Timefest entry "Survival"

I really enjoyed this film. Great camera work! Loved the running scenes.
And who doesn't like the Star Wars theme music!

Great job!
 
Gorgeous photography man. Wonderful. From your credits this appears to be a very small crew of family/friends? Where in the high desert are you? We shoot up in Victorville and Apple Valley a lot. Any chance you're down our way?

I can't say enough about how well this is made. Great voice over. Great actors. A complete sweep in my opinion. Very well done!
 
Agreed on the stunning visuals.

Story was good - actually, the shot of her pulling the handkerchief out of her mouth kind of just gave me inspiration for a new script.
 
Mark Johnson said:
Gorgeous photography man. Wonderful. From your credits this appears to be a very small crew of family/friends? Where in the high desert are you? We shoot up in Victorville and Apple Valley a lot. Any chance you're down our way?

I can't say enough about how well this is made. Great voice over. Great actors. A complete sweep in my opinion. Very well done!
Click to expand...


Wow thank you so much. Coming from you this means a lot to me. Yup our crew consists of me, my brother, his wife, and two buddies. We are a five person DIY film crew. This story is written and directed by our 17 year old mentoree, if that is a word. We have taken the talent God has given him and tried to turn it into something more refined but as you can see he has a great gift.

We are all from the Victor valley living in Apple and Lucerne Vallies and Hesperia. So if you ever need anything whi9le you are up here let us know.

Thanks,
Pauly
 
Hells Bells!!!! Yo be neighbors!!!!!!!!! We're up there all the time. What a pleasant surprise.

We SERIOUSLY need to get together soon to share locations. As you know, that whole area up there has some amazing nuggets and incredible production value for nothing or next to nothing. I'm so glad to learn about you guys. When you can (and if you are agreeable) could you send me a PM with your contact info? We are up there so often and I'd like to at least say HI the next time.
 
pauly_the_hitman said:
We are all from the Victor valley living in Apple and Lucerne Vallies and Hesperia. So if you ever need anything whi9le you are up here let us know.

Thanks,
Pauly
Click to expand...
Tim Hyten (O2s director) is from Apple Valley. We're all down in Rancho Cucamonga, now.
 
Blaine said:
Tim Hyten (O2s director) is from Apple Valley. We're all down in Rancho Cucamonga, now.
Click to expand...

WOW really that is awesome that was by far the best produced short in the contest in my opinion. I would like to get a hold of that set for a day man what a cool place to film. Anyway hope we can all meet and work on something together.
-Pauly
 
I watched your movie again, I was trying to understand this:
Did the psycho kick the piece of glass on purpose to see how long it would take the girl to free herself?

Loved Eidelweiss music box-ized. Where on earth did you get this?
 
Existentialist said:
I watched your movie again, I was trying to understand this:
Did the psycho kick the piece of glass on purpose to see how long it would take the girl to free herself?
Click to expand...
Wow, that was what I was thinking, too. But I figured I must have gotten it wrong since no one else had mentioned it...except the narrator.
 
This was shot really well, and in a cool location. It highlights the benefits of shooting outside during the day.

I liked it.
 
Excellent shot choices, great overall short film.

My only gripe is the set seemed too clean, it's out in the desert so there should've been dirt and grime on the floor and glass shards.

As far as the antagonist dropping the deuce, it felt out of place but I guess you gotta go.
 
This film had some beautiful cinematography. I enjoyed the camera movement and acting. I loved the tension build up as she cut the rope and the hit of the board against the guys face. All that was quite positive. The story lost me after she escaped, and his reading of the survival manual never quite fit for me. I had no answers to why he was doing this. Also, the girl being gone at the end felt off to me. All in all great film! I enjoyed watching it.:cheesy:
 
msconce said:
This film had some beautiful cinematography. I enjoyed the camera movement and acting. I loved the tension build up as she cut the rope and the hit of the board against the guys face. All that was quite positive. The story lost me after she escaped, and his reading of the survival manual never quite fit for me. I had no answers to why he was doing this. Also, the girl being gone at the end felt off to me. All in all great film! I enjoyed watching it.:cheesy:
Click to expand...


Six minutes is a hard time frame to explain all the intricacies of the story. But just as others don't know the reason Enok had to push the button. Of course the title is Survival and a crazy loner out in the middle of the desert may become delusional, after picking up a survival manual at the local military surplus store and use some of the techniques on other unsuspecting souls.

And to answer some other comments. The house we filmed in was that clean there is a lot of wind up here and we actually didn't really clean it up at all. WE did strategically place glass to make it seem more interesting, and broke a few holes in the walls for character. But however you see things it is all just a learning curve and we take it all in stride. Every comment gives us more reason to keep going and makes our productions all the better. If we try to hard to make a story every one can understand to easily then why bother, we all make films that have a meaning to us.

So thank you again for all the comments it makes us all better in the end.
 
I loved the smooth shots of the survivalist killer and the girl running. The framing of the girls legs was exceptional! Did you use an automobile for your dolly? What lens did you shoot the shot with? I loved that. I would have just changed the angle a little, shooting back to make his face more on a 45 degree angle to see both his eyes as he angrily chased his prey.

Also , your choice to keep returning to the strange clock playing the music during the scenes in the shack was superb.

I almost cheered when she smacked him in the face with the board.:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

Thanks for the great job. :2vrolijk_08:
 
Gary Sconce said:
I loved the smooth shots of the survivalist killer and the girl running. The framing of the girls legs was exceptional! Did you use an automobile for your dolly? What lens did you shoot the shot with? I loved that. I would have just changed the angle a little, shooting back to make his face more on a 45 degree angle to see both his eyes as he angrily chased his prey.

Also , your choice to keep returning to the strange clock playing the music during the scenes in the shack was superb.

I almost cheered when she smacked him in the face with the board.:Drogar-BigGrin(DBG)

Thanks for the great job. :2vrolijk_08:
Click to expand...

Thanks for the nice comments. I am glad this is being so well received. I love the fact that we are being critiqued by peers and you all have something to offer as far as ideas and thoughts.
-Pauly
 
Yeah, when she hit him with the board, I was saying: "take the knife! Take the knife!" That is a huge testiment to your film right there. I was in that moment and engaged.

Man, I would love to sick John Abbot Mitchell on this cat. :)

I really had no complaints about the filmmaking. I thought you used a lot of nice shots, like when he kicks the glass and it ends up by her hand, and in the beginning with that slow lift catching glimpses of him and the knife through the boards. That stuff in particular seemed very well planned out and indicated right off the bat that you guys know what you're doing. That kind of stuff always seems to escape me when I am storyboarding. Dunno why, but I am always pretty impressed when people come up with little shots like that.

Of course, the location cannot be beat. Even though NYC has all of these great places to shoot, I am jonesing to get out to the desert and shoot something.

I would agree that I might want some more insight into this guy. I understand the 6 min thing. BELIEVE ME, this is my 4th fest and oh boy do I understand it.

But in the future, if you do something else like this for a fest, think of one well crafted shot that can give info. A picture is worth a thousand words is the cliche, but I find myself repeating that in my head as I am writing and storyboarding. I think: "Wait, wait, wait. All I need here is ONE IMAGE. It has to be the right image, but one image."

Anyway, sorry for the ramble. This was nice work.

What's your story, film-wise? Film school? Self-taught?
 
Overall a great film. Looped back on itself nicely.

I would have loved to have seen the woman's shoes, or some other testament that she met her end (I am assuming she did), like some souvenir the antag would keep.

Not sure I buy 100% that he got ahead of the van. And where did he get the nails during his pursuit?

It was hard to tell if the tire was popped by one nail, or a handful. It looked like one, but a tire rarely pops by running over a nail like that. The nail imbeds itself and all but seals its own puncture. A slow leak at best. Assuming it was one, it's really difficult to pull a nail out of tire with your bare fingers. Possible, but difficult. Felt too convenient.

All excellent shots. Probably a little too much info on the poop scene.

Solid acting and a great location.

Alex
 
I really enjoyed this. Nice little credit sequence, and you obviously put a lot of thought into your shots. The lift of course, the use of focus in low-angle shots (I'm a big fan of that shot anywhere I see it) and the way you used the location, shooting through holes in the wall and so forth.

One beef I did have was that one of the angles on the crapper showed that sharp piece of wood sticking up, I thought that was goin' in somebody's flesh for sure since it was so prominent in the frame but nothing came of it.

It was my impression that he was toying with her, and that he intentionally kicked the glass within her reach and then left so she could cut her bonds and give him a chase. So I found it kind of surprising that he wasn't expecting an ambush. A suprising amount of blood on that hit by the way, it was kinda funny. Of course right after she gets him I had a similar reaction to Mark's--"Hit 'im again! Hit him four times! ...Take the knife!" The day-to-night transition during the running shot was pretty sweet. Last thing, I would have liked to see a token or trophy taken from her, so we're clued for sure as to what happened there, even if we can guess. The first time I watched it I was a bit confused.

All in all one of the better entries in the fest. Good job!:thumbsup:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top