UPSIDE DOWN PACO - by Hoz

I was a bit confused at the beginning.

That "rick roll" in the middle was bizarre and hysterical at the same time.

Then it all made sense in the end and I really enjoyed it. Very clever.
 
I have to echo what everyone else is saying: it was kind of hard to watch and utterly incomprehensible, but when placed in context with the forum, the story structure and the bizarre costumes made a lot more sense.

It's really time to break out and hire some real actors. Your lead is not doing you justice at all. He doesn't convey the type of human emotion and vulnerability that is required to pull off a role like this. You have to watch your casting carefully so that you can see how well they play with each other. Take a good look at the lighting setup you have and build on that, but use it wisely with good set design. One of the things that's hurting you is you shot selection so be more careful in how you design your shots. Actually design them so they match what you see in your head. Move around the room until you find the angle that says "this is the one" and then do whatever you can to get that particular shot.

You have bits that could be a lot funnier, but you have to start getting the bits right first. It has to feel organic and breathe, and once it does that and you;re getting an awesome picture, we'll be more able to appreciate the good sense of humor that you demonstrate.

Can't wait to see what comic gold you have coming our way next fest.
 
hey ! thanks for the comments! your honesty is awesome and very well appreciated.

warau -

yeah, the song is exactly what lawsuit boy referred to, but now i can see how it can come
off as seemingly out of nowhere.


lawsuit boy

i wished to put the "Forum" in a simple enough room so that the members would better stand out on their own. it seems this did not work since so far no one has liked the first half of my film. at least i am unanimous! ( i will now get off the floor - hard to type down here )
i didn't want to make the rick roll too good ( not that i could if i wanted to due to various reasons ) because i wanted to safely spoof the thing. again, it seems i went too far with that approach...
i am glad it uplifted you in the end, i am also most thankful for your honest comments!

chris messino

thanks for your words!

puckthemad!

thanks so much for your honest words as well, i am going to carefully review what you said and try to learn from it! you are the best to spell out it, like it is, man, thanks!
 
First, let me state that I was SOOOOOO lost with this film, trying to figure out what the hell was going on at the table with those people, the place cards, etc. I finally thought maybe those were all areas of his brain, talking to each other, etc. It wasn't until I saw the screen on the PC that I had a clue. Thankfully I stuck around long enough to see it all come together, for which I'm glad. :)

I really enjoyed the payoff, and thought it was a sweet film ... just was SO utterly distracted by the craziness prior to the payoff that it's still leaving me spinning to a degree, lol.

BTW, you had some GREAT looking women you cast in there! :thumbsup:
 
Norm Sanders said:
First, let me state that I was SOOOOOO lost with this film, trying to figure out what the hell was going on at the table with those people, the place cards, etc. I finally thought maybe those were all areas of his brain, talking to each other, etc. It wasn't until I saw the screen on the PC that I had a clue. Thankfully I stuck around long enough to see it all come together, for which I'm glad. :)

I really enjoyed the payoff, and thought it was a sweet film ... just was SO utterly distracted by the craziness prior to the payoff that it's still leaving me spinning to a degree, lol.

BTW, you had some GREAT looking women you cast in there! :thumbsup:
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sorry to lose you! glad you liked the payoff.



spoiler-----------

i could've really helped the film by maybe giving my characters hand held signs that mimick icons - such as :beer: or :thumbup: . i really thought it wouldn't be a problem for people to follow though.

oops.
 
Maybe I'm alone here, but I really enjoyed this one. I think you should get rid of the Cheny character though. Politics aside, he was a real irritant, and kept the rest of the characters bogged down in bad memories.

I really liked the montage, but think it went on one or two scenes too many. Maybe you could have played with the time a little, and maybe speed up the cuts as the montage progressed, or even went back on one, like it's a fave. It really only moves at one pace.

Dance scene added nothing.

The end was a nice payoff. I think a background noise of typing during the 'session' could have helped tie this a little.

Lose Dick and the dance, play with the montage, add some typing, and you can polish this.

aw
 
I have to say I agreed with others. I had no idea what was happening until the end. interesting dvxuser usage though haha.

I thought with the technical side that more over the shoulder shots or something would have helped. Everything looked very 2 dimensional. Maybe more back light? I don't know how that stuff works so I think some depth would make it look much better. not depth of field, just depth. i thought the sound was really good, and a nice concept. I thought the pay off was great, but I think some people might not be patient enough to wait til the end to find out. Guess that's the only problem with a pay off at the end.

good work sir.
 
Technically it came off a little flat, two dimensional looking. Try to work in some different shots once in a while.

Had some funny moments though. Odd, but interesting. The ending kicked me in the head so I liked that. :)

Keep at it.

MAh
 
leogardini said:
Hey Cris, congratulation...you are getting better!!!

Your final edition looks good:beer:!!!
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Leo! You are the best! for those of you reading this thread, Leo was my composer and man, did i give him a mess of a flick to work with. It my was idea as well to make the astley song as cheesy as possible to where he delivered. Leo, you were really great to work with and i hope someday we do so again.
 
alex whitmer said:
Maybe I'm alone here, but I really enjoyed this one. I think you should get rid of the Cheny character though. Politics aside, he was a real irritant, and kept the rest of the characters bogged down in bad memories.

I really liked the montage, but think it went on one or two scenes too many. Maybe you could have played with the time a little, and maybe speed up the cuts as the montage progressed, or even went back on one, like it's a fave. It really only moves at one pace.

Dance scene added nothing.

The end was a nice payoff. I think a background noise of typing during the 'session' could have helped tie this a little.

Lose Dick and the dance, play with the montage, add some typing, and you can polish this.

aw
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thanks much for your constructive critique! i did not use cheney in any sort of political vein but more for the obviousness of his public character.

great advice with the montage and the typing!

thank you!
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
Technically it came off a little flat, two dimensional looking. Try to work in some different shots once in a while.

Had some funny moments though. Odd, but interesting. The ending kicked me in the head so I liked that. :)

Keep at it.

MAh
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MAH and Mr. Nick Lee, thanks for the comments. I wanted a 2 d look because i wanted them to look and feel like the personification of a web forum. i think i made a mistake in that i had leah and rex share a screen. they should've each held to their own little "boxes" ala tic tac dough. what do you think?

thanks.
 
Odd and really sort of clever.
Once the ending kicks in it all makes sense but I think a few more clues could have been dropped to hint towards the big reveal. The Rick Roll fits well.

I felt the extra scene with Dick, outside the "forum" felt out of place and just took up time you could have used to deepen the story. Work on your production value a little more and you'll have some really solid stuff.
 
The comedian line was hysterical to me. I liked the Dick Cheney character as well. Probably because I hate him so much. There are some technical issues here, but my films have them as well so I looked past them and stayed with the story. I kind of knew what was going on because I have been following the thread.

I enjoyed this one. keep em coming.
 
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