The Odd Squad

J.R. Hudson

J.R. Hudson

Spirit Animal
By Jack Stanley (Jdanstan)

For anyone whose life was changed a little or a lot by Katrina, Rita, or their siblings.


The ODD Squad

Written, Directed, Shot, Cut, Mixed, Composited by Jack Daniel Stanley


Produced by Cammie West and French Quarter Features


Makeup FX by Tanner


Det. Joe ……………… Dane Rhodes
Det. Pitt …………….. Travis Champagne
Blue…………………………. Tanner
Handvil……………………... Michael Sullivan
Maggie……………………… Katy Chisolm

Assistant Director…………… Marcus Stanley

Line Producer……………….. Elaina Rodriguez

Focus Puller…………………. Shane Martin
Production Coordinator……... Megan Uebelacker
Best Boy……………………... Sean Patterson
Outerspace VFX consultant….. Norm Sanders
 
Really nice effort. Of course, I kinda thought the kid was an odd but that's not the point is it? It's how his partner handles the whole thing. Loved the "big easy" feel, too. I'll be going back to his one later.
beer.gif
 
i liked that a lot...i was expecting something special (after "shed") and got it. it´s just the style (as hudson mentioned hip & cool) that really made it one of my favorites. the music, the setting, the blue face, the green shirts...just cool, without taking itself too seriously...and a little dramatic at the end. those are the ingredients i really enjoy

good job...and the guys from new orleans set the bar really high.
 
Yeah, Jack. You think my film will kick your ass, but I beg to differ. This was one killer-cool flick. Acting was top notch and it looked fabulous. The FX were suitably cheesy and the dialogue was a real stand-out.

I'm with John. Top 5 goodness.

Wish we weren't all leaving the Big Easy, man. I really wanted to work with you.
 
Not bad.
Even though I was expecting some seriousness to the whole short after that "deep" intro and Voiceover.
Then it cuts to this goofy guy in blue makeup and took me out of the story.

The shift in tones throughout from comedy to serious drama just didnt work for me.

Your two lead actors were fantastic, especially the "gruff, tough, cop" who seems like he stepped right out of a noir film.

The cinematography was decent and the entire car sequence was very well put together.

The warehouse scene was cool, but again those "odds" just werent believable and were just too goofy for me to take seriously. But I guess that is what you were going for, idk.

But, all in all, a decent short. Keep it up.
 
Great to watch.

Jack tell me about the tech stuff. Your film looked great!

Lenses? Adapters? Filters? Color Correction?

BEST TITLE SEQUENCE!!!!!

If there wasw an award for best hand held camera work you would win. Nice and never annoying or trying too hard to be "hand held for that edgy look"


Very solid work all around.

Wish I had 100 posts.

Kip
 
OK! This is by far my favorite of all the films I've seen (About 75%). I loved the groovy 70s feel to it. Everything worked. The editing was cool, and the shots were perfect. THIS WAS AWESOME! Made me laugh a few times too! Excellent, excellent work. Great acting too! No negative critique here bro. awesome work!
 
Unfortunately, I'm just not going to have time to go into any in-depth reviews of people's films but Jack, this is my favorite. There are only a handful or less of the entries that really felt like a film to me and this was one of them. The story was a little weak and "seen it before" for me but it was still compelling to watch. Cinematography and the look of what I'm assuming is your Letus35 really helped sell the idea of an actual film.

Acting was very good in my opinion and you used the hurricane aftermath footage tastefully.

I think if you stick with this filmmaking thing, you will really go places. For all the talking you do on the board, you have an equal amount of talent to back it up. :)

Nice job.
 
Wow - great opening. The blowback from the blast with the girl on the bike was great. Really grabs you from the beginning.

I had no trouble with the juxtaposition between the "Mike Hammer" film noire feel and the 70's series feel (I was kinda waiting for a blue Huggy Bear to jump out of the shadows). Given my drothers, I would probably have lost the hand-turning-into-an-anvil gag, but that's just me.

There was one music transition that didn't work for me (i.e. there was no transition, just a jump) where you cut from the car to the arrival at the warehouse.

Other than that, this is a great short (one of my favourites) - I have no idea why more people aren't commenting on it, but give it a little more time. They'll find quality.

Thanks for your efforts.
 
i just watched it again and liked it even more...now here are a few questions:

1. i loved your CC (especially outdoors) how did you get that look?
2. did you really use the letus35? how does it perform compared to G35 (i know the tech stuff after reading hundreds of threads,while waiting for G35) but all the demos i´ve seen from the letus couldn´t compete with G35, but yours looks way better...

for some reason i was waiting for closer shots in the car scene (intensity) and that´s the only thing i´d complain about, what do you think?

again, great job
 
thanks for starting this thread John
I'm, PMing you our credits so you can put them in the 1st post
We're moving and I don't have hi speed access anymore until we get to a hotel so I may not post much ... thanks for your comments everyone.
 
Some of the effects didn't completely sell, but they were good enough not to bother me.

I highly enjoyed the movie's tone, but I think the racism card wasn't dealt with properly. I get that he was feeling compassion, but I think the change was too quick. But, it didn't bother me too much, as it was such a fun short film.

I also wish the opening was a little tighter, and the ending was a little less hit-you-over-the-head.

Good makeup, fairly strong acting (especially the older guy--he's spot on), awesome music, and great camerawork put this in my top five. oh, and style.

style, baby, style.
 
Def. my fav. so far. There were some technical things that I wrote down, but don't feel the need to post because it didn't take me out of it. Some of the compositions were frickin great. Loved it all. The only shot I didn't really care for was the Long Est. shot of them entering the hideout. The fx were kinda fake, but it totally worked. Great job. You are one talented bastard. Tim.
 
Darn work got in the way ... otherwise I was hoping to be the first to comment in your thread ... would have been impossible though, since John started it for you! :) Good thing too, since it's already got 13+ posts already!

I've only read the first post (Hudson's) so if I repeat anything, forgive me.

So, I Loved it, with a capital L. Like John said, very cool, hip feel to it. I'm assuming this will be unique in the feel/vibe compared to others. Some of the FX were ABSOLUTELY top shelf as well ... to the point I tried pausing as often as possible the second time through to catch stuff. Really great work, Jack ... you do all that yourself?

The music was perfect ... only complaint would be the transition at about 3 minutes in ... just too quick, and would have preferred something more organic.

Also, as a critique, I noticed the ADR ... specifically when we see the ODDD Squad with the blue alien near the beginning.

Otherwise, great actors, and incredible dialogue/scripting ... by far, for me, that was the strongest aspect, though the whole thing was strong all the way through.

The low gravelly, 40's style detective voice was perfect. Some nice comical stuff too, especially with the lady in the warehouse, reminding me of THE MASK, as her hand turns into this huge anvil.

The co-lead, looked like David Arquette (sp?). Cool.

Many parts brought a smile to my face, and I cared about the characters enough in that short bit of time to hang & wonder if he was going to report the kid or not.

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to see the extended cut of this. Great job. In my tops list.
 
wcs, just read through the posts. I didn't get that this was a racism thing ... more of a MIB feel, that they had to keep the ODDS in check before they completely freaked out & harmed everyone else around them.

I could be wrong ... just didn't see the racism card in this one.
 
This film had me smiling from start to finish. It had its own flavor. And what a tasty flavor it was. The 70's exploitation look made it even cooler. It almost had a color-reversal film look in places. And the freeze frames were in just the right spots. One of my favorites so far.
 
thanks everyone for comments and thanks again john for starting the thread while I had no internet access and for pasting my credits up.

REALLY appreciate EVERYONE's comments but I have to help my GF pack as we move to NYC tomorrow and she's done 98% of it by herself while I was dealing with film fest stuff -- I wish everyone could have a GF like her.

"Honey I have to go to the internet cafe for a couple of hours to download/check the corrected version of my movie because there was a problem with it"

and she says "OK"

Not -- "the movers are going to be here in 15 hours and I'v done almost everything by myself and we're barely packed and your going off to an internet cafe to check on your little film"

OK that was time I could have used to respond to peoples posts -- sorry -- but I have to give her props -- don't know how I'd ever get frame one shot without her, get any bills mailed out on time, or find my keys, lol.


Damn ... thanks again for comments will try to somehow get internet access later to answer your questions

thanks thanks thanks guys!

Jack
 
You da man again!!!!

i've only seen about 10 so far. had a late start and don't have time to see that many per day. i was already excited about seeing yours before it even dowloaded. very much worth the wait.

again, i haven't seen that many, but this was definately the very best so far. did you score this thing too?

can't wait for the bts stuff and the dvd version

by the way i'm going to pm you later on some other unrelated stuff.

but again, congrats on another great film.
 
Envision said:
they had to keep the ODDS in check before they completely freaked out & harmed everyone else around them.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, that statement is the origin of racism. (replace ODDS with 'blacks' or 'arabs'). I'm not calling anyone a racist, just noting where I'm coming from in my analysis of the plot.

I get your reference to MIB, and I would agree, but when I looked at the dramatic base, I saw something else. I wasn't saying that there was anything wrong with his choice of arc; I was just saying it needed a little more to sell the climax.

In the end, it's a really funny, well-made movie. I'm just mentioning what would have made it 5% better for me.
 
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