Comments

Jay Gladwell wrote on 12/4/2004, 8:07 AM
Good job, nicely done, Simon! (Wyndham?)

Jay
p@mast3rs wrote on 12/4/2004, 8:15 AM
Dude, I must say that was spectacular. Also, nice site. Vide quality is excellent. Definitely makes me want to see it.
TimTyler wrote on 12/4/2004, 8:29 AM
Is that a 2:66 aspect ratio? How'd they achieve that? Was it shot with an anamorphic adapter AND squeezed?
epirb wrote on 12/4/2004, 8:53 AM
got my popcorn ready, looks great,! planning a release in the states hopefully!?
mark2929 wrote on 12/4/2004, 9:44 AM
Simon Looked A W E S O M E Best of Luck with it Hope you dont mind me asking But what Camera did you use I expect you will probably say an arri 16mm SR ...
SimonW wrote on 12/4/2004, 2:52 PM
Thanks guys!

Nope, no Arri's involved. Just a good old Canon XM1 (GL1 in the US).

We hope that it will get released worldwide onto DVD when it's finished.

The movie was shot with an Optex 16:9 lens adaptor and framed for 2.35:1, which is really no different than George Lucas shooting Star Wars 16:9 and then cropping to 2.35. We prefer the 2.35 look.

Glad you guys liked it! We have had some harsh responses elsewhere.
p@mast3rs wrote on 12/4/2004, 4:19 PM
I wish you mad success. Just think, if you can sell it, you could afford the new HDV Pro cam from Sony early next year.
mark2929 wrote on 12/5/2004, 4:35 AM
Simon I wanted to Give a Proper review to your Trailer ! Obviously I cant comment on the whole Film and my review is not based on Acting Plot or Budget ect..

I WILL just quickly say If I was making a Film on a small budget then In my mind The Actors are the Most Crucial part of the Film... Im thinking of Low Budget Films like Mad Max 1 Or the Original Terminator ect where the Budget and Ability of Crew were IMO only were not as strong as the X Factor Star quality showing through... Which is quite amazing when you think Arnie's acting ability to begin WITH was pretty Non existant ..Although His Huge screen presence shone through (That indefinable X Factor) His Acting Confidence GREW and eventually put him in the A list ..

I Further think that Locations are critical on Low Budgets its much more important that BIG sets Like the free ones Namely Airports Stations Harbours BIG Backdrops ect ARE Utilised even going abroad can be done Cheaply.. Of course without seeing your Film then none of this can be Commented on !

.....OK to review the Trailer....

00.06 secs The opening Logo was Nicely Done and Original...

00.14 secs The Cat and Mouse game to His Awakening in Hospital was very well edited... Cut to the Beat with some nice use of grip to emphasise the Danger ect..

00.17 The Doctors assesment and info about his voice loss was IMO a weak point and could have been better acted Although Critical for audience information... But the use of MB Was good as was the EDITING and Voice over carried through to the next scene...

00.20 I felt the Camera should have been more at eye level ...BUT It was dollyied nicely in time with the Actors movement ....

00.21 Nicely done intercutting back to the Hospital and then (Would like to have seen something Medical here just to give it a bit more credibilty that we are at the Hospital)

00.22 to 00.27Outside the Hospital The Girls Acting Was weakened by the Doctors slightly Amatuerish Acting Although I think this was an Unfortunate Mismatch in vocal inflections.. I think this could be Strengthened Perhaps with Sound FX ECT and is My only Quibble with the Whole piece......

00.29 The Camera again should have been eye level... Also when the Actor throws The item down in frustration we could have jumped to a closeup ..
00.29 to 01.00 This is some very fine Editing... Timed well to the Music and Highlighting some very Cool Stunts and Looks" Intercuts" Worked very well showing the Fight sequences...The Camera work is stunning as is the Men who Performed the Stunts... Was there any wire work Involved... Was that Sugar Glass in the Back Car window... Were the Stunts done by a Professional Stunt team ? Looking at 00.45 where one of the gang falls on his upper back Im imagining a cushion cardboard box Covered over with earth ?

Overall the Crew have done a Spectacular Job... As is the Editing and Music Congratulations are in order well done EXCELLENT... AS For the Acting, Locations, Directing ,and Plot.... I would keep an Open mind on that... But the Trailer had me interested with Just THE one minor Quibble !

i WISH YOU every Success and Keep up the Good work !



farss wrote on 12/5/2004, 5:39 AM
I'd have to agree with everything Mark has to say, it's the very small details that make all the difference, particulalrly when you're going for the big budget look on a low budget. Pay great detail to the audio, it's where most of the impact comes from and it's what always seems to let down so many products, just the inflections on words needs a lot of attention. I know what it's like, at take 53 they finally get the lines right and no one wants to go to take 105 just to get the lines to sound right, that's where ADR comes into it. I'd suggest a read of Jay Rose's book 'Audio For Postproduction', it's amazing how much you can do to fix how the spoken word sounds without even using ADR.
Nonetheless a fantastic effort, love to see someone getting out of the 4:3 - 16:9 box, personally I would have given the MB stuff a miss, just the wider AR is all you need. A better camera would have helped, I've seen some stunning stuff done with a DVX 100 set to 16:9 and an anamorphic adaptor to get 2.35 without cropping in post. Now all we need is an anamorphic adaptor for the Z1 and we're really cooking.
Bob.
SimonW wrote on 12/5/2004, 7:27 AM
Thanks guys.

Farss, I could have done 'double 16:9' by using the anamorphic lens as well as the built in fake 16:9, but that would have given the same result as the one we have.

The doctor was actually quite good. He delivered the lines exactly as we wanted them. He's a pro actor and has worked in television... as a doctor. He has a very naturalistic delivery which is typical of TV acting over here, so perhaps it came across too understated for some tastes. The meeting in the park with the girl is an awkward meeting between her and the main character, so the delivery is supposed to be slightly stilted. Though it is hard to get this across in the trailer. The film doesn't have much dialogue as the main character is mute. But I can understand why people think the acting is bad, even when their delivery is exactly as it's intended.

The fighting was cheifly choreographed by me and performed by pro stunt team guys. There was no wire work, and the car window was real but with a little technique that gets it to smash in the right way. Nope, no cushions or cardboard boxes with earth. We are doing things the true Hong Kong way. The actors have pads under their clothing, but apart from that they are taking the falls.

Farss, I have Jays book, and it is superb. The sound in the trailer isn't the final sound as we have yet to shoot a lot of it. The final sound mix will be done to a Dolby approved standard, and the music is being done by Chris Bouchard, a guy who can create some amazingly real orchestral sounds (ie it doesn't sound like cheap synthy stuff). So no worries, sound is one of the most important things to me so I won't be skimping on the final film.

Pmasters, I would get a Z1, but my finances are taken up with a PDW510P :-)

Thanks for the great comments guys. I'll be working on the final trailer soon which will give a better overview.
mark2929 wrote on 12/5/2004, 8:34 AM
Hmm Simon I didnt mean to say The acting was bad...I cant comment I have not seen the Film... Just this one scene did not work IMO...

The way I saw it was...

The Dr starts his delivery by looking down then looks up shaking his head to emphasise the line.. "We couldnt save your Vocal Chords". The Doc Delivers his line in a Monotone Fashion THEN goes up in pitch at the end of the sentence...Only changing the Pitch to Say the next sentence... This Pitch actually ties in with the Girls pitch in the next clip thereby making her otherwise Fine acting weaker.. To improve this the Doctor should make his delivey keeping eye Contact the whole time WITH Slight Movements..Or even taking off Glasses or handing him a form... in fact the Doctor could have been quite matter of fact and Uncaring...The more cruel we are to the lead character in a world full of uncaring people just piling on the agony the more we feel for his plight... Perhaps the line may have been better if it was changed to Im afraid we couldnt save your Vocal chords which may have been more natural to the actor..


NOW My idea of acting especially in close up is that you only use small movements also The Lines were perhaps Not the Best This is how I would have done it The scene would open with the Dr pushing an XRAY into an X RAY Light box on the wall using his pen to show the Trajectory of the Bullet whilst reciting the Line which could be altered to as you can see we couldnt save your Vocal Chords Unfortunately the damage was to severe Then turns to the main Character looking him in the eye...The Dr Could have had a white coat With perhaps a Nurse Looking reassuingly at him and his expression perhaps aghast even turning to upturn a glass or something...with the Camera then moving in a unpredictable fashion to swish the Outside scene

You may say the Budget didnt allow for the Xray Box ect My Solution would be to make one perhaps...

Simon please dont take this the wrong way... You may very well be RIGHT this is just my opinion and means Diddly squat... Hey everything else in theTrailer was SOOooo Good.... I am Looking with a Magnifying glass as a way to Try and help here.... Im totally Confident the Actor is fine Its just the one scene I have Isolated But if a Singer just gets one note out of tune it can take the whole song down ...Which this dosent do that anyway...
SimonW wrote on 12/5/2004, 8:52 AM
Don't worry Mark, your comments are appreciated.

Though remember these clips are all taken from entire scenes, so while your suggestions may work for a designed trailer, they woulnd't fit into what the characters are saying within the context of our full movie.
Former user wrote on 12/6/2004, 6:49 AM
I checked out your trailer. Excellent work. I know limited budget projects can be tough to pull off, when the goal is a major release look and feel.

The things that jumped out at me are:

1. The opening shot where the lead jerks around with his pistol is good, but we see him again in the same pose just two edits later. It gives the impression that the shot of the guy in the stream is in the same scene and the two shots of the lead are in continuity. I would change the second shot of the lead.

2. The same discontinuity exists for the fourth shot of the lead restraining the guy. It almost looks like a jump cut from the previous shot.

3. The "thug" in the next sequence looks "through the audience" when he "pans" his eyes instead of snapping, or blinking his eyes during his head rotation, so he looks straight at us. For me, it brings him out of the scene.

4. The thug has his head cut out of frame when the lead is creeping up behind him. A more effective shot would have been a tilt down reveling the lead moving into frame. But, of course, in edit, it's kinda hard to reframe ;-)

5. I would edit the gun sfx 2 frames before the leads eyes snap open.

6. The scene time jump in the middle of the doctors "I'm afraid..." dialog to exterior with the lead in wheelchair seems out of place. It probably fits the story line, but I found myself trying to tie the visual to dialog and all of a sudden we are back in the office looking at the lead looking despondent.

7. Now we are back to the lead in the wheelchair delivering dialog -- but it's not the lead, it's a female who we've never seen. Taking out the "time jump" scene mentioned in 6 would at least keep me from trying to figure out why the lead is now standing behind the wheelchair and someone else is in the chair.

8. The "punk" head snap edit is repetitive. You've already used that earlier in the promo with the 1st shot of the lead.

9. The next shot showing the lead in CU looking over his pistol is the same eye line as the punk in the previous shot. That gives the impression that they are facing a common foe. Are they on the same side of the conflict?

10. The next scene with the person in the blue bandana -- is that a woman or man? Very androgynous for the power the scene needs.

11. The guy with the tape on his mouth. Another thing that can't be fixed in editing, but there's not nearly enough tape. It should at least go from ear to ear, if not completely around his head. As it is, just opening his mouth would have popped the tape loose.

12. Great stunt work. Camera angles are excellent. But the more I look at the fight scenes the more this bugs me... Why would the lead be in hand to hand combat with his gun drawn? Not only would he be limited to fighting with one hand, but that heavy gun would have thrown his balance way off. If he has a gun -- shot the bad guy! If the gun is empty -- drop the gun!

13. The very first time we see some guy in a helmet is the very last scene. If this is the lead, then I would build the mystery of the narrative from the beginning of the promo with juxtaposition between the helmet guy and the lead... The reason I mention this, is that the helmet guy is used in the background image on your website, which I assume is your marquee poster.

Sorry to make such a long list but I was sitting here scrolling back and forth through the trailer and was getting critical, maybe too critical ;-)

Jim