Stalker

J

jghenderson

Well-known member
So I figure I should get involved in this. Seems pretty cool, will be my first DVXFEST. I look forward to seeing everyone's and to making one myself.
 
Very interesting idea. I thought you pulled it off. I thought he was going to kill himself but it went another direction which worked even better. Was this a silent film? I may need to download it because I only heard music when I streamed it. and that was only in parts
 
The handheld through the entire film made me want to puke like everyone who watched Cloverfield. I noticed that while walking away from her the image was very wavy. That happens on all DSLR's. To avoid that make all your shots static with no motion if you are using a DSLR. I liked the lighting and composition on the one flashback shot of his POV proposing to her. The Story made sense but the ending made me feel like he was going to wuss out the way she starred at the main character. The cuts were very noticeable because when we are POV the whole time any cut feels like our vision is cutting to another place and is very disturbing to the viewer. Simple story that could have been portrayed better if the filming style was different. I think this would serve as a good learning experience for the filmmaker.
 
Awe gosh i wouldnt say i felt like i was going to puke, and i don't think there was anything wrong with the approach you took to the 'concept' for this cinematography. I mean just look at the way Gallio thrillers (such as those by Dario Argento) really brought the eyes of the killer pov to life.

Not to cuff your head a little on the DSLR remark - but god, let the filmmaker take it off the sticks if he wants - let him film an elephants asshole if he wants, point is, we critique the film, not placing our own views on what the film or cinematography should be. Preconceptions are ruinious.

Back to the film - personally i would have preferred a faster pace, i found my legs wriggling a little, i think the turn back by the girl at the end works, and it ending like that is interesting. I think if we could have seen more 'action' in the voyeurism of our follower, (either by cuts) or by incidental scenes occuring while she is followed. Then it could have been more effective at maintaining the necessary energy to thrill us.

I think more experimentation with this style is warranted however, and my favourite was the bit when the pursuers hand stretches out from the shelf.
 
I think there was another film shot in this same location in another fest. Not a bad thing, it's just bothering me I can't figure it out.
 
I found this to be quite striking and effective. I appreciate the risks that were taken here, namely the omission of foley, the POV cam, and the long continuous shots.
It's not easy to choreograph something like that and the fact that you took us on a long journey from a car, up though an elevator, into a library, down a stairwell and back to the garage...
i thought it was cool. what really worked for me was the old school creepy score, really dark music! I agree with Lawrie that I wished a bit more happened along the way, but i liked the ambiguous ending when she turns around and faces him. we can leave the rest to our imagination.

i also have to note filmcritic's problem with the shaky cam (mixed with the jerkyness of the rolling shutter). this is a real problem with these cameras, but there are ways to reduce the effect.
 
If I felt she was "threaten" of if she felt she was "threaten" it would have gone off better. Using first person on camera work was a nice change, but for the overall film it was just okay.
 
I think I know what you are talking about Richard. I think it was shot in the same style as well.

I loved the music and the pov, but I was expecting a twist or something.
 
I like the ending too, leaving us not knowing. It had an old 80's horror vibe which I liked and the music was creepy!

Love chloroform, I always get my own way with it :-)

Oh a nice orchestrated shot at the end, did you use someone else's hands from the back seat to pour the bottle?
 
The music was lovely. I thought it felt unfinished. Sometimes an open ending feels resolved and right, but that is very hard to do. Really good stab at it, though!
 
Thanks for the replies everyone. I definitely didn't spend as much time on this project as I wish I could have. Hopefully next time I will be able to devote the time needed to deliver a more complete feeling film.

As to the shaky camera, I definitely agree. If I had a steadycam type device available to me I definitely would have used it. Unfortunately I was unable to borrow my friends steadycam and had to resort to much cruder methods, and it shows.

It was definitely a good experience though.
 
This was a very engaging film from the POV perspective. It was very creepy, but had the emotion behind the creepiness to give it a human sort of feel to it. Like we weren't totally removed from the guy's pain. We could see it. You did a really good job. Yes, the camera was really shaky. Next time even if you don't have a steadicam, just take longer strides. It works much better. The scene in the library was killer btw. Good job!
 
Very cool and refreshing! Loved the music.
I think if you cut this down and had more possible run ins with her almost seeing you then you would really have something.
Wasn't too sure what to make of the ending but I liked it nonetheless.

It did feel like 80's horror and I liked that very much.

Cheers,

MAH
 
Refreshingly simple and a little uncomfortable, very creepy.

A tad too shaky, you need to balance it, especially with DSLRs. A steadicam or a shoulder mount would help with that and you don't really have to spend a lot either there's easy "how-to-build-your-own" tutorials online. A little goes a long way.

Nice work!
 
When the camera was steady, the footage (color, angle, movement) was just beautiful in this one. Just gotta know the limitations of your tools and how to compensate for them, but that's been covered.

A couple of my favorite shots were watching the elevator going up and moving through the stacks. Gives a sense of vertigo and disorients the audience in a good way.

Nice work!
 
lawriejaffa said:
Awe gosh i wouldnt say i felt like i was going to puke, and i don't think there was anything wrong with the approach you took to the 'concept' for this cinematography. I mean just look at the way Gallio thrillers (such as those by Dario Argento) really brought the eyes of the killer pov to life.

Not to cuff your head a little on the DSLR remark - but god, let the filmmaker take it off the sticks if he wants - let him film an elephants asshole if he wants, point is, we critique the film, not placing our own views on what the film or cinematography should be. Preconceptions are ruinious.

Back to the film - personally i would have preferred a faster pace, i found my legs wriggling a little, i think the turn back by the girl at the end works, and it ending like that is interesting. I think if we could have seen more 'action' in the voyeurism of our follower, (either by cuts) or by incidental scenes occuring while she is followed. Then it could have been more effective at maintaining the necessary energy to thrill us.

I think more experimentation with this style is warranted however, and my favourite was the bit when the pursuers hand stretches out from the shelf.
Click to expand...

I am not saying do not take it off the sticks, I am saying if you are going to take it off the sticks do not film with a dslr. Those cameras do horrible with motion. I am pretty sure a film of an "elephants asshole" would be quite entertaining for you to watch, but for others like myself who want something of substance are warranted to give advice. Its funny you say not to critique the cinematography and then you basically tell him how you would have filmed it differently. Hypocrites are the most entertaining to disagree with.

- ps in regards to my cutting critique try fades next time when going from POV to POV shot it might work better.
 
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