PUSH - Directed by Matt Sconce

It looks like a lot more people have finished watching the movies due to the increase in traffic on here. I realized that PUSH is smack in the middle-sh area of the list so I hope people are seeing it. It is always strange to try and guess how many people are watching all the movies. I know I watched them all, but ti takes a long time, and some people don't do it. For any who have not got to it yet, I hope you enjoy PUSH!:beer:
 
Great work guys.

Much has been said here already, so I will have to repeat much of what others have already said. The steadicam and tracking shots in the garage scene were great as, of course, was the pistol kick. I've just been through the whole sequence frame by frame and noticed some neat little details like the blood spurting out of Enoch's back as he ran. I'll say that the beginning of this sequence threw me a little bit: Enoch is moving left to right but swings round to the left a little to shoot at the first guy (with the pony tail) who then ends up in exactly the same position in the frame as he shoots back after the cut.

The lighting was well done, especially the alleyway scenes. The acting convinced me. The guy who gives Enoch his instructions in the "white" scene is quite an amazing character actor. I'm afraid the story itself was not so clear and lost me rather in the middle (although having read the thread I now understand it). Great production value though and you are certainly good at the action stuff.

Jason
 
Yay! I just saw it! I had fun watching this. First, technically, extremely well done. Big props to your audio guy!

I had fun with the plot and loved the fx. Loving the Red eh? :-). You got one of my highest scores. Great job!

Btw, is the lead actress your wife or sister? (judging by the name)
 
I've watched that parking garage scene like five or six times already... I'll say that it's one of the coolest scenes I've seen from a short on this site in a long time. It's got me crazy motivated.. Awesome shot choices here.. great editing.. great score.. very high energy. I think action directing is your thing :)

Okay, now for the movie itself ;) I have some conflicted points of view. Whereas I thought visually, the parking garage stuff rocked.. I didn't dig the interior house scenes or the white void. The interior house stuff looked too flat for my tastes, perhaps too many lights in play.. and with the white void, I think I didn't buy into it due to the soft white glow or cc scheme used; I just felt the vfx nature of it and it took me out of the story.

Story: I didn't really get the point.. I think he designed some device/weapon/time machine and people wanted to take it away from him. It didn't bother me all that much though that I didn't get the story because I was so into that parking garage scene.. I think this brings up a good point because this often happens in many big studio films.. we don't get the story or point of a scene but we're into it because the visuals and energy are carrying us along. I didn't know why he had to push that button but at the end I'm excited and into 'that moment' when he finally does it.

I thought the actors performances were the weakest element in your short. I didn't buy into them at all.. It felt too much like line reading rather than playing off the lines themselves. Both Enoch and Allison seemed to overact in my opinion.. The mystery man didn't work for me either, I thought his performance was a little bit better than Allison and Enoch but I don't think he fit that part very well..

Score was excellent and again...awesome during that parking garage scene... Nice work, Justin.

Matt, overall I enjoyed the film. That parking garage scene is awesome and has motivated me as I work on my next project which is action based. You're work is continuing to improve and I look forward to what you come up with next.
 
"...The steadicam and tracking shots in the garage scene were great..."

Thanks Jason. That was a lonnnnnng steadycam night. The new RED didn't have the proper cable to extend the battery down to the bottom of the sled on the Glidecam V-16, so the battery had to be placed behind the camera. In order to balance the rig I had to put 71/2ibs on the front of the bottom of the sled. With the battery and holder up high, the weight of the RED system made the rig top heavy. I had to add a horizontal dumbell set that extended out from the sled base horizontally to defray the pendulum effect. The RED is heavy to begin (compared to, say, an HVX) with and the battery holder also is built to hold a hard drive so it is extra weight too. With the arm, sled, camera, lens set, and added weights, it topped out at around 55lbs. I had to tighten the internal arm springs all the way tight and the RED and weights still almost bottomed it out. That is why I built my own heavier duty steadycam, the Hypercam, that was built to handle the RED ONE.

On the first scene in the garage, on action, I had to run left and then spin to the actor's right swinging around to get a side quartering view. Kenn is fast, and that was challenging as Matt didn't want him to be going too slowly. The front shot with the three shooting was a backwards running shot. We had the C-stand with the balance mount at the end of the shot and I would deposit the rig on the stand after a few shots and catch my breath. I was glad that I could run backwards fast.

Prepping for the PUSH shoot, I ran miles and miles holding five pound weights in my hands in front of my body for back strengthening. I was soooo glad I did that as the RED steady was every bit as heavy a rig as I though it would be... made heavier by that unfortunately short battery cable.

We shot more shots with the steadycam that didn't make the cut. One was a cool bullet path shot where the steadycam backed away 40m from Enoch's first shot and followed the path of the spinning bullet all the way to where it killed the ponytailed guy (Shane). Time constraints caused that shot to go, but it would have been great.

Thanks for enjoying PUSH. We sure had fun making it. :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
Thanks Geoff for your thoughtful review. Directing actors is the thing I am getting better at little by little. I was pleased with their performances and I think I grew since I directed the acting in Stricken (Which I directed MUCH too big). Little by little I hope I am getting better at it. I love to direct action but eventually I want to be able to tell a story that is strong on all fronts. I appreciate your constructive criticism and will hopefully grow better in this area next fest! :thumbsup:
 
Geoff_R said:
I've watched that parking garage scene like five or six times already... I'll say that it's one of the coolest scenes I've seen from a short on this site in a long time. It's got me crazy motivated.. Awesome shot choices here.. great editing.. great score.. very high energy. I think action directing is your thing :)....

....Matt, overall I enjoyed the film. That parking garage scene is awesome and has motivated me as I work on my next project which is action based. You're work is continuing to improve and I look forward to what you come up with next.
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Improving is the goal. Thanks again for the in depth review. I just re-read it and it helps to know how PUSH comes across to people. I always hope my next project will be perfect, but I know that will not be the case. It will have the bar raised though each and every time!:2vrolijk_08:
 
Great work and a lot of fun
although the "white void" scene lost me a bit

The parking garage stuff was awesome, (I don't care if its been said already by... everyone haha)

Lighting, action, tracking shots, and that kick of the gun towards the end was cool as hell.

Nice job and keep it up!
 
MrKilloran said:
Great work and a lot of fun
although the "white void" scene lost me a bit

The parking garage stuff was awesome, (I don't care if its been said already by... everyone haha)

Lighting, action, tracking shots, and that kick of the gun towards the end was cool as hell.

Nice job and keep it up!
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Thanks!:2vrolijk_08:
 
Oh, I forgot to add in my original comments that whilst I enjoyed your whole short, I went giddy with excitement during the parking lot scene, especially the gun kick! You're now on my permanent must-watch list for all future fests.
 
shawneous said:
Oh, I forgot to add in my original comments that whilst I enjoyed your whole short, I went giddy with excitement during the parking lot scene, especially the gun kick! You're now on my permanent must-watch list for all future fests.
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Thanks a ton! I went giddy when I saw the close up of the girls face on the cliffs in Aetas when he is waking up and with the final beautiful shot. I thought...I need to move to Oregon! Haha! :love4:
 
Good news on the PUSH front. I just got an e-mail saying it was excepted into Action on Film Festival in late July and nominated for awards. They have not announced the awards yet, but they will anounce nominations by the 7th. I am stoked.:cheesy:
 
msconce said:
Good news on the PUSH front. I just got an e-mail saying it was excepted into Action on Film Festival in late July and nominated for awards. They have not announced the awards yet, but they will anounce nominations by the 7th. I am stoked.:cheesy:
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That's awesome news! I bet one of the nominations are for "best first extra to get shot!"
 
Hi Matt,

This was tons of fun. I've seen all of your shorts so far in these fests and I have to say this was an unexpected turn for you. You've normally done very calm, controlled, thoughful pieces (which I like). So this caught me off-guard.

I think the fx worked very well overall, and Im not going to nit pick shots here and there because I was caught up in the story, from a single viewing I dont remember anything feeling out of place. It's different if you go back and start disecting it shot by shot, but I was 'in' the story and going with it. I think it's a rare thing for a short to pull you in straight away, and I was more than willing to suspend my disbelief.

It had a very matrix vibe (I havent read the thread so it may have been mentioned before). But you know, that can go horribly wrong as a concept, but you pulled it off.

It's great to see you playing visually more, and I thought the whole package worked well. I'm impressed that people are managing to tie up all the threads of film-making more as these fests go on. It used to be you'd get either an interesting concept that didnt get there technically, or great fx but bad story. Here you got the balance right which is very hard to do.

well done. Top 3 for sure.
 
Darkline said:
Hi Matt,

This was tons of fun. I've seen all of your shorts so far in these fests and I have to say this was an unexpected turn for you. You've normally done very calm, controlled, thoughful pieces (which I like). So this caught me off-guard.

I think the fx worked very well overall, and Im not going to nit pick shots here and there because I was caught up in the story, from a single viewing I dont remember anything feeling out of place. It's different if you go back and start disecting it shot by shot, but I was 'in' the story and going with it. I think it's a rare thing for a short to pull you in straight away, and I was more than willing to suspend my disbelief.

It had a very matrix vibe (I havent read the thread so it may have been mentioned before). But you know, that can go horribly wrong as a concept, but you pulled it off.

It's great to see you playing visually more, and I thought the whole package worked well. I'm impressed that people are managing to tie up all the threads of film-making more as these fests go on. It used to be you'd get either an interesting concept that didnt get there technically, or great fx but bad story. Here you got the balance right which is very hard to do.

well done. Top 3 for sure.
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I am sure that Matt will comment more when he wakes up... he is probably still sleeping.:laugh:

I wanted to chime in an say thanks from the PUSH team. We had a great crew and everyone really brought their "A" GAME. We have all looked back at it and we have that list of things that we would fix, tweak or change if we could, but all things considered, I think that the team as a whole is real happy with the end product.

Thanks again fro your comments.


MATT... that is good news about the Film Festival! :Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
sfoster said:
That's awesome news! I bet one of the nominations are for "best first extra to get shot!"
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**2008 Action on Film Festival Future Update!***

Mark Aro points in excitement as Best First Extra to Get Shot Award goes to...

SHANE FOSTER! (Shane shows shock and amazement at the award...)

1214490969.jpg
 
Darkline said:
Hi Matt,

This was tons of fun. I've seen all of your shorts so far in these fests and I have to say this was an unexpected turn for you. You've normally done very calm, controlled, thoughful pieces (which I like). So this caught me off-guard.

I think the fx worked very well overall, and Im not going to nit pick shots here and there because I was caught up in the story, from a single viewing I dont remember anything feeling out of place. It's different if you go back and start disecting it shot by shot, but I was 'in' the story and going with it. I think it's a rare thing for a short to pull you in straight away, and I was more than willing to suspend my disbelief.

It had a very matrix vibe (I havent read the thread so it may have been mentioned before). But you know, that can go horribly wrong as a concept, but you pulled it off.

It's great to see you playing visually more, and I thought the whole package worked well. I'm impressed that people are managing to tie up all the threads of film-making more as these fests go on. It used to be you'd get either an interesting concept that didnt get there technically, or great fx but bad story. Here you got the balance right which is very hard to do.

well done. Top 3 for sure.
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Thank you Darkline,

I wanted to try something different this time around. I was walking through my house one day when this storyline appeared in my brain. I wrote it down and scripted it in Final Draft. It went through about 4 versions of the script that I sent to people to critique. I then got extremely excited because now I could enter Timefest. Then I thought about some of the epic shots in my mind and realized it would be the hardest thing I have done yet and it definitely was. After that I was a ball of energy and nerves, and with the help of my amazing team, made PUSH happen. I am extremely elated you liked the film that much, as I remember a pretty creepy horror short that rocked my world that you made a while back. Thanks again.:engel017:
 
msconce said:
Good news on the PUSH front. I just got an e-mail saying it was excepted into Action on Film Festival in late July and nominated for awards. They have not announced the awards yet, but they will anounce nominations by the 7th. I am stoked.:cheesy:
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Sweet man! Thats amazing news! Congrats man :2vrolijk_08:
 
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