***RVD2: RYAN VS DORKMAN II -- RELEASE THREAD (SPOILERS!)***

Incredible... that... REALLY AMAZED ME. Indeed, that is the greatest work ever shown here, besides ROTF, but those are different genres of fanfilms.

Thank you for this most incredible and unbelievable entertainment.

 

Really enjoyed that. Several moments really stood out

The shot through the grate
The saber in the water
Ryan moving Dorkman's hand out of the way, so the saber hit him
Ryan's little move just before he chops Dorkman's arm off.
Soundtrack was fantastic

One of those things I was hoping I'd see but didn't. When they run to their sabers, I thought they'd get the wrong ones, look at each other, throw them to each other, and carry on.

I am a bit disappointed that you are charging for the documentary as I'd love to see it, but that's your call.

Very good fight though. I'll have to edit the credits out, cos 2 minutes is a long time in a 10 minute file.

//goes to watch it again

 

I know you've probably said this before.. but what kind of camera have you used for this?
I really want to buy a new camera, and thinking about going all out.. and your movie just
impressed the **** out of me.. not just that the movie was good, but the whole image of it..
like.. really cinematic, if you get my drift..


again.. GREAT movie!

 

According to the behind the scenes video on youtube, it was a panasonic HD Camera filmed in 24 frames rather than 30

 

Gah! YouTube still isn't working on campus!

Well, HD it is, guess I'll post again once its donw DLing.

 

AT THIS PLACE I just want to tell you how much do I admire you, guys. Your creativity, your choreography, the music, the acting, editing, screening, etc. etc. etc. I didn't really like Ryan vs Dorkman. I don't know why.

But Ryan vs Dorkman 2 is the best lightsaber duel ever made!

My hat's off to you now. You've just become living legends.

 

Panasonic AG-HVX200.

 

Great job guys, this really owned. All and all, this movie was simple awesome.
Thanks god for Stage6 I hate YouTube.

 

Brillant moves as always guys! You make it look to easy. Love the work!
- shane

 

I love it, but I think the first one is better.

 

Haha!

Wow. What a rush. This is simply, far and away, the best lightsaber movie ever made! My socks have been rocked right off my feet!

Simply amazing. I love (this is a spoiler thread right? what the hell, blacking anyways, just to be sure.) all the crazy pyrotechnics and limb removal effects.

Only thing that could stand to be tweaked I think are the hand to hand impacts, they sounded a little too low in the mix for my tastes, and lost a little power.


But overall great work guys! I'm definitely beginning to see some kind of vague plot to weld te two movies together in my mind.

 

So, how did a video of this size and length make it under Stage6's 2-gig file size limit? What were the render settings used to create the Stage6 version of the film?

 

Few points I did or didn't like:

-Very Good Cinematography
-Good Effects as always


-The fight almost seemed comedic and it just wasn't as intense as RvD1
-Excessive use of burn marks when they were fighting near the wall
-How the hell does Dorkman get his arm cut off, stabbed through his body and STILL LIVE? oh well its a fanfilm
-I actually thought that ryan was going to live this one


7/10

 

Wow. Just... wow. My only disappointment was that the HD was too good and my computer chugged the frames a bit. Any chance of a medium-res copy for we mere mortals?

The first part was sorta "meh", in that it was awesome and fast and a bit entertaining, but almost a quick rehash of moves in RvD1. Sorta a, "Yep, it's us." It works to get us warmed up for the awesomeness, though. The wall stuff was excellent, and... well, I'm sure that everything's been said before, I just don't want to read through seven pages of content to quote three posts and say "Agree".

So, yeah. Medium-res copy? Please?

Edit: Never mind. Opened it in Winamp instead of DivX player, works like a charm. Can't wait to watch it full-sized instead of half while chatting with others. Between this and The Ore, I sense a movie night tonight! (For a combined half hour, whoo.)

 

Brilliant.

 

First off - I watched the HD version off Stage 6. There's no way I'm going to waste my time with youtube here. I will post loads of spoilers - so please don't read until you've seen the film.

It's wonderful to see how you guys have grown as film-makers and as martial artists. The nods to the original RvD were plentiful and much enjoyed, which I think makes this flow well with the first one, while improving on it in leaps and bounds. Let me just say at the start, so I don't have to keep saying it over and over again - because it always applies - the camera work, camera movement, and editing are fantastic. As are the effects - in particular the saber damage and wounds. Now I'll piece my way through the film.

Opening
I really liked how similar this is to RvD, and yet has its own unique spin.

The Opening Sequence
These kinds of sequences are really hard to to. What makes them hard is that they point out all the technical flaws of the martial arts and pacing - and because they're long, invariably some sub-par movements end up creeping in in order to get a complete shot. I certainly think the choice of movements is very much improved over RvD. I particularly like the "push-hands" set of saber movements before the first set of cuts. Ryan has a fair number of horizontal flailed swings, and I think he has a habit of aiming high, presumably for head shots. I think they would be better sold if he was trying to cut lower - as it would also require more exaggerated dodging from Dorkman.

Under the stairs
(nice water shot ) This is great. Honestly, I started getting into the film a lot more at this point... which is good, because films are supposed to build up. I really like the editing in here, and it's a great time to start selling the danger of the sabers. That they interact with the environment really sells them as implements of destruction, and while these shots are hard, the more the merrier. The sequence with the hands linked is also fantastic - and really starts to build in the drama. If you guys are good at selling fear and desperation.

The Wall
Did I mention I like saber interaction? I like saber interaction at least as much as I like saber retraction... but it's a harder post effect to do (where as the other, I would argue, is a harder on-set mime to pull off). Getting the saber stuck in the wall, kicking it out, and slashing immediately was great. This sequence had me sold the entire time.

Off the wall
I really like it when Ryan steps on Michael's hand - although his swing immediately after is again too forgiving. He should really aim at the waist, forcing Michael to either flip over, or basically lie down and kip up - both of which look cool - and also destroy the dumpster. What follows immediately afterwards of course is great. The facial exchanges you guys do are so important to what makes these fights entertaining - as that's what gives you two all the character. It amuses me to no end that there is absolutely zero honour between you two in this kind of duel. You are sadistic, you are selfish, and you are downright mean to each other. Of course, it doesn't reflect well on your characters, but who cares - this is the movies!

Saber pulling
When Dorkman moves into to Ryan and takes control to pull is own saber back, you made a choreography choice that works filmicly and is a good tribute to RvD. It's well shot and acted, so it works, but I can think of a lot of wrist locks, and and arm locks (how cool would it have been if Dorkman put Ryan in an armlock with his legs, and then proceeded to have this exchange?) that would have been more convincing, allowed the identical resolution, and put Ryan in more peril. Ryan pushing Dorkman's arm down so that it hits him in the face is the perfect resolution to it though. The elbow lock that immediately follows could have been better served by a wrist lock - but Dorkman's expression of success is wicked, followed by Ryan's quick neutralization. The choice not t

 

Hmm...if I'm gonna be honest...I'm not that impressed.I'm not saying it's bad or anything, the film looks good and there are some good things about it, but...well to put it simply, RVD 1 is better, at least in my opinion.

The reason I think the first is better, is because RVD 2 seemed to be more about the gimmicks than the fighting. It also lacked the intensity of the first one. What does it say about the duel when the best moment is a comedy moment?

The film seemed to be more about "hey, look what we can do with visual effects" than what I feel it should have been - two guys with lightsabers trying to kill each other. I dunno, I think the premise of a lightsaber duel was lost under the "magic" of effects work.

To break it down:

Score - Easily the best thing about the film. It had a familiar sound, like I'd heard it before, while still being fresh and new. 9/10

Effects - Great work, though I suppose we always knew the effects were going to be a highlight of the film. Lightsabers looked good...was going to give it a 9, but I don't like yellow/orange blades so it loses a point, sorry Dorkman 8/10

The Fight - A bit of a letdown for me. There were some interesting moves in there, but it lacked the intensity of the first duel, and the whole thing seemed more about gimmicks and jokes than about fighting with lightsabers. 6/10

Overall - I'm not sure how to score this actually. I'd give RVD 1 an 8/10, and for me, RVD 2 isn't as good. I'd probably give it a 5, but because of the awesome music, I'll give it an extra point. 6/10

Yes, you read correctly..the film gets a 6/10 from me.

*prepares to be flamed*

 

*flames*

No seriously, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and if anyone flames you for it, then those people are clearly small minded [/prosyltizing]

Although, I'm not sure you should really bump down your rating of te quality of effects over a purely asthetic choice.

 

See I'm kindof the opposite on this. While I like what you guys did with the environment, and the craziness of the sparks and whatnot, it didn't sit as well with me as the long shots did. The choreography is the open spaces of the fight really delivered for me though.

Another thing. I REALLY don't like the punching or kicking sound effects you guys use. Sure they may be realistic sounding, but they really didn't make me cringe in pain or feel the hit of the blow.

I have a lot of specific questions about the compositing, but I'll wait until the behind the scenes comes out and if they aren't answered in that then I'll ask.

 

Zap - the version we post here on TFN will be h264 quicktime - full-size and smaller, since we've already had some who've asked for it... I don't have the film in hand yet to recompress, and we're also letting YouTube and Divx take the initial server hits...


My connection was spotty last night, so I haven't been able to comment until now - but I'm sure all of the guys who were there during the filming will understand this one - even after all this time, watching this, seeing that location, that *smell* just comes rushing back...
My one small disappointment is that some of the shots that were talked about initially didn't happen, like going up into and over the catwalks, but that's a very very minor quibble - everything else was outstanding - great work, guys!

 

Personal preference...though having watched it again...excluding Dorkman's blade, I'd still give it the same score.

My overall score isn't based on the average of the other scores, just in case people were wondering. the reason I gave RVD 2 an overall score of 6/10 is that I felt it became more of a joke than a lightsaber duel.

 

I don't think you will be flamed...and I don't think it's warranted (your opinion is yours to have).

First off...the HVX200 totally kicks hiney. I thought the overall look was awesome, and most certainly (to me) looked like any other film in quality.

Dorkman - i agree w/ what was said earlier...watching last night, i even pointed out to my gf how your stances have improved, some training in whatever is very visible.

I thought the environment interaction was awesome. The sparks, saber/wall/floor interaction = awesome. I especially liked the saber/water, saber/wall, saber/stairs.

The hand falling, did look a little digital/composited, but it most certainly does not look bad. I understand about the digital vs. prop thing (at least my interpretation) and that it was needed as it is to show realistically what a hand will move like when something is being taken from it.

Read the credits and saw the 3d saber hilt thing...kudos to that again (I apologize, can't remember the name). I couldn't immediately recognize a digital/3d saber until i saw that in the credits...had no idea.

9/10 to you guys
8/10 to my gf who is so sick of star wars and related (from my doing roto'ing for various projects)

Stellar job.

 

Good job guys, really enjoyed it. The only way I can describe this fight is that you guys are two kids playing a video game against each other, so you can be as cheap or as sadistic or funny as you want, and it still just works. Surprisingly well acted too. The shot of you guys about to hand to hand fight then decide not to and go for your sabers was pretty funny. Watching dorkmans face was the highlight of it.

 

I just noticed Brandon's credit - Team Player. Accurate description.

 

I enjoyed every minute of it! Awesome work guys!