Noa/Rice Digital Presents: "Into the Darkness"

TheatreGuy said:
No, no man! I was just asking. If you played with it and it didn't work then you did the right choice.

I guess I did say it "bothered" me before... and as I think about it, I guess I would like to have seen the ball roll over there in natural CC and then the boy hits the mark, bam! Darkness! But, that's just me. Asking questions and learning.

I was just exploring with you. Hope you don't mind.

Ted

And yes, I caught that on Michael's sig. Funny poo-poo!
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Sa'll good dude :) I need people to keep me honest, and question my choices... otherwise I'll never grow as a filmmaker :) thanks!
 
Brandon,

Since, you've been the review-meister and have put a lot of thought and effort into putting together reviews of every film, I wanted to give you a full review of your efforts:

a) The cinematography was beautifully executed. I, for one, thought the color shift was handled precisely as it should have been for the piece. I think the abrupt shift at the beginning dovetails nicely with the "return to normal" after your brother gets sucked down into whatever dimension he ended up in. I think you could have even emphasized it more by making the shift as he walked toward the ball rather than intercutting the bright and dark frames.

b) You know what you're doing with that DVX for sure. I liked your shot framing and couldn't find a thing to nit-pick about your compositions. The only very tiny nit-pick I had for camera work was the very small, abrupt movement you made when you were tight on your brother swinging. Your move occurs while he is out of the frame so the viewer (at least this one) is reminded this is all being filmed as opposed to the camera following the subject as we do with our eyes. (See, I have to get down to this level to find ANYTHING to suggest to you camera-work-wise!)

c) Your brother has cool shoes. I couldn't afford Nikes like that until I was 47.

d) Great tilt up as he looks around. The kid takes direction well and I liked your positioning him with his face clouded by leafy shadows.

e) What is all mixed in the soundtrack when he looks over at the wall? Pretty weird and cool! I think I'd have made the sound a bit more proximity related ... or at least had some shift in the SFX when he bends down lower. ... Maybe even put in the sound of buzzing insects or something sort of disturbing like that.

f) The editing is wunnerful wunnerful wunnerful! I have watched several times as he bends over the 'gateway' or whatever it is and your pacing and shot selection is great.

g) The payoff effect is outer-limits quality! Could you tell how you did that? My guess is that you composited in your brother on top of the frame as a separate layer and then ran him through a particle effect. Which one? I played it through frame by frame and didn't find any masking I could see other than the drop into the 'hole' at the end. Nicely done!

h) The score underscores (pun intended) the sheer talent of the Hermanator. Absolutely totally perfect for the piece.

i) Perfect length. I recall Jarred or somebody wise said at the outset that those who crafted shorts using less than the 6 minutes allotted would be rewarded in terms of having a tight little package and appreciation of the viewers. Absolutely true here. This is a pleasure to watch again and again.

j) I think I would have liked a little more at the end. Maybe some small anti-climax. Maybe the Mom calling for the kid off screen and then walking in frame to find the ball. She hears that little rattle noise and quickly looks toward the wall and *bam* black. Dunno. Just a thought from an inveterate movie watcher.

k) You make it all look so easy that people don't realize how difficult it would be to match this. As best I can tell you didn't use reflectors or boards to bounce light so I'm amazed you got such nice stuff in those shadows.

Nicely done sir Brice. I hope, if nothing else, this drives a bunch of people to your Smuggler's Ransom site.
 
Wow Mark! Thanks a LOT! Those comments coming from you mean a lot...

I am quite flattered you liked the way it was shot and everything... :) When we were out there I sort of edited the film in my head and made the shot list up on the fly... it's a good discipline I'll tell ya. Makes for being resourceful 2nd nature.

That payoff effect was done by Steve (dvxuser Steve_Arm) so you'll have to talk to him about that! He came in at the last second and helped me with those effects. Thanks again Steve!

About length, thanks! I was hoping for a tight, short, interesting flick... one that was so simple that there were very few things in it to critique. I've found sometimes less is more :)

Great idea about the end btw... I could have done that too... never crossed my mind... what an idea! nice!

I do indeed hope more people check out Smuggler's! I've been working on that all day in fact... getting a rendered file of the whole film and going to sit back and watch it :)
 
Mark Johnson said:
j) I think I would have liked a little more at the end. Maybe some small anti-climax. Maybe the Mom calling for the kid off screen and then walking in frame to find the ball. She hears that little rattle noise and quickly looks toward the wall and *bam* black. Dunno. Just a thought from an inveterate movie watcher.

k) You make it all look so easy that people don't realize how difficult it would be to match this. As best I can tell you didn't use reflectors or boards to bounce light so I'm amazed you got such nice stuff in those shadows.

Nicely done sir Brice. I hope, if nothing else, this drives a bunch of people to your Smuggler's Ransom site.
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Wow! I totally love that ending!!!! And I agree with Mark. You made this short seem effortless, but the visual quality was intense. I do hope a ton of people check out Smuggler's Ransom. From the clips I have been priviledged to see, it is awesome!!!!!!
 
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nice job - cool little short. the cinematography and editing were great. i also thought the score was really cool - it basically told the story.

a couple notes on how you could possibly improve this piece:
i would have liked to have seen a wide shot near the beginning that showed the kid walking from the colorful area to the desaturated area - it would have sold the effect a little better for me.

also, you might try using some blending modes into after effects to composite the effect of the kid going into the hole - it will make it seem more organic. as is it sort feels like the effect is on top of the picture rather than inside the scene (if that makes any sense)
 
luster said:
nice job - cool little short. the cinematography and editing were great. i also thought the score was really cool - it basically told the story.

a couple notes on how you could possibly improve this piece:
i would have liked to have seen a wide shot near the beginning that showed the kid walking from the colorful area to the desaturated area - it would have sold the effect a little better for me.

also, you might try using some blending modes into after effects to composite the effect of the kid going into the hole - it will make it seem more organic. as is it sort feels like the effect is on top of the picture rather than inside the scene (if that makes any sense)
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Thanks for the comments! That would be a good shot... a wide as he walks into frame... good idea... Glad you liked the film overall, thanks!
 
ok, I lied... Spurgeon has acted before... he has an appearance in my film, Smuggler's Ransom.

spurg.jpg
 
Hello Brandon,

I just watched your film.

Technically it's great on all fronts, as I'm sure you probably know. The shots, the lighting, the sound, I loved the music.

One part that I thought a little odd was when the boy was going to go get the ball. He seemed very hesitant to go get it, and I'm not sure why. As a viewer, I mean I'm cued to the fact that something creepy is going on by the music. But it wasn't clear to me why the boy was so hesitant to go get it. Did I miss something?

I wish there was more of a story to it, but I know you did it in a very short timeframe. I think it would work great as an intro to a feature length, so go to it!
 
Hey thanks for the review... the reason the boy was hesitant is because he sensed something was awry.

Thanks again for the comments... maybe someday a feature length... I'll add it to my ever increasing bunch of ideas for features :) thanks!
 
I watched this film a couple of times. It had the set-up and my attention, but when it was all said and done, I was left thinking, "why can't we go into the darkness? There is enough time."
The whole film had a sort of Lynchy "You don't know and I'm not going to tell you" feel, which I like in films. It wakes up the viewer. However, even Lynch gives us a pay off of some sort.
Did you originally have a 2nd act in mind?
 
it had my attention. but then there is a shot of the swing rope (a little too long imo) then the color changed when the kid was walking. there were rocks he picked up then poof gone..........hmmm didn't understand it?
 
Matthew B. Moore said:
I watched this film a couple of times. It had the set-up and my attention, but when it was all said and done, I was left thinking, "why can't we go into the darkness? There is enough time."
The whole film had a sort of Lynchy "You don't know and I'm not going to tell you" feel, which I like in films. It wakes up the viewer. However, even Lynch gives us a pay off of some sort.
Did you originally have a 2nd act in mind?
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Never had a 2nd act in mind, decided to leave it up to the viewer... Maybe a mistake, but I like the flow myself. thanks for watching and commenting! :)
 
Hey Brandon sorry its taken so long to give you a review..

Ok, first of all....I really liked the look of it. The whole movie was really clean, titles, score, direction, editing. It seemed very well planned though I know you did it in only a day.

I thought your brother did good acting. He might have looked around a couple too many times...but that didnt really bother me.

The direction was good. The shots I liked best were the one with the wall in the middle where you can see the other side and the first person shot where he looks over toward the ball. I kinda wished you would have done more first person as he walked toward it.

The sound effects and music were great. The music was kind of crazy...but that made it different, which is nice. There was one moment where hes walking toward the wall and the camera is on his feet and some shakers or rattles are going in the music. That really reminded me of kill bill vol. 1 where Lucy Liu is walking toward Uma in the snow. Twas cool.

I liked the effect when it was his hand turning wavy. Not too sure about the pixellated blocks in the next one....it worked though.

The story I didnt really like all that much. Kid drops ball....retrieves it....gets pixellated by rock. It was just really simple. What made you think of evil rocks anyway? However....the way you shot it and put it together made it very watchable.....enjoyable too.

Overall good work....whether it was shot in one day or not. Wasnt too keen on the story, but all the technical work, acting, and music was good.

Nice job.
 
thanks for taking the time to check it out dude! Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, the storyline is ultra-simple. There are however no holes in it :) which makes me happy... if I help your attention for 3 min. with that simple storyline, I am pleased. Thanks for the comments!
 
Brandon Rice said:
thanks for taking the time to check it out dude! Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, the storyline is ultra-simple. There are however no holes in it :) which makes me happy... if I help your attention for 3 min. with that simple storyline, I am pleased. Thanks for the comments!
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lol except for the magic one the kid gets sucked into :grin:

Brandon it looked top shelf.

I really think you put shots and a sequence together in a way that I hadn't seen you do before and it really did build suspense.

I also appreciated the saturated look in the light on the swingset and the increasingly desaturated look as he got away from that safety (swingset - innocence)

your brother was also very engaging and natural (did he have fun?)

But yeah, you sort of can't get away with ending the short with a magical foot dropping out of the sky and squashing your protagonist for no reason ...

It's one of Mkee's commandments "thou shalt not take the climax out of the hands of the protagonist".

Although I can't believe people don't know / can't figure out what happened ... kid discovered warping. This would become a family secret.

Great job man, again looked great and the sequence was put together nicely and Herman really took it up a notch! :beer:
 
wow i was hoping for something good when i heard this title. it was basically nothing with an after effect card shuffle at the end with jumangi type music.

anyway, need to edit a little better and get a better tripod:looks jerky sometimes. I know it was done just to do it but man you broke my heart.
 
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