"Refill" - by hybridtheory, xpac84, and happygobo

Although some people are killed, this one really feels like a "feel good" movie. Great cast, great filming. I totally enjoyed how the guys is killed in the end and the killer then asks for a refill for him, hehe :)
 
I appreciate it aFox, i really think the mood that you are talking about is set up by the one Mr. Herman Witkam, he did a great job in creating a whole new vibe with his music. I think this could have been a completely different movie had it been scored differently.
 
I've watched this several times, and every time, I crack up at the Helen Keller line. I even got my brother to watch this, which is a big thing. I agree with aFox, it's a fun experience. I wish it was a little longer, or some sort of bigger movie, so you could flesh out some of the characters more.

My one criticism is that Tyler's dialogue was almost Tarantino-wannabe. I love the dialogue in this one, it's one of the reasons why it was in my top two. But "And spoil my metaphor?" was really the only thing that took me out of the movie. It seemed like a presentation of "Look at all the funny euphemisms I know!"

But, I could be entirely wrong, just telling you all this from a completely imho view.
 
zach, i actually really appreciate the in-depth feedback, it helps me out a lot more than "i liked the story and characters and dialogue, oh my". I'll dive a little more into my thought process and maybe it'll help out yours!

At times, my dialogue isn't as focused as it should be, so i can see how it may come across as a Tarantino rip-off, but Tyler was my pet this time around, I really tried to develop an interesting and complex character in only 6 min, and I think he came across well.

The line "And spoil my metaphor?" was a difficult one because unless you are paying close attention, the line is difficult to process. I wanted Tyler to dominate this conversation, so Rob challenges him and Tyler gets upset because he threatens to overtake the convo. Tyler's verbage and metaphor use are very important to him, that's why he defends them.

Again, I really appreciate the in-depth analysis, even if it was for one line, it gives me a forum to explain what I was thinkinh when writing. And thanks for putting us in your top two!

Ben
 
hybridtheory said:
The line "And spoil my metaphor?" was a difficult one because unless you are paying close attention, the line is difficult to process. I wanted Tyler to dominate this conversation, so Rob challenges him and Tyler gets upset because he threatens to overtake the convo. Tyler's verbage and metaphor use are very important to him, that's why he defends them.
This explanation actually clears it up for me. I was also talking about how you have the pope line, then you have beating off in public... etc, each time he said something shocking, it hit less harder each time. Like, you grab me with the pope line. And then, it gradually gets less and less engaging, almost like you know what's coming next. Now, I've watched it a couple of times, so I DO know what's coming next, but I specifically remember that feeling when watching it the first time.

hybridtheory said:
...so Rob challenges him and Tyler gets upset because he threatens to overtake the convo.
This part of your response was what really cleared it up. I don't know if you've seen Pirates 3 or not, but I'm assuming you have, it's like in the beginning when Gibbs is talking about the "green flash". Right when Gibbs gets to the juicy part, Pintel interrupts and spoils it. Then Gibbs shoots him a look like, "You ruined my exposition...RRRR," because Gibbs is the king of exposition in those movies.

One of the reasons Refill is in my favorites is because of the dialogue. I like the ping pong back and forth, and there's been some DramaFest about people's reviews lately, so thank you for not taking my criticism as a diss. Remember I'm just a person on the internet.
 
it was definitely constructive criticism!

We kind of set out to have a little bit of everything in this one. Strong convo between characters, little bit of action, character arcs and 3 complete acts. It's hard to do it in 6 min, that's for sure.
 
hybridtheory said:
it was definitely constructive criticism!

We kind of set out to have a little bit of everything in this one. Strong convo between characters, little bit of action, character arcs and 3 complete acts. It's hard to do it in 6 min, that's for sure.

I can definitely see it as a feature. That's what it felt like to me. Atleast a near feature short. I don't know if you'd want to invest that much time in it, but it felt longer, like I'd love to go into what happened before Rob got to the diner, what happened after Tyler was killed, more about the whole job in general. This isn't to say it was lacking substance - rather I'm invested in the characters after I watch the movie.
 
Yeah, I had NEVER really thought about extended it past its current length, but I can definitely see it being longer, perhaps one of those ones i can write and then shelf for a while until im ready for that big of a project!
 
the only thing that made me mad was that silencers rarely give of flash other than im congrating khunny.
 
I liked this film a lot, you put the HVX through its paces. The shot composition was really nice, when the camera swings to the Westin, that was slamn. I also liked how you used the glass in the Hotel room. I also loved the shot of the man getting shot on the street.

The lead was really good in a campy comedic way. I like how you used the coffee as a minor motivation for the role. well done.
 
spidey said:
the only thing that made me mad was that silencers rarely give of flash other than im congrating khunny.

I hear ya spidey, it was an agnozing thought process for me, but in the end, it had to be in there as we couldn't sell the shot in another fashion with what footage we shot.

Glad to have your support, and Justin definitely came with some fresh new ideas to the table that worked out well.
 
bosindy said:
I liked this film a lot, you put the HVX through its paces. The shot composition was really nice, when the camera swings to the Westin, that was slamn. I also liked how you used the glass in the Hotel room. I also loved the shot of the man getting shot on the street.

Its nice to be complimented on shots that took a lot of time to put together.:thumbup:

bosindy said:
The lead was really good in a campy comedic way. I like how you used the coffee as a minor motivation for the role. well done.

It's also nice when someone uses the same words like "campy" to describe your film when that's the exact direction that you gave the actor. Thanks!:beer:
 
I liked the look of this film a lot, enjoyed the performances and admired the editing. Loved the time-lapse shots. The lead guy was simultaneously endearing and annoying in his goofiness -- the actor played it well. I got a little confused by the plot, but I think that was partly because I was so enjoying the way the film looked I may not have been paying as much attention to the story. I look forward to more of your work!
 
how many lights did you use justin, looks like some spots lit then others not. I understand lack of resources just wondering. if you had a package.
 
spidey, the restaurant scenes were lit and we had some bounce boards going with the outside stuff, the hotel was tricky, I'd say 2-3 shots weren't lit like we wanted to, but we had a hard time concealing lights for the shots that we had. Nice hotel room but very tiny.

As for equipment, we lugged around a 1500w, 3 light kit plus various other lights and a few dinosaur lights that justin had (one that smelt like burning ... eww), plus a couple worklights and reflectors and all that other small stuff. the cool piece of equipment i just got was my boom arm lightstand which was responsible for a lot of the backlighting in the film.

I let justin know you've been asking him questions. lol.
 
I didn't read through all the reviews, so pardon if I repeat something.

I really like this film. I mean, it was really entertaining and fun to watch. Loved the music in the background, really gave it that light and airy feel (even though there was some serious **** going down).

This was a very well directed film in my opinion. I love the low angle pan when the guy approaches the office building. And the use of time lapse was perfect. A lot of people could have done this to help with the 6-minute thing, but I think that you pretty much nailed it along with the subtle dissolves.

Great script. "Does the Pope **** in a funny hat?" Classic! I'm going to use that one in meetings at work, if you don't mind.

Definitely one of my favorites.

Thanks for screening.
 
Cinealma,

the only rule is that you have to use it appropriately 3 times before you can claim it as yours. That line was actually a new hybrid from "Does a bear sh*t in the woods" and "Does the Pope wear a funny hat?" I think "Does the pope sh*t in the woods?" was in the Big Lebowski as well.


:beer:
 
spidey said:
how many lights did you use justin, looks like some spots lit then others not. I understand lack of resources just wondering. if you had a package.


Hey spidey, sorry I didn't get to answer the question myself--got a new job recently ande I've been busy as hell. Looking back at it I definitely have stuff I wish I'd done differently or had the time to put more effort into...like in the hotel. The dolly behind Rob as he heads towards the door specifically, I wish I'd put some more light on him because it seems like we had a couple places to hide lights...Ben, do you remember the lighting for that shot? That sounds bad coming from the DP. I hope I put something in the bathroom, that was the easiest place to both hide and motivate a light. I think I did. But there's a possiblity that I was just so burnt out at that point that I decided to roll with available lighting. A mistake. And thanks for the congrats by the way, you know I think that means a lot coming from you man.
 
spidey said:
how many lights did you use justin, looks like some spots lit then others not. I understand lack of resources just wondering. if you had a package.


Hey spidey, sorry I didn't get to answer the question myself--got a new job recently ande I've been busy as hell. Looking back at it I definitely have stuff I wish I'd done differently or had the time to put more effort into...like in the hotel. The dolly behind Rob as he heads towards the door specifically, I wish I'd put some more light on him because it seems like we had a couple places to hide lights...Ben, do you remember the lighting for that shot? That sounds bad coming from the DP. I hope I put something in the bathroom, that was the easiest place to both hide and motivate a light. I think I did. But there's a possiblity that I was just so burnt out at that point that I decided to roll with available lighting. A mistake. It sucks that I wasn't able to to use the Century fixture in the hotel, because that's the only light we had that was focusable. But the mofo was so hot it would burn dust, and we didn't want to set off the sprinkler system. And thanks for the congrats by the way, you know I think that means a lot coming from you man.
 
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