Little White Pills

Was the pill developer (the kid) parked in front of the liquor store because that's a place he sells to... or just buying drinks... or was I to assume that he poisoned a batch to make his point... and the daughter of the boss was unlucky enough to get one from that supply?

This wasn't a bad film... but it's interesting how you can watch something like this and see an ebb and flow of good moments. In the office argument... for a minute there, I was very engaged in what started to feel like a real argument... but I agree that it then subsided even though the argument continued. I do think an edit out of the office could have helped... a simple cut to something bad at the very peak of the argument... vs. completely finishing the argument.

Again... still a nice entry.
 
The kid (32 y.o., ha) sold the pills to Tabitha's boyfriend at the liquor store. I was not sure if I clearly conveyed this, but I think some got it and some didn't. I agree completely on the argument. I had a bit grander plans, but disappointingly did not follow through with the scenes depicting the effects of the drug trade. No excuses. I cannot wait to step it up for the next fest. There was some really stiff competition.
 
I really like the concept of going with a "war of words." As I've stated elseware, I love the variety of interpretations because I had zero ideas not involving guns and camo for this one.

It probably would have benefited from a tighter cut and some clarrification on the liquor store, but these have been covered. Still got the point across. Good effort.
 
Spoiler-y review:

What I liked: The acting from the two main guys (for the most part) was pretty good. It pulled me in a couple of times. I liked that the dealer was the one that supplied it to his daughter. That worked for me. Other than one little spot, you had pretty nice audio. That really helped out a lot.

What I didn't like as much: The continuity was screwing with my head. Small things, though. The dealers arm and hand placement and body language wasn't the same from shot to shot. The lighting on the dad's face could have been a bit cleaner. It was too dark. The side of his face was lit up, but not the front, which seemed off. Especially in contrast to the dealers face who was very lit. The office seemed flat, too. Particularly the over the shoulder to the dealer. Sometimes the dialogue in the office fell flat, and it was after a well delivered line or so. Try to keep the same emotion throughout. Where did the boyfriend go when she was tripping? I didn't care for the drugged scene at all. The audio cut seemed to change to almost inaudible for 10 seconds during that scene (which was far too long). Why didn't the call go to voicemail instead of unavailable?

I know I have a lot in the second section there, but a lot of those are really small things that can be tweaked on set. A few lines seemed like they were one take away from nailing it.
 
Though reiterating what some have said, I'll put it in there myself: liked the strong sense of morality tale and different take on "war", but thought it was a little redundant and would've liked to have seen more of the greater context and consequences of this simple idea. Didn't see the mini-twist coming, so it was a pleasant surprise there and it cinematographically held my interest, so nice job with both of those. Best of luck!
 
I liked the outside-the-box approach to the war theme. Strong acting, some a little overstrong, but better than under. I would have liked to see the two guys at the beginning doing something while they talked. It felt like we were getting a lot of info stuffed in our faces. If the boss had gone back and sat at his desk, picked something up and looked at it, anything really, it would have distracted us from the boring backstory or made it feel more important. This film basically maxed out the time limit. The beginning dialog was too redundant. We got it right away but it kept going, and going. If the film had moved quicker or had other scenes added that would have helped. The drug scene went on for awhile at the end. I don't think this would have been so bad if she had been doing something more than simply sitting on the couch. I liked the effect and the button at the end with the dude at the drug store. It might have been neat to see him in a hoddie interacting with the daughter and her boyfriend and revealing his face at the end of the film. Although some shots at the beginning looked like they may have been from The Office there was some nice camera work throughout. I liked the still tripod when the kids are on the couch and how it changed to a fluid moving when she was high, then still again when dead. The exterior shots at the end looked nice too. Great work!
 
Hawk:
I realized the audio seemed like it cut off during the drug scene if you were using speakers with a limited frequency range. It sounded great on my speakers and "good" headphones, but with my iPod headphones the bass parts that continue are cut. This was a beat I made a little while back and I never noticed that until now.

Zach:
The final still shot of Tabitha was actually handheld but when I realized it would look much better still, I stabilized it in After Effects. There are some powerful tools in that suite, and thanks Andrew Kramer for teaching me so much about how to use it.

I love both the good and bad reviews, it really helps to know both what works and what didn't and why. This is why I enter these fests, thanks again, everyone.
 
I usually complain that there's not enough dialogue in shorts, but while this had plenty of dialogue, it's didn't have the push & pull between actors, nor the subtext. The younger actor was not as "believable" as the older actor. There was a part where you had a head shot on the older actor, but the lighting was off (dark) and when you had the profile of both actors as they stood up at the end of their conversation, the lighting appeared washed out.

No surprise ending here. It went exactly as I thought it would because you didn't give us any twist. While this may have been a war on prescription drugs (huge problem in America) I did not feel any "true" emotion. When you have two actors talking without action, we call that "talking heads."

Pretty much the bulk of this film was talking heads. Not enough true drama. Not enough conflict. Not enough. I did enjoy the sign pun of DVX Liquor. And come on, is the girl that moronic that someone would buy "legit" drugs at a liquor store?

While it's all make-believe, you must learn to make me believe it.
 
Charli said:
I usually complain that there's not enough dialogue in shorts, but while this had plenty of dialogue, it's didn't have the push & pull between actors, nor the subtext. The younger actor was not as "believable" as the older actor. There was a part where you had a head shot on the older actor, but the lighting was off (dark) and when you had the profile of both actors as they stood up at the end of their conversation, the lighting appeared washed out.

No surprise ending here. It went exactly as I thought it would because you didn't give us any twist. While this may have been a war on prescription drugs (huge problem in America) I did not feel any "true" emotion. When you have two actors talking without action, we call that "talking heads."

Pretty much the bulk of this film was talking heads. Not enough true drama. Not enough conflict. Not enough. I did enjoy the sign pun of DVX Liquor. And come on, is the girl that moronic that someone would buy "legit" drugs at a liquor store?

While it's all make-believe, you must learn to make me believe it.
Click to expand...


I agree with everything that Charli said but ....Charli the fact that one of the main characters was sitting in his car in front of the liquor store meant he was selling the drugs in front of the liquor store, hence the boy friend bought them at the liquor store.
 
I got that, but much better if it had been bought at a pharmacy. No one in their right mind would think buying "legit" drugs at/in/around a liquor store. Just saying...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top