hoffnung

Wow a period piece with authentic items. Bet nobody else can say that! Looking forward to it. Cool man :beer:
 
Keystoned said:
Wow a period piece with authentic items. Bet nobody else can say that! Looking forward to it. Cool man :beer:
Click to expand...

Hi Keystoned

We tried our best to keep it period and authentic the best we could .

Ian
 
Ok, so this is one of my favorites. (AND NO POEPLE, NOT BECAUSE IT'S IN B&W!). I do love the B&W though. Very dreamy and silky quality to it. Love the exterior visuals. Love the plane sequence. Costumes were great. Very cool film.

Just three quick criticisms.

First is the characters/actors. I really would have tried to have them speak in native accents. The German guy sounds like he's from the Midwest. The Canadian guy, well, sounded like a Canadian, but that's probably not a stretch. You might have even had some of the characters speak in their native languages to each other with subtitles.

Second thing is the sound in the interrogation/torture room was a little to "lively".

Third thing is that the pilot should have reacted a bit more in pain as he was being put through the wringer.

I point these things out not be overly critical, but because I really liked your film. This is probably one of the "smaller" films in the fest, but it's a good one!

Great job. Thanks for letting me watch it.
 
Standard Disclaimer: I've watched half of the films so far and have yet to see a bad film. Congratulations to every film maker, everyone did a great job. All my comments and criticisms are meant to be constructive and helpful and in no way am I trying to take anything away from what you accomplished.

Good: Cinematography was top notch (really liked the POV shots). Sound design was very good as well. Good story. Really liked the airplane shots.

Not as Good: The acting for the most part didn't match up with the intensity of the situation. I'd expect people to be more tense, hurried, scared, etc. in that situation. The main character didn't seem to be in much pain for all the torture he endured. Also, although this is minor, the paper that said the war was over stuck out as it was perfectly white computer paper with nice print on it, I think a more yellowish/weathered piece of paper with a different font (perhaps handwritten) would have matched the period better. The titling font seemed a little "microsoft word-ish".
 
I enjoyed it, but i agree with some of the criticisms.

American german officers & french peasents kind of take me out of that world.
I also think there could have been more CU's of the pilot's reactions to what he was going though.

Other than that i thought it was mostly good. It even reminded me of this great commercial for stella artois http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6HCeGWBm7s

The cgi of the plane at the start was pretty damn good too!
 
I liked this film, cool vfx and good story. A period piece is ambitious and I think you pulled off the feel of european countryside very well. I wanted the German officer to have a german accent, could have used a few cu's as mentioned. Congrats on the film, well done.
 
I'm going to say what everyone is thinking:

You are INSANE. And I look forward to everything you do. This was fantastic. Maybe I could nitpick here and there, but this is the first film I've seen in the fest and made me care about that all important question:

What's going to happen next????

I had a really good time watching this.
 
I liked your film. I think your camera work was great. The effects with the airplane were amazing!!!! My only problem was the acting. It was awful for the most part and the German interogator should of had an accent. I also thought you would end it with his son running into his arms. I still really liked it.
 
The fx was sweet. Love the warplane. As a writer I'll have to say I enjoyed the
'content' of this film more than others, because you had content. A trick to working
with actors who may not be good actors, give them less to say. Instead of,
"Are you American" he could have said, "American?" and so on, and so on.
Embrace that less is more.

Also, if you begin with a picture of the son, you should end with a picture of the son.
Visual bookends. I will however say that I don't think this is a true 'spy' film. I
think it falls more in the genre of drama, war drama. Still, I think you did a
terrific job and it has more of a cinematic feel than most. Kudos.
 
Thanks guys for the comments

As for the lack of German accents ...well most movies up to the 60's , Germans didn't have accents , in fact most had an English accent .
I wanted to make this short of that period style .
cinealma .. as for the Lively sound ..yes for sure but I had no control on that it was in the basement and the sound sure bounced .

As for the acting ..HHmmm well I must defend these guys .
John ( German) put everything into his role as did Ken . This was a huge role for both of these guys as they are non actors.

The lack of pain from Robert ...Films of this period , the characters when tortured or beaten rarley showed any emotion and that is what we based our scenes on ...These guys were portrayed as TOUGH .

The Rapter 365 says Thanks on the kind comments for the Spitfire scenes .

Thanks for the comments and I do listen to them all and I am glad you guys still enjoyed the short .

Ian
 
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Mark Harris said:
I'm going to say what everyone is thinking:

You are INSANE. And I look forward to everything you do. This was fantastic. Maybe I could nitpick here and there, but this is the first film I've seen in the fest and made me care about that all important question:

What's going to happen next????

I had a really good time watching this.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mark
I guess we are insane for trying this period stuff .

Ian
 
cinealma said:
Ok, so this is one of my favorites. (AND NO POEPLE, NOT BECAUSE IT'S IN B&W!). I do love the B&W though. Very dreamy and silky quality to it. Love the exterior visuals. Love the plane sequence. Costumes were great. Very cool film.

.
Click to expand...

Many Thanks cinealma

I tried to get that 40's soft look and glad you liked the result .

Ian
 
Very ambitious! Loved the flight sequence, nice work there.
Your shot framing was also very good, so was the lighting.

I really liked the ending as well.

Have to give props to a good Canadian film. ;)

Cheers,

Mike
 
Charli said:
The fx was sweet. Love the warplane. As a writer I'll have to say I enjoyed the
'content' of this film more than others, because you had content. A trick to working
with actors who may not be good actors, give them less to say. Instead of,
"Are you American" he could have said, "American?" and so on, and so on.
Embrace that less is more.

Also, if you begin with a picture of the son, you should end with a picture of the son.
Visual bookends. I will however say that I don't think this is a true 'spy' film. I
think it falls more in the genre of drama, war drama. Still, I think you did a
terrific job and it has more of a cinematic feel than most. Kudos.
Click to expand...

Hi Charli

Thanks !!!

As for the young boy ....well by the time we shot the ending ...he was sure cranky . It would've been nice to have him running to his DAD BUT it was getting late and he just didn't want to play anymore ..lol

Thanks Again Charli for the Kind words .. these mean a lot .
Ian
 
Ariel - I'm a real content snob and I can say, from a writer's point of view, so far, this one has real cinematic value and though I know you want to defend your actors, it's the audience they have to impress and the delivery of their lines were not always organic, hence, if you have them say less, there's less chance of faulty delivery. If you ever need help on a script, someone as an advisor, toss it my way, I would love to take it a look at it, and I don't offer that to everyone. Good job.
 
Kyser said:
Very ambitious! Loved the flight sequence, nice work there.
Your shot framing was also very good, so was the lighting.

I really liked the ending as well.

Have to give props to a good Canadian film. ;)

Cheers,

Mike
Click to expand...


Mike ...Many Thanks for the compliment .

I showed a retired airforce guy last night at work and asked him his thoughts on the short ...He watched ...and exclaimed this is great ! I love it ! I want a DVD .


Did you get your DVX ?

Sorry you didn't make the fest . was looking forward to a short from you .

Ian
 
LOL! I did make the fest. Just click my banner and check it out. :)

I bought the HV20.

I would love to read your comments... so post away in my thread.

I made Robin the Spy.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Charli said:
Ariel - I'm a real content snob and I can say, from a writer's point of view, so far, this one has real cinematic value and though I know you want to defend your actors, it's the audience they have to impress and the delivery of their lines were not always organic, hence, if you have them say less, there's less chance of faulty delivery. If you ever need help on a script, someone as an advisor, toss it my way, I would love to take it a look at it, and I don't offer that to everyone. Good job.
Click to expand...

Many Thanks Charli

I'll keep that in mind as I am a horrible writer and to have some help with the script or to even to give advice would make my day .

Ian
 
Kyser said:
LOL! I did make the fest. Just click my banner and check it out. :)

I bought the HV20.

I would love to read your comments... so post away in my thread.

I made Robin the Spy.

Cheers,

Mike
Click to expand...

Ok my face is red !!!
How in the H$%^ did I miss the Canadian connection here ..lol

I'll be watching for sure . I think that makes 3 Canadians in the fest or did I miss anyone else..lmao

Sorry Mike ..just can't believe I missed that ..

Ian
 
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