Joystick Films Presents....."Early Retirement"

Hey Rich. I think this is your best film yet. I liked a lot of 'The Puppeteer', but this is a really solid entry that works much more fluidly. The white haired dude is one of the best actors of this fest and his performance made this story very believable.

I found myself actually quite tense and even though we kinda guessed he had been drugged it was still good fun to see how it would play out. One of my faves.
 
wow! Thnx Darkline, coming from you, I can't tell how much that means. Glad you enjoyed it!

We forgot to shoot a key reverse angle that made it much harder to figure out and I totallly take the blame for that one. Keaton already placed the blame on me. ;)
 
not just me, 3 of us watched it and we all liked it. :-)

We're getting through the films slowly, but I'm half way through and this is certainly in my top tier.
 
Darkline said:
not just me, 3 of us watched it and we all liked it. :-)

We're getting through the films slowly, but I'm half way through and this is certainly in my top tier.
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Aesome! I really hope I can stay up there. I have never made the second round.






MAH, don't even think about it:cheesy:
 
Yeah, I'm almost through all of the films, and even though I might be biased on this one, I think your film really is among the better ones in this fest, and I think it will do quite well.
 
markblasco said:
Yeah, I'm almost through all of the films, and even though I might be biased on this one, I think your film really is among the better ones in this fest, and I think it will do quite well.
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LOL! Thanks mark! I hope so. The fact you had 24 hours to score this thing and delivered is just amazing. Thank you so much.
 
Nice cinematography. Liked the lighting. Could have ended it with the gunshot; I didn't think it added anything to continue. Overall a solid piece. Oh, I liked what Mark did for you on the score!
 
Richard, a really effective set up. The only thing I could really say is the pressure and intensity could have lifted a bit more throughout that sequence - wont add spoiler here - but I think you'd know where I mean.

Solid entry here. Well done.
 
kurtmo said:
Nice cinematography. Liked the lighting. Could have ended it with the gunshot; I didn't think it added anything to continue. Overall a solid piece. Oh, I liked what Mark did for you on the score!
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Thanks kurt! I was debating ending it on the shot, thanks to MAH, :) But decided to let it play. I'm glad you liked it. Marks score helped tremensously. I really can't thank him enough.

Noel Evans said:
Richard, a really effective set up. The only thing I could really say is the pressure and intensity could have lifted a bit more throughout that sequence - wont add spoiler here - but I think you'd know where I mean.

Solid entry here. Well done.
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Appreciate it Noel. I know exactly where you mean. I forgot to shoot a key peice and it really changed the direction. I did have a newer edit but I have been working so much that I did not uploed the version I wanted to. But I'm very happy you liked it.
 
There were a lot of close ups. Way too many. I agree, you can build the suspense through your shots a bit more. Also, didn't buy an experience guy drinking anything without the other guy drinking it too. Just rule of thumb when it comes to those sort of games. The entire setting seemed a bit stale. Just not enough for me.
 
Charli said:
There were a lot of close ups. Way too many. I agree, you can build the suspense through your shots a bit more. Also, didn't buy an experience guy drinking anything without the other guy drinking it too. Just rule of thumb when it comes to those sort of games. The entire setting seemed a bit stale. Just not enough for me.
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"Thanks" for watching.
 
Hey there Richard! Well I enjoyed the setup and i liked the performances from your two actors. I think for me I would have liked seeing more pressure and intensity build between these two characters - give us a thumping soundtrack, speed frame those guys packing the pistols back together, make the whole thing grab us by the balls.

As for the drinking part - yep it does stretch a little that only the hitman does - but - but... i didnt ask myself that at the time of watching - and you know, im fairly cynical by nature. So somethings are only apparent on analyisis in post. This is a film id love to have shot myself. I might however, have considered letting the old dude spare the other guy - films' dont need to finish with gunshots.

If the old dude hadn't he could have played a more charismatic rougue retiree too ;)
 
This was a very solid and enjoyable entry - a simple single scene that worked very well. It depended a lot on the acting which was excellent. I agree with Charli that just the one guy drinking was a weakness. I also considered whether the film could end after the gun shot, which seemed the natural place to end it, but on the other hand, I rather liked the "off to sunnier climes" feeling (helped by the score) that you gave to those last few seconds as he drove off, so I'm not sure.

Jason
 
Nice noir feel to it... I figured out where it was going almost immediately, but enjoyed the ride immensely anyway.
 
I dug the hell out of this, this is so up my alley. very nice B&W Rich, i'm starting to get jealous of you guys who are ditching color.
i was actually thrown for a loop here because i assumed the scotch was poison, but it was not, it was just spiked with an opiate of some sort right?
so i thought the hitman was going to just die, but i like how you threw the "gun building" scene into the mix and then had the hitman slowly pass out.
i also noticed that the music subtley slowed down as the drug took effect, a very nice touch!

i think the problem people are saying of the main character (who was phenomenal) not drinking the scotch is an easy insert shot:
a macro close up of him lifting the drink to his lips and "pretending" to take a swallow would have sold the hitman that the scotch is drinkable.
i don't think you need to go reshoot that, but i'm just saying it's "fixable".

great work Rich, you are on fire between these last 2 fests!
 
lawriejaffa said:
Hey there Richard! Well I enjoyed the setup and i liked the performances from your two actors. I think for me I would have liked seeing more pressure and intensity build between these two characters - give us a thumping soundtrack, speed frame those guys packing the pistols back together, make the whole thing grab us by the balls.

As for the drinking part - yep it does stretch a little that only the hitman does - but - but... i didnt ask myself that at the time of watching - and you know, im fairly cynical by nature. So somethings are only apparent on analyisis in post. This is a film id love to have shot myself. I might however, have considered letting the old dude spare the other guy - films' dont need to finish with gunshots.

If the old dude hadn't he could have played a more charismatic rougue retiree too ;)
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Thank you for checking it out Lawrie and for the comments. They mean a great and it makes me think of where else I could have gone with it.

Horncastle said:
This was a very solid and enjoyable entry - a simple single scene that worked very well. It depended a lot on the acting which was excellent. I agree with Charli that just the one guy drinking was a weakness. I also considered whether the film could end after the gun shot, which seemed the natural place to end it, but on the other hand, I rather liked the "off to sunnier climes" feeling (helped by the score) that you gave to those last few seconds as he drove off, so I'm not sure.

Jason
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Not shooting the older guy drinking is something I simply forgot to do and not having a simple reverse changed the direction. There is a newer version that does show him lifting the cup and putting it down but I didn't upload that version. Another mistake as a result of rushing.
Thanks for checking it out.

elsmama said:
Nice noir feel to it... I figured out where it was going almost immediately, but enjoyed the ride immensely anyway.
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Thank you elsmama!!

Matt Harris said:
I dug the hell out of this, this is so up my alley. very nice B&W Rich, i'm starting to get jealous of you guys who are ditching color.
i was actually thrown for a loop here because i assumed the scotch was poison, but it was not, it was just spiked with an opiate of some sort right?
so i thought the hitman was going to just die, but i like how you threw the "gun building" scene into the mix and then had the hitman slowly pass out.
i also noticed that the music subtley slowed down as the drug took effect, a very nice touch!

i think the problem people are saying of the main character (who was phenomenal) not drinking the scotch is an easy insert shot:
a macro close up of him lifting the drink to his lips and "pretending" to take a swallow would have sold the hitman that the scotch is drinkable.
i don't think you need to go reshoot that, but i'm just saying it's "fixable".

great work Rich, you are on fire between these last 2 fests!
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Thanks Matt! It means a lot. I did fix that scene and once the fest is over I will be uploading that version to my vimeo page. Mark Blasco did a great job with the score with having only 24 hours to do it. I really put him under the gun and he came through.
 
Man, what can I say! This was awesome and just like Matt said, this film was right up my alley too. I dug the style, the color (or lack of), the actors, the music and the story. I really liked the way you shot it and I wouldn't change a THING about that. I've seen that some people have a problem with only the younger guy taking the drink, if you fixed that, that's great, but to me that was easily explained when the older guy told him that he was always an idiot. Him taking the drink without seeing the older guy take one proved his point. The whole gun duel thing was something I really liked and thought it was original and unique. Your last three films have really stepped up your game! Your films have shown so much improvement that I have to give you big props. Keep doing what you're doing! Out of the films I've seen so far, this is definitely one of my top picks.
 
good review marlon, i agree with everything you said. rich has become a really consistently good filmmaker and i totally recognize his style the second his movie starts.
 
Yep, you're right, Matt. He's definitely been coming into his on. BTW - On my way to your thread now. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!
 
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