it causes a time issue. She dies BEFORE the DJ (because we see her ruined kitchen early in the film)... or she dies AFTER the DJ... because she hears the moment of his death through the scratching record... but HE'S been dealing with the disaster for just over a month (dry erase board shows 5 weeks)... so I found that all a bit confusing, as to how I should see it. She had to die before him, or after him, but not both... he is originally broadcasting to her destroyed kitchen... and then she hears his death? Ouch. My head hurts.

All that aside, this one was AWESOME... I rushed to this thread at the very instant your film ended... so far this is the short that I'm going to show everybody. There's a short in each fest that has grabbed me by the gut... and so far this is the one. :beer:
 
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Texture said:
My favorite! Or should I say, favourite? :)

A sinister collage of ambiguity composed of startling contrasts, slowly dissolving into one unmistakable truth, there is no escape...

Cheers,

E.
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Can I use that on the back of the DVD? :beer: Thanks man.

spa_edwards said:
Y...Im gonna order one this week. Lol.
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Cheap smoke machines. Ok so far, but when ours get hot it keeps spitting out the odd bit of smoke even when you've told it to behave. I guess thats that price you pay :)

MattinSTL said:
....... She had to die before him, or after him, but not both...

All that aside, this one was AWESOME... I rushed to this thread at the very instant your film ended... so far this is the short that I'm going to show everybody. There's a short in each fest that has grabbed me by the gut... and so far this is the one. :beer:
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Thanks Martin, very nice of you. It's great that you're head is hurting! :)

Have you seen the film Frequency? I think (if memory serves me) a kid is using his CB to talk back into the past to his dad who is dead in his timeline but alive in the past.

I think this could be a similar logic, sure she is dead in HIS current timeline, but the transmission is going back into the past to her timeline so I think it's an ok device to cut between the two timelines. They would both be alive at their retrospective points on those timelines when we see them. The trashed kitchen is how it looks in his world or in the present timeline.

Im just a sadist and I wanted people to put together a jigsaw that could make multiple picutres - what a get out clause!
 
I'll only enter if it's Procrastination Fest. I'd win that one...
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LOL! If they ever have a OldGearFest, or a PovertyfilmmakerFest I might enter!

As to the film, it's just stupendous looking! Incredible production design. I was a little lost though, and the plot description quote above was lost on me. Still, it was gorgeous and definitely held my interest. Glad to see it in the finals.
 
Darkline said:
Have you seen the film Frequency? I think (if memory serves me) a kid is using his CB to talk back into the past to his dad who is dead in his timeline but alive in the past.

I think this could be a similar logic, sure she is dead in HIS current timeline, but the transmission is going back into the past to her timeline so I think it's an ok device to cut between the two timelines. They would both be alive at their retrospective points on those timelines when we see them. The trashed kitchen is how it looks in his world or in the present timeline.
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Frequency is one of my brother's favorite films, and I think one less time-shift would have cleaned up your story a bit... it's the 5 weeks of what would have been insane DJ talk that doesn't fit, if back in "their time" nobody was reacting to it until the very end of the 5 weeks. "What's this bloke on about?"

I suppose that his dialog is an attempt at maintaining normalcy according to memory... and you could say that this is the first time he comes out as an anxious survivor at the end... and therefore nobody may have reacted to his 5 weeks spread of future-casting... but I'll be surprised if most of your thinking audience doesn't also have a hitch on this point. If in Frequency, there were no reaction to the broadcasts from the past, for 5 weeks, it would have been a different movie. I think if you had a similar device... perhaps a static, hard to understand voice (on the destroyed world) and then had the jazz/pretty world (as if perhaps his pleas were going out distorted and hard to understand)... that would have been one possible solution.

Still, My prediction is for you guys to chill some champagne :beer:
 
Ahhhh, interesting point.

I see what you mean now, that you read it he has been broadcasting for 5 weeks into the past, since the 'incident'?

I only assumed that this particular show was going back into the past... Why? I dont know for sure - maybe the proximity of this 'thing' to his studio causes the strange timeloop or who knows, its the twilight zone :) But you're right in this is the first time his veneer cracks and the first time something contacts him. Before this he's been trying to pass it off as a normal radio show. I guess that's a leap of faith a viewer must take and one I hadn't given too much thought to if I'm honest! So much of this short is left open to interpretation, some think nothing happened at all and he just realises he was alone, much of what happens is in his head. Which is very valid. If I had cemented some of these logic gaps more firmly I may have placed my eggs too much in one basket. I like the fact his final stare into camera can be read either way.

But still thank you for the compliments, and next time I'm going for a 'solid' ending ;-) It's really intersting to see people look at your film from completely different angles and see what worked or didnt work for them. You get a new perspective, perhaps one the film-maker hadn't even intended.
 
Darkline said:
I only assumed that this particular show was going back into the past... Why? I dont know for sure - maybe the proximity of this 'thing' to his studio causes the strange timeloop or who knows, its the twilight zone :)
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This explanation is good enough for me to say "Oh, alright then." :)

You know what's really cookin' my brain on these fests... is just how good the acting is getting. Your man there is awesome... one of the hardest things to pull off... is (amazingly enough) natural cigarette smoking.

I really enjoyed this... all the way around.

Something else worth noting... that's elusive to most filmmakers... is pacing. The pacing of this short is spot on. :beer:
 
Good points Matt. I'm always stunned at how erudite you sound in these posts and then when you stay with us in Cali .....
 
Hey Mark,

any tips on getting a space ship interior built for free? :) I feel my sci-fi bones twitchin.... lol

I might just greenscreen it all but that isnt half as fun, or convincing!

Martin, thanks for the props on the pacing. I have to say that was the hardest part. Fitting so much into 6 mins and keeping it feeling natural. I dont think I quite nailed that..... the version that goes on from here forward is 8 mins, it just has a little more room to breathe in the final act and a 20 second opening jib shot on the car park roof (we shot 2 versions of the opening shot, as I knew id run out of time for the dvx fest). I wish these fests had a slightly longer runtime, but then again its already a lot to sit through at 6 mins.
 
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Darkline said:
Hey Mark,

any tips on getting a space ship interior built for free? :) I feel my sci-fi bones twitchin.... lol.
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As are mine! I'd like to find a couple more interiors to combine with the set we used at Laurel Canyon for a more ambitious project. Thus, I've been prowling the net looking for opportunities. There's actually quite a bit of interesting bits and pieces out there if you search hard. I assume you have to shoot in England, though?

Several of the sets/locations this time around are inspiring. Your London scape is awesome. Simon's forest, Jack's mansion, Sliker's locations and Horrigan's bunker are but a few more that really up the production values of their pieces.
 
Darkline said:
So much of this short is left open to interpretation, some think nothing happened at all and he just realises he was alone, much of what happens is in his head. Which is very valid.
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I'm not accepting that view... because it's nowhere near as interesting! I say, the "help" in blood on the church marquee... and the oddly destroyed buildings... not simply destroyed, but almost "melted"... seals the otherworldly presence that caused the destruction.

I have no problem believing that what had happened, our DJ believes, is OVER... since it's been 33 days... and therefore is comfortable in broadcasting his location, in a desperate search for human companionship (i.e. other survivors)... but clearly he doesn't suspect that he could attract the thing that caused the destruction, or else he wouldn't have announced his commitment to search north... as well as specify his location with the banner and announcement of his location.

I could have watched this short for another 15 minutes.

This is what "The Happening" should have been.

MARK... ever the wordsmith... :beer:as I continue the search for quality roommates it only highlights how rare and valuable each member of the FM crew is out there.

EDIT for DARKLINE: I'm not one to change your story or suggest a different edit... but consider this; If your film OPENED, on the sound of the scratching record, not showing the scratching record, but the exact cut of all the normal lives with the scratching record soundtrack... and then cut to title shot of the car pulling on the roof... then continue the film in the normal way, but this time... end on the scratching record, then cut to black for credits. This adds zero work to the edit, it's simply pulling that block out of the end, and opening with it... then the audience still starts the film with the question of "what's going on? why is this the soundtrack?" then "Broadcast", the title... as the guy pulls on the roof... and the assumption is that the record had been riding on the needle overnight until this guy got back to work... and THEN the revelation at the end... that was foreshadowed... is possibly even more chilling... and also solves the interpretation of the time issue... because it becomes clear that it's either memory OR a time "warp" broadcast issue (still allowing the audience to wonder, but leaving no holes).
 
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MattinSTL said:
e.

EDIT for DARKLINE: I'm not one to change your story or suggest a different edit... but consider this; If your film OPENED, on the sound of the scratching record, not showing the scratching record, but the exact cut of all the normal lives with the scratching record soundtrack... and then cut to title shot of the car pulling on the roof... then continue the film in the normal way, but this time... end on the scratching record, then cut to black for credits.
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Hmmmmm Interesting little take on that Martin.

I like it, its very interesting.

I'll tell you what I first thought when I read it (which isnt a bad thing, just another possible interpretation); to me that edit would suggest that he is also caught in a timeloop and the films starts where it ends. So you could then expect him to come in the next day and make the same Broadcast again.

Films which have a cyclical nature or thread the final and first frames can have the effect of creating a seemless loop. I think that would happen here. As I say, that isn't bad but it does give the film a different feeling, both to the opening and to the end.

If you went logical with that idea you could ask why he has already chalked increments onto the board if he has been stuck in this loop for some time? Or you could argue, that it only happened on that day. Or that he isn't looping at all, its just a cinematic device to connect the two. I've already created a sense of full circle as the opening shots of mid-activity now claim his existence too. I wonder what effect it would have to also loop the short?!!? Now my head is is sore too.....

In some ways it reminds me of deedives 'the circle' or even my horrorfest entry 'halfway' where events come full circle there too. I tried to stay away from that structure simply because I wanted to have more of a diverse body of work, but perhaps all my ideas come back to the same thing....lol

Edit : thinking more about it, I wonder what impact that would have on the end. currently my intention for the ending was to conclude this man's character arc and finish with the omen of the record scratching. the threat of this thing claiming their world.

If I swapped those shots, the end of the film would be focussed more on him dissappearing, I wonder if the idea of the scratching sound 'omen' over the healthy shots would be lost until you watched it again from the start? But on the plus side it would make repeat viewings more insightful....
Next time I have an idea like this I'll hit you up on PVT msg. lol :)
 
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