 Originally Posted by dethhead
i did not like your film at all, there were just so many things wrong with it.
*the camera and editing comes to mind instantly, the constant distortion in sound is heard during the entire movie and becomes distracting when you cut to different characters. and im pretty sure i heard the camera man breathing on more then one occasion.
*read a book on cinematography there were times characters were completely washed in white and others times in black.
*the biggest complaint i have is with the script and story, first off most of the characters are just plain not nice and i find it hard to feel for them. i cant even remember their names they were that forgetable, ill just refer to them by the characteristics you felt necessary to distinguish them with.
angry bitch - that goth chick who acted like she had a stick up her ass the entire movie SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN THE MAIN CHARACTER which she clearly was, there was one point were she says something stupid like 'i cant believe your turning on me' or some **** like that, well no **** it may have just dawned on you that people dont like angry goth bitches who think the are better then everyone else. or those 5 minutes she spent trying to convince A MENTALLY RETARDED PERSON something and got angry that she didnt understand, i felt the retard was smarter then she was at that point.
retarded girl - best acted person in the movie, im serious. if she wasnt some real mentally challenged person you found to put in your movie i think she did a very good convincing job. diffenitly has future acting potential.
fat guy - the fat guy with a tumor COULD have been used to a better extent perhaps completating what it means to die or some sort of parael to the zombies but it wasnt. he just kept reminding everyone he was a fat guy with a brain tumor.
janitor and nice girl - these people seemed to have potential if you had given them better roles and better subplots.
one thing you have to learn is to make a script interesting, people constantly bitching at each other for 150 minutes isnt interesting.
kudos goes to the music and props which shows at least you put some effort into it.
Hey, I'm a bit of a lurker when it comes to these film boards, but I've decided to throw my two pennies in, too.
Let's put this movie into perspective:
- Survivor's was made on, what I would guess to be, a shoe string budget, right? This means that Reese and his crew weren't using the best of the best equipment, nor did they have access to some of the more technical equipment that would be needed. Now, I understand where you are coming from; sometimes the sound was a little drained out and yeah, the picture did vary quite a lot with white-outs and black-outs. But with the resources available, I think that he did a damn fine job!
- As for the cinematography book, I think he should read one too. Simply because it will broaden his horizons, open up more options and give him more to work with. But apart from that, I think, through trial and error, his future productions will have improved.
- The characters. I agree, at times, the characters did become quite tedious. They did appear quite 2D at times, though with the amount of characters involved, it was hard to develope them to a great degree. Though, you did try to show some evolution in the characters, which shows more promise in your writing.
Also, do they characters really have to be nice? I understand what you are saying, beyond Mopboy there wasn 't really anybody to identify with as the out-right hero. Good! This can keep an audience on its toes as to who will bite the dust next.
Again let's put this into perspective with Romero's Dead films. Everyone of his characters in pretty much all of his dead films are 2D - beyond Roger in Dawn (in my opinion). There are mere glimpses of another side to the character but they are never explored and never garner any more interest. But hell, I still enjoy his films (well, Day and Land I'll shut up about!)
I DO agree with your comments on Tumour boy (I don't remember his name!). There could have been interesting developments in how he views his own impending death, or like you said, a paralell with the zombies. BUT! Instead, he has accepted his condition and realises that either way he is dead.
One thing that I dislike in zombies films, in general, is that when a character is mobbed by the living dead they don't seem to be resisting very hard. To me, a scene in which a character is fighting desperately, despite being pinned, and they are screaming for help, in fear and in frustration at being helpless, is quite shocking. Of course, the character rarely wins these exchanges, but the brutality of the scene could leave the audience in shock and awe.
At first, I though Mopboy was going to fight back as a mob descended upon him, I was pretty sad/****ed(!) he didn't though.
- The story itself was your basic living dead tale - a group of people trapped inside a building while the dead attack from the outside. So, dethhead, where the Hell is the complaint!
- The actors themselves, I think, did a great job. Now, I'm not saying that they were extraordinary actors, but I do think they did the film a huge service. I'll assume that the cast is simply a group of friends, rather than auditioned actors. If this were my film, I'd find it impossible to get my friends to act on screen--they'd be too embarrassed, too shy and impossible to work with! Jesus, even a camera at a party causes contraversary after a while!
I'm not here to **** on your opinions dethhead, infact far from that, I just don't think you realise how much of an undertaking this film is/was for such a young and inexperienced cast and crew.
Hopefully, my short film (i don't think I'm capable of such an epic just yet!) get's made this Summer, it'll be interesting to see if you tear my piece/love a new ass hole too! 
|
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
.
Bookmarks