Halloween Sucks - Joe Butch Pictures

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JoeButch

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Halloween Sucks

halloween-sucks-movie-poster.jpg

CAST
Joe Butch...................Scary Man
Amber Butch...............Trick-or-Treater in Ghost Costume
Amber Butch...............Babysitter

CREW
Joe Butch....................Director/Writer/Editor/Sound/DOP
Amber Butch................First Assistant Director

Camera: Canon T2I

Production Schedule

Oct. 25: Started Writing Script
Oct. 25: Pre-Production Completed
Oct. 25: Shooting Commenced
Oct. 25: Shooting Finished
Oct. 25: Editing
Oct. 27: Music
Oct. 27: Rendering
Oct. 27: Submit Film

Budget: $7.22
 
Last edited:
JoeButch said:
Halloween Sucks

CAST
Joe Butch...................Scary Man
Amber Butch...............Trick-or-Treater in Ghost Costume
Amber Butch...............Babysitter

CREW
Joe Butch....................Director/Writer/Editor/Sound/DOP
Amber Butch................First Assistant Director

Camera: Canon T2I

Production Schedule

Oct. 25: Started Writing Script
Oct. 25: Pre-Production Completed
Oct. 25: Shooting Commenced
Oct. 25: Shooting Finished
Oct. 25: Editing
Oct. 27: Music
Oct. 27: Rendering
Oct. 27: Submit Film

Budget: $7.22
Click to expand...


Show off...I kid I kid. :)
 
Hey dudes, welcome to the fest. No poster? I was adding links to Facebook to all of the films and you guys don;t have one up... any chance of that happening?
 
Welcome to the fray, Joe!

SPOILER REVIEW: Do not read unless you've watched the short!

The good: I liked the concept. It played on the old fears that my parents (and every one else's parents) had. The costuming was great, too. The woman and the kid. Both worked out very well, as did the "Halloween sucks!" line. I also liked your first shot and what it revealed. The eating / death scene was pretty good, too. Kudos to your actress on that (and for keeping it on the tile).

The main part to work on for next time: Audio. I know that's broad, but watch your levels. Some of the dialogue was low, and some of the sounds were really high on it. Not sure how you mic'ed it (external or not), but if it was external, get the mic closer to your actress to pick up the lines a little clearer.

Overall, great entry.
 
REVIEW!

as someone who I think is new to the fests, first off congrats for getting something to enter. Alright now on to the review

What I liked - I liked the story, short and simple. When I first saw the razor blade I thought he was using it to open the candy and I was a little confused. Then I realized what was happening and first thought "No way! My mom always told me that this happened and I need to watch out!" So, it's something a lot of people can relate to since people were so paranoid about this. Also, as my parents always told me about this and I always wondered how you could take a bite out of a piece of candy and not realize there is a razor blade in it......when she put the whole peanut butter cup in her mouth you solved that problem hahahaha. I also like how you didn't show the face of the guy who put it in there.

What I didn't like as much - As stated audio was an issue. When he was putting the razor in, I think a dog walked by in the upper right. That was distracting to me. When he put the candy in the kids bowl he grabbed it, reached down to her bucket then picked it back up as if to make sure the camera caught it....kinda took me out of the moment. Lastly, I think you could have had a better shot of the lady talking to the kid. I just didn't like that she was framed dead center, though that is just an opinion.

Again, it is an accomplishment alone to enter, and you told a very relatable story which I liked!
 
Thanks for the reviews. I agree on everything mentioned (dog, audio, placing the candy in the bucket).

Also, incase it wasn't clear the ghost costume and the girl was the same person. That was why I had some problems framing her and continuity isn't great on that scene.
 
Welcome Joe!

This was a great first effort....and for only $7.22 (worht it at twice the price).
Don't want to repeat the above. Was there room for improvement? Yes, but show me a film where there isn't!

Spoiler:
Here are my thoughts:
- I would have liked to see you use a slider or dolly for the opening shot for nice smooth movement.
- (I know you were probably shooting this by yourself but....) When you move the razor into the camera, a rack focus on the blade & a quick cut to a micro focus on the blade edge, light glimmering off it, would have been cool.
- Leash the dog!
- you know about the next scene with the nurse & child...just didn't cut together right.
- love the handheld shake as she eats the candy!
- Nice touch with her dropping by the dog dish... as you pan down, I would have had the dog come into frame and lick up the blood! (but then again....I'm warped!)


Congrats on getting a film done and submitted to the whole cast and crew (both of you) :happy:
 
She put that whole thing in her mouth!!!

Now someone will believe this stuff happens.

Was it scary, not really, it was cute though. I think it played out too straight forward, we knew what was going to happen and then it happened. Make your stories more of a rollercoaster, everyone loves rollercoasters. Nice job overall!
 
Thanks Joe and Amber.

opening shot I thought the film was going to be clever with a analogy of women's razors + Girls are from mars candy bar joke, but completely went another direction.

i applaud the efforts but fell dead like the actress in the end.

This was one of those films that got to the blood on the floor in the end and I said to myself, "Please let this not be the end.. Please let there be more.."

and there was no more.

& //end

/j
 
Props to your actor for her death scene, that was some pretty good blood spitting and gagging, all of the characters were underused. There's a story there for sure with the razorblades and candy, but we only had a villain and a victim with no real story. Next festival take your ideas and team up with a writer who can help create characters that people care about.
 
Putting a razor blade in mouth would have cut her mouth. She then would immediately remove the candy-blade and go to hospital. No way she could have swallowed the blade, not even partly because the whole blade was placed in candy. Better to have cut the blade into pieces, then as she gulped, the esophagus would have torn.

It's all in the details. It was okay but really not enough story to keep me motivated.
 
This boils down to a public health film on the dangers of swallowing Halloween candy with razor blades inside.
I guess I didn't appreciate to rather smirky attitude this film displayed, kind of like an inside joke that the rest of the world isn't smart enough to get.
No real story, no delivery.
The babysitter was mildly funny. Whoever furnished the apartment gets kudos for minimalist decorating.
Hey, you made a film. More than many can say.
Work on story and acting a bit more next time.
 
Quick review.

I licked the set up to the little girl getting the candy. Although at that point I knew where it would go, nonetheless I watched it thinking "this really could be so easy for someone to do" - thats scary right there.
 
I mean hey my viewing party liked the hot lady in the fetish nurses outfit, it gets props for that, and the Gallio style razor in a cake cam viewpoint was amusing and actually rarely appllied in films here. SO - I wonder if your a bit of a Dario Argento fan and if not, i'd suggest checking out 'Deep Red' for something that you might find helpful as a very artistic and very grotesque extention of the ideas you play with in this short.

As it is its more like a little test or play with some ideas and things rather than a completed short, but then that is how every filmmakers journey begins (be that the first or next chapter) :)
 
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