"Hollow" a film by Justin Chandra

*spoilers*

In regards to the lack of story comments, I was just chatting with Justin and he mentioned that he thought some shots were a bit long. I'd have to agree on that. I'm sure it is the sense of pacing that lets the mind wander a bit. But for the most part, I thought it was all there. Though I'm surprised at how depressing people think the ending is. I didn't find it necessarily depressing. Sure, it's a downer, but the character comes to a bit of an understanding. That he needs to move on. When brainstorming with Justin, the idea of taking the picture down was to remember her and keep that piece for himself. I thought it showed character development. Hard to do in a short film.

Anyhow, I was completely blown away by the world that was created. Especially in the amount of time the film was made in. Good job.
Let this be a lesson: Justin, make more films.
 
Bryce A said:
*spoilers*

Anyhow, I was completely blown away by the world that was created. Especially in the amount of time the film was made in. Good job.
Let this be a lesson: Justin, make more films.
Click to expand...


Agreed. Justin, make more movies. That is all I have to say for now.
 
This was really very interesting.

I love the style and the way you told this story without any dialogue. All the questions you leave unanswered are wonderful.

The pace was slow, but I found myself drawn into the story. The music was perfect for it.

Two small things I didn't like. The constant grain added in post felt too "digital" to me. Also, I wish the lead wasn't wearing glasses - I wanted to see his eyes and feel his emotions a little more.

Still, this was very well done.
 
Hey, man. Thanks for sharing your work with us!

Very unique and creative entry.

I echo the critiques on the story that I have seen.

I actually am interested if you'd be willing to share a bit about the process, and the technical side of things. I'd like very much to hear about how you accomplished some of the effects, looks, etc... as that sort of thing is very new to me.

You definitely stepped out on a limb with this entry and it was fun to watch. Lots of eye candy. thanks again for sharing it.

later,
jason
 
Hey Jason,

I'll talk to my brother and see if I can convince him to drop in and maybe throw some BTS stuff up!

J
 
Bryce A said:
*spoilers*

I'm sure it is the sense of pacing that lets the mind wander a bit.
Click to expand...

I guess I'm to blame on the pacing part. I didn't get contacted till the last last last last minute to do a score/soundtrack for this short (I won't say how short). But, yeah the shorter version could have definitly made an impact if I did my job properly. Because I know this film didn't have dialog, sound design and music were supposed to achieve mood and feel just as much as the visuals. Sound design rocked though, and if I had more time I think I could have solved the pacing part of the film.

Best of luck to all of you.

KenV
 
Hey guys.... thanks for all the comments!

Jason - I'd be happy to talk about any part of the process of making the movie.. is there anything you would specifically like to to know? We shot the movie on a greenscreen... and did a whole lot of photoshopping of stills for the backgrounds. We then combined the backgrounds with live smoke, fire and other video elements within after effects.

Ken - I think you did a fantastic job with the music with the direction and time you were given. I can understand the pacing comments... which I believed could have been resolved if it were a bit tighter or if used more inserts to break up the pacing of some of the longer shots.. I think the music does its job well.

thanks for watching,

justin
 
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Yeah I'm sorry if I messed the pacing up, but I'm just gonna say both of your films look dark on screen. Dark on the monitor that is.
 
I actually am interested if you'd be willing to share a bit about the process, and the technical side of things. I'd like very much to hear about how you accomplished some of the effects, looks, etc... as that sort of thing is very new to me.
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this! i'd love to see the opening few seconds - where you pan from the airplanes and burnt buildings down to your main character the first time - broken down by the layers you added.

again, very well done!

kev - the music was pretty damn good!

don't any of you sell yourself short on the quality here. the timeframe that you all executed on is astounding.

i hope you continue with a little work on this. no reason to not go back and make some edits to improve places you think would work. i think there's a lot of good fests you could send this to!
 
Cliff Wildman said:
this! i'd love to see the opening few seconds - where you pan from the airplanes and burnt buildings down to your main character the first time - broken down by the layers you added.
Click to expand...

Cliff, thanks for your comments.. I'm glad you enjoyed the movie. The first shot is composed of the following layers (from bottom to top):

1. A cloud layer, made from a still photo that is moving slightly.
2. An airplane layer, composed of airplanes that have keyframe-animated propellers and doubled in another comp.
3. A video element of moving clouds/smoke to provide a haze.
4. The photoshopped buidling background, with the sky removed.
5. The actor on a greenscreen.

These elements were combined in after effects, and an artificial camera tilt/pan was added.

I hope this breakdown is helpful. Let me know if there is anything else you'd like to know. I do plan on revisiting the movie.. tweaking the editing and audio here and there.

thanks.
 
Good movie, amazing job of creating this world. The different people that the main character encountered made me curious about the current socio-political status outside of the apparent war. Visuals were very well done and creative.

That being said, I have to agree with the previous posters that said the pacing is a little slow. A combination of the visuals, the speed in which the actor is moving, and the music kind of make this one drag just a little. All in all though, it was a very well executed piece.
 
Beautiful work. A rich visual snippet in the day of a life after a disaster.

You worked so hard to create an anytime anyplace environment for this to occur in, yet I found the lead's wardrobe a bit off. An urban style street hoodie with a nice clean mask kinda goes against the rest of the production design. Something a bit more generic, disheveled and grimy would have fit the bill better.

The soundtrack production was a little too canned and thin in contrast to the incredibly sophisticated visuals.

I was brought back to the thousands of posters at the ferry terminal as I made my way to work in the months after 9/11 and wondered if you too live in the New York area.
 
Cool film! I really like the music, kinda reminded me of Angelo Badalamenti. I think the repetative nature of the music emphasized the hopelessness of the situation, as in hell or purgatory. Things ain't gonna get any better! Ever!

The visuals gave it a surreal, dream like quality. Well done!
 
I liked this film a lot. Loved the visuals and atmosphere. I'm always partial to black and white. I think the compression may have killed it a bit, I'm sure it looks fantastic in full-rez.

Although I liked the score on its own, I don't feel it went with the film, kind of made it feel slightly "music-video-esque". Just my opinion. I would have rather had some nice "hollow" wind blowing throughout and let the landscape be the score; maybe some subtle pads/strings for emphasis.

I also you feel you could really delve further in the sound design on this one.

I agree with those that mentioned the wardrobe. But, I understand you did what you could with what you had and the time to put it together... although some old Eastern Bloc gas masks would have looked great. :happy:

Two scenes I thought were fantastic: The scene where he goes by the shop with the t.v.'s in the window with the video camera out to the street and he puts the poster in the window. The scene where he puts the posters, sits down, time/people flow by, and he rises to find his posters have been covered with new ones of missing people. Awesome stuff.

So, the pacing. I thought the pacing was fine. I feel this piece needed a very slow pace so that we can soak in the reality of what we are seeing. My only comment to this is that I don't think it needed to be shorter. I just think you had too many scenes. For example, the scene with the guy with the Super8 camera could have been cut. That would have given more time for the film to "breathe" a bit and let us become more involved with the main character and what he is going through.

I applaud the compositing work. And you did this all in a week? Bravo. Believe me, I know the work that went into it. Great job.

Anyway, I could go on and on...

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers!
 
Texture said:
I was brought back to the thousands of posters at the ferry terminal as I made my way to work in the months after 9/11 and wondered if you too live in the New York area.
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Texture - I actually live on the West Coast, but the thousands of posters that you described was the image I had in mind when designing that shot.

Thanks for your comments.
 
This is a wonderful film and I really wonder why it's not getting more attention. It's pretty stunning.

You did such a nice job with the pace in this. I just read cinealma's post and it makes me think there have been those who did not like the pace? Anyway, I thought it was perfect, and I think it will be more so on a big screen where your attention is not divided.

And of course the compositing. In general I hate digital EFX. But I LOVE the way you used them in this, not so much to create things and convince us they are real, but to create this world, which we kind of have to meet you halfway on. Like this is not a completely real world, but it is enough to hook our imaginations and let us start filling in the realities that you don't give us. And the world's unreality gives it such a creepy feel, esp with the old planes, but what looked like modern dress.

Again, usually I am not one to give a crap about BTS, but in this case, I would love to see some. On second viewing, I went through to look at the composites and try to figure out what was real and what wasn't, looking at the film from a more technical viewpoint, and I could not.

Also, I would love to get my hands on a full res version, maybe after the fest. Like I said, just seems like the bigger you watch it, the more it can suck you in.

I guess the only thing I would try if I were you, would be remove the music. It sounded like you had a really nice sound design, and I kept thinking this would be about 100 times creepier and more effective if all we heard was the wind and the footsteps. I feel like you were pretty bold to pace it the way you wanted, and not give in to trying to make it "more exciting," and I think that kind of thinking would help the sound as well. Just let the sound design carry it. I dunno, maybe try it. But the music tended to take me out a bit and separate me from the reality, rather than add to it.

But wow, great work.
 
Been thinking more about the soundtrack to this...

Its a great visual work and its been sticking with me since I saw it.

My fantasy for this would be to have Massive Attack create one of their darker more industrial trip-hop soundscapes for this... With lyrics.

Check out their work on "Mezzanine" and "100th Window."

The possibilities are way exciting.

Suddenly the street cool hoodie is working for me. :smile:

Cheers,

Erik
 
Hey Justin,

This was one of my favorites in the fest. After watching a number of saccharin-sweet stories (not knocking those entries though), this was totally unexpected and a welcome departure from the norm. Ken - I loved the music. I must agree with Mark in that I don't understand the pacing comments from some other posters. Worked for me...

Please keep up the good work - looking forward to seeing your next short.
 
Justin, this was an extremely visually stunning film. You created a world and transported us to it. Quite an accomplishment. First I was reminded of Sky Captain, then I thought of cinealma. So you're in good company.

Black and white was a great choice. I can't imagine this in color at all. I love the fact that you don't explain anything and leave the audience to come to their own conclusions.

Cool costumes, cool art direction, great atmosphere, and nice visual gags (The TVs, the posters getting covered)

Looking forward to more from you. Still need to watch Tailight. What are you doing next? More scifi? Any way to see some of your previous work?

Good job on this.
 
Cinealma said:
Two scenes I thought were fantastic: The scene where he goes by the shop with the t.v.'s in the window with the video camera out to the street and he puts the poster in the window. The scene where he puts the posters, sits down, time/people flow by, and he rises to find his posters have been covered with new ones of missing people. Awesome stuff.
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree these scenes will stick with me.

Amazing look and art direction obviously. This film kept surprising me in cool visual ways that drove the simple story forward and added intrigue.

Nice sound design too. Really top notch and evocative. aIntense.

Here’s some thoughts as I watch it a second time:

Really interesting what he does with her picture and the TV’s.

I like this groove a lot too.

I like the reveal of the wall of missing people. Very effective. One thing though. Dunno why we cut back to the guy in the white coat. Seems like it should go … lab coat guy points … hood guy looks … cut to his POV of the board … would be a better through line for that moment I think, we don’t care about the guy in the white coat anymore and it muddies the reveal / impact of wall.

So I loved this piece. The only thing I felt it was lacking was an ending. So many great moments I wished it had gone somewhere. Cyclical is fine and can work well for a short, but I felt it lacked payoff here.

Very strong original work. One of the favorite shorts I’ve seen, it will definitely stay with me.
 
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