No Peeking

The framerate was an issue.

I really liked this. The therapist was awesome, nice way to open.
I also got caught with the ending, which I loved!

The BF was a bit of an ass... not helping her with the groceries and such, but he made up for it.


Cheers!
 
Audio needs a fair bit of cleaning up, there was some handling noise and a bit of clipping when she yelled. Ending left a bit to be desired in my opinion (a bit anti-climactic), but it was good regardless. With that said, I liked the visual style and the acting was quite good for the most part.
 
one of the best of the fest for me so far. i'm going to watch it again and give more of a review after i see everything else. congratulations!
 
I agree with wartez and disagree with hblack (in terms of the ending).
SPOILER: I didn't think the end was "anti-climactic" at all. we are lead to believe that
the boyfriend is kind of an ass, and that their relationship is on the rocks
because they are writing their complaints in a box. i was assuming they
would open the box and read all the notes and sh*t would hit the fan.
But the end was quite a twist for me, and very heart felt.
Easily in the top 10 for me. Well done sir. And the therapist was in Deedive's
spyfest... whats the connection here?
 
NO PEEKING -- I did, however, and I liked what I saw! - SPOILERISH

On all fronts. Pun intended. I've noticed already that there's a static style going on in your work and I like it. I think your shots are well composed and a lot of the times the lighting looks (probably IS) natural. This entry also feels like your last, in that there's reflection going on up until the very end, within the characters and it comes out visually. It's hard to get actors to Emote well, it works here.

I've posted in other threads in this same fest about not being afraid of moving the camera. There are prime examples of this here, AND of keepin' the camera static. However, your static shots present a "depth" that remove the image from it's natural 2D state and into a three-dimensional one. The shot that I would use as example would be the boyfriend in boxing gloves on the couch. Lots of depth, that's a pretty nice shot! But, then you dig deeper into frames and get in close and personal on facial expressions, movements, even sleeping. I like your eye and I enjoy re-watching just to check out the visuals on your work.

I also enjoyed rewatching because there's a good short here and something's said within the time spent. You stuck with a certain idea (assumption, or am I assuming wrong?) throughout and presented a case where the idea is troublesome and must be overcome. By the end of the short, the assuming party is brought back by humility (or I'm assumin' after the credits role, she's no longer the same person) and away from the negative quality. Again, like most of the entries I've watched, this is another genuine article. Great choice of material to tackle!

The boyfriend, this might just be me, is perhaps the weakest link though and by the end of the short I think he's still got issues. He's got a bad attitude, he's purposely unwilling to help. I'm not sure if he was trying to prove a point or if he's just a jerk but... I didn't like him. Now, that's okay. In fact, for something like this there needed to be someone that wasn't as liked as the other. The issue I have is that in the beginning I didn't like the girl, then the apartment scene comes up and now I don't like either of them. So, it's hard for me to feel bad for this guy that's pinned to the wall by his girlfriends/wife's assumptive mind when he's really bein' a jerk. I think that's my only real "gripe" about it all. And I'm sure you had a completely different purpose in mind that I probably just didn't get.

The ending is just fine by me. From the setup we knew ONE of them was going to peek and that's a great deal of what keeps the audience watching: the mystery on who's gonna cave first, or, if they're both going to wait. There was no right or wrong choice which makes it even better. I'm totally fine with the one that was made. I do have to ask, however, the guy's intentions.

Was he expecting her to peek? Or was he going the distance, so to speak, and trying to hold off until the psychiatrist got the box? Either way works. I think I just personally want to know because, aside from the "gimme the box" sequence which HINTS toward him assuming she would peek in the box, I don't know. It only matters if the short was hinged on assumptions, and then doesn't even matter then. I just want to know personally.

Audio was good in my headphones! I'm glad there wasn't a lingering soundtrack, it would've detracted from pretty decent performances on both parts.

All in all, another List Topper for me. Again, thanks dvPix for exhibiting!
 
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Thanks for your lovely comments again. Defcon, Barry Mcbrien was in Deedive's film. There's no connection except for the fact that he is a terrific actor.

Kholi, thanks for your ongoing extensive reviews. Just one thing though, Dee had nothing to do with this film. lol.
The writer director is Hammer Rabbit Media Group... he doesn't seem to want to post.
 
dvpixl said:
Thanks for your lovely comments again. Defcon, Barry Mcbrien was in Deedive's film. There's no connection except for the fact that he is a terrific actor.

Kholi, thanks for your ongoing extensive reviews. Just one thing though, Dee had nothing to do with this film. lol.
The writer director is Hammer Rabbit Media Group... he doesn't seem to want to post.
Click to expand...

Oh sorry! I thought that Dee was writer/director! Durr. I'll change it.
 
dvpixl, great entry!

I loved the cinematography and lighting in this film! There were some incredible shots!

I enjoyed the simplicity of the story. Really works for a 6 minute short.

I felt that I knew the ending just because of the situation. The guy was a butt for the most part and then when she is left alone to peek, what else is she going to find? That we were right and he is an a$$? No... I suspected that he said a bunch of caring things. And that she would be left there in a state of disbelief.

Even though I expected that ending, I was glad that is what came to pass. It was a really nice way to end the film.

Overall, some really nice filmmaking skills happening here. The film flowed and felt polished.

Nicely done!

Best to you and Congrats!!!

-Ted
 
dvpixl - wonderful short! I must admit that I look for specific screen names when deciding what to watch on this forum, and I hadn't thought to look for yours until I saw it - and then I was excited to download it! The last short I saw of yours was in Dramafest, and I really liked it, it really lingered with me and this one is even better!

I realize you didn't write and direct it, so pass on a great big thumbs up to the writer/director, the story really worked for me, almost despite my thinking it wouldn't - the editing and pacing was just right, it kept me engaged to the end and the end was ... great!

Your camera work is really very nice, gorgeous in some places - you got some Macgregor in you, in DVX forum-speak. Seriously, though, I really liked your framing and the lighting - the color treatment is very nice as well. I really enjoyed the final scene.

Great work, great movie, keep on keepin' on!
 
Beautiful short. I love the simplicity of this and your other work. Not much to say about it. The encoding was a little goofy with the frame rate, but I guess others have said that.

I dunno, it's a simple premise executed well with a focus on the characters. Really nice.

The cinematography matched the story, simple, honest and direct.

Kholi remarked on the static camera. I am a HUGE fan of static camera and you use it well.

And the ending is wonderful to me. It leaves a question open about why he did that. And I like that kind of ambiguity. Keeps me engaged and wondering about the film afterwards.

Nice work.
 
some nice words there. Thank you Ted, Ignatius and Mark.

The director lurks around but doesn't post so know that he's reading them.

Actually I'm a big fan of handheld- so I'm not sure what my next step is in terms of
shooting static shot movies. But I know good ones when I see one- like a lot of the old samurai scope films. then again, I'm still learning and discovering what works and what doesn't.
 
What a well told story. Your images carried us--I try to screen the movies with friends--along with your characters in a way that fed the mystery naturally. Your short is going on the top-shorts list. Everyone here was thoroughly entertained by <<spoilers after this point>> watching how she behaves and reacts to "knowing" how he thinks <<spoiler end>>
 
solid story, well executed, well acted. another one of the entries that has what, personally, it takes to be a true 'short film.'

what's really funny is that i saw the ending coming. from about a mile away. BUT, it was the actress' reaction and how it was shot and played out that was important. i knew what was coming, but i wanted to see every second of it.

good job. kudos.

btw, i really loved the psych. he was awesome. it was great that it took me a few seconds to figure out what this was... is it a study group? ah, no. it's not. basically, that means i was engaged and guessing, good job!
 
Thanks everyone for taking the time to watch and critiquing! =D I hope dvpixl is happy i posted finally haha.
 
Hey guys. This was a really good film. I was really taken in by the characters and their plight. I'm always intrigued by couples at war. These people sleep in the same bed but act like they hate each other. That pesky ol' human condition.

I thought the ending was really great. Cinematography was nice and fit the piece. The color scheme was an interesting choice. The acting was pretty good also. The actress really sold the "challenging" wife archetype. I was really annoyed by her.

The writing was well done and had a lot of subtext. In fact, I think that's what helps answer the questions Kholi raised.

The husband knew the wife would peak. This is telegraphed when the wife says "I know how your mind works"

I think the husband clearly knew his I love you notes would pay off before the session and had every intention of allowing her to babysit the box. I really think there's hope for these two.

Good work.
 
I really liked the color throughout. I think the softer tones played well with the day to day dreariness that seemed to plague the characters. While the story was a little predictable, the acting was convincing and the actors played really well off each other. Often frustrated exchanges between couples is overplayed, but this was done very realistically and was very believable. Well done!

The only thing that I found that was just a little distracting was the therapists eye line during the first scene. He never seemed to make solid eye contact with either character, and looked more like he was gazing between them. A minor detail, but just something I noticed.

Very good project overall, though. I'm pretty new to dvxuser, and I hope to see more of your work in the future
 
You won't believe (or maybe you will) but i had a huge pair of tears at the end.
Congratulations.
Very well done!

:love4: BTW: she is so beautiful
 
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