Stark nights

Ryanrjack

Ryanrjack

Active member
This is a late thread..... but if you have any comments to make about Stark Nights, please feel free to post specifically in this thread.

Ryan J
 
This has an interesting feel to it... I like the rather dusty, obscure cinematography approach on this one. Personally, I don't know if I could handle the image on a large screen... it may induce a slight headache with the out of focus elments.. kinda of like cloverfield did for me... but nonetheless I really like the look and tone.

You're cramming a lot of story into six minutes and you did it well. It doesn't feel rushed or lopped apart by editing. I don't entirely get the story... it's one of those where I feel there are so many existential forces operating outside the frame it's hard to understand everything. A lot of characters and lots of background action that has to be filled in expositional through dialogue.

Random thoughts... the guy shooting the gun to wake the other up... it's too much and it'd probably alert every neighbor in the area. I do like the actors voice though... "why did you have me killed..." that's a really cool moment and I love revenge stories... nicely done scene here.

I like how you move quickly to them in the car... yet at the same time, I find that to be a weird place to put him because he's not in control of the situation... these people could just have him killed easy with him sitting in the back like that. He doesn't have good leverage IMO. I'd rather him lose the gun at that point so it seems like they resolved that earlier issue and have settled on a result.

3:03 - 3:10 is friggin awesome... one of the coolest moments I've seen in the fest...

3:25 is a great shot... beautiful although I'm uncertain of the moment from a story perspective...

Didn't dig the ending that much though... her killing em' all off... but did really like her just sitting there smoking the cigarette :) ... yet didn't like the end 'end' without giving it away.

Overall, nice entry, thanks for sharing!
 
Geoff_R said:
3:03 - 3:10 is friggin awesome... one of the coolest moments I've seen in the fest..
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The funny thing about that shot is it was supposed to take place in a bathroom, but I just had this idea of shooting them having a chase/shootout through car wash bays. It just seemed visually more interesting (plus we didn't want to go find a public bathroom to shoot in) My partner in crime Josh was like okay let's do it, so we shot it and just as we finished the cops pulled up! We quickly put down the cameras and the weapons and drove off.

Geoff_R said:
3:25 is a great shot... beautiful although I'm uncertain of the moment from a story perspective...
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That's the moment where we believe that our lead character has killed Kathryn in the first movie, but we find out in this movie that he did not kill her. I actually got that shot hand held with an HV30 which was just our B cam since about 95% of the movie was shot with the D90. I'm glad you liked it!

Thanks for taking the time to watch our movie Geoff! Your feedback is greatly appreciated!
 
Well, I liked this half a bit more than the other half. The acting here was a little bit better and this one stood on its own more than the other. There was still a lot packed in here but it made more sense than the other...but then, I have seen the other, haven't I so am I assimilating what I saw there and using it to fill in the background here? I don't know. There were things to like here and I can see the potential of where this could go given the chance.
 
Some parts were really well done. The gunshots looked good, especially the action in the car wash. The overhead shot in the Don's office was very cool. The girl shooting her admirer was a nice surprise twist.

The stuff in the car seemed out of focus, but otherwise it looked good.
 
I love the lens flares when tracking past the carwash bays. You had some great shots in both. I preferred Gray days over stark nights. maybe because I watched it first. either way. Fantastic job on both. Part one is still my SH!T.
 
As I said in your other thread, I am totally in love with the look of the D90 footage. The colors and mood it creates seem so film like. I might have to get that camera.

BTW, how did you deal with recording and syncing the sound?
 
filthrich said:
I love the lens flares when tracking past the carwash bays. You had some great shots in both. I preferred Gray days over stark nights. maybe because I watched it first. either way. Fantastic job on both. Part one is still my SH!T.
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Thanks! I like Gray Days alot too myself!:)
 
Chris Messineo said:
As I said in your other thread, I am totally in love with the look of the D90 footage. The colors and mood it creates seem so film like. I might have to get that camera.

BTW, how did you deal with recording and syncing the sound?
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Thank you Chris for checking out our flick. As far as sound we used an H4 to record the audio and synced it up in FCP.
 
I must be honest, I'm pretty apprehensive about the idea of breaking a longer film into two parts and submitting them both into a competition with a six minute time limit. Feels a little unfair to the rest of the competitors that had to push hard to make the six minute mark.

Now that that's out of the way, this film certainly measures up with Gray Days very well. And I basically have the same likes and dislikes as before. This one certainly adds new ingredients to the mix, though.

I felt that the lead just wasn't hitting the right notes in this piece. During the first interrogation-type scene, he was neither menacing nor intimidating. I think that the gun certainly adds more power to his performance, and maybe that was what was intended. But he felt hesitant to me. It wasn't a bad performance by any stretch, but it certainly needed some refining and tuning up.

I really like the way this film looked most of the time, and my comments about Tony Scott-ism still holds, but you guys kept away from it well. And don't worry, I know that without the compression, it probably looks darn good.

Anyway, certainly an interesting viewing. :beer:
 
Interesting flick.

The title itself reminds me "Day watch" and "Night watch".. nothing relates though but I thought it's funny that we have in this fest "Gray Days" and "Stark Nights"

As usual.. I really like the visual of the film... nicely done! fits the genre real well!!!
 
vnguyen972 said:
Interesting flick.

The title itself reminds me "Day watch" and "Night watch".. nothing relates though but I thought it's funny that we have in this fest "Gray Days" and "Stark Nights"

As usual.. I really like the visual of the film... nicely done! fits the genre real well!!!
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Yeah I tried to come up with two titles that described the tone of the movies and that related to one another. If that makes sense...

Thanks for checking them out

Ryan
 
It's LATE, but I made a commitment to watch, rate, and comment on all the films before nights end. At this point, I've only got time to watch & rate, so I'm simply letting you know I've done so for yours.

If you'd like a specific review of your film, please just PM me to catch my attention, and I'd be glad to come back here & post a review. :)
 
I totally loved this two-parter. The gritty and grimy aesthetic l suites the story. It had the feel of the "100 Bullets" and "Criminal" graphic novels.

Awesome entry.
Bravo.
 
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