Dreamland

Great music! Your DOP was very good as well. The hospital room scene seemed to look less film-like than the rest of the movie but the framing was great all around.

SPOILERS!


I can't believe the comment I made earlier on in this thread! :eek:
Looks like I was dead on!



 END SPOILERS


Nice work! Definitely hit the theme well.


Cheers,

Mike

 
This is the second fest entry that's made me reconsider purchasing an EX-1. First I've totally mistaken for RED footage.

Very nice frames the entire way through.
 
I liked the idea in this film and I liked the actress. The male actor (the one sitting in the room with her) was good too...he had a slightly exaggerated "Twilight Zone" style of acting in this one, especially during the FX scene. I don't think I would have just sit there if that happened to me but I know it was a dream so.... :)

Made my "A" list.
 
I love the title font and the intro music, good choice. It adds quite a bit to what's going on visually. Great lighting in the bedroom scene, love the light through the blinds. Very nice pickup shot of the door opening and closing. Did you add fog to the interrogation room? I like. Also like the moment when you cut to a wide of them two, just before he says "Mary, tell me the truth", I like the composition.

I get a feeling you shot this on a tripod and moved it around to get the handheld feel? Either way, I find it rather annoying after a while. I think the short would have benefitted from actual handheld shooting, if that's what you were going for. I didn't like the scary music at 4:30 or so, and didn't like the effects either, I think they detract quite a bit from what we had been seeing before - the effects reminded me that this is not an expensive production, you know what I mean?

I enjoyed this. I think actual hand-holding and less effects would have made it a better piece.
 
Kholi said:
This is the second fest entry that's made me reconsider purchasing an EX-1. First I've totally mistaken for RED footage.

Very nice frames the entire way through.
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Thanks. The dp was Barry Cheong. The EX1 does take some pretty pictures. :)

disjecta said:
I liked the idea in this film and I liked the actress. The male actor (the one sitting in the room with her) was good too...he had a slightly exaggerated "Twilight Zone" style of acting in this one, especially during the FX scene. I don't think I would have just sit there if that happened to me but I know it was a dream so.... :)

Made my "A" list.
Click to expand...

"A" list?! Cool. Thanks

Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
I can't believe the comment I made earlier on in this thread! :eek:
Looks like I was dead on!
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Good guess!
 
Chris Messineo said:
I really enjoyed this film. I loved the original story and I was curious to see how it would translate to the screen.

I thought you did a great job with it. The locations are excellent. I like your shot choices and the different colors you use throughout. I also thought the acting was very good, I particularly liked the cop a lot.

Best of luck with it.
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Thanks Chris.

BTW I intended to give you and movietpoet screen credit, but in all the excitement trying to meet the deadline, forgot. I will fix that later.

Matias Caruso said:
Awesome.

Both the detective and the woman's performance were great.

Loved the score. It creates a great mood and fits perfectly.

Good luck. :beer:
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Thanks Matias. I'm glad you liked it.
 
gabrielflorit said:
I love the title font and the intro music, good choice. It adds quite a bit to what's going on visually. Great lighting in the bedroom scene, love the light through the blinds. Very nice pickup shot of the door opening and closing. Did you add fog to the interrogation room? I like. Also like the moment when you cut to a wide of them two, just before he says "Mary, tell me the truth", I like the composition.

I get a feeling you shot this on a tripod and moved it around to get the handheld feel? Either way, I find it rather annoying after a while. I think the short would have benefitted from actual handheld shooting, if that's what you were going for. I didn't like the scary music at 4:30 or so, and didn't like the effects either, I think they detract quite a bit from what we had been seeing before - the effects reminded me that this is not an expensive production, you know what I mean?

I enjoyed this. I think actual hand-holding and less effects would have made it a better piece.
Click to expand...

Gabriel, thanks for commenting. Appreciate your honesty.
 
Very well done ...I like the score ...remember me Marco Beltrami and j goldsmith cue...
for me one of the best movie and score of festivals
 
Last edited:
Yet another excellent film!
Great story.
Great acting.
Great score.
Great look.
Awesome VFX.

Can't say much more on this one...this is one of my favorites of the fest.
Congratulations to cast & crew.
 
Very good work, in all senses! I enjoyed it a lot. The acting was great, especially the expression of her face. I loved the special effects end - it gave the film a grandiose atmosphere. I appriciate very much how casual the place for the ball was. Very well done! :beer:

Susanne
 
leteeci said:
Wow!

I like the end of movie!! Very good FX and music scores..

Congratulations
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Thanks. marcandregray.com did the VFX. Very talented and a great guy.

FDL film music composer said:
Vey well done ...I like the score ...remember me Marco Beltrami and j goldsmith cue...
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chrishurn.com did a great job on the score. This is the second film he's scored for me and he is a pleasure to work with. Has great ideas, interprets a director's ideas easily, is fast and reliable. In a word, professional. Highly recommended.

ZazaCast said:
Yet another excellent film!
Great story.
Great acting.
Great score.
Great look.
Awesome VFX.

Can't say much more on this one...this is one of my favorites of the fest.
Congratulations to cast & crew.
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Thanks so much. Highly appreciate the compliments. The trick I learned is to work with talented people, it makes you look good.

Susanne G. said:
Very good work, in all senses! I enjoyed it a lot. The acting was great, especially the expression of her face. I loved the special effects end - it gave the film a grandiose atmosphere. I appriciate very much how casual the place for the ball was. Very well done! :beer:

Susanne
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Thank you Susanne. Hope to see a film from you next fest! I'm happy that the fx worked for you. I felt that in this story it was essential to actually "see" Dreamland, to vindicate Mary.

Re. the ball, putting it on the nightstand was a spur of the moment decision, but I agree, it looks nice there somehow. Like abstract art. :beer:
 
Maximus said:
Thank you Susanne. Hope to see a film from you next fest! I'm happy that the fx worked for you. I felt that in this story it was essential to actually "see" Dreamland, to vindicate Mary.

Re. the ball, putting it on the nightstand was a spur of the moment decision, but I agree, it looks nice there somehow. Like abstract art. :beer:
Click to expand...

I appriciate that you hope to see a film from me next fest. I am not sure if Jason and I will make one next fest - we will see! :undecided But we helped for this fest Micheal Anthony Horrigan with the german voices and it was very enjoyable to work with him. We learned quite a lot without making our own film! It was a great pleasure to do it. :Drogar-Happy(DBG):

Susanne
 
Another one that I really enjoyed. I think this one is very well acted and the vfx are quite effective. I love what happens behind your main character as the Dreamland begins to take over... very surreal. The lighting also rocked -- I love that green hue that's thrown over the interrogation scene. Reminded me of the original Matrix but you know what? Still cool.

Also built up your suspense and intrigue very well -- I think your film keeps the viewer hooked and also guessing. Not an easy feat by any stretch.

The one problem I had was with some of the camerawork, mainly in the interrogation sequence. I felt it drift a little too much and in some cases became a little too distracting... almost felt like some were artificial with how repetitive some of it was. I personally don't think your OTS shots needed that much movement in them -- these sequences reminded me of the Bourne Ultimatum, but the camerwork there felt warranted.

Otherwise, great job on this one!!
 
Max,

Awesome, great shots and coloring or smoke or filtering in the interogation room. Superb acting with both leads. Especially like the opening, the eyes at front and at back of film. I had a problem with facial lighting during her walk down the hallway. Can't say it helped anything being dark. Good story and the musical score moved me.

The effects were well done and they or something like them were needed to be a believable truth.

I think you will be among the finalists.

Wayne Beck
 
jojopop said:
Another one that I really enjoyed. I think this one is very well acted and the vfx are quite effective. I love what happens behind your main character as the Dreamland begins to take over... very surreal. The lighting also rocked -- I love that green hue that's thrown over the interrogation scene. Reminded me of the original Matrix but you know what? Still cool.

Also built up your suspense and intrigue very well -- I think your film keeps the viewer hooked and also guessing. Not an easy feat by any stretch.

The one problem I had was with some of the camerawork, mainly in the interrogation sequence. I felt it drift a little too much and in some cases became a little too distracting... almost felt like some were artificial with how repetitive some of it was. I personally don't think your OTS shots needed that much movement in them -- these sequences reminded me of the Bourne Ultimatum, but the camerwork there felt warranted.

Otherwise, great job on this one!!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the well thought out review! I'm really happy that the suspense part worked for you. Intercutting between the past and present, and deciding exactly where to cut for the most impact, was a fun excercise.

Bourne was definetely an influence style wise. In fact the two movies I asked my dp to look at for reference, were The Bourne Supermacy and Blade Runner. Aim High! lol.

I can understand why some don't like the camera movement. I came down pretty hard on the shaky cam in "I F*ckin Hate You" - What goes around comes around! However, I must say that I like the nervous energy it creates, and I thought it was appropriate for the circumstance. Hopefully most people will get carried away by the emotional content of the story, and the cam movement becomes subliminal.
 
WayneB said:
Max,

Awesome, great shots and coloring or smoke or filtering in the interogation room. Superb acting with both leads. Especially like the opening, the eyes at front and at back of film. I had a problem with facial lighting during her walk down the hallway. Can't say it helped anything being dark. Good story and the musical score moved me.

The effects were well done and they or something like them were needed to be a believable truth.

I think you will be among the finalists.

Wayne Beck
Click to expand...

Thanks Wayne. Glad you liked it. The blue green coloring in the interrogation room was dp Barry Cheong's magic (kino flo's gelled with Rosco 60 Cyan) and the room was hazed. Very cool to be on set, felt like being on the bottom of the ocean!

Happy to hear you got the "eye motif" bookends. The eyes are the window to the soul and all that. :)
 
this one is near the top of the pile. I really liked the way it all played out but the ending left me confused (yes I know I'm one to talk lol).

So did it turn out that the man in the dreams really didn't die and was invading the detectives dreams as well?

I think it just didn't leave me with a sense of satisfaction because I didn't care about the detective character. The story had been about the woman and your sympathy lay with her all the way up to the end; perhaps if he had been more antagonistic, or even sympathetic I'd have felt something. Still the change-up is the twist and in that respect adheres well to the twilight zone.

anyway, great cinematography, felt very pro. Loved the way you shot the whole interview sequence, all of it felt cinematic (except for the bit where she suffocated him, which lost some of the look you had created).

but i'm nit picking, certainly one of the few that stood out to me. very well done and nice fx too.
 
Maximus, incredible job! Everything about Dreamland screamed pro. The cinematography, grading, acting, score, hell, even the titles. ha ha

This was one of the best shot films in the fest. Really visually captivating. The story drew me. I did have to replay what the apparition said a couple times to understand him. I think it was "Believe".

I have to also agree with Darkline about the suffocation/hospital room shots. They kind of took me away from the visual landscape you created. Maybe a closer CC palette would help. I dunno. This is all just minor stuff that I'm searching hard to offer helpful critique points.

Overall, a really strong contender. A pleasure to watch. Huge production value. Good story. Bravo!
 
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