TheatreGuy's "ID"

HA HA! Thanks Kdawg! Yeah, the ending is TOO abrupt. I forced something that I shouldn't have.

I wanted the wife to come in, see her husband dead, make a phone call and say, "whatever you did worked! Because the lying, cheating sack of sh** killed himself." making us wonder if the wife planned all of this all along. And then HER INNER DEMON awakes.

I pushed something in that I didn't have time for.

Lessons learned. Better here than at Sundance! Right?

Thanks man. I appreciate you viewing and commenting!

Ted
 
cinealma said:
Yes, I was making this statement as an audience member, shouting at the screen. :thumbsup:


John G.
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Thanks man! I hope that's what you were saying. That typical, "don't go in there!" horror flick stuff!
 
VersuS said:
Oh and by the way, the intro in the cemetary is one of the most professional single sequences I've seen so far and possibly in the Top3 of intros in the fest.
Ted if you're listening, think about this. The planning and the shooting of the cemetary scene must have been so small in comparison to the rest of the film, yet you managed to make it look PROFESSIONAL LIKE HELL! So think about what you can do with just the camera and without all the ladders, ceilings and lights. In this intro you have showed that one dont need nothing more than a camera and his creativity (and an NLE of course...hehe).
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Wow! John, Thanks! THANKS!!!

I must tell you, after I scouted that location, I set-up and shot the opening scenes 3 different days!!!

The first 2 days, I visited the site at a late afternoon period thinking that was the light that I wanted. Got home both times and hated the footage!

I then got up at 5am in the morning and set out to capture this in the early morning hours. BINGO! Loved what I saw.

I have a lot of great footage from that shoot. I try to get more of it in the film. (Some may remember the body slung over the shoulder grab) I really had a nice opening... for a longer film!!! Had to cut it as is to get that 6 min. mark.

Thanks for the kudos on that shot. I am glad that it stood out and was recognized!

Ted
 
TheatreGuy,

I just watched your film. I thought you did good work.

The static shots you had to do (since you were acting by yourself) worked out pretty good I thought. You managed to get a good variety of shots and I think you cut them together pretty well.

A scene I liked in particular was when he was woken up by the knocking at the door, and the knocking was tied to a quick flashback to the cemetary.

You were able to tell a story with almost no dialog too, which was pretty neat. Through the shots and the one line in the basement we learn he was married, was having an affair and killed his mistress, although we don't know why, but that's perhaps not important to the story.

Personally, I think it would have worked better without the line the wife delivered at the end. She says the line, and so we know she knew he was having an affair and she's not suprised that he killed himself....but it's not clear why. If this was the ghost of the mistress tormenting him, or all in his head, how would she know about any of that?

Overall though I liked it. Good job.
 
I liked this one. Good story. The editing and camera angles were fantastic. I didn't get the ending? I will investigate your exposition on how you did the 'blood on the ceiling' effect. Also, you used a lot of dissolves instead of jump cuts. What was your motivation for doing that. Overall, I like this one a lot for the story telling. Great job! Some addtional notes follow:

movietime: 00:00:25:04 - Love the opening and the editing, quick dissolves, to keep the story moving.

movietime: 00:00:44:08 - Nice overhead shot. How did you do that one?

movietime: 00:01:05:08 - Like the shot of the close up on phone and shallow DOF. Very nice.


movietime: 00:01:15:07 - Nice rack focus!

movietime: 00:01:39:05 - O.K., I'm going to find out how you did the blood from the ceiling effect.

movietime: 00:02:26:18 - I like the colors and low angle shot in the 'coat room'?

movietime: 00:03:14:08 - Nice reveal with 'the wife'

movietime: 00:03:25:15 - I really like the 'mirror' reveal, although it seems cliche'. How did you do that?

movietime: 00:04:01:05 - I really like the door knocking and the images flashing. Very believable, when you're sleeping.

movietime: 00:04:24:06 - Flashlights and basements. Another cliche'. It works well. Especially with the rocky texture on the left of the image.

Didn't quite get the ending? Was the 'ghost' girl someone he was having an affair with? Was that his wife at the end? I didn't get the ending?
 
Yo, Ted...

Major kudos my man... I think you did a great job and really enjoyed the story. I liked the choices you made throughout... they were serious situations, but had comedic elements at the same time. I mean, if you saw a bloody spot on the ceiling, what would you do???

And you did it all by yourself! Man, you're the next Robert Rodriguez, I'll put money on it... Rebel Without a Crew!!! :thumbsup:
 
Apollyon, RobertE... you both bring up great points.

Yes, I screwed up my ending. I should have stuck with the guy "Tim" and not introduced the wife. I regret that choice. Consider it a lessoned learned. I was trying to do something and I thought that I could pull it off. I got too close to my film and couldn't make the distinction between what work and what didn't.

Anyone listening, consider this an important lesson. USE TEST AUDIENCES and LISTEN TO THEM!!!

RobertE, thanks for the other detailed questions. I'll do my best to answer them.

I used disolves where I felt that I had to. Shots that had the same action that I was trying to speed up. The cemetary shot, the van shot, the bedroom shot, the rack focus shot. I tried to get a lot of story into a short period of time. This is my first film and I did it solo. I have learned a lot!!!

The overhead shot is a camera mounted on a ladder. I used ladders a lot. Check out this thread!!! First page has links to photos within the thread. Additional photos on page 1.

Yep. Cliche' mirror shot. First film. Wanted it in. ALSO!!! This is a man who is seeing images that ARE NOT THERE. Cliche's are what I believe he would see.

Thanks on the knocking shots.

Flashlight in the basement may be cliche' but again, it is a man fighting an inner demon. To me, the cliche' works, especially here. I wasn't trying to create an extraordinary original piece of work. I was trying to create my very first film with no crew and no actors except for the 2 ladies. I had HUGE limitations.

No miving shots, no pans, no dollies, no handheld. HUGE LIMITATIONS.

The ending was forced and I shouldn't done it. Basically, I wanted the audience to discover that the wife felt that she was responsible for Tim's suicide. (there is a scene that JUST COULDN'T FIT in 6 minutes... I should have stopped and re-thought everything. Out of time in both the movie and in the festival deadline!!!)

Anyway, Wife starts to see her own inner demon. (the red light)

Sorry it was confusing. I REALLY feel bad that I did that to my audience! I wish that I could fix that. But I intend to on an 8 minute festival that I would like to submit this to.

Thanks for all of the questions!!! I love sharing the experience. Good luck to you!!!

Ted
 
Theo - okay, so you won't patent the ladder, how about the plastic encasement
to your camera? Call it - GORE-BLOCKER for DVX cameras. Yes/no?
I can help you in marketing the thing.
 
Charli said:
Theo - okay, so you won't patent the ladder, how about the plastic encasement
to your camera? Call it - GORE-BLOCKER for DVX cameras. Yes/no?
I can help you in marketing the thing.
Click to expand...


GORE-BLOCKER--- BRILLIANT! :)
 
Charli said:
Theo - okay, so you won't patent the ladder, how about the plastic encasement
to your camera? Call it - GORE-BLOCKER for DVX cameras. Yes/no?
I can help you in marketing the thing.
Click to expand...
I am working on patenting The Camera Cube (TM) aka... the GORE-BLOCKER! (why didn't I think of that name??? Brilliant! :grin: )
 
TheatreGuy said:
1158452854.jpg
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I just noticed that I have those exact same yellow worklights!! Bravo, Ted!! Wonderful, aren't they?
 
Yeah Kyle. They came in real handy!!!

I have a plethora if lights! I have many theatrical lights, halogen lights and the lights that came in the most handy... MUSIC STAND LIGHTS!!!

Wow! So small and handy! They fit into the smallest of places and put out a nice amount of light!
 
I didnt even think about that! I have at least 4 music stand lights!! -- Well I'll have to remember that for next time...

and I too look forward to more projects, ted man. it'll be fun to see each of us improve... (even though im the one that needs it the most...) ;)

cheersforfest.jpg
 
the post number... well, right after i made the post it took me directly to that link. i noticed the URL had the post number as well... SO, i copied it straight from the address bar and used it as my link.

sort of a lucky thing, i guess. the lesson here is to make your link as soon as you make your post!
 
thekyleman71 said:
I didnt even think about that! I have at least 4 music stand lights!! -- Well I'll have to remember that for next time...

and I too look forward to more projects, ted man. it'll be fun to see each of us improve... (even though im the one that needs it the most...) ;)

cheersforfest.jpg
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Dude, don't even go on talking like that! "you need improvement the most!"

I did a lot of work, but do you see any camera moves? No.

You've got some sweet dollys, handheld, car shots...

I set up on a tripod and left it still (well, I had to... but)

I do appreciate the kind words. I think that it is going to be very cool to see our work a year from now. Very cool indeed.

Thanks for the beer! (though I do prefer a dark beer over bud!) :girn:
 
thekyleman71 said:
the post number... well, right after i made the post it took me directly to that link. i noticed the URL had the post number as well... SO, i copied it straight from the address bar and used it as my link.

sort of a lucky thing, i guess. the lesson here is to make your link as soon as you make your post!
Click to expand...
That is clever. Yeah... I will have to remember that!

Thanks!
 
I can feel the fun factor in this one. Ted you're an amazing one man show here and
the acting is perfect. The music was kinda b movie quality but, I think that worked
in your favor here. I think it was stated earlier about the comedic elements used
in your short, I love em! Fork Fork Fork Fork Fork!

I've enjoyed this thread from the very begining to the finished product all the
while learning from your experiences, I sucked at BTS posts. I too can't wait to
see what you do for the next fest! You have a level of excitment that's pretty
damned infectious. Just reading your post's makes me wanna leap out of my
sheety $12 Ikea chair to start making another film!
 
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