Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

CJ

That was excellent. Seems some good work is starting to come out lately and this might be the best one I have seen yet in terms of FULL ON execution.

Some minor personal things Id change for my own tastes (dialog) and perhaps Score but other than that this rocks. Well done from concept to Final Cut. Great work!!!

4.5 out 5 Stars
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

This is a nice short. The bald actor was well cast. I think the stuff in the morning looks especially nice, and I agree that girl's a 6 ;)
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

Nice. From a technical standpoint, I think it's superb. Nice shots and edits.

Some of the acting was over-the-top from the young guys, but that will happen. The other thing was that the piece danced precariously between a sense of humor and a sense of dread. For me this worked sometimes, but sometimes not.

Very "pro" feeling, though. Good stuff.
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

Yeah, looks really nice! It was shot nice, some were very cinematic. Editing was less good. Didn't like the music for the most parts, like in the toilet and at the end. But it has indeed to do with personal taste. The filmic music with the 'lows' I like it very much!

Was the movie shot with detail level on zero? Because you can achieve a more filmlook if you put it all the way down. Now it is too sharp, too hard edged(like video) Try -7 in F5 mode, it will give you smooth solid picture, with nice atmosphere feeling to it, like film.

But nice movie!!
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

Very well done! :D

Some constructive criticisms:

1. A few of the cuts in the diner dialog were a bit fast for my taste.

2. The fight scene was a little weak. I would make a bit more violent (but then I would think 'why doesn't his buddy hear something?'). Or, do something like:

Bald guy steps down from the toilet in the last stall and exits. In his right hand is an old wooden plunger. He walks towards Mullet 1 who is just finishing his pee.

Mullet 1 zips up, turns, and sees Bald Guy in the middle of a full swing with the plunger, BAM! Lights out.
Click to expand...
Then cut to the scene outside where he tapes up Mullet 1.


Other than that I think you have a very professional film. I had to take a business call just near the end and hated having to pause the film.

Good ending. How long did it take to setup all of those? :)

Lots of great shots throughout. Really liked the composition and colors in the diner scenes.

I look foward to your next film.

Oh, and this film is a winner.
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

That was a really nice short film. It kept me interested the whole time and was very professional. Some of the shots of the sugar snorting guy was a little too long for my tastes but it still worked out. The acting was actually pretty good and better than alot of short films ive seen lately. The music was great in most places but a few times the music didnt really fit but it was good. What program do you use to score your films? Ive been trying to find out what programs to get so i can have that low bass sound in my films.
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

Hey everyone, thank you for the feedback and kind words.
JKL- I'm not sure what detail setting the camera was at. We shot it over 4.5 days last August, so my memory is a bit fuzzy.
HansK - Yeah, the fight scene could have been more but there are a couple reasons to do it smaller. 1) Comedic 2) Non-stunt/action minded actors 3) Too much could have gotten too absurd, too quickly. Although it's a somewhat absurd film, I did want some plausibility. Obviously choreographed fight scenes performed by non-stunt people are a dead give-away.
As for the ending "How long did it take to setup all of those?"... well, not to give it away, "it" took a long time, considering it was all CG.
Ben - I hired a ProTools genius by the name of William Storkson (www.audiosfx.com). I had cheaped out on a score/sound design on another film and thought this film would be worth investing the time and money. He mixed and composed the score on ProTools. That's about as much as I can tell ya, except for he's great to work with and works with your budget.

All in all, we had a blast making the film. Glad you guys enjoyed it.

-CJ
www.arkhamfilms.com
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

Nice film. Brilliantly shot and edited. But, the sugar scene was a bit stupid to me.
I don't think any idiot would sniff sugar.

Anyway, apart from that, the story and everything else are good.

All the best

Fidel.
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

Went to your site and got distracted by the music videos you had up. Very nice work! :D

Were those shot with the DVX?
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

Great work CJ. I loved the sharpness of the short. Sometimes its good to see the DVX like that. Still looked like film too. Was it shot in anamorphic? Was that 16:9? Love the tracking shots too. Great cinematic imagery throughout. Music choices seemed appropriate and interesting. Start looking for an agent, kid. You're on your way.
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

Loved the film! I thought it was very cinematic. I also loved the story, although I agree with the comments about the sugar thing... I laughed and thought the guy was stupid. I think it would have worked better if it was shorter... Just to long in being stupid we got the point the first or second snort. Other than that I loved the score, and thought it was very pro.
Was that girl in "Ibitch"? just wondering.
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

Hey guys,

Well the sugar thing is stupid, like the character who is based off of a few people I knew in high school who had done this. But the main reason for having so much of that scene in the film is that the actor actually did snort the sugar... twice. When we were setting up the scene, he said he wanted to try it, to see what it's like and give the best performance. I told him, if he's going to do it, then we're definitely going to shoot it. So we did one take and had about 20 people off camera, crying from trying to keep their laughter in. The AC, operating the camera that was closest had his head buried in his arms and could barely keep the camera still. I wish we had some behind the scenes footage of it.
Every scene was like that. We had an awesome crew and cast and had so much fun shooting every scene. I'll be posting some behind the scenes pictures soon that show the lighting and rig setups our DP did. The car fly-through stuff is amazing.
Bryster - Yes, that is the same actress from iBitch 2.0 & Human. She did her best to make herself look as trashy as possible. She even made her own waitress outfit.

Thanks all again for the support.
-CJ
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

I think you did a great job with your film!

Very professional look as well as a great story and ending.

Keep up the good work.
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

I bet that guy is probably using sugar as a substitute for cocaine, isn't he? ;D

Oh, yes, the mustang rocks.

All the best

Fidel.
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

Did you use the anamorphic lense?
I like the ending very much... :)
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

What was that closing song? It was really catchy...

Also, again, great job. Excellent short.
 
Re: Roadside Attractions (Short Film)

Smier- I'm not sure we have a name for the song yet, it was created for the film. Glad you liked it, I dig it too.
Contact Therapy - Yes, all the music videos at www.arkhamfilms.com were shot on the DVX. We're big fans of it.
Triseven/Smier33 - We shot it with no 16:9 adapter, just the standard DVX100 lens. We just compensated my having guidelines on all our monitors and then matted the image in post.
Johnny Arcade- The Mustang is a '69. We lucked out, because in those you can remove the back seats.

Thanks again for watching everyone.
-CJ
www.arkhamfilms.com
 
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