The Last Hours - A Turning Leaf Production

M

Mojo Nixon

New member
Hey everyone!

You think you have all the time in the world and somehow it still gets down to the last minute. Uploaded The Last Hours with one minute to spare, which I thought was pretty appropriate. Everyone worked extremely hard on this film, especially when dealing with the outside locations. We had three primary days of shooting each running roughly 8-12 hours. Can't keep track of the editing hours, and I don't think I'd want to know.

All footage was shot on a Sony Z1u with Tim Joy's (yeehaanow) homemade lens adapter. Also returning from twiligtfest is our custom dolly setup, which helped several key shots. Tim also helped out extensively in post, crafting a wonderful soundtrack while simultaneously editing his film. Be sure to check out his "Again to Return" !

Our friends and family have selflessly helped out on cast and crew positions, and local businesses have opened their doors to us. The caliber of local actors in Vermont is also astounding, and we were lucky to have Andrew Davidson and Robert Ready star in our film.
Behind the scenes shots and screen grabs will be coming shortly.
 
Hey Chris and all!

nice you got the thread going.

Great job on putting this one together at the last hour :)

Now let's see some BTS pics.
 
What an experience this has been... The first combined effort of a group of friends to make a film could have gone either way, but I'm proud to say we really came together to produce a quality product. I originally wrote this film on a whim during a stay in Paris, thinking it would be a fun little project for us all to work together on. Then The Loss Fest presented itself and gave us a deadline and added motivation to really make a great short.

I can't say how grateful I am to our talented actors for their hard work, including my Dad who had to step in as a last minute replacement. The stills are in the works and should be up soon. I'm looking forward to getting some feedback on the first of many projects from Turning Leaf.
 
BTS shots

BTS shots

Here are some pictures of our first day of shooting and some of our cast/crew- the office scene



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DP Sunil Devadanam


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The setup
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The true head of "base" - Myself!


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Derek Spear - Director Pose

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Robert Ready - An imposing figure

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Dolly grip/dolly creator/Armed guard #1 - William Deming

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A sleepy script girl- Mariska Seipke

More Shots to follow!
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First, I love the title.

I thought your film had a great look. It was moody and atmospheric without feeling over done to me.

Also, I thought the compositions were excellent.

I enjoyed this. Best of luck in the fest.
 
This was a pretty ambitious project...a lot packed in a short time. I liked the moody feel of the visuals, particularly the opening which was superb. The rackover at 1:36 felt unmotivated and screamed, "look at me," completely pulling me out of the story for a moment.

While I liked the moody feel of the visuals, the music felt melodramatic and again was calling attention to itself. It was just a little too much. There was also the scene where you panned the old man's sound to the left speaker which again called attention to itself since it was the only time you panned the sound.

Your lead actor wasn't too bad but I found myself cringing when the older man spoke. A lot of the dialogue, his in particular, felt forced and unnatural.

Overall, this was not a bad effort but was dragged down a bit by the acting and sound/music.

EDIT: I forgot to say that for the most part I thought you did a good job on production design, adding a lot of production value to you short.
 
I'm an action buff for sure but I have mixed feelings on this one... I liked the look of the older man in the diner but I didn't buy into his acting. It was also hard for me to get into your story the minute I saw the surburban house and a guy with a machine gun... it just didn't feel real to me, nor did another bad guy in the hallway of the house... they felt like placed bad guys, the way you'd lay them out in a video game.

Also, when the older guy tells him to rest and head back to hotel, it's too easy to spot that the other guy knew he was being set up or something... he was just being treated too nicely given the circumstances and what these people apparently do.

All in all, I think this was an ambitious project and it seems you're keen on coupling action and drama. Overall, your shot selection shows good promise as a director with a vision but I'd like to see something more simple in concept from you. There are many characters here with numerous twists and turns... hard to follow.. hard to absorb in the time limits.. and ultimately hard to care about as a result. Hope that makes sense and I'm not being too harsh.

Thanks for sharing.
 
More pictures

More pictures

Here's some more pictures of the gear we were using, custom built by film maker Tim Joy. All pictures are from day 2.

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The Sony Z1u with lens adapter

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Man gazes into the machine and sees himself

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DP Sunny (custom rail system also)

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Outside with the camera, analyzing a shot while pretending not to be cold.

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Will Deming draws a bead on an unsuspecting PA- generator and man in black cap also pictured.


I've enjoyed hearing the feedback- now that we have a discuss link next to our film I hope to get some more people on board. Pictures from the last day (Diner scene) will be up later this week.
 
The opening two shots kicked ass!! Loved the framing. Really well done.

This was shot really well. The weakest scenes in my opinion were the action sequences. They just didn't seem real to me. Don't spin around a guard holding an Uzi (or whatever it was) just so you can punch him face to face. The breaking of the neck didn't work for me either.

Just about everything else worked for me though. Loved the framing in the diner but felt that the audio could use more atmosphere from their surroundings. Was the slight tilt of framing there on purpose? Maybe giving something away to the audience? That's what I took from it.

Technically this film was really well done. The plastic in the elevator killed it for me though. You couldn't see it in the wide shot when he enters but how could he have missed it!? The reveal shows it all bunched up and all over the place, I'm surprised he didn't trip over it. Would have been noisy as hell too. I know he was using the phone but that was too much for me.

Still a good movie overall considering. Not trying to be too picky, just trying to help.
You make another movie like this and fix some of the flaws and you could have a winner on your hand! The story was also quite interesting and the acting was decent.

MAH
 
Thanks for the feedback Michael! Definitely all good points, especially the plastic... oh boy what an oversight that was! Also understand if the action sequences didn't work for you, but glad you enjoyed it overall!
 
Thanks for the response Michael!

Yeah- in my opinion the action scenes where our weakest part as well, didn't come out exactly as we had planned plus our emphasis was more on the diner/office scenes. I'm glad you mentioned the plastic- definitely was something we realized a little late in the game- our traitor is a little too aloof. There is a subtle plastic noise as he walks in on the wide to convey that there is plastic in there, and hoped the foot shot (which shows that there is carpet to the front) would cover that up a little bit. Smoke and mirrors failed us a little bit there.

I've been hearing alot of good things about Lost at Sea- I'll probably get a chance tonight to watch it, definitely looking forward to it.
 
This was a very strong film and certainly has many merits.

I'd like to start by saying that I really like the concept of double crossing, deception, betrayal, and mixed signals. It keeps the audience on their toes and reveals just how complex and layered a situation can be.

While it's clear that this film didn't have an enormous budget and an authentic hotel room interior, it's clear that a lot of work was put into deceiving the audience's eyes, much like the theme of the film. I also think that the lighting scheme, though sparse, really allowed for a lot more atmosphere and at times genuinely felt like a neo noir.

There certainly are areas of this film in which a little proficiency is lost, such as slight over or under acting. I would argue that at times, even though the production seems solid, the film occasionally runs along the lines of prosaic, but the writing and competent direction keep the film flowing at a smooth pace. That's another selling point of this film is that it was smooth. There are very few hiccups in sound and picture.

Sure, there are more things I would pick at for aesthetic and generally subjective differences, but overall, I feel that this was definitely a strong entry into the fest on the part of the writing and direction. And as I said before, this is another example of a type of story that has been beaten to death and then some, but it was told very well, thus negating much of the sour taste that can generally accompany a film of this nature.

Nice job! :beer:
 
Mojo Nixon said:
Thanks for the response Michael!

Yeah- in my opinion the action scenes where our weakest part as well, didn't come out exactly as we had planned plus our emphasis was more on the diner/office scenes. I'm glad you mentioned the plastic- definitely was something we realized a little late in the game- our traitor is a little too aloof. There is a subtle plastic noise as he walks in on the wide to convey that there is plastic in there, and hoped the foot shot (which shows that there is carpet to the front) would cover that up a little bit. Smoke and mirrors failed us a little bit there.
Click to expand...
No problem, guys. Thanks for being cool about it.

A few ideas that might help with the action stuff. Go wide like you did as he approaches his victim, then cut to something close and tight when he makes his killing move. Then back wide after the finish as the body hits the floor. I think some quick shots from different perspectives in the middle might really sell it.

Great work though as I said. You guys are well on your way.

MAH
 
great film over all, but i must agree the action scenes were not the strongest area of the movie, wonderful job though
 
I have to say this is slick through and through. The lighting, sound, camera work are all aces. The opening title sequence told me that I'm about to see something serious and it looked great. The elevator scene and the reveal of the plastic wrap on the floor is classic, but at the same time I'm wondering why he didn't notice this when he first walked in. I didn't buy the TRAITOR's performance. It was stagy. The fellow walking through the narrow hallway of the house with an UZI poised was another thing I didn't buy. It should have been slung over his back and he should have been eating a bag of doritos. That atmosphere did not impose any threat. But, all these things did not break the excitement or look of your production. This is another gem in the fest.
 
From the opening I thought your camera work and lighting were just about perfect. The wardrobe choices were great and helped sell the story. I liked the lead the best of the actors, the two suits were a little wooden in their performances. The music was nice but I did think the dialogue was not as professionally done as the rest. All in all a really good short film. You have a lot of potential!
 
Cinematic-wise this is a nice, atmospheric film. Lighting felt rich and yummy.

But ...

Fight scenes had no heart in them. That took some punch (no pun) out of this.

I get why there is plastic in the elevator, but a seasoned hit man would have seen it and connected the dots. Seems he really wasn't all that aware of it at all until, well, too late. That didn't work out as planned.

The dialogue was really OTN, and I think dragged this one down. Very comic book level stuff.

As a whole, however, I think this is well done and gets high marks in tech merits.


aw

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Thanks to everyone who's given us feedback so far, it's all greatly appreciated.

I wrote the script for this a while back after I saw a Polish film called "Ashes and Diamonds" which dealt with resistance fighters during WWII. There's really no connection between the two other then the shaky partnership concept and the lack of trust that comes with it. Anyway, I wrote the script thinking it would be a good first project for our whole production company to work on together.

I know the story was one that's been told before and I thought it would just be a challenge for us to exercise our technical skills. In that, I think we succeeded. From the feedback we've gotten I'd say you've all agreed as well. Not to say it's without flaws of course and I promise our next project will be a film with more depth, but personally I'm very proud of this and am pleased so many others have enjoyed it.

Hope to hear from others very soon!
 
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