"The Water's Edge" - NJ Film School

Nemesis TS said:
I really enjoyed your film. Cinematography was awesome. The acting was great, I especially liked the guy who played Jack.
Good job.

Wish I knew what happened with the girl. Otherwise awesome job!
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Thanks for all the kind words - I'm so glad you liked it.

As for the girl, she lived happily every after. Actually, I have no idea what happened to the girl - I was too fixated on Tommy and Jack's story, but I think that is a very fair question - maybe there could be a sequel. :)
 
boomforreel said:
This film looked great. The main bad guy looked good against the lush, green background. I especially liked the sound. The birds chirping in the background added a nice touch. When people are talking or crying in the distance, did you capture that by shooting from a distance or do you make it sound like that when editing?
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Thanks a lot, I'm glad you liked the look of it. We worked hard on the compositions, but the location really did all the heavy lifting. Those birds would not shut up, but luckily they added a cool ambience. As for the distant dialogue, it was all recorded at a distance, except for the final shot of the boat with Tommy crying (that was done in post).
 
ZazaCast said:
Wow... beautiful film Chris! (I wasn't expecting anything less) This is your (or your film school students) best work yet. You have to love the AF100, give it a nice sunny day in the lush woods and you're in heaven! (I love mine...can you tell?). Add to that a well written script, a few good actors, a dedicated crew and this is the level of film that can be produced! All involved should be really proud of this film. Lets not forget the score either, Chris did an exceptional job.

Congratulations to all! :thumbsup:

Play-by-play:
Aspect ratio worked nicely on this one with such beautiful images. As soon as I heard 'Tommy' speak, "Of Mice and Men" instantly popped into my head. Your directors did a great job with the actors overall. There were a few soft focus shots that stood out, but only because the rest of it was so sharp. The story did have a few small things as mentioned...the cop alone in the woods...and not wearing his vest? He had been running and wasn't sweating at all? Two 'kill shots'? Tommy's crying might have been a little over the top...but all this is just picky little things. I really had to dig to find anything to comment about.

Since this was a NJ Film School project.... the only thing I would have liked to see, since students are credited with everything else, was to have a few students edit this one too. As an assignment you could have had each student make their own edit and talk about which one everyone liked best...then go with that edit for the fest.
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Thank you so much for the thorough review. I am getting together with the crew on Friday and can't wait to share all of these with everyone - what a great way to learn what worked and how we can continue to improve.

The AF100 is a beautiful camera - the one I have been dreaming about for ten years - I can't say enough good things about it.

I'm so glad you mentioned "Of Mice and Men" - I adore Steinbeck and that was definitely in the back of my head for this.

We are definitely kicking ourselves over the soft focus in that two shot (and there is another shot we had to abandon all together), but as I told my students we are still learning and we have to learn from our mistakes as well as our successes.

Two of my students are working on their own edit, but their both still so new to it - hopefully that is something I can continue to work with them on in the future.

Thanks again for all your insights - I truly appreciate it.
 
Lynchenstein said:
Yes! That's instantly what I thought too. I loved the colours and the quality of the images were top notch in my opinion. When it fell apart for me was the interaction with the cop. I can't really put my finger on it, but I was immersed up until that point but then you lost me a little.

Tommy's crying was OK for me. I think that the realization that he and his brother were actually "bad guys" followed by the sudden and violent death of his beloved brother would make a man like Tommy react in exactly that way. His world was completely broken.

The closing shot of the boat in the water and the money floating by was beautiful.
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Editing this was tricky, we had a fair bit of coverage and trying to get the pacing right was hard. I think I might of rushed the climatic moment with the cop and perhaps that's what made it feel a bit off for you.

I'm glad that the tears worked for you and especially that final shot with the boat. I've had that image in my head for a long time and it was great to get in on the page and then on film - it sure wasn't easy to shoot. :)
 
Tim Joy said:
Congrats! best of the fest, IMO.
Loved the cinematography from the very first shot all the way through. The acting was great, believable, and the writing was, as usual, peppered with surprises and just perfectly natural. One of the few.. or maybe the only one, that I could just enjoy as a story and keep the 'critical filmmaker in me' down. You should be proud!
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So many people worked really hard on this and I'm very proud of them all. Thank you so much!
 
Thank you all for the reviews so far.

I've watched all the films in the fest once, I'm going to watch them a second time tonight, and then I will start reviewing them all.
 
This was excellent!

Yes, I got a real Mice & Men feel from it but that's no big deal. The actors were all quite good. Especially the emotional scene, kudos on that. I know you said that sound was difficult and I think that's your weakest part.

I think a good sound design guy can clean it up even further. As is it's not too bad though. Didn't distract me from what was going on.

The story was excellent and the cinematography was beautiful. One or two soft focus shots but that's nitpicking. One of the best I've watched so far.

Congratulations.
 
Spoilers//
The Water's Edge is (very much in the mould of a writers ambition!) Yes its pretentious - almost outrageously so - it sings of 'Mice and Men' and any short film (with a name akin to a novel's suggests that quality!) It certainly stands out too (positively) in a dvxfest which mostly comprises of commercial style genre homages! So while the pretension is self evident (and a little campy) on one intellectual level, its still I believe personally a positive element in your film, that you veered into such territory as it makes the film all the more original among the competition. To make us care for the villains - (even if it is a little excruciating in its sentimentality) is an achievement and the film succeeds in doing this. The cinematography is lush and beautiful, the performances, particualrly that of the disabled character is brilliant and courageous.

A film like this might illicit a groan from the would be cynical intelligencia (and i don't count myself among them) but for your average viewer, its 'worthy' and to me above that, its is original, its original in how it makes us reacte psychologically to these characters and the story. Thank goodness our disabled character didn't become some kind of 'hills have eye's hick monster man handling our poor girly kidnap victim.

Overall I placed this film in my own top 5!
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
This was excellent!

Yes, I got a real Mice & Men feel from it but that's no big deal. The actors were all quite good. Especially the emotional scene, kudos on that. I know you said that sound was difficult and I think that's your weakest part.

I think a good sound design guy can clean it up even further. As is it's not too bad though. Didn't distract me from what was going on.

The story was excellent and the cinematography was beautiful. One or two soft focus shots but that's nitpicking. One of the best I've watched so far.

Congratulations.
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Thanks for the awesome review. I'm really psyched that you liked it so much.

The sound came a long way from the first edit, but I agree, we could still take it further. I still have much to learn. Your sound mixes are always so awesome - how did you get so good?
 
lawriejaffa said:
Spoilers//
The Water's Edge is (very much in the mould of a writers ambition!) Yes its pretentious - almost outrageously so - it sings of 'Mice and Men' and any short film (with a name akin to a novel's suggests that quality!) It certainly stands out too (positively) in a dvxfest which mostly comprises of commercial style genre homages! So while the pretension is self evident (and a little campy) on one intellectual level, its still I believe personally a positive element in your film, that you veered into such territory as it makes the film all the more original among the competition. To make us care for the villains - (even if it is a little excruciating in its sentimentality) is an achievement and the film succeeds in doing this. The cinematography is lush and beautiful, the performances, particualrly that of the disabled character is brilliant and courageous.

A film like this might illicit a groan from the would be cynical intelligencia (and i don't count myself among them) but for your average viewer, its 'worthy' and to me above that, its is original, its original in how it makes us reacte psychologically to these characters and the story. Thank goodness our disabled character didn't become some kind of 'hills have eye's hick monster man handling our poor girly kidnap victim.

Overall I placed this film in my own top 5!
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What can I say?

Your perspective is always honest and unique and I really respect that.

I'm honored to make your top five (even if you do think I'm pretentious). :)

Thanks for the truly epic review.
 
The visuals were very memorable, which says a lot because it means it's more than just pretty cinematography.

A bold entry.

Great work.
 
AJ Brooks said:
The visuals were very memorable, which says a lot because it means it's more than just pretty cinematography.

A bold entry.

Great work.
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Thanks a lot.

I keep an idea box filled with stories, characters, dialogue, and images and a couple of the images from "The Water's Edge" have been with me for years. It just took me that long to find the right story that they fit in.
 
WOW! I loved this one! Maybe it's because the story and relationship is very familiar...Of Mice and Men.

Strongest story so far! You really were effective pulling at my heartstrings. Now is that b/c it's a direct reflection of Steinbeck...I dont' think so.

Actors rocked their parts.

Was there an accidental jump cut or did my player skip forward in the middle. Little bit mismatched colors here and there, you can tell with the greens. Shooting in the forest is nerve wracking with all the natural sounds and it seemed seamless to me.
 
Mobie540 said:
WOW! I loved this one! Maybe it's because the story and relationship is very familiar...Of Mice and Men.

Strongest story so far! You really were effective pulling at my heartstrings. Now is that b/c it's a direct reflection of Steinbeck...I dont' think so.

Actors rocked their parts.

Was there an accidental jump cut or did my player skip forward in the middle. Little bit mismatched colors here and there, you can tell with the greens. Shooting in the forest is nerve wracking with all the natural sounds and it seemed seamless to me.
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Thanks for the great review - I'm so happy you liked the story.

I'm friends with all those actors and it was really great to work with them.

There is definitely no jump cut - so maybe something got corrupted in the download.

Shooting in the woods is challenging, but honestly, I loved it and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Thanks again.
 
Chris,
I haven't read through all the comments, so I hope my thoughts aren't repetitive: First the good -- I thought the cinematography was all in all fantastic. Just about every shot was beautiful and professional, and made this film really stand out. The location worked well too, interestingly juxtaposed with the darker nature of the film. Probably my favorite thing about the film was the the actor who played jack - he absolutely nailed it and really seemed like a big name actor.
The things that didn't work quite so well for me are story-related. Perhaps because I once made a film for school of "Of Mice and Men," Jack and tommy's relationship seemed immediately to me a bit uninspired. I wasn't crazy about the "We're bad guys?" line. That sort of line spells things out too much for me, and makes me remember that this film I'm watching comes from a script - it makes it less natural, and I think you could've gotten to that point in the film with more subtlety - certainly a cool idea to explore though. The last thing is that after watching it cumulatively about five times (alone and when showing to some friends), I still can't figure out the meaning of the boat. Love the image, and I'm convinced I'm just missing something...but I just don't know.
Anyway a serious congratulations on making a real winner of a film.
 
Thanks to you and your students for submitting this Chris. I don't know what you did differently this time, but this is a big step up from your class's last entry (can't remember the title, the undercover cop film). I loved Jerry Broome. He gave tremendous life to Jack and was a lot of fun to watch. This was shot beautifully, and has the best use of colour I've seen I think in any of these fests.

As a bad guy looking out for his innocent brother, he's an interesting character too. I would love to have known just a little bit more about him. I like the nice, simple goal, but I also struggled with the believability - why would a man like Jack bring his brother to a deal like this? That said, while I saw it coming, I loved Tommy as the inadvertent antagonist. He adds tremendous heart.

I'm picking on stories this fest, and you had one of the stronger ones, but I think it could have been stronger still. My main issue with the film is I don't know what is at stake or what jeopardy Jack is in until the very end. Without knowing what's at risk, I don't invest myself into the characters as much as I would like.

The stakes are there, but by concealing them until the end leaves me waiting to see what happens rather than anticipating what happens. The main way this comes across to me is how you juxtapose the cop running through the woods with the two brothers. I see the two different events, but with no context about how the two relate, all I can do is wait for the two to finally connect.

By revealing more of both parties motives earlier on, I think you could drive up the suspense level. Instead of thinking thinking 'I wonder how and when these two lines are going to connect,' I''m thinking ‘what’s going to happen when the cop with the cash meets with the kidnapper trying to hide his brother.’ That is a juicy dilemma that would have me living in anticipation of the event.

This is something I struggle with a lot in my own stories - how much to reveal and when. It's never an easy answer. Apologies if it seems I'm coming down heavy on this, this film was one of the best for me, I just would love to see it taken that next level. Congratulations to you and your students, you did a great job.
 
I liked this. The twist was nice and not overly expected. I think the ending might've had more impact if the guy didn't have a big bawling fit, but just stood confused, maybe even trying to wake his brother up because he doesn't really know about death. Overall great job.
 
zucked said:
Chris,
I haven't read through all the comments, so I hope my thoughts aren't repetitive: First the good -- I thought the cinematography was all in all fantastic. Just about every shot was beautiful and professional, and made this film really stand out. The location worked well too, interestingly juxtaposed with the darker nature of the film. Probably my favorite thing about the film was the the actor who played jack - he absolutely nailed it and really seemed like a big name actor.
The things that didn't work quite so well for me are story-related. Perhaps because I once made a film for school of "Of Mice and Men," Jack and tommy's relationship seemed immediately to me a bit uninspired. I wasn't crazy about the "We're bad guys?" line. That sort of line spells things out too much for me, and makes me remember that this film I'm watching comes from a script - it makes it less natural, and I think you could've gotten to that point in the film with more subtlety - certainly a cool idea to explore though. The last thing is that after watching it cumulatively about five times (alone and when showing to some friends), I still can't figure out the meaning of the boat. Love the image, and I'm convinced I'm just missing something...but I just don't know.
Anyway a serious congratulations on making a real winner of a film.
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Thanks a lot for the review.

I'm glad you like the look and I'll pass your compliments along to the actor.

As for the boat, it can mean whatever you want it to mean. For me, it kind of represents innocence, childhood, and the loss of both. But that's just me. It could just be a boat. :)
 
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