Jack Daniel Stanley & Mark Johnson's REKINDLED

I too have that song in my head. Did Herman put it up anywhere just to listen to? And Jack, GOOD CHOICE on that singer - hint hint. I mean, REALLY GOOD CHOICE.
 
Regarding the song, I'm not sure if it is widely known that Jack wrote it. I can't recall if he posted the lyrics on this thread or not, but they are really spot on and have significance vis-a-vis the film.
 
Lingothree said:
this felt like it was SUPPOSED to be a story that could be told in six minutes (not one of those "i know it doesn't make sense now, but wait til you see my 20 minute version!" submissions).

Hey now! Gosh, that hurts, lol! Kidding ... that was totally the case of ours ... wonder if that's the one you're referring to? :beer:

Jack, was that YOU singing REKINDLED? Aside from the score/music, did Herman then sweeten/mix your voice?
 
Envision said:
Hey now! Gosh, that hurts, lol! Kidding ... that was totally the case of ours ... wonder if that's the one you're referring to? :beer:

Jack, was that YOU singing REKINDLED? Aside from the score/music, did Herman then sweeten/mix your voice?

oops you caught me. No, I promise I wasn't referring to you. I must have seen that excuse written at least a hundred times between this fest and the others, so it's just kind of become convention in my mind.
 
desperatecomfort said:
Yeah Herman, once again I am amazed at your range. Jack's music had a very Pink Floyd/Doors sound to me, as opposed to Ours and Brandon's. Amazing.

oh yeah! Herman's workin' on the final "title song" for Smuggler's Ransom as well. It'll be a more U2ish rock song with lyrics and a singer as well! He's the man!

BTW: LOL! I also found myself humming this song as SOON as I logged onto DVXuser... it's infectious!
 
Mark Johnson said:
Regarding the song, I'm not sure if it is widely known that Jack wrote it. I can't recall if he posted the lyrics on this thread or not, but they are really spot on and have significance vis-a-vis the film.
to be clear ... I wrote the serviceable lyrics Herman of course wrote the amazing music.


And Norm, the guy singing is this guy:
http://charliepollock.com/
its a flash site so I can't link you to vocal samples. but click that menu option and you can hear more of Charlie.

I was going to sing. I did an audition demo for Herman to make sure i could hack it. But durig the final week of editing I was getting so little sleep that I was all congested and dried out and wheesy and tens in my voice and I couldn't hit some of the higher stuff with a nice sustained vibrato so I called in a pro to sing it at the last minute and that would be Chuck.

Here's the music again. Really warrants listening with Herman's proper mixed (sorry about the contest mix Herman) and without drills or guts being squished over it.

1 - Rekindled
2 - Episodes
3 - The Perfect Muse

I'm toying with the idea of asking herman to make a version of Rekindled in the idea of #3 The Perfect Muse for the credits at the end to be sung in a more Crow soundtrack sort of way, but you don't get to hear enough of the song as it is now in the short so maybe its best to let the son as it is now play over the credits.

And finally here are the lyrics.
The idea was to have them deal with the theme of the short but not be so on the nose that you could guess too much about what was going on through a casual listen.

Rekindled …
Just when it looked our love had dwindled,
The red wine flows and Hades opens,
And here I am a hopin’,
That you’ve come back for a new start,
Or have you come to break heart?

Rekindled …
And though it seemed our love had dwindled,
The Boatman grants a second chance,
For an old but true romance.
And though you did dearly depart,
Your love’s alive within my heart.

And while I’ve always been a dreamer and rewritten what men knew,
I never dreamed for a second chance with one as sweet as you.
But like a Count of Transylvania or perhaps with some Voodoo,
We’ll outsmart the Ferry Man and bid the end adieu.

Side by side,
There’s no pain or strife,
In our happily …
ever-after life.

Rekindled …
And though it seemed our love had dwindled,
The Boatman grants a second chance,
For an old but true romance.
And though you did dearly depart,
Your love’s alive within my heart.

(Break)

Side by side,
There’s no pain or strife,
In our happily …
ever-after life.

Rekindled …
Just when it looked our love had dwindled,
The red-rum flows and Hades opens,
And here I am a hopin’,
That you’ve risen for a new start,
To live with love inside my heart.
 
Last edited:
Jack Daniel Stanley said:
to be clear ... I wrote the serviceable lyrics Herman of course wrote the amazing music.


And Norm, the guy singing is this guy:
http://charliepollock.com/
its a flash site so I can't link you to vocal samples. but click that menu option and you can hear more of Charlie.

I was going to sing. I did an audition demo for Herman to make sure i could hack it. But durig the final week of editing I was getting so little sleep that I was all congested and dried out and wheesy and tens in my voice and I couldn't hit some of the higher stuff with a nice sustained vibrato so I called in a pro to sing it at the last minute and that would be Chuck.

Here's the music again. Really warrants listening when mixed properly (sorry Herman) and without drills or guts being squished over it.

1 - Rekindled
2 - Episodes
3 - The Perfect Muse

I'm toying with the idea of asking herman to make a version of Rekindled in the idea of #3 The Perfect Muse for the credits at the end to be sung in a more Crow soundtrack sort of way, but you don't get to hear enough of the song as it is now in the short so maybe its best to let the son as it is now play over the credits.

And finally here are the lyrics.
The idea was to have them deal with the theme of the short but not be so on the nose that you could guess too much about what was going on through a casual listen.

Rekindled …
Just when it looked our love had dwindled,
The red wine flows and Hades opens,
And here I am a hopin’,
That you’ve come back for a new start,
Or have you come to break heart?

Rekindled …
And though it seemed our love had dwindled,
The Boatman grants a second chance,
For an old but true romance.
And though you did dearly depart,
Your love’s alive within my heart.

And while I’ve always been a dreamer and rewritten what men knew,
I never dreamed for a second chance with one such as you.
But like a Count of Transylvania or perhaps with some Voodoo,
We’ll outsmart the Ferry Man and bid the end adieu.

Side by side,
There’s no pain or strife,
In our happily …
ever-after life.

Rekindled …
And though it seemed our love had dwindled,
The Boatman grants a second chance,
For an old but true romance.
And though you did dearly depart,
Your love’s alive within my heart.

(Break)

Side by side,
There’s no pain or strife,
In our happily …
ever-after life.

Rekindled …
Just when it looked our love had dwindled,
The red-rum flows and Hades opens,
And here I am a hopin’,
That you’ve risen for a new start,
To live with love inside my heart.

Now that is some awesome stuff!
 
F'in amazing. This movie showed a level of maturity that was just not apparent in the other movies I've watched. There are some great shorts in the fest, but this just stands head and shoulders above for restraint and attention to detail.

Thanks for entering this wonderful piece of work.
 
So wha? you thikn youre a songwriter too? lol

NAh i loved the song man. im putting it on my Ipod.
 
I finally finished watching and voting on all the films. There were some really creative and creepy entries.

Still, "Rekindled" remains stuck in my brain. It really is quite haunting.

Chris
 
I just have to get one last comment in before voting ends: Rekindled is simply awesome. There are so many incredible details, from the record label, to the song itself, to all the little sounds and nice touches in the production design...

Incredible work, guys.

Ben
 
I had to also just say how amazed I was one more time. This movie is phenomenal, and I think it will win, but even if it does not, it has changed the way I approach movies. I believe I am a better film maker from studying it and learning from Jack and Mark's comments and helpful tips. Thank you guys!!!!!
 
wow thanks for all the comments guys!

insanityfw said:
F'in amazing. This movie showed a level of maturity that was just not apparent in the other movies I've watched. There are some great shorts in the fest, but this just stands head and shoulders above for restraint and attention to detail.

Thanks for entering this wonderful piece of work.
Thanks so much insanity! Glad you liked it. :beer:

Lingothree said:
Hey guys -

You win for song that gets the most stuck in my head "rekindled...la da dee da dee da dee da da..."

Yup - so I think this is the clear winner in all respects. You all did an exceptional job - score, direction, story, effects - all great.

There's no way I'm reading through all 80 pages in this thread - I still have movies to watch, and need to vote tonight so I can do some drinking tomorrow night. So I apologize if this is stuff you've already addressed.

Picking this apart is kind of funny - the really bad movies , you're afraid to say anything bad for fear that you'll never be able to stop with the criticism and you'll only end up breaking someone's spirit. So, with the proviso that this movie was very well-executed and this is just small stuff...

There was something kind of awkward about the beginning - the way the shots are all spliced together, it seems a little jumbled from 0:00-:10 (though I do LOVE the intro). Something about in the editing seems a little clunky. Was this intentional?

Your actors did a great job, but I had a little bit of trouble reading into the male lead - I just didn't get him, didn't understand enough about what was motivating him. Craziness? Blood lust? Hatred for women? Or conversely, too much love for women (kind of like Lennie and the bunnies)? It would have been great if this could have been fleshed out a tiny bit more in the story and in the acting. That said, your actor still did a great job. And he was hot. But that's irrelevant...moving on...
I think this is one instance where I could have benefitted from Mark H.'s rehearsal. Simple fact is that it wasn't well enough worked out before shooting. I hate the idea of rehearsal for film, but not rehearsing presuposes you are working with actors who are very comfortable working that way. Also the script was a challenge to develope so it kept changing up to the last minute. Finally, as much as I tried to dig a little deeper and not do my same thing or whore myself thinking "will the guys like this?" and letting that guide me too much, I allowed myself to feel some pressure to MAKE it scary, which was dumb. I had him play cool and threatening in the openning scene because I was afraid it lacked tension and wanted to imply that Jin was in some risk, which doesn't fully track with his character arc.

Also ... and here's a big challenge for the viewer ... the screenplay switched perspectives. A usal no no, but sometimes effective as a rule broken as per psycho. But we start in HIS dream, which he wakes up from and which is obv his perspective, but the moment Jin shows up its obviously her perspective - disjointed and fragmented and the audience sees things on her arc with her - we are all wondering what the hell is going oh, where is shem, who is this guy, is he lover or someone she should be wary off and then we learn what Jin learns and put the pieces together as she does.

I started with the dream to start things off with a bang and gets some good horror imagery and exposition out of the way ... he's a killer (probably) ad this is how he does it. But looking back it would have been better to make that Jin's dream, and have her wake up in a room where he is and proceed from there or have the elements in the dream appear as visions as her mind pieces things together.

This change in persepective, which kind of gived the viewer one ledge to stand on and then knocks them off it, may be the reason that a handful of people to misdiagnose the script as thin (IMHO). The symptom is the same - a feeling of underdevelopedness but I don't think the cause is lack of development or that theirs not plenty going on here, but that its hard to tell at times who you should be identifying with so that the cummulative effect of what is developed has less impact (again, IMHO)
Lingothree said:
Overall, stylistically I felt like this was a little over-produced (felt the same way about Bone Hand), and would have liked to see a slightly more organic style in your editing, effects, etc. Not SO much in the case of Bone Hand, but definitely with this one. I recognize that's just a style preference though.

Not critique but just a question - why was Jin upside down in that shot where the tear rolls down her cheek?
Happy accident - as you know shots using a 35mm adaptor are recorded upside down and then flipped in post. The flop filter accidentlly came off this clip while shuffling some things around and I liked it and decided to keep it for the following reasons.
  • her mind is completely topsy turvey as she tries to put these fragments together - the upsidedowness reflects that chaos and that perhaps some mempories can be trusted and others not as much.
  • she is dead after all and I also thought it looked like she was looking down on her body
  • (the most obscure and least defensible) This is really more of a post modern vampire story than a serial killer story - the need blood to cheat death, psychic connection that spans the world of the living and the dead, gothic formal imagery, etc ... so given that I thought it was kinda funny that she's upside down like a bat.
  • She's upside down when she dies - her polaroid is the only upside down victim
  • its mor interesting than right side up, especially with the tear rolling upscreen, and like I said its the fragmented, somewhat altered as we later learn, memories of a dead person, so I thought I had pretty liberal rein over whether things were upside down, or pink, or wiggly - who knows maybe that's exactly what dead people's memories look like :)
Lingothree said:
What I loved -

score was great, and entirely appropriate. really contributed to the film as a whole.

that darn record player - what a great way to bookend the movie. great idea.

good, proper ending. a real rarity in this festival. plus, this felt like it was SUPPOSED to be a story that could be told in six minutes (not one of those "i know it doesn't make sense now, but wait til you see my 20 minute version!" submissions).

LOVE LOVE LOVE that transition at :11 - spinning record dissolving into the spinning blood down the drain. genius.

loved jin's subtle change to pale toward the end

For Jack - overall, I think your final product here turned out much better than Bone Hand - it seems you've grown a lot since then in your art.

Great job - and way to assemble a great team to make something very special.
Yes I couldn't have done this without above and beyond performances in all areas from the actors, Mark, and my girlfriend both while wearing her producer hat and "supportive girlfriend of art-bum" hat.

Wow. thanks for the detailed and thurough review. I really appreciate it especially since i know you are burning the midnight oil to get through and comment on everyone's films.

Thanks for entering your great film and being a great participatory audience memeber as well.

Jack
 
CMessineo said:
I finally finished watching and voting on all the films. There were some really creative and creepy entries.

Still, "Rekindled" remains stuck in my brain. It really is quite haunting.

Chris

Thanks man, means a lot coming from you :beer:
 
So hairy stuff descided to show his oogly face... must mean scarry stuff isnt far behind.
 
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