SAINT ANTHONY - John LaBonney

[John LaBonney]

Is this grab in the movie? I see gear in the reflection. :huh:

Ah yes, reflections were a bit of a challenge in this movie because the building we used had so much glass. We managed to control most of them pretty well. In that shot in particular, I experimented with a blur on the left door to kind of remove some of the outlines of the light stands and make it more non-descript, but the problem was that when Lois walks into the scene she walks behind that pane of glass, and it appeared way to unnatural. I decided to let it go hoping that the viewers eyes would concentrate on the actors.

One area in that shot that is hidden pretty well is the boom pole movement. You can see the tip of the windscreen in the windows above Lois, but I managed to remove the rest of the boom pole and all it's movement in the panes of glass to the left. The windscreen (once static) kind of looked like a natural reflection of part of the the telephone wire or some undefined thing above it so I decided not to worry about removing it.

 

[lawriejaffa]

I came into this expecting a 'christian movie' hehe and of course it was and that is not a bad thing either (I find it fascinating how you express your faith - and different elements of it - through drama, or in this case comedy.) I myself am a little liberal on that score - and i think its worth mentioning that the psuedo preaching of the films (all films do in different ways anyway) can rub some up the wrong way. (Secular Europeans like me most probably.) Except not like me - as I enjoyed Barn Dance, and i enjoyed this one even more.

I found it highly amusing that the actor who played the Devil in the last movie is now playing Saint Anthony. So overall a positive film, upbeat, amusing characters. The acting was alright but the edits seemed a little stiff at times between character reactions and in their dialogue scenes. Now that is a little abstract i know - but fortunately because of the sketch like nature of the film that actually works quite well anyway.

I have a thing for the blonde secretary too so that worked well too hehe.

Overall, I would like to encourage you (as one artist to another) to explore other themes (even though im sure your faith is every part of your life) I would love to see your camera's gaze turned to other subject matter. Or even to play devils advocate and examine stories that are a great challenge to the message you like to express (barn dance was a bit easy on that one!)

A good film mon amie and well done

 

[orchidsofwrath]

I loved this movie! Not even slightly bored for a moment. Held my attention so well. Enjoyed most of the acting, some of it was dubious though. Story was great. Satisfying ending. I think the dude should been a little more like "uh?" when the girl said to come in. He was pretty quick to waltz right in. The audio seemed like it had alot of reverb and in general wasn't even in terms of volume for me. But those are just small things. I feel like that story had so much potential. You executed it pretty well, but I think it could have been even more amazing had certain things been nailed a little better. BUT, don't get me wrong i LOVED IT!!!

 

[pauly_the_hitman]

I just have to say that I was happy to work on this one with John again and it was a blast for the most part...The acting was awesome and Ty nailed Max, and John was an amusing Saint. Liz completely crushed the secretary part and the outtakes have to made into another movie ll together...

I am gonna thread steal for a second and say go check out my 1000th post video here

Thanks,
Pauly

 

[John LaBonney]

I just have to say that I was happy to work on this one with John again and it was a blast for the most part...The acting was awesome and Ty nailed Max, and John was an amusing Saint. Liz completely crushed the secretary part and the outtakes have to made into another movie ll together...

I am gonna thread steal for a second and say go check out my 1000th post video here

Thanks,
Pauly

Thanks Pauly, glad to work with you and the fellas again on this one. Concerning your threadjack, it looks like that video is private.

 

[pauly_the_hitman]

Yeah I just fixed it so go and make yourself smile for a minute...
Pauly

 

[alex whitmer]

Nice twist on loss. Like it. Not all loss has to be a burden.

Love Lois. So off-the-shelf bimbo you you can't help but want to marry her just to spice up your life. She did a good job with the character.

Max was nice and cool. The scruffy down-on-his-luck character was done very well.

Didn't get into Anthony and his Elvis wig. I think that role was a little too irritating and maybe a bit overplayed.

Enjoyed the story. Nice pace and well told.


alex

 

[ZazaCast]

I like it....a cup half full movie! Great idea in these tough economic times. Enjoyed the film John but it could have benefited from a little music here & there, just seems like it missing something.

Congrats on another film in the can!

 

[Geoff_R]

Good comedic bits in this one. Enjoyed it! I thought your St. Anthony character was great, interesting look and play on the character but all around I liked your casting choices. Performances were good and fit the tone of the piece, everyone seemed a little off, a little off in fantasy land minus your lead who lost everything. He seemed the most true to form, so good directing in that arena.

Storywise, I like how I didn't really know where this thing was going... and then when St. Anthony finally solves his issues... It was one of those, 'ohh...' moments and it all came together.

My only negative thing is the final shot... I don't like that he looks in and there's nothing to see... I liked the idea that this guy just operates out of this building. Making it empty is alluding to some divine intervention or that this guy made it all up in his head... I liked thinking it was real and right there for anyone to walk into and seek help if they knew what to ask for.

I also love the small details of the 747 issue... it's little things like that which expand the world and make it more believable... so as our character is walking out, his issue resolved... we feel the world extending beyond that frame to a missing 747 somewhere out there in the world... (yet) this feeling is subsequently removed once I see that this place isn't real... As you can see, I'm really against that final realization of the empty building

Thanks for sharing. My favorite film yet from you.

 

[Lawsuit_Boy]

This film most certainly had some genuinely funny moments. I thought the actor playing Saint Anthony had some great moments.

My concerns with the film have already been expressed by everyone, so I'll skip you the details. I've been writing lots of comments on each film's page, but I'm very tired tonight, and lawriejaffa covered most of my concerns. I guess I just didn't feel entirely engaged in the film, and I suppose general aesthetics didn't mesh with me.

Once again, it has some genuine humor and that certainly made it a nice viewing. :thumbsup:

 

[warau]

I liked this one a lot. Your casting was perfect, I did feel that the lead character was a little TOO laid back though. Really nice film, good luck!

 

[Zim]

I really enjoyed this film. The actors were really good and it told a good loss fest story.

 

[MOVIE MASTER]

I ENJOYED IT! IT WAS NO BARNDANCE BUT IT HAD IT'S PURPOSE i LIKED THE CASTING THE LOCATIONS AND STORY LINE OVERALL GOOD JOB SIR YOU HAVE MADE A GOOD FILM

 

[vnguyen972]

I like everything on this film except the main character I don't know if he was meant to be that goofy or was just the actor...
best line "I gotta find a lost 747"...LOL

 

[Norm Sanders]

I'm only looking at the post above, which states he liked everything except the lead actor... I'd have to agree that the lead was the weakest of the three characters, though it's possibly because he was supposed to act the most real, and the others had the freedom to over do it which works for those roles. I really liked the female at first, very colorful & fun.

Audio ... that's something I struggled with at times as I strained to make out a voice that sounded more mumbled, away from mic, etc.

Cute premise, and I could tell immediately where this was going, which is a solid message ... sometimes the things we hold on to & don't want to lose are things we'd be better off with if we'd trust & let go ... something better will come along. That, or just don't freak out about what you lost, if you look at it in the right perspective, etc.

Either way, good message.

 

[abalex]

Great job on this one John, love the look of the movie, the story and the colorful characters....really enjoyed this one.

g.

 

[John LaBonney]

Overall, I would like to encourage you (as one artist to another) to explore other themes (even though im sure your faith is every part of your life) I would love to see your camera's gaze turned to other subject matter. Or even to play devils advocate and examine stories that are a great challenge to the message you like to express (barn dance was a bit easy on that one!)

Thanks for watching, I appreciate the comments. Just like all of us, I have a ton of ideas for films running around in my head at any given moment. But I certainly will be appreciating the importance of picking the right story to tell before I go on the journey of creating the film.

The audio seemed like it had alot of reverb and in general wasn't even in terms of volume for me. But those are just small things. I feel like that story had so much potential. You executed it pretty well, but I think it could have been even more amazing had certain things been nailed a little better. BUT, don't get me wrong i LOVED IT!!!

Thanks for the comments, there were a couple points where the audio didn't work out, but I did make some improvements in this area over Barn Dance, and I learned quite a bit about sound design and using some of the multi-track audio features of Premiere.

 

[John LaBonney]

Love Lois. So off-the-shelf bimbo you you can't help but want to marry her just to spice up your life. She did a good job with the character.

Lois is my favorite character in this movie too.

...it could have benefited from a little music here & there, just seems like it missing something.

Agreed, it needs a score, I'm looking for a composer now. Just ran out of time.

As you can see, I'm really against that final realization of the empty building

Geoff, that's an interesting idea about not showing the building empty. I'll have to contemplate that for a while.

 

[John LaBonney]

This film most certainly had some genuinely funny moments. I thought the actor playing Saint Anthony had some great moments.

My concerns with the film have already been expressed by everyone, so I'll skip you the details. I've been writing lots of comments on each film's page, but I'm very tired tonight, and lawriejaffa covered most of my concerns. I guess I just didn't feel entirely engaged in the film, and I suppose general aesthetics didn't mesh with me.

Once again, it has some genuine humor and that certainly made it a nice viewing. :thumbsup:

I liked this one a lot. Your casting was perfect, I did feel that the lead character was a little TOO laid back though. Really nice film, good luck!

I really enjoyed this film. The actors were really good and it told a good loss fest story.

I like everything on this film except the main character I don't know if he was meant to be that goofy or was just the actor...
best line "I gotta find a lost 747"...LOL

Thank you all for watching, I appreciate your comments.

I ENJOYED IT! IT WAS NO BARNDANCE BUT IT HAD IT'S PURPOSE i LIKED THE CASTING THE LOCATIONS AND STORY LINE OVERALL GOOD JOB SIR YOU HAVE MADE A GOOD FILM

Movie Master! Or should I say MOVIE MASTER! Where you been, brother, good to see you around. Thanks for watching!

 

[John LaBonney]

I'm only looking at the post above, which states he liked everything except the lead actor... I'd have to agree that the lead was the weakest of the three characters, though it's possibly because he was supposed to act the most real, and the others had the freedom to over do it which works for those roles. I really liked the female at first, very colorful & fun.

Audio ... that's something I struggled with at times as I strained to make out a voice that sounded more mumbled, away from mic, etc.

Cute premise, and I could tell immediately where this was going, which is a solid message ... sometimes the things we hold on to & don't want to lose are things we'd be better off with if we'd trust & let go ... something better will come along. That, or just don't freak out about what you lost, if you look at it in the right perspective, etc.

Either way, good message.

Thanks Norm, there were some good parts and bad parts to Saint Anthony, but we managed to get a film in and I'm happy about that. Couple of audio issues I agree. In general we held our own there but even a few minor audio mistakes hurt. Thanks.

Great job on this one John, love the look of the movie, the story and the colorful characters....really enjoyed this one.

g.

George, thanks for stopping in. Hope things are well. Gonna get in the next fest?