"Miss Laid" - A ZazaCast Films Presentation

Zaza,

Congratulations on getting another film made! A few people thought you went too far, some thought you didn't go far enough! You can't please everybody, as we all know. :evil:

In your thread you made it clear from the beginning that you were making a sexy romp, and you certainly delivered the goods! It was silly and fun. The boobs were not in the least bit offensive to me, primarily because I knew the genre was "sexy romp" and I expected some mild nudity. The fact that you did it made your film "legit" for me, and not just another well made home movie. To have have not shown any skin would have been a cop out. You're an artist, man!

Technically, a lot of impressive stuff. I enjoyed the Psycho like opening as you moved in on the hotel window. The fluid camera moves were very well done. Lots of good stuff. A big improvement over your earlier films.

I look forward to your next one.
 
Thanks Maximus for the review...and most of those smooth moves are thanks to the DIY ZazaSlider. One of the best pieces of gear I own! (see the DIY thread and build one today)

Cheers. :beer:
 
Congratulations! Great film I really enjoy it. I have some questions:
How did you get the girl to be nude in your short? did you pay her for it? and how did she feel about being nude?.
I'm just curious about it, I need some tips for my next film on how to convice the actress to get naked on the set. lol
 
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Begin stream of consciousness:

The music in the opening sounds very fake and cheesy (might be what you're going for)

Nice dolly at:22 (good lighting on her legs as well)

The lighting at :47 could be much more flattering to the actress, it's very frontal and should be from the side so we see shape to her body, This lighting makes her back look like a pancake.

Clever title card.

Ok, shot at 1:45ish, work on lighting... it's hard to show the light source in the frame without extra lights augmenting the picture. Maybe get a softbox on the left side of the lamp simulating the lamp light so you can knock down the exposure on the lamp. Also the shadows are kind of ugly on the actors, And the left side of the pillow is way overexposed.

The first guy looks like he saw teeth in her vajam or something. Not quite an orgasm face...

At 2:15, watch the headroom. The eyes should be in the top third of the frame. same thing at 3:00

3:29 The face you drew on the paper bag makes that shot exceptionally degrading in my mind.

The banging in the shower is disturbing. But I think that is a good thing.

The zoom/dolly on the nun is good, nice work there.

I love the glow on the whites with the nun costume. Very appropriate for a heavenly being.

I like the "stop sending me those fireman calendars", very cute.

The last twist doesn't work for me, and takes away from the rest of the film for me.

Next time really work on the cinematography part of things. It doesn't take much time or many lights to make stuff look good.

I hope I wasn't too hard on you.

Word,
-Joe
 
Joe.. this is great advice! Thanks for taking the time to review in such detail. I value your opinions, cause YOU the man (and I love your work). Thanks.
 
Like Brandon, I don't think that I land in the group of viewers you had in mind for this piece. That's okay, one thing I really like about the dvxuser festivals is the amazing range of concepts and styles that are brought to the table under the umbrella of a single theme. Just realize that my comments here come from someone that wasn't grabbed by the subject matter.

As others, I thought the slider shot was great. I thought that the middle of the film dragged on a little bit, I got the idea pretty quickly and felt the point was belabored. I liked the glint on his teeth, but didn't care for the paper bag bit at all, although I appreciate thinking outside of the box.

That's one huge cross that nun is wearing!

A character that wakes up and realizes it's all a dream is, in my opinion, a hackneyed theme in independent short film, and I'm not particularly fond of dream sequences in the first place.

I feel that you've got more story inside you as a filmmaker, and I want to see you blow the doors off in the next fest buddy.

John
 
miamivideo said:
Congratulations! Great film I really enjoy it. I have some questions:
How did you get the girl to be nude in your short? did you pay her for it? and how did she feel about being nude?.
I'm just curious about it, I need some tips for my next film on how to convice the actress to get naked on the set. lol
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I'm glad you enjoyed the film.

Now, if you like you can read the second post of this thread which is a production blog and walks you through the process. In a nutshell, no I didn't pay her to get nude. I was very clear in the Craigslist ad and was surprized at the number of responses. This led to many auditions.:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG) Christie is very comfortable with her body and if you really think about it, there isn't that much nudity in the film. She realized I was professional and this was about making a movie...not being stalked by some weirdo. To be honest, it was WAY more awkward for the male actor in the shower scene then it ever was for Christie.

I can't say enough about Christie's professional attitude and desire to get the shots right, no matter how many takes we had to do. There was only one small part that required her to be completely nude and those shots were accomplished last on a closed set.
 
Raptor...all I can say is I've reserved a spot in hell for you right next to me...two condo's down! :beer:
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Cool. I'll bring the marshmallows and steaks. Bring your stereo. :beer:

EDIT:

John L said:
I feel that you've got more story inside you as a filmmaker, and I want to see you blow the doors off in the next fest buddy.
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My sentiments as well, as I mentioned before. Step 'er up a notch next time m' man. Push.
 
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funny film! give you props for going for the subject matter. read some of the previous posts - i think the nudity should be in - this is what it is - a tease and something maybe a bit more - the bag on her head is silly but thats ok, the movie is silly. a good silly. nudity is taken way too seriously sometimes, especially when compared to violence - but thats another topic for another thread - the lead did a great job! not sure i got the ending but not sure it mattered that much.

didn't read the whole thread but what room did you film in? i once filmed in a motel room for a simple innocent scene and the motel owner was cool with it so long as it wasn't a porno - he trusted me but not and came and watched us film to make sure- he'd have killed me if i did what you did! ha. good for you!

congrats on your film!
 
Hey Zaza (what's that name?) ... Great film in my opinion ... Good Casting ... and congrats of the actress for working out a very professional act ... the staory plot was not Bad (and not Great) ... but it works for all the funny situations / shots ... I don't know why everybody dislikes the Brown Bag (on the Head) ... I find it very sick / honest / desperate (in the POV of the main character) ... Loved the messages ... and the shower scene was a good Climax for all the dream attempts ... Good Job ... Looking forward for your next entry ...
 
ZazaCast said:
I'm glad you enjoyed the film.

Now, if you like you can read the second post of this thread which is a production blog and walks you through the process. In a nutshell, no I didn't pay her to get nude. I was very clear in the Craigslist ad and was surprized at the number of responses. This led to many auditions.:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG) Christie is very comfortable with her body and if you really think about it, there isn't that much nudity in the film. She realized I was professional and this was about making a movie...not being stalked by some weirdo. To be honest, it was WAY more awkward for the male actor in the shower scene then it ever was for Christie.

I can't say enough about Christie's professional attitude and desire to get the shots right, no matter how many takes we had to do. There was only one small part that required her to be completely nude and those shots were accomplished last on a closed set.
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Thanks for your information and wish you good luck with your film.
 
I was reading your blog but I did not find where you did your casting ? Did you rent a place or something?
Thanks.
 
miamivideo said:
I was reading your blog but I did not find where you did your casting ? Did you rent a place or something?
Thanks.
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I ran an ad on the local Craigslist's page...responded via email...and set-up private auditions at my home. I think this helped to build trust and let people know it really was for a film.
 
ZazaCast said:
I ran an ad on the local Craigslist's page...responded via email...and set-up private auditions at my home. I think this helped to build trust and let people know it really was for a film.
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Be careful. You set something up like that privately at home and it's her word against yours.

I rent a room in a fairly public area and have at least one other person with me.

That's just me though.

MAH
 
hoz said:
funny film! give you props for going for the subject matter. read some of the previous posts - i think the nudity should be in - this is what it is - a tease and something maybe a bit more - the bag on her head is silly but thats ok, the movie is silly. a good silly. nudity is taken way too seriously sometimes, especially when compared to violence - but thats another topic for another thread - the lead did a great job! not sure i got the ending but not sure it mattered that much.

didn't read the whole thread but what room did you film in? i once filmed in a motel room for a simple innocent scene and the motel owner was cool with it so long as it wasn't a porno - he trusted me but not and came and watched us film to make sure- he'd have killed me if i did what you did! ha. good for you!

congrats on your film!
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I just rented a suite in a local hotel that had the best layout. I did tell them I would be shooting a film and they didn't have a problem at all? During the "Pizza Guy" scene, when I was in the hallway shooting back into the room, some people walked by and asked what we were doing. I'm standing there with a camera on my shoulder and another one of the actors holding a boom mic...and they ask what we're doing??? I said we were shooting a film...you could tell from the look on their faces they instantly thought PORNO! And we just let them think that!

I was more worried as I had her banging against the wall of the shower, pounding the wall with her hand, moaning....now THAT was funny!

Girgej said:
Hey Zaza (what's that name?) ... Great film in my opinion ... Good Casting ... and congrats of the actress for working out a very professional act ... the staory plot was not Bad (and not Great) ... but it works for all the funny situations / shots ... I don't know why everybody dislikes the Brown Bag (on the Head) ... I find it very sick / honest / desperate (in the POV of the main character) ... Loved the messages ... and the shower scene was a good Climax for all the dream attempts ... Good Job ... Looking forward for your next entry ...
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Thank you for the comments, glad you enjoyed the film!
 
Hi Zaza,

Hey I really enjoyed it. I took it for exactly what it was, fun. Your lead did an excellent job and so did all your supporting. I thought your shots were very well thought out and didn't feel restricted at all. I think I loved her most in the see through pink number :)
I actually thought the bag animation worked great, good moment.

Couple of things I noticed:
On the first pan, it was a good shot and began well, but got quite jerky near the end.
Lips were slightly out of sink at 3:00.
What was with the final sentence about midgets???


Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well done mate.
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
Be careful. You set something up like that privately at home and it's her word against yours.

I rent a room in a fairly public area and have at least one other person with me.

That's just me though.

MAH
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Oh yes... Allow me to correct myself, private in that each audition was scheduled for it's own time, there was NO nudity in the auditions at all AND I had two female friends of mine present at all times. Believe me, I covered all bases, in fact, release forms were signed BEFORE the auditions. Out of the 30 or so responses only 4 young ladies were given auditions.

To be honest, I didn't know if Christie would actually go through with it until the day of the shoot. I had prepared some creative alternate shots if that turned out to be the case.

I'm with you Mike! I'd never done anything like this before.
 
DarkElastic said:
Hi Zaza,

Hey I really enjoyed it. I took it for exactly what it was, fun. Your lead did an excellent job and so did all your supporting. I thought your shots were very well thought out and didn't feel restricted at all. I think I loved her most in the see through pink number :)
I actually thought the bag animation worked great, good moment.

Couple of things I noticed:
On the first pan, it was a good shot and began well, but got quite jerky near the end.
Lips were slightly out of sink at 3:00.
What was with the final sentence about midgets???


Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Well done mate.
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Thank you Mr. Elastic!

The first pan was actually a flex-track dolly-slider-pan, it was the only way I could cover her whole body the way I had envisioned. I had the slider on the tripod, that was on the dolly. As I came around her body, I had to continue the dolly move on the slider...and then pan to complete the shot. I would have to say if it looks a little jerky it's because I moved a little too fast for shooting in 24p. (remember that 7 second rule)

I didn't notice any out of sync...I'll have to check again. Might be the compression playing games with me.

Midgets? What Midgets? :laugh:
(...keeps you guessing doesn't it???)
 
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