The Wallet

Thanks! I gotta say that a lot of that oozing coolness comes from the score. Danny and Ben are giving Daft Punk a run for their money with Tron! Haha
 
Really nice film! Has Stevens Gaston been in anything else I would have seen? He looks awfully familiar...

Anyway, aside from the predictability of the story, this one ranks high for me. Beautiful score and scene sense.:happy:
 
very very cool. didn't see that happening with the real wallet on the seat. This is just very cool. The music was dated a bit tho....sorta maybe ;)
 
Really? I loved the music on this. But I'm a big fan of a more electronic sound, its nice to hear because the obvious thing to do would have been guitar rock or something generic.
 
2062ad said:
very very cool. didn't see that happening with the real wallet on the seat. This is just very cool. The music was dated a bit tho....sorta maybe ;)
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Thanks! Do you mean we "dated" the music to 2010? Can't think of anything more current than music inspired by Tron Legacy - a movie that has yet to be released :)
 
This was fun and shot beautifully. The acting was the best part, imho. Two great actors. And though I kinda saw the twist coming, I still liked it. A lot of subtext at work there that works well. No real criticism, but for some reason, the end came off a bit comic, when the rest of the film was pretty serious. And I mean comic in a good way, not silly. Don't know if that was intentional, but could have been just the mood I was in when I saw it, too.
 
tomten3000 said:
This was fun and shot beautifully. The acting was the best part, imho. Two great actors. And though I kinda saw the twist coming, I still liked it. A lot of subtext at work there that works well. No real criticism, but for some reason, the end came off a bit comic, when the rest of the film was pretty serious. And I mean comic in a good way, not silly. Don't know if that was intentional, but could have been just the mood I was in when I saw it, too.
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Thanks!

The end is definitely a comedic moment. Not necessarily laugh-out-loud, but it's a moment of pure dramatic irony that should make you smile. Sounds like it did it's job... :)
 
Chris_Keaton said:
Doesn't suspense = thriller? :)
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Last time I checked that is one of the many interpretations of what creates a thriller :grin:

Hey Mike, I liked the short. It begins quietly paced and well planned out to create this sense of tension and I loved it for that. Wasn't sure where it was going and parking garages are creepy, especially in the voyeuristic way you chose to shoot the lead walking through it. When the chase goes down It sort of ramps up the action and loses a lot of the tension but at the same time I was thinking this wouldn't end well for our lead.

The reversal at the end worked like gang-busters though, creating a nice comment on assumptions we have of people by appearance. I enjoyed it. Well done.
 
Love me or hate me, but here goes.... I wasn't thrilled. Being a fan of your past work, I was expecting much more. From the second he throws his wallet into the front seat of the car, I knew the story. A different title would have helped. What followed was a "cloverfieldish" chase scene that left my head spinning and eyes trying to focus. (can you tell I REALLY hated Cloverfield...only movie I've ever walked out on)
A thriller, to me, has to have tension, the main character has to have something at stake or something to lose or something to discover. This character had already lost
pretty much everything as far as I can tell.

Acting was o.k., but again, I expected more..."A Work of Art" was awesome...and I want more awesome from you!
I feel like you 'phoned' this one in. (no pun intended)

Best part for me was the score.
 
Camera work and editing were top notch here (no surprise), as were the performances. The chase scene had some real adrenaline to it. My problem was the story was a bit thin, which did surprise me. It felt like it ended a beat before it should. So he made a mistake? But the other guy wasn't really hurt. He can get the wallet back to him, maybe get off with probation if the guy presses charges. Life goes on. No real, "I can't take it back" moment that would have pushed this story to the next level.
 
MrKilloran said:
Hey Mike, I liked the short. It begins quietly paced and well planned out to create this sense of tension and I loved it for that. Wasn't sure where it was going and parking garages are creepy, especially in the voyeuristic way you chose to shoot the lead walking through it. When the chase goes down It sort of ramps up the action and loses a lot of the tension but at the same time I was thinking this wouldn't end well for our lead.

The reversal at the end worked like gang-busters though, creating a nice comment on assumptions we have of people by appearance. I enjoyed it. Well done.
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Glad you dug it!

ZazaCast said:
Love me or hate me, but here goes.... I wasn't thrilled. Being a fan of your past work, I was expecting much more. From the second he throws his wallet into the front seat of the car, I knew the story. A different title would have helped. What followed was a "cloverfieldish" chase scene that left my head spinning and eyes trying to focus. (can you tell I REALLY hated Cloverfield...only movie I've ever walked out on)
A thriller, to me, has to have tension, the main character has to have something at stake or something to lose or something to discover. This character had already lost
pretty much everything as far as I can tell.
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You're the first person to mention that the the title of the film is a spoiler. This is something we've all been very aware of from the start and it was definitely a decision on our part to leave it as such. I often wonder if the film had been called "The Garage," or anything else for that matter, if as many of you who say you "saw him throw the wallet on the seat" would still be saying that. If you go back and watch it again, you might notice that we don't actually show what he did with wallet after he looks at the picture of him and his wife. We just cut out.

I do, however, have to disagree with you regarding the stakes of the film. Granted, no one is in any mortal danger (and I don't think that's a requisite of a thriller), there are stakes involved in his actions. He's lost his job, he's got a family to support, the last thing he needs is to have his wallet taken along with all his cash and credit cards. Though we chose to play down the importance of that and play up on the importance of the family photos.

At the end of the day, it's a small scale story with an even smaller scaled budget. We jsut wanted to shoot something without blowing our wad like we did with "A Work of Art." :)

Sorry it didn't work for you, though. Hopefully the next one will!

AmyO said:
Camera work and editing were top notch here (no surprise), as were the performances. The chase scene had some real adrenaline to it. My problem was the story was a bit thin, which did surprise me. It felt like it ended a beat before it should. So he made a mistake? But the other guy wasn't really hurt. He can get the wallet back to him, maybe get off with probation if the guy presses charges. Life goes on. No real, "I can't take it back" moment that would have pushed this story to the next level.
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Thanks Amy. As I said to Zaza, we were trying to keep it small. The payoff of the film is less about the logistics of what actually happened, and more about personal consequence (and subsequent introspection) of the protagonist... and audience. :)
 
This is definitely one of the better films. Unfortunately there was no suspense for me and I would classify this as a comedy not a thriller. I am led to believe that this guy stole his wallet and that he needs it back, I am not questioning anything at this point. The chase scene, while unnecessarily handheld, was engaging because I want the main character to get his wallet back. When he does we find out he actually stole the other guys. The editing was rough, there was a serious cut that did not need to be made when we go from a good shot from outside the car after the chase scene to a handheld jarring shot a similar angle that does not match the previous shot in terms of style or tell us anything new. Funny twist ending but like I said not really suspenseful or a thriller. Enjoyed watching the film look forward to seeing more of your work.
 
filmcritic said:
The editing was rough, there was a serious cut that did not need to be made when we go from a good shot from outside the car after the chase scene to a handheld jarring shot a similar angle that does not match the previous shot in terms of style or tell us anything new.
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??
 
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