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XX, this was a really interesting short and I liked it for the great character work and acting. I really liked the mob boss a ton, he was perfect. He had a very natural delivery. The Indian was great as well, it was all very pulpy and it looks like you guys had a blast making this. I loved the location by the stream, and i liked how the older fella was down on the ground and in a tight spot at the end, i felt that. Good job, i look forward to more films from you!
 
This had a real "David Lynch" feel to it. I really enjoyed the story and the acting. Good job to you, your cast and your crew.
 
[FONT=&quot]Nice introduction. I loved the boss character, he had a great charm and was entertaining and funny. Morlan, I had more trouble with. You start to develop some sympathy for him by putting him in that weird situation with all those oddball characters, but I don’t have enough by the time he kills the other guy, so from then on I don’t care what happens to him. I’m not sure if more of the backstory was lost in editing that would have helped there. You had some really nice shots and creative angles. Very well done.[/FONT]
 
I was initially bugged by the way the mystery man on the telephone delivered his lines. By the time we see the rest of the cast, I realized it was a comedy and I really came to appreciate it. Big Al was well cast for the part.

A couple of shots struck me as odd. The first one was the knife-through-the-thumb, not sure what that was about. The other was at the 3:10 mark with your cowboy in close profile and the b.g. out of focus. For some reason, that shot pulled me out of the movie for a bit. Other than that, I was with you throughout, watching to see what happened next.
 
Interesting film. Very unique characters who were all played well by the actors, the boss and the thief in particular. The guy the case was originally cuffed to seemed a little out of place. Production was good with crisp image and sound. I liked the offbeat style of the film. What's in the box?!
 
if the voice coming out of the phone is not important..it's ok... If it was important the level was little to low.

Did you use the on cam mike only ?

Your shots are ok. There not the "uncle Rob is fillming a wedding and talks to much" look :p

I like the use of shadows.

The shot of the metronome, clock and... sand-thing... Is it to indicate something ? Or just because it was a cool shot ? I have a feeling "the boss" finds time important...

Maybe cut faster to the flashback of that old guy... Now it was a bit "broken" in sound etc...

Some levels could be louder...much louder.... about 10 - 15dB louder.
I know the older guy sits further from the indian in the "saloon" ? Well it looked more for a classroom to me :p But anyway... in situations where someone is sitting further but the other guy hears that one guy, you can almost keep the same level... Maybe adding some reverb to make it more "roomy". Making the effect of "I hear it from further" is not only lowering the level.

I got a bit lost in the story....

aah ok...that other guy is the boss... Was it ment I knew it from the first moment I saw him with the axe ?

ok...I get it...but you have used a wrong key or a wrong lock...
 
stinkpot said:
This had a real "David Lynch" feel to it. I really enjoyed the story and the acting. Good job to you, your cast and your crew.
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I got the same thing...David Lynch! I like this film. Maybe just a little less DOF shots.
Other then that it was a good time.

...and hey... what's in the box?:undecided
 
I loved the characters in this movie. The looks on their faces even when just in the background of a scene were great. The mystery behind it all was a lot of fun as well. I especially liked how the film opened. Nice setup.

Great ending as well.

Very different and refreshing. Nice job.

MAH
 
Defcon said:
XX, this was a really interesting short and I liked it for the great character work and acting. I really liked the mob boss a ton, he was perfect. He had a very natural delivery. The Indian was great as well, it was all very pulpy and it looks like you guys had a blast making this. I loved the location by the stream, and i liked how the older fella was down on the ground and in a tight spot at the end, i felt that. Good job, i look forward to more films from you!
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Defcon, thank you so much for the positive notes, I was very happy with our cast. I look forward to making more shorts for the fest, and seeing more from you as well.

stinkpot said:
This had a real "David Lynch" feel to it. I really enjoyed the story and the acting. Good job to you, your cast and your crew.
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Thanks, I looooove David Lynch. Guess somehow his influence crept into the film a lil' bit.

4100xpb said:
[FONT=&quot]Nice introduction. I loved the boss character, he had a great charm and was entertaining and funny. Morlan, I had more trouble with. You start to develop some sympathy for him by putting him in that weird situation with all those oddball characters, but I don’t have enough by the time he kills the other guy, so from then on I don’t care what happens to him. I’m not sure if more of the backstory was lost in editing that would have helped there. You had some really nice shots and creative angles. Very well done.[/FONT]
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4100xpb, the one problem we encountered is getting a script that we could barely get under 7, to fit into the 6 minute mark. As many people experience you just lose stuff in the edit. I think the final version, probably will run around 8-9 minutes will have more space to breathe, take in, pretty much everything cut is from Moreland.


Blaine said:
I was initially bugged by the way the mystery man on the telephone delivered his lines. By the time we see the rest of the cast, I realized it was a comedy and I really came to appreciate it. Big Al was well cast for the part.

A couple of shots struck me as odd. The first one was the knife-through-the-thumb, not sure what that was about. The other was at the 3:10 mark with your cowboy in close profile and the b.g. out of focus. For some reason, that shot pulled me out of the movie for a bit. Other than that, I was with you throughout, watching to see what happened next.
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Blaine, thanks for commenting and hanging in there throughout despite the distracting shots. The knife/thumb shot will work better in a sequence later once that scene is extended a bit, I think, and the cowboy shot, I think it's an example of me falling in love with a shot, but it doesn't quite fit in the sequence. Always enjoy reading your thoughts, so I'm happy you took the time to review this short.

Brian Parker said:
Interesting film. Very unique characters who were all played well by the actors, the boss and the thief in particular. The guy the case was originally cuffed to seemed a little out of place. Production was good with crisp image and sound. I liked the offbeat style of the film. What's in the box?!
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Brian, thank you. Filmed on a 5d and recorded a lav and boom onto my old PD170. Synched that up later. Loved seeing your work this time around! The whole cast, or at least my intention was, to make the whole cast all seem out of place, brought together by strange circumstances to carry this unknown briefcase across the country. So I guess I'm happy you found Phineas out of place... What's in the box? Well, let's just say it's something valuable...

dre83 said:
Some levels could be louder...much louder.... about 10 - 15dB louder.
I know the older guy sits further from the indian in the "saloon" ? Well it looked more for a classroom to me :p But anyway... in situations where someone is sitting further but the other guy hears that one guy, you can almost keep the same level... Maybe adding some reverb to make it more "roomy". Making the effect of "I hear it from further" is not only lowering the level.
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Dre83, what levels do you recommend keeping the piece at? Also what filter do you recommend using to make something feel more roomy and far away? Thanks man, great comments!

ZazaCast said:
I got the same thing...David Lynch! I like this film. Maybe just a little less DOF shots.
Other then that it was a good time.

...and hey... what's in the box?:undecided
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LOL, ZAZA, ain't sayin!

Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
I loved the characters in this movie. The looks on their faces even when just in the background of a scene were great. The mystery behind it all was a lot of fun as well. I especially liked how the film opened. Nice setup.

Great ending as well.

Very different and refreshing. Nice job.

MAH
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Thanks for the comments, Hostile Destination was pretty pretty tite, and I cannot wait to see what you come up with next for the next festival. Glad you liked the set-up and the close, and the piece overall. I cannot thank the actors enough for being amazing.
 
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This was a really interesting short. I loved a lot of the imagery, especially the key, and the shots of the boss on the phone. From your avatar, I presume your a Gilliam fan, and I can definitely see his influence in your style. Great characters as well. Some of the film was incoherent for me, and some shots and audio didn't seem on par with the rest of the piece. Overall, though a compelling entry. Looking forward to seeing more.
 
jasonthewho said:
This was a really interesting short. I loved a lot of the imagery, especially the key, and the shots of the boss on the phone. From your avatar, I presume your a Gilliam fan, and I can definitely see his influence in your style. Great characters as well. Some of the film was incoherent for me, and some shots and audio didn't seem on par with the rest of the piece. Overall, though a compelling entry. Looking forward to seeing more.
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Jason, thank you for watching and commenting. Yep, love Gilliam (even Imaginarium which was mostly incoherent, lol, Tideland is too much even for me), but ya, first time working with the 5D, and I got sleepy or was seeing double or something, because there's just a couple shots that are off, I agree. But what can you do, other than re-look at your movie a week or two later with fresh eyes and have a billion great comments later and make this short better. Really liked Beans by the way, a lot. Simple, well shot, great story, comic, sad. Thanks man for your comments, great to hear your thoughts!
 
I liked this one it was unique and fun to watch.

As others have said the actors/characters were the best/strongest thing about it. The story was interesting to see unravel as well. Loved that 'stone faced' indian guy lol.

Now the weaknesses I saw

a lot of over use of depth of field. Remember it's just a tool, doesn't mean every single shot needs to be super high DoF. It's a tool used only to train the eye onto something that you want them to be focusing on. But especially in the beginning the real shallow DoF was very distracting in a lot of the shots that should have used a wider lens.

In the middle sections like around 3:15 section I felt the white balance was off and everything was a bit too red/orange which gave it that video look.
Otherwise there was some nice shots and framing in there good job, this was one of the better entries in my most humble opinion.
 
There's some nice lighting and the actor's did a great job. I especially like Fastwater and Big Al character's. Big Al has that old mafia personna to him, it's great. I'm not a technical guy but a story guy. I didn't understand the main character's motivation for stealing the case, greed I suppose and going to Chihuahua for some reason. Made it hard to relate. Also, not sure how Fastwater caught up with him, but I'll assume Fastwater is like Anton Chigurh, the ultimate badass. There are some comedic moments. I liked the cutting back and forth during the phone conversation, liked how you tweeked the audio there. Nice McGuffin with the case. Good job!
 
Homunculus, thank you for the comments. It is my first time shooting with a camera that gives me so many options, just wanted to find a good f-stop, and kinda stuck with it. Looking thru it now, I definitely see what you mean, and the next round of shooting I do will be more mindful of the DOF and when it's used, along with the lens, to really accentuate the important moments in the scene. I got a 35, 50, and an 85 to play with, probably should've done the 35 more often and lowered the f-stop to a 3 or a 4. Thank you for the positive comments, it was a fun short to make.


Mobie540, the main character's motivation: he had been a longstanding associate, he's stuck with two people he doesn't like, and he doesn't get the responsibility of carrying the briefcase. He feels betrayed by his boss, angered that he's not THE ONE to carry it, so he wants to take whatever is inside that briefcase and make money off it. He's curious and greedy. Fastwater tracks him, b/c Fastwater is following him the whole time, that's his job, to ensure that shipment gets to Big Al. Thank you for the comments!
 
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