Marching Home

Great film. I loved those opening shots - so cinematic!

Great story too - people spreading the word about the end of the war and discovering it's over - the challenge of burying that anger and pain.

It looks fantastic, although I wish the costumes were dirtier, but that is a small complaint.

This is a wonderful short film. Also, add me to the list of those who loved Zaza's score and banjo playing!

Another one of my favorites this Fest.
 
Very nice looking short. Locations and costumes were great. I agree with Shawn that the Reb should have shown more wear and tear, but the fact that you went all out on getting authentic looking outfits was impressive. I thought it went on a little too long at times, but an interesting and thought provoking piece, nonetheless. Nice job balancing sunlight and hazy overcast in the camerawork. I really enjoyed this entry.
 
I too enjoy Westerns and American Civil War era shenanigans and was pleased to see this film attempt to tell a period story set during this turbulent time - especially in the immediate aftermath of Lee's surrender.

Yet the film suffered for its lack of pace, lack of motivated inter-personal dialogue and conflict. For Johnny Reb we should have felt more about what he had lost... what his heart had lost through the futility of his efforts. Imagine all the battles, the scars, the loss of his comrades... probably the semi-scorched earths of his homeland and the imminent impact that (occupation) may have for him - as regards to his family, hometown and neighbours.

Could you imagine anything more despairing - shocking and utterly unexpected for him than discovering - BY CHANCE a courier with news of the wars end.

We had aspects of this story that harken towards Hiroo Oona (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroo_Onoda) ie. the last man fighting - not knowing etc?

The gravitas of the situation was not borne out in this story and i feel the actor (playing Johnny Reb) had the ability I believe to express far more pathos - if he had been directed better to do so. As for your Yankee well, he looked the part, but was it ADR? or - there was just something so indifferent about his performance (to the immediate danger he was in) especially if he was an inexperienced soldier.

So - in a film where two dudes representing completely different cultures (as existed and pretty much still does in the USA) at that point in history - we should have had dialogue that gave us a genuine sense of impact and clash drenched in sorrow and an unknown future.

We look for that because that is the set up you've given us - two dudes in the woods, so these two dudes in the woods really have to bat it out the park you know? for the film to kick our asses!

A nice mature and serious attempt, but just needing x10 fire in the belly imo! :)
 
I enjoyed this film, I really liked the premise. I really liked that opening shot, overall I thought it was shot well. It seemed a little bit lacking in tension between the two of them.

I really liked the final shots as well, accompanied by the score...I thought the ending really worked well. Banjo/score was fantastic.

There was some kind of audio change at 4:44 that struck me and took me out of the film for a second. Not sure if it's anything that can be fixed or maybe it was just me and or my computer.

Overall I really enjoyed this film.
 
Interesting little tale. There were a few shots in there that I liked and thought you chose your locations well. It did feel a bit long and expositional at times though.
I loved the banjo music.
 
Thanks everyone for watching our film and taking the time to provide feedback. Your thoughts and opinions are very valuable.

It's funny. As Zazacast and I were working on the film he says, "You know they're going to nail you on the costumes being so clean." How right he was. :)

I'm slowly getting to the other films myself and feedback is coming. Great fun!
 
Right on. I enjoyed the concept a lot.

I liked the South actor.

And the clean shirts did bug me a bit, but I understand it as well.

Good work. Up there on my list too.
 
I liked this short, I actually really enjoy entries that are dialogue centric.

I also enjoyed the cutaway before the strike with the but of the gun. Stunt work is difficult and this simple technique avoided something that could have been longer and looked awkward.

My only gripe is that given it mostly relied on dialogue a little more separation between the music level and the dialogue level would have been helpful
 
Spoiler-y review:

What I liked: It was a freaking Civil War piece. Awesome. I think you had a great concept for this. I'd actually always wondered about how people found out the war was over, and how long it would take to find out. I think overall your actors did a great job and did well delivering. I liked how the Confederate soldier wouldn't believe him, as he shouldn't. Nice location, too. Fantastic soundtrack, btw.

What I didn't like as much: I would have liked to have seen more passion in the Conf guy's actions. He seemed to know his lines, but the heart behind the words wasn't strong enough. Not coming from someone who's still at war. The ending felt a little lacking as well. It was just kind of like, "Well ... we're done. See ya' later."

Overall, this is currently one of my favorite pieces.
 
AJ Brooks said:
And the clean shirts did bug me a bit, but I understand it as well.
Click to expand...
Common comment.

If you've read any of this thread I don't think the question should be how are the uniforms so clean for the film as much as why are actual civil war reenactment uniforms so clean.:)
 
Really loved that you did a Civil War piece, and also really loved this idea and 99% of the execution. Not sure if anybody else has mentioned this yet but the ending fell a bit flat for me. It was certainly beautifully shot, and I loved the scoring underneath, but I felt like I was missing something: the "so what?" of what had happened. He drops the gun and walks away and... I can't help but feel like someone implied something important and poignant and I just missed it. The whole film up till then was wonderful, some of the best acting I thought in the fest. Great work!!
 
Civil War! Love it. The locations, costumes, props, camera, were great. I loved that you were able to pull off such a big idea with only two actors. It felt normal, not out of place. The southern actor was phenomenal and believable. Everything from appearance to voice to acting. The Union soldier did a good job as well but something didn't feel right. It took me a second time of watching to realize what it was: he wasn't scared. He seemed too calm for a messenger boy that has a gun pointed in his face by a Southern soldier who is on the edge. To top it all off the Union soldier has never even been in battle. He should have been wetting his pants trying to talk this guy down! This is one of my only complaints, as a whole this was really well done. The music was great and fit perfectly. One of my favorite films. Great work!
 
Nice period piece, always enjoy something out of the box. I do agree with uber clean outfits, no such things in the civil war if you are out in battle. Problem for me is that I just saw "Dancing With Wolves" a week ago, so it makes it harder for me not to compare the outfits, the syntax, and the lack of conflict.

Southern guy spoke more "proper" for the time period, though not spot-on. Clothes on him way, way, WAY too clean for someone who has been out in the field for a period of time. Yankee did not have dialogue that related to the time.

Also, I did have trouble hearing the dialogue from the Southern guy.

However, having said that, BOTH actors were "believable" but I didn't quite get the story in the end. Not enough conflict. Not enough drama. Not enough action. A blow to the head from the butt of a rifle would have caused some bleeding, a cut, something more than what I saw.

Nice use of period piece weaponry, kudos there.

It was a good effort. Music was good, even the music ending "Johnny Comes Marching Home" but I feel that there wasn't enough story. You had two good actors, good costumes, nice setting, but where's the depth of story? Better than past films you've done, so I do give you that!

Good job Zaza on the music!
 
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