Short Film - "Brain Storm"

Chris Messineo

Chris Messineo

Veteran
We just entered Movie Making Madness 2005.

We were assigned the genre "Comedy", the subject "A Pick-Up Artist", and given two weeks to complete the film.

I posted some screen grabs before, but here is a link to the finished film:

http://www.OffStageFilms.com/Brain.htm

I hope you enjoy it.

Chris

p.s. You will need QuickTime 7 to watch this.
 
Lol. that was pretty good. Acting was pretty decent, script was pretty good. Did the actors improv alot, or was everything scripted? Editing was nice and tight, good job.
 
Slimothy,

Thanks a lot, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

No improv, everything was scripted. As a matter of fact the script is online at OffStageFilms.com, if you want to compare it to the finished product.

Chris
 
Seen the grabs. Looked interesting.

By the way, I like your title intro (Off Stage Films).

Maybe better audio was needed... maybe I'm retarded.

Pretty funny stuff. I love the concept of a movie within a movie (and maybe that's all within a movie too!).

It's like every other sentence was a slice of creamy irony. I admire that.


Good stuff!
 
Hey Chris,

I enjoyed it! Grabs certainly don't do anything justice.

I loved the opening with your logo and title. What program did you use to make it?

Only problem I had was the acting and audio. Seemed like you didn't use a shotgun mic (?). The bathtub scene was where it was really noticeable. There is a big "echo" effect when they speak.

Acting was a little stiff. You could tell that they were just reading lines and were just waiting for the other person to finish speaking. Some over-acting in places too.

But, hey, kept me interested all the way through...



good job.
 
LeSeulGiraffe said:
By the way, I like your title intro (Off Stage Films).
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Thanks a lot, our editor did that. I think he did a great job. Simple but effective.

LeSeulGiraffe said:
Maybe better audio was needed... maybe I'm retarded.
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I agree. Unfortunately, our sound guy was unavailable. We had his equipment including a wonderful shotgun mic and mixer, but our results were less than spectacular. It shows it's not the tools, but the people using them.

LeSeulGiraffe said:
It's like every other sentence was a slice of creamy irony. I admire that.
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"a slice of creamy irony", I love that.

LloydC said:
I loved the opening with your logo and title. What program did you use to make it?
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I think this was done with Motion, but I'm not positive so I will find out for you.

LloydC said:
Only problem I had was the acting and audio. Seemed like you didn't use a shotgun mic (?). The bathtub scene was where it was really noticeable. There is a big "echo" effect when they speak.
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I totally agree (see my note above). That echo makes me crazy. I wish I had more time to try and clean it up. The sad thing is we did have a shotgun mic, we just stink at using it. :)

LloydC said:
Acting was a little stiff. You could tell that they were just reading lines and were just waiting for the other person to finish speaking. Some over-acting in places too.
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I think that is probably more my dialogue and direction than the actors ability. This is only the third short I have done with speaking parts and I am still learning how to get the best performance out of the actors.

Thanks everyone for the feedback so far, it is much appreciated,

Chris
 
Good material

Good material

I think the concept, the and the writing were great. Strong material. Good bits. You took a chance, and I think it worked.

Audio: Would have made a lot of difference. A lot. As soon as the dialogue starts and I hear a camera mic, you have to come from behind to earn my interest back (which you do).

Visuals: I think think that the staging stole energy from your good concept. If you had shot this more dynamically, (think round table scene in Reservoir Dogs) it would have really elevated your whole project. Even some handheld camera moves between characters would have helped add energy.

As for the acting...i think that if the above two elements were addressed the whole piece would be more forgiving to the actors. They were fine and they had good energy.

Good job. Hope it does well for you.:thumbsup:
 
Oynk said:
I think the concept, the and the writing were great. Strong material. Good bits. You took a chance, and I think it worked.

Audio: Would have made a lot of difference. A lot. As soon as the dialogue starts and I hear a camera mic, you have to come from behind to earn my interest back (which you do).

Visuals: I think think that the staging stole energy from your good concept. If you had shot this more dynamically, (think round table scene in Reservoir Dogs) it would have really elevated your whole project. Even some handheld camera moves between characters would have helped add energy.

As for the acting...i think that if the above two elements were addressed the whole piece would be more forgiving to the actors. They were fine and they had good energy.

Good job. Hope it does well for you.:thumbsup:
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Excellent points. I agree with them all. Especially about the visuals.

As you can guess by our name "Off Stage Films", we all got our start in the world of theater. While this has some benefits it also brings with it many bad habits. For example, when it comes to staging, I often think too much like there is an audience in front of the actors. If I had it to do over again I would have put them in a circle and given myself a lot more interesting angles to shoot from.

Thanks again for the advice,

Chris
 
Love the thinking outside the box. Especially in the "..here's your topic..." style of shoots it can really pay off. the one question I have....Did Movie Making Madness feel you were within your topic on the piece? I have a client who entered a piece in a similar competion last year and they nixed it saying he did not meet the guidelines....
 
I hate to ditto a take; but Oynk sums it up nicely.

A great idea; not too bad in execution. It held me till the end. So much more potential but also undertand the timetable with the Madness Contest

Nice job Chris. It was well done and works.
 
abeljerrod said:
Love the thinking outside the box. Especially in the "..here's your topic..." style of shoots it can really pay off. the one question I have....Did Movie Making Madness feel you were within your topic on the piece?
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I haven't heard anything from Movie Making Madness yet, but I would be surprised if it were rejected. In their own letter to us, they asked use to be "creative" with the subject. At least I hope they view it that way :), as that was certainly our intent.

John_Hudson said:
I hate to ditto a take; but Oynk sums it up nicely.

A great idea; not too bad in execution. It held me till the end. So much more potential but also undertand the timetable with the Madness Contest

Nice job Chris. It was well done and works.
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Thanks a lot. I think everyone has been right on target with their feedback.

These "time-challenged" contests are a great way to hone your skills. Hopefully, we can learn from our mistakes and continue to improve on our next project.

Chris
 
I don't like the audio at all, there could of been more lively shots and then some but,,,,,,,,, what Chris has failed to tell everyone is that this was written and shot in a four day period with limitted crew as two of his key partners weren't available including his sound guy.

Could it have been better, hell yeah but this turned out to be a great result considering the "behind the scenes" details.
 
Coffee,

Thanks for the support.

However, I truly love and appreciate the honest and tough feedback.

I want to do this for a living some day. My skills aren't there yet and they won't be unless I learn to improve and consistently deliver results at a higher level.

Everyone can come up with excuses why there stuff isn't great. As you mentioned we had challenges, but I am not interested in why we had flaws, but just making sure we do better next time.

I'm sure you feel the same way and next time we'll knock their sock off.

Chris
 
I agree.... After I posted that I read it and kind of questioned my intention.... When I see a movie and it's technically bad I don't want to hear it.... lol I just judge based off of what I see, not the "behind the scenes" stuff.

I personally love hearing the feed back from everyone and appreciate it. Every piece of it helps me focus in on what needs improvement and what needs more attention...... What better way to prep for a feature! : )
 
MDKfilms said:
Hey CMessineo, Henry Hudson was set adrift in Hudson's Bay. Are you doing a "what if" scenario?
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Wow, talk about a non-sequitur. :huh:

For those who don't know, one of the upcoming projects listed on my web site is about Henry Hudson.

I have done a tremendous amount of research on Hudson and you are absolutely correct, during his fourth voyage he was left behind in a small boat in Hudson Bay. Luckily I am doing story and not a documentary. :)

Seriously, on his third voyage he was up and down the coast of New Jersey and since I am in New Jersey and shooting this independently I am taking some liberties. I imagine the historians will hate me.

Chris
 
It is quite alright to do what you are doing. I would like to see that film, hope it goes well for you.
 
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