Ramjet Films Presents..... "Remember When"

I wasn't a big fan of the very opening scene, but the performance these actors pulled off, REALLY tugged at my heartstrings. Very well done and well shot. Again, my only complaint was the blurry beginning as it was pretty distracting for me. That his wife was on the phone with her mom at the time was genius and that you included the little fact at the end, really drove it home in my opinion. I had no idea people could be diagnosed so young.

-Kegan
 
heh, heh. you're not the first.. or second :) I kinda touched on it a few pages back, so I won't embarrass myself further explaining it, but long story short, after the fest, I'm gonna find someone who can help me mask it out.

Anyways, not to sound like a broken record here, but I really seriously am very grateful for all the kind words you guys have been spreading around about the film. It means an awful lot, especially with the talent I've seen on display with this fest.

I'm also glad that folks seem to be responding to the film and it's pacing in a way that I hoped they would. We set out to make a story that would lend itself well to a style that I like a lot, and the types of actors, etc. that we are as well, and that wouldn't tax our limited resources of zero dollar budget, and two actors and myself as the only folks working on the film.

I was a little worried that folks might be bored by the very deliberate pacing that the film has, but also had faith in my actors that they could give a good depth to their characters and get a lot of smaller beats out there that still (hopefully) helped to keep the film seem as though it's moving along even though on the surface it is meant to force you to slow down a lot. Wow, that was a long sentence.

Anyways, thanks very much to everyone so far for everything that you've said.

I may re-explore the opening scene, or just re-shoot it entirely when I get back from Indonesia this spring. I want a stark contrast between it and the porch swing scene, but maybe I need to take a different (perhaps more subtle) route with that.

Thanks, again.

later,
Jason
 
Jason, as far as this fest goes, alongside CARRY ON, this was one of the strongest character pieces. It held through and through- I was swept away by the unsaid words, the sadness, the moments in between. The actors were engaging and did a ridiculously awesome job- esp cryin'- sheesh.. and still throughout, it held, it stayed, I was never taken out of it.
great lighting and mood applied as well.

Great work.
 
Wow! Amazing how you can tell a story on a swing! Everything was fantastic about this film. I just drank in the cinematic feel of this. I really thought the CC was spot on. I loved the way you transitioned to the close ups to drive the emotion. And the acting was amazing! And the sound was wonderful. And the score was great.
I hated the film, can’t you tell.
The only thing I didn’t get at first was the blurriness at the beginning, But afterwards I thought it was perfect.
 
This is another one I really enjoy; so sad, so poignant.

One element I would have liked to have seen was a more varied use of camera during the 2nd half conversation as it started becoming too much of back and forth for me

That is subjective as always.

This one had me engaged from the get go. It was so simple and perfect, it just works.

Great job.
 
Remember When
I loved the title sequence. It wasn’t gratuitous, and it also introduced the story. Bonus points for that.

This movie was very touching in a personal way. My grandparents had been lovingly married for 65 years when my grandmother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. It’s a cruel disease that takes the person away long before they pass. It’s like losing them twice. My grandfather was devastated and visited her every day at the care facility for years until they both passed away within 3 months of each other. Now there’s a love story I would like to tell.

The acting was very good! I was engaged the whole time. Even though most of it took place on the porch, I was really in to the characters. The actor wasn’t too over the top. He played the part so well. The best part of the movie for me was at about TC 3:29, the actress was incredible in conveying her emotion. So controlled and yet… perfect. My eyes welled up. Great job! The moments without dialog were just as powerful.

I really like the color and texture of the images. Simple images, but it’s about the two of them.

Technically, very well done. I think I saw the boom and microphone reflection in camera a number of times, but I only saw that after I had watched the movie a couple of times.

Overall, very well done. Powerful and touching. In my top 12.
 
Hey, just caught the piece cause I've been lagged in watching them. Loved this piece. The acting is so stong it's amazing. And I love the simple yet extremely effective camera work. I like that you let the actors do their work and we kinda watch them. I think it takes a good director, with incredible trust in his actors, to do that. And an incredible director to get those performances out of them.

Good work. Really like this piece. Very high on my list.
 
Jason,

I know it's been said before, but I don't think nearly enough, your actors were great. I think maybe the best dramatic performances I've seen in this fest. Absolutely brilliant.

What you were able to do with them in this short scene is fantastic. Touching, poignant, incredibly effective. Excellent work.

With that said, I wasn't real keen on the opening scene (not the credits, those were great also) but I quickly lost sight of that once we hit the porch. Also, I personally don't think you reallly need the epilogue. I think the piece works just fine without that card...

This is a great film, not even taking into account a three-man crew nor this being your debut (really!?) -- this is a great effort and shoots to the top of my list.

Awesome.
 
I've been trying to download your film for the last couple days, and it kept crashing on me. This morning I said to myself, give it one more try, and if it doesn't open just mention that you were unable to view it.

I'm so glad I did finally see it. Wow! Really got me. The only film that brought a lump to my throat and tears to my eyes. That song at the end really did it.

This could be so much better, IMHO, if you considered recutting it. The biggest mistake you made was telling us at the beginning this story involved Alzheimers. That was the atomic bomb you should have saved until the end, on a title card, exactly as you have now. The second you gave away the ending in the opening minute, I was distracted, as in, do people really get Alzheimers at that age? That question should have been the furthest thing from my mind at the beginning of your film. Save if for the surprise twist at the end!

Although the opening credits were clever, they were distracting from the tone of the rest of the film. I would suggest simple white on black credits, fade in on the couple sitting on the swing. KISS. LOL. That's where your movie should start! I would lose the first minute and twentyseven seconds. It would be so much better to just listen to them and wonder what happened? Was it an accident at work? A motorcycle accident? What happened to him? The mystery is what worked so well in "Carry on" for example.

The acting was great. Music great. Kudos for keeping the camera unobtrusive.

Another one of my favorites! :love4:
 
Your subject matter hits close to home with me...I have dementia & have even been on the same meds that are in your film. I personally know what your male lead sees, thinks, remembers or even doesn't remember. You have nailed the subject, the actors have nailed how "we" see the world. I was going to say more but I forgot it... Oh well. life for me....
Thanks for the "awareness"
 
If anybody hasn't watched this short... you are missing out. This is another extremely impressive project. I'd say this nails the concept of love as good as any entry I've seen so far... One of the things that I like to see, being selfish about my own perspective, is when I clearly understand the story with no help... not needing somebody to show me why a short is good, but rather have the project unified and logical enough that it makes sense without any artistic interpretation.

He's not going to ask her how her day was today either.

I got choked up just typing that. This is probably the most powerful entry in the fest... at least of what I've seen so far.

This is crushingly good. The only thing I could find to criticize is the emotional transition from crying on his back... to the decision to answer his question... she seems to snap out of the crying a little bit suddenly for me... but then she is back there again. I felt like she was trying to get back into the crying character and needed to hit the emotional peak, and THEN lay her head on his back... like she got back into the emotions after she pulled away. Do you know what I mean?

I'm saying that her transition into crying builds... and she goes from 3 to 10... and then when she lays her head on his back she's at about a 9... then the angle changes and she isn't still at a 9, but maybe a 7... then goes back to 9 before calming down again for the acceptance.

Does that make any sense?

Either way this is incredibly good. I can guarantee that a lot of my friends are going to see this... again... only to show them why I don't want to play around until they are ready to "bring it".

You definitely brought it.

The opening credit sequences are wonderful icing on a cake that would have been good enough without it... That my friends, is gourmet filmmaking.
 
I have been reading this thread for ages, and with great anticipation been looking forward to this short film.

But im having problems downloading it for some reason? I save it onto my computer and it will only play up to around the 1.20 point and when i try to open it, a message pops up saying that there are no new updates to support this content.

Obviously everyone seems to not have any problems viewing this except for me!!???AARRGGHH HELP ME. Lol.

Am i doing something stupidly wrong? Can anyone show me the light?

Many thanks
 
hmm.... Sorry about that, spa... I'm not sure what the problem is with that. I hope you are in the minority.

The only thing I can think of is that I encoded the film on a pc with mp4 audio... I would think that mp4 audio might be the culprit... Are you hearing sound up to the 1:20 point? If not, I would think that might be the issue. If so, I'm not sure.... Maybe you need to update your version of qt? It was encoded on a pc with 7.3.x

If you can't get it to work, after the fest, I can render and upload a different version for you, or something (once the voting has closed). Sorry about that.

------------

Oh, Matt.... I can't tell you how I've been longing to hear what you thought of the film after having read all of your great feedback on other entries so far.

I'm so grateful for your words. thank you very much, and everything you said is well taken, and I will definitely explore these options when I re-explore the edit and potential re-shoot of some stuff in the near future.

Thank you very much.

Later,
Jason
 
Wow….. I’ve been reading these responses and am just blown away. Jason keeps telling me that I need to start posting since i've had a membership for about a year and have yet to post. I thought it appropriate that my first post be in this thread. I was going to say something clever but after reading everything I find myself awed to the point of not knowing what to say. The process was challenging and fun and I’m so glad it’s been this well received.

RJ
 
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I watched it yet again and I withdraw my earlier critique about the woman's acting ebb and flow... watching it last I feel that her sudden "popping" off his back in the middle of her tears was her realizing the bus is coming and that she's excited that Ivory may get to talk to her father as a real person... so the little "pop" off the back is excitement.

Understood it better this time... which of course means that I guess now I have nothing but praise for you. Sorry for the lack of any actual criticism.
 
Jason, I had to go back through the thread to make sure I hadn't critiqued yet. I concur with what everybody has said. This was a beautiful film with a touching story and great acting. I don't know what camera you used, but the way you brought out the actors' eyes was really amazing - that is unless they just have super amazing eyes.

I liked how you try to show the male in the beginning being affected by the medication and his affliction. The camera work was excellent in the sense that you just pretty much set back and let the actors do their thing and pull the audience into the story. This was just a wonderful piece and true indie filmmaking - didn't have to have a major budget - just a camera, location, a couple of actors and the vision and creativity skills to be able to make the audience see and feel what you want them to.

You can have a great story and lack luster acting and it won't work, but you can have an okay story and great acting and it can work. You had a great story and great acting. Great job.

As far as the info. (I guess cards) coming up at the end - I think it would be more powerful if you brought up each fact individually. Bringing them up all at the same time kind of takes away (a little bit) from each one. I think him being diagnosed at his young age and the fact that the youngest person diagnosed was 29 is information that the audience needs to know. As far as her staying with him - you wouldn't necessarily have to include that, because we can see her devotion and dedication through her character and through her interaction with him. She obviously loves him. Just one man's opinion. Again, excellent job. I'm officially a fan.
 
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