NO HORIZON - A Horrigan / Harris Production

Nice!

Came out well, Matt! If you re-release it, I'd CC those inserts! :tongue:

All and all, the pacing was great and I really love the sunset to night transition. I think it works nicely! Happy to have helped.
 
Thanks Ryan, you really made this short come to life. I have a lot more work to do in post, and i'll make sure to CC everything tighter.
The 3D robots we are creating in Cinema 4D are looking amazing already, and will really elevate the final look to the movie. I'll keep you posted.

Thank you to everyone else who dropped me a note. it's been an exhausting 2 months, I worked on this short day and night and must have logged in hundreds of hours. For the next fest... I may have to keep things a bit more simple.
 
Oh come on you big girls! lol - what is all this cheesy self congratulation over the fx! It is cool and i do respect em' but keep it in perspective! All this bromance over it is testing my stomach! It's pretty modest fare, and god knows ive seen fx artists have to put out fx seen here within a week!

It is ambitious, but keeping it real, its also relative to the fact (i presume) that Matt's still learning fx - in that respect its impressive in a modest sort of way! X
 
lawriejaffa said:
Oh come on you big girls! lol - what is all this cheesy self congratulation over the fx! It is cool and i do respect em' but keep it in perspective! All this bromance over it is testing my stomach! It's pretty modest fare, and god knows ive seen fx artists have to put out fx seen here within a week!

It is ambitious, but keeping it real, its also relative to the fact (i presume) that Matt's still learning fx - in that respect its impressive in a modest sort of way! X
Click to expand...

Thanks for raining on the parade and pissing in the lemonade man.

DebbieDownerRachaelDratch.jpg
 
Last edited:
Hey Matt,

What I loved about this film is unfortunately what I also think was its achilles heel too, and that is it's very ambition.

I'm a huge fan of sc-fi. Addicted to the V remake for my sins... But I think here you set up a world that you couldn't quite pull off visually. But that does take time which we don't often have in these fests. On the plus side if this is your first delve into AE then it's very good and the most convincing effect for me was the holographic wrist thingy that you motion tracked. The ship in the distance was also very well done.

The problem for me was that the drones looked like 2D images scaled/moved across the screen and that pseudo 3D just stood out to me, along with the explosions which didn't seem part of the environment. I want too much I know! But I guess stuff like that just pulls me out of the short. The opening stills didnt bother me, I quite like that they don't move as it leaves more to the imagination. Just was a shame that all the ships seemed cloned from exactly the same angle (again... time)

I loved the rooftop shots, I think that was the part which looked most like a real movie to me. The magic hour looked stunning there.

Story wise, as you've said you were homaging b-movies so I wont delve into it too much. It was an interesting mix of star wars (especially the wipes), star trek, V, etc...I will say that when your alien reveal came on there were a few sniggers - but this could well be intentional. I didn't get that he loved her after threatening to kill her earlier. Tough love eh? (I know a lot of people that get off that though!)

So big congrats for the scale and ambition, shorts like this are huge learning experiences, and I bet you had fun along with the sweat and tears. So while I didn't think you quite nailed it as a finished piece I take my hat off to you for the show you tried to put on.
 
Darkline, thanks for the view and review man, i really respect your work. The 2D effects are all I could get done in time for the fest. I am currently recreating everything in Cinema 4D. I am not a VFX artist but I had to tackle it this fest because my AE guru got bogged with work, simple as that. Glad you liked the rooftop shots and I agree, those seem to be the stronger parts of the short.

Lawrie, Ryan was DP and raced against all odds to shoot the movie as the sun set. Sometimes when you are part of the production you have insight to appreciate something that critics on the outside could never appreciate. There was no "cheesy self congratulation", he only complimented me on ambition.

"god knows ive seen fx artists have to put out fx seen here within a week"

That's a compliment, thank you. 40 Hours is a lot of time to put into effects for a Dxvfest, especially when you are learning the program as you go. I also spent weeks on creating pre-visuals, writing the script, creating the costumes, editing the film, composing the score, creating the sound design and color correcting the final film.

Thank you for appreciating my many weeks of work that went into NO HORIZON!
 
I get it Matt, you don't have to go searching in my text for subjective compliments either - ive complimented already what i like about it (its scope, ambition, some of the fx, the cinematography). When I joke about the bromance, its because you and Ryan are getting mushy over something only you two can appreciate. The time and effort you two spent.

As a neutral observer i can think of many films produced with more time and effort, in dvxfests alone that have not engaged in this kinda self congratulation. Its just unwarranted because the film while cute, is so flawed and simply not that great imo.

From your responses to critique I think you guys seem to be in a little self denial about some very gross and critical flaws in this film relating to the stuff that actually counts - the story, the substance - and instead seem hell bent on self congratulating each other on what you 'achieved' visual fx wise (in reality quite modest!) and some cute cinematography. So much so that it actually comes across as some kind of weird mounted defence? It's like watching the crew of Skyline singing there own praises in how they achieved the impossible dream with a bts docu!

Both myself and Darkline actually have produced short films with very heavy fx, himself winning 2 dvx fests, myself featuring work at fests, sundance, sxsw. So while the first response might be that im just being a debbie downer... think again i might actually be expressing something valid.

You have a cute film, with amatuerish effects with the odd good fx shot and a pretty terrible story that creates a good few unintended laughs. I would simply chalk this one to experience and move on personally. I also pride myself on keeping things a little real, which can sound a bit blunt - i appreciate that you might think im simply being a bad guy or being personal but no way.

Now if the response to this is going to be 'i appreciate your opinion lawrie but really i dont think you understand this isnt an arthouse film and is actually a b movie homage to blah de blah - save your keyboard!' That kinda response is dismissed almost instantly - a good film stands on its own two feet!
 
Last edited:
Thank you Ryan and my whole crew for help making NO HORIZON the BEST Dvxuser entry of all time! We truly made the sickest sci-fi movie I have seen in years and the effects work I did is simply stunning! I would like to thank myself for really just making something that blew everyone away. I can't wait to enter this into Sundance and SXSW!
 
No no no, thank you Matt. You were so amazing to work with. I fondly remember that one day we shared together on that small rooftop and I wish it never ended. I'll always hold that day very near and dear to my heart. I may go onto many other productions after yours, but they will never mean to me, what you meant to me. We made a movie on the scale of Close Encounters and with the heart of The Godfather. I think the academy will see this subtle and timeless story as a perfect nomination for the shorts category for the 2012 Oscars.


Lawrie just doesn't understand. *Sigh*. If only he understood what we had, just for a moment.

Yours truly,

-ryan

PS: can you believe we made this short for only $5 million?!
 
Last edited:
hahahaha - love it - gotta say you did make me giggle with the response chaps :) but at least now your toning it down a little X
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top