Tipper Vs The Red Hornet

HagerNYC

HagerNYC

Active member
Yay! My film is up!
I hope you all liked watching it as much as I liked putting it together.
The credits are as follows:

Cast

Tipper.....Himself
Tipper (voice).....Chips Raferty
Chris..... Himself
The Red Hornet.....Henry Krinkle
The Wife.....Marie Peze
The Wife’s cat..... Minu
Gen. Wilson Jr. .....Brian
Gen. Wilson Sr. .....Brian

Camera and Lighting
Andrew Sterling
John Hager


CGI & other digital effects by
Penguin Films

Picture and Sound Editing
Johanas Hagermiester

Music

Holts Suite from “The Planets”
Mars Bringer of War
Jupiter The Bringer of Jolility
Uranus The Magician
Performed by The Bensonville/Wood Dale Concert Band
Cunducted by
Fred Lewis

“Into The Beyond”
Produced by Grant Robinet and Darrel Wright

Special Thanks

Jeremy Brena
Diane Mashburn
Christy Hager
Peter Phok
Taso Zoitas
Kraft Cheese Slices

Written and Directed by
Me :)

The greenscreen sequences were shot on the regular DVX100 and composited into the 2:35 aspect ratio. CGI was done in Maya and composited in After Effects. My two dogs had a blast working on this film and look forward to their next big project. :)
 
OMG....I'm LMAO! I think you've captured, what at least our group thought was the point of the contest - creativity, imagination, and originality...ya know those independent film qualities. Of course, I am a sucker for those cute doggies too. My own family is comprised of a sheltie and an aussie.

Cool man!

Looking foward to feedback on our sci-fi comedic effort.
 
Yeah, I thought this film was really good entertainment. I mean, the CGI was really quite good, considering the amount of it. And I love the title. I just love the title.
I'd say that at times, this felt way too long. Particularly some of the reaction shots in the cockpit. I mean, he's only a dog. He doesn't do that much. And you probably could have milked a few more laughs out of the dogginess of the pilots. I mean, the copilot chewing the wires was cool, although I couldn't tell what it indicated. Things like that, you know?
Great originality, very solid presentation, could have used some tightening, but what the hey. Nice work, and keep shooting.
 
Thanks penfever. One comment I got from people I've shown it to up here was that they want more dogs. lol There's actually an fx shotr that goes into the chase sequence but it put the running time over and had to drop it till I can post a longer version on my website after the fest. Thanks for your comments again. :)
 
Fun flick, dude. My three favorite parts were the quick "2001" reference, the Hornet guy turning into his Dad with 2 eye patches and Tipper's reaction shot when blowing up the Red Hornet.

The only quibble I have is I thought it could use a little dialogue during the action (between Tipper & Red Hornet), but that's it. Great work!
 
kudos, dude. Your film has the best (and most ambitious) CG that I've seen so far. Awesome job on that end. Were the dogs SAG? :) I wish my dog could focus long enough to be in a movie.

Seriously though, I really dug the look of the main spacecraft as the design really harked back to the old WWII style planes. Also, the letter home (just one scribbled mess) made me laugh out loud.

My one critique is that the bombastic score seemed to really undermine the action taking place on screen. It was just too over the top, creating tension through the soundtrack when there was really no visual tension to compliment the music in terms of the cutting/shots used during the dogfight. I understand making the whole space battle must have been a massive undertaking but the score used seemed to make the whole thing a tad anticlimatic--taking the focus off your awesome shots and directing it towards music.

Either way, it's one of my faves thus far. When's the sequel coming out?
 
Well I thought the score helped since, as I said, there was no dialogue during the action. Of course, I'm a Gustav Holst fan...
 
lol Thanks Shaun Patrick and Kaz. I totally get what you're talking about with the score. It's been a while since I saw the version I sent in for the fest. The longer version is a little better with the music. But alas. Oh well. It also played very stuttery for me. I hope you all saw it play fine. It took me 3 computers to render all that in time. Two here at my apartment in NY, and one at my sister's house in SC. I have no idea when the sequel will come out. lol I need a break I'll tell you that.
 
well the sequence needs score (there's no arguing that) but the tone of the piece chosen, I feel, detracted from the visuals.
 
Dogfighting in space? Is that like Star tRex?
This was almost 2001: a space doggity.

Ok enoguh puns, in all seriousness, I howled with laughter! FANTASTIC job.

The double eye patch joke was CLASSIC.

And the 2001 references were great. The 'trip-out' first, and then just as I got over that you cut to the bedroom.

How did you get the dogs to sit still for long? - And that reaction shot form the kill.. the smile.. WOW.

Nice CG too. - Not photorealistic by far, but perfect for the story. - and a LOT of it too! What was your render time for that lot?

did you script out first before shooting the dogs, or did you just shoot them and work with the expressions you got?

A great piece that really worked the 'traditional' sci-fi theme all the way to comedy gold. Good job! :thumbsup:

- Mikko
 
Sorry, I can't be more objective, but I LOVED this short.

First, the dogs. Awesome. Loved the shot on the approach where Tipper looks left out the side window. Loved the chewing of the wires. Loved the fact they were wearing collars and at least Chris had licence tags on.

Really liked the CGI and would like more info on how you put the CGI together.

The eyepatch generals killed me. Great fun.

Loved the music. In my opinion, appropriately over the top. And "The Planets" was one of the first classical record albums I bought (yes - album - but I'm not that old - it was 33 1/3, not 78). So I'm a Holst fan, too.

The 2001 homage was hilarious.

And I, too, say "more dogs".

One thought - what if the Red Hornet was a (hold on) cat? After all, if dogs are man's best friend, these dogs did away with the Red Hornet in a rather heartless manner. But then again, we all know cats can't act, so maybe you're better off sticking with the human actor (who I liked, by the way).

I was laughing out loud at this one.

Thanks VERY much for your efforts. This is a keeper.

(p.s. - I have two dogs that really want to break into acting and want to send you their resumes and a third female dog that really wants to meet Chris. OK?)
 
lol Thanks for all the comments. I think Tipper and Chris are getting big heads right about now. They're here reading it all with me. I have to run to work but will be back later tonight to give details on the whole CGI rendering and my working with two diva actors. lol
 
mikkowilson said:
Dogfighting in space? Is that like Star tRex?
This was almost 2001: a space doggity.
Click to expand...

Awesome! LMAO! I loved 2001: A Space Doggity! This was something totally different. Normally you can't pay me to go to see a movie about animals but this was worth the price of admission...oh, wait...I got in free. That's okay, it was still brilliant.
thumbsup.gif
 
This was cute, and I love the fact that I can have my kids watch it. The CGI was actually quite impressive, especially considering the amount.

I recognized MARS, from THE PLANETS right away ... played that myself back in college band/orchestra ... added well to the piece, though at times was a little overly dramatic in contrast to what was happening at the moment.

It's hard to criticize anything about this film, as it was obviously meant more for fun, yet unlike some gag films it had some REALLY good production quality in many parts of it.

My absolute laugh out loud moment was when the Senior/Father general turns around with TWO eye patches. Brilliant!

Also really enjoyed the VO, and flavor it gave the film, though I agree that it could have used more dialogue during the long action sequence ... the only place that I felt it could have used better pacing/cuts.

Great job, and plan on watching it again ... with my kids. Thanks for that.
 
Thank you again for the kind comments. The point of this was to be fun and entertaining, but I hope people still take it as a serious piece for the competition. lol I also like making things that kids can watch and enjoy especially when it involves animals.
 
Yes, it will be taken seriously, no doubt about it. But, it IS fun, while others are just serious, this makes everyone laugh again, which is always needed.
 
Let me apologize ahead of time because my opinion is going to come across as harsh -- I am obviously in the minority -- but my intention isn't to hurt feelings....

First, let me say I really thought it was a cute idea, and it started off as fun, and a bit clever. I'm a lover of dogs and cats too, but I also know that the pictures/video I take of my cat are cutest to me, not as much to everyone else.

You get huge props for your CG efforts... you obviously put a lot of work into the visual effects -- Their cheese-factor I can let slide because of your topic was obviously meant as tongue-in-cheek, but I also felt like I was watching a video game, not a movie... and ultimately, this is a flim contest.

Your story could have been told in about 1/2 the time -- you held on your shots too long and the pacing was too slow to be a real action-adventure sci-fi. Sure, the dogs are cute, but you don't need to hold on the shot so long to get that across. I would have liked the doggies actually doing more than just sitting there most of the time (though I imagine you didn't have "professional actors" or trainers, which could explain that).

There were a few entries in this fest that were too video-game-like and animation heavy, and your was one of them. Like I said, I totally respect the work you put into it.... But after the first minute or two, the novelty wore off and it couldnt' hold my attention.

Thanks for sharing it... You obviously have the skills to become a good CG artist.
 
Thanks guys. I've been gone for a while. EditPhish Thanks for your comments and honesty. Granted pehaps it could've been cut shorter, or as indicated above added dialogue for the actors/dogs to have to fill in seemingly empty spaces. I'm not sure which shots of the dogs you refer to that I held on them for too long. I was cutting to the beat of the music. Until the beat happenes, I don't feel the cut if you know what I mean.

"but I also felt like I was watching a video game, not a movie... and ultimately, this is a flim contest." Are you saying I made a video game and not a short film with a begining, middle and end?

"Thanks for sharing it... You obviously have the skills to become a good CG artist." but not a filmmaker?

Anyways, thank you for your honesty, I really am going back and looking at the cutting. I never liked this version anyways. My longer one has a little more action during the chase.

Cheers. :)
 
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