~ *** ~Pick Up The Phone~ *** ~ (Fantasia Film Festival?)

I used to be an active member here. Working on set of a feature film as a PA right now. With my next film being shot soon I decided to post up my film "Pick Up The Phone" again.

The producer I'm working for saw Pick Up The Phone and she's trying to get it into the Fantasia Film Festival here in Montreal.

We'll see if it gets in. It was made for school with a budget of... 30$...lol. I'm surprised she thinks it's good enough for a film festival, cause I don't think it is. Maybe I'm just too judgmental of my film cause I'm the one that made it. I'm honored anyway even if it doesn't get in.

Anyways, here's my film.

http://www.youtube.com/user/jonathanstarr

Please feel free to rate it and leave comments. If you liked it, feel free to leave a comment under the film.

Also check out my "blogalog"

 

I really enjoyed this film. The lighting, time remapping, audio mixing/distortion, and music score really gave this a great creepy dreamlike feel. Also, the atmosphere and look of each sequence was drastically different from the next, which really helped sell it. I can imagine keeping something like this coherent all the way through must have been difficult, but it worked nicely.

Even the breaks where we think the character is awake had an eeriness to them?especially after he wakes up from jumping over the edge. Thanks to the humming light in the bathroom it still felt surreal. A quick suggestion about the scene though?that hum or buzz seems to be looping. It is not a big deal, but you might smooth it out before the festival if it was not intentional. It was just enough to distract me for a split-second.

I also enjoyed the hallway chase sequence a lot. The cinematography was awesome and I loved the quick flashes and how the light pulsated a bit during one shot. Very unsettling stuff. I really loved the silhouette shot on the balcony as well; very iconic. Were the birds comp?d in or did that work out by chance?

Good luck at the festival, I back your decision to enter it. It is really well done.

 

Wow, such a good response. thanks for the comments.

Yeah, it was a loop. I noticed it a bit into the editing, but thought it helped give it an eerie feeling. Two or three people commented on it though. The thing is that I sent it to my friend, and he added in the voice overs and music, but he took the original track and made it one big MP3 (my sound effects and the sound from the camera). I'd have to cut it out and take the original footage with the sound effect and fix it up. It's do-able, but I already sent in a copy. I don't think it's a big deal, but thanks for the criticism.

Plus if I had time to fix up things for the film festival I'd probably fix up a lot more, lol.

The only special effects I did are color correcting and the flashes to white/fades. I'm not a fan of special effects.

So the answer is by chance. If you hear the sound on the footage you hear me saying "Holy ****, this looks amazing!" as the bird passes by. I had to tell the actor "no no, nothing, keep going!" LOL

Thanks That means a lot. I'm still not sure if it's film festival worthy. I see all the flaws of it... but you never know. I'll see if they take it. Plus I've seen some stuff in film festivals that aren't big productions either, so perhaps.

 

Ah, I see. Yeah, it's definitely not worth worrying about if that is the case. It probably does work better the way it is anyway. It stays consistant with things such as the music beats, white flashes, and the pulsating lights in the hallway I mentioned earlier. A smooth uninterrupted hum would probably feel out of place against the pacing of everything else.

Ha, that's great! It is amazing how well it worked out...even their composition in the frame is perfect. I can't say nature has ever worked so well for me.

Yeah, I would be the same way with my own films. I would have to be forced by others to enter anything.
Anyway, I didn't realize how large of an event the Fantasia Film Festival is until I read more about it. Since "Pick Up The Phone" fits the genre and you live close by and all, I would think passing up the opportunity would be a mistake. It's definitely worth a shot because personally I would love to watch something like this in that setting.
Anyway, I do hope you get some more opinions because I am not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to film festivals and what they look for. Surprisingly, there are none this size in Oklahoma...shocking, I know.

But still, I say go for it. I'd bet its current form can hang with most other short film entries you'd see. Its looks nothing like a $30 budget production if you ask me. Good luck, Jonathan.

-Brad

 

Hey man, go for it. I'll be trying to get UCF into FantAsia myself, may be better motivation to go to the damn thing. (I've missed out the last 10 years for different reasons.)

 

Good Luck, I hope you get accepted!

 

Thanks guys. Well it's already been submitted. Just waiting for the word.

Hope you get in Laz. Heh, me too. I've always wanted to go, but being downtown and me not having a car, plus never being sure of what to see, and so on, never ended up going the past few times I wanted to go. It is a big event though. Which film are you trying to submit to it?

Luckily though my producer is good friends with the head honcho of the festival, Mitch Davis. She's even trying to get on board of the judging panel as well.

 

I'll be submitting UCF: Toronto Cybercide, the cyberpunk flick we made last year (man I feel older saying that) to different film festivals over the year, though FantAsia's at the top of the list. We're stacking the deck a bit, in that the first 'film festival' our movie will premiere at? is our own. That was, in fact, the ulterior motive of the movie marathon after all. *evil grin*

Now that I?m on the subject? Pick Up The Phone would suit being shown on our first block of Amateur Films, if you?re interested. It?s stylish enough ? and short enough ? to help break up some of the larger entries.

 

When and where Laz? Send me a PM or contact me at JonathanStarr@gmail.com

I would definitely be interested.

 

PM sent. The rest of you can check out this thread which I'm too lazy to bump today.

 

Thanks. I'll get back to you soon. Shooting my film this weekend and have a lot to do.

 

*BUMP*

No one else has seen it?

 

Nada? No one else watched it? Wow...

 

Hey, it's a tough crowd here.

 

Yeah, I guess if it's not about star wars, or special effects, it doesn't get very many hits.