The Tell

Robert Eldon said:
This was surprisingly enjoyable to watch. It had real nice images and I liked the 'pools of light' in the dark room. Loved the lighting. And who would have thought that you could do a musical with nasty 'monsters'?

The acting was very good from everyone. The dialog seemed a little 'cheesy' only a few times. Loved the lyrics though, very gritty. The facial expressions sold the story.

Great reveal of the monsters! I didn't expect it and was wondering where the 'monster' was until the end. Nice ending. Thank you.
Click to expand...

Glad you enjoyed it! We always worked to have serious contrasts. Pools of light and dark. Death and life. Innocence and evil. Conflict and hope. All these themes are in fact in this little musical. We really had fun with this from beginning to the end. To have positive feedback from a great group of people here at DVX is just sweet. Cheers.
 
haha yeah I definitely started cracking up when they started singing. so unexpected lol. had a nice look and some pretty good effects. great job on the lip synching- I would have never guessed the singing was dubbed.
 
killacam said:
haha yeah I definitely started cracking up when they started singing. so unexpected lol. had a nice look and some pretty good effects. great job on the lip synching- I would have never guessed the singing was dubbed.
Click to expand...

The process we used as far as the song was:

1. Kevin writes song.
2. Kevin records himself signing song into his iPhone while strumming out the chords on his my acoustic guitar.
3. Kevin emails song file to Jake Oken-berg an excellent and talented local rock musician. We also sent Jake the timing for all the non-song sections for the background music.
4. Jake takes Kevin's song and rough music and makes the actual track. Jake re-sings the lyrics.
5. We email this track to the actors so they can start practicing.
6. Actors come to our studio and record their own voices over Jake's voice.
7. On set we have the track with the actors own voices which they had time to practice lip syncing to.
8. Actors rock it and are prepared!
 
So much great stuff going on here. The unexpected musical, the last fight bit, the little glimmer/glammer in the eye, awesome stuff. I wish there was a bridge in the music. It made the movie feel flat that it stayed with the same basic melodic line. Also, and I know this is asking for a lot, but it would've been sweet to have a larger cast of people who randomly come in at some point and start singing and dancing. Maybe some more vampires! It would've made the movie feel more like a musical. Random dancers are always a good time.

Great concept, lotsa great shots and action. Thanks for submitting!
 
Well this sure suprised me! And I like to be surprised...very well made - a little uneasy at times...in a good way...and you definitely had a tight little story going on. Mostly I like that you did something original and unexpected - kudos. :)
 
OK first off, damn you Anthony Misiano for making people feel ok about doing musicals. :p

And secondly - really great work all round here. A dark little tale with a rose that was more deadly than the monsters. Great.

I really loved Norms performance in this as well, but mind you I think both your monsters were pretty darn good.

The glint and circular close out - perfect choices.

Tiniest nitpick, I see one mentioned a number of times so I wont repeat, but the other I had - and there's no specific reason either, but the line relating to nectar of the gods or similar said twice by Norm, really rubbed me up the wrong way. I'll think about that more and try to work out why - could be a personal issue :p

Top stuff and very entertaining. Thanks for sharing.
 
Devon:

Loved it!

I was really impressed with some of the shots. This strikes me as one of the better shot films and is sure to be a fest fave!

Great job!
 
Thanks to everyone for your comments. Again we learned a lot from your time and notes. Making the finals is just cream.
 
Devon and Dan, a decent combo at work here.

This film is innovative and its twist musical element certainly caught me off guard. The setup for the conversation between our two tough looking gentleman (and the excellent story of the devils bloood) - if i recall that right! Certainly has you expecting something other than a musical!

Now this was shot professionally, performed admirably, and directed with confidence.

Everything comes together, and as an artistic work i feel this is leaps and bounds beyond the last entry (an admirable and rightly deserved winner of best newcomer last festival. G-Tarts.)

My only concern, is that is this film still lacking a genuine intellectual curiousity on the part of the director. That is - was the novel idea for this film something that came out of a sit down chat of 'cool ideas that we should try' rather than - wow thats a story!!!! A GREAT STORY!

This is where i feel you guys are doing yourselves a slight injustice. Because you are impressive in so many quarters. But impressing filmmakers on a forum is one thing. I'd like to encourage a combination of the pursuit of innovative ideas clearly on display here, with your technical and artistic competence, but this time combined with something trully ambitious - in the artistic intellectual realm. Not necessarily an art film, but a film showing off something deeper.

well done gentlemen.
 
lawriejaffa said:
Devon and Dan, a decent combo at work here.

This film is innovative and its twist musical element certainly caught me off guard. The setup for the conversation between our two tough looking gentleman (and the excellent story of the devils bloood) - if i recall that right! Certainly has you expecting something other than a musical!

Now this was shot professionally, performed admirably, and directed with confidence.

Everything comes together, and as an artistic work i feel this is leaps and bounds beyond the last entry (an admirable and rightly deserved winner of best newcomer last festival. G-Tarts.)

My only concern, is that is this film still lacking a genuine intellectual curiousity on the part of the director. That is - was the novel idea for this film something that came out of a sit down chat of 'cool ideas that we should try' rather than - wow thats a story!!!! A GREAT STORY!

This is where i feel you guys are doing yourselves a slight injustice. Because you are impressive in so many quarters. But impressing filmmakers on a forum is one thing. I'd like to encourage a combination of the pursuit of innovative ideas clearly on display here, with your technical and artistic competence, but this time combined with something trully ambitious - in the artistic intellectual realm. Not necessarily an art film, but a film showing off something deeper.

well done gentlemen.
Click to expand...

Well thought out review - we appreciate the time it takes to provide reviews and are still finishing ours. Thank you for both the things you liked and the points regarding our artistic versus technical approach. These shorts are always a challenge to create something we are going to have fun shooting as well as actually shoot it and post it in time. We try and promise everyone involved that if they are going to help, we will actually finish it so they have something for their efforts. That means that we keep these shorts to a scope that is doable within these constraints.

These fests are a blast and the community is what makes the work worth it.
 
Yep, in reference to the artistic versus technical approach you cite, id suggest just an adjustment, if not only because the technical competence is already proven, already exciting, and you have a saavy idea for what feels marketable and popular.

Something dangerous with the skills you chaps are showcasing would blow folks away I reckon. This was nevertheless, like G-tarts last time, in my top selection.
 
lawriejaffa said:
Yep, in reference to the artistic versus technical approach you cite, id suggest just an adjustment, if not only because the technical competence is already proven, already exciting, and you have a saavy idea for what feels marketable and popular.

Something dangerous with the skills you chaps are showcasing would blow folks away I reckon. This was nevertheless, like G-tarts last time, in my top selection.
Click to expand...

Are you going to put together the audio reviews again? We really got a kick out of the Quest Fest reviews.
 
Hi there - well im basically going to do a video of my own top 8 recommendations like last time (it will be bizarre in a different way!) that will feature a bit more review-esque-entertainment than feedback in style. However that will naturally be posted only after voting is completed. But i'm sure you'll be included ;)

I don't think its online now, but the scriptfest was among the most ridiculous audio feedbacks i did (i read back all the scripts entered with comments and ridiculous performances as every character in every script.) Oh gosh!
 
What an amazing fest! Some truly great shorts surfaced and we are proud to have been finalists. Obviously, we play to win, but with the caliber of films 5th place is pretty cool.
 
In addition to reviewing the winners, BC at HORROR MOVIE A DAY couldn't resist giving you guys kudos for your originality as well.

Congrats. LINK IN SIG.
 
Just wanted to stop back by and say what a great short this was. It was definitely a bold step (and in the right direction, I might say) to go with a musical. It wasn't going to resonate with everyone but with those that got it, it hit big time. As I said in my earlier post, I don't like musicals...if I saw more like this one, I might change my mind. This received one of my very highest scores. It was one of my top three. Great job!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top