"El Cucuy" a film by Amy Beth O'Brien

Flu sucks. Hope the kids aren;t suffering too much. Did you get the swine flu as well, or are you fighting it off?

Anyway, congrats on the upload. Can't wait to see this.
 
I had a run-in with the flu during the production of mine as well. It was absolutely horrid. Thank God my 12 week old Daughter didn't get it. Good of you to fight through it. ;)
 
I'm not sick - yet. Cheyenne is the sickest, though. Poor little thing. She has a history or respiratory issues, so she qualifies for Tamiflu which is helping I think. My partner Holly was pretty knocked out for a couple of days, too. I've been dosing up on the Vitamin D and other suppliments to help fight it off. We'll see if that helps.

Edit - And I just noticed my film's status has been set to "approved". Let's do this!
 
It sucks when the little ones get sick. Makes you feel so helpless.

Glad you made it in and congrats on the approval! I always enjoy what you bring to the table.

Good luck,

MAH
 
Thanks, Michael. And this is how much of a sweetheart Cheyenne is: Today is her birthday and she was still in good spirits, not complaining at all about how being sick limited what we could do to celebrate.

Looking forward to 1%!
 
AmyO said:
Thanks, Michael. And this is how much of a sweetheart Cheyenne is: Today is her birthday and she was still in good spirits, not complaining at all about how being sick limited what we could do to celebrate.

Looking forward to 1%!
Click to expand...
We worry about them so much but they're tougher than us aren't they. :)

And thanks!

MAH
 
Hey Amy, is Cheyenne old enough to watch her own film?

Hope she feels better, sending "Virtual Chicken Soup" ;-) and a belated slice :birthdays:
 
Best to you and your family. I have asthma and I know what you mean. My kid's doctor pretty much said that if they get sick, I'M the one who's going to be treated.

Glad to hear you got your film in. Looking forward to it, as always.
 
Cheyenne watched a "G-rated" version (pre-special effects) and I told her an alternate story as to what the film is about. I actually had a bit of hesitation in doing this because she isn't old enough to see the final film. And she's feeling tons better today, thanks for all the well wishes. Tamiflu is good stuff.
 
This film made me want to have kids so I can cast them in little movies like this. Nice work Amy. I really liked this one. Poor Cheyenne. jeez.
 
I just watched El Cucuy.

Cheyenne was amazing.

My main thoughts are that the music didnt seem to fit very well at the end where I didnt feel it created enough suspense, and I was expecting to see the actual monster.

I loved the shadow hand on the wall, but thought that you could maybe have made Mom's dialog a bit louder.

Great film, We loved it.
 
Amy, you're stuff always LOOKS really good... you do an amazing job at lighting, camera angels and look. We were actually just recently watching your QuestFest entry and I'd probably have the same comments about that one as this one... LOOKS great... soundtrack was good, sound was really good, but I think you need to tighten up your editing. I feel like some of your cuts and scenes are simply too long.

Unfortunately, I just can't give it a high score because we never saw the monster either. That was true across the board with many of the movies for me - you weren't unique here.

I hope you take my criticism in the vein it's meant... just constructive. Like I said, I always think your movies look amazing... it's just the editing/pacing that takes away from the experience.
 
I think you just gave her a lot of bad ideas. I can now see her doing all the naughty things that got her into trouble in this movie and driving you crazy. :)

Nice work, as always.

Quite the little actress on your hands. Very natural. Having just Mom's voice was also a nice touch.

Loved the framing of your shots and much of the coverage. The ending didn't quite do it for me but I still enjoyed this quite a bit.

MAH
 
Hi Amy, watched your film last night. Cheyenne did fantastic for not being an actor. She is a doll and handle all of the scenes very adeptly (if thats a correct word). I have mexican family on my wifes side so have heard a LOT of folklore some of it is very scary. Anytime there is a howling wind at our window, my wife and I turn to each other and say, its the Cucuy LOL! SO I was hoping for you to reveal the monster and it to be pretty darn scary. I did like the concept though that the Cucuy tempts children into a happy place and they disappear. Nice mood and feel to the film.

Enjoyed it, keep up the good work!
 
Thanks for your feedback, gentlemen. :)

I'm glad the cinematography is sitting well with everyone. I took a different approach this time (handheld) and due to the sun going down AFTER my star's bedtime, had to shoot day-for-night. Lucky for me I received a bunch of cast off ND gel from the film center!

Editphish - I'm still working on developing a faster paced editing style for the times its called for. I cut a full minute from my first version. I like to linger on things, and I know that isn't always in the best interest of the story. Thanks for the comments, and they were taken in the supportive spirit in which they were given. :)

Michael - Art imitates life in most of my movies, not the other way around! :) Most nights, Cheyenne has several pencils, a notebook or workbook, and a glow bracelet in her bed (the last is a compromise from keeping the room light on). She doesn't really use them, but I thought I'd expand upon that for the film.

Tommy - (and others who wish the monster made an appearance) - Not to argue the point, because really, if you wanted to see the monster, you wanted to see the monster. No fault there. I knew going into this that once I made the decision not to show him fully, I'd be starting at a deficit. The "monster in the closet" is scary mostly because we don't really know what he is or if he is really there. Plus, I wanted this film to be about Cheyenne's experience as much as possible, and so since she didn't see Cucuy, neither do we (except for hints). I did cave at the end of the process and fully intended to show part of him before the closet door closes, but I hit unexpected technical issues with the animation program and ran out of time. I am seriously going to make that ending VFX better for a "director's cut"!

Chris - Glad you appreciated the ending. Once I realized where the story was going, I knew that was where it had to end.
 
This story took a very long time in telling, how many can we watch her brush her teeth and go to bed? My favorite shot is her on her head looking underneath the bed.

I do like the peep hole fantasy world, but in the end, that's what this film felt like, a fantasy flick. Didn't have the suspense or tension that it needed to carry through.

Also, while your monster is implied, the hand shadow could have been a better effect so we can get a grip of it all.
 
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