PUSH - Directed by Matt Sconce

Good film matt. I liked the part in the parking garage. Good actors and a good idea. The actor in the white room sure reminds me of someone.
 
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:

That's good news, Matt. Congratulations!

Jason
 
In the past few days, DVXusers Ben Sliker and Justin Kuhn sat down and chatted over AIM while simultaneously watching the same TIMEFEST films. We call them, "The AIM sessions". Here's their thoughts on "PUSH"

This is a 'special edition' of the AIM sessions, Assistant Director Brad Mate and 'Woman on Bench' Marie Hartsell have joined the chat from the cast and crew of JAM. This is their third "4-person" review.

spesliker (9:02:05 PM): marie is "going potty"
spesliker (9:02:08 PM): brad?
TheBrad84 (9:03:12 PM): d/ling
spesliker (9:03:15 PM): ok
happygobo (9:03:29 PM): OH GODDAMN BRAD YOU HOLD EVERYONE UP
spesliker (9:03:31 PM): everyone have push?
happygobo (9:03:41 PM): downloading now.
spesliker (9:03:52 PM): WHO's HOLDING US UP NOW ASS.
happygobo (9:04:31 PM): it's a race against TIME to download a film
spesliker (9:05:18 PM): HARDY HAR HAR
spesliker (9:05:55 PM): push. ready?
happygobo (9:06:00 PM): ready
spesliker (9:06:03 PM): marie is out of the pooper.
TheBrad84 (9:06:05 PM): rdy
spesliker (9:06:07 PM): 3
spesliker (9:06:08 PM): 2
spesliker (9:06:10 PM): 1
spesliker (9:06:11 PM): go
happygobo (9:06:26 PM): he knows his Motion
spesliker (9:06:37 PM): lol, i think it's AE
spesliker (9:06:45 PM): that blood isn't running down his face.
TheBrad84 (9:06:46 PM): whew. good thing it stopped on u. pvsh would have made no sense as a title.
mariaperky333 (9:06:58 PM): translation: leave me alone
spesliker (9:07:10 PM): this dialogue really isn't engaging me.
happygobo (9:07:26 PM): can we get some movement up in this piece?
TheBrad84 (9:07:28 PM): *you are here*
spesliker (9:07:31 PM): GOOGLE MAPS DOUBLE TRUE
spesliker (9:07:54 PM): i understood this one up until the white scene
spesliker (9:07:57 PM): wait for it.
happygobo (9:07:58 PM): I LOOK LIKE OBAMA WHEN I FURROW MY BROW
spesliker (9:08:02 PM): DONT OPEN THE DOOR!!!
spesliker (9:08:12 PM): she didn't listen
happygobo (9:08:14 PM): LOOK AT ME, FURROWING.
TheBrad84 (9:08:18 PM): really? teh first two gunshots didnt turn him around?
spesliker (9:08:29 PM): he's a little slow.
happygobo (9:08:33 PM): "That must be the mailman. F*ck I'm shot."
TheBrad84 (9:08:40 PM): furrow...
spesliker (9:08:45 PM): I CANT CONTROL THE LOUDNESS OF MY VOICE
happygobo (9:09:03 PM): CAPS MAKE EVERYTHING FUNNIER
TheBrad84 (9:09:06 PM): voice immodulation is real ben. you are a bigot
spesliker (9:09:10 PM): YOU'RE A BUTTON YOU F-ING BUTTON
happygobo (9:09:10 PM): what button, fool?
happygobo (9:09:43 PM): TIIIIIIMMEEE!
mariaperky333 (9:09:50 PM): pause
happygobo (9:09:53 PM): dolly that shi*
spesliker (9:09:54 PM): i'd totally be looking for that guy in 5 years
spesliker (9:10:00 PM): PAUSE!
happygobo (9:10:03 PM): I did
happygobo (9:10:08 PM): 3:42
spesliker (9:10:19 PM): brad?
spesliker (9:10:21 PM): time?
TheBrad84 (9:10:33 PM): err. i went back to 3:42
spesliker (9:10:36 PM): everyone start at 3:35
spesliker (9:10:45 PM): ready?
TheBrad84 (9:10:49 PM): rdy
spesliker (9:10:51 PM): 3
spesliker (9:10:52 PM): 2
spesliker (9:10:53 PM): 1
spesliker (9:10:57 PM): go
mariaperky333 (9:11:07 PM): pop pop pop goes the gun
happygobo (9:11:15 PM): DON'T AIM, aimin's for pussies.
spesliker (9:11:18 PM): post-pro gun flashes make ben a sad panda.
TheBrad84 (9:11:26 PM): pwned
mariaperky333 (9:11:28 PM): lol
mariaperky333 (9:11:31 PM): i have no words
happygobo (9:11:43 PM): kick it like it owes you money
spesliker (9:11:46 PM): chuck norris endorses roundhouse gun kicks.
happygobo (9:11:49 PM): OH NOES HE TRIPPED!!!111
TheBrad84 (9:11:56 PM): good thing he's got that facepaint on. they would have spotted him running through the parking lot shooting a gun otherwise
happygobo (9:12:02 PM): tickety tick
TheBrad84 (9:12:05 PM): qbert?
TheBrad84 (9:12:11 PM): my atari broke
happygobo (9:12:21 PM): I know, dynamite camo
spesliker (9:12:22 PM): where's the giant blood spot on the door?
TheBrad84 (9:12:42 PM): i just had massive video failure
spesliker (9:12:46 PM): I KNOW IT'S YOUR HOUSE MATT, BLOOD ON THE DOOR.
happygobo (9:12:52 PM): GIVE IT UP OR I'LL FURROW MY BROW AT YOU
spesliker (9:12:55 PM): PAUSE
happygobo (9:13:06 PM): 5:37
spesliker (9:13:16 PM): I PAINTED MY GARAGE, YOU CAN SPRAY BLOOD ON YOUR DOOR.
spesliker (9:13:23 PM): 5:28 here/
TheBrad84 (9:13:48 PM): this is killing my computer
spesliker (9:14:03 PM): yeah ... im sure it's the video...
spesliker (9:14:11 PM): and not those "other" videos
mariaperky333 (9:14:21 PM): ewww
happygobo (9:14:29 PM): I've found if you have a bunch of QT "videos"
TheBrad84 (9:14:31 PM): contineu with out me. this thing goes to hell at 4:30
happygobo (9:14:34 PM): open all at the same time
spesliker (9:14:48 PM): WERE LEAVIN A MAN BEHIND
happygobo (9:14:49 PM): it will slow down your playback somewhat.
spesliker (9:14:59 PM): j, 5:28, ready?
happygobo (9:15:04 PM): ready
spesliker (9:15:07 PM): 3
spesliker (9:15:08 PM): 2
spesliker (9:15:09 PM): 1
spesliker (9:15:10 PM): go
mariaperky333 (9:15:27 PM): what is this button?
spesliker (9:15:30 PM): this is a slightly camp-tastic.
happygobo (9:15:31 PM): this button does what exactly?
spesliker (9:15:41 PM): I'll push your button.
happygobo (9:15:44 PM): OH GOD WHAT WAS THAT i almost had a seizure
mariaperky333 (9:15:45 PM): i want a button
spesliker (9:15:56 PM): what, the credits? yeah, the scroll was a little jarring.
happygobo (9:16:22 PM): I push my button at least twice a day, it's the healthy thing to do!
spesliker (9:16:38 PM): i just threw up in my mouth a little.
happygobo (9:17:02 PM): it's a time thing, adds years to your life you know.
spesliker (9:17:03 PM): marie ... earmuffs.
mariaperky333 (9:17:18 PM): now boys...
TheBrad84 (9:17:23 PM): so what happened?
happygobo (9:17:41 PM): there was a button. it had something to do with time.
happygobo (9:17:45 PM): I mean
happygobo (9:17:49 PM): we can only assume.
spesliker (9:17:49 PM): that's about what i got
spesliker (9:18:03 PM): perhaps the button is purposefully ambiguous?
spesliker (9:18:20 PM): so what does the button mean to you?
mariaperky333 (9:18:34 PM): i think the button doesnt do anything
mariaperky333 (9:18:49 PM): i think they just liked the word
TheBrad84 (9:19:09 PM): really? the button was the solution for time? thats as silly as having some aliens who "replace" people in order to keep time to go on the way they want. oh wait...
spesliker (9:19:20 PM): THE REPLACER WAS A PIECE OF CINEMATIC GENIOUS BRAD, WE GOT 25TH IN SCI-FEST.
TheBrad84 (9:19:34 PM): sick self burn past brad!
TheBrad84 (9:19:45 PM): thanks less past brad
spesliker (9:19:47 PM): i think the button is his sled ...
happygobo (9:20:19 PM): rosebutton
happygobo (9:20:29 PM): get it? ahaha. NEXT SONG
spesliker (9:20:34 PM): ok, done

Matt, i'm very conflicted writing this part of the review. I feel like your team has the technical aptitude and skill to pull off AMAZING shots and there are some of them in PUSH. Some look like they still need a little post-pro work still and they would be kick ass. I can't say that any of us had a full grasp on your story, which leads me to believe that you took on a little too much this time. (at least for the DVXuser 6 minute version). Or it's possible that you built your story around the action sequences instead of the other way around.

I would also highly suggest exploring trying to do some of your effects practically instead of digitally. I don't know about the giant door, but I felt a lot of the others would have faired better in a real environment. The white room, the gun flashes, the "button" room, i think all could have benefitted from being real instead of green-screened or composited. Because if you set the bar high like you did with the movement of those steadicam shots (or just shooting on a RED for that matter), if the digital effects aren't spot on, for us, they end up looking silly and detracting from the film instead of enhancing the experience.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I want your movie to be as awesome as the most awesome parts, but for the duration of the film. I think the quote in your sig is correct, you have this fervor and ambition about filmmaking that's downright contagious, i hope it never fades. Oh and damn you kids and your RED cameras.

:thumbsup:
 
I appreciate you guys taking time to critique my movie! Thanks for the suggestions and reactions. It helps me know what came across well and what didn't. Okay...now if I can just raise the bar a litle higher.....:badputer::love4:
 
Pretty ambitious movie, Matt. I think for the most part you succeeded. I wished the level of the whole movie was on par with the parking garage scene. I have to admit that I never had any idea what the "button" was or what it was for. It was really just a MacGuffin.

One thing about the parking garage scene that bugged me a little was the gunfire. Way too many shots fired without a reload. Also, there was a lot of lead flying with no one getting hit, not even a ricochet.

I think if you could have tightened up the story and shot everything on a level with the parking garage you could have put this over the top.

All that said, you have upped your game. :thumbsup:
 
Okay...now if I can just raise the bar a litle higher.....:badputer::love4:

don't forget to stretch, stretching is important. :)

bar is high enough man! just make sure to stretch those filmmaking muscles across all the aspects of your film. (which i think, includes giving yourself enough time (pun not intended) to do the project justice!)
 
Matt...

If I can be perfectly candid... this film didn't work for me...

Yes, the gun kick was cool...

Yes, some of the "steadicam" work in the garage was cool...

but cool shots don't make good films... they only enhance them...

The story is completely confusing to me... what is the "button" and who is the guy in the white room? Is there a spiritual allegory here I am missing?

Please help me understand the story...

I'll keep my comments to just the story for now... but that is the base level of a film... if it doesn't work there, it won't work at all...

Still a friend bro, just want to see you grow! :)

(And to be clear, I don't know all the answers either, just pointing out what I think needed work here)
 
Hey all thanks for all the feedback. It seems the story confused many people here. I know some people get and some don't but I think sometimes, I expect people will get it, since I do in my mind...haha. Okay here is the breakdown:


SPOILER ALERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Enoch is working on a project focusing on time in the past. He is ex-military and a super smart dude. THE COMPANY plans to double cross him and steal the project. They send an assassin to kill his wife, and him. Just before he would have been killed he is pulled into a room outside of time (The white room) by his business partner/mentor in the future. The mentor has used what Enoch's invention becomes (The white room and Button that rewinds time) to pull Enoch outside of time and give him until midnight to get to the hidden button room so he can press it, travel back and react before his wife was killed. In his still static outside of time state, he goes to where the button is hidden, but the COMPANY is waiting to try to stop him from reaching the button. If they stop him, they would have succeeded in killing kim a long time ago and the future would be filled with them controlling that technology. Only his voice can activate the door. If they stop him before midnight, his static state fades and he would be killed back when the assassin would have shot him in the first place. He presses the button, rewinds time to the moment where he kills the assassin, thus ensuring the neccessary time loop of the man in white still existing and the viability of the entire movie that already occured. He then goes on a vendetta to destroy the company and finish the project he started which was the button and time travel thingy.

I know this is complex and some people get it and some do not, but that is what I tried to make happen. I hope that helps explain it to the people who were confused.

About the bullets...It was very John woo in the since the bullets just kept coming. I did not see how many actually happened until post. Everyone was a pretty lame shot. haha

I am ADHD and my mind flies at 100miles a minute so I sometimes do not connect dots people need because I assume they will connect them themselves. I suffered the same issue when I did Stricken, and I am working on that aspect of my writing.

Thanks All!
 
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Enoch is working on a project focusing on time in the past. He is ex-military and a super smart dude. THE COMPANY plans to double cross him and steal the project. They send an assassin to kill his wife, and him. Just before he would have been killed he is pulled into a room outside of time (The white room) by his business partner/mentor in the future. The mentor has used what Enoch's invention becomes (The white room and Button that rewinds time) to pull Enoch outside of time and give him until midnight to get to the hidden button room so he can press it, travel back and react before his wife was killed. In his still static outside of time state, he goes to where the button is hidden, but the COMPANY is waiting to try to stop him from reaching the button. Only his voice can activate the door. If they stop him before midnight, his static state fades and he would be killed back when the assassin would have shot him in the first place. He presses the button, rewinds time to the moment where he kills the assassin, thus ensuring the neccessary time loop of the man in white still existing and the viability of the entire movie that already occured. He then goes on a vendetta to destroy the company and finish the project he started which was the button and time travel thingy.

I know this is complex and some people get it and some do not, but that is what I tried to make happen. I hope that helps explain it to the people who were confused.

Ok, I get the story now...

Now Matt, let me ask you... what about that story "grabs" you? Thing is... it's all built on this device, etc. and I don't feel like there is any human drama or emotion in the story... the best stories IMHO are the ones which have real human drama and emotion in them... maybe you could say it's to save his wife... but the way you pitched me the story just now doesn't talk about that at all...

I think you should focus on coming up with a very human drama, set in reality... then take what you learn from getting those human issues and drama from your head and place that into a fantasy or sci-fi enviroment...

thoughts?
 
Ok, I get the story now...

Now Matt, let me ask you... what about that story "grabs" you? Thing is... it's all built on this device, etc. and I don't feel like there is any human drama or emotion in the story... the best stories IMHO are the ones which have real human drama and emotion in them... maybe you could say it's to save his wife... but the way you pitched me the story just now doesn't talk about that at all...

I think you should focus on coming up with a very human drama, set in reality... then take what you learn from getting those human issues and drama from your head and place that into a fantasy or sci-fi enviroment...

thoughts?

Hmmm...I agree the part of the story that catches you is the fact he is desperately trying to save his wife. I think the dialogue shows that as well.

Your last point is well taken. I will try to focus on the character issues and then place them into my fantastic worlds I love. Cart before the horse and all. haha Thanks for the insight Brandon.:grin:
 
Your last point is well taken. I will try to focus on the character issues and then place them into my fantastic worlds I love. Cart before the horse and all. haha Thanks for the insight Brandon.:grin:

Again, just some thought from an onlooker... and I've been learning that very thing myself from some mentors much more talented and knowledgeable than I.
 
Again, just some thought from an onlooker... and I've been learning that very thing myself from some mentors much more talented and knowledgeable than I.


I have learned to have a thick skin through all these fests, and I have learned that some people will love my movies and some will not but that regardless, I can always learn from their critiques and become a better filmmaker.
 
On the topic of better writing. Recently I have written a feature script based off my short "Stricken". I entered it in Action On Film Script competition. I just received an e-mail from them saying it was nominated for awards! :beer:I am excited to find out what they liked about it as it is my first attempt at feature scripts. They say they will release the info about the awards before the seventh, so I hope I know soon. With gas being so expensive, It will be tough but I will try to journey down to Pasadena to the fest. Hopefully Push and Stricken will win something, as that would be quite cool. Are any of you guys entering AOF this year? I know I saw Blaine, Brandon, and several others over the last two years there.:engel017:

Check out the site for the Fest. You will see me and my crew with Stricken in the slide show on the front page. You can see my actress in the interview shown in the quicktime movie. We had a ton o fun last year! So I am excited about this year!
http://www.aoffest.com/
 
Are any of you guys entering AOF this year? I know I saw Blaine, Brandon, and several others over the last two years there.:engel017:

Congrats on the noms....

I'll be down at AOF this year. I've got "Welcome to the Party", and "IRH" in this year... They also MAY show the "No Greater Love" trailer at the awards show as well..

So I might see ya down there.
 
Congrats on the noms....

I'll be down at AOF this year. I've got "Welcome to the Party", and "IRH" in this year... They also MAY show the "No Greater Love" trailer at the awards show as well..

So I might see ya down there.

Sweet! I will hope to see you there. I will look for ya!
 
TheBrad84 (9:11:56 PM): good thing he's got that facepaint on. they would have spotted him running through the parking lot shooting a gun otherwise

That is one of the funniest things I've read on DVXuser. I'm giving you nine Mr. Ts:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047
 
That is one of the funniest things I've read on DVXuser. I'm giving you nine Mr. Ts:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047:costumed-smiley-047
HAHAHA! Ten Mr. T's could destroy the world so nine is a safe bet...just barely though.
 
Well, I tried 10 but this silly forum wouldn't let me.

I've just been reading back on your thread about the pm/dad stuff and just wanted to tell you I don't feel any exclusiveness or elitism from you guys. I think there is nothing wrong with being supportive and exited, in fact, I think it's a great thing.

Keep it up and I wish I had a dad like yours!
-Joe
 
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