"North" a lost production

This is an interesting concept, though I feel the science has been completely disregarded, but it's still interesting. My biggest criticism would be that this really came off as a talking heads story, told and not shown.

The music was good and as much as I hate reading a movie, I thought your use of Chinese was a good one.
 
I got tired of the long shots in almost darkness, but I thought the acting was good and a lot of the effects were cool. Good and interesting movie. I liked the language too! I would do as blaine suggested and show more of the story rather than tell it.
 
msconce said:
show more of the story rather than tell it.
Click to expand...

That right there is what got lost in the 50% cut down. We just had no way to "show" the amount of information needed to explain what the heck was going on. We totally misjudged our script to run time ratio!

So, unfortunately, instead of what we planned as a slow unraveling of the plot, we had to just straight explain. Showing the story either meant cutting the deeper meaning character aspects or the plot and explanation of why the story was taking place. ...so we ended up with a lot of talking. It seems to sit well with some and not so well with others. Either way I feel ya.

Thanks for the feedback!!!
 
Thanks to all that have been commenting. Hard being in the middle of the alphabet cause I can't tell if people are watching and hating it or NOT commenting (again, cause they hate it) or, even worse, just not watching it.

Or maybe, like me, their slow at making their way through (I'm at H, so even I'M not to our film yet. But oh the scathing criticism that will follow once I get here. You guys better watch out).

But seriously, thanks all. Like we've said, it's unfinished but these comments are gonna help us fine-tune the final product. So please keep it it. We're loving it and will keep it all in mind for the final piece. ANd then, for those who would like, will get to watch and see where their comments paid off.

Not to mention, it just helps us in the future for the other projects we do.

SO thank you all. Much much much appreciated.

And thanks for all the positive feed back. It helps immensely in what our
 
I agree with some of the comments like I like the use of Chinese and that there was a lot of explaining going on but for some reason the slow pace felt right for the film. The long ride down would feel like that I think. The use of Chinese helped with the slow pace to me because I associate it with calm, inner peace and Martial Arts. There were a few of the same kind of moments in movies like Crouching Tiger. It did need a bit more conflict between those characters I thought, it felt like the calm before the storm in a bigger movie. Good work.
 
Yes, this did feel like a part of something larger. Very well put together. I liked the editing and the effects were cool.

I think I needed a little more emotion from the actors though.

Overall this was pretty good. Great music as well.

Cheers!

Mike
 
Um, maybe I am crazy, but I thought this was completely mesmerizing. I mean, if this is rough, imagine how inadequate I'm going to feel when it's done.

I love your guys work, and loved what you did in LoveFest.

I guess yeah, this needs more to make it complete, but your sheer ability to create a living breathing world is so far above most of us, that that alone carried much of it for me. I believed what I was seeing, and my brain was working overtime to conceive what was happening. I thought it was beautiful and haunting.

If you ever decide to let me, I would love to read the script too.

Your efx at the control panel were probably the best in the fest, used with subtlety and packed with intricate detail, like how when the earth hologram came up, it started to turn ever so slightly. And how behind it, on the panel, several little pointers came up, indicating areas on the display. Detail like these would be lost on many of us at this level of filmmaking.

I never got bored for a second. I was entranced.

I hope you are going to continue on and finish what was in your heads, because...DAMN.
 
I loved this film. It didn't feel incomplete at all. The ending and the final line made everything in the short crystal clear. I love those moments were you are not quite sure of what you are seeing than suddenly, with 1 line, it all snaps into place. Great film and definitely in my top 10 if not top 3. I would love to see the extended version.

As for the actors speaking Mandarin, I thought it worked well. The white actor had the inflections perfect so it sounds like he is very fluent in the language and not just mimicing it for film. I completely accepted it.
 
Hey guys,

Overall great effort on the short. I felt the composition was nice, and it flowed well. I got a sort of textured ("The Fountain") vibe from it. I really dug that aspect. Generally I'm not a huge fan of the midi-generated scores, but the music worked really well.

Keep up the good work, and I hope to see more soon!

Take care,
Aaron G.
 
Certainly a rough cut diamond.

On a first viewing I got a really good feel from this film although I didn't really understand what was going on. On the second viewing, I got all the part about starting up the earth again. I didn't really understand why it had stopped, apart from vague mentions of the magnetic field and time, but I didn't really feel that mattered in this short, although it might matter more in a longer film (Blaine's comment about the scientific background might be important if you intend developing this further).

I'm afraid the part about brotherhood passed me by, although I liked that the older guy, who obviously was the one who knew how to restart the world, knew he had to stay behind but send his companion to the surface to watch it.

Above all, I thought the atmosphere you created of some distant, post disaster future was pulled off really well. I loved the music, the colours, the special effects, the slow pace and the chinese.

It needed a little more hammering into shape, but even as it is, it's definitely one of the best films in the fest.
 
I love this one. Seriously. This is the kind of film I aspire to make. Nothing is spoon fed to the audience -and I like it when movies make me think. Minor sound issues, but not enough to pull me out of the story. My wife (the heroine/victim(?) of Survival) loves it too.
 
This one I'm not sure I get. but that doesn't surprise me, I'm bad at "getting" movies.

It seems like the actors are bi-locating. To me this is distracting.

Wonderful lighting in the elevator (?) shots.

Good CG too. That's something I could never pull off.

Thanks,
-Joe
 
whoa. I loved this film. This hit me really on the sweet spot. Great score and wonderful concept. LOVED these actors. Your film is definitely in my top tier. Jayzus, you done good.
 
I'm effing flattered at all this positivity. Seriously, thanks guys. Means a huge amount coming from such a range of talent here! We will definitely finish this one up!!!
 
I enjoyed your film and it kept my attention thoroughly. Your actors did a decent job and the story/concept was very interesting. I only wish you had shown us more rather than tell us so much; lots of ongoing dialogue. I think many of your beats/moments would have greater meaning had they been expressed in visual terms. I do understand that this was a challenging film to make with lots of VFX but still, the more visual the storytelling can be, the better. I do think the writing was good, and highly creative.. I just feel that there wasn't enough room to really develop certain moments or give certain beats enough air, which would make them more emotionally impacting.. does that make sense?

All in all, nice work. Looking forward to more from you in the future.
 
I enjoyed this, though I couldnt tell what was happening. One moment they were in that elevator shaft then back to the campfire then back and so forth.

I think it would have been more powerful with less words. As a general rule, the less dialogue you have, the more powerful it is.

Great fx!! Probably the best of the fest next to O2. Loved the earth hologram.

Good acting and solid direction.
 
mmmmm.... nice.

a very convincing reality. i loved the visuals and even the ambiguity of the story... my only complaint is that it was a one-tone piece. It had a particular mood and that persisted for 6min without much change. I think it was the continuous soundtrack... I did still really enjoy it though, I just wanted a little bit more variety of mood. Otherwise very strong and compelling, but more than anything, just really beautiful. Nicely done!
 
Very nice, the story really does begin to intrigue the viewer, and the acting was good. Although perhaps it's more enjoyable to chinese viewers who understand what is being said...great movie, it had an eerie Myst(old PC game)/Apocalyptic feel which I know you were going for, nice job.
 
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