Trapped

dust'n the callipygous said:
thanks, man. any tips on what to clean up in editing? before i post up a higher res version somewhere i'm going to do a little more with sound and color, but sharpening up the cuts would make a bigger impact
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Nothing major really. I just found that some of the shots lingered. Like when you show the opening of the whole from within, or the body below when he's dumped in. Once I see it and retain what I'm seeing it could move on to the next shot.

No worries though. It's actually quite good as is.
 
Rodney V. Smith said:
"hey guys, I have this werewolf costume..."
"It will never look real on camera. We can't pull off a werewolf. It would only look like a guy in a werewolf suit!"
**CLICK** a light goes off and an idea is born. Great case of using what you have and using it well.
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were you listening in on our conversations? thanks for the comments! solomon really did an awesome job
 
I think the structure worked great. Lots of people complain about some shorts that feel like part of a bigger movie mainly because of all of the history and backstory that comes along with a short film. We stop seeing the movie as just a chapter, but where it belongs in the much larger timeline of these people's lives. This is exactly what's happening here.

Killer dude has obviously done this before, and the victim dude ran into him or was hunted by him. But none of that matters. The point is that they both had lives outside of the story, so they're fully formed characters going somewhere. The story is just about what happens on this particular night and that's the point of it.
 
6 minutes is tough. What bugged me is that I didn't get what he was doing and why he was doing it. And didn't really connect with him or the victim enough to care that the was trapped. We see this guy trapped. We jump to this guy killing some dude while in a werewolf suit. And then then dude gets trapped. There just isn't enough there for me to chew on. But that's probably just me.

I guess they got rid of the rule, but I was pretty sure they said serial killers or other humans behaving badly weren't considered monsters. It doesn't matter since you made it in, so that isn't going to effect my vote at all.

Other than the above I thought it was good.
 
Rodney V. Smith said:
I think the structure worked great. Lots of people complain about some shorts that feel like part of a bigger movie mainly because of all of the history and backstory that comes along with a short film. We stop seeing the movie as just a chapter, but where it belongs in the much larger timeline of these people's lives. This is exactly what's happening here.

Killer dude has obviously done this before, and the victim dude ran into him or was hunted by him. But none of that matters. The point is that they both had lives outside of the story, so they're fully formed characters going somewhere. The story is just about what happens on this particular night and that's the point of it.
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dude, thank you! And in response to the more critical, it is a freaking short film! Even a full-length 4-hour movie is still usually only a very small fraction of a much larger event or idea. But we appreciate the constructive criticism.
 
Cool film fellas! I definitely didn't see that coming.

The concept of a spider getting trapped in his own web is very is appealing to me. i think others have said it.. I wanted to see more tick marks of his victims. Only three? Am I too desensitized from the films these days?

Looking forward to your next entry.

/j
 
As requested!

This one is pretty easy for me, which is good. Pretty adventurous effort. I have a feeling it's just my screen but I couldn't see a lot of what was going on, literally. I'm actually very sure it's my screen, so in light of that I'm not gonna comment too much on the night stuff.

Do not have an issue with the opening shots, I did struggle with the handheld application. I wanted it, subconciously, to stop shaking so much so I could focus on what you guys wanted me(us) to see but it only got to that point a few times. I assume it was intentional, do you feel like it served or worked against the content? It comes off as doing what you can with what you have, as far as image goes, so again I won't go too far into it, will pad a little bit on the short itself, though.

I really felt like it ran too long, but had a beginning, a middle and an end. I didn't feel like I needed to see more before or after. It was exactly what it was set up to be down to the reveal. I do like the twist on a man in were-drag (Were-drag is what I'm gonna call it) hunting down others.

What I do feel that lacks is a fully realized world. What I mean by that is that you're in this moment, hunting and being hunted since the POV of the short switches back and forth-- I'm okay with this-- but the world around them feels generic. Partially, probably, due to budget constraints but a clear example is the pit: This isn't his first body judging by the marks on the walls, this isn't the first time he's been in this pit by the same indicator, where's the rest of the blood and/or bones? Where are the tears and rips in the werewolf costume?

Where are his scars from his first victim or did he exist as a perfect psychopath in were-drag from the get go?

Where it falls short, for me, is that it's "thin", like how a Skeleton or "outline" would be. It didn't have to be longer or shorter, it feels like it really wants to be "fat" but didn't plump up in time.

Don't take it as a gripe, I do like the undertone and what you managed to net. It's almost incomplete in the way that you see an illustration with color but no contrast or a source of light and shadow. If that makes any sense.

AGain, I definitely dig the premise.

Good go and thanks for sharing!
 
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thanks for the review! some of these suggestions and comments are things we had considered. more bodies in the hole is definitely one of those. it was mostly just down to time and scheduling.

as far as the dark stuff at night goes, it is very dark. it was nearly pitch black outside in the rain, and we lit most of that with a gelled 650 and an LED torchlight. Most of that was shot with solomon's 50mm f.95. That being said, much more is visible in Vegas than as the rendered mp4. know any settings to change so that i don't lose so much brightness?

i'm glad people are enjoying it! keep the comments coming!
 
wow, gf1? nice. you guys didn't convert to 24p though did you? is the lowlight capability much worse than the gh1?

a couple of shots were really nice I thought- the overhead shots of the pit, and the low wide angle shots from inside the pit. it makes sense afterward that I find out it was shot by the same guy who did last year's winner because those two shots especially did seem reminiscent of it. nj
 
all 30p. i don't think it's quite as good in low light. possibly just because of the higher frame rate/shutter speed. yeah, solomon did an awesome job. i'm really wanting a super-wide lens for my 7d after using that one so much.
 
I really liked this one from the opening shot. Great location. This was one of the few films where I felt a lot of tension watching it with the shots of the 'monster'.

Great cinematography. I know it's difficult to pull of outdoor shots at night, but you did really well with it. My favorite shots were at the beginning, then the shot of the opening (the hole) at about TC 4:08 and the end shot looking straight down into the 'trap'. The angle and depth with the vines hanging down was very cool.

Overall, very good film. And do I understand this is your first DVXUser entry? Congrats! :)
 
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thanks robert. yeah, this is my first dvxfest. i guess it's actually the first narrative piece i've ever really directed. i think it's funny you loved the hole shot at 4:08. that was actually a location-test shot taken the day before shooting. when i started editing i realized i didn't have an establishing shot of the hole, so i went back through and found that one in my BTS/test footage.
 
Dustin,
Sorry it's taken so long for me to chime in. Just watched it. Great job on pulling everything together. The score also turned out really well. :thumbup: I'll have to get the project file from you soon so I can do a HQ 24p conversion.

Now to view the other films :beer:
 
This is a cool flick! I thought the twist was nice and it has an effective structure. I liked a lot of the camera movement and cinematography, but did have some trouble making things out in a few of the night shots (the first monster reveal at 2:07 is too dark to be super effective).

The directing was definitely strong and creative in this, and there was a lot of good storytelling.

I was a little disappointed that the monster turned out not to be real, especially for this specific fest. In any other circumstance, I obviously wouldn't care.

The only other comment I would say is that it takes a little long for the guy to get rolled into the hole. A little editing magic could speed that up a tad.

Very solid film! One of my top rated ones.
 
Right Dustin!

This is an interesting little flick - the pace took a little while to get into however - i'm sure thats as much the result of watching so many films in a row. Seen on its own, and i think its pace is fairly absorbing (like a delightful bath sponge.)

The performances were okay, and the cinematography was decent enough and pretty! I enjoyed the suspense of our chap caught under the building (though i felt i could see the whole drag out result a mile away.) However - then you caught me with my pants down as it were!

The outfit idea was brilliant - well done on that. It brought a very interesting question and dynamic to the story that if there was a little more hint of subtext could let us join more interesting dots together. As it is though we don't get much more to go on, and it perhaps leaves us a little too flapless of context.

I also like the end of the film, and am left enjoying it but wishing for more answers. There is excellent style here, and some original ideas, but there is a lack of content and within 6mins there is ample room - without any scenes, just even symbolism (in a no dialogue piece like this) to add in more.

Take for example Tarkovsky (an extreme example) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7jK8UdQl8A
 
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