"The Spear" - NJ Film School

LOL! Great ending.

I was going to ***** at you about how the opening shot looked like the spear was just on the other side of him, and not actually going through him, but then I saw the ending. :)
Nice work! Simple but straightforward. The kids were good, very natural, and I really liked the story. The music fit really well too.

Nailed the theme. Good luck!
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
LOL! Great ending.

I was going to ***** at you about how the opening shot looked like the spear was just on the other side of him, and not actually going through him, but then I saw the ending. :)
Nice work! Simple but straightforward. The kids were good, very natural, and I really liked the story. The music fit really well too.

Nailed the theme. Good luck!
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Thanks so much. I'm really glad you found time to review - I always look forward to your comments.

I'm so happy you enjoyed it!
 
I have to thank all of your for some really great reviews as well, as I was DP on the first half of this film and then shot the BTS video for the second half. Chris runs a great film school and this is my 3rd time taking it. I have to say there are some really great entries in this fest. I'm just glad I don't have to judge any of them.
 
I like this one.

You really had me, thinking you were gonna take it to a place I didn't want it to go... but then you didn't and I was very relieved. As was your intention. :)

Solid work as usual.
 
AJ Brooks said:
I like this one.

You really had me, thinking you were gonna take it to a place I didn't want it to go... but then you didn't and I was very relieved. As was your intention. :)

Solid work as usual.
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Thanks! I'm a big fan of your films and your opinion means a lot to me. I'm so glad you liked it!
 
And I really appreciate how your films tend to embrace the smaller ideas and tackle them well. I struggle with this as I want to put a feature story into 6 min. Simple ideas can be just as and often more powerful than a jam packed mini-feature.

Kudos. Very high on my list.
 
Great Job Chris - This was an effective film and a great example of taking a simple concept and executing on it. Very good job with the actors, sound was good. Color was generally good a few areas were a little blown out though. I especailly liked how the score fit into the film. It was good in of itself but it felt quite taylored to the film which is not always the case.

One thing I did find funny was when the one kid said that "we need real weapons" and he is shown using a knife to carve the spear, probably not intentionally funny but its just one of those things.
 
EJBinSD said:
Great Job Chris - This was an effective film and a great example of taking a simple concept and executing on it. Very good job with the actors, sound was good. Color was generally good a few areas were a little blown out though. I especailly liked how the score fit into the film. It was good in of itself but it felt quite taylored to the film which is not always the case.

One thing I did find funny was when the one kid said that "we need real weapons" and he is shown using a knife to carve the spear, probably not intentionally funny but its just one of those things.
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Thanks for the great review. I'm glad someone else mentioned the music. Chris Hurn is amazing and really captured the spirt and energy of our story.

As for the knife, you got me - kids are strange like that. :)
 
Your run of the mill spoiler-y review with points probably already made...

What I liked: It looked and sounded good. This comes as no surprise though, as that's what I know you and your group will bring to the table. Very well done. i liked you used a simple concept without need for back story or anything. Just two kids, playing. The kids did a great job as well. Kudos to them. The music was very well done as well.

What I didn't like as much: It might have been TOO simple of a concept. Not much happened. I know you bring heat in these competitions every time, but this one didn't quite do it for me. Don't get me wrong, I think it's one of the better entries in here technically, but the story kind of fell flat for me. Because I know what you (and a couple others) are capable of, I have a higher expectation. And maybe it was because at the very beginning I thought, "That didn't pierce him," so it was 3 minutes of getting back to where they already were and finding out what I already knew.
 
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Have to reiterate hawk here: I thought it was very well done, a clever idea structured, shot, acted well. But I feel like very little actually happened. Perhaps that's just the nature of the beast -- it was a film about this one event, but as soon as the reveal happened I felt the energy I'd been getting from the film drain away. Without the tension from the inciting incident (resolved in the reveal), it kind of becomes a very small happening, so to speak. That being said, I really did think it was wonderfully done, and held my interest up until that moment!
 
Hawk Teflon said:
Your run of the mill spoiler-y review with points probably already made...

What I liked: It looked and sounded good. This comes as no surprise though, as that's what I know you and your group will bring to the table. Very well done. i liked you used a simple concept without need for back story or anything. Just two kids, playing. The kids did a great job as well. Kudos to them. The music was very well done as well.

What I didn't like as much: It might have been TOO simple of a concept. Not much happened. I know you bring heat in these competitions every time, but this one didn't quite do it for me. Don't get me wrong, I think it's one of the better entries in here technically, but the story kind of fell flat for me. Because I know what you (and a couple others) are capable of, I have a higher expectation. And maybe it was because at the very beginning I thought, "That didn't pierce him," so it was 3 minutes of getting back to where they already were and finding out what I already knew.
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Thanks for the honest critique. The story is all on me, but the rest of it is all my students, so I'm proud that you think there craft is so good. As for the story, I do like exploring simple subjects (like kids playing war), and this one is definitely generating mixed reactions.

bluemanrocks said:
Have to reiterate hawk here: I thought it was very well done, a clever idea structured, shot, acted well. But I feel like very little actually happened. Perhaps that's just the nature of the beast -- it was a film about this one event, but as soon as the reveal happened I felt the energy I'd been getting from the film drain away. Without the tension from the inciting incident (resolved in the reveal), it kind of becomes a very small happening, so to speak. That being said, I really did think it was wonderfully done, and held my interest up until that moment!
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Thanks as well. I alway like a tight edit and I'm glad it held your interest. I'm sorry the ending didn't resonate for you, as I mentioned above, it is definitely getting mixed reactions.
 
Chris, you and your students should be proud! SPOILER ALERT! My first thought was, "No blood, and you can totally see that it didn't go through him. Oh well." And then the film continued and I was thinking, "No, no, no! Don't go over the edge!" You really had me and I thought he was going to get impaled. I LOVE the fact that he didn't. It was so much more powerful and the way you set it up was magnificent. I wish you had put a nice little button on the end. Maybe they are walking home tussling a little and say something like, "My mom's going to kill you." Red shirt boy,"could be worse." (or something like that, just needs that last beat) Oh, and I enjoyed the Red vs. Blue (shirts). Overall wonderful production as usual. It brought back many memories for me.
 
Zach Olson said:
Chris, you and your students should be proud! SPOILER ALERT! My first thought was, "No blood, and you can totally see that it didn't go through him. Oh well." And then the film continued and I was thinking, "No, no, no! Don't go over the edge!" You really had me and I thought he was going to get impaled. I LOVE the fact that he didn't. It was so much more powerful and the way you set it up was magnificent. I wish you had put a nice little button on the end. Maybe they are walking home tussling a little and say something like, "My mom's going to kill you." Red shirt boy,"could be worse." (or something like that, just needs that last beat) Oh, and I enjoyed the Red vs. Blue (shirts). Overall wonderful production as usual. It brought back many memories for me.
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Thanks a lot. I'm so glad you liked it and it brought back some memories. I think I spent most of my childhood running through the woods playing one game or another. As for the ending, I agree, we are missing a shot or two. It seems no matter what I film, I always wish I could get one more shot. :)
 
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We just had our viewing party and although everyone enjoyed many of the films I notice something with yours. Right after the first shot showing the spear a bunch of people in the room gasped or put their hand over theor mouth. Having seen it already I watched them when the reveal happenw at the end. It was supurbly setup and everyone in the room was sitting there waiting for it, hoping for it to never come. When the the reveal came people sighed with relief, smiled, turned to someone else, ane made comments about how tuey were worried for thekid and so relived and happy to see that he didn't even get a scratch. Well done.
 
Zach Olson said:
We just had our viewing party and although everyone enjoyed many of the films I notice something with yours. Right after the first shot showing the spear a bunch of people in the room gasped or put their hand over theor mouth. Having seen it already I watched them when the reveal happenw at the end. It was supurbly setup and everyone in the room was sitting there waiting for it, hoping for it to never come. When the the reveal came people sighed with relief, smiled, turned to someone else, ane made comments about how tuey were worried for thekid and so relived and happy to see that he didn't even get a scratch. Well done.
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What a great story - that makes me so happy! Thanks for sharing it.
 
From the opening shot I thought "crap, why didn't Chris just attach the end part of the spear to the kid's back so it wouldn't look so fake" - well, now I know. Nice twist on the ending, didn't see that coming.

I wasn't too involved in the story though. Kid actors were okay. The script was okay. But I thought there could have been more. When I saw you use "woods" for your setting, while beautiful, I don't want the school's productions to become a one-note wonder.

I liked to see interior/exterior locations instead of just one setting. It was nicely shot. Decent story. But I didn't find it as entertaining as I would have hoped. Still, your students should be proud. But it did feel like a short film.
 
Charli said:
From the opening shot I thought "crap, why didn't Chris just attach the end part of the spear to the kid's back so it wouldn't look so fake" - well, now I know. Nice twist on the ending, didn't see that coming.

I wasn't too involved in the story though. Kid actors were okay. The script was okay. But I thought there could have been more. When I saw you use "woods" for your setting, while beautiful, I don't want the school's productions to become a one-note wonder.

I liked to see interior/exterior locations instead of just one setting. It was nicely shot. Decent story. But I didn't find it as entertaining as I would have hoped. Still, your students should be proud. But it did feel like a short film.
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Thanks for the review.

Regarding the woods location, my adult students have shot dozens of films and only two in the woods - it just turned out that those two have been in DVXfests, but if we enter again, I will make sure it's not the woods for a third time in a row. :)
 
Great job, Chris! Always amazing to see what you coax out of your students. You should be very proud.
 
No suprise that you guys are in the Top 3...so lucky to be in the mix with you and your students! Congratulations
 
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