Heart Shot Grand Prix

[Silent Jay]

This is my Surrealistic Modern Western Martial Arts Sci Fi film inspired by the Nintendo Wii game, No More Heroes, and the Takashi Miike film, Sukiyaki Western Django. Check out the madness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r3dpv6zRLY




This was shot with a budget of approximatly $200 using the DVX100B. The majority of if was spent on the Force FX Lighsaber. Most of the costumes and props were either borrowed from friends or things I already owned, so I did not add that to the total budget.

The simplistic story was inspired by No More Heroes and Seijun Suzuki's Pistol Opera and the dialogue was written to follow the style of surrealist playwright Samuel Beckett.

The overall design and feel was inspired by No More Heroes, from the costumes down to the weaponry.

 

[aegriffin]

I can see all of the influences you mention put to task here, Jay. Particularly Pistol Opera and Miike. Nicely done fight scenes and just the right amount of "cheese" and "heroic bloodshed." Light sabers though? Hmmmm...

My best suggestion for you though is that you may want to work on improving your exposure levels. I should talk as I'm as guilty of shooting plenty of "hot" video in my time but on the DVX in particular I've found it's better to shoot darker and push stops in post than to blow out the image over white because that detail is lost forever. Unless that's what you meant to do.

Keep kicking ass. Literally. Thanks for sharing.

 

[Silent Jay]

The lightsaber came from No More Heroes. They called it a Beam Katana though and it is used by the main character, Travis.

That's a good point you brought up about shooting at lower exposure levels. I've always been afraid of shooting at lower levels because of the fear of the footage looking too dark. But yeah, with this film, i wanted high contrast to match the Anime/comic book look and feel.

 

[aegriffin]

Beam Katana? Sue happy Lucas should be thrilled. Shows what I know to boot, eh? I get points for Pistol Opera though, right?

I also noticed you do a ton of work on your own flix. I'll simply tell you want was told to me recently by a local professional filmmaker. "Not everyone can produce, so don't be shy to share to love. People will help."

You've got a knack for action beats in a story that's for sure. I'm looking forward to seeing some more "serious" storyline injected into the style in the future, sir.

 

[ZazaCast]

I freakin' love it! Great job all around...it left me with a grin on my face. If a had to add anything to the comments above, I'd have to say the only weak scene was the opening one and a couple of spots where the music wasn't quite right.

...but really..awesome, keep up the good work!
Thanks for making this one.

 

[Silent Jay]

I also noticed you do a ton of work on your own flix.

I didn't start off wanting to be filmmaker. I actually became one out of necessity. I'm a performer first and foremost (I'm a theatre arts acting major). After starting off filming fight scenes with my friends 8 years ago, I got more and more interested in making my movies look more cinematic. So I eventually learned how to DP, light, do advanced editing techniques, AE effects, and everything in between. Also, I was the only one out of my friends who knew how do all this stuff, so I end up doing almost every job even though I'm in front of the camera. I just tell my camera man and grips exactly what to do for each shot.

Oh, and thanks for watching, zaza.