Mark and Ted's Excellent Adventure in Drama

Hi Mark and Ted,

Finished watched 'Threading the Needle' and it's clear that you took on a mamoth task here. For that I give you both huge kudos. Logistically this looked like a nightmare/*****/dogs cock of a project...

I was really hesitant to post on your thread because I think you're great guys who have also inspired me to get off my ass and keep shooting. However, I didnt really get sucked into this short in the way I hoped I would. A lot stood out to me. But I dont want to come across too negative by giving a rundown of how my great wisdom could enlighten you on your short film lol (I'm joking by the way, put the flamethrowers down)...that's not why I put this post here.

Anyway, I'm so impressed how brave and ambitious this project was. You involved everyone and made this a fun place to be in the build up to this fest (I couldnt keep up with the posts!)

Well done and I'll be looking out for both your works in the next fest, which I sincerely hope you are both part of :)
 
Wow, i feel as though I've just watched a full length film as opposed to a short .
Thank you.
 
Guys, you made it! 1000’s of posts later I get to sit back over here in England and say…**** they pulled some stuff out of their arses for this one. Big setups, planes crashing, pumping music as Eric threads the needle, planes, green screen (love the blade falling to the ground), tons of dvxusers chipping in, planes crashing (did I say that)…Well done for getting this monster wrapped. I was rooting for Eric all the way.

Jp
 
Mark Johnson said:
Ian,

That means a whole lot to all of us. I am really looking forward to improving the VFX in the next cut. I'm so glad you enjoyed it. That's the best prize we could ever hope for. ....

Hi Mark
I played this for my girlfriend and her 13 yr old son ..
Sandra really enjoyed this ..thought it was well done ...as for the Young lad , Well all he could say was AWESOME!!!.
Both Sandra and Jack saw nothing wrong with the VFX .
Thought you might like to know .
Ian
 
A hugely grand story to tell in a miniscule amount of time.

If only there was just enough time for us to get inside Eric's head.

We learn his wife and daughter were lost in a car crash... But was he a good father? Is he a good man? Is he a rebel against authority who selflessly over the years has lent his support to the other pilots or just a miserable drunk? There's not enough time to develop his character and his crisis is too large for us to identify with, without first identifying ourselves with the man himself. I would have been at the fence cheering him on with the other pilots myself if I knew more about him...

I think if the car crash and ambulance scene were substitued with a scene of Eric trying to rescue his loved ones from certain death... And failing... That may have been one way to show his loss and more importantly, his character as a man worth caring about. Though there might not have been enough time for even that.

Still, a longer cut might reveal more. Maybe its planned, but there's no way I'm reading through over 300 posts to find out.

This is by far the most ambitious project ever undertaken in the DVXuser festivals.

I bow in the presence of your bravery and bold vision.

E. P.
 
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Texture said:
A hugely grand story to tell in a miniscule amount of time.

This is by far the most ambitious project ever undertaken in the DVXuser festivals.

I bow in the presence of your bravery and bold vision.

E. P.
hey, that's exactly what I was gonna say!! :laugh:

Threading the Needle

seriously, this film is huge. huge cast, huge crew, huge props (pun intended), huge story, huge crash!

my favorite scene is the flashback to the accident. great stuff. also love the flying shots.

the only drawback was the six-minute time limit - it felt rushed, but I hear there's an extended version in the works. can't wait to see it.

good job, guys.
 
Enjouyed your movie, but i still think that some of the acting and the shots you chose could have been better, especially in the beginning. The Effects were also not that good. Still from the point on where he starts the plane it was exciting.

Must have been a huge production. Great you pulled it off.
 
Mark and/or Ted,

Check out post #151 in my thread for another clue as to why my "Rock Star" died in that small, grungy place.

~ voting dead-line is near - good luck!!
 
I watched this again and have to say I'm impressed by some of the f/x work here. The blade falling to the ground was very good. The shot flying toward the turnbine as a POV - is that all CG too? I like that one.
 
Ya! Those be all CG! Thank you Darkline for those compliments. Unfortunately, some of the VFX that stick out like sore thumbs (due to not having enough time to complete them) sort of take away from the stuff that works. I appreciate your taking the time to point out the ones that you liked.

The time crunch was aggravated by the fact that there was a lot of VFX stuff that needed to be done but which is not evident. For instance, when Lacey is walking outside the hangar and kicks the wall there is a door behind her which isn't really there. We had to put it in because the previous scene showed her exiting the hangar and there wasn't a door where we shot! Or, for instance, the scene where the fax is received has a window with wind turbines outside. There was no window there so we had to create it all CG. Anyway, there's a lot of stuff like that throughout the film that (thankfully) isn't noticeable. Hopefully, in the next edited version all the 'sore thumb' effects will be replaced. Thanks again for your kind words! Really motivates me to do more and do better next time!
 
Isn't it funny that sometimes we spend more time on VFX work just fixing things :)

I know this too well from some shorts I've made (like having a crew member reflected in a window, or the tripod leg in shot.... doh.) The door behind the woman I did not notice at all, so that was really well done.

I would be interested to see your final version as I know your effects work will be great, but time is a killer in these fests.

Talking of which, are you still going to develop 'chow baby' with the 3D snake?
 
Talking of which, are you still going to develop 'chow baby' with the 3D snake?

Yes indeed. In fact, I've been collecting my files with the intent on resuming work on Chow Baby. I'm planning on getting back to it in March. Thanks for asking!
 
Mark Johnson said:
The time crunch was aggravated by the fact that there was a lot of VFX stuff that needed to be done but which is not evident. For instance, when Lacey is walking outside the hangar and kicks the wall there is a door behind her which isn't really there. We had to put it in because the previous scene showed her exiting the hangar and there wasn't a door where we shot! Or, for instance, the scene where the fax is received has a window with wind turbines outside. There was no window there so we had to create it all CG.

Wow mark, I didn't even pick up those. Great job on those. It adds a lot adding that window and foreshadowing the turbines. The shot with the doors, you added the door closest to her right, I see other doors in further down the hanger.
 
PVC pipes are all still there. Don't know where else I'd put them anyway.

Ted is working on the extended edit and I'm working on revising VFX. Things are going great on my end and I hope to caucus with Ted this week to see how he's doing.

Also, I had a great story meeting with Blaine on our Giant Robots and Babes in Lingerie project. That's really shaping up!
 
Hey Kyle,

I'm at Dennis and Suzanne's and they both say "hey". Before I headed down here I actually discovered the dead carcasses of those limes in my fridge. Looked like raisins. ... really weird raisins.
 
Hahahaha. Should have taken a picture (or a bunch of pictures) -- could've created a very funny stop-motion short!

Tell Dennis and Suzanne hey back. Theyre great people, I miss them quite a bit. Dennis was a fascinating person to talk with. I hope we can recreate all of those moments again, man. Some great times!
 
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