The Italian Chef

Congratulations Rich....I didn't think you would finish...well, until you came back with chigger bites...then I knew, you MUST be serious, lol!

Thanks for including me, it was fun...ps, sorry for running over Miss Joy. -The Chef
 
Norm,

Thanks! I feel honored that you have me that high on your list of films to watch!

I'm sure its not anywhere near as good as yours!! Your last one was awesome as well. Maybe I will borrow your steady cam for my next one. lol


I'm jealous that you got your username changed to your real name. I've messaged Jarred numerous times requesting a change but still no reply. :-(

Rich Nation
 
Don't underestimate yourself, Rich. I'm sure there will be more than one sleeper hit around here. Just because a film gets a ton of buzz or exposure doesn't mean it'll do well once viewed. Yours could easily be one of those sleeper hits, and I'm looking forward to watching it. :beer:

Oh, and thanks for the kudos; very kind of you.

Regarding the name change, it didn't happen overnite, and I can't recall if I PM'd Jarred about it more than once or not ... but I do know the guy is EXTREMELY busy, and as DVXuser becomes more & more self monitored by the members, I'm thinking he's not on here as much to have to take care of things ... so it could be a while why the change has been delayed.

It'll happen.
 
Rich, you guys cracked me up. I'm glad you managed to finish it.

I want royalties on that Stella photo, btw. Should at least amount to a cannoli, I think. Nudgenudgewinkwink :thumbsup:
 
Hey Rich.

Congrats on your entry. Nice job.

The things that worked for me:
  • I loved the opening music and the opening shots. Very nice.
  • The scene where the girl gets run down by the car was very "Soprano-ish" for me - and that's good

Here are the things that didn't work as well for me (and take these with a grain of salt - they're just my opinion):
  • I sense your pan shots are too fast so you're really losing clarity for the blur - which is fine for some shots if that's what you want to convey, but not all
  • I wasn't too sure about the "spies" theme here. But then again I can be rather dim.
  • The chase scene. I just didn't buy it. The chef takes one shot, then despite being really close (at least as close as he was when he was on the beach) he re-holsters and chases. And there were too many scenic shots that didn;t really advance the story. Just my opinion, of course. And I swear on the beach scene I could see your actor starting his run. Cut into that shot a little later and that problem is solved.
  • Watch your sound. There were some issues with it on my system. Such as the woman's dialogue just as she exits the restaurant and before she gets run down. There were other examples too.
  • Watch your lighting - especially those difficult shots where two heads are close together - the shadows can be distracting and not complimentary to your actors (especially female ones)
Anyway, I am glad I watched this, enjoyed it and am pleased you entered it.

Thanks very much.
 
Dahopa,

Thanks for viewing my film and for your comments.
Hind sight is always 20/20 it seems. Most of what you commented on I realized after it was too late.

Glad you liked the opening. It was a last minute thing and easiest part of the entire film. I originally had the italian music over the woods scenes but felt it took away from the suspense so this is what I came up with instead and it worked.

The pans: you're right I need to slow them down.

I don't know what happened to the sound during the encoding, but like when Chef walks out the door and doll (my wife btw) follows after him, her voice just went away for a second. NOT that way on the master.

Yeah we all talked about how I should have had the bad guy running alot farther ahead of the "spy". (it was not the chef chasing the guy in the woods, it was Robin the spy. dunno how u missed that) It's what happens the last day of shooting when everyone is screaming at me that they gotta hurry up and head home, so I'm rushing.

This was gorilla filmmaking to the core. No shot lists. And I think all my actors thought this was just gonna be a one shot take and they would be in and out in 30 minutes lmao!!!! I didn't explain otherwise to them, probably because I knew they would have bailed on me prior to shoot day if I had told them what's really involved!

Two of my locations fell through at the last minute and I had to improvise, so I rented the clubhouse at my condo for the interiors.

Nonethless everything it seemed was on a short ticking timeclock. I had just 3 hours to shoot 3 scenes for the interiors, as I rented the space and had to shut down by 11pm.

The exteriors in the woods: We were fighting sundown and I only saw the location for the first time 1hour prior to shooting!! Next day everyone was leaving.

Considering that the choice was either go with what I had or forget doing the spyfest altogether, I'm pretty pleased.

Sorry If these sound like excuses. Just wanted to reply to your imput, which I do really really appreciate! Thanks again.
 
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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: Some really great crane shots in there. Lighting was pretty good.

Not as Good: The first minute of the film doesn't do too much to grab the attention of the viewer. The music had a little bit of an 80s low budget feel to it.
 
I thought that the lighting during the dark scene with the girl was lit poorly. Too much of your shadow on her face at times.

I did like a lot of the shots you used though, very good angles.

The ending was good as well.

Nice entry.

Mike
 
Thanks for your comments and for watching.
Yeah the shot of the Spy and the girl at the table..I HATE IT and wish i could re-do. We were soooo rushed to get out of there. It was the fastest shot I've ever done. lol Many thanks to Sarah for working with us on that scene. She was the only good thing about that scene. lol

No one has commented but.. do people get the ending? Do they understand who the girl is and that she's now over a foot taller than the Chef? (No that's not all from the boots). I tried to hide the fact she is alot taller than him til the end of the movie.

Anyway we had alot of fun with this and will raise the bar on the next filmfest!!!

rich nation

PS: some behind the scenes shots for ya:

1181087933.jpg


1181087967.jpg
 
Hey Rich,
When can we go out in the woods again with a bunch of loaded guns and a cooler of beer? And when can we take your HVX back out on the river in a very unstable canoe? Good times.
 
Kind of like the Sopranos meets Magnum PI (or insert other 80's show here). :)

Dialogue was cheesy, but if that was what you were going for, then it was perfect. My favorite line:

"Boys... time to make the sauce." That was classic!

I agree with Dahopa on the technical stuff.

KUDOS for the Walther! Used one in my film, too.

And I think you were the only film to have a credit for a "Weapons Specialist". Awesome!!!

Thanks for screening. Good job.
 
...--> time to make the sauce bwahahahaha

Thanks for bringing me into the mind of an Italian chef mobster... wait a minute my Uncle Peter Petruzziello owned a restaurant.... I wonder.....
 
My Thoughts:

At first.. I thought this was going to be "Sonic Man 2". Then it just turns out two guys running through the woods with really bad aim. I mean.. comon'.. Stop. Breath. Aim. and shot the punk.

Really cool river location. I dug it.

The second half of the film.. well, felt like another film. I think you could have halfed the chase sequence to get to the same point and bingo.. you have 2 more minutes to work with. and second 2nd.. I'd look into another audio library. Shew. Pop gun sounds just didn't work for me.

I really dug many of the shots and visuals of the film.

Looking forward to your next entry.
cheers,
/j
 
Hey Rich, finally got a chance to watch the film. I laughed when I saw CHIGGER BUG productions ... was that AFTER you guys got chewed alive out in the woods, you decided to honor the little buggars with that in the title? Lol.

My favorite lighting scene was with Agent Robin and the leader (guessing that was you?), and the computer at the table. Nicely done. I also though the Italian Chef had some VERY strong Rober Deniro moments, facially, especially while he was in the kitchen.

When he saw the gal in the rear view mirror still mouthing off to him, I was thinking, he needs to gun it & run her down ... I was laughing as I saw him do just that.

The acting needed the most work in this, and the script could have used a little strengthening as well, but what I felt needed the most work was the opening. It took too long, IMO, to get into the story or any action, and when we did we had the agent chasing someone, yet unable to catch up with, someone who was obviously not in as good of shape as he was. Next, he misses a shot at less than 15 feet away, partly I guess because he doesn't think to stop running for a second to get a solid bead on the guy?! Finally, when he does, he gets the drop on the guy, but then holsters to run up to him, and then pull the gun back out to pop him at point blank range ... I dunno, that whole opening just seemed unrealistic to me is all.

The rest was fun to watch, and liked the characters. Loved the CU of the woman whispering into his ear on 'set up'.
 
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