"The Quetzalcoatlus Effect" -- By James Duffy

Duff

Duff

Well-known member
Download link: http://www.dvxfest.com/timefest/direct_dl.php?id=1000146

This marks my second film for a DVXUser fest, the first being "Shalloween" for All Hallows Fest 2007.

Time Frame:
- 2008/05/21: Finish script. It is 21 pages, and clocks out to 14 minutes. Bury face in hands.
- 2008/05/24: Leave for Caribbean cruise. Forget about life for a while.
- 2008/06/01: Return from cruise. Fret about script being impossible to trim down. Complain to anyone willing to listen.
- Week of 2008/06/01: Procrastinate. Feel bad for self.

- 2008/06/07:
- 11:10 AM: Finally finish script. 9 pages, clocks to six minutes.
- 11:30 AM: Meet with costar to practice our lines.
- 1:30 PM: Camera crew arrives, late. Begin filming.
- Remainder of 2008/06/07: Film under the most miserable conditions possible. Temperature exceeds 100 with Virginia humidity.
- At one point, Washington Dulles has a plane flying in every two minutes for about an hour. We have about 15 seconds of silence between planes in which to film a take.
- Between the heat, the planes, and loud people in the neighborhood, I become convinced that god hates me and does not want me to make this film. It's almost comical how many interruptions we have, resulting in the most inefficient day of filming in history. I say almost comical, because I can't laugh while I'm crying and banging my head against the concrete sidewalk.

- 2008/06/08: Second day of filming. Goes much smoother than the first. I remember why I love filmmaking. Of course, it's still ridiculously hot, and when my one neighbor finally stops sawing through metal, the other neighbor decides he needed to hit something with a hammer for a half hour. Regardless, we wrap up our filming.


Now I have a week to procrastinate over what is by far my least favorite stage of filmmaking: editing.
 
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About the film: Well, it's about time travel, and it's a comedy. Let's just leave it at that for now.

It's written and directed by me, and the cast consists solely of myself and my good friend Cory. Well, and one extra, if you can spot him.

It's shot on my Canon XH-A1, and crewed by my non-filmmaking friends under my loose instruction. It would be nice to work with some proper villains one day, as it's hard to try to play DP when you're also in front of the camera, but it just hasn't happened yet. So technically the film isn't anything to marvel at, but hopefully the script shines through.

Cheers for now; back to the editing room.
 
One of my favorite bands, Machinae Supremacy, agreed to let me score the film with their music. Woot! Check them out -- they have a lot of music free for download on their website.

Track Listing:
- Fanvacoolt (from the soundtrack of the game Jets'n'Guns)
- Knee Deep in the Xoxx (Jets'n'Guns)
- Steve's Quest
- Dududub Dududum (Jets'n'Guns)
- Escaping the Krut (Jets'n'Guns)

(All songs used are available for download if you're interested.)
 
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Duff said:
One of my favorite bands, Machine Supremacy, agreed to let me score the film with their music. Woot! Check them out -- they have a lot of music free for downloaded on their website.
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Jeez! Machinae Supremacy rocks! (You'd better make sure you spell their name right in the credits of your film, though!!!!)

Good luck. Really looking forward to your film based on your description (not to mention the mental image of how you pulled it together in such a short time!)
 
Existentialist said:
Comedy about time travel? Woohoo! Can't wait to see it.

What did you edit it on?
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Adobe Premiere CS3, with a tad bit of After Effects (you'll know it when you see it). System's a Dell Q6600.

Mark Johnson said:
Jeez! Machinae Supremacy rocks! (You'd better make sure you spell their name right in the credits of your film, though!!!!)

Good luck. Really looking forward to your film based on your description (not to mention the mental image of how you pulled it together in such a short time!)
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Haha, wow. I've actually never misspelled their name before -- it had been a long night before I wrote that (post fixed). Don't worry, I got it right in the credits. Have you actually heard of them before? I'm really glad they let me use the music, because I want to do what I can to get their name out there. They're practically unheard of in the states, which is a shame.
 
Very puny...I enjoyed it...Fun to watch. I loved the older version of himself with not other makeup except that crazy beard funny stuff guys...
 
your film was really funny, your style of humor is really fresh with traces of old Bill & Teds excellent adventure.
 
Funny, cheesey, over-the-top film. My only nit was that the swearing was a tad excessive. It distracted from the film.
 
I liked the original nintendo game soundtrack. The acting could've been polished better. It was an amusing short and I like how it made fun of itself. Some really funny stuff in there like the duck.
 
I am, indeed, a fan of Machinae Supremacy and I'd like to know a little bit more about how you approached them and got permission to use their music.

I'm downloading your film now and I think I'm in the proper frame of mind to give this sucker a look-see!
 
That was some pretty funny poo poo. There are tears in my eyes as I'm writing this. Nice way to start off my day :)
 
This one was fun. Congrats on finishing it under such adverse conditions.

The only knocks I'd have on it was the acting was a bit stiff and the dialogue at times felt like "written" dialogue rather than "natural" dialogue.

Thanks for the comedic look at time travel...:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)
 
Good God was this was kickass fun. Have you sent this to the band to see????? I gotta know how they reacted.........!!! I predict they loved it too. Most fun I've had all week. You need to write for tv man. Seriously.
 
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