MIDDLE MAN - a film by Brian Thesing And Finnian Riley

Geoff_R said:
Wow, that mixing setup makes me green with tech envy... Is that a personal set up?
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Man, I wish! No, this is a post sound facility that let us sneak in for a few hours thanks to my good friend and truely amazing sound re-recording mixer Eric Justen. He helped me unbury some of the production dialogue that I thought was lost in background noise forever.

Definately wear some good headphones or crank your speakers on this one. It's good because it's subtle... I hope.

Here's another shot...

InTheMix_001.JPG
 
My impressions of MIDDLE MAN:

this is the kind of film i was hoping this fest would generate. a small story, dealing with real emotions, real situations and real people i could identify with. beautiful cinematography, genuine empathy for your character and a clear confidence in what you were doing has made this one of my favorites so far.
 
Thanks for the kind words Zak. The one thing we kept saying was that we wanted this film to be honest. We really tried to tell as personal a story as we could.
 
Its so hard to pull of that true sense of realism in scenes like your restaurant shots. Your actors were wonderful and it truly seems unstaged. Great job!
 
REVIEW: MIDDLE MAN

Bar's been raised, gals and gents. Dunno where these guys came from, but I'll be damned if this isn't as solid as marble. Where the HELL did you get such great actors?

Alright, let me start off with content. Your Eric is pretty believable. His voice is specific, his troubles are specific. He's pretty much just caught in the middle of his own life and it shows. I felt pretty damned bad for him at the dinner table, and felt like I could relate in some way yet I can't figure out how just yet. I think that most people will have a bit of trouble figuring out what your story is about.

I got it, but it might be layered for others. While I think it's totally fine the way it is, I think other people are going to go "Huh?". It's fine, though. I like your short and where it went. In the end, when we circle back to his face, he's been approved and it's justified.

Now let me go on to say this looks freaking great. What magic did you wax this with? Every scene matched it's before and after, and picture-esque. I really had to go back and watch a third time so that I could "critique" because it didn't feel like a typical short movie.

Your lead and that one guy with the spikey hair were awesome. Had the lines down perfect, and is it me or is this guy empathic as hell? He's a great score, man. Even the female sitting next to him at the table had her look down. She responded on time and as expected, yet not over-doing her beat. NICE!

If I had one technical stub about any of it, it would've been the sound outside when everyone met up and was leaving. It didn't match the rest of it, but if it was a stylisitc choice then cool. Respected.

Also, I'd like to say that there's this little debate going on in the cafe about titles and credits. You nailed it. Every shot had something to do with the story. I thought "oh great, he found some construction and decided to throw it in.". NOPE!!!!

Eric works there! I got to nearly see his entire daily grind in a few seconds! SWEET!!!

I need to check this thread for camera use and tech specs. VERY nice short, dude. This is what I was hoping for in the fest.

Congrats and good luck!
 
One of my favs so far. Acting was ace. There was just those 'awkward' moments at the dinner that I could so relate to and I know friends who have had similar situations with their jobs. All around wonderful job and thank you for sharing!

/j
 
This is a gem of a film. I also thought the acting was completely top notch. Very nice illustration of how life sometimes hinges on the little almost imperceptable moments. The only thing that bothered me were the sound problems with the dialogue. Subtle is ok, but straining to hear is uncomfortable. I'd consider doing a little ADR if you can't clean it up a little more.
 
I also really enjoyed this film. I loved your lead. He was very believable and easy to relate to. I loved the restauraunt scene too. The lighting was well done and the characters were top notch. Nice effort on this venture.
 
Hey guys, thanks so much for the feedback. I'm really happy to hear you all could relate to this. Sorry I haven't popped in here before this but in had little to no time or internet to post today at work (location shoots can be a drag).

As far as dialogue goes, ADR is definitely in this films future before we push it any further than the Drama-Fest. We cheaped out and used a boom mic only which really hurt us on that busy streetside location. I was really afraid that would be our downfall, hopefully kind folks like yourself will strain to listen for this screening only.

Also, this cast was made up of really talented people who are far too modest to get the recognition they disserve (that means you Brian, Tracy and Greg). Brian (the lead) and I pulled together a group of friends that we knew could do exactly what this story disserved, good actors not "acting". The dinner scene for me was one of the most enjoyable nights I've had in a while with or without the camera rolling. Everyone would just slip into character when we needed and then go right back into enjoying each others company after the camera cut. There was fantastic chemistry.

I really look forward to more thoughts on this project for good or for bad. Thanks for sharing. Also, as soon as I'm done watching everyone else's, I'll comment elsewhere too.
 
I enjoyed this and thought the acting was very good. I felt the music was intrusive a couple of times and there were a couple of jump cuts that were a bit jarring but barring that I really liked this short.

This is the second movie I've seen where the wine is being consumed from water glasses...ouch...

Really good job. I'm looking forward to seeing more from you guys.
 
Blaine said:
This is the second movie I've seen where the wine is being consumed from water glasses...ouch...
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Now just hold on a sec, this is a very old-school Italian thing. Being a part Sicilian (with a name like Finnian Riley I'm sure that's hard to believe) I can tell you a lot of folks prefer to drink wine this way. I'm not quite sure why, but it's something I've seen a lot before and liked it because in looked like such a hipster way to be "classy".

Editorially, some of the jump cuts were done to pair down longer shots for time and I'd really love to lose them in an extended version. I've grown to love some of the jumpiness though. It seems to feeds his sense of not quite fitting in anywhere right.

Thanks for the notes!
 
Zak Forsman said:
My impressions of MIDDLE MAN:

this is the kind of film i was hoping this fest would generate. a small story, dealing with real emotions, real situations and real people i could identify with. beautiful cinematography, genuine empathy for your character and a clear confidence in what you were doing has made this one of my favorites so far.
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couldnt have said it better so i wont :D

good job
 
gosh, the more films I watch the harder it is to decide which one is best.
Thank you.
 
This is in the top five maybe seven . The cinematography was outstanding – had a S16 aesthetic to it. Your directing was very naturalistic with the right mix of formalism.

From the beginning I felt willing to go along with the ride. Casting, sound design, score, directing, cinematography, all superlative.

The only thing that detracted from this, for me, was the script. I wouldn’t say shyte if this was the opening scene of a movie (and it’d be perfect), but for a short it was missing some elements that make an effective short. IMHO.

All in all, I gotta ask, who the F are these guys and where did they come from ? We have another couple a talented cats here on dvxuser.

Raising the Guinness for ya boys. Well done.

:beer:
 
D_and_G said:
I wouldn’t say shyte if this was the opening scene of a movie (and it’d be perfect), but for a short it was missing some elements that make an effective short. IMHO.
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To be really honest, I get what your saying. When I watched it again after all was said and done, I felt like it was supposed to be part of a great whole narritively speaking. We had another story element that we had to lose to make the 6 min cut, maybe that's what that's about? I still think it works well on it's own, but this story, it begs me to be expanded on. Am I off base here, or would people want to see another "Episode" with these characters?

Just going with my gut and I can't say I know where we'd take this story line, but the characters felt really close to me by the end of this process. Maybe just the longer cut will satisfy.

Thanks for all of the kind words everyone, it means a lot to all of us!

Keep up the feedback!
 
I don't get it. my wife and I just watched it and i have no clue what this was about. Now after reading all the accolades I feel retarded, but I still don't get it. I had a hard time hearing the dialogue at the dinner scene (cranked my laptop to max and could barely make out words). It looked good, but I still wish I knew what was going on
 
shawneous said:
I don't get it.
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Thanks for your honesty! Sorry about the audio, I know it needs more work. In the end though, there really isn't anything to "get". This isn't a film that's trying to play gotcha with a story line, it's really intended to be more of a mood piece/character study. You really need to be open to the people in it to enjoy it I think. To me, this is what real life drama is all about anyway, nothing is ever wrapped up neatly.

At least, that's what we were going for, it may not translate well to everyone. Thanks for watching and commenting!
 
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