XEPOJ (english: "HERO")

Tunnelmen said:
Great work. I personally loved the the chapter markings. It looked beautiful and sounded great too. I don't think that there is anything to be ashamed of here.
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ZazaCast said:
The act breaks didn't bug me at all and I felt they fit the piece well. You have a great style, stick with it!
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I didn't express myself that well there, the way that I envisioned it was a lot different than the final cut. I didn't say I'm ashamed of it, just that I did my best to work with what i had and there were lot of compromises, but still, I did it the way I like it :)
Thank you for your feedback, it means a lot! Really :)


stephenmick said:
Review posted…

http://www.filmeveryday.com/2010/03/08/xepoj-hero-a-dvxuser-betrayal-fest-film/

A very strong entry, Konstantin. One of the best of the fest in my book.
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I don't know what to say, I don't know if "thank you" is enough :)
 
Lots of good stuff in there

Lots of good stuff in there

Enjoyed the acting, the cinematography, and especially the sound.

Story seems like a little part of something longer that I'd like to see, as are many of the entries. And I know it's time.

Love the sounds of the language.
 
This one really left an impression.
The sound of the language doesn't hurt. I LOVE IT! :)
The combination of your cinematography, camera movement, music, sound, acting, all came together to create something so affecting and beautiful to watch.
I found myself sitting there and really feeling and thinking about the characters as the film ended. That's what movies are about, so great job!!!
Definitely one of my favorites.
 
Very very good film. Everything came together and gave off a strong feel/mood that was more striking than the plot or any of the other things individually. Not quite sure if that gets across what I am trying to say.

I have some questions though, about the plot (SPOILERS): At the end of the argument the girl gets shot correct? So then is she dead when she is lying on the couch/bed thing? I mean this is how I understood it and I think that is what happened, but why would she be left lying on a couch? A hospital would seem like a better place. I suppose it would make sense if the guy ran off just after he shot her and the main guy decided not to even call 911 and just to go onto the roof. Did I just answer my own question?

Second question: Where did the title come from? The only way it seems to tie in is to the image of him with the blanket. Perhaps It is meant to be a bit ironic? Other than that I don't get the title.

I really liked the bue lettering and the blood spreading and all of the shots. And the editing (aside from the chapter breaks).

Very good work. I have one final question: How many days/hours did this take to shoot and how many people did you have on your crew? Sorry if you answered those already and I missed it.
 
Jackson Miller said:
Very very good film. Everything came together and gave off a strong feel/mood that was more striking than the plot or any of the other things individually. Not quite sure if that gets across what I am trying to say.
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I think I understand, and thank you :)

Jackson Miller said:
I have some questions though, about the plot (SPOILERS): At the end of the argument the girl gets shot correct? So then is she dead when she is lying on the couch/bed thing? I mean this is how I understood it and I think that is what happened, but why would she be left lying on a couch? A hospital would seem like a better place. I suppose it would make sense if the guy ran off just after he shot her and the main guy decided not to even call 911 and just to go onto the roof. Did I just answer my own question?
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(SPOILERS) The first shot killed the girl by accident, then during the struggle the gunman gets shot, we don't see the second shot, just hear it and blood + gun was supposed to be a clue to that. The girl is dead, the gunman (his friend) is dead. By his reaction we wanted to say that he sees that there is no point in calling the paramedics or anything (better then showing a headshot or something :))

Jackson Miller said:
Second question: Where did the title come from? The only way it seems to tie in is to the image of him with the blanket. Perhaps It is meant to be a bit ironic? Other than that I don't get the title.
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HERO is well yes, ironic. Him on the top of the building with a "cape" and naration was meant to give us a subtle superhero connotation. Until we see how he got there in the first place :)

Jackson Miller said:
I really liked the bue lettering and the blood spreading and all of the shots. And the editing (aside from the chapter breaks).

Very good work. I have one final question: How many days/hours did this take to shoot and how many people did you have on your crew? Sorry if you answered those already and I missed it.
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Two days, first day of shooting, everything indoors (around 12-14 hours) and second day everything on top of the building and the elevator shot. We got to shoot only for an hour on the rooftop because rain started and we knew we had to finish it then because we had a snow forecast for whole next week, so if we didn't do it that day, we wouldn't make it in time.
Crew: 3 actors, sound guy, photographer & me. We also had 3 people around who helped us with batteries, food, phone answering, equipment holding etc.
Budget = food/drinks and batteries for phantom power/35mm adapter :)
 
Noel Evans said:
Great poo pooing stuff. You sir, nailed it.
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Poo pooing thank you :)

Waycrow said:
Enjoyed the acting, the cinematography, and especially the sound.

Story seems like a little part of something longer that I'd like to see, as are many of the entries. And I know it's time.

Love the sounds of the language.
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just2me said:
This one really left an impression.
The sound of the language doesn't hurt. I LOVE IT! :)
The combination of your cinematography, camera movement, music, sound, acting, all came together to create something so affecting and beautiful to watch.
I found myself sitting there and really feeling and thinking about the characters as the film ended. That's what movies are about, so great job!!!
Definitely one of my favorites.
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Group thanks :)
Glad that foreign language and subtitles didn't hurt ;)
 
hot damn this was shot well... and great acting... i think i want more from the story, i'll give it another viewing, but yeah... good stuff...
 
This was a very engaging entry. I thoroughly enjoyed the look, the performances and the sound work, and in my opinion, this is one of the best pieces in the festival. Really nice job, and best of luck!
 
Jeez! I thought I'd left a review already! This was an excellent film. From the opening shot it became very engaging. You had alot of great shots in here. As others have said, everything was on point - the cinematography, acting, music and etc. I've only watched it once and plan to watch it again, but you definitely did you thing with this film. Great job!

BUMP

Okay, watched it again. I liked it even better the second time. I'm a bit amazed you shot this on the HV30. Nice!! Love the subtitles and I noticed the cool editing and sound design a bit more this time. It was a basic story, but you told it extremely well.
 
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Chris_Marrs_Piliero said:
hot damn this was shot well... and great acting... i think i want more from the story, i'll give it another viewing, but yeah... good stuff...
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Alex Jeffery said:
This was a very engaging entry. I thoroughly enjoyed the look, the performances and the sound work, and in my opinion, this is one of the best pieces in the festival. Really nice job, and best of luck!
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Group thanks!!! :)


Marlon Ladd said:
Jeez! I thought I'd left a review already! This was an excellent film. From the opening shot it became very engaging. You had alot of great shots in here. As others have said, everything was on point - the cinematography, acting, music and etc. I've only watched it once and plan to watch it again, but you definitely did you thing with this film. Great job!

BUMP

Okay, watched it again. I liked it even better the second time. I'm a bit amazed you shot this on the HV30. Nice!! Love the subtitles and I noticed the cool editing and sound design a bit more this time. It was a basic story, but you told it extremely well.
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Thanks for watching it again and...

DvxHerb said:
Sorry if this has been asked before... What camera did you use?
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...yes it was shot on HV30 + Handy35, great little camera & adapter, but the lack of manual controls and slow setup is starting to piss me off after 3 shorts :)

rig.jpg
 
namelok,

very well done. I'm constantly reminded by foreign films that English sounds very clumsy when spoken. I'm really glad you did this in your native tongue, I even went as far to say some of the lines out loud while I played your film on mute, and it just doesn't work in English.

I guess I was okay with the inter-titles, the one at 1:34 really bothered me because it deflated all of the tension out of that scene. The rest of them seemed to come at more appropriate places.

The look of this film was very organic. I think you used the ground glass to your advantage, it's as if this film is a living thing, just like 16mm looks when it's transferred to digital. And I really appreciated the quality sound effects put in place for this one, in particular the high-pitched ear hum after the gun shots.

I'm sure you heard this in your thread already, but you had so much more time to explore this! It's great, and the simplicity only adds to the film, i just wish there was a little more!

-ben
 
The last film I watched and an absolute gem. Glad it came last as it was a nice way to finish the festival.

The V.O. worked for me. It had a richness in tone and language the complemented the visuals. Well done. Well done.
 
I was very impressed with the acting and the visuals, the different angles. It is black and white; or really muted, correct? The softness of everything except how in sharp focus the gun is really caught my attention.
 
@ben
Thanks!

@ivonfilms
Thanks!

@noel
I guess... thanks?! :)

@abdeziel
b&w, not muted & thanks :)

I don't want to sound rude, I read every reply (more then once :)) but I'm a bit short on time, have to finish up a lot of overdue work I'm late for cause of shooting xepoj :)
And I need to post some more reviews of other movies before the fest ends! :)
 
everything cool has an "X" in it

[edit]
and do you know why word "cool" doesn't sound cool anymore? No "X"!
 
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