THE BEGINNER - A film by J. Anthony Gonzales

John, looks like you're taking a B&W approach to the film? Cool! I also LOVE those ghetto light setups you're speaking of ... we used a LOT of them for our shoot, and they work amazingly well as practicals.
 
Norm Sanders said:
John, looks like you're taking a B&W approach to the film? Cool! I also LOVE those ghetto light setups you're speaking of ... we used a LOT of them for our shoot, and they work amazingly well as practicals.
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Thanks Norm. Yep, another B&W film from me. Kind of my thing.

Yes, those scoops work out well, especially when using those nice halogen bulbs in them that last forever. Only thing with this film is stuff came out kind dark due to lack of attention to the lighting. We had to be in and out in a day, small crew, etc., etc., so we just kind of went with it, shot from the hip so to speak. Not really a lot of time to go with any real lighting set-ups.

I had to crank up the gain/brightness/contrast and play with the curve a lot. The film has this run and gun documentary feel, kind of like 60's b&w 16mm stuff. In the end, I think it fits perfectly. One of those "happy accidents" as they say.
 
Great Job, John! I love the B&W look! You did a great job of sets and costuming for B&W... everything looked great about this film.

"It's a pizza..." hysterical! Great surprise!

I love your style of shooting. From CFWBN9 to this... you have a "mysterious" way of shooting. I don't know how to use a single word to describe it. It like your style of shots and framing are not "plain" or in your face obvious. I'll have to pinder on this more and try to better explain what I see. But I like it!

Story got a little lost on me. I'll go back and view it a second time before I comment further on that. I may have missed something.

Great job, John.
 
John, in case you haven't gotten the memo, we can do film in color - lol.
Actually, the b+w works well in this short. I didn't see a whole lot of spying, I felt
that it was more of an action/noir type film, but as always, you are out in your
own world and I give you props for that.
 
Here's my take-

The intro was very nice, and I take it from your horrorfest and now spyfest, you like to work in black and white. One criticism I have is that the blacks in a few of the shots were pretty milky, but this problem fixed itself evidently. This is one where I do have to say the F-bombs seemed contrived. Not that they weren't well-intended, but Solak's delivery on them was sub-par. The squib at the end was really great, and then the F-bomb at the end redeemed all other less than adequate F-bombs. Nice job!
 
was bothered by the audio in some scenes guess you had some problems. I liked the premise of the story untill everybody stated shooting eachother.

haha i love Agent Solak, his acting wasn't great but he sure was the exact right type to play the character. i also really dug the visual style, this is one of my 6 favs. gonna rewatch them tomorrow and decide my vote.
 
Very cool. Nice job.

The stuff I liked:
  • B&W - it worked for me.
  • Loved the opening titles. Really well done.
  • Age-appropriate actors. Nice job.
  • Costumes. Very nice.
  • Laughed at the background material in the scene where Mann opens the pizza box. Very counter to the mood - and perfect for the scene.
  • Agent Solak - not sure if I really really liked his acting or hated it - but I think I really liked it. Great presence and perfect for the role. Nick Nolte strung out. Nice job.
  • Mann - great choice. Nicely conveyed and I was sold throughout.

The stuff I wasn't so keen on:
  • Agent Tarkovsky. I just didn't buy it. Sorry.
  • Audio. Some dialogue matching problems.
  • I got a little lost on the story. I'm happy with films that don't hand it all to you on a platter, but I was left without a resolve on the pizza box. What are the possible explanations contained within the piece? The gardener? Maybe I missed something.
Anyway, really nice job. Keep making these. Thanks very much.
 
Thanks for the feedback so far, everybody. So obviously there were some "issues" here and there. That's what I get for trying to jam a 12-page script into six minutes. I knew that when I was editing that I was going to have to throw out some of the backstory and character development in order to fit the time limit, so I essentially just cut for the plot and the rest kind of went out the window, thus, the "I didn't get the story" comments. I am definitely now working on a longer cut of the film and hopefully the story will be a hell of a lot clearer.

Acting: the only "real" actor is Paul (Agent Mann). Jim Crawford (Agent Solak) is the guy who I commented on in an earlier post that he was supposed to be this "theater guy", "currently directing a play", etc., and I find out on set that he is actually a "stage manager" and that his wife is the real actress. So, it was an adventure, needless to say. But I do feel the "crochety old man" that I wanted came across rather well. :)

Audio: Welp, that's me again trying to fill in holes not only in the editing, but also the stuff that we didn't get to shoot because the power went out at the location we were at and never came back on. The power outage is actually in the film now, as I was unable to shoot the "fight scene" between Mann and Solak. So, I had to dub in some ADR to try and "fix it in post". Some worked, some didn't, but it kind of gave it the "indie" feel, I think.

Yes, poo poo is my favorite curse word. I can't poo pooing help it.

B&W: Yes, I'm in love with it. This one actually could have gone either way. Only problem is that the lighting sucked. We just kind of shot it from the hip and so we got what we got. I feel the grain resulting from boosting the gain so we can actually SEE something is a lot worse looking in color than b&w. Plus, for this film, I don't know, it kind of reminds me of some scrappy 16mm indie film.

And for the spying, well, I wanted to make a film about the people, spies, and not so much what they do, spying. I knew a lot of people were going to go the action route, so I thought I'd reel it in a bit.


charli said:
but as always, you are out in your
own world and I give you props for that.
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Sure, take my wife's side why don't you. :)


Thanks again for your feedback, it is truly welcome and appreciated.
 
Hey, checked out your piece. Nice entry. Love the concept, and the promotional stuff. Really dug that earlier late fifties/early sixties look to the poster.
I enjoyed the lead. I thought he had a good look to him and handled his role really well.
The gunshot to the head is fantastic. Loved that.
Liked seeing it in B&W. Thought you could've bumped the contrast up or lit it with more than you did. Too much grey for my taste. I know it's not a noir, but I think the blacks and whites need to stand out more.
Didn't really dig the other actors. Especially the one that comes in the end.
However, really enjoyed the story. Idea was in the right place, just wasn't sure if your set pieces hit the mark.
 
Danielleus said:
Hey, checked out your piece. Nice entry. Love the concept, and the promotional stuff. Really dug that earlier late fifties/early sixties look to the poster.
I enjoyed the lead. I thought he had a good look to him and handled his role really well.
The gunshot to the head is fantastic. Loved that.
Liked seeing it in B&W. Thought you could've bumped the contrast up or lit it with more than you did. Too much grey for my taste. I know it's not a noir, but I think the blacks and whites need to stand out more.
Didn't really dig the other actors. Especially the one that comes in the end.
However, really enjoyed the story. Idea was in the right place, just wasn't sure if your set pieces hit the mark.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback. Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, the lead actor was the only real actor of the bunch. I hope to flesh out the story more in a longer cut.

BTW - "Don't Look" is one of my favorites in the fest. Good job!

Thanks again!
 
Loved the vibe of the movie....great intro...felt like a real movie. Agent Solak's dialogue sounded weird coming from him...wasn't delivered as well as I would have liked, enjoyed the story immensely though!
 
Standard Disclaimer: I've yet to see a bad film so far in this fest. Congratulations to every film maker, everyone did a great job. All my comments and criticisms are meant to be constructive and helpful and in no way am I trying to take anything away from what you accomplished.

Good: Very cool vibe, intro seemed like it was an old tv show or something. Enjoyed the mix-up.

Not as Good: Didn't quite understand what happened for the 2nd half of the film. Some of the dialogue seemed out of synch.
 
its funny that i really like the begining of a film called "the beginner" love the way the music an graphic come together with the old school explosion. had a saul bass feel. the lead was cool. the old man has a good look but is acting is soso. like alot of the framing.
 
Liked the look of this one, it felt like a 50's film which i'm sure was what you were going for. The framing was excellent! Liked the actors but i got a little lost towards the end. The audio seemed to be out of sync in places or wasn't dubbed very well (but i can hardly complain as there is some bad dubbing in my movie too).

Overall, one of the better films which i enjoyed. thanks.
 
Hi John
The B&W added that look of the old Spy movies of the 60’s .Good choice !
Loved the introduction clip.

I thought the Voice of Zack was off slightly in 2 spots .
“That F****** Russian was early “ Zacks lips were still moving when finished,
the other was when he was in the window “you can lower the gun Robert “
Noticed this with the Russian agent as well.

I don’t understand why he ( agent man) put his arms in the air at the 5.42 mark .
I love the ending “f****** beginner”

Despite these small hiccups I enjoyed watching this short .
I thought the actors especially Jim Crawford did an excellent job .
Could be a leggy blonde with big tits…lmao good one!!!


Congrats and good luck in the Fest .
Ian

The part I like at the beginning

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Loved the late 50's early 60's feel to the opening, you nailed that. The black and white, helped keep the almost cold war era paranoia feel going. The lead acting was good. The last agent's acting didn't match the lead IMO. All and all a strong effort. Congrats.
 
Thanks guys. Glad you got the vibe I was going for. I think the opening title sequence is my favorite part, too. I really enjoyed putting it together.

Mickey (Agent Tarkovsky) is a friend of mine. I called him up at the last minute to "come on out and be in a movie". He's no actor, believe me. Funny thing is, when we did a few table reads and rehearsals, he really fed off Paul, our lead actor, and really put something into it. BUt once we got to shooting, especially the coverage, he kind of lost his spark. Probably should have just shot his scene a couple times in single takes and cut it together. Oh well. Live and learn.

My favorite bit with Mickey (Tarkovsky) is when he is about to walk out the door and he gives that little look over his shoulder.

Thanks again guys for watching and all your feedback. It is much appreciated.
 
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