"The Commitment" by jeans

Hehe

nice short here Jeans!

I loved the build-up... and the final shot.... well - all I can say is...'did you see our short?'

great minds think alike eh? lol
 
First I wanted to fall asleep. The short moved as fast as molasses. At the
end, I wanted to hit you because you scared the eebie-jeebies out of me.

The ending did it.
 
Darkline said:
Hehe

nice short here Jeans!

I loved the build-up... and the final shot.... well - all I can say is...'did you see our short?'

great minds think alike eh? lol
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I hadn't watched it yet, but I just did and I have to say it is my new favorite! Awesome. Really well done!

Oh, also we thought about using a video camera to see the ghost/monster. Quite alike in that aspect, except yours was not at all slow.
 
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really Jeans? you're joking me!

The end of yours still got to me, even though I was thinking...'I wonder if he's going to do what I did?. Lol. As I was thinking that my mate lept from the chair...

But seriously three of use here watched it and we liked it. I think its the hardest thing for a director to do, to keep interest when there is not much narrative going on. But I think you did it!
 
Darkline said:
really Jeans? you're joking me!

The end of yours still got to me, even though I was thinking...'I wonder if he's going to do what I did?. Lol. As I was thinking that my mate lept from the chair...

But seriously three of use here watched it and we liked it. I think its the hardest thing for a director to do, to keep interest when there is not much narrative going on. But I think you did it!
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No, not joking. The video camera idea was one we were considering early on when we were thinking of things that are actually scary. I'm glad the end still got you, and I'm glad it kept your interest up to that point. I really liked the VFX in yours. They just enough, not overdone or cheesy. That's tough. It was one aspect we didn't even want to deal with.
 
not only didi poop myself... but i pooped mysefl like no other..... it will take me days to clean this up....

BEAUTIFUL and such Simple lighting.



Kinda a cop out at the end but..... i'll forgive.


She scariest part was the bald guy looking back in the hallway.
 
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Review | POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT! I watch the movies first time around strictly for enjoyment, second and third for review.

Hey man. You suck, hard. You have been the only one to make me jump in my seat. My girlfriend was like "wtf is wrong with you?" Dude you got me, so hard. I swear none of the rest have made me jump but you got me out of my chair. Son of a --

Story - I like the haunting thing. I think that this might've been another skeletal piece. How many pages did it span? I can't really say too much on the script, other than the content reflects something that's shorter than what I sat through. I dun get why her hubby had to come back and scare her to death, though.

Direction - Some nice shots. A lot of it was static and I think, coupled with how long this was going on without any action, it seemed a little boring and uneventful. But you did have nice shots for the most part.

Acting - The chic's facial expressions were really weird. And for someone who's got an unknown banging on her door constantly, she didn't seem too worried at all. Your monster was straight oogly.

Cine/Lighting - Not too shabby. I noticed that in the hallway the light seemed too hot. Like it was flooded and the casting of the shadow was unnatural. Like the light was coming from the floor. Think it could've been a bit on the spooky side to help with the haunting tale.

Editing - Whoooo this was really long. Your cuts were fine, timing was okay I think. But the entire thing was just way too long, especially for the pay off. THough you did get me to jump.

Sound - Your banging seemed to be the "main course" so to speak, of this entire short. It wasn't loud enough for me and I had on headphones. Seemed soft. Your end scream stood out more than anything else, here. The weird sounding voice on the phone was cool.

Special Effects/Art Direction/Wardrobe - Can only comment on the scary thing at the end. He looked freaky. lol

Scariest Moments - The end of course. You win for making me jump.

Overall consensus - Way too long for the pay-off that you delivered. But you did deliver an actual scare which is lost in this fest. So you get crazy points for the unexpected. Thanks for showing!
 
Hated the end. In my opinion, it was a SUPER cheap shot, and basically negated the work you were doing up to that point. I liked the tension building up, and to me it was EXTREMELY scary and creepy to see the guy in the hall and in the mirror.

The end did make me jump of course, but I felt like it was just so tacked on and designed to be a gimmick that it really was dumb to me. It felt like one of those fake commerials that used to go about the Internet, where you watch for the "ghost" in the right hand corner of the screen, and then a crazy loud zombie jumps at you.
 
desperatecomfort said:
It felt like one of those fake commerials that used to go about the Internet, where you watch for the "ghost" in the right hand corner of the screen, and then a crazy loud zombie jumps at you.
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I knew someone was gonna do that at some point though... :)

But seriosly, despite the ending, the quality wit hwhich you crepped me out with that hallway scene, you still scored like 2nd highest in my judging.
 
desperatecomfort said:
Hated the end. In my opinion, it was a SUPER cheap shot
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I think it's kind of neat that you and your partner in Bloody Mary both disliked the ending. You must work well together.

Anyway I can't really argue that it is a cheap shot. It is, it's a sucker punch, but sometimes sucker punches win the fight. I'm not suggesting that I thought I would win horrorfest. I had no illusions about that. I'm just making analogy here for the hell of it. I really just wanted to scare people. I think being caught off guard like that when you're focusing on something is the most efficient way to do that. It taps right into your instincts. Scaring people with something that's more creepy than surprising, is more hit or miss.
I made sure the audio level of the whole movie was low, so people would have to crank up their volume and be really hit by it. It is a trick, but even if it feels tacked on, it was pretty much what the whole movie was based around. I think most of the movies have moments like it. I guess it's just a matter of degree that determines if it fits in the story, or if it takes you out of it. But it's the end of the movie, it's time to come out anyway.

I guess I'm kind of bummed that you think the end negates the rest of the movie. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm glad you liked it up until the end. Anyway it does what it was supposed to do. I do appreciate the thoughtful comments.
 
Thanks alot. I just gave birth to a wrinkle neck brown trout. :Drogar-Evil(DBG):

Nice build up... every second that I started to get tired of the pace, there would be something to pull me back in.... and it got more and more creepy as time went on. All of which was a perfect set up for dropping the bomb.

The overall look was a little bland. Not sure if it was intentional or not. I think it worked well with the intruder/creepy bald guy and the set up for the big scare.

There were a few awkward cuts while the woman was at the reading chair. otherwise congratulations.. you scared the sh!t out of me. Good stuff.
 
I thought the build up, while slow, did work, and now that I realize I missed the line about her significant other dying, It all makes sense. I love the peephole scene. I will say that again! It was genious!
 
desperatecomfort said:
Hated the end. In my opinion, it was a SUPER cheap shot, and basically negated the work you were doing up to that point. I liked the tension building up, and to me it was EXTREMELY scary and creepy to see the guy in the hall and in the mirror.

The end did make me jump of course, but I felt like it was just so tacked on and designed to be a gimmick that it really was dumb to me. It felt like one of those fake commerials that used to go about the Internet, where you watch for the "ghost" in the right hand corner of the screen, and then a crazy loud zombie jumps at you.
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Exactly, its the one with the car that is driving in the countryside. My brother said the same thing with his wife and that's why I wouldnt put this one up in the ratings. However, and this is something that should make us wonder....this one was one of the 5 films that had something scary or jumpy in them. The rest were mellow in terms of horror for my taste.
 
I'm a fan on slow build up's.
'Audition' used this technique to great advantage having maximum impact.
Your film was the first to make me physically jump, so....Props :thumbup: :thumbup:

Yeah I know it was a cheap shot but hey that's Horror, cheap and nasty.
I liked the overall creep factor to your film.

Best bits: The peep hole shot's (must have been hard to get!), the voice on the phone at the end...Of course the end.

Thought the lighting was a bit flat in places but you know something I think it added to the overall creep factor.
Good film, well done.
J.P.

PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS FOR BROKEN CIRCLE (WE NEED EM TO GROW!)
 
jeans,

I just finished watching your film "The Commitment" and I had to post while it was fresh in my shorts...er mind.

I really liked this film. I'm not sure if it was deliberate or not, but I think the combination of the Title of your film, the tagline (Some promises are not meant to be kept), the phone call in the beginning and the sound bit from the news on the TV worked perfectly together to get this film rolling. You knew immediately that her husband had died, and that he was still going to keep his commitment to her, and in this particular case, knowing it made it scarier. This is the only film so far that I found scary, and I've only got twelve more to go.

The last scene where your scary albino jumps at you I thought worked well for your film. The first 5:59 was a great tension and creepiness building slowburn, and the shock at the end was a great payoff, like going from 0-60 in one second. Even though I was almost expecting something like that, it still got me. I'm normally not a fan of those types of tactics (basically just the shock-value scare), but I think it worked in your film.

Acting: I think your actress was pretty decent. The only time I thought she was off was with the bathroom mirror scene; I thought she should have been more scared.

Your set: was this just shot in your apartment? If so, congratulations for making your apartment work for you. It looked...I don't know...real and plain. I can't decide if it would have been better if it was "dressed up" more, or if it worked better looking like someone's real life apartment.

Anyway, congratulations on your film. Thanks for creeping me out.

ps: I've been meaning to ask you...what the hell is going on in your avatar?? I can't make it out.
 
apollyon said:
jeans,

I just finished watching your film "The Commitment" and I had to post while it was fresh in my shorts...er mind.

I really liked this film. I'm not sure if it was deliberate or not, but I think the combination of the Title of your film, the tagline (Some promises are not meant to be kept), the phone call in the beginning and the sound bit from the news on the TV worked perfectly together to get this film rolling. You knew immediately that her husband had died, and that he was still going to keep his commitment to her, and in this particular case, knowing it made it scarier. This is the only film so far that I found scary, and I've only got twelve more to go.

The last scene where your scary albino jumps at you I thought worked well for your film. The first 5:59 was a great tension and creepiness building slowburn, and the shock at the end was a great payoff, like going from 0-60 in one second. Even though I was almost expecting something like that, it still got me. I'm normally not a fan of those types of tactics (basically just the shock-value scare), but I think it worked in your film.

Acting: I think your actress was pretty decent. The only time I thought she was off was with the bathroom mirror scene; I thought she should have been more scared.

Your set: was this just shot in your apartment? If so, congratulations for making your apartment work for you. It looked...I don't know...real and plain. I can't decide if it would have been better if it was "dressed up" more, or if it worked better looking like someone's real life apartment.

Anyway, congratulations on your film. Thanks for creeping me out.

ps: I've been meaning to ask you...what the hell is going on in your avatar?? I can't make it out.
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Thanks so much for all the comments. I'm glad you enjoyed the movie. I'll try to answer your questions/comments in order. With the title, tag line, news broadcast, and phone message, yes I'd say that was all deliberate. Just wanted to get the point across as quickly and quietly as possible. The only thing that worried me was that since I made all the audio in the movie low, to force people to up their volume for the end, people might miss something from the beginning. I know of at least one person who did miss it. I exported a couple different versions with different levels and tried them on a computer at work with small speakers.
As for the actress (a good friend of mine, who did it as a favor), I would have ideally liked her to get more scared. But I think she did a really good job considering how much trouble she had not laughing.
The set was my apartment yes. I'm glad you think it works. I would have liked to shoot in a more interesting place, but at least it had a long hallway.
As for the avatar, it's distortion made by scrubbing broken divx clips. I posted a link to a video I made in this way earlier, but I'll re-post it. Thanks again.
http://www.nickquest.com/videos/diviant1min.html
Oh and don't bother trying to go to the home page. It's temporarily down.
 
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