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I bet you know all bout nippin' and tuckin'

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muhahhh ahhha hahah mhuahahaha
 
OK, got the DVD today, just now finished watching it.

The first thing I need to say is: Wow. Let me rephrase that. Holy ****ing Wow.

Great film. Really interesting, beautiful. Just a great solid project. I enjoyed the script, the turns, even the acting. It was shot very nicely, great camera work and looked more like film than anything else I think I have seen.

Honestly, and true, this is just the first viewing, but I would say that this easily goes into the top 10 of all short films I have seen. Just an overall great job and a fantastic movie.

The only thing I can say is that your trailer doesn't do the film justice. I bought this to support another DVXUser, but if I had known what it was, I would have easily paid double.

Really, honestly and truly a great great picture. Congrats! You really give people a lot to strive for.

I'm blown away so I'm talking in circles here. I was absolutely floored. Great movie.
 
All right John-

I'm a sucker for intense self-promotion. I just ordered a copy 1 minute ago. I look forward to receiving it.

Rick
 
wow! thanks "The Yankee" for your kind words (your check is in the mail :happy: ). Get any time with the extras, cd, or bogo? I appreciate your comments about the trailer. I really wanted to give not much away in it (I hate trailers that spell out the whole story), maybe I should have given a bit more information or dialogue you think? Thanks again man!
 
You know... Today I was talking with a friend of mine and I told her what I thought of your flick, and she was like 'was that the one that you made me watch the trailer for'. She had no interest in seeing the film based off the trailer.

I think with your film, with the subject matter as well as the length an effective trailer is hard because you don't want to give anything away, yet you need to whet the appetite of people who want to see it.

Like I said, I would have easily paid double for this film, I thought it was that good on all fronts.

Here's a good analogy. I bought Broken because of the trailer. I bought your movie because it was shot on the DVX. If your price had been what Broken's was, I don't know if I would have bought it. Then again, I was much more impressed by your film.

I have never cut a trailer, so I don't know what I can say to help you. I was just blown away by this film you made, and damnit, I'm gonna scream it loud and proud that everyone should buy this thing. I'm a cynical bastard who likes to point out the negative, but this was a really good film.

You need a good marketing person...

Regarding the extras... Haven't had a chance to check those out or whatever was on that other disc. I am going to try to look into that this evening, but I really want to watch the film itself again.

There are a ton of technical questions I have for you... I'm just going to do it in an email though.
 
OK... my email has been redirected here...

Once again, completely blown away by your movie. I was thoroughly impressed from the first frame to the last frame. From the moment it started with the shot of the clothes parting I knew that it was made by someone who had great vision and that this was going to be a great film.

I hope you don't resent my comments about the trailer. Think about Pearl Harbor, one of the worst movies of all time, but one of the best trailers. OK, I've made that point.

I had about 200 questions that I wanted to ask you about this movie, please feel free to ignore any ones that you don't want to answer, but I thought I'd ask to help me with my future projects.

First, it said that your budget was $250 for the actual film, plus $4000 for equipement. Is this right? If so, I'm floored. I wasted more money on my zombie film.

How long did it take you to shoot?

What sort of lighting did you use for the various settings? Were the outdoor scenes lit purely with natural light?

Sound: I am amazed that you got such high quality sound out of that Audio Technica. Did you use a blimp or any sort of wind protection outside?

Hand held shots. By far some of the most smooth and seemless camera movement I have seen in a short film in a long time. It was completely organic and fluid. Very natural and not at all cold and stale like some dolly shots I've seen. What did you use for your hand held for image stabilization, or did you really just shoot it hand held?

Sorry to bombard you with questions, but like I said, I really believe this is one of the best short films I've seen.
 
TheYankee: part one

TheYankee: part one

TheYankee said:
You know... Today I was talking with a friend of mine and I told her what I thought of your flick, and she was like 'was that the one that you made me watch the trailer for'. She had no interest in seeing the film based off the trailer.
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Hmmmmm. Well the trailer definitely doesn't blast you in the face like (to use your example) the trailer for Broken but obviously they are totally different styles of shorts. I can understand where your friend is coming from though without knowing anyone from or anything about Hunting Camp I guess you would really have to be in the dramatic film mood (which I believe is a tougher no name indie sell). Broken plays to the flashy, testosterone crowd and that's easier in my opinion when you're an unknown and the material looks good (and obviously because of that fast paced trailer they have moved probably 1,000 times more DVDs than I have).
TheYankee said:
I think with your film, with the subject matter as well as the length an effective trailer is hard because you don't want to give anything away, yet you need to whet the appetite of people who want to see it.
Click to expand...
Agreed. There are parts about the Hunting Camp trailer (in the billion times I have seen it over the last year of it's existence) I would tweak. Mainly the split screen flashes because nobody gets that I am trying to show contrasting backgrounds (of Jake and Steve). Any suggestions you have are good because eventually here I will need to cut another trailer for my next movie and feedback will be helpful (since I won't be doing a gun-blazing action movie next either). In the end I still think it accomplishes everything I wanted it to: Brief intro of two guys going out to a camp, there seems to be some serious depression surrounding one of them, and thter's some sort of secret that is going to come out.
TheYankee said:
There are a ton of technical questions I have for you... I'm just going to do it in an email though.
Click to expand...
Thanks for these as well, lots of good ones here! I will tackle them tonight (now I should get back to work, he he)
 
TheYankee - part two

TheYankee - part two

TheYankee said:
I hope you don't resent my comments about the trailer.
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Definitely don't feel bad about telling me your thoughts on the trailer, I want to hear what you think (that goes for every aspect of that package you got in the mail) good or bad.

TheYankee said:
First, it said that your budget was $250 for the actual film, plus $4000 for equipement. Is this right? If so, I'm floored. I wasted more money on my zombie film.
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I listed the budget on IMDB and in the Releases as $4000 just to make it seem like something. When yes, in reality, nearly the entire figure is equipment I purchased to make the movie and subsequent movies (DVX, case, batteries, filter kit, mic, boompole, blank tapes, cables, etc). So I don't think that can really count as a film's production budget.

The real costs were some food, (beer I got sponsored by a local brewery :beer: including the club scenes, they provided beer for everyone there too!), some tubing, pumps, and ingredients for the film's violence. A men's wedding ring but we returned it to the store the next day. The actors, crew, studio, and bands all donated their time and talents (they're all awesome people and I am a damned lucky guy to know them).

TheYankee said:
How long did it take you to shoot?
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This one is tougher because since no one was paid, schedules at times were a headache. The news segments on March 2nd 2004 but didn't film again until April 12th (we rehearsed some scenes and worked out script kinks in the down time, as well as got more locations - all free btw). Then most weekends starting April 24th - May 30th. The last two were biggies: one weekend at the camp (look for hidden footage in the Extras menus), the following weekend was the club scenes and all scenes with Mr. Masarirambi who rode a train out from Chicago. A day or two in July. Cut the trailer and it premiered October 7th 2004 at the Eerie Horror Fest. The last day officially was November 14th (Closet scene that starts the movie - I decided to add in at the last minute).

Started meeting with the bands in July and the first rough cut was shown to a college film class on December 17th (it was around 50 mins). The final version was completed last week of January 2005 and the soundtrack on February 8th. It was an insane time to get the two discs and artwork out to CustomFlix in time to have the sets produced for the Premiere and Release Party on March 12, 2005. You got more than you wanted on that answer, I will try and make the others shorter... :embarasse

TheYankee said:
What sort of lighting did you use for the various settings? Were the outdoor scenes lit purely with natural light?
Click to expand...
Lighting for SOME of the indoor scenes I tried to add some basic worklights and bounce some light. The one office scene with Jake and all his co-workers coming in was an absolute nightmare because I wanted to show the view from the windows and didn't know that gels were invented :shocked: (I am surprised George's face didn't melt off that day)! Everything outdoors was entirely natural bounced light. My lighting needs serious work, I know this. I think I finally have found someone to help me out from my area for my next film.

TheYankee said:
Sound: I am amazed that you got such high quality sound out of that Audio Technica. Did you use a blimp or any sort of wind protection outside?
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No blimp, no wind protection. Just one AT835B. Naked. I think the sound is improved on BOGO. Again, I am really trying to focus on improving here as well as lighting (well and everything else for that matter).

TheYankee said:
Hand held shots. By far some of the most smooth and seemless camera movement I have seen in a short film in a long time. It was completely organic and fluid. Very natural and not at all cold and stale like some dolly shots I've seen. What did you use for your hand held for image stabilization, or did you really just shoot it hand held?
Click to expand...
I don't have any special stabilizers or steadycams unfortunately. It's just me holding the DVX. A couple times in a wheelchair when possible, a couple times just walking the camera and then using the SteadyMove plug-in in post (see the wheelchair and SteadyMove combined shot at the end of BOGO!) yes, it can be done for nothing (until you can afford cool toys!) Nobody ever believes me, but the spin-around shot when Jake first reaches the camp was handheld combined with SteadyMove.

TheYankee said:
I really believe this is one of the best short films I've seen.
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Bless your soul. :evil: And again thanks for all your support, comments, and questions. Let me know if you have any more and sorry about my ramblings.
 
Wow... Honestly inspiring.

Then on the other hand, completely depressing. You made a great movie with... wow... depressing, but inspiring.

Great film, man. Great film!
 
the-lyons-den.com said:
Rick and Michael,
Thank you very much for your orders! They will be shipping tomorrow morning. USPS First Class.
Click to expand...

Thank you. I get so much help around here that I love throwing back the support when I can. I look forward to receiving it.

By the way, I feel out of the loop, but what is BOGO and do I want this?

Rick
 
Uhm, forgive me - haven't ever had any DVDs from NTSC land... :huh:
If I'd order those, would I be able to play them on my PAL dvd-player
and PAL tv-screen?

regards,
Oli
 
rlm7189 said:
By the way, I feel out of the loop, but what is BOGO and do I want this?
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Well Rick you will soon find out, as I included BOGO in your package too. It's a short I did in June for a DVXFest here.

Oli.S said:
Uhm, forgive me - haven't ever had any DVDs from NTSC land... :huh:
If I'd order those, would I be able to play them on my PAL dvd-player
and PAL tv-screen?

regards,
Oli
Click to expand...
Oli,
The Hunting Camp DVDs are Region Free and I have had orders from Poland, UK, Australia, Panama, and even New Orleans recently and haven't had any problems with them playing.
 
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