The Tell

The sound design was a bit hissy as the voices came in and out, especially when there was very little or no music. Seemed to cross the line as well.
Early on Norm was on the right the whole time and then when you went wide he was on the left. That was really jarring.

Seemed to go on a bit with some of the close shots early on as well. He didn't seem to be looking where he should be.

Technical BS aside, the cinematography was really great! The performances were also top notch. Nice work, Norm. The music was awesome, loved the lyrics and the ending. VFX were also great.

Nice job.

MAH
 
Very, very cool. Everything fit well as a musical. You kept the theatrical side of it and stayed in that mode, which was great. Some great shots in there two. I liked the shot where they are playing poker and over the shoulder in the background you've got the gal's torn dress/skirt in the frame. Good stuff.

One thing I would have liked to seen, or heard I guess, is a couple of different tunes in there. That would have been the icing on the cake.

One of my fav's. Thanks for sharing!
 
Thanks everyone who has commented so far. We are glad that overall people have enjoyed our little short.
I'm going to hole-up tonight and try and get through as many films and make as many comments as possible. Excited.
 
SPOILER*****************I laughed out loud when it broke into song. That was a truly unexpected and rewarding surprised. Very well polished film. A definite contender.

I agree, I really liked this film, I did not expect a musical. It was fantastic to have a good musical that was funny and with some good singing. The woman was great. The guys did a good job. Some of the acting at some points where a little weak but over all I thought is was great! Top 10 for me. Thanks for sharing. :)
 
Troy Ruff said:
SPOILER*****************I laughed out loud when it broke into song. That was a truly unexpected and rewarding surprised. Very well polished film. A definite contender.

I agree, I really liked this film, I did not expect a musical. It was fantastic to have a good musical that was funny and with some good singing. The woman was great. The guys did a good job. Some of the acting at some points where a little weak but over all I thought is was great! Top 10 for me. Thanks for sharing. :)
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Troy - we agree that Jillian is an amazing talent. I believe when she was in our last short, Tarts Fools & The G-Men, it was her first acting gig. Now, that being said, she is a regularly working model and VERY bright and motivated local producer for fashion shows, etc. So, her showing up ready to rumble and being very well prepared was no surprise to us.

We originally wrote the story as a fairly straight story. But about a month before we were planning on shooting it we decided it would be mediocre at best if we shot it straight. Kevin Curry has really wanted to do a musical, and we both LOVE Dr. Horrible Sing-a-long blog, so we decided it would be the perfect chance to work through how a musical should/could be shot. We also decided early on to keep the musical nature of the short under wraps. Our theory was it would be much more fun for a viewer to be surprised and caught off guard as opposed ot expecting it.
 
When it broke into song I almost spit out my beer. In a good way. What a nice surprise this was. Everyone enjoyed it. Actors did great and I agree that this fit the musical theme perfectly. Monster effects were pretty cool as well. Nice job.
 
NOBELO said:
When it broke into song I almost spit out my beer. In a good way. What a nice surprise this was. Everyone enjoyed it. Actors did great and I agree that this fit the musical theme perfectly. Monster effects were pretty cool as well. Nice job.
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LOL - that's what we love to hear :) Thanks! The goal is to entertain no matter how simply at times.
 
lyonfilms said:
Troy - we agree that Jillian is an amazing talent. I believe when she was in our last short, Tarts Fools & The G-Men, it was her first acting gig. Now, that being said, she is a regularly working model and VERY bright and motivated local producer for fashion shows, etc. So, her showing up ready to rumble and being very well prepared was no surprise to us.

We originally wrote the story as a fairly straight story. But about a month before we were planning on shooting it we decided it would be mediocre at best if we shot it straight. Kevin Curry has really wanted to do a musical, and we both LOVE Dr. Horrible Sing-a-long blog, so we decided it would be the perfect chance to work through how a musical should/could be shot. We also decided early on to keep the musical nature of the short under wraps. Our theory was it would be much more fun for a viewer to be surprised and caught off guard as opposed ot expecting it.
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nice, I think that was a great decision to keep it hidden, the choice to make it a musical. Fantastic! I am now inspired to make a musical. It seems like so much fun, this had to be a blast to shoot. Again Great job
 
Kevin E. Curry said:
Guess we achieved the goal a startling people, just not as they expected!
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I believe my brother's reaction went like: "What the--? NO ****ING WAY!!!!!!"
Needless to say he enjoyed it immensely. This was on my second viewing so I was watching to see how he'd react.

Gotta watch it again and I'll be back with my review.
 
I had the misfortune of going into your thread before watching the film. My eye caught the word, "musical." That killed the surprise. Regardless, I noticed in the last fest two other films pulled this gag and they got praise. Now your doing it... in a horror movie? I applaud you. Very cool indeed.

All your actors did an outstanding job. The music is OK.

I'm not going to nitpick, but just point out (I'm sure you know) the big continuity faux pas with shot behind the waitress with her head upright (4:07). You know what I'm talking about. Things like that bother me especially if you can't mask it well. I'm not crazy about the look of the film in general. I can understand making it look a stage performance because of the musical aspect but the backlight is so strong it gives it the corporate video look.

With those two things aside... this is a keeper. Beautifully directed and executed.
 
Okay. That's it. I'm declaring war on you guys and that song. it' been stuck in my head for the past 2 days now. I woke up this morning singing "I just want o be free..." and shocked the hell out of myself. Where did that come from? Then the rhythm caught up to me.

here's why I'm declaring war: I didn't care too much for the music on first viewing. I wanted more changes, distinct themes for each character... after all if you;re going to do a musical they should all have the same music. The music is what differentiates them after all. SO it was a bit of a let down that it was the same music and cadence for each character. on the third and fourth viewing howeverm I was kinda singing along... and now... it's stuck in my head.

With that said: you guys did a great job creating great characters and a solid film. I liked the look of it and the overall story. it was an instant favorite. Jillian's super bright white teeth did bother me a little, but it's a musical so I can forgive the lack of blood in her mouth.

Love the ending and the delivery of the just desserts.

Now back to your regularly scheduled singing. Ack!
 
This was one of the first I watched and like all the others, was surprized when it broke into song. From that point on it was Rocky Horror flashback time for me. (where did I leave that toast?)

Looked great and I think the lighting worked for what you were going for.... a scene from a musical on film (video). I would have liked to see you work with the music and orchestrate it a bit more.

All in all... great job on an enjoyable film.
 
I wasn't expecting a musical. It was a nice surprise and I really enjoyed watching this film. Well done.
 
Let me start by saying that I hate that I enjoyed this. I HATE MUSICALS! But I was transfixed like a deer in the headlights.

I was thinking, "This looks pretty damned good. Hey, is that Norm?" Then girl bursts into song..."what the poo-poo?" I had to stop it for a minute to clean things up...

You did a really good job on this. Very clever. Nice job on the lyrics, Kevin.

Extra kudos because you were able to keep Norm's shirt on through the whole thing!

Good job.
 
Yes, that was a surprise!! - Great job all round - catchy music, good acting, lovely cinematography. The few little (continuity) problems I noticed have already been mentioned. Good work all involved.
 
Rodney V. Smith said:
Okay. That's it. I'm declaring war on you guys and that song. it' been stuck in my head for the past 2 days now. I woke up this morning singing "I just want o be free..." and shocked the hell out of myself. Where did that come from? Then the rhythm caught up to me.
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That's the magic man! Your posts really cracked me up. I will likely review your movie tonight or tomorrow. Real life has been getting in the way :(
 
Sprocketboy said:
I'm not going to nitpick, but just point out (I'm sure you know) the big continuity faux pas with shot behind the waitress with her head upright (4:07). You know what I'm talking about.
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Totally agree. It really irked me, but for various coverage limitations, there was just no way I could see to fix it. Good catch and I am surprised that you are the first to point it out.
 
Blaine said:
Extra kudos because you were able to keep Norm's shirt on through the whole thing!
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I had to keep telling him to put it back on. Me: "Norm, it's not that kind of movie." Norm: "Please...pretty please." Me: "Bad Norm! Bad!"
 
lyonfilms said:
We originally wrote the story as a fairly straight story. But about a month before we were planning on shooting it we decided it would be mediocre at best if we shot it straight. Kevin Curry has really wanted to do a musical, and we both LOVE Dr. Horrible Sing-a-long blog, so we decided it would be the perfect chance to work through how a musical should/could be shot. We also decided early on to keep the musical nature of the short under wraps. Our theory was it would be much more fun for a viewer to be surprised and caught off guard as opposed ot expecting it.
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As soon as MonsterFest was announced we dusted off this old idea for The Tell, one Devon came up with in a classic fashion. He walks into the office one day and says "I'm thinking about a scene with guys drinking whiskey and playing poker for a hot chick who is chained to the wall." That's how most things start, then I run with it and bounce ideas off him to flesh it out.

As he said, when we looked at it with fresh eyes we knew it wasn't quite enough. Once we settled on doing the musical, i wasn't completely sold that it would work. After I turned the script in lyrics and music (which, BTW, was much harder than I anticipated), I was a little more sold on it, but still not completely. With each subsequent step (music back from the composer, recording the actors, even after shooting and editing) I got closer and closer to actually thinking it would work.

I'm quite happy with how it ended up. And despite the challenge of doing a musical, I'm looking forward to the next opportunity to make one.
 
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