Michael_Petro Presents "Briefcase"

Thanks dude ... bring on the scotch :) stop by anytime :beer:

bosindy said:
Next time I am down in FLA I am stopping by and partying with you my friend. I'll bring the scotch. I liked the film, it was entertaining. I liked that you went for something sexy. The hangar shot was money. the techno part of the soundtrack was cool. Congrats.

Jim
Click to expand...
 
thanks for looking in the briefcase :)

the only scene in the movie that was rewritten on the fly to make people feel more comfortable was the bedroom scene.. dont ask me how but that scene was supposed to be out on the balconey., then into the bedroom..

acting is always tuff i relize now that attempting to get 4 people in almost leading roles for pro bono work is next to impossible.... maybe smaller cast for the next flick.

Hootzie said:
I enjoyed the cinemetography and the sort of bizarre "who is killing who and who is really dead" feel of the film. I felt the girl on girl thing was a little forced. When she takes her by the hand back to the bedroom is great, but the scene in the bedroom was a little awkward. Overall I loved the concept of the film but the acting was not strong enough to overcome the natural campiness that comes with a spy film. I can't wait to see your next project though.
Click to expand...
 
thanks for watching...

I was going for a lite hearted fun ride.. it was written for its length. my first edit was under 6 minutes so it is what i was looking for... I defiantly wasn't going for serious spy film(thats not me anyway)

The story is pretty simple. Bob wants the case and everyone is playing everyone."whimsical B-movie thing" sounds about right.. I like to make stuff thats not boring and fun to watch...(except for my dramafest thing...)

anyway thanks for checking it out. your feedback is appreciated :beer: you should watch it again :)

aravance said:
This film seemed very tongue-in-cheek, which is what i'm assuming you were going for.

The hanger shot was cool, but overall the film felt pretty senseless to me.
I didn't really understand the story at all, it just seemed to be more about being throwing together over-the-top elements (planes, girl on girl, guns, etc.) and trying to convince the viewer that they were all meaningful and connected. But I guess I just didn't really find it that convincing.

It did feel kinda rushed and that pieces were missing, so I don't know if you had to edit it down a lot.

If you were going for the whole whimsical B-movie thing, then I think you succeeded.

A pretty ambitious project though, with the planes and all.

Kudos!
Click to expand...
 
Standard Disclaimer: I've watched half of the films so far and have yet to see a bad film. Congratulations to every film maker, everyone did a great job. All my comments and criticisms are meant to be constructive and helpful and in no way am I trying to take anything away from what you accomplished.

Good: Had some nice looking shots (especially the opening of the airplane hangar), nice composite on the TV surveillance shots

Not as Good: Didn't quite understand the ending, did the guy get away or did the lady belonging to the boots coming out of the car at the end kill him? Maybe too many twists with not enough time to explain them (were the girls playing the guys or were the guys playing the girls? who shot who in the hotel hallway?)
 
Everyone was playing everyone and rob still got the case.. but bob wants the case but he didn't get it. so bob was playing robin using roberta thinking she would have feelings for here but she really didnt she like rob but rob wasn't about to give up the case for anyone cuz hes his own man and then he thinks danny the crew(lights and mics) member shot here in the hallway but alas she apearently survived.. and then.............................. well you get the idea

basically bob wants the case :)


thanks for watching be seeing your film soon.


chris f said:
Standard Disclaimer: I've watched half of the films so far and have yet to see a bad film. Congratulations to every film maker, everyone did a great job. All my comments and criticisms are meant to be constructive and helpful and in no way am I trying to take anything away from what you accomplished.

Good: Had some nice looking shots (especially the opening of the airplane hangar), nice composite on the TV surveillance shots

Not as Good: Didn't quite understand the ending, did the guy get away or did the lady belonging to the boots coming out of the car at the end kill him? Maybe too many twists with not enough time to explain them (were the girls playing the guys or were the guys playing the girls? who shot who in the hotel hallway?)
Click to expand...
 
This was.... boring. There were too many double-crossings. The sex scene felt gratuitous and out of place, very unromantic. The dialogue was fine, and the two male actors did a really good job, but the cute chicks were ridiculous and cringey. Some really cool camerawork, like the very first scene, but the acting was so bad I couldn't focus on the rest. I guess this had really good shots, and so I was expecting the acting to not be horrible. If the shots would have been boring, the acting would have not been so noticeably bad. I did like the tv footage with the staticky interlacing, that was clever. Good lighting and bad lighting: great lighting when she pours the wine, even though I kept thinking why is her hand shaking, and why does she maneuver the bottle so clumsily. One more thing, and this perhaps set the tone (which is unfortunate): at the beginning, when we first see her against the plane, I could tell that you were trying to frame her to avoid any metal parts from the plane in the shot, and thus avoid seeing the camera. But the angle that you used to shoot the girls face was poorly chosen! Her hair was hiding her face, we couldn't see any emotion... Then you cut to the curly hair guy, and that was a breather, good composition there.

In conclusion: boring script, good camerawork, bad acting.
 
I couldn’t totally follow what was going on here but it was pretty fun and I enjoyed watching it. Mostly because you really went for the whole spy thing and tried to make a big film. Nice!

....

Here’s a blow by blow for me while watching the second time:

Haha wow. Nice opening shots and production value, very spy, very slick.

Around 1:00. Careful with the coverage. Her CU wants to be closer to the line so you see more of her face. Felt like you were keeping me out of the scene there. The closer to the line, the more intimate we are with the character.

Nice surveillance dissolve. Very spy.

Nice production value with the plane.

Nice dolly to the guy on the phone.

Wow nice dolly in on Carli at the banister.

Really nice art direction around 2:10 with the mural, the color of the dress, the lines of the mural and the Martini glasses. OUTSTANDING.

Haha I love the layers of surveillance. Every scene is taped for review in another scene. Which is a nice payoff for your video surveillance transition at the end of scene one.

Haha everyone is watching everyone. Love it.


Overall pretty enjoyable. I think you over did some of the establishing shots, most of the coverage made sense except for the one CU I mentioned of Carli. I did feel their was some “meandering coolness” that was just “meandering coolness” and not actually in service of illuminating or getting us from point A to B in the plot. Supposedly when you put that first, then style becomes organic and part of the piece as it serves it rather than style for style’s sake … or so the books say ☺

Anyway. Really glad you made this and glad I got to see it. Thanks Michael! :beer:
 
Thanks for watching.. I would have never expected boring :(.... the hanger scene the plane and the runway all had to be shot in 2.5 hours. Then the port authority said git... problems we had that day where a big giant ass airplane engine was running for EVER...A friggin helicopter and the wind was so bad Alot of the shots where unusable. Several pieces had to be audio overdubbed(thought I did a good job there. try and find them :) ) the framing close up of carli was crop form a much wider shot tried to get crop it closer but it was getting to grainy....... anway thanks for looking into the briefcase.. you should watch it again :)

gabrielflorit said:
This was.... boring. There were too many double-crossings. The sex scene felt gratuitous and out of place, very unromantic. The dialogue was fine, and the two male actors did a really good job, but the cute chicks were ridiculous and cringey. Some really cool camerawork, like the very first scene, but the acting was so bad I couldn't focus on the rest. I guess this had really good shots, and so I was expecting the acting to not be horrible. If the shots would have been boring, the acting would have not been so noticeably bad. I did like the tv footage with the staticky interlacing, that was clever. Good lighting and bad lighting: great lighting when she pours the wine, even though I kept thinking why is her hand shaking, and why does she maneuver the bottle so clumsily. One more thing, and this perhaps set the tone (which is unfortunate): at the beginning, when we first see her against the plane, I could tell that you were trying to frame her to avoid any metal parts from the plane in the shot, and thus avoid seeing the camera. But the angle that you used to shoot the girls face was poorly chosen! Her hair was hiding her face, we couldn't see any emotion... Then you cut to the curly hair guy, and that was a breather, good composition there.

In conclusion: boring script, good camerawork, bad acting.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks Keystoned... glad you liked it....

Keystoned said:
I couldn’t totally follow what was going on here but it was pretty fun and I enjoyed watching it. Mostly because you really went for the whole spy thing and tried to make a big film. Nice!
Click to expand...
 
Ok, so here's my take on this film:

The great: PRODUCTION VALUE. Multiple locations, an airplane, a sports bar, et. etc.

The good: "Campy" is the right word for this one. And the story, even though a bit muddled in the execution, I was able to follow and I think worked for what you were going for.

The bad: Too much in too little time. A good number of films will suffer from this, mine included, due to trying to put too much into/cut down something longer into six minutes.

The ugly: The acting. Just didn't pull it off for me.


Good job. I was definitely entertained.
 
Michael_Petro said:
Thanks for watching.. I would have never expected boring :(.... the hanger scene the plane and the runway all had to be shot in 2.5 hours. Then the port authority said git... problems we had that day where a big giant ass airplane engine was running for EVER...A friggin helicopter and the wind was so bad Alot of the shots where unusable. Several pieces had to be audio overdubbed(thought I did a good job there. try and find them :) ) the framing close up of carli was crop form a much wider shot tried to get crop it closer but it was getting to grainy....... anway thanks for looking into the briefcase.. you should watch it again :)
Click to expand...

Ah, interesting. Perhaps I should think twice before posting, I always assume that everyone's shorts need to be Oscar-worthy. 2.5 hours! That's insane! I think it would take me a day just to get the lights setup etc.

I still think that the script could have benefited from several rewrites, but the production value was definitely there. You did a whole lot more than me - I don't even have a camera :crybaby:
 
Michael,

You've definitely stepped up your production value like crazy...cranes, dollies, airplanes, vfx, ramping shots...it's like a mini Michael Bay'esq film, heh. Visually it's a huge step up from your previous work. Congrats!

Storywise, I think it was a little too complicated of a premise for a 6 minute film...I'm guilty of that many times over.

Thanks for sharing!
 
Hi Mike
Before getting to the short I must say I really enjoyed "Betrayed"
Still think of that car to car shot on the highway . camera moving from one to the other ..
Anyway back to the short ..First off no rain drops to be found in those Black clouds .

love the opening shot with the crane .
Is that you on the roof?
Also liked the hangar shot as well .

Camera movement was good all around !

The story is different and you must pay attention to watching in order to catch what is going on.

Nice idea for a story Michael.

Just where do you get these ladies from . Please send them here for the next fest Mike . heck we'll supply good cold Canadian beer as an enticement ..lol

A good honest effort Mike and it shows ...Congrats ..keep up the good work .
lmao , just found out about those clouds . nice one lol

Ian
 
gabrielflorit said:
Ah, interesting. Perhaps I should think twice before posting, I always assume that everyone's shorts need to be Oscar-worthy. 2.5 hours! That's insane! I think it would take me a day just to get the lights setup etc.

I still think that the script could have benefited from several rewrites, but the production value was definitely there. You did a whole lot more than me - I don't even have a camera :crybaby:
Click to expand...

Man you gotta get a camera....
 
The production value and most of the shots were great. The music gave it that campy feel which fit the movie. The acting is what killed it for me. Every line was delivered in the same flat tone which is too bad because this looked pretty pro to me. The opening shot was money along with the hanger door opening. I like the surveillience disolves, what did you use for that?
 
thanks Geoff glad you liked it. Like to give major props to Ben Mccalister(cuz i suck at lighting) and Danny Cahan for making me look better.. dude thanks for checking out the Briefcase...

Geoff_R said:
Michael,

You've definitely stepped up your production value like crazy...cranes, dollies, airplanes, vfx, ramping shots...it's like a mini Michael Bay'esq film, heh. Visually it's a huge step up from your previous work. Congrats!

Storywise, I think it was a little too complicated of a premise for a 6 minute film...I'm guilty of that many times over.

Thanks for sharing!
Click to expand...

the warning from the front page :)

Warning friends don't let friends watch the briefcase while intoxicated:beer: unless you could handle "smoking aces" while dropping acid :beer:
 
Appreciate the compliments Ian... The fella on the roof was Mike Davidson and I get the girls by pleading and begging and Jager shots. :)

arielman said:
Hi Mike
love the opening shot with the crane .
Is that you on the roof?
Also liked the hangar shot as well .

Camera movement was good all around !

The story is different and you must pay attention to watching in order to catch what is going on.

Nice idea for a story Michael.

Just where do you get these ladies from . Please send them here for the next fest Mike . heck we'll supply good cold Canadian beer as an enticement ..lol

A good honest effort Mike and it shows ...Congrats ..keep up the good work .
lmao , just found out about those clouds . nice one lol

Ian
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for taking the time to open the case :beer: I love it when people say my stuff looks pro... thank you..

The surveillance dissolves is all Vegas baby.. just click on the sony tv simulator in the media fx

Aram Bauman said:
The production value and most of the shots were great. The music gave it that campy feel which fit the movie. The acting is what killed it for me. Every line was delivered in the same flat tone which is too bad because this looked pretty pro to me. The opening shot was money along with the hanger door opening. I like the surveillience disolves, what did you use for that?
Click to expand...
 
Quite a fun film. Everyone watching everyone else. I get the feeling that briefcase hasn't made it's final destination, either. :) The acting could be better, but I'm not one to talk about that.

My favorite shot is in the restaurant going past all the chairs. Great layering. And kudos for taking on a project with so many locations. Quite a daunting task for a short film.
 
Thanks Amy.... lots of locations means lots of short shooting time.. but it was fun none the less.... thanks for checking it out..

AmyO said:
Quite a fun film. Everyone watching everyone else. I get the feeling that briefcase hasn't made it's final destination, either. :) The acting could be better, but I'm not one to talk about that.

My favorite shot is in the restaurant going past all the chairs. Great layering. And kudos for taking on a project with so many locations. Quite a daunting task for a short film.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top