C300: The End of a Relationship

Eric Coughlin

Eric Coughlin

Veteran
Short film I'm one of the two lead actors in, directed, produced, wrote, co-DPed, and edited.

Shot on Arri Amira with Canon CN-e zooms, C300 Mark II for security camera shots, Shoeps CMC641 into Sound Devices MixPre3 for audio.

There's this cool social film group in Atlanta that gets together and makes one minute movies, about 40 people show up, play their 20-30 movies they make each week, and then hang out and socialize afterwards. This was made for that film group, and is the Director's cut, hence being a bit over the original one minute cut that premiered there.

 
DLD said:
Warning - language.
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The video covers domestic abuse, violence and murder (also infidelity?)
So you give a warning about language? (maybe 2 words?)
The language is better than most school yards.


Liked the film though.
Good treatment of a difficult subject and well shot...
Nice twist at the end.

Should be posted to a wider forum to get some discussions going.
 
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bill totolo said:
Same camera and subject. Different take:

https://vimeo.com/293648165

Sorry for hijacking, but I find it interesting to see how filmmakers are thinking about this subject.
Thanks for sharing yours. I'll remove mine if inappropriate, I just think it's refreshing to see members on this forum working in this direction.
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Very good. Different to the first video in the thread but complimentary.
maybe both could be shown as a pair?
 
DLD said:
Have you ever watched US TV?
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Unfortunately yes.

Though this is not TV and the forum is international.
As i pointed out: The language is better than most school yards.

You can create superficial, unreal fantasies any time but both videos address real world problems that need to be addressed in the cold light of day. People in your area die from the problems highlighted in both videos. The problem needs to be faced not complaining about the language that you can see in most feature films on TV.

Both videos deserve a wider audience and if some one is upset by two words in one of the videos they need a reality check.

SO let's discuss the issues or the technical merits of the videos not focus on two of the words.
 
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jamedia.uk said:
... As i pointed out: The language is better than most school yards...
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Which has nothing to do with what is or isn't allowed on the US TV (aside of the paid cable channels). Furthermore, this very site sensors far more innocuous words than appear in Eric's video.
 
What does US TV have to do with this?
If you are censoring to that level it precludes most feature films, documentaries, reality tv and a lot of TV in the civilised world.
Besides broadcast TV is a minority interest these days.

The content of the video is far more important than a petty censoring for two words.
 
Guys. Stop arguing semantics and appreciate the work. It's OK to point out the film is NSFW. It needs no further discussion. Talk about the damn film.

Thanks for sharing Eric and Bill. I like both films.

One thought Eric; something I see a lot in short films is overlighting. In the shot at 8 seconds do you really need that little blue accent light?
 
Nice short Eric, I liked it, although a little light on the masturbation scenes we've come to expect! I liked the twist, I definitely didn't see it coming.

The shots look great, nice colour palette - simple cool/warm to serve the story. The cool thing is you're actually making short films and it's refreshing to talk about them rather than how the latest mirrorless could've had a better record button.

There are plenty of close ups. I'm assuming this is in part because that made lighting faster/easier? I think the shot at 00:28 could have been a wide instead, particularly because the reading, make up and pistol whip shots are similarly framed (in terms of wide, medium, tight) plus a bit of difference before leading into these jump cuts might have helped. Judging from the white wall BG, I'm guessing a wide in this scene would have been much more difficult to pull off given the location?

Is the hidden camera coming from the bunny rabbit? I think the hidden camera shot could stand to look way more messed up - fisheye, huge amounts of grain, maybe some type of night vision without looking like a military operation etc. Maybe it could be a gaming camera from the TV to give you the stronger front on angle where we can see your face.

The pistol whip is pretty good, definitely believable. I think you could sell it even more if you moved over your right shoulder and the pistol was in line with the talent's face, so there's less "gap" to worry about and she'd have more freedom for a more violent head jerk. I'm assuming a shot to the eye is harder to pull off than mouth where blood can spray everywhere and help sell it. Another option is for the punch to occur just out of frame too.
 
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jamedia.uk said:
What does US TV have to do with this?...
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Because TV standards define what is and isn't acceptable on the general audience forums. An online streaming platform has its own standards. So do pay TV channels. And it's considered good manners to warn someone if these norms and standards are somehow breached.


Liam Hall said:
Guys. Stop arguing semantics and appreciate the work. It's OK to point out the film is NSFW. It needs no further discussion. Talk about the damn film...
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I think Eric is a talented filmmaker who should be pitching his ideas to agencies, streamers and the independent studios. In an unlimited channel universe, any entertaining content is likely to find its audience.

PS. This film has the "one step ahead" theory behind it. It's a very difficult plot to carry out perfectly. In this case, it's kind of a "Gone Girl" facsimile and I don't think that one worked well either.
 
bill totolo said:
Same camera and subject. Different take:

https://vimeo.com/293648165

Sorry for hijacking, but I find it interesting to see how filmmakers are thinking about this subject.
Thanks for sharing yours. I'll remove mine if inappropriate, I just think it's refreshing to see members on this forum working in this direction.
Click to expand...

Loved it. Personally I don't like men hitting their wife/girlfriend. I know a few timid souls who get bashed up in office and then come home and try to prove their superiority over their wife. If someone hits a woman, then immediately the woman should walk out of the relation. And the man needs counseling.
 
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