Sea Shanty Films presents: BAILEY

Thanks Michael - looking forward to seeing your film. Cool name for the production company "Phoenix Butterfly"...reminds me of some rare, Chinese tea...
 
AmbassadorTex said:
I haven't really watched soap operas, but your comments lead me to wonder how often you hear a fairly angular solo flute line played over a pedal point cello in your average soap opera. I'm guessing not often, so that makes me wonder about the accuracy and thoughtfulness of your other assessments, too.

Any suggestions on what extra information we should have given to better establish the story and provoke an emotional response?
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I'm sorry but I gave my honest assessment of your entry. You're going to find that everyone isn't going to roll over and say, "Dude, good film...uh, where's my car..." I'm sorry, but I'm sure you tried hard but it just didn't do it for me. Perhaps you should tune into a soap opera sometime just to know what not to do. I will say that the shot of the young boy upstair was nice but in the scheme of your movie it just didn't pay off. Take a moment to watch it and pretend you haven't read the script. I'm sure that if you're honest with yourself, you'll realize that you've still got some work to do.
 
Not sure who you're responding to as I certainly didn't ask you or anyone else who has criticized our film to just "roll over" and compliment it. Nor did I suggest we couldn't have done things better.

In fact, I asked you for specific information despite your glib and vague critique. I don't see any kind of response to my question about the validity of your comparison to our music and "soap opera" music...nor did you offer any specifics about how we could have better communicated information to help you understand or care about our story.

As with every other filmmaker here, I recognize about 1000 things that nobody else has even mentioned that I would like to do better. The benefit of getting feedback from others (and here's the part where you might want to tune in to know what to do) is when it is specific and therefore useful. You made vague and pejorative comparisons and now refuse to back them up or offer any specific suggestion.

So...you didn't like our film. Got it. Best of luck on "Violet."
 
Yeah I remember my first review. and i just got the thing in under the wire..busted my ass to do it spent loads of cash on food and beer and I got an "eh".. you need to do this and that.. I was pretty unhappy...

But for real I did like it a little more than blaine I think :)

What I did last fest is I chucked out the extreme reviews you know the ones ..THAT SUCKS... ...AWESOME YOU DA MAN.. and focused on the ones that could help me... I think my lighting is way better because of it..... still got work to do though.

be at peace Gents :)
 
AmbassadorTex said:
In fact, I asked you for specific information despite your glib and vague critique. The benefit of getting feedback from others (and here's the part where you might want to tune in to know what to do) is when it is specific and therefore useful. You made vague and pejorative comparisons and now refuse to back them up or offer any specific suggestion.
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Blaine said:
Sorry guys, but the acting here was bad soap opera. It actually sounded like your Eric character was reading his lines. Poor acting will break the illusion quicker than anything.
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I felt I originally noted that the acting was substandard.

Blaine said:
You didn't give me enough information to care about anyone here and since the story was not very well established, the result was waiting to see if anything happened...and it didn't.
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Perhaps you are so close to your screenplay that you forget we didn't read it. You story was incomplete as far as giving me a clear understanding of what was going on.
 
Ambassador Tex

Please allow for an open forum on the commentary of your film. Dismissing someones opinion is insulting and making snide remarks will get you no where

Sp pretty please with sugar; chill out.

Thanks
 
Michael_Petro said:
What I did last fest is I chucked out the extreme reviews you know the ones ..THAT SUCKS... ...AWESOME YOU DA MAN.. and focused on the ones that could help me... I think my lighting is way better because of it..... still got work to do though.
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I'd say that's a pretty fair assessment. It's tough to decipher a brief statement (good or bad) that just blankets a project and use it constructively. I've always looked at everything we do as an experiment to some degree. I want to improve on every attempt and I find it most helpful to get a critique with clear specifics about what can be improved on and/or what is working.
 
Hi Tex,
Overall, I think that you did a fine job on the film.

I must tell you though that I had an extremely difficult time getting through it because I graduated from Platte Canyon in Bailey. I knew a lot of the people that were shown on the news footage etc., so it was a terrible emotional experience for me. When the male character at the end says "Emily", my heart broke again. Nice film, maybe a little too soon...:cry:

Take Care,
Steph
 
"...What I did last fest is I chucked out the extreme reviews you know the ones ..THAT SUCKS... ...AWESOME YOU DA MAN.. and focused on the ones that could help me... I think my lighting is way better because of it..... still got work to do though..."

_______________________

Thanks M. Petro. This is a good stance to take re feedback. I'm happy with a lot of the elements on "bailey", but your statement of "still got work to do" really rings true for me. Been on the road and haven't been able to download a lot of films yet, but plan to do so this week/weekend. Really looking forward to seeing your film-- and many others...
 
moviemaestro said:
Hi Tex,
Overall, I think that you did a fine job on the film.

I must tell you though that I had an extremely difficult time getting through it because I graduated from Platte Canyon in Bailey. I knew a lot of the people that were shown on the news footage etc., so it was a terrible emotional experience for me. When the male character at the end says "Emily", my heart broke again. Nice film, maybe a little too soon...:cry:

Take Care,
Steph
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Incredible to hear from you Steph. It was precisely that reaction that inspired us to do the film. We wanted to find some hope and to show that something of the spirit in that text message did plant a seed for something positive...even if the seed was planted in someone peripheral to the situation who was suffering already. Hope that came across.

Honored that you watched our film and commented. Thank you.
 
This film sits around # 11 or 12 on my list. I thought the direction was superb and the cinemaphotography was some of the more interesting of this fest. I thought the lead femal was not bad casted but the male was the wrong choice

I can see where you were going with the story, but admit, I found it a bit overplayed with the dialogue "Do people talk to each other like this?"

I found the cop not only struggling to maintain the role, but just unbeliavable as a detective. The audio needed work; it lacked something, warmth maybe ...

The overall monotone vibe of the piece held it back; I kept waiting for some climax or peak or chreshendo but it stays at that "Flat ------- Line" pace from start to finish

=

That being said, I really thought the direction was strong. You have a great eye for the camera and I enjoyed the production value; most of the time i scream GET OUT OF THR APARTMENT as that leads to lazy and cheap production values, but with the lighting choices and the rain and the style of aprtment (THe older non modern) it worked.

An above average job, but I thought the overall execution went south somewhere:

Do people talk to each other like this ?


I do look forward to more from Team Sea Shanty. I think you guys have the real chops to be filkmmakers,
 
Thanks John,

I appreciate the well thought out critique.

I'm curious about sound needing "warmth". that's been one of the areas we're always trying to improve on. We've steadily gotten better but I'm always open to new suggestions.
 
John_Hudson said:
most of the time i scream GET OUT OF THR APARTMENT as that leads to lazy and cheap production values, but with the lighting choices and the rain and the style of aprtment (THe older non modern) it worked.

An above average job, but I thought the overall execution went south somewhere:

Do people talk to each other like this ?


I do look forward to more from Team Sea Shanty. I think you guys have the real chops to be filkmmakers,
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Love the "GET OUT OF THE APARTMENT" sentiment! We're in total agreement. In fact, with our first 3 films, we consciously wanted to avoid the "indie film with people talking in an apartment" cliche. Glad the stylistic choices made the setting something that worked for you.

As for the dialogue question: I think the answer is "sometimes." We were obviously aiming to have Eric unresponsive, so he's unnatural in the way that he ignores her direct and repeated question. I think that's not a "real people talking" manner...but it seemed to fit for the style and tone. It definitely has a strange ring to it - especially before you realize what he's avoiding.

We knew we were toeing the edge of melodrama, but I still think we had enough of an edge to "pull up short" as George Costanza would say.

Thanks for the critique - I think the chops that you recognize and which feel strongest to your eye are mostly from the other 2 Sea Shanty guys - Long and Brigham. I'm in 100% agreement with you there. This was an incredibly "technical" shoot b/c of the lighting, the ECU-CU-Med.Wide template we followed, and the angles. They did very detailed storyboards, camera and lighting tests, etc. Pretty cool stuff from my fellow codgers.
 
We knew we were toeing the edge of melodrama, but I still think we had enough of an edge to "pull up short" as George Costanza would say.
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I'm not sure if melodrama is the word I'd use; It just feels contrived somewhat. Too deliberate. Maybe too purposive ?

-

I'm curious about sound needing "warmth". that's been one of the areas we're always trying to improve on. We've steadily gotten better but I'm always open to new suggestions.
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Me too. The entire Audio experience in cinema is an art in and of itself. I wish we had more resident experts on this subject matter. Or maybe, I just need to go find them and bring them over

LOL
 
John_Hudson said:
Me too. The entire Audio experience in cinema is an art in and of itself. I wish we had more resident experts on this subject matter. Or maybe, I just need to go find them and bring them over
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true

is there a dvx post audio forum out there?:)
 
There is .... Kind of

But I don't think we really have anyone who is a literal guru, ya know ?

Ill do some leg work, see if I cant get this going !
 
thanks, I'm curious to know more

I know there's some DIY posts on "digitaljuice" but I really haven't seen too much in the audio department.
 
This was a well rounded short film with nice cinematic touches. I liked the boy's hand bringing the couple closer together. The external event being a catalyst for the conversation they have been avoiding, is a more intersting way of structuring the short. It misleads the audience but provides a realistic setting for the topic to be brought up. Style meets script here, they go hand in hand. Not style for the sake of showing off, but integral to the piece.

It's shot with a nice eye, and lets the visuals tell the story enough to draw you in. It actually seemed more Eurpoean when it started. The decision to stay close seemed like a successful creative one rather than ' we dont have a set'. I never felt that way at all. And of course it disguises the reveal.

Not many shorts left me feeling satifsied, but this one did. All the elements were there and they worked. I dont have an awful lot to say that is negative, I think you hit most of your marks.

While I will say it wasn't something that blew me away dramatically, I did feel I was in the company of people who understood their craft and exectued it well.
 
Darkline said:
The decision to stay close seemed like a successful creative one rather than ' we dont have a set'. I never felt that way at all. And of course it disguises the reveal.
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Thanks Darkline,

The director, Matt Long, has always expressed an interest in shooting a project in close up inspired by "Faces" directed by John Cassavetes. This story seemed to fit well for that approach as well as hide the surroundings for the ending shot.
I was DP on the project and I never got to see any of "Faces". Perhaps that's a good thing since I didn't have any interest or desire to copy any shots. Though, now I am curious to see it.
 
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