Winter Lilacs

I really liked this. Audio levels were good, and story was insightful. Even if this wasn't what most were thinking for "love fest."
 
this film was awesome!

story- it was all about love, not the love he wished for, but real love.

acting - chet nailed it. from the picture " i think we need to do another one." to aiding his mom with the bath to the phone call with the nursing home which was spot on ( laughed to how he hung up the phone to the second call, too funny ) , to the dance at the end. the mom was great too, that little smile she gave after hearing about chet's "date", too cool.

storytelling- you did so many good things in this film - the clothes, the house, the lighting, the audio, the weather on tv ( which was so damn perfect - especially with the added look of a fargo -ish winter in the background ) the flowers, the old school popcorn, the paper ad, the ready to heat food, etc, etc, you had like ten extra characters running around the film at all times, even the pacing was perfect, the story moved along just right.

upon thinking about your film, so much care and work is evident here, its like watching a pro shortstop, he works so hard he makes it look easy and effortless, like he's not even there, thats how your film was, it was all about the story and you as a director weren't even there, because it was so real.

i give you much credit, can't wait to see your next film!
many thanks!
 
he has other films? gotta check 'em out! btw zak, when are you going to post your film's extra minutes? guess i should ask you this on your film's thread....
 
Excellent pacing, sad/disturbing story, i liked this a ton.
Very professional looking and sounding, no complaints at all.
I really like both actors and found the whole scenario believable.
The scary thing is my girlfriend's neighbors are a spitting image of these
two characters so this is hitting home for me. Great work!
 
Great direction, camera work and production design. The close-ups of the phone appeared blurry, but maybe that was due to the compression? The sound was very professional -- the best I've heard so far.

I was amazed at how filmic this looked. Maybe you can go into some details on how you shot this?

Easily a top contender. Congrats!
 
The only problem I had was him yelling at his mom "just take the f*cking picture"
The rest of the film he doesn't act like that towards his mom. Did you have a reason for him being so pissed off and saying the F word to his Mom?

Other than that this is one of my favorites.
 
Zim said:
The only problem I had was him yelling at his mom "just take the f*cking picture"
Click to expand...

I don't think I can adequately express how much I loved that moment - when we see for an instant all the rage and hostility he has bottled up about his mother and his life.
 
Touching film, great cinematography, very believable characters and well written story. Humor and tragedy blend well, you've really nailed this one.
 
we are all quite humbled by the unbelievably positive feedback from this community of extremely talented filmmakers. it is an honor to be able to share this film with you and take part in such a diverse and brilliant collection of shorts. thanks to all of you that had a chance to view and comment on winter lilacs, it really means a lot.

if there was any confusion, i was the dp and editor on this. my friend steve wrote and directed. we found out about lovefest very late in the game and steve was able to pump out a brilliant script. with help from our producer, all the pieces sort of fell into place just in time for the deadline.

some technicals:

we shot with the sony ex1 and letus extreme. older nikon lenses, 35mm 1.4/85mm 1.8 and 105mm 2.5. a couple of cool light CL-MF0150's and some arri 650's and an arri 1k were used for lighting. max becker was my gaffer and he did a brilliant job.

i think steve might come on here and say some more about the film...
 
Well done. Excellent camerawork. Compelling story. I thought your actors were right on. I caught the weather on the TV Are you folk from MN too?
 
Very well done! Sparse use of music, nice framing, well lit.

At 2:25 I would've liked the focus to be on the phone while the lead was looking at it, to make it a little more clear that he's watching the phone, but now I'm just nitpicking ;-)
 
Very impressive film in every way. Sad story well told. Can't get this one outta my head! LOL.

I now officially have a top five. It's gonna be hard to narrow it down.

Look forward to more films from you.
 
The entirety of this package is top notch. The story and acting were both wonderful, the set and costumes easily sold the story, and the photography (loved the lighting) was superb.

My only real critique, and I saw someone said this earlier, is that the idea of the nursing home was brought up but then not really referred to again. Once the credits rolled, that particular string to the story still felt like it was hanging.

Regardless, excellent work.
 
You guys have blown me away. Good God, this is great cinematography Wartez. If you can post some pics of your setups it would be most appreciated. What a marvelous film this is and what a powerful team you make. If this is what you do when you're rushed I shudder to think of what you are capable of with a full menu of preproduction. Bravo.
 
This is a really great film. The art direction, writing, and cinematography was 1st class. The acting was really good. Especially from the mother. The performance was invisible. I didn't "see" an actress at all. Excellent direction.

I love that you told a very unique story, yet made it feel so real and relatable.

This is definitely one of my top films. Great job.
 
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