TROIKA -- A Short Film by Brian C. Parker

Brian Parker

Brian Parker

Well-known member
Genki Films Presents​


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Cast​


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AARON THOMAS​



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ANDREA BAILEY​



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QYUNH THI LE​



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SARAH FOTI​


Ok guys, this is my first Fest. Really looking forward to it. Can't wait to see all of the films.​
 
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Well, this was gonna be BTS shots but I really don't have that many interesting ones...mostly shots of all of us laying around trying to cool off. I think the actresses were a little worried that we might actually be making a porno the way I kept taking off layers of clothes. Ah well. I'll see what I can find.
 
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OK, a little late in the game but I did manage to find some behind the scenes shots.

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Me with my new baby (the XH-A1)



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Andrea and Aaron doing the whole acting thing



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I get some coverage shots while everybody competes in Maximum Extreme Shoe Elimination Challange​
 
Ok guys. Here's my quick spiel about Troika.

This Fest was a lot of firsts for me. First festival, first project shot on the XH-A1. I played with a video camera whenever I had the chance as a kid and I took some video production classes in college but all of the assignments were very practical and inorganic exercises. This is my third real short and first time casting actors.

I came up with the idea based on a suggestion by my sister on the direction I should take with the theme of love. Production actually went along pretty swimingly but post-production got done to the very last minute. In retrospect, I wish I had kept an active journal throughout the process but, and you can call me superstitious, I didn't want to say that things were moving along and then have production come to a screeching halt. I might recap some of the highlights of production later though.

So here it is. My submission for DVXUser.com Love Fest 2008. Glad to be a part of the whole thing. Immense learning experience and I'm really looking forward to watching everybody's films and getting some feedback that can help me improve. That's it. Thanks guys and enjoy.
 
Hey Champloo,

Nice film. I like your message in the story.

I thought that you did some really nice things here. There were some nice shots but many were very soft. I don't know if that was intentional or not.

The sound was pretty thin. The dialogue just didn't have a lot of "presence."

The performances were okay. I would like to have seen the guy go farther with his emotions. I mean, here he is holed up with a gun. To really believe that he would use it, I needed to see more anger, frustration, loss and hopelessness in him.

Funny use of music via the cell phone ringtones. Clever.

Story was my favorite part of your film.

Nice job! And congrats!

-Ted

btw... lucky guy to have 3 women in his hotel room! :)
 
A little soft looking, almost dream-like. Was that intentional? If it was maybe the shot of him at the end could have been made more clear.
Some shots like the gun on the table could have been shot a little more steady or on a tripod.

Interesting story though. I also like some of the framing of your shots as well.
Kept the scenes interesting.

Cheers,
 
Ted: Thanks for the feedback man. Yeah, I was going for a misty like quality without having to fill the room up with dry ice but I might have gotten a little carried away with the effect.

I cast the guy because he reminded me a little bit of Ajax from The Warriors and I was wanting the that same kind of intensity and edge.

Glad you liked the story, that means a lot. Appreciate the feedback.


Michael: Thanks for the advice. I might try to go back and motion track on some of those shots. Glad the framing was good. Was worried since it was all in a plain hotel room and all dialogue based.

Thanks for the tips and compliments. Good lookin' out.
 
It was definitely a little too soft throughout. Maybe pick a moment or two for that strong of a look, but not the whole thing. I also agree, the framing was good and you had some interesting shots. You did a good job with the space limitations.

I liked the mystery of the story at the beginning and the idea of him hearing the voices of those three women from his life, but I wish the dialogue had a little more subtext.
 
CHRIS: Thanks for the feedback. I think I'm gonna go back and tone down the softness because it seems to be the consensus that it was a little too strong. Glad you liked the story premise. Thanks!!

KEN: I wish that I'd been able to have the actors spend more time together prior to shooting. I think they were around each other for a little over an hour before shooting began and I think they were all coming from a very organic place in terms of feeling comfortable with their characters and interacting with the other characters in context. All the actors worked really hard and did a great job being dedicated and going beyond just being the talent on set so they were more than I had hoped for. Plus they agreed to do it for free. I just tried my best to make them look good. I think that if I had put more time into letting their methods flow, the performances could have shone that much more. Thanks for the feedback man!
 
Thanks for submitting this film. It is an interesting concept of having a guy holed up being sought of haunted by past relationships.

I wanted to bring up a basic technical flaw in the film that people can fall prey to if you are not careful. You crossed the eye line. When shooting a scene there is an imaginary line that the camera needs to stay on either side of. If you cross that line, it looks like the characters aren't looking at each other.

You can cross the line when we see the camera in a wides shot reestablish it, or if one of the actors is looking directly into the camera. I did it a little awkwardly in my film with a two shot, but I think it was permissible.

The time to never do it though is when it is a single shot on one of the actors or over the shoulder.

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Congrats on getting the film in the fest and I am looking forward to seeing more of your work.
 
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There are some obvious issues with the visual and audio, which I am sure people have covered. But the biggy is that in a piece like this, your actors have to kick ass and take names. And that takes a) really amazing actors. b) some nice juicy rehearsal time. It seemed like one or both were lacking to really make this thing cook the way it wanted to.
 
bosindy: Yeah, I totally crossed the eye line in that shot. I guess I just didn't realize it. Thanks for pointing that out and elaborating on it. These are exactly the reasons I wanted to get into this fest is to get these good critiques so I can keep growing. Thanks bosindy!

Mark: Thanks Mark. I'm really trying to improve on my skills working with actors. I spend a lot of time worrying about technical things and think that sometimes I might be leaving them kind of high and dry. I wish that we had more time for rehearsals so that we could have really brought that energy that you're talking about to the piece. I think one of the first things I need to do is connect with a good DP who I can trust so that I can give the actors a little more time. I appreciate your feedback!
 
Yeah, we all get caught up in the same problems. And that is exactly why I love working with Timur so much. I know I CAN trust him to execute on lighting and camera, so I can try to focus on performances. But it's still always hard. I am a HUGE fan of rehearsals, but it seems there is never enough time in those either...
 
I loved the camera work and the music you used was great. But the look might have worked for me better if it wasn’t so soft after he wakes up. I think for production value, if we encounter the woman in different locations. Its tough to pull anything off when we’re stuck in one room. The story was good so over all I like it. Love to see what you do next.
 
Hey Champloo. I thought this was an interesting film. I agree that it was soft, but I feel it added a bit of grit and edginess to the piece. It also helped sell the character's psychological state. I thought a lot of the dialog was good and liked the acting from the females. Especially the girl w/. the camera.

Nice work.
 
Anthony: Thanks, I appreciate that Anthony. Yeah, the general consensus seems to be that it was a little too soft visually but a lot of that was done in post so I'm going to adjust it a little, especially for the shots after he wakes up. I feel you on the one location issue too. Production value is a big thing. Thanks for the feedback!

DUKE: Thanks man. I'm definately gonna be doing some softness tweaking. Glad you liked the dialogue and yeah, the girl with the camera was really good. I enjoyed working with her and the others as well. Thanks for checking it out.
 
Hey cool film.

There were some absolutely amazing lines of dialogue that I felt were ill performed. I just felt like your leading male wasn't living truthfully in the world you created for him.

There was that moment when the girl says "It's like you're in a movie" (not verbatim) and the music stops, and it was hilarious. I think you could have pushed it even a little further, but that's just me. Bold direction there.
 
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