"Solecism" by: justin r. durban

I really liked this as well. The lead actor was very good. The ending was also very real. Nice work!

My only minor gripe is with the Gardener. Too many blank looks and where was he in the end?? Aside from that this was perfect.

Once again, it's a minor thing. This movie was pretty awesome!

Great work!
 
Rolling and reviewing:

Loved the sprint logo there in your face. Actor was good. Colorwise you jump around a little bit from the beginning of the house entry to the second shot. Went from really warm to not so much.

Wondering what was with the gardener though. I liked the shot right before 2:25 of with the OTS double of the TV and him. And loving the baby stuff around. But does that gardner man do anything other that stare? I don't think he moved at all thought the film...

I like how you make give the guy some real feeling by the baby stuff and the wedding pictures. The pseudo-reveal earlier in the film is terrifying. I don't even have words. I don't even have words...
 
The gardener...

I shouldn't have to explain, but I will.

His character represents "you guys" as the viewer of the film. He's aware something is happening, but doesn't know what to do about it. You know something is wrong, but you cannot quite figure it out. By the time you figure out the film, the gardener is no longer needed. Its just one of the characters, that knows something, but resists, or is perhaps lost in translation. Much like how all of us are when it comes to a dramatic situation. Do you help in the situation? Or do you look the other way?

The Gardener looked the other way.

Make sense?


thank you everyone again for viewing.
 
Edgen said:
Make sense?
.
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Um ... no. :)

Thanks for the explanation, but like everyone else the gardner just confused me and at the end of the film I was left wondering what he was all about instead of being concerned with the events transpiring.

That being said, my heart started skipping beats when I figured out what was going on.
 
I like the lead in this. Sort of Dave Grohl meets Charlie from "Party of Five." He did a fine job with the material.

The story overall lacked tension. I think at times in these fests we sacrifice other elements of story in the interest of having a twist at the end. I think explicitly letting the audience know the child was in the car could have raised the stakes throughout and more could have been done with the gardener's failure to act. The film plays more instructional than dramatic to me.

nice incorporation of the time theme. Nice camera work as well.
 
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Well shot film, but I kept expecting it to go in a lot of different directions. Most of the time I thought the film was going to be about a cool "invention" he had being made by someone else who stole it. And the end, while an interesting idea and it did grab me by surprise, it just felt a little cheap to me since it really didn't seem to have anything to do with the rest of the movie imo.
 
bosindy said:
I think explicitly letting the audience know the child was in the car could have raised the stakes throughout and more could have been done with the gardener's failure to act. The film plays more instructional than dramatic to me.
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Ya know... we toyed with that idea too to let the audience know right off the bat. I'm curious to see what the audience would think the other way around. The gardener is just one of those odd characters looming around. I just made a post about him earlier.

yes, Matt is a wonderful actor. can't wait to work with him again.



Brandon Rice said:
OMG Justin...

the execution of the story blew me away...

props.
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Thank you brandon. :)



Gohanto said:
...And the end, while an interesting idea and it did grab me by surprise, it just felt a little cheap to me since it really didn't seem to have anything to do with the rest of the movie imo.
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Did you not see all the baby toys and stuff all around him? The clues were there the entire time.




Thank you for watching.
 
Edgen said:
Did you not see all the baby toys and stuff all around him? The clues were there the entire time.
Click to expand...

That was what made it work so well...

the whole time I'm thinking "wait, so where's the kid?"

then when he says "little man's asleep" I'm thinking "wha?"

Then I realize... "he has no idea where the kid is!"

Then I realize "the kids in the car!!!"
 
* SPOILER *

Brandon Rice said:
That was what made it work so well...

the whole time I'm thinking "wait, so where's the kid?"

then when he says "little man's asleep" I'm thinking "wha?"

Then I realize... "he has no idea where the kid is!"

Then I realize "the kids in the car!!!"
Click to expand...

Brandon, I love the way you explained this. :thumbsup:
 
As a Dad this really hit me with an emotional wallop. I was totally caught up in this to the point that when she asked about the baby I felt my stomach drop. It is so hard to tell a story that resonates emotionally and you certainly pulled it off here. What a great piece of work Justin. My hat is off to you for this story.
 
Absolutely powerful, and a wake up call to us all of what really matters. As a new dad, I physically broke with the poor guy at the end. Amazingly done as usual.
 
Man I am so glad they decided to take those child CPR classes what would have come of the little man if not scared to think about it. Well acted good story and nicely shot. Good job guys.
 
I liked this - wasn't too sold on the intro scenes, I'm a little bit jaded when it comes to talking-while-driving scenes. But then, when he walks in the house, sits down, that's when his acting picked up. The dialogue felt a little bit contrived - no one talks like that on the phone, I could tell his lines were written so the audience would know what was going on without having the other person audible. Didn't like the gardener at all, the first time I saw him I figured there was some kind of paranormal thing going on with him, mainly because the color palette on his shots is so different than the muted indoor shots. The short didn't need him at all - you know you have unnecessary material when you have to explain it to the audience, but hey, hindsight is 20/20. But the best part of the entire thing came at the end, she takes the baby, he stays there, and his expression is priceless, VERY well done.

I enjoyed it! Thanks.
 
I think it's a great piece because we all do this kind of thing - not with a baby of course - but we get caught up and forget an appointment, etc. so it really resonates with most people... Successfully made me feel like I wanted to die!
:D
 
I sort of liked the gardener. He gave the film a Lynchian unnerving quality. Not everything has to make literal sense in a film. It's not an after school special.

The musical cue for the gardener was humorous. It was supposed to be what he was listening to on his headphones, but it came off seeming to me like a racial stereotype. Let me get this straight: there's a latino gardener gazing from the bushes listening to his prescribed music? Come on! A change of musical cue would soften up that blow. Score something dark and ominous, and can the hat dancing music. :)

I thought the main actor did a great job. I didn't sympathize with his character, but that wasn't the fault of the actor. It was the situation created in the script that made it fall through for me. At the end of the movie I just thought, "You moronic bastard", over the character's actions. I'm glad the baby was ok, or else I would have been extremely pissed off.

I think your direction has matured greatly since Cristo. I can see it in the technical and creative aspects. Great job. It was good to see your little rugrat in his onscreen debut. Overall I have more praise for this film than criticism.

Great job!
 
Excellent film! You had me all the way, although I wondered where the child was when he mentioned that he 'had a family now'. Great acting...some of the best I've seen in this fest. Great story. I love the camera work, it kept it interesting with just the one character. I didn't really understand the gardener with the ipod?

VERY well done!
 
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