Primer

P

PaulK

Well-known member
Anyone else seen it yet? Nifty idea, but hard to understand. Even though it's flawed, it's worth checking out, especially since it was shot on 16mm for only $7,000. Shane Carruth is my new hero, replacing Robert Rodriguez with his $7,000 debut, El Mariachi.

The production notes at rottentomatoes are a good read:

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/primer/about.php
 
Re: Primer

This is an amazing film and I recommend everybody go see it. It's a very accomplished work. Exciting and original. Even more cool is that the finished film as seen in theatres is (other than the fact that it is blown up to 35mm) the actual $7,000 production as it exists on the director's personal computer. The distributor did not do any additional post-production or enhancement --- unlike Columbia which put up several hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix the sound and image on El Mariachi. Primer is purely independent.
 
Re: Primer

Hey Cineman9, nice to heard.
I've seen that you're a contributor on the primer's forums. ;D

How did you find the cinematography of primer ?
Shane argues that the "mise en scene" is conventional at the beginning but with the evolution of the story the "mise en scene" becomes more and more "aerial".

I like very much the idea to match the "mise en scene" with the development of the story.

What is your opinion about it. Thanks ;)
 
Re: Primer

Noticed that there was a brief article about Primer in this month's Popular Science magazine. Not too much said about the film-making aspects -- more about the "logic" of Primer. Anyway, nice publicity...
 
Re: Primer

cRAZY Movie...
CRAZY.
I was so skeptical that 77 mins wasn't enough for a movie to twist me.
I was so wrong.

The blowup to 35 looked like crap though...but the story and the 'construction' of the film was on point...
I mean the shots themselves, were GOOD, but they were just out of focus or ill-lit...

And FOR ONCE, an acting director gave a great performance.
Abram's character was great as "the nervous tech guy with hidden demons"
 
Re: Primer

Hated it.

Opening credits
talk
talk
talk
talk
closing credits

Their use of techno babble didn't make them seem smarter. It made them seem like they were trying to be smarter. If they made any sense what-so-ever, we'd be building time machines off the movie's script. Suspension of disbelief? It went out the window when they decided to talk in nerd speak. Okay, that's my little rant (and my opinion...feel free to form your own.)
 
Re: Primer

I want to see it for just the fact that it was made under a $7000 budget.

why is it always $7000? el mariachi was $7000

I'm going to try and make an indie film for $6000, I might become a bigger hero :)
 
Re: Primer

Hey hpvz. I'm totally with you on the look of a film evolving with the story. Shane Carruth does this in Primer to wonderful effect. As "reality" begins to unravel, the film takes on this erratic, intense look. This comes from not only the camerawork (i.e. the shift from structured tripod/dolly shots to frantic handheld photography) but also out of the editing and sound. Off the top of my head, Requiem for a Dream and Irreversible are other films in which style and story evolve together.

A lot of my praise for Primer comes out of how the filmmaker turned his weaknesses into strengths. Any objective person could point out that the sound and lighting are not very good. In some scenes, they are film-student amateur. But for this movie, it works. Because the story deals with engineering and experimentation, the film's shoddy, work-in-progress look is entirely appropriate.

Yeah, I've been pretty active on the Primer message boards. Something about the film just struck a chord in me. It's the movie I've been wanting to see for a long time. I hope people take the chance to check it out.
 
Re: Primer

i hate to break the party here but i am only saying this because currently  i am working on the same type of film. (two people talkingfor one hour) not saying it's going to have the same effect... but just the idea that it's a movie about 2 people making a time machine by talking themselves to death... doesn't go too far as a movie. At the end, it's just different but its not going to be entertaining for more than a day.
So, as I am also interested in the production value and want to watch it to see whats in it- that's perhaps the only real honest reason why I would watch it.
 
 
Re: Primer

DvPixl, you're not breaking the party by sharing your comments. That's what these boards are all about. Personally, I wouldn't characterize Primer as a movie in which two characters talk themselves to death. There's a lot of cool filmmaking going on -- especially in the frame composition, sound design, and editing.

It's definitely not like In the Company of Men which is more like a stage play than a movie. I liked that movie too, but only in terms of its acting and story. It certainly wasn't the most interesting thing to look at.
 
Re: Primer

Thanks for answering Cineman9.
After reading your post I feel more impatient than never to see this film.

Primer will be in SITGES festival in Spain at the begining of december but my spanish is not good enough to understand and enjoy the film with so much "blabla" !! ;D

I hope Primer will find soon a distributor in France. In the worst scenario, I'll buy the dvd.

btw, good luck with your project DvPixl. Hope you'll post soon a clip on dvxuser. If you're looking for a title, I propose you : Deuxio ;)
 
Re: Primer

I missed Primer when it played in LA. Damn! But have read nearly all the reviews and interviews with Carruth. He impressed me. He and Robert Rodriguez seem to have a few things in common. Both made their breakout flicks for $7000, both shot their first features in 16mm film, and they're both from Texas.
 
Primer

In reading about time travel to get in the right mood for writing my script, I came across a movie called Primer. I checked it out, and was blown away. On top of that, it was apparently shot for under $7,000.

It's seriously an amazing film; I highly recommend that everyone check it out. Just be warned -- one reviewer was quoted as saying, "anybody who claims [to] fully understand what's going on in Primer after seeing it just once is either a savant or a liar." The plot is that insane. Don't read too much about it before you watch it -- you'll ruin some surprises.

Go watch it now. Go go go.
 
Seriously have seen this movie a countable 17 times to date and I still love it. It's exactly what I mean when I say Sci-Fi needs to have Sci (Science) first. All else just falls into place.
 
Primer is a terrific film, and great inspiration for indie film makers. Definitely not Hollywood formula. Won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance for good reason.
 
Yup Primer is one of those must see films for independent filmmakers. "Ad Infinitum" was very primerish, if that is really a word of course but hey it is now I just made it up if nothing else. But the style seemed to remind me a great deal of "Primer". That being said you guys have to see it if you haven't already and even if you have go watch it again.
-Pauly
 
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