EXMAS - A Jeremy Duff Film

yes the cultural differences were interesting to see..never been to australia but it was really fun to watch. a lot of small focus issues that I'm assuming the camera is responsible for.
Wasn't a big fan of the music. sort of hackneyed.
the acting was pretty good and there was some good camerawork there as well though some of it was a tad uninspired.
you just have to make sure to choose your shots a little more carefully and think of the lighting and such consciously as you make a shot.
was a very solid effort though with no super glaring deficiencies.
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
Story: I liked the story you were creating, especially the betrayal.

Acting: Acting seemed pretty real to me. A lot of pissed off people. Regular family. :)

Technical: This is where it goes down a bit. The exposure was a bit of a mess here and there. Make sure to lock it down. The masks and and blurs were very distracting. Sound wasn't too bad but not great.

Bottom line: Keep at this! I see a lot of potential here and room for growth.

MAH
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I couldn't have said it better. So there's some things to work on, so me a film that doesn't! That's why we're here...to learn.

Hat's off for getting a film in the fest. Next thing to do is take note and make the next one that much better. I look forward to following your progress. Every journey starts with the first step...and you've taken it.

Congrats!:happy:
 
same thoughts as above, but I was not feeling the audio. I did love the song at the beginning! For me it gave it the right feel on the intro.
Keep at it dude... just a few more stops on that iris... :)
 
Interesting film. Was surprised when I heard the Australian accent (Even though I’m from NZ), just because of all the American accents that I’d been hearing the past day while watching these films!

Anyway the others seemed to have picked up on most of the technical stuff I was going to talk about..the DOF masking, overblown shots etc. There were definitely some cool shots in there, though.

Thought your main actor was pretty good, definitely had a few moments where I was pretty drawn to the performance, and he seemed pretty real.

Memorable Moment
“What happened to bloody Sydney” – That stuck out for me, with the close up and then the quick drive off. Nice.

All things considered, an enjoyable short. Looking forward to your next one, Congratulations on the entry.
 
this short had some good acting. Your lead did a nice job of playing a walking talking disaster.

congrats on submitting!
 
This is my film school right here on dvxuser so all feedback is of the upmost value and is HIGHLY appreciated, so thanks to everyone whoas drop a line here!

Before Next film:

1. Script thats been rewritten about 10 times

2. Gear
550D + 17->50MM lens + follow wheel
Bowl tripod with level
expensive 7" LCD viewer
Find an AD and a DOP/Lighting dude to add the crew.
3. Read all the books I own on film... and keep reading DVXUSER!
 
I liked your main actor. I was wondering about those masks you were using...were you trying to 'fake' DOF, or was there stuff in the scene you didn't want to be seen? Just curious.

Congrats on submitting, I remember my first as well (not that it was that long ago).
 
Yeah Myles (the lead) is my best buddy so we have a lot of fun!

Yeah those freak'n marks in some parts are due to my over zealous fake DOF and in others I was being over zealous in trying to not show items on the fridge door as I was worried about intellectual property... I wish now that I had just left it all alone! Oh well NEXT time F**k it!
 
Congratulations on entering your first DVXfest and completing your film. That's an awesome first step.

Sure, there a few rough edges here and there, but the heart of your story, a character in crisis and at odds with his family is right on the mark. I love that kind of drama.

I hope you continue to enter future fests and I wish you the best of luck in this one.
 
Obviously this has been discussed ad nauseam, but the blur masks were really unnecessary. I personally hate post blur, though I've done it myself a few times. I say do it "in camera" or not at all. The images would have actually looked a lot better with no blur applied, than with a distracting post blur.

The acting was solid in this.

You had a lot of different camera set ups for this. A lot of times people have problems with too few angles, not enough coverage, but you did well on this front. Some of the shots were better composed and exposed than others, but you clearly have a visual eye.

There would occasionally be a black frame between two shots, for example, right at 25 sec. One of my pet peeves.

The story could have been a little clearer for me, but the base idea of it is really good.

I'll really be looking forward to seeing what you do with your next entry. You definitely show a lot of promise.
 
I had some major issues with continuity and keeping the actors on a mark which I discovered in post. The big lesson here for me ( aside from the pos issues) is keeping eyelines beleivable and exposure. Shooting into a bright window was not easy and meant i was blasting the actors with all my lights... Next time I want to shoot in larger room with more control over the natural light!

I'm still kicking myself for going to far with the DOF post.

I was afraid that the point of the story might not make it through due to last minute script changes and casting difficulties and welcome the frank review!
 
Not much more to say here that hasn't already been said. The blur-blobs (I'll call them) took away from what would have otherwise been a good story. The acting was good, and the interaction between the brother and sister was good once you got past those pesky blur-blobs. It's a shame, too, because that would have really helped in making the end betrayal more satisfying to the viewer.

Keep at it!!
 
I agree with one of the earlier posts about coverage. It seemed like you thought through your shots and set them up well. I'll be that you make major progress on your next film. My ABSOLUTE FAVORITE part was when your lead character starts CRUSHING that beer in the pub around the 4:20 mark. Made me want a beer but there are none in the fridge!!!
 
All the hazy lighting and 'blur blobs' as people were calling them really made me think the dude was a ghost at first.. I thought it was a camera effect not a filming issue but I didn't like it either. This felt too much like a snippet of a much larger story that was too abruptly cut off and I did not like the '5 minutes later', etc. throughout the film I felt that disrupted the story even more.

I did like the dialogue standing on its own each personality was identifiable; even if they didn't seem to work out visually.
 
jemduff said:
I

I'm still kicking myself for going to far with the DOF post.
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I've always wanted DOF in my shots too. And you taught me not to try it in post. So your learning lesson, was also my learning lesson. If that makes you feel any better. . You wrote real life conversation, and interaction, and you got the actors to deliver it. That's no easy task.
 
Things I loved-the accents! The Christmas in summertime. The beer loving pathetic lead was a good character. Easy to recognize that character, easy for everyone around him to draw out and understand a lot about him. Not easy for him to see it though.

Technically the blur mask really grabs ones attention and distracts. I said to myself at one point, well, the fridge is in a blur and the lead is living in a blur, so, that's a lot of blur in one shot! Don't mean that snarky and hope it doesn't come across that way.

Glad this film is in the festival.
 
My critique for Exmas
The story:
I liked it all throughout! There were some things I didn't get at first but eventually caught on, like the scene where he yells "What happened to bloody sidney?" But then I understood that she lied to him. The ending betrayal was pretty cool

The acting:
The lead and the women did great!

The camerawork:
There were some unnecessary tight shots but it's fine. I

The editing:
There were some blurry matte areas that really took me out of the story. Once those are fixed, I think this piece will be great. So far the editing is really good - I didn't even notice there was artificial blur until the scene by the kitchen where it really stood out.

The sound and music:
Dialogue was clear but still could use some word. Music was pretty good!

Overall impression:
It's a nice piece that just needs some retouching up. You definitely got the story down! Great job!

My favorite shot:
screenshot20100311at650.png
 
jemduff said:
I'm getting into a 550D with a nice lens so DOF will be all in camera from here on in!
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Shallow DOF is not always the right look for a film. Don't get me wrong, I love to use it for mine but it's not always necessary. Your film could have had a nice "reality" feel to it without trying to shrink DOF in post and that would have worked much better (especially for the immediacy of the situation and the character involved). Don't jump on the vDSLR bandwagon too quickly because there are many things to take into account with this... and controlling your camera and focus becomes a HUGE issue. If you like to shoot quickly (run and gun style), trying to keep focus could really slow you down. Shooting shallow is a science for sure... just be aware of this before you jump in head first.

Other than that, I really liked your story and the "real life" feel it has. The frustration of your protagonist was quite apparent and that's good storytelling and direction.
 
I think we've all been on that DOF bandwagon and as filmmakers we continue to obsess over it and use it too much at times. Just consider this as a lesson learned. I could see alot of potential in this piece. It had me drawn in, but there were several things that have been mentioned here already that kind of took me out of it. The purpose of these fests (IMO) is to help us all grow and I can already see from your posts that you have learned from some of the mistakes you made. That's great. Some people don't get that, unfortunately. You had some good things going here and I'm glad you got something finished and submitted. Keep on making films!
 
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