Sleep Walk - a Dustin Rogan film

Rogan you have a good sense of humor, the jokes were really funny but the characters themselves need some more development. They're sort of obnoxious and we don't learn much about them and so I'm not sure if I really cared about the circumstances that happen.

An interesting story and the vagueness of the box was a cool idea, leaving it ambiguous I think was a good call, creates a lot of mystery towards what's in it and what it does.

Some good work for sure.
 
The color was very yellow across all shots and a little washed out on my display for some reason.

The plot seemed fishy. If they wanted the fat guy to kill the skinny guy all along they sure didnt plan well for the contingency of the skinny guy opening the box. Thank god the fat guy woke up for no apparent reason and stopped the skinny guy in time.

Or.. if they were just testing the box on these two guinea pigs the conspirators should have given more exposition at the end. "ie It took longer than I expected for the subjects to peek in, but it worked perfectly."

The smoking shot part made me want to smoke and drink beer. :)
 
Mr Rogan and now we come to you, so let's play:

The opening shot of the dude on the phone felt a little superfluous. The phone call should have been a little more important, rather than having him flip it close. Maybe even a little more character building, or a lead in to the story... something about the box perhaps?

Handshake was just weird. Good introduction to our leads, and now we know who they are. Slow leadup on the car there. Surprised you guys didn;t get a 2 shot from the backseat. Good introduction to the characters: young asshole and older laid back dude.

Motel" i think we needed a shot of the box in the car or even betteir, a POV shot from the trunk.

I think you needed to build the tension even more here and show more of Saul's irritation. The younger dude's delivery on the joke was too much of a recital. He didn;t feel it and seems like he's trying to come across as a good guy. The perfect actor for this role would have been someone who took delight in his meanness and actually thinks this stuff is funny. A slightly below the surface psychopath.

Loved the shot of Saul waking him up with the gun. Think Saul should have been a little bit meaner there, really ready to blow this kid's head off. Would have helped o build the tension even more and build to the point of inevitability.

Love the bar scene by the way. Having the guy come in to check up on them was a nice touch and makes us wonder what the hell is going on. The kid is irritated but still playing the good guy. He needs to be a right bastard.

What would have helped this transition waould have been to have the bar music carry on over the dolly shot and fade away when the kid steps into frame.

Best bit of acting from the kid is when he's pleading for his life. I really would have liked to have seen a real psycho iin this role.

A little bit more information on the box, its next destination perhaps would have be nice to see at the end. Would have been nice to see it go full circle, from one person to the next, but never back to the boss.

Anyway, those are my thoughts. It was an okay film and I really expected more tension and better actors. with the right lighting and mood and intensity from the actors, this could have been a much better story. A few tweaks to the edit and you can make it so much more visceral...

Thanks for the oldest of all currencies: story.
 
having been too close to this, and obviously my acting didn't add any plusses, I thought the final edit was tight and the sfx of the "sleep" very well done. You did make some other good casting decisions however.:thumbup:
 
Got to be honest, I had a hard time getting past the jokes. I undersatnd it's a character thing, but two full (and bad) jokes in a 6 min film really burned up some time for better story elements. Maybe spread out in a feature or 20 min.

Acting felt unrehearsed.

Not sure why all the fuss over the box. Just go shoot the guys and take it. Too much staging for a payoff that never quite came.

Really liked the mystery of the bok, the glow, and the effects after looking in. That was the strongest point in the film. Nicely done.


aw
 
didnt really get the story, i guess it was a set up for one to kill the other? but why. this is a much bigger movie cut down into 6 minutes maybe.

really liked the bar shots. good set up too when we see the suit at the bar. acting was okay too, the big man was good. the kid was okay too but his jokes in the motel didnt work all that well, maybe because one joke is enough. small point , no need to repeat Earnhardt, kinda kills the previous joke. my 2 cents...

great use of the box! made me think about pulp fiction a bit.
 
I enjoyed this. I think you almost got the road movie/pulp feeling very well. If you missed it slightly it was maybe in the casting of the younger guy, since the acting of both felt pretty good. The score went very well, too, not too sure where the story was taking us but all in all it seemed to flow pretty well.
Jason
 
Fun little crime story. I’m surprised there haven’t been more of these this fest.... The element that kept me into the film was Thaine Odom. He did a decent enough job acting, but really has a presence that elicits that “aww… he’s just a big ol’ thug” sympathy. Tattoos added to hte character considerably. It was fun watching him deal with the little punk too.

Can’t say I was a big fan of the film's mcguffin. It didn’t lead to much pay off or mystery. Just another box of “something” waiting to be opened. I felt you "boxed" (heh) yourself in by choosing the “mystery container" plot device.

Overall a fun piece, but not much payoff. :undecided

Oh, thinking on it... The reason I was disappointed was the lack of Rogan's a$$. You hit your peak too soon with TDRP!!! Maybe that's what was in the box. The characters' reactions fit. Hmmm......
 
Bryce A said:
Oh, thinking on it... The reason I was disappointed was the lack of Rogan's a$$. You hit your peak too soon with TDRP!!! Maybe that's what was in the box. The characters' reactions fit. Hmmm......
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wow, i'm going to assume that you were trying to be funny with that "peaking" comment. With that said, leave the "funny" to me.

Rogan

Thanks for watching
 
Dustin R. Rogan said:
wow, i'm going to assume that you were trying to be funny with that "peaking" comment. With that said, leave the "funny" to me.

Rogan

Thanks for watching
Click to expand...

Ouch. Sorry, man. Thought it was pretty obviously a joke. Seriously, I said that out of love for your films. Anyway, apologies. My bad. :beer:
 
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Bryce A said:
Ouch. Sorry, man. Thought it was pretty obviously a joke. Seriously, I said that out of love for your films. Anyway, apologies. My bad. :beer:
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Its all good. I was trying something new. Its a growing process, and I've grown from this film fest. I hate how text doesn't convey how one is meaning to say something.

Rogan
 
This was a neat movie. Im slowly working my through the list. I've been too busy to watch them all, but I will ! Keep up the good work guys :) Ill be seeing you next time
 
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