Reprieve - A Sentrosi productions film

Brad,

I did enjoy this film - I thought it had rhythm, colours and cinematography were good, there was a certain tension. I also liked the still photos you used for his memories and how you edited them into the film. I agree with totitefilms that maybe the girl could have struggled a bit more, but I had no need to see how she died.

Yes, reading your explanation above makes the story clearer. Obviously his tearing at his own clothes was supposed to show his guilt and inner turmoil but I took it as turmoil for the fact that he was soon to die. I think one way you could have shown his feelings of guilt would have been to make much greater use of cutting back and forth between his anguish in his cell and flashbacks to his crime. Maybe accelerating the rhythm could then have been used to give the idea of him bloiling over. I don't know if that would work, internal anguish and the reason for it is obviously not the easiest thing to portray visually. Maybe you would have needed to change the storyline a bit to bring it out better.

Anyway, you made a courageous effort to portray something difficult. And the end result certainly has a special feeling to it.

Jason
 
Brad, this was a sleeper. I enjoyed watching it. I thought a couple of scenes could be trimmed a bit as they were a bit long. You even had me looking to see if Japan still has capital punishment...it does.

The acting was a bit spotty but my biggest complaint would be the warden and the doctor. Both occidental. It completely pulled me out of the story...
 
Hey,

Just caught the flick. I liked it. I thought it started out strong but left me feelings like it needed more or needed more to get what you wanted out.

I enjoyed the look overall. I liked, for instance, that the prisoner at the beginning is in focus and everything else isn't. Throughout I thought the look you got was great, sans a few parts that looked a little "cheap" (jail cell, hotel room, etc.) But what can you do if you comparing between a bar and and interesting looking city, these other places are kind of passe.

Better lighting would have helped this piece, I think. The jail cell and hotel could have been lit better/more stylistic/varied to achieve what the mise-en-scene lacked.

For me, the verbal acting was hit and miss. The audio was also a bit much for me. It just seemed a bit manufactured (at least, to me, the SFX did).

I thought the idea of your story was a good one. I just couldn't see it/sense it. I don't think we really see what you were going for. The actor in his cell doesn't look like guilt/anguish/regret but rather just waiting for his time to come. I know you tried to convey this is the flashback bits but I don't think it comes across. For me it's hard to see the character's motivation and thus, hard to know if we should feel sorry for him (or why he would even regret what he did). Why does he even kill her? Or follow her? I don't think we are shown/know enough about it to find out and thus, can't really understand what/why he is doing what he is doing.

So I think that's my main beef with this piece. IF we don't know the character, for me, I don't care if he gets relief or what. If he was some psycho who kills women at random, I prefer that he suffers and I'm happy that he doesn't escape certain death/forever torment. But we don't see that. However, since he sort of comes off sympathetic in the bits where he's "tormented" or searching for Reprieve, we don't understand why he killed the girl and thus, can't sympathize with him.

At least that's what I think. But overall all, a valiant attempt and a fine first film. Keep going. I can only see you getting better.

Hope that helps.
 
totitefilms said:
You got an interesting story. It's very difficult to show the inner guilt and I can feel it in your movie. If I were to change the story, I would let the guy come to the girl's family and do some deeds then surrender himself to the police. He doesn't need to kill himself. Anyway, the acting in your movie is good however the rape scene can be improved. The girl should have fought a little harder :-). I'd like to see how the girl died also. The lighting can also be improved. But you did a great job. The flow of your movie is smooth and easy to understand. Congrats!
Click to expand...

thanks for taking the time to comment, i agree with the rape scene needing some more force, these were beginner actors who weren't overly confident. I attempted to coax out some emotion but we were on limited time as well. Acting and lighting are the two big things i want to improve in my next film.
 
jasonthewho said:
Some cool stuff going on in this short. Really awesome locations, and some good shots.

I guess for me the biggest problem with this is the first line tells us what is going to happen, and then there's no surprises.

I kept hoping that really he didn't rape and kill her, and we were going to find out he was framed or something.

Also, I'm not sure of the likelihood of someone so young being so close to being put to death. At least in the U.S., people spend years on death row.

I can see a lot of promise in this short, and I'm looking forward to your next one.
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Thanks Jason,
Obviously i took a little creative license with the sentencing but you never know, he could have been in the court system for a long time before we see him being led off down that hallway at the begining of the film. Right? :)

The "surprise" iwas going for s that he wasn't killed by anyone but himself and not even that, his inner-self. But it is a vague hook and maybe needed more time/dialogue to explain.

thanks for watching I can't wait to make another attempt unfortunately location wise i'm moving back to canada soon so no more cool Japanese streets and stuff.
 
Horncastle said:
Brad,

I did enjoy this film - I thought it had rhythm, colours and cinematography were good, there was a certain tension. I also liked the still photos you used for his memories and how you edited them into the film. I agree with totitefilms that maybe the girl could have struggled a bit more, but I had no need to see how she died.

Yes, reading your explanation above makes the story clearer. Obviously his tearing at his own clothes was supposed to show his guilt and inner turmoil but I took it as turmoil for the fact that he was soon to die. I think one way you could have shown his feelings of guilt would have been to make much greater use of cutting back and forth between his anguish in his cell and flashbacks to his crime. Maybe accelerating the rhythm could then have been used to give the idea of him bloiling over. I don't know if that would work, internal anguish and the reason for it is obviously not the easiest thing to portray visually. Maybe you would have needed to change the storyline a bit to bring it out better.

Anyway, you made a courageous effort to portray something difficult. And the end result certainly has a special feeling to it.

Jason
Click to expand...

Thanks for the kind words. As you said i think there was "some" tension to this film but ramping up the pacing to portray the boiling over of his guilt leading to his death could work well near the end. I suppose i kept flashing back to the image of the Tori Gate which in my mind referenced his escape from what he was feeling, when i should have been reference "What" he was feeling.

I really liked your film as well, i'm off to watch it again and comment.

thanks for writing.
 
Blaine said:
Brad, this was a sleeper. I enjoyed watching it. I thought a couple of scenes could be trimmed a bit as they were a bit long. You even had me looking to see if Japan still has capital punishment...it does.

The acting was a bit spotty but my biggest complaint would be the warden and the doctor. Both occidental. It completely pulled me out of the story...
Click to expand...


Hey Blaine, Thanks for watching and commenting. As for "sleeper" that's a good thing, right? :)

Which scenes would you trim? The bike riding perhaps? The reveal of her death? The bar dialogue?

And yes, Japan does have capital punishment. If you are accused of a crime in Japan it is very difficult to get out of it from my understanding. No big name lawyers over here to bail you out.

I made you look that up and you made me look up the word "Occidental"

I understand where you're coming from, everyones Asian in Japan so to add realism it would have been better to cast japanese actors. I would have loved to but logistically it just didn't work out.

I would have loved to do the film in Japanese, maybe that's next time.
 
Danielleus said:
Hey,

Just caught the flick. I liked it. I thought it started out strong but left me feelings like it needed more or needed more to get what you wanted out.

I enjoyed the look overall. I liked, for instance, that the prisoner at the beginning is in focus and everything else isn't. Throughout I thought the look you got was great, sans a few parts that looked a little "cheap" (jail cell, hotel room, etc.) But what can you do if you comparing between a bar and and interesting looking city, these other places are kind of passe.

Better lighting would have helped this piece, I think. The jail cell and hotel could have been lit better/more stylistic/varied to achieve what the mise-en-scene lacked.

For me, the verbal acting was hit and miss. The audio was also a bit much for me. It just seemed a bit manufactured (at least, to me, the SFX did).

I thought the idea of your story was a good one. I just couldn't see it/sense it. I don't think we really see what you were going for. The actor in his cell doesn't look like guilt/anguish/regret but rather just waiting for his time to come. I know you tried to convey this is the flashback bits but I don't think it comes across. For me it's hard to see the character's motivation and thus, hard to know if we should feel sorry for him (or why he would even regret what he did). Why does he even kill her? Or follow her? I don't think we are shown/know enough about it to find out and thus, can't really understand what/why he is doing what he is doing.

So I think that's my main beef with this piece. IF we don't know the character, for me, I don't care if he gets relief or what. If he was some psycho who kills women at random, I prefer that he suffers and I'm happy that he doesn't escape certain death/forever torment. But we don't see that. However, since he sort of comes off sympathetic in the bits where he's "tormented" or searching for Reprieve, we don't understand why he killed the girl and thus, can't sympathize with him.

At least that's what I think. But overall all, a valiant attempt and a fine first film. Keep going. I can only see you getting better.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...

First thanks for the long reply!

I agree with the fact that its pretty hard to relate to the character. He doesn't even have a name, you don't know really anything about him other than the fact that he's in jail and later that he is a rapist/killer.

So in that sense i agree and probably should have made some effort to connect the viewer to the character.

Lighting is something i really desire to be able to do, at the moment i simply don't own enough lights, and being that i'm about to leave Japan it doesn't make sense to buy any. I'll get into the lighting department upon my return to Canada. :)

Im glad you liked the locations, my favorite is the tori-gate at the end, that place looks great especially when its raining.

I did add quite a few SFX, mostly atmospheric stuff to try to play with emotional responses or add to the locations. How did you feel about the score? Was it working well? Overpowering? Did the SFX take away from it?

Thanks everyone for commenting, this is definitely helping me shape my next ideas for a film. I can't wait to do the next one.
 
Hey Moo,

I actually thought the score was quite good. I liked that you matched the tones of the scenes you were going for really well. And you handled scene changes/cuts very expertly (no harsh breaks, random sound cuts, etc.). Sorry I didn't mention it. Definetely handled well.

And actually, the sound isn't bad at all. In fact, I think it's quite good. I would just check the balance, as all of it kinda sounds (from what I recall) to be at the same level. Maybe some variation in volume/balance?

Overall, a good flick.
 
This was different. The film was pretty creepy but kept you interested throughout.

It was well shot and the actors did a wonderful job.

I really enjoyed the music feel and vibe for the film, but I wish it had a few more dynamics as the scenes flashed in and out.

Congrats on entering the fest.
 
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