"undercover" - NJ Film School

Nice wipes. I loved the ‘sorry, sorry’ at the beginning, it appealed to the Canadian in me. Nice, simple twist at the end, worked well. This one didn't strike me as extraordinary, but came across as a competent, well shot little short.
 
4100xpb said:
Nice wipes. I loved the ‘sorry, sorry’ at the beginning, it appealed to the Canadian in me. Nice, simple twist at the end, worked well. This one didn't strike me as extraordinary, but came across as a competent, well shot little short.
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Thanks for the cool review.

Honestly, I don't think there is anything particularly extraordinary about our film either. But, if it's a nice tight "well shot little short" - then I'm really happy about that. :)
 
To make the whole film a complete flashback was a very clever and intelligent idea. The film was convincing, but I had a hart time to enjoy the mood. Was the score a homage to Erik Satie?

Susanne
 
A dash of Reservoir Dogs with a pinch of Memento made for an entertaining quickie. Loved the coverage and lighting. Young talent but they showed good control. I didn’t notice the sound so it wasn’t a problem. I would have loved to see a large exterior wide, to open this up a bit. The only other bummer for me would be not seeing a credit for the writer. The music was creepy in a GOOD György Ligeti kind of way. It help keep the dark vibe. Nice work from the team.
 
Susanne G. said:
To make the whole film a complete flashback was a very clever and intelligent idea. The film was convincing, but I had a hart time to enjoy the mood. Was the score a homage to Erik Satie?
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Thanks - I'm glad you dug the flashbacks.

Regarding the score, I was inspired by Schubert's "Der Leirmann" and asked the composer to come up with something that had that same vibe (without the vocals).

Here is a sample of the original in case anyone is curious:

 
Anthony Todaro said:
A dash of Reservoir Dogs with a pinch of Memento made for an entertaining quickie. Loved the coverage and lighting. Young talent but they showed good control. I didn’t notice the sound so it wasn’t a problem. I would have loved to see a large exterior wide, to open this up a bit. The only other bummer for me would be not seeing a credit for the writer. The music was creepy in a GOOD György Ligeti kind of way. It help keep the dark vibe. Nice work from the team.
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Thanks for the awesome review!

I would have liked an even wider shot too - I need to get some more lenses. :)

Regarding the script, I wrote it and edited it, but since this film was a project for my students, I didn't put myself in the credits.

That's cool that you liked the music (I'll definitely tell the composer) and if you look one message up, you can see the inspiration.
 
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No prob. You don't need lenses to get on a roof in N.J. and shoot that awesome nightscape! =)
I'm stuck in farmland at the moment and would kill for a decent slice. I have city envy.
Not sure why you wouldn't put your name on the film you wrote and edited?
Every student film I worked on has the writer and editor on it.
I'm just trying to get you your Academy Award man, work with me!
 
I really enjoyed this. Ive seen a few flash back films before but this was very well done and I was not expecting the punchline.
An excellent short.
 
Chris Messineo said:
Thanks - I'm glad you dug the flashbacks.

Regarding the score, I was inspired by Schubert's "Der Leirmann" and asked the composer to come up with something that had that same vibe (without the vocals).

Here is a sample of the original in case anyone is curious:

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This is an interesting backround info! I thought to Satie's 'Gnossiennes' what was composed about 60 years later than Schubert's 'Der Leiermann'. Probably Satie's music is more absurd than Schubert's, seeing that he was one generation younger, but composed 'Gnossiennes' still in the same century.
 
Enjoyable - conceptual short film - competently produced, paced and acted. Its not perhaps the first scenario in movieland where an undercover cop is about to reveal his badge to get shot - but who cares? Its implemented fairly originally with its past cut back - which reveals the story nicely. (A good example of where writing makes all the difference.)

My only caveat really is with the piano - nothing screams film school/students more than a solitary piano ' DAAANG ' 3 minutes ago - ' DAAAAAAAANG ' 10 seconds ago.

Given the subject matter is hard ass cops under cover - taped mouths and beatings why not make it all a bit sexier (lime my undercover cop beating festish videos) - id consider a re-edit for soundtrack, as this could benefit from an injection of genre, as the arty plink plonk does little for the production.

An enjoyable short!
 
Thanks so much for the review.

I'm really happy that you (and others) liked the backward story and the students worked hard on the lighting and composition, so I'm really pleased that you liked that too.

I fear any score questions are really my own fault, based on my suggestions and the ridiculous amount of time I gave the composer to create the score. I do think something "a bit sexier" might be interesting here.

Thanks again.
 
The backwards story was awesome Chris, i feel like you took that concept and made it your own.
Let's not forget that before the Matrix, Seinfeld had a famous backwards episode. So I'd say (It's a possibility) that Chris Nolan
might have seen that episode and said, "hey great device, i gotta use this in movie form". So backwards storytelling
is an open field as far as i'm concerned, and not "owned" by anyone.
 
Thanks Matt, I'm glad you liked it. It makes your head hurt a bit when you try to write a story backwards, but I think it can help make the story feel a little fresher (especially since ours wasn't exactly breaking new ground). Best of luck in the finals with your film.
 
Thanks for the well wishes. but what I want to know is, (if you explained this earlier i missed it), did you write it normal and then just shoot the movie backwards?
 
Matt Harris said:
Thanks for the well wishes. but what I want to know is, (if you explained this earlier i missed it), did you write it normal and then just shoot the movie backwards?
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The script is written backwards - the first scene in the script is the last scene chronologically. However, we did shoot it all in chronological order to make it easier on the actors.
 
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