***Armed Conflict - Official Release Thread***

I didn't like the film at all - in terms of the story. It was mediocre in fact. A short film has to pack a lot of good story-telling in to a nice, tight bundle - this failed.

However, the cinematography, the wipes, the titles and the audio were great. The beginning gave a real impression of a high quality production and the telephone audio was crisp.

Definetly a lot of talent to explore - I would love to see what you could do with a good quality script.

 

I think my favorite part of this movie is the sound. The dialogue audio was very well done. The cinematography was quite nice. I don't think it was made clear enough that these Us Agents were sent to this guy's house to protect him. If Cheif would've said we're sending you in for his protection as cable repair men, that would've made everything alittle more clear. The woods action didn't have alot of color. Why did he drop his gun. I would've given that agent one right in the face. It was alittle less like an action sequence and more like a guy getting arrested. The dolly shot of the sniper dude running was really good. Was the sniper guy really the guy that the agent was sent to protect? Like he was sent to assasinate his own kid? What's the point of the shot at 4:52 I can't really understand what he's saying. You camera work is super nice and the editing worked well.

 

Yah, that's the really whole thing that sucked about this.

1.) I had a pretty good story, that really, in my FIRST DRAFT of the script explained and fixed almost EVERY complaint that this film has received. But because of the 5 minute time limit of the contest, it was hard to do much. However, I think i edited out some very good parts of the script and kept in some bad parts. In hindsight, if I could've redone this, I would've made the father seen, the son would've actually killed his buddy, and the sniper would've been sent in as protection....and Hunter would've been sent in to kill the sniper, but would've realized that the sniper was actually a good guy, and it was THE KID who was the villain. That'd've rocked for a short film. Oh well.

2.) I had to write the story, direct the film, shoot the film, edit it, and write the music all in about 8 weeks time. If i had split the work up, it'd've turn out better....but that wasn't an option. This whole time making the film was AN EXTREMEMLY BUSY TIME in all their lives. I, seriously, truly, was the ONLY ONLY ONLY one that had time to make this. All of them only had enough time to shoot it with me.

3.) I think what I was aiming for did occur. I wanted killer sound, camera work, and editing and didn't focus much on the story. It's all about my deadline that really killed this. And while you say "HA, you could've done better in the time that you were given". I really have to say, no I couldn't. This film would've turned out about half as good.

4.) You have to realize the "rush" in making this. I only had ONE DAY (one day....as in....not any other....as in....all INCLUSIVE ONE DAY!!!) that I could shoot the scenes with Hunter (JC Schroeder) and use his cousin (Matt) as boom operator. ONE DAY! While we shot it over the course of 2 weeks, we spent 9 hours on a Thursday shooting this (9AM to 6PM).

Why do i state that we only had one day? Cuz i had to rush the script in 1.5 weeks. yah. I didn't start writing until 1.5 weeks before we filmed? Why? Cuz my other script writer became a total....pardon....jackass (donkey)... and said he wasn't going to do it like 1.5 weeks before filming, so i had to come up with something in 1.5 weeks time!!!

I really couldn't have more time, and didn't.




Let's lay it all down:

1.)I had a great script coming for about a month before shooting, then my writer became a jackass and wouldn't do it.

2.)I had to write a script in 1.5 weeks time (and I am NOT A WRITER...I am a cinematographer and editor). I had to rush this writing because:

3.) We had only one day to shoot the scenes with JC (that's the dude who played Hunter) and his cousin matt, cuz he lives in OHIO and had only one day to be here. Also, school for EVERYONE started the next week, so we absolutely HAD to film it that day.

4.)I then only had 6 weeks to edit and write music for this movie. And I am a perfectionist and allow only the best. There is alot that i did to this film in terms of effects that you probably won't notice (I literally had to DRAW the mask onto the sniper for 3 shots! I also had some cloning to do. I spent 1 weeks converting the 60i footage to 24p. And I spent 1 week writing music....that leaves me with 3 weeks to edit. And one week compressing the movie to various file types (the contest REQUIRED it to be in WMV and it took 4 days for me to get it to look right)).

This really was not as easy to make as it appears like it would be.

Sorry if I sound grumpy, I'm not.

Hope all that explains a little bit. We had no choice.

Though, I really wish I had thought up that whole storyline about the kid shooting his buddy before hand and not after it was released. Oh well.





Thanks all.

 

I still don't get what the real plot is.

 

Boy meets Girl...boy marries girl....girl falls in love with their dog. Oh wait. That's not it.




-------------------------------------


***SPOILERS*** Highlight to read:
Alan Kovach was recently elected teh governor of the state of Texas. He just moved down there. An ex military zelout, Arnold Donovan, who is trying to get back at the government for God know's what reason ha picked Kovach as his target. But Donovan doesn't stike DIRECTLY at his target: he goes for the heart of his victims. He's after Brent, Kovach's only son (this was GONNA all be explained about the relashionship with Brent and his Dad, but time wouldn't allow it). Hunter is sent in undercover as a cable TV guy (lame) to scope out the area. But hell breaks loose and gunfire goes off. Hunter thinks that it's Brent who got shot, but it was his buddy. Hunter rushes into the woods, and is going to arrest (NOT KILL) Donovan. Donovan get's away and Hunter brutally murder's him and ask's his co-agent for some help....end of movie.

"pretty lame, huh?"

 

I didn't know ANY of that.

Or at least it didn't stick.

 

really? Interesting. I thought i made it perfectly clear. Oh well.

 

It would've been better if we knew what Donovan was trying to achieve by assasinating the governor.

 

And if the sniper actually had some character. For example, why the heart? Why does he want to attack the Governor? What did the Government do to burn him?

This' important stuff. If you're going to make a film with complex characters like this, five minutes probably isn't the best timeframe to do it in.

 

I named Arnold Donovan (the sniper) because of Benedict Arnold.

He is a coward and a traitor. He's is EX-Military and is AGAINST the US military. I really hadn't thought much up past that though.

Really my intent with this film was more to win the contest than to tell an amazing story (which, i probably shouldn't have done it that way....and I won't do that in the future).

However, all of my crew and I agree, if we had enough time, we could've spent more making the script and literally produced a feature off of this. Get into alot of sub-plots and explain a few questions. but 5 minutes was the contest, and we had to make SOMETHING! so....

But i really would've wanted to make this longer than it really was. Oh Well. I do like how it came out though. It's keeps a good audience, even though it kinda let's you down at teh end. And it looks and sounds pretty cool too. It was fun to make.

NOTE: A blooper reel is in the works....I can post it *IN THIS THREAD* when it's out (I promise, i won't make another thread for the bloopers) They really are quite funny.

EDIT: Donovan was more trying to get back at the government as a whole and was choosing random governmental targets. But I really don't ahve an explaination for this. I only spent about one and a half to two weeks writing, so I didn't really have time to come up with much other than what's already mentioned. Sorry. And I'll be the FIRST to admit, that I am no writer!

But duty calls...so...

 

Um.

Isn't the whole point of filmmaking to tell a story?

 

Most definatly it is funk. That's something that I am only NOW (like in the 2 months) beginning to grasp (sadly) and really want to focus more on my stories in the future.

 

For anyone who was wondering, here's Arnold Donovan unmasked

[image=http://www.ccfilms.com/movies/2004/armedconflict/gallery/001.jpg]

Hehe.

 

nope, never wondered.

 

Both DivX versions are up to date now.

------------------------------

There is an Armed Conflict prequel that is in pre-pre-production stages right now. It explains the entire backstory of Arnold Donovan and his relationship with the Kovach family. More information will be made once it becomes official. It's still in consideration "idea" stage right now, but it's really gonna be good. Just thought i'd share that with you all.

 

My *late-at-night* review:

-At the beginning you used some nice color correction or whatever to make the very first sniper scenes look more like film.

- You should have slowed down the opening shot a bit more. (The reason why I am in the credtis).

-The grass really hurt my eyes, too, in many scenes. You should make it look like the sniper scenes in the beginning. Really. That will make the film much much better.

-you said there was a 5 mins limit. Why is the movie 7 minutes long, then? And why didn´t you just shoot all missing plot parts in order to leave them out of the countest! Hence you could have given us the "director´s cut"!

-the title "Armed Conflict" doesn´t really fit at all. If I think about "Armed Conflict" I rather see pictures of a huge battle, instead of just two men, two shots and two throws. The title looked nice, though.

-Why is the guy called "Hunter"? In the first few minutes we seperately see the sniper and afterwords we see "Hunter". It really makes you think the sniper was the same guy as (the) hunter.

-The dude who opened the door seemed to be [ - ] that far away from laughing. looked fake.

-What does the family need a bounty hunter for if there´s a cable guy who can kill every assasin?

-If you weren´t allowed to run with the rifle, why didn´t you consider something that would really force the sniper to put it down? You had enough time to consider this, right?

-I liked the knife in the slow-mo shot. Sadly there was no knife in the back of the sniper afterwords.

-Cemetery:
(Did you create a grave stone inscription there?)

-The shot at 1:30 looks nice, the grass makes my brain glow, though.

- 3:00 did you put razor blades in his pants?`

- 3:16 did he forget that his friend/brother/whatever just died? He looks like he did.

- 3:27 You can´t shoot in the woods with a video camera. It always looks stupid... Dunno why.

- 3:28 to 3:34 Really nice optical effects/zooms!

-But still: The sniper is shooting at one guy, kills him. Shoots the other guy´s cellphone. sees his knife: OH MY GOD! HE´S GOT A KNIFE! I MUST RUN AND LEAVE MY LETAHL VENOM WEAPON HERE! Honestly. You could have used a piece of wood or another 10 dollars plastic toy to simulate a gun in a CHASE scene. It´s really dumb...

- 3:48 Where´s the blood on the knfie?

- 4:08 A sniper who wears divergent types of camo clothes?

- 4:43 Where´s Jon Hunter in the background?

Alright. The movie is quite alright, has much potential, most of it´s potential was not used. You should really try to make your version of it. Not a version that might fit a contest. And please make the grass look more blue, it would make the movie look MUCH cooler and create a MUCH more cinema-like atmosphere.

 

7 minutes..... 5 minutes film....2 minutes credits..... = 7 minutes....

i sent in a version of the film that was only 5 mins.




I will show you my vision in the prequel...just you wait!!! lol

anyhoo..thanks for the reveiw...I get the point: I suck at filmmaking and should go back to cleaning trash bins.

 

For all of the issues regarding the film, it's still a good deal better than a bunch of stuff that Ive seen here and about.

 

anyhoo..thanks for the reveiw...I get the point: I suck at filmmaking and should go back to cleaning trash bins.

I hope my review didn´t evoke that kind of alarm in you. I´m just a little bad at saying what I LIKED, rather what I didn´t like.

There are more things that I liked than things that I didn´t like, or thought that were confusing. Due to your abilities (transition effects, titles... whatever) I would really say: Hey, you´ve GOT the possibility to improve something that IS already very well done, hence: DO IT!

I didn´t want to discourage you. I just gave you some hints. The movie didn´t suck! (look, it is called movie - hence, it is obviously well done). It was one of the better flicks I´ve seen in here. This freakin contest simply crushed a lot of your movie´s potential! The sound was great, bay the way. Never do such a thing in order to win a contest. Never ever.

 

Oh i know you weren't saying that. Thanks dude.

-----------------------------------

here's a review by DarthDodoGuy about the movie:

I must say, very well done! I enjoyed it greatly.

The cinematography was, for the most part, excellent. You had very good creative angles, and the pans always were used to reveal something, rather than just be there pointlessly. Most of the shots were obviously meticulously planned out, with framing and composition obviously taken into effect. The one thing that did bug me was the amount of time where someone's head was cut off, and once or twice the exposure was set to the wrong thing, but you already mentioned that. In one shot, (where you're walking to the TV) the camera man can't seem to make up his mind on what the subject of the shot is. My advice: just take two or more shots, so you don't have to pan back and forth, or possibly just cut the shot so it LOOKS like two shots (works surprisingly well). Many of the shots also could have been a bit smoother motion wise, but overall, very nice indeed. The end was specifically dramatic. Very nice use of "overcranking" the camera.

The editing was, for the most part, fairly invisible, which is obviously a compliment. In a couple places it was slightly jerky, but those instances were few and far between. Your transition with the car driving by the camera was expertly achieved. The gunshot part, where it cuts further and further away from the house, was a very nice bit of stylized work. The part where they were running through the woods was also done amazingly well, with the flow of energy transfering from one shot to the next. In one or two shots, it seems like people switched directions, (when putting on the handcuffs, as I've already mentioned), But again, overall, very very nice.

The effects that were there were excellent. The knife throw into the assassins back was, again, done very well, as was the man's reaction to its stabbing him. The color correction added tremendously to the piece. It added a great vibrance and made it feel more, "filmy", which I believe was your intention.

The dialogue at times made me wince slightly, *spoiler...kinda* "Oh yeah, okay, just let him in. I'm going out for a minute, I'll be back in a bit"... just kinda felt unantural, if you know what I mean. But the movie was compelled for the most part without dialogue, and the fact that you never hear the voice of the assassin gives him a more mysterious and sinister quality.

The plot... hmm... I personally would not have cared if a nuke had blown up the entire place, (meaning, I had no connection with any of the characters). Of course, as you were limited to five minutes, it can be quite difficult to make people care at all about the characters in that amount of time. The plot was there, which was good, and again, I realize you only had 5 minutes, but more could have been revealed. (again, not all plot has to be said bluntly, just give a hint that it's there). One question I did have: Why did the assassin kill the dude's friend?

The music was very cinematic, setting the mood very well. It wasn't very distracting, and you have obviously tinkered with quite a few styles. Perhaps slightly too many cymbols though.

The acting was pretty good overall. Especially by the red haired dude, being the TV repair man. I liked that. The dude who played the son of the other dude was pretty good, (although I wasn't sure if he was laughing when he first announced that his friend was shot. Oh well, crying and laughing sound the same sometimes.) And, of course, your acting was, for what we could see, pretty good as well. It looks like it sucks to have a knife thrown into your back.

ALlright! That's pretty much all I can think of! Again, when you read it, don't just look at the negative, (as many people do when reading this sort of thing,) but also the positive, which far outweighed it!!

Allright! That's pretty much it!

 

I'm a little confused as to why this' called 'Armed Conflict'. I mean..the only time that there IS on-screen conflict, only one of the people is armed.

 

We had to come up with a name and that's all we came up with.


It was originally called Armed Struggle, but I wanted to make a little "crosshair" logo like the bourne identity (I owe Armon Drysdale from Goldfeather Pictures for that suggestion).

Another idea was "In Wolves Clothing" but that just didn't fit.





Really, we just needed a catchy name that sounded cool....and we aren't very smart so it's all we came up with. I like the name.

 

UPDATE ABOUT ARMED CONFLICT:

I just recieved a phone call yesterday from Charles Fulton of Videomaker magazine (associate editor) and he notified me that I have just WON the "Best Young Videomaker 2004" award in the Videomaker Magazine Short Film Contest with my movie "Armed Conflict".

Armed Conflict was actually made specifically FOR that contest, so that's really great news that it won! Just thought I'd let you all know and give you guys an update on it's status.

Thanks everyone at TFN for all your help. A appreciate all you guys. Thanks.

If anyone doesn't know, you can watch Armed Conflict at this link: http://www.ccfilms.com/movies/2004/armedconflict/
You can visit the Videomaker Magazine website at: http://www.videomaker.com

 

Congrats.

 

Congrats ccfilms.

It's been quiet around here without you. I think Funk-E misses you as well. hehe