Mafia Tech Support (13 minute HD short) Sony EX1/Redrock/Nikon Lenses 1080P/24FPS

[GoodLuck]

"Mafia Tech Support" is online for those that would like to watch it...

hd version...
http://vimeo.com/8286280

sd version...
http://vimeo.com/8301844


Synopsis
A computer savvy wiseguy who doesn't have what it takes to be in the mob is put in charge of doing tech support. His busy day is interrupted when another mafia family sends a goon to collect a special disk being sent to his office with very important data on it.

Tagline
Even the mob needs tech support.

Genre
Drama, Comedy, Dark Comedy


THE CAST

SISSY: CHAD FORD (IMDb)

MICHAEL: DENNIS O'NEILL (IMDb)

TONY: LEE DUNKELBERG (IMDb)

MARK: MICHAEL MARCO (IMDb)

GINA: DONATELLE MASCARI (IMDb)

LARA: JOY INGRAM (IMDb)

COURIER: AL DIAS (IMDb)

 

[Aragon]

Seriously loved it! You got me laughing especially at the opening scene with the floppy drive! Great actors. Absolutely loved it. I never last 13 minutes for an indie film -- but for this one I did!

Keep up the great work!

 

[GoodLuck]

Seriously loved it! You got me laughing especially at the opening scene with the floppy drive! Great actors. Absolutely loved it. I never last 13 minutes for an indie film -- but for this one I did!

Keep up the great work!

Thanks Aragon for the kind words!! I'm glad you enjoyed it! My main area of interest is in comedy so it's good to know you got some laughs off it. We were blessed with a great cast of talented actors.

The shoot schedule was 3 1/2 days in the Dallas area. We ran mostly on a 3 man crew (director/dp/soundman) except on the last day in the warehouse, we had 3 PAs. This was a low budget short project. I found the script on simplyscripts. It was written by a writer out of Australia and originally was titled "Blood on the Help Desk Phone" and was all VOs. We decided to show the scenes instead of doing VOs and changed the title to Mafia Tech Support with permission from the writer. The goal with the short was to work on improving certain skills before doing our next feature film.


take care,
-Anthony

 

[GoodLuck]

Anyone else...?

 

[Anomie]

Liked it a lot!

Could be a bit more speedy perhaps. I got that impression, but it didn't bother me. Other than that: very funny and nicely shot. I have worked on a helpdesk for four years and there's nothing fictional about the calls he gets I must say. LOL

I also liked the big pile of computer stuff he's surrounded by.

I'll notify some of my ex-coworkers from that helpdesk I worked. Bet they'll like it a lot, too.

Jasper

 

[GoodLuck]

Liked it a lot!

Could be a bit more speedy perhaps. I got that impression, but it didn't bother me. Other than that: very funny and nicely shot. I have worked on a helpdesk for four years and there's nothing fictional about the calls he gets I must say. LOL

I also liked the big pile of computer stuff he's surrounded by.

I'll notify some of my ex-coworkers from that helpdesk I worked. Bet they'll like it a lot, too.

Jasper

Hey Jasper, it's good to hear you think it's very funny and nicely shot. I would have been very pleased to hear either, but to hear both, thanks for taking the time to post a comment. I've worked in 3 call centers in the past so also know that the calls are real. I talked to the writer who's out of Australia and he said it's based on actual events. It's funny to know that from the US to Australia and now the Netherlands, people with an IT background can relate. rogar-Happy(DBG):

Thanks for forwarding it along!

 

[GoodLuck]

camera setup -- Sony EX1, Redrock adapter on rails w/a follow focus+whip, a mattebox, nikon lens, sennheiser G3 wireless lav on top, on a bogen tripod, industry standard sony headphones on the back.

poster:

poster photography and design by Kevin Lynam

 

[GoodLuck]

BEHIND THE SCENES

 

[GoodLuck]

 

[GoodLuck]

 

[GoodLuck]

 

[GoodLuck]

Richard's grip truck...

I said Richard looked like a ninja with the headband, someone else said he looked like an aerobics instructor, after hearing that he took off the headband.

From left to right
actor Al "Train" Dias, associate producer Chris Ratliff, actor Chad Ford, me (producer/director), and actor Dennis O'Neill...

 

[Huy Vu]

I think it looks nice, especially the part in the factory, but sound was an issue for me. The background sound for the factory cuts in and out every time it switches location, which is jarring and creates audio pop. I'm no sound designer but I suggest overlaying the roomtone for the factory even on the cut and EQ it so that it sounds more like it's coming through the phone.

 

[8string]

Just posted to your Vimeo site. As I said there, great work! As someone moving along my first short script, looking to shoot next summer, I really liked seeing what you put together. Opening titles use of computer screen output is a great idea, you had wonderful acting, sound mix was great, lighting was very well done. Only criticism I have is that after the wonderful balance of artifical light in the warehouse, coming off the computer screens, you didn't get it balanced right in the close ups.

I downloaded it to my computer first, then showed it via HDMI on my large screen Sony monitor with surround sound. Was Wonderful!

Congratulations on a job well done, and I liked to see the photos you posted of your gear and production shooting.

By the way, my wife, not a video expert, loved your movie. Said to say, "forget his criticism of your lighting, I didn't even notice it!"

Sigh, so it goes....

 

[GoodLuck]

I think it looks nice, especially the part in the factory, but sound was an issue for me. The background sound for the factory cuts in and out every time it switches location, which is jarring and creates audio pop. I'm no sound designer but I suggest overlaying the roomtone for the factory even on the cut and EQ it so that it sounds more like it's coming through the phone.

Thanks Huy for the feedback, I never thought to do that. I've never experienced reverb/echo problems before like on this project. Although the audio pop might be jarring, the reverb/echo that existed before it was even worse. Luckily I was able to clean that up enough by cutting around it and by doing some slight corrections in soundbooth. To suggest EQing it throughout, is actually a compliment. That is a great suggestion and I'll consider it, however at this point I'm more inclined to take all criticism/feedback and apply it towards the next project and learn from areas that needed improvement.

However I read your comments in the other thread and I'm considering doing a shorter/faster version. If I do that, I'll likely try out your suggestion and see how it plays.

 

[GoodLuck]

Just posted to your Vimeo site. As I said there, great work! As someone moving along my first short script, looking to shoot next summer, I really liked seeing what you put together. Opening titles use of computer screen output is a great idea, you had wonderful acting, sound mix was great, lighting was very well done. Only criticism I have is that after the wonderful balance of artifical light in the warehouse, coming off the computer screens, you didn't get it balanced right in the close ups.

I downloaded it to my computer first, then showed it via HDMI on my large screen Sony monitor with surround sound. Was Wonderful!

Congratulations on a job well done, and I liked to see the photos you posted of your gear and production shooting.

By the way, my wife, not a video expert, loved your movie. Said to say, "forget his criticism of your lighting, I didn't even notice it!"

Sigh, so it goes....

Thanks for the feedback and it's great to hear your wife liked it too! Some work was done to clean up the sound so glad to hear you liked it. Richard spent at least an hour setting up the lights on each scene and we would constantly check everything in an HD monitor close by. My style as a director is very hands on with the actors, constantly pushing them. The actress who played Lara originally only had a few lines, I told her that I was extending out her role with guided improv. I'd tell her what I was wanting, talk more about your boyfriend and she'd improv it. I then cut and pieced it together, that was all her improvising and running on direction. The actor who played Mark, found the cast in the house the morning of the shoot and put it on and added in that whole added dimension of a mafia guy who injured his hand beating someone up. The take of him getting really loud and screaming was me pushing him to take it up with a lot more intensity. The people who lived in the house were sitting on the couch watching TV while we shot that and came over to watch at that point and had to hold back their laughter. Nothing worse than having someone break out in laughter during a take, luckily they were able to hold it in, lol. We had a great group of actors on this project.

As far as the lighting balance on the close-ups, that is a challenging thing that is definitely something I need to work on. I know people don't want to hear excuses but we had only one day to shoot that. Part of it being my fault, since production design wasn't completely done and ready before we arrived. I had started it prior. I also learned on the project it's important to have the scene 100% ready on the production design prior to shooting that day. I thought I'd come in that morning and get it done but it just cut into our shoot schedule. Also we had a one camera setup. I think you either need to give yourself plenty of time or compensate with a multicamera setup. I think the added benefit of a multicamera setup is you can set it all up at the same time, check the lighting and it all cuts together great with the same consistent natural light flowing in. However with the shift in natural light throughout the day as the camera is moved and setup in a new location with the shortage of time, you start to have some problems. I made some adjustments to it in post but nothing beats getting it done on set.

Great to hear you liked it and best of luck on your first short script, exciting times ahead! rogar-Happy(DBG):

 

[mentatDUKE]

Looks really great.
Nicely done. How'd you handle racking focus during the dolly forward with the guy eating pizza over his keyboard. Did you go adapterless for that and use the camera's autofocus/natural deep DOF, or did you have a remote follow focus?

Loved the cinematography in this.

 

[GoodLuck]

Looks really great.
Nicely done. How'd you handle racking focus during the dolly forward with the guy eating pizza over his keyboard. Did you go adapterless for that and use the camera's autofocus/natural deep DOF, or did you have a remote follow focus?

Loved the cinematography in this.

Hey thanks! We operated on a really small crew. On that day it was just me, the DP and the boom op.

For that part, we wireless lav'd the actor, boom mic locked through two chairs overhead and I had the boom op pull focus as I watched the monitor and audio. The DP operated the camera on the dolly track. Basically you start backwards, you start up really close and bring the person into focus and mark it. Then roll backwards from there, then push forward back to your mark.

It was a redrock micro whip.