"The Water's Edge" - NJ Film School

Spoiler:
I can't believe you went full r****d, but you did. Steinbeck's ears are ringing. I like the two guys by the river performances. The cry was too much. The dual shooting was hard for me to buy into and no backup also would be unlikely. All that could be done by adding so I won't even knock you for it, just pointing it out. This looked pretty and was cut well. Besides the cry, which could just be the volume or length, that dude really did a good job. This shows what a competent crew is capable of.
 
Anthony Todaro said:
I can't believe you went full r****d, but you did. Steinbeck's ears are ringing. I like the two guys by the river performances. The cry was too much. The dual shooting was hard for me to buy into and no backup also would be unlikely. All that could be done by adding so I won't even knock you for it, just pointing it out. This looked pretty and was cut well. Besides the cry, which could just be the volume or length, that dude really did a good job. This shows what a competent crew is capable of.
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Thanks for the review.

We talked a lot about Tommy and who he is - I think he's just a little slow - a child in a man's body.

I'm glad you liked the film and I'll pass along your compliments to the crew.
 
Chris

I loved it.


I was most impressed with your shots. (Visual Language, you know I am a junkie.)

This was my pick this go around. I love the boat in the end going into the little dead end eddy. Nice touch. Very impressed.
 
J.R. Hudson said:
Chris

I loved it.


I was most impressed with your shots. (Visual Language, you know I am a junkie.)

This was my pick this go around. I love the boat in the end going into the little dead end eddy. Nice touch. Very impressed.
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Thank you so much. That means the world to me.

I'm a junkie for that stuff too. I used to love reading your blog and your visual scene breakdowns.

As I mentioned earlier, that last shot was in my brain for a long time and it actually ended up being much harder to shoot than I imagined. Water is always tricky, but what made it crazy is that we were using real hundreds (the prop money just looked too fake). If you look carefully, at the end, you can see one of the hundreds gets sucked down into this vortex under the boat. It took us a while to actually find it after the shot was over - it was almost the most expensive shot I ever did. :)

Anyway, thanks again - I'm so happy that you liked it.
 
Ok finally getting around.

Chris, your team did a great job again. I thought this was better than the last entry so improvement from the team is great.

The pacing was well controlled. There were some mismatches shot to shot in the grade and some overall sound issues. On sound, I, for the times it was hot, thought the words were unnecessarily loud and the grief at the end could have been sold better without the screams.

I agree with John, lots to like about the way you unfolded the story. I liked how you showed us the downed cop and held momentarily to reveal the dead brother. I guess at the end of the day for me, the brother is a criminal, I just dont buy him taking his brother out on a ransom deal and I guess that was the fall down on story IMO. The criminal brother played his part well, for the most part the special needs brother wasnt quite there, but it must be extremely hard to pull off and I almost believe you need someone of Sean Penn calibre to do so.

A few nitpicks. Great to see the team growing.
 
Noel Evans said:
Ok finally getting around.

Chris, your team did a great job again. I thought this was better than the last entry so improvement from the team is great.

The pacing was well controlled. There were some mismatches shot to shot in the grade and some overall sound issues. On sound, I, for the times it was hot, thought the words were unnecessarily loud and the grief at the end could have been sold better without the screams.

I agree with John, lots to like about the way you unfolded the story. I liked how you showed us the downed cop and held momentarily to reveal the dead brother. I guess at the end of the day for me, the brother is a criminal, I just dont buy him taking his brother out on a ransom deal and I guess that was the fall down on story IMO. The criminal brother played his part well, for the most part the special needs brother wasnt quite there, but it must be extremely hard to pull off and I almost believe you need someone of Sean Penn calibre to do so.

A few nitpicks. Great to see the team growing.
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Thanks for the detailed review.

I agree about the lighting and the sound. The sound is easy to fix, but that damn sun and clouds won't stay in place. :)

I'm glad you liked it and that you think we're improving. I can't ask for more than that.
 
Your entry has garnered numerous excellent reviews listing many areas which could be improved, many of which I agree with, a few I don't, and a couple ~ ~ ~.

I just wanted to chime in and say NONE of these were enough to take me out of the story - even for a second. The acting (and therefore directing) was just excellent. ALL of the technical aspects, while perhaps not absolute perfection, were sufficiently professional to enable the telling without distraction. I consider this a major feat of craft that even the greats have been known to blow. My humble thanks, congratulations and best wishes to everyone involved on an outstanding entry.
 
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pixelated said:
Your entry has garnered numerous excellent reviews listing many areas which could be improved, many of which I agree with, a few I don't, and a couple ~ ~ ~.

I just wanted to chime in and say NONE of these were enough to take me out of the story - even for a second. The acting (and therefore directing) was just excellent. ALL of the technical aspects, while perhaps not absolute perfection, were sufficiently professional to enable the telling without distraction. I consider this a major feat of craft that even the greats have been known to blow. My humble thanks, congratulations and best wishes to everyone involved on an outstanding entry.
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Thank you so much for your wonderful and thoughtful review.

I really do appreciate all the honest critiques - I know we still have lots to learn and improve upon.

I'm really touched that even with the flaws you liked it so much.

Meanwhile, since the contest is almost over, below is a link to our script in case anyone wants to check it out and see how it compares to the finished film:

http://www.njfilmschool.com/scripts/the water's edge.pdf
 
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What?! First?! I can't believe it!

/sarcasm.

No surprise here, Chris! Congrats to you and your crew! I'd better see you next time!
 
Woohoo! Congrats Chris!

I have to be honest and say that I did not see the beauty of this film the first time I watched it.

THANKFULLY, I watched it again and saw the error of my thinking.

Great story and beautifully told. The final shot is just beautiful.

Good job and a very well deserved win!
 
Matt Harris said:
Congrats Chris to you and your students, well deserved!
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Thank you so much.

Hawk Teflon said:
What?! First?! I can't believe it!

/sarcasm.

No surprise here, Chris! Congrats to you and your crew! I'd better see you next time!
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Thanks - we'll definitely be back.

AJ Brooks said:
Woohoo! Congrats Chris!

I have to be honest and say that I did not see the beauty of this film the first time I watched it.

THANKFULLY, I watched it again and saw the error of my thinking.

Great story and beautifully told. The final shot is just beautiful.

Good job and a very well deserved win!
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Thank you so much for your kind words and for giving our film a second look.

Matthew B said:
Congratulations to you and your team Chris.
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Thanks a lot. I just emailed the cast and crew - they are going to be ecstatic!
 
ChrisHurn said:
Congratulations, Chris! I am very pleased to have been involved in the project. Great news!
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Chris it was awesome working with you. Thanks for the amazing score!

Marlon Ladd said:
Great job, Chris!! Nobody deserves it more. Excellent film, man. Excellent!
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Thanks, man. I'm really proud of the film and everyone involved. I can't wait to learn what the next fest is and tackle it with my film class this Fall.
 
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