PARALLEL by MDCFILMS

MDCFILMS

MDCFILMS

Active member
Hey everyone, we had to enter the contest. The film was done last minute, day before for production and day of for post. So please forgive it, we were a bit disappointed in it. But any feedback on improvements would be great and overall critiques!


FILM HERE

parallel_poster.jpg


Thanks Everyone.
 
Nice work!
Unfortunately I figured out what was going to happen before he arrived home. The poster and the title give it away completely.

Regardless, this was still pretty good. Some of the shots were done very well. Loved the underwater shots.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Good to see you made a thread: I'd hate to see your film added to my ever-growing list of films without a thread that is largely unread. But without further ado...

Rolling and reviewing:

Nice colorization on the opening shot. CC done in magic bullet I guess?

Actually the sound is really decent so far. I am happy to see that. Though the cars in the back ground was slightly annoying. I mean, I guess that lies in needing to get a better location or a better shotgun. And is that same silver watch appearing in everyones film? I am starting to think this is a conspiracy.

I digress...

Well I think the reveal happens at 2:20ish...I think the poster could have been designed to not give away the film. And as a lifeguarding note. Never enter the water head first. haha.

Though I did indeed like the parallel between life and death. Thus the title I suppose. Like I said, nicely shot, good sound, though change that poster! Make us think a little.

Cheers!
 
Nice short.

Very well shot, just a little overexposed at times.

I thought the information in the first scene could have been shown in a different way. The older man didn't feel very necessary to the plot.

I really liked this though. The poster did definitely give it away.
 
i thought this was a great short. Lovely filming style. I'd love to know how you shot some of your driving scenes, they were very smooth and the focus was great. Also the underwater stuff was beautiful.

I liked the relationship that was tied together with the line "There's water all over the kitchen floor" or something like that.

It was at that point that i felt attached to the movie. I really liked the Husband's (of the pregnant woman) performance. He nailed those scenes driving away in the car with his wife.
 
I think the last two minutes were really powerful, very emotional. The slow mo - the dive into the water... intercut with the pregnant woman. ya that all worked really well. the scene could have paid off more if it was set up differently...eg. use it as a flashback and start the story with him in the yard soaking wet... the dead body blurred out... and him getting a call from his brother telling him they had a girl and wishing his daughter happy birthday, and maybe us wondering why he's crying. then flashback to this scene.

I like the way you shot everything, casting and acting was great.
 
As soon as this came on I was impressed with the cinematography. Some of these shots were just beautiful. The motorcycle shots were great. I really liked the actor on the bike. The parallel between life and death was a great direction. For me, I felt it fell a little short of the emotional impact I expected. I think it might have worked better for me if the brother arrived at the hospital right as his wife was delivering, and the other man got back to his daughter as she was dying. Maybe she dies right when the baby breathes his first breath? I don't know, just a thought. I liked this. Thanks for the movie!
 
Beautifully shot. I don't think you have any reason to be disappointed (replying to your initial post). Acting is very good, the one thing in the writing/acting I didn't buy was how nonchalant the older man was about his wife giving birth.

Felt there was more to this short. An explanation of why the girl killed herself. The baby being born. An explanation of what is exchanged in the beginning of the film. Maybe them all at the memorial service, somehow the young male lead is left holding the baby. Comforting it, even as he cries. Okay, I'll stop now.

But I did really like this film. It was very clean, very crisp, very professional.
 
This looked nice and was pretty well acted.

I'll repeat the consensus: Don't give away your film with the poster.

Other than that, a nice concept with a clean execution.

Thanks,
-Joe
 
A nicely made film, especially for just two days work. Great car and bike road scenes, though I thought the editing could have been a little tighter here and there - where the younger brother pulls out of the car park on his bike for example you leave us looking at an empty car park for half a second. I'm afraid I also didn't like the cut from the pregnant wife crying in pain to the body floating in the pool, which confused me for a second. The acting was good - I especially liked the older brother. The story worked well. Good cinematography.

Jason
 
I thought your film looked really good. Your poster rocks, and I think it probably did telegraph the ending.

On the other hand, a bit of trivia, drowned men float face down, drowned women float face up... Maybe she wasn't dead after all! :)

Look forward to more films from you.
 
I like the idea of the story and also the scene in the pool was very impressive. I am not sure if I liked the acting. Hower - compliments!

Susanne
 
Wow, quite an interesting and worthwhile effort. You shouldn't put yourself down, I just rated you higher than 80% of the flicks seen so far :-).

Excellent shots on the pool and the bike riding scenes. The story confused me, did she kill herself?

Oh, and great bikini bod and we only see her dead??? Sheesh :-)
 
Hey,

Just caught the flick. I like what you tried to do there. Much like a poem, I like that the title adds something to the film that we wouldn't get (as well) if you didn't have it there. So kudos on the title.

I also enjoyed your camera work. The quality of the image alone is very nice. And the tracking/dolly shot while the guy's riding the bike...very cool.

I think the acting is quite good. I believed all of the characters, and their relationships to each other. I was worried about the biker but he came off better than I had expected.

I think this is a good effort and would have liked to have seen a cut where you put all of your time into it. One could tell that you were going for something. I like the "parallel" between birth and death. Having her in the pool pushes your comparsion too as it brings to mind the fluid the baby would swim in before its born.

Overall, I would have liked to see the nuances of this piece elaborated on more. I could see there was the dichotomy between the two family lives and the polar differences in the ending helped that. I just would have liked to see you draw the two together and have gotten to know how/why the relationships were the way they were.

But a good effort and I enjoyed it. Next time some pre-planning so we can see a piece that you got to spend time on, huh? I, for one, can't wait to see what you bring to the table.

Thanks for sharing.
 
The story was a little bit confusing to me at first. I had to watch the second time. Also, it looks like you have one duplicate scene of the guy saving the girl. But the acting is nice. You know how to work with the camera. I liked the bike riding scene. Good job!
 
Clear camera work, great underwater shots, a tad confused but then it doesn't take much to confuse me ;)
 
Wonderfully shot and I really enjoyed your actors. The story itself was a little confusing. This will be one of those films I’ll have to go back and re-watch. I enjoyed the edits with the dialog. It made me wonder if I was watching the same movie.

I suppose there’s a few things that could have been changed. I guess I did not get the connection that the two characters were brothers. Or, the fact the younger brother had a teenage daughter. If you would have switched the two roles of the brothers, this would have been a bit more believable for me. I also would have to liked to see the daughter’s face. Otherwise she’s just a no-faced body. A face would immediately connect you and feel for her.

All in all, I enjoyed it. It was one of the better films I’ve seen so far.

Congrats on entering the fest.
 
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