Edgen - "Brown Waters"

I loved the pacing of this movie. The shots were great and the opening and closing sequences being at a different time than the story worked very well! It was a just a good movie. It made me so sad, and I think that is the way the character felt as well. Edgen, your music is great and the actors did well. The natural lighting worked well and your angles rocked. Just amazing stuff!
 
Edgen:

I just rewatched Brown Waters and screened it for my mom. Knowing the ending upon the second viewing made the impact of the story even stronger. This time, I appreciated the actors' performances even more. The score was even sadder and more poignant. I really cared about the drunk guy's character this time and I think your actors did an excellent job and were extremely credible. Of the shorts I've viewed so far, this one, above all others, clearly produced characters that were completely believeable as real people. Also, unlike any other short I've seen so far, I really cared about your characters, and was affected emotionally by both your story and your characters. So . . .

BEST in story.
BEST in creative story "problem" or conflict.
BEST in character portrayal.
BEST in acting.
BEST in score.
 
Rezfactor said:
Edgen:
BEST in story.
BEST in creative story "problem" or conflict.
BEST in character portrayal.
BEST in acting.
BEST in score.
Click to expand...

wtf? Did we watch the same movie?

So far this has been one the weakest entry I've watched. I'm friends with Edgen, but I must be honest. So far the best score you have done was Aram's. Second would be Norm's. Third would be Alex's. Fourth place of your personal scores in my opinion would be Lakeside, and lastly unless you've scored others; this film. You were at a pond dude, not the battle of sterling.

The cinematography was ok as far as positioning and framing most of the time. This picture looked very dull and poorly lit. You should have used bounces, or not shot everything around high noon (I'm guessing). Nothing was defined. The characters I did not care for at all. They seemed like they all had behavioural problems. I didn't feel sympathetic. I did not see the horror in this film.

I just watched Creepshow 2, episode: The Raft. Now that is a horror movie. I was expecting a lot out of your setting.

I liked the University of Kentucky reference. I bet you miss home.

Overall, I appreciate that you got out there and shot. Your next one will probably be much better. You may have had too many things on your plate this fest. You scored I don't know how many scores and made two films? More power to you.

Sincerely,
Aaron
 
jpbankesmercer said:
Acting: Solid throughout. Very natural.
Script: Great script! Seriously.
Direction: Handheld added realism, worked well with performances, nicely building.
Music: Super, very film like, would love to work with you. Best for me. What keyboard sound module you using? Blew me away, very emotional.
Editing: Tight/ flowed.
Lighting: Natural.
Loved: The characters and concept, the use of background action (you knew something was going to happen.) Loved when he first came out of the water coughing, thought something nasty was going to happen, splash Foley, second leads reaction (paced beautifully), build towards the end.
Hated: Some of the voice audio,
Overall: A GREAT film!
Edgen, your one of the heroe's for me in this whole fest.
Top work!
J.P.
Click to expand...

JP, Thank you so much for the kind words about the movie. All my music is software and sampled based Occasionally i'll throw in a live instrument. I think there is a quote out there for a game... "Soldiers fight in a war. Heroes die in them."

I'm not dead just yet. :)

cheers,
/j
 
msconce said:
I loved the pacing of this movie. The shots were great and the opening and closing sequences being at a different time than the story worked very well! It was a just a good movie. It made me so sad, and I think that is the way the character felt as well. Edgen, your music is great and the actors did well. The natural lighting worked well and your angles rocked. Just amazing stuff!
Click to expand...

Thank you Matt. I had a lot of decisions to make regarding the crap footage of the film and how I was going to handle it. I was even going to VO the entire thing just because the audio was so bad, but then I thought, funct it. who cares. At least I'm making a movie and submitting it.

thanks for watching.
/j
 
Rezfactor said:
Edgen:

I just rewatched Brown Waters and screened it for my mom. Knowing the ending upon the second viewing made the impact of the story even stronger. This time, I appreciated the actors' performances even more. The score was even sadder and more poignant. I really cared about the drunk guy's character this time and I think your actors did an excellent job and were extremely credible. Of the shorts I've viewed so far, this one, above all others, clearly produced characters that were completely believeable as real people. Also, unlike any other short I've seen so far, I really cared about your characters, and was affected emotionally by both your story and your characters. So . . .

BEST in story.
BEST in creative story "problem" or conflict.
BEST in character portrayal.
BEST in acting.
BEST in score.
Click to expand...

Rez, Man, this means sooo much to me! I'm glad you understood the story and where it was coming from and what I tried to portray in the film. Your thoughts are invaluable and for that.. thank you. I will continue to push onward.

:) thanks for screening it with your mom. It probably was one of the few in the that did not deal with monsters, blood, knives, chainsaws, or pyschos. Perhaps I missed the typical horror genre mark?

cheers,
/j
 
Noct said:
wtf? Did we watch the same movie?

So far this has been one the weakest entry I've watched. I'm friends with Edgen, but I must be honest. So far the best score you have done was Aram's. Second would be Norm's. Third would be Alex's. Fourth place of your personal scores in my opinion would be Lakeside, and lastly unless you've scored others; this film. You were at a pond dude, not the battle of sterling.

The cinematography was ok as far as positioning and framing most of the time. This picture looked very dull and poorly lit. You should have used bounces, or not shot everything around high noon (I'm guessing). Nothing was defined. The characters I did not care for at all. They seemed like they all had behavioural problems. I didn't feel sympathetic. I did not see the horror in this film.

I just watched Creepshow 2, episode: The Raft. Now that is a horror movie. I was expecting a lot out of your setting.

I liked the University of Kentucky reference. I bet you miss home.

Overall, I appreciate that you got out there and shot. Your next one will probably be much better. You may have had too many things on your plate this fest. You scored I don't know how many scores and made two films? More power to you.

Sincerely,
Aaron
Click to expand...
Aaron, thank you for watching. :) I'm sorry you did not like the film. I know I can't please everyone and I know we all have different ideas in our heads of how to preceive the horror genre. I think I just took it in a completely different direction than the rest of the entries.

picture. yes. it was a consumer camera. Lighting. I had one crew (me) and two drunks with me. :)

characters. Behaviorial problems? Yes. You can't tell me that you have friends that fight and bicker all the time? This is pretty close to some of the friends I had growing up. We would fight and argue, and keep drinking the beer. Acting could have been better, but you have what you have to work with in the time period you are givin. (was back home for a week and I did this the day before I left)

Score. I can't argue here. My pond is epic to me dude. :)

thanks for watching.
/j

ps. "Dead Inside" was the 6th score.
 
You know, this is the ONE film that has sort of fermented and preyed upon my mind over time. I keep coming back to the final scene and I'm struck with such a powerful emotion of ineffable sadness. That says a lot because this was the first film I watched. After all the others, this one keeps coming back to me.
 
Hey Edgen, First I want to say THANK YOU for mirroring these films last week. I thought that was very cool, you guys coming to the aid of Jarred.

Secondly, your film.

Man, I have come very close to drowning so this film was very haunting to me!

I loved your set-up in this film. An average day turned into a nightmare. It was so simple and simply told. You didn't force anything. It just unfolded at a natural pace.

I love the film opening with the ending. Very subtle. It didn't even connect for me until the ending! That was very cool.

I thought that the cinematography was at time stunning. Sometimes it was a bit uneven (lighting wise). But for the most part, it was just glorious. I loved the water-level shots!

The handheld camera work was at times, too much for me. I am not a huge fan of it unless I don't notice it and if I don't notice it then it was done right! A HUGE CHALLENGE I'M SURE!!! But this is all about learning and experimenting. I know that I need to tackle handheld and if I get it anywhere what you did, I'd be pleased. But, for me, handheld is a challenge and needs to be darn-near perfect. (but what is perfect hand-held? Therein lies the question!!! :) )

The music was soft, subtle and haunting. I liked it. It never, NEVER over-powered the action. And it had opportunities to do so, but you didn't let it happen. Great job!

I loved the torment that you brought into this film. A haunting horror flick of a different kind! A REAL kind. And the final shot was just horrifying. A man tormented by the loss of his two friends as he joins them in thier fate.

Great Job and congratulations!!!

Ted
 
CINEMATOGRAPHY:

The water shots were great. Really gave everything a more personal feel by bringing the action closer. Theres definitely a lot of room for improvement here. A lot of the shots were very shaky, and I was a bit lost as to why you didn't use a tripod. Some shots had great framing, but then there were some that had a very point and shoot feel to them. Keep working though.

EDITING:

Most of the editing was just fine and flowed well. The transitions used to represent the passing of time while he was treading water were nice.

SOUND:

While most of the sound was easy to hear and the dialogue was easy to understand, the actual sound quality was lacking. It had sorta a flat feel. What mic did you use?

SCORE:

Worked very well in this film. It was very subtle during the beginning while he was treading the water which matched perfectly, and then during the end, it was very powerful, really helped with the emotion. It was a good match.

SCREENPLAY:

You had a real interesting idea here. It was good to see how the back story made way for the entire film and gave reasoning for the actual treading water bet.

ACTING:

I was a bit disappointed in the acting with this one. The lines didn't really feel natural and some of the dialogue seemed very childish. I'm not sure if it fit very well. A lot of the swearing seemed unnecessary and repetitive. The one part that really stuck out to me was when the one friend kicks the guy in his bad leg. It just felt really fake to me.

Overall the film wasn't too bad. You had a good idea and built a good storyline around it. Theres a lot of room for improvement but I have a feeling that you'll take everything you learned from this fest and really improve upon it. There's a lot of potential there, and I can't wait to see what you work on next.
 
Okay, so the camera work leaves a lot to be desired.

But this had an interesting idea behind it. And a good moment of suspense.

EJ
 
I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this film. I was looking forward to this ever since I saw the poster and I was not let down. I'm going to post my review in the next few days when I finish viewing all of them, but I just wanted to say that you did a really good job as a whole for this.
 
I finally had a chance to watch it ..
Love the setting and the story ..

man what a choice to make ..who do you save ?
Nice job !!!.
sorry if I seemed rushed but man I am sooo far behind in viewing ..Work you know ..It's taking me away from the FEST ..GGRR
Ian
 
great idea(no blood no monster no girls with axes ;) ) I really liked the idea of this but it fell short to me(not by much though) I thought the anguished indecision was to long I found myself going, get that guy then get that guy. If I start the movie at about the 5 minute mark it has a whole different feel to me a better feel..I hate giving reviews like this cuz I know people bust ther ass to get these done, I know I did. But I want peoples honest opinions for mine (which go from it rocks to it sucks) so I guess I should do the same. I think with a little tweaking this movie would be pretty cool.
 
come on fellas. Don't be scared. rip into it. I feel some of you are holding back. There have been some very helpful points and how am I supposed to get better if you don't rip it apart?

however; I appreciate you taking the time to comment.

keep them coming. I know most of the issues with the film, and I want to see if there's more that have not been mentioned.

/j
 
ok, the acting should be toned down. if you got acting actors play them in a mono tone sort of way, with little expression. yeah cause these cats are bored come on see how long you can tread water? like a napoleon dynamite sort of way. man this is a question that's hounded everybody in their life one time or another (choosing). good story. sad story............ man good work my friend, you are keeping busy!
 
acting was too acted. lighting is key, natural light is fine but make sure you dont blow out the image.... story was eh... needed more explaination... lplus the title kinda doesnt fit.... other that that... we need to get you a dvx dude :)
 
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