The natural order of things - chinese short film

aravance

aravance

Well-known member
THE NATURAL ORDER OF THINGS

It's finished! Almost exactly a year from shooting, the film is now completed and is being sent to film festivals worldwide.

The DVXUser community has always been a constant source of inspiration, and this film wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for this forum.
The goal was to submit this to Lossfest, but we were unable to meet the time deadline or the running time requirement.

Regardless, I wanted to share this film with the wonderful people of the DVXUser community as a thank you.
If you have the time and/or patience to watch a 30-minute short film, I'd love for you to view it and tell me what you think.

I've embedded the short film in Vimeo for your viewing pleasure.



UPDATE:
MOVED THIS FROM THE LOSSFEST FORUM.

I moved this short film from the Lossfest threads to this one.
I originally intended to enter this into Lossfest, but there was no way it would have been ready by the completion date.
Nor would I have been able to honor the 6:00 minute running time.

Anyway, this film is still very much alive, so I wanted to create this thread to keep an online record.
I hope to update semi-frequently...so be sure to check back and also be sure to say hello!!

It was such an amazing experience filming in a foreign country and in a foreign language.
I really wanted to push myself...and this was definitely an opportunity to do so.
 
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TITLE: The Natural Order of Things

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TAGLINE:
When fate challenges the human spirit.

FORMAT: The RED ONE Camera

SHOOTING DATES: January 16th - January 21st

BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO




production journal

01.01.09 - More video-conferences with producer, William Brick. Working through the last details of the script.

01.02.09 - Put the finishing touches on the script. Sent it off to our foreign translator to begin translation.

01.04.09 - The project is officially ON! Took my flight out to Beijing today and will arrive sometime tomorrow.

01.06.09 - Took a taxi from the airport to the apartment the production manager (Yan Gao) found for me. It's really nice. Got the internet and hot water working, which is a double bonus.

01.07.09 - Still feeling a little jetlagged, but had a full day today with the production manager, Yan. We worked through the script detailing the locations and props, as well as met with the location scout (Xu Jin) and the casting director (Zhu). We are holding our auditions on Saturday, January 10th. Tomorrow we go prop-shopping and more location scouting.

01.08.09 - We started this morning at the Tian Yi market buying props. I left most of the bargaining to Yan. Xu Jin met up with us later and took us to a couple more locations. We were able to peg down a couple of key locations in the script. Tomorrow we will be checking out an apartment location and then going through the script with the translator and another native speaker to make sure that all the subtleties in the script translate well. I'm spending most of my nights adjusting the shooting schedule as well as beginning to storyboard and come up with camera setups.

01.09.09 - Met Yan at the subway and we went to check out another location. She had a better apartment in mind for our story, and sure enough once we got there I was sold. We had Purhr tea with the owner, Liu Laoshi, and then we went to lunch. Afterwards, we had a script translation meeting with Associate Producer Steven Xiu. We spent a lot of time combing through the dialogue and actions, making them more appropriate for the culture. It is a very tedious process, but yeilds more authentic results. We got through about half of the script before Yan had to leave. Then, Xu Jin and I met with Guan Yu and checked out a couple more locations. Locked down the hospital but still needing a bar. We had dinner and called it a night. Tomorrow are the auditions.

01.16.09 - Wow. I can't believe it's been a week since I last wrote. Much has happened since. We had our auditions and cast our actors. Rick arrived in one piece with his RED. Production meetings. Logistic problems. Problem solving. etc. etc. etc. We had our first day of principal photography today. Worked a little less than 12 hours. Overall a good day. We ended up getting some fake bottles for smashing from the guy who makes them for Jackie Chan, and rented superspeed Ziess lenses from one of the most generous people on earth. Quentin Tarantino has rented from him before, so it's like we are following in his wake. Each day I'm amazed that this project has come into fruition and that it is all coming together. Eating tons of great food and really appreciating the hospitality and graciousness of our Chinese friends and crew. Tomorrow is another big day, and we have about 5 more days of shooting. I'll try to post when I have the energy and try to post some behind-the-scenes pictures. But it might have to wait til after we wrap.

01.21.09 - Production wrapped.

06.10.09 - Rough Cut completed. Yes, I realize there is almost a five-month gap in the production journal. Usually it wouldn't take this long to edit, but I've been wrapped up in other video work that not all of my time has been devoted to the editing of this film. The script was 15 pages. The rough cut duration? 34 minutes. I'm looking to cut it down some, but it will probably still be around 28 - 30 minutes. I always was told that normally it's about a minute of screen time per page. Guess that wasn't the case with this short film. Now that we have a working rough cut, the rest of the post-production process should go quicker. Also had discussions today with composer David Pencil and we are starting to work on the music.
 
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frame grabs and bts

Some screen grabs. These are all raw with no color correction.

Enjoy!

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Behind the Scenes::Stills

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CAST AND CREW

CAST:
Feng Li - Yin Jin
Dong Ke - Zhu Zhi Guang
Xiao Tian - Wu Yu Xin
Chen Ge - Chen Guo Yi
Thief - Peng Tao
Thief's Son - Zhu Bao
Shop Attendant - Gloria Su

CREW:
Executive Producers - Tim Hsieh, William Brick
Associate Producer - Tian Xi
Associate Producer - Steven Xu
Director - Van Blumreich
1st Assistant Director: Torch Sun
2nd Assistant Director: Amelia Lee
Unit Production Manager - Yan Gao
Casting Director - Zhu Xiansheng
Cinematographer - Rick Darge
1st Assistant Cameraman - Liu Guan Yu
Key Grip - Wang Hao
Script Supervisor - Cheng Ming Fei, Zhang Yue Yue
Art Direction - Sun Jian
Screenwriters - Van Blumreich, Yan Gao
Location Scout - Xu Jing
Make-up Artist - Wu Bai Yan
Boom Operator - Steven Ng
Original Music Composition - David Pencil
Production Sound Mixer - Matt Mellin

CAST PHOTOS:

Yin Jing - Feng Li

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Wu Yu Xin - Xiao Tian

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Peng Tao - Thief

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Hey everyone,

I'm posting the short film for a limited time here on DVXUser.
It is up at the beginning of the thread.

Originally slated for LossFest.

Just wanted to share it with you all and hear your responses, feedback, etc.

Hope you enjoy!
 
Nice job. I have to let it sink in a bit before commenting...I'll be back.

O.K., I'm back. LOVED this film. You have a talent at creating a mood. I don't have much to say as I'd like to make a film like this some day!
The acting was great throughout and I really liked the camera work, felt like I was right there with the characters. The apartment scenes after the quake were a bit too dark, but I think it's must be my monitor cause everything else looked great. I wish I could download the film and watch it on the 50" plasma.

Cast & crew should be very proud of this work and I'm sure it will do great in the festival circuit. I'm glad you didn't enter this in LossFest because 6 minutes just wouldn't do this incredible story justice.

Thank you so much for sharing and congratulations.
 
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Really beautiful filmmaking. You have great style, but it's the substance that propels this film. Great story, great performances.

I have a few minor editing suggestions, but I won't trouble you with them unless you're interested. I also could hear some strangeness in cutting back and forth between characters' audio in the elevator scene.

One of the things you do so well is to create moods and feelings. For instance the energy of the gambling scene, or the tension of the burglar scene.

The music is haunting as well.

I aspire to make films this good. Thank you for being inspirational.
 
Even though I tend not to watch international, foreign films (other than Bollywood flix) I stayed glued to this one...

The color I thought was great, especially in the second and third scenes (within the Ren game room and the Bar). The yellows were awesome.

The lines seemed to be delivered well and the cast was believable...

I think you have a great film on your hands!

Much luck!

Bash Naran
 
The right shoulder there's a reflection or something. It kind of looks like light shining off water. I don't know why I noticed it but I was just curious as to what light on set was making that effect.
 
I really enjoyed this film. The footage is beautiful, and i love the interpretatoin of your seemingly simple story told by brillaint use of visuals and very nice subtle acting.

Kudos on your writing, and im sure you spent a good time in both editing, pre, and post and it shows.

I have selected your film as a possible short film of the week to be featured on my blog. I did however want to ask you first if it was ok to feature it since i saw you stated this was a screening for dvx user. You can check out the blog and some of the past winners here

http://jone5films.wordpress.com/

Let me know if it is ok with you, and it is also customary to comment on it and include any notes or stories you might have about the development and production of the film.

jon
 
Thanks for posting that. I easily got right into the story and the wonderful lilt in the score is the perfect weave for the visuals.
 
Thanks for the comments everyone! I really appreciate you guys taking the time to watch a 30 minute film online.
 
Very well done... one question though, if you're sending this one to other Festivals... wouldn't having it available to watch online be okay? I mean... do festivals require that it's not wide available online to the public? I'm always wondering about that.
 
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