Envision & 235 Studios - "R.E.M."

it was like nightmre on elm street with out the nightmare = Ok lighting, simple story hot lead no monster and overly blued shots sometimes.... lacked alot needed a fear factor element and i lost it on this one.
 
This felt very much like a horror exercise. There wasn't anything specific about the monster. I guess I was a little disappointed because you guys are obviously such good filmmakers, I would loved to have seen a really super-kick-assed script to sink your teeth into.

And it's clear you got a real actor for the lead - and trust me, I can watch Rebecca walk around in underwear ALL DAY LONG, but I would have liked her to have some more to do, acting-wise.

There was some super-cool framing in the kitchen, particularly letting that window just fill part of the shot when she's at the sink. I kept waiting for something to show up there.

And the wide shot where she's at the bedroom door, watching herself sleep is probably one if the nicest single pieces of lighting I've seen so far in the fest.
 
Thanks everyone for you comments / reviews. I appreciate all of them - the good, the bad, and the ugly. As we've stated before- this was just an attempt to get something in last minute- we had fun, and accomplished our goals that we set out to do- :)
 
The footage was very clean, there was a shot in there that i dig .. the part where she runs up the stairs.. i thought it was pretty neat and pro. i really enjoyed this film. -ramon
 
Hello -

Wow - nice gratuitous hot girl in skivvies shots. There are way too few of those in this fest. I expected at least a 50/50 hot girl in skivvies to no hot girl in skivvies ratio.

Everything looked and sounded really nice, and was expertly produced. I'll echo earlier comments in saying that the story itself was lacking, though. Who's after her? Why do we care? How does it all wrap up? Without the story to drive it, you've just got pretty pictures.
 
Looked great guys.
As a last minute effort this is better than a lot of fully realized effort.
You guys continue to improve in your camera work and lighting.
I really liked some of the effects and angles and it did feel like the teaser opening scene for a feature.

SPOILER
Is she supposed to be the girl asleep? I think I got that eventually but the first shots of shot of her in the bed are too dark to read and not a big enough deal was made of that beat "What ... that's me in the bed ... how can that be ... but I'm right here ... " etc. not saying you should have those lines by any stretch but that's what the camera work and the actors expression and the score need to be making a movie moment of right there, especially since seeing that would be scary.

I like the cyclical story line of how it repeats.

Again, looks great, was fun, and the story was ok for a last minute deal.

Congrats guys :beer:
 
Plug for SPARROW - Just updated the thread with regards to Newbury Comics & their bulk purchase of DVD's for resale: http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/usercp.php

desperatecomfort said:
And it's clear you got a real actor for the lead ...
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That's awesome ... I've heard several times folks referring to her as a real actor, a professional actor, even an actor we must have paid. But she wasn't ... just my pure (oh, and humble) genious that saw something in her. :thumbsup: Okay, not genious ... but I felt since she had no problem performing as a professional singer, and she's certainly got the "pretty" factor we were going for, that she'd be right for the role. Though I honestly didn't know she'd do as well as she did ... and because of it, we're in talks for our feature film we're developing, which I'll be starting a thread soon in the User Films section.

desperatecomfort said:
There was some super-cool framing in the kitchen, particularly letting that window just fill part of the shot when she's at the sink. I kept waiting for something to show up there.
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DRAT! Excellent idea ... of course it would have required more time/planning/post, which we were trying to avoid, but that would have worked SO well ... especially if it was very ghost like ... almost unseen like the initial voices were just whispers.

desperatecomfort said:
And the wide shot where she's at the bedroom door, watching herself sleep is probably one if the nicest single pieces of lighting I've seen so far in the fest.
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Thanks! That's all Ryan & Tung, as I was nearly a waste of room space by that point ... pretty tired and kind of like "tell me when to say action guys ... I'll just lay over here in the corner in the meantime". Seriously, thank you. BLOODY MARY was VERY well done ... posting my comments on it soon.

hiro said:
The footage was very clean, there was a shot in there that i dig .. the part where she runs up the stairs.. i thought it was pretty neat and pro. i really enjoyed this film. -ramon
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Thanks Ramon. Your editing has always been among my favorite around here, so I'm looking forward to watching your film ... Still have a few to go as I'm hitting them alphabetically as much as possible! If I start to run out of time, you can be sure I'll skip to yours ... always a contender.

BTW, your music video you worked on (Vaeda - "All For You") is my all time favorite! :thumbsup:

Lingothree said:
Wow - nice gratuitous hot girl in skivvies shots.
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:grin: Now I've heard that term (gratuitous) a few times with this, and just curious ... is it REALLY gratuitous? It's just the opening shot of the film, where we're focused on a picture that also 'happens' to be at waist level when she enters the frame. So there's reason for it ... from that point forward we never focus on a particular feature although there were plenty of opportunities for CLOSE UPS of chest, butt, etc. ... which would have been gratuitous.

For example, when she was hanging on the door, we could have focused for a cleavage shot, etc. ... which IMO would have been gratuitous as there was no real reason for it. However, since we're looking at a picture of the person she's talking to when she enters frame, I didn't think it was gratuitous.

Not a big deal ... just a question as I've heard it a few times.

Lingothree said:
Everything looked and sounded really nice, and was expertly produced. I'll echo earlier comments in saying that the story itself was lacking, though. Who's after her? Why do we care? How does it all wrap up? Without the story to drive it, you've just got pretty pictures.
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Thanks for the kudos on the sound & production ... and you're dead on about the story, which as you stated as been questioned and answered.

Jack Daniel Stanley said:
I like the cyclical story line of how it repeats.
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Thanks for watching, Jack! Good idea/catch about really working that "Huh?" beat ... hindsight. That was also at the point where we were all just super tired, and even cut a shot or two, and a SMALL section of the script ... kind of rewriting as we went for time sake so we could just get it all done that night.

The cyclical story is really supposed to be one of the main hooks here ... what was real & what wasn't? If we were to follow her through the next cycle, would she just wake up from that one as well? A dream within a dream within a dream, etc.?

Jack Daniel Stanley said:
the story was "ok" for a last minute deal.
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Careful now, I may use that as a killer quote, lol! (bold, underline, quotation marks and font increase added by me)
 
desperatecomfort said:
There was some super-cool framing in the kitchen, particularly letting that window just fill part of the shot when she's at the sink. I kept waiting for something to show up there.

And the wide shot where she's at the bedroom door, watching herself sleep is probably one if the nicest single pieces of lighting I've seen so far in the fest.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the review. Nice idea for the kitchen shot. That would have been cool. Now I'm going to be scared to be alone there for yet another reason! :huh: LOL. I also loved the lighting in the bedroom, kind-of going for a moonlight effect. Ryan and Tung did a great job.
 
Envision said:
:grin: Now I've heard that term (gratuitous) a few times with this, and just curious ... is it REALLY gratuitous? It's just the opening shot of the film, where we're focused on a picture that also 'happens' to be at waist level when she enters the frame. So there's reason for it ... from that point forward we never focus on a particular feature although there were plenty of opportunities for CLOSE UPS of chest, butt, etc. ... which would have been gratuitous.

For example, when she was hanging on the door, we could have focused for a cleavage shot, etc. ... which IMO would have been gratuitous as there was no real reason for it. However, since we're looking at a picture of the person she's talking to when she enters frame, I didn't think it was gratuitous.

Not a big deal ... just a question as I've heard it a few times.
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It (as in all horror movies) is gratuitous in that it's unnecessary. Doesn't mean it shouldn't be in there - don't get me wrong - but putting an attractive woman in her skivvies isn't necessarily necessary for the story (though it may be necessarily necessary as eye candy, and eye candy is a good thing). So the fact that it's there at all, rather than how you use it, is what makes it gratuitous. Make sense?
 
No, no, don't listen to her!!!! I speak for the entire Male half of the species when I say: You put as much nearly-naked Rebecca as you want in your movies!!!!
 
DOWN, desperatecomfort, DOWN BOY (insert sound of whip cracking)! :grin: Trust me buddy, there are SO many gals at the gym I work out at that are more attractive (hmmmm, wonder if Rebecca's going to read that?). Kidding Rebecca!

Lingothree, I see what you're saying, but should I have had her in full flannel jammies or long johns instead? It was night time, by herself in the house ... is it uncommon for women to walk around in their night wear before bed? Granted, it's not the comfy (and completely non-sexy) sweats that some (ahem, I won't mention my wife) may prefer to wear around the house, but it's also not lingerie, which I would agree then WOULD be gratuitous.
 
No, no a thousand times no. I'm not questioning your motivation. Just congratulating you on adding more skin. Not saying flannel or sweats would have served the story any more or less. Just saying the skivvies are gratuituous, meaning unecessary, uncalled for, unwarranted, as they are just that. Nothing more, nothing less. Just more eye candy. A requisite feature of any good horror movie. And the fact that your actor is a hottie probably contributes to my calling it gratuituous.

Maybe it's not gratuitous. Maybe when you have a hottie actor, it becames NECESSARY to showcase this. Can I get a hear, hear, desperatecomfort?
 
LOL. Okay ... I think I see your point. I would definitely say the skivvies are uncalled for if in the middle of the day, out in public, etc. ... but at night, alone in her own house, it seemed to make sense. Granted, I perhaps wrote the story as an 'excuse' for the skivvies, but that's another story altogether ... namely, "Hey, let's do a bit of an eye-candy piece, test out the HVX, and have some fun with audio!". :beer:
 
Lingo,
I'll give you a what what.

Norm and Desperate she say she likey, she no say she no likey.

I think it depends on the style of your movie.
If its somewhat campy and doesn't take itself too seriously then I think eyecandy works. (as it does here)
If its a bit less tongue in cheek then it can undermine the piece.
But I never get why showing people with nice bods with little or nothing on is something to get your hoohah in a twist over anyway. If we could admit that we like to look at them for purely aesthetic reasons and purely prurient reasons and that that's ok, then I think it would be no big deal.
 
this is what we wear at my house
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footies all the way ... isn't that what other 33 and 34 year olds wear?
We also have his and hers pairs that match our twin beds and the alarm clock on the nightstand between them.
 
Lol! Wow! I did not realize there would be such in depth discussions about my attire for bed. :) I agree that to have walked around in a teddy would have been way over the top, but felt that what I was wearing was pretty typical of lounging around at night. Now, if it is the dead of winter and I am cold, I will make sure to find out where Jack gets those lovely jammies he prefers. :beer:
 
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