RED SHOES by Susanne Gressmann

I really liked this film, but I kept waiting for something more to happen. I don't mean that in a bad way, but it sort of felt like a modern day fairy tale to me. I kept wanting to see some magic. Maybe it was the fact that fate seemed to line up so perfectly where he had to wear those particular Red shoes, which reminded me of Little Red Riding Hood. Maybe it was the music, which felt very lighthearted and almost like something from a children's show. Or maybe it was the fact that it was all in German, a language I often associate with fairy tales like those of the Brothers Grimm. Of course it was probably all of those things combined. I've worked on some shorts that had a children's theme and this had the same feel. I'm not saying this as a detraction in any way to your movie, which I thought was great, I'm just offering a different viewpoint.

I didn't think the old woman was strange at all. I was just surprised when she didn't turn into his fairy godmother. :) i also felt that there was more to the story line that the shoes were given to him by his ex-girlfriend. Is he still in love with her, which is why he can't get rid of the shoes? The film looked great, location audio wasn't bad, and I loved the music! Great movie and looking forward to seeing more from you guys. Just make sure that the next film has at least one troll in it. :)
 
This was a very nice feel good film.

Art direction was great! I like all the reds and yellows.

The crossing the street scene was weird because I didn't understand the motivation of the older woman, but that was explained in the thread.

I think the lighting in the office could have been more dynamic (kinda flat), but that's a small issue.

Thanks,
-Joe
 
Brad and Joe: thanks for watching and posting.

Brad - it's interesting to read the different sensations people have - we think that you finding a bit of a modern day fairy tale there is great. The whole ex-girlfriend thing is left open to people's individual interpretation on purpose, but yes, I think yours is very much a possibility.

Joe - yes, the office lighting is rather flat. That room has lots of windows and is really very full of natural daylight, so I thought we would shoot using mainly that. However, we were late getting there - it was evening and the light was fading fast so I had to throw in some extra artificial light in a hurry. Live and learn!

Thanks again both of you,

Jason
 
Ah yeah! I LOVE the sound of German, it just rocks.

I really enjoyed the short, the simplicity of it. Nothing really happens but I had so much fun watching it. Very well executed, a high score for sure.
 
Really enjoyable short! Loved the colors, the energy, and the fun of the short! Some of the shots seemed straight out of a feature film. Loved seeing such awesome locations.

I agree with the comments about the old woman. One thing that would've made it work for me is if the guy had turned around and noticed that he had been duped.

Only other problem for me was in the sequence where he is looking for the matching shoe, where there is a quick series of (I think) three shots of various areas where the shoe isn't. Each shot was maybe 5 frames too short for me, and I think there were some black frames in there. Just took me out of the story for a moment.

Minor quibbles though. Really solid work, and I very much look forward to seeing what you do next.
 
Shawn and Jason:

Thank you very much for watching our film and that you enjoyed it.

Shawn:

Thank you for the compliment that you love the sound of german. I have to admit that I personally don't like the sound of my own language in general. The sound is often too hard. Sure we are in Germany and this is a german film and it is right to make it in german, but I prefer italian which I use every day with Jason. It is our common language.

jasonthewho said:
I agree with the comments about the old woman. One thing that would've made it work for me is if the guy had turned around and noticed that he had been duped.
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Jason:

After we shot this film I thought a lot about the old lady scene and also about the last detail. I always thought that he never ever could look back to her and understand her little game/secret, because it would destroy the sense: All people around the main character (Jonas) are on the ball and he isn't on the ball. I already described my thoughts about the old lady scene in this thread, but one thing I didn't describe: When we got Yella (the actress) for this part, we thought that it was lucky, because she is an intelligent 70 years old women very much "on the ball", so to work with her would be a pleasure. She wasn't really the idea of an old lady which need help to cross the street, but I thought that we could find a grey wig and also the right dress. I was completely happy to find her, because it is very difficult to find an elderly actress for free, because we hadn't really a budget, even there we have paid at the end some money on this film. I went with her in a second hand shop to choose the dress for her. We spent two hours in this shop and she tried a lot of different clothes, but there was no dress that fitted her. With every dress she tried, her part of the film changed in my thoughts. After two hours of patience we found this purple dress and her part in our film had changed completely. Then we started to shoot with her and I have to admit that my eyes hadn't any more enough distance to the story to see that perhaps a little change like your suggestion could make this scene better.

Susanne
 
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jasonthewho said:
Only other problem for me was in the sequence where he is looking for the matching shoe, where there is a quick series of (I think) three shots of various areas where the shoe isn't. Each shot was maybe 5 frames too short for me, and I think there were some black frames in there. Just took me out of the story for a moment.
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Thanks Jason for watching and for the comments. Glad you enjoyed it.

You aren't the first person to mention those 3 shots, so obviously there is a problem. Regarding the length - we played about with them a bit. Originally they were longer, then they were shorter, before ending up on their present length. Originally also, they were just straight cuts without the black frame between each one, but somehow it didn't look right to me. The change just seemed too instantaneous for Jonas' POV, so I put in these single black frames as though he was blinking. I think it must have been the wrong decision though if people are irritated by it. I'll have to go back and look at the original straight cut once I've distanced myself a little from the film.

Cheers
Jason
 
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I liked this film although I thought the woman (helped across the road) was going to do some kind of magic.
 
This was the next film in the line up for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The music fit well, the shots looked really good and yeah, they felt like they were out of a feature. I was stressing with the guy when he was talking to the bike guy, he was soooo slow with everything I wanted to grab him and say hurry up. :) I love how that scene played out. The only thing that irked me was that they didn't cross at the crossing area and it was such a big street to be crossing in the middle, especially with an old lady. Over all I though everything fell into place. Good job. Oh Yeah, I'm glad it wasn't dialog heavy cause of the subtitles.
 
Love the performance when he realizes he's overslept. I laughed out loud. The clock is cool too, and made me feel like this was going to be a slightly cartoonish piece, which it is, I think.

Establishing the story right away really helps. I liked the story and enjoyed watching it. To me, it felt more like a story of actions, rather than a story about a Meek and shy, quirky guy going through these actions. I think it just needs more close- ups of your character where he is reacting to what is happening.
For example: the scene where his heel comes off, you only have wides, and an insert of him picking it up. I want to see what he is feeling at that moment, and how he deals with it. It's gotta be a devastating moment, because wouldn't he KNOW that the only other dress shoes he has are the Red Shoes that he's been to scared to wear? I think your audience will understand that his heel came off very quicky, maybe 2 seconds, the rest of the time you can show him.

It sounds like you had a pretty developed idea of this character. it didn't quite come across the screen for me though.

I agree with others that the payoff isn't that big. It would have been bigger if he seemed like he was in more of a rush. I know when I'm late I'm like a rocket out the door. He seemed to be taking his time, so it was no big deal when he showed up on the wrong day. Also, when I'm pressed for time I'm constantly checking the clock like a lunatic.

I thought it was very good and can't wait to see your next, (or updated version of this) and I'm so jealous of your shooting locations.
 
Another great break from the norm. I enjoyed the compositions, production design and quality of the mix. Really top notch throughout. In my top three so far.

e
 
iSTy, Beat Takeshi, yeehaanow & Erik Olson: thanks very much all of you for watching and for your comments, we really do appreciate them.

Beat Takeshi: You have a good eye to notice the crossing area, but yes it is there and you have noticed something we talked about quite a bit. It's surprising how difficult is to get a view of a large road without a crossing area in one direction or the other. We wanted the road to be wide enough and with enough traffic (fools that we are!!!) to make a decent obstacle. In the end we decided to keep the crossing area pretty much in the background, but that if someone did notice it, it was perfectly plausible that Jonas (main character) would not have used it since he would have had to make a small detour to do so. The old lady, of course, is playing with Jonas so she goes where he does (she's not really too worried about the road at all).

yeehaanow: Thanks for your detailed critique, and especially for the one concerning the lack of close-ups in the scene where Jonas breaks his shoe. As soon as I read that it hit me that you are perfectly right. Not that he knows that the red shoes are the only ones he has left - he doesn't yet, he thinks he still has the black ones - but all the same he's got to be pretty irritated. Funny that no-one else has mentioned this.

Erik: wow!!! thanks very much.

Jason
 
I ejoyed how happy and kind of carefree this short was. The colour was great. All these little events leading up to a big boiling point of....

ah crap, next wednesday!

The ending was just playful enough to tie it all together nicely. Well done. The acting was fine, i especially liked the main character and the rickshaw driver.

Classy Shoes!
 
The score to this film was wonderful! Hats off to the composer.

I think the production value on this film was very well done and I had a fun time watching it. As for the story, I’m not sure what the point was of the story besides this guy having cool shoes and everyone being impressed with them. Were you trying to say something with the film? Perhaps a hidden message that guys out there should think outside the box and dress themselves a little better?

My gf actually bought me some new shoes not too long ago and I’m amazed how many people have commented on them. Girls obviously know what they are doing when it comes to guys dress apparel. (most of them anyway) Thank you for sharing.
 
Moonjangles, glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the compliments.

Zim, I should try downloading again. Don't know of anyone else who has had this problem.

Edgen, thanks for watching and for the comments. Our composer was Luca Antonini, to whom we are extremely grateful. The main idea underlying the film is that Jonas (the main character) is a little drab and lacking in courage/iniative in life. He doesn't normally have the courage to wear these bright red shoes and is a bit embarassed that he is forced to do so. At the end, however, he realizes that everybody likes them and that being active can bring about positive changes in his life.

Thanks guys
Jason
 
Hello to all,

we have had problems with our internet connection for 7 days. Today we have really NO internet connection any more and we are in an internet cafe now. We don't know when our internet connection at home will be back. For this reason we are not frequently in the forum at this moment. We are very pleased that we received so many helpful comments. Please keep them coming.

Thanks

Susanne & Jason
 
I was able to download it today. It was worth the wait. A great use if the time theme. Not a story that you have to imagine what happened or have to ask what happened. A easy storyline to follow. Acting was good and the production too.

Not to mention it was a good use of some red shoes!!

A very good film.
 
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Zim:

Thank you very much for watching, making thoughts about our film and giving us this nice comments.

Susanne
 
Great job! A refreashing and original piece. I am not sure what the relevence was of the lady faking her injury, but I liked it nonetheless. I think I would have gone with the sweet green rain boots, though. :grin:

Good job and good luck!
 
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