"The Borders of Elysium"

John LaBonney said:
Jeremiah:

My first impression of this film was simply "wow!" A really original concept. I would love to read the script myself. One of the few in the fest that I enjoyed watching more than once. Brilliantly presented. I don't have a clue how you accomplished this in such a short amount of time.

I loved the scene where she cuts off her fingers. What a great look on her face (I had to tell Michelle to cover her eyes).

I think that the music, especially when Laura picks up K.C., is great.

The acting was outstanding throughout.

Care to share how you did the final shot?

I'm sitting here wondering how I could make a film with this level of depth. I can't. I wish I could, but I can't.

Bravo!
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Hey John I am convinced that God only made a couple of people that could pull something off like Jeremiah and Tristan. I myself am lucky enough to get to work with them all the time and I still say WOW. I wish they would have had more time to help me with the hitman but I have now proved to myself that I can actually do it all myself but never wish to attempt that again. So I say to you sir write us a western and we shall film it and all will come and enjoy it....
Pauly
 
John LaBonney said:
Jeremiah:

My first impression of this film was simply "wow!" A really original concept. I would love to read the script myself. One of the few in the fest that I enjoyed watching more than once. Brilliantly presented. I don't have a clue how you accomplished this in such a short amount of time.

I loved the scene where she cuts off her fingers. What a great look on her face (I had to tell Michelle to cover her eyes).

I think that the music, especially when Laura picks up K.C., is great.

The acting was outstanding throughout.

Care to share how you did the final shot?

I'm sitting here wondering how I could make a film with this level of depth. I can't. I wish I could, but I can't.

Bravo!
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Thank you John! I'll share my methods after the fest :) Let's just say it took an overnight AfterEffects render. Send me a PM if you'd like some more detail before voting ends.
 
I dug the film and it's concept. I can't say the same about the VO. (which i'm sure has already been stated)

Looking forward to seeing more films from you!

cheers,
/j
 
majikfraug said:
Thank you, on behalf of Lisa (playing Laura, the main character). However, the actress in the second scene (the blonde cutting her fingers off) is Heather Dowling -the same character on the TV in the beginning. I was a bit worried, when I had cast two actresses who look similar, that this type of confusion would occur. :huh: Hope that clears things up.
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I took time to watch your film the second time. I should be blind - definitely I saw now that there are two different actresses. I watched all films in three days and made myself little notices for every film. After watching all films I started to give comments. Probably I had more the story in general and Lisa with the power saw in mind and then thinking that the girl in the first scene is also her. I have to admit that this is a little bit embarassing for me :Drogar-KnockedOut(D and I will change my system to watch and comment on films next fest!

Susanne
 
Really nice film!

I quite enjoyed this and found it to be among the most ambitious of the films entered. The concept of the virus is really quite original! The finger chopping scene is effective (and is in itself like a homage to gleeful finger chopping scene from 'Suicide Club') a film id recommend too!

The production design, and edit held by attention throughout, and the actors performed well. Overall an excellent short :)
 
Only watched it once, but I will watch it again.

Damn. You are quite a storyteller to fit that complexity into six minutes. I am simply blown away. I tell a story about a kid running and can barely fit it to time, you lay a near feature length story into 6 minutes like it's no big deal. I had no problem distinguishing between the two actresses, plus it makes sense that they are different roles in the story. I loved the music, definitely said black comedy to me. I never laughed out loud, but I was feeling your humor all the way though and it "worked" for me. The effects were good. Brain gore was too much for me, but probably necessary for your story and right in line with your humor. Acting was good, visuals were good, last shot was simply stunning. The more I think about this, the more I'm impressed. This better be near the top.

JC
 
lawriejaffa said:
Really nice film!

I quite enjoyed this and found it to be among the most ambitious of the films entered. The concept of the virus is really quite original! The finger chopping scene is effective (and is in itself like a homage to gleeful finger chopping scene from 'Suicide Club') a film id recommend too!

The production design, and edit held by attention throughout, and the actors performed well. Overall an excellent short :)
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Thanks! Have you seen the sequel to "Suicide Club": "Noriko's Dinner Table"? I think it's even better than S.C.
 
King Cole said:
Only watched it once, but I will watch it again.

Damn. You are quite a storyteller to fit that complexity into six minutes. I am simply blown away. I tell a story about a kid running and can barely fit it to time, you lay a near feature length story into 6 minutes like it's no big deal. I had no problem distinguishing between the two actresses, plus it makes sense that they are different roles in the story. I loved the music, definitely said black comedy to me. I never laughed out loud, but I was feeling your humor all the way though and it "worked" for me. The effects were good. Brain gore was too much for me, but probably necessary for your story and right in line with your humor. Acting was good, visuals were good, last shot was simply stunning. The more I think about this, the more I'm impressed. This better be near the top.

JC
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Thank you sooo much. I really appreciate it. I would love to turn this into a feature, if the opportunity to do so came along. Have to finish my current screenplay before I start on another though :)
 
Very well done. Definitely a film after my own heart. I would agree with others that the only real weak point was the V/O. I would encourage you to take the time to re-record it, maybe another actress, maybe just giving her more direction. I also think it's a little too much story for a 6 min movie, but then again, my films usually are too :)

Good work! I love watching your stuff.
 
Hey MajikFraug,

sorry it's taken eons to get to review all these films.

Actually Border's was one of the first ones I watched. I thought you had a great story and a cool premise. There were some standout moments; the finger cutting, the brain prodding - it was a lot of fun. I think also the most ambitious of all the entries.

Ths was never boring, always fun, but I think the empathy for the characters may have suffered a little by fitting such a big tale into 6 mins; I seriously think this is something you could expand into a longer version or have other films set in the same universe. As it was, for me there was a little too much VO telling us what was happening. But I guess with the story you had to tell, there would have been no way around that.

Overall this was defo one of the most entertaining films in the fest. Great ending shot too.

Edit: So at the end when she says 'i wont let them get away with it' she trashed some wires and then goes into stasis. Am I right in thinking she is just going to blow the whistle if and when she wakes up in 10,000 years time, or did she actually do soemthing before she went into stasis?
 
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Yeah, get another actress to do the voiceover, (or her again, but direct her a little better). It took me off of the film.

I watched this a couple times, and I liked it the more I watched it.

Nice shot at the end to close the film!

Nice effects, and great job with the surgery part on the brain, looked really realistic!

Robbie
 
Darkline said:
Edit: So at the end when she says 'i wont let them get away with it' she trashed some wires and then goes into stasis. Am I right in thinking she is just going to blow the whistle if and when she wakes up in 10,000 years time, or did she actually do soemthing before she went into stasis?
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Yeah...that was an effect shot that had to be cut due to lack of CG expertise and time :) You would have seen her in a huge hall with hundreds of the Hybernation Pods. She walks down the corridor, cutting power to all but two of the pods (that's what she's doing with the axe).
As is, you kind of lose track of what it is exactly that she's doing.
Thank you for the comments!
 
Robbie Comeau said:
Yeah, get another actress to do the voiceover, (or her again, but direct her a little better). It took me off of the film.

I watched this a couple times, and I liked it the more I watched it.

Nice shot at the end to close the film!

Nice effects, and great job with the surgery part on the brain, looked really realistic!

Robbie
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The VO was rushed, I only finished editing the morning of the 27th, and had to be sure of the final cut before I wrote the VO. We were both very tired when we recorded it -the morning of the deadline :) So yeah, plan is to work on it some more before submitting to other festivals.
Thanks for watching/commenting!
 
This is in my top five. I'm in love. Who is she? I don't have the disorder, but I'd sure like her to show me how to run a chainsaw.

This one had everything - great story, great acting, great locations, great lighting, great sound effects, great music. Very well done.
 
The shear scope of the story told blows away preconceived notions of what can be done with 6 minutes. I’m just going to make a list.

Jumping around in the narrative was seamless.

The 70s feel made the production value obsolete. It didn’t matter cause it fit the aesthetic. I loved the feel, the locations, the brains and blood. Set the mood like no other. It was like watching a 70’s instructional video spliced with chainsaw and mixed with Aronofsky’s The Fountain. The shear vision and practicality of this piece blew away the bigger fest films.

All you actors were fantastic. Lisa Michelle Rounds, Gabriel Dowling, K.C. Jones, Heather Dowling, Jeremiah Rounds. Great work.

Sadism out of love and practicality was a tough sell and I bought it.

My only issue is that all of the above is achieved with a voice over. It’s a tool that leads to easy compression, but who cares.

8 films left to watch and your film is destroying the competition.

Good luck
 
BEST transition from the dvxuser leader. Loved it!
The newscast was well done and really packed a lot of backstory into the top, great idea.
Loved the moment she uses the chainsaw to entice the guy. That was fun.

The whole dremel tool thing...oooo. I still haven't watched it. I can't, due to a weak stomach. Just the sound is enough to make me gag. Kudos on that.

I'm not quite sure the ending really packs a punch that this piece deserves, and one nitpick on the really cool effect in the pod- It doesn't start growing for like 20 years, then all of a sudden..boom? ( I didn't think of that till like the 4th or 5th time watching it, so not a big deal.)

I liked it a lot and it has a "future devestated world" aspect that is plausable, unlike zombies, which I consider to be only ever in (cheezy) movies.

Congrats!
 
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So way cool!! The story idea was so original. I have no idea how you do it, but just keep on doing it!

(PS: I am sorry, but I had to close my eyes when the girl was cutting off her fingers...way too realistic! Some day when I get enough courage, I will watch it.)
 
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