"Mahlen" by: Justin R. Durban

Without question, my favourite film of yours Justin! I've seen glimpses of this in your other work and I'm glad to see it finally coming together here.

Not much to add to what others are saying but this is a vast improvement in my book..... but I know you can probably push it further too, you have many talents :-)

All the best with this.

Karl
aka
Mike.

PS, I really enjoyed it, if I didnt say so already!
 
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congrats Justin!!

I really enjoyed it, amazing stuff here. That last shot was just magnificent!

Top notch score (as I would expect :-), but also great sound design, the little things like the tea-kettle whistle leading into the shot and great quality scifi sounds and bass rumblings.
 
This is a very ambitious project and wonderfully realized. This appears
to be a tease for something bigger. The CG effects are pretty impressive
and the music worked really well along side the acting. There were a
couple of moments that took me out of the story, such as the costumes
the evil lead and soliders wore. It was good attempt at creating a
futuristic military wardrobe, but it seemed to be piece mealed together
from familiar items we use today. The shot of the door being cut open is
odd. They are trying to cut open a four panel door with a blow torch? I
don't buy it. With your experience in CGI, I would imagine you replacing
the door with a metal one. I also felt some of the dialogue to be overly
melodramatic. For example, the evil lead says, ...and above all, an
unnatural death." That little piece at the end of the line is
unnecessary. The last shot is amazing. I am sure it was shot in 70mm
instead of an HV20. Congratulations.
 
Thank you again for the reviews and for watching my film.

I wanted to make a film on a limited budget and I'm very proud of what me and my team was able to accomplish in 2 weeks time.

I just hope everyone can look past the vfx and see a bigger picture. A picture that perhaps a studio would like to fund one day soon. :)

Cheers!
/j
 
"Mahlen" has made the top 8 final films of the QuestFest 09 and will be screening in Los Angeles this weekend. I'm honored that my film will be shown on the 'big screen'. It's just unfortunate that my wife and our baby boy are going on our "Baby Tour" during that time and a trip to the land of milk and honey is not possible at the moment. I hope everyone who attends the event will have a good time and I'll definitely be there in spirit.

I'm hoping to make it to a CPU with internet access as I'll be visiting in-laws the night of the screening. I'm packing my lil' HV20 with me and perhaps i'll find some time to shoot another short while i'm back in ARK and KY visiting family.

Good luck to all the filmmakers and I'm honored to be considered a part of this diverse group. I think Zak summed it up in another post:
"It's also a great opportunity to see works produced on the Red One, HVX200, EX-1, HV20, D90, GH1 back to back to back."
Have fun and have a few rounds on me!

/j
 
Hey J, really looking forward to see how yours looks up on the big screen... it looked great on my Plasma... :)

Have fun visiting your family!
 
Congratulations for making the top 8 Edgen, and commiserations for not getting in the top 3. I really enjoyed it and look forward to your next movie.
 
Edgen said:
2.33 aspect ratio? I just created two boxes at the top and bottom and eye-balled it. :) I captured it in 1280x720. This way i had room at the tops and bottoms to better shift the framing. Cropped it came out to something like 1280x550?

/j
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, Justin. (Sorry for the delay in replying.) Is there any reason not to work in a 1080 timeline? Is there an advantage to using the 720? Thanks.

Congrats on the great QuestFest showing!
 
Hi Justin! Just watched Mahlen. It had a great look!
Are you going to be continuing with the story in a feature or another short
in the future. Got me wondering what will happen next ;-)

Best!
-Tommy Merry
 
Tommy,

Oh you bet! I've learned that I tried to pack WAAAAY too much into a little 6 minute film. I'm working on developing the feature film. Possibly pushing it to a series.

Lots of stuff in the works. Definitely stay posted. :)

/j

TMerry said:
Hi Justin! Just watched Mahlen. It had a great look!
Are you going to be continuing with the story in a feature or another short
in the future. Got me wondering what will happen next ;-)

Best!
-Tommy Merry
Click to expand...
 
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