WHERE THE HEART LIES ... Johnson, Hyten, Golden & Bullis

[Blaine]

It is amazing and sometimes terrifying what people will do in the name of love. Crimes of Passion.

SPOILERS:














Love makes people sometimes act in irrational ways. And what could be more irrational than to kill a husband to obtain his wife? And what kind of relationship will that lead to down the road? It is certainly my desire to revisit this subject.

 

[Shawn Philip Nelson]

I really enjoyed this movie, but still don't understand the ending. Seriously, can you explain it? The friend, who had no contact with the wife, suddenly killed the husband to get the wife? Did she know? Was she expecting Sean to walk through the door? I don't get it.

But I did love the direction, the acting and the cinematography.

 

[Mark Johnson]

I really enjoyed this movie, but still don't understand the ending. Seriously, can you explain it? The friend, who had no contact with the wife, suddenly killed the husband to get the wife? Did she know? Was she expecting Sean to walk through the door? I don't get it.

But I did love the direction, the acting and the cinematography.

Look carefully at the last scene. Lisa picks up the phone and calls Jack and asks, "How's my husband?" ... Obviously, she was in on the plan to get rid of Matt. Then she closes with, "I love you. ..." They clearly have been having an affair for some time. Thus, when you think back on the scene where Matt confides in Jack that he's setting up his wife, you can see that he unwittingly gave the two of them the vehicle to get rid of him. The whole e-mail correspondence was a double deception in this light.

Sorry this didn't seem clear enough, but we deliberately wanted to not spoon feed and hoped people would enjoy piecing together what occurred.

Thanks for the nice compliments too. I can honestly say that if anything didn't work for you it was Tim's fault.

 

[Beat Takeshi]

You guys did a kick ass job on this. A giant difference from your other entries in the past. Um...yeah I think she gets hottest chick in the fest award. The story was simple but yet engaging and the acting was on point. If there is anything that bothered me it was the head getting blown off. It was a little cheesy to have the blood splash after such a perfectly executed short both technically and acting wise. I don't think it needs it. I don't even think you need to even see him getting shot. Leave it up to the imagination.
Cinematically, well Geoff. Nuff Said...

 

[Robert Eldon]

Where the Heart Lies
Really great camera work. Good sound, but the dialog was hard to understand at times. I liked the ‘flashbacks’ between the story of what happened and the current story with him at the motel. The aspect ratio seemed like 2.5:1 and was utilized very well.

The acting was good although I didn’t really care about the girl character (conniving bi***) or the guy because there was no relationship there.

Actually, displaying ‘Blaine’ in her email program was a funny reference, but took me out of the story.

Favorite shot was moving from behind the wagon wheel as he walks down the motel walkway. It would have been nice to have a little more light in the background. The imagery was great. I also liked the shot of the girl in the kitchen, at the laptop, with the sun streaming in.

The ending was especially well done. I think the editing was best at this point. Really good tension being built. Again, didn’t really care about the guy getting shot and the ‘best friend’ offing him? The ending (payoff) didn't seem to have a 'set up'. I watched the film a couple of times and saw no connection?

Overall, very cinematic. Engaging story but didn’t care about the characters. Very well done!

 

[Slimothy]

Thanks so much for the reviews people! One of the best things about these fests is you automatically get so many people to watch your films over night. Then you get to see what people liked, loved and disliked.

I really do appreciate all of your comments and I'm still making my rounds on other people's threads.

Tim.

 

[William_Robinette]

Beautiful film guys. The ending threw me for a minute but I started putting it together and I really love how you closed the piece. Cinematography was top notch.

Add another hottie award.

 

[Blaine]

Beautiful film guys. The ending threw me for a minute but I started putting it together and I really love how you closed the piece. Cinematography was top notch.

Add another hottie award.

Glad you were able to piece together, William. Thanks for stopping by and checking it out.

 

[Danielleus]

Just checked out the film. Great great great. It was really outstanding. Geoff's work speaks for itself. I like that it was an entire film in and of itself. Not much more to say but how much I really enjoyed it. Good work team!!!!!

 

[Mark Johnson]

Thanks so much Danielleus for the enthusiastic comments. It means a lot to have people here who we really respect telling us they recognize the effort we put into this.

I also appreciate so much the attention to constructive critique that is apparent this time around. I've been reading the exchanges on Como's thread and it is particularly encouraging to see people passionate about getting their points across. More than once people have disagreed (sometimes emphatically) but the disputes have been handled with civility and without flaming. Too often in the past the comments have been saccharine-laced "feel good" strokes. It's nice to be able to hear honest critiques and learn from them. I think Jack Stanley really did a service to everyone by posting his thoughtful notes regarding criticism in the context of these festivals.

I can truly say that the whole Fat Monster team is humbled by the talent and experience represented on this board. You've all been an amazing family and our collective future looks very bright indeed.

 

[Arrik]

Wow... just wow. Finally got a chance to watch it. I am stunned. High quality production, and why not? Look at all the talented people in your credits.

I was engaged from the get-go. Darkness, malice, jealousy, betrayal, all resonate through the film. It is really brought out by the score and lighting. Ofcourse, the acting/direction makes it happen. Your lead portrayed a vulnerability in his expression that really gave me the sense of the lengths he'd go for her. That said, I didnt mind the head shot because I was expecting someone to get shot, just not him. It was a surprise and very climactic.

Geoff is amazing.

She definitely wins the hottie award.

I'm proud to participate in a festival with this caliber of filmmaking.

 

[Blaine]

I didnt mind the head shot because I was expecting someone to get shot, just not him. It was a surprise and very climactic.

Thanks for catching that. Matt taking a gun to the motel was a pickup shot a week after we thought we had finished.

 

[Mark Johnson]

Arrik,

We blush at your kind words. The FAT MONSTER team wants to come to Queens and just sit around with some beers at your place and listen to you read that review a few times.

 

[Brandon Rice]

Yo guys, just wanted to let you know that your film was in my top three... voted this evening!

 

[kurtmo]

Personally, I don’t like uncomfortable stories. And this was one of those. You did your job very well, so good work!

 

[HorseFilms]

I love it!

Everything was absolutely superior. The lighting and camera work were fantastic. Very natural and interesting.

I love how you were able to weave a plot with that much substance in such a short running time. You're sucked into the story right away and it doesn't let go.

You did a great job with casting as well. All of the actors are top notch and their performances are spot on. Nice work!

A brilliant entry!:beer:

 

[Kevin Lee]

Yeah, fantastic job on everything in the film, great story within the time constraints. How did you get the lettering on the emails on film? That was the only thing that seemed pixelated or something to me.

 

[Blaine]

Personally, I don’t like uncomfortable stories. And this was one of those. You did your job very well, so good work!

Thanks for taking the time to stop by, Kurtmo. It is definitely a look at the "dark side."

I love it!

Everything was absolutely superior. The lighting and camera work were fantastic. Very natural and interesting.

I love how you were able to weave a plot with that much substance in such a short running time. You're sucked into the story right away and it doesn't let go.

You did a great job with casting as well. All of the actors are top notch and their performances are spot on. Nice work!

A brilliant entry!:beer:

Thanks a lot for watching, Horse. I'm looking forward to seeing something from you again. SOON. I love the way you handle your lighting schemes.:beer::beer::beer:

Yeah, fantastic job on everything in the film, great story within the time constraints. How did you get the lettering on the emails on film? That was the only thing that seemed pixelated or something to me.

I seem to remember that the emails were shot on the screen. I could be wrong on that and Tim, Mark or Geoff might have a better answer. Thanks for taking the time to watch.

 

[Aaron Marshall]

This film had many great facets. The acting was well above average. Geoff's DPing was right on the money. That was a very nice score Justin. There were moments when I thought to myself, "Is this Edgen?", but other times when I did not think so. There's some sort of new energy in your music.

I'm particularly keen when it comes to deciphering a story or film's cryptic messages. I "got" this film, but "getting it" didn't seem nearly as rewarding as the journey. I think that if the ending edit's rhythm wasn't so compressed it would be way better. The edit seemed to move way faster than the script at that point. I imagined.

 

[Zak Forsman]

Geoff's DPing was right on the money.

that's what she said.