"Stay Sharp" a film by Amy Beth O'Brien

I love your work, I really do. I remember last fest around commenting on how beautifully you captured color. The ability to make things look so natural is really the toughest thing of all. The kids of course are adorable, and the littlest one is SO FREAKING CUTE. My girlfriend and I are fest watching together and simultaneously "awwwwe"'d. Very nicely done, and isn't Damian Sanchez brilliant? I love his work. Top marks. :)
 
Not a bad film. The kids did great on acting! The music had a good theme with the film.The story wasn't really that entertaining, but it was good.
 
I think this is your most accomplished film. Your shots are becoming more polished and professional. You're really getting adept at bringing performances out of your young cast. Everything in this piece worked for me.
 
Nice! Charming story that brought back horror stories of my past, I could never get my kids to sit and do homework for that long! I liked your shots and framing, but would have liked to see you use that slider a little more. I can't say the transitions worked the best for me, but I get it. Your actors did a great job and for that, I hope they all got a big dish of ice cream.

Although the story played a little on the slow side, this is a very solid film with an excellent score. Congratulations on getting it done and in.
 
Congrats on completing another film. :) I'm very impressed that you even attempted a film with a cast of kids, let a lone completed it. I admire such an undertaking!
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone. We had a great time making this, and the kids really surprised me this time around. Although, I did write to their personalities, and this story isn't that far off from real-life events, so that helps. I appreciate the comments on the cinematography. It is an area I'm still working on.

And, yes, Zaza, I would have liked more slider shots, too. In fact, I had to cut two quite nice ones because they slowed things down even more. Maybe I'll put them up after the 26th. I didn't have enough practice to slide, pan, and focus all at the same time do use it all that much. Next time . . .

Ryan, I'm touched that you are impressed that I worked with kids, but since they live with me, it is pretty easy to shoot here and there. This was shot over two weekends, one three day and one two day. No 20 hour shoots like yours :) Longest day was 6 hours - including an hour lunch break.
 
Begin stream of consciousness:

Opening of film kind of reminds me of I heart Huckabees, LOVE that movie.

Lighting looks natural, not over lit and good values throughout , although a bit un-dynamic at times.

Are those Kix all over the floor?

You'll get better sound if you leave less headroom in your framing, It will also make your compositions a bit better. (not the whole movie, but certain shots eg. 2:26 and 2:31)

Overall looks a bit soft.

The clock and iris wipes kind of bum me out.

This seems like a long time to focus on one individual who needs a sharpened pencil.

The woman in the film is good looking.

Those kids are adorable.

Nice work overall, esp. on natural looking lighting. I like the look of things like that. Good values, good soft light.

Word,

-Joe
 
AmyO said:
Ryan, I'm touched that you are impressed that I worked with kids, but since they live with me, it is pretty easy to shoot here and there. This was shot over two weekends, one three day and one two day. No 20 hour shoots like yours :) Longest day was 6 hours - including an hour lunch break.
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Kid's and animals are the two toughest groups of "talent" to work with- so it is impressive even if you live with them. And possibly even more so, as they may not take you as seriously when you are working on the film. So kudos' for accomplishing your vision!.
 
Amy, you're up next.

I was orginally planning on watching each film and then doing a careful review before moving on to the next one, but then I was on to my 4th beer and everything went downhill. So I'm rewriting your review.

Amusing story about a kid who just wants to keep his pencil sharpened so he can finish his homework. Cute kid, very convincing in his exasperation. But your daughter stole the show by being so damn cute. She was practically the queen of the castle!

You captured some good attitude there with the kids and it was beautifully shot, well composed for the most part. The transitions became a little too much after a while and I found myself distracted by them, just wishing for a hard cut at times. They seemed to be there more because you didn;t have anything to cut TO rather than a stylistic choice. Didn't also help that it wiped to the same setting, just moments later. A good solid edit would have cleared some of that up and moved things along a little faster. This was one of those films where you really didn't need the full 6 minutes, and by editing for style and pace it would have been more impactful. You were shooting your kids though, so maybe you didn't have enough distance from the subject in order to edit for the story.

Anyway, despite all of that, I did enjoy the movie and found it sweet and endearing. The woman playing the mother was a good choice and for a moment had me wondering if you were making a surprise appearance. Just for a moment though. You got good performances out of the kids (kudos to you) and filmed them well.

Nice music once again from Senor Damian Sanchez. Glad I warmed him up for ya! :grin:

Enjoyable movie. Edit with a faster more stylistic pace and lose the wipes and you'll have a much better movie. Less distractions is always a good thing.
 
Thanks for your detailed feedback, Rodney. A little bit about the clock wipes. I DO have footage to cut to. I have whole sequences of him getting more pencils and the dictionary (not the water glass, though). When I did a first assembly, I was way over seven minutes. Trimmed all the edits, and I was still way over. So, first thing to go was getting the pencils. We saw it once, we know how it goes, stalls the story. Then went the dictionary. Don't need to know where that comes from. Cut down the time and kept things moving forward rather than revisiting action we've already seen. So, I decided to go with a style choice of the clock wipes - which was the point of using them within a scene where time passed. What may have pushed that over the edge is going all out and using the push wipes between scenes as well. I'll look at that and see how it feels with hard cuts between scenes. Honestly, I'm not a big proponent of cheesy wipes and transitions. They call editing "cutting" for a reason. But, when you know the effect they have on the viewer, they can be used to create a tone or style. In this case, I'm hearing (and not just from you) that it might be overboard.

I'm glad you enjoyed it, and I'll pass your feedback on to Briana. She came over on her day off from shooting a feature to help out and she totally rocked the Mom vibe.

This time out since there were fewer films, I decided to do a first pass through of all of them just to watch and get a feel, then I'll go back through them and leave feedback. Really liked "Strange Days." Be over in a bit to tell ya more about it! :)
 
Cool kids. They did a fantastic job on the acting.

Like the other the wipes didnt work for me, a dissolve with object moving around may have worked better. It may have been a little too long as well for the subject.

Your camera work was lovely and really sold the story. I really enjoyed this.
Congratulations on a lovely short.

Dont you think that making films with your kids is sooo much better than simply sticking photos in a family album !
 
Amy, I enjoyed your short....

I was charming :) I did feel it was a tad long for my taste and didn't have enough at stake... it's always tough when doing a short... the kids were really good though :) Nice work there... and there were some funny moments too :)

Good job!
 
Amy -

I enjoyed your short. I liked the "feel" - it was quiet and enjoyable. I have worked with kids a number of times and know that it can be a real skill to get subtle performances and I honestly felt you achieved this from the little boy. There were a few wonderful pauses and little body gestures and eye flicks that I loved. Bravo.

I did feel that the film was a bit slow, and I am not sure how you get around that with the story. I enjoyed it though and that is what matters. I also think the camera and the moves were clean and well controlled - nothing over the top nor too static.

Cheers.
 
Amy, agree with Devon above, very clean well thought out shots that matched the story, not sure there would be any "better" way to shoot this from the cameras perspective considering the content. Final credit shot was lovely.
 
Richard - Definitely better than a family album! And when I send out "home movies" to the extended family, they actually WANT to watch them! :)

Brandon and Devon, thanks for your comments. I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)
 
Way to go Amy! I thought this was your best film yet. The intro really drew me in, very well done! The story was cute and so were the kids!

I agree with other about the wipes. I would have liked to show some jump cuts in close succession to show the protraction of time. This would have helped the pacing. I think sometimes if you have short segments with quick transitions you get a faced impatient feel. A good example is Matt Damien in Ocean’s Eleven when he’s stuck in the back of the van with the two annoying brothers. A few rapid jumps and he seems like he’s been tortured there for hours. I also would have liked a little more frustration from you lead boy. My youngest would have lost it after the third pencil or so.

Glad you chose to work with kids on this. Keep up the great work!
 
Best film with the kids so far. They're becoming quite the good little actors.

I loved the look on her face when he told her to go ask her sister what colour to use. Too funny. :)

If I had any real complaint it would be that it may have went on just a tad too long. I had no issue with the transitions as I felt that they suited this piece just fine.

Great job with this one.

MAH
 
Hi Amy,

It is nice to see what you are able to bring out of kids. I love especially your daughter. She seems so bright when she said 'Welcome'. This was a very cute nice film, even I think that the boy has to find the pencil sharpener happend to much, so it came out a little bit to long. I always liked your cinematography and the mood of your films. Compliments!

Susanne
 
This really drips of cuteness. Great short film! Personally, I like the wipe transitions... they fit the lightheartedness of the piece.

Technical: The lighting was a bit even for my taste and a little more contrast in post would really make your great shots pop.

Nice work.

:beer:
 
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