WILL - A Lyon Films Production

Devon, Kevin,
Amazing work as usual here. You guys are pros and every moment conveys that.

Great use of the ensemble cast, everyone's performance was well dialed in. Loved seeing DB, Chris W, Mercedes, Emma, Christopher and some new faces.

My only critique would be the plot is simply too one dimensional. You reveal your idea early on and then...it happens. There's no surprises or turns of any sort. I think the idea would have lent itself either to a big surrpise/twist, or to go in a totally different tonal direction and give it some really morbid dark humor "where do I wrap the bacon?"

Looks great, sounds great, and great acting.
 
Footsteps

Footsteps

EditPhish said:
The criticisms: My only real complaint was in the ending shot... the footsteps sounded like a woman in heals.
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As the sound designer, I can definitely see that. My reasoning behind the decision was that he was wearing a nice, leather-soled shoe--which develop a very hard patina in my experience--on either a polished concrete, marble or thick tile floor. Andrew didn't strike me as a "rubber sole" guy considering how dapper he was the rest of the production...especially if he was performing rites for his best friend. The implied gait also seemed to my ears to have a longer stride...typical of a man of some height.

All that being said, the feedback makes sense and I'll definitely have to consider that in the future. Thanks for lending me your ears!

Matt
 
I thought the beginning was a bit too long with the reading of the will. I actually would have changed the title to "The Will." Having a Baldwin, props for you. I did like the interaction of the four outside, but I thought the dissolve was weak to the present day. It was a very well done film, but I kept thinking of "Fried Green Tomatoes" - the secret's in the sauce. They bbqued a man in that movie or so it was implied. Here he's being basted then cremated. But it didn't provoke any emotions for the audience, which I think is what kept the film from having more depth.

He was going to get basted. No moral dilemma. No struggle. No conflict. It was too easy. Yes, the film "looked" professional, but I would have liked to have seen the mortician really struggle with the wishes. Anything. Something. It just went from point A to point B. Well crafted film. Weakness was in the script.
 
I enjoyed this. Looked great, nice use of locations and great grading.

Baldwin! He rocked. Loved the smoking. :)

I too felt like I was being told everything but I still enjoyed it. Some of the sound design did seem off to me and it really did sound like ladies shoes at the end. Not heavy enough.

Shot really well! Loved that. The acting was great and the originality of the story was very nice.
You guys should be proud of this one. Nice job.
 
The film had a great look with fine performances all around. However I was left a little hanging in the end waiting for the hook or surprise (I personally thought it was perfectly setup for a nice bit of wholesome BBQ cannibalism...mmm). :laugh:
 
Awkward.

That is my one word for this. I loved it, especially the reveal of the spices at the end, when the camera tilted up then back down to show that he was going to respect his friends last wishes. What I loved about this was what some others weren't so fond of, the story went from a to b, in that time I was able to reflect on what would I do if I was faced in with the situation. That to me is a good thing to pull off, if others can project themselves in your film then you did good. This felt very natural, like something people would do/talk about. Well executed.
 
Hitaish said:
The film had a great look with fine performances all around. However I was left a little hanging in the end waiting for the hook or surprise (I personally thought it was perfectly setup for a nice bit of wholesome BBQ cannibalism...mmm). :laugh:
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Thanks Hitaish - we are always eager to read feedback and thoughts on our shorts. For this short we decided we didn't need or want any sort of twist or surprise. The script was written to be straight forward. It was really just a story about two friends. The only "surprise" is whether the friend would honor the abnormal, somewhat humorous, request. That's all :)
 
Shawn Philip Nelson said:
Devon, Kevin,
My only critique would be the plot is simply too one dimensional. You reveal your idea early on and then...it happens. There's no surprises or turns of any sort. I think the idea would have lent itself either to a big surrpise/twist, or to go in a totally different tonal direction and give it some really morbid dark humor "where do I wrap the bacon?"

Looks great, sounds great, and great acting.
Click to expand...

I loved it as well. It was probably the best cinematography. I thought the opening scene was fantastic. But I do agree with the poster above. The outside scene was a pretty long way of re-telling what we already knew. I felt that scene could have been much shorter.
 
Beautifully crafted film by professionals...with professionals. Really enjoyed it!
Have to agree with some of the above comments, but you guys are on such a different
level then I, that I should just sit back and learn from it....which is exactly what I'm doing.

:happy: Congrats to the cast & crew! :happy:
 
Mr Blue said:
Awkward.

That is my one word for this. I loved it, especially the reveal of the spices at the end, when the camera tilted up then back down to show that he was going to respect his friends last wishes. What I loved about this was what some others weren't so fond of, the story went from a to b, in that time I was able to reflect on what would I do if I was faced in with the situation. That to me is a good thing to pull off, if others can project themselves in your film then you did good. This felt very natural, like something people would do/talk about. Well executed.
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Mr. Blue-

This is what we were going for. Something with dark humor but poignant, that makes the viewer think about what they would do, and a little about how one approaches death (your own and those around you). Glad you enjoyed it!
 
I really enjoyed this film. The cinematography was very clean and well done.
Death is always a great topic to reflect on and that's exactly what this film made me do.

Cheers to you guys,
Jay Loafman
 
I like me some Daniel Baldwin! Cool short Devon, it was true black comedy, subtle and interesting.
Very nice cinematography, good all around cast, and good dialogue. Good concepts too, like the playlist and the rub,
I really appreciated the quirkiness and originality.
 
I can't believe you guys got Daniel Baldwin! That's great. I thought there were alot of good things going on in here. You had some nice cinematography and the story was good. Kind of funny, but not funny. I thought the sound design at the front was missing something though. It seemed as if all we heard from Daniel was his voice. When we moved, we heard nothing like it was all ADR or a lapel was used. Anyway, I'll have to go back and watch it again to see for sure. The acting was good, but seemed to falter a bit a couple times when they were in the backyard, but that might be a nitpick. I really enjoyed the last shot as well. Good work on this.
 
Good job, on this one. It was interesting and kept me engaged. It may not be the best thing you've done (The Tell) but it was still pretty good. I always look forward to seeing what you come up with because I know it's going to be fresh and original and this didn't disappoint. Again, good job.
 
This was a clever little story. I loved the lawyer in this one, he had a great demeanour. The middle section seemed to drag a bit - it was nice to see the conversation that brought this about, but I really wanted to see the mortician struggle with the decision. It did give you an excuse for a nice soundtrack though. Well done, thanks for putting this in.
 
Blaine said:
Good job, on this one. It was interesting and kept me engaged. It may not be the best thing you've done (The Tell) but it was still pretty good. I always look forward to seeing what you come up with because I know it's going to be fresh and original and this didn't disappoint. Again, good job.
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Thanks! It is always going to be hard for us to top singing demons :) Good old tell has gone on to have a great run in some festivals. Will is much more low key, subtle and simple. We like its slowness, even the middle scene, b/c it is meant to have that sort of pacing. Long pauses, quiet inhales, etc.
 
The story was clever and funny. The acting was good. I enjoyed this one, even if I think that the flashback part with the two couples was too long.

Susanne
 
This looked and sounded great. Overall, I think it lacked story. The concept is interesting and funny, but from page 1 we know what's going to happen and then it happens. I was hoping for some mystery or development. The dialog in the flashback dragged a bit. I see where it was going with the obscure band references as a character trait, but I think it went a little long. Also, it seemed odd to see a lawyer smoking in his office in this day and age. I loved the setups and creative use of depth of field. The gray look in the backyard was striking. And let's face it, you have D. Baldwin and frankly that's just plane awesome. Good job guys.
 
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