The Coffee Thief on Vimeo

The Coffee Thief - YouTube

Hey hey, so the caffeine fiend is the first one up.

OK, my two spoons of sugar (and a dose of brandy) on your entry:

First up, well done on looking for the humour in the theme. Humour still seems to be what plays the most in shorts, and you had a couple of good jokers to put in front of the camera. I also appreciated the half-film noir, half-grainy film look, which lends itself to "mystery". To start with that look, and a hefty lead, well, could someone be a fan of "A Touch of Evil"?

Anyway, the guy who played Stubbs, Pat, had a nice touch in front of the camera; good delivery and hitting the right notes. The actor who did Detective B, Dick, was somewhat more expansive in his take, reaching for the humour rather than letting it come from the character.... He did have a bitching earring though, and his flip-flop braking moment was nice.

Storywise, well, 'investigating' a cup of coffee seemed a little thinner than the style deserved. You had a look you were going for, a decent voice-over, and a couple of actors up for anything. Just my personal taste of course (honed from many years of watching Bogie and French versions of noir), but I would have liked a bigger subject, even a ridiculous one. Because the coffee joke seemed to play out by the time Det. B. said he planned to get to the bottom of the cup. And for Stubbs to say it was all a dream just seemed a too-easy out. Borrowing more of the tropes, even turning them on their head, could have given more meat to the viewing pleasure. (As an aside, but still in the fun film noir vein, have a look at this one: The Bloody Olive | Short of the Week (http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2008/12/15/the-bloody-olive/)).

But anyway, I found it a nice, stylish piece, from a genre that I love. So well done!

I thought this film was fun. I enjoyed the humor, and the subject was also fun. I also enjoyed the noir technique employed.

Many a time, I have wondered who took my coffee like this character.

Marc - I haven't seen Touch of Evil yet haha, but definitely plan on it. I've seen Casablanca and The Maltese Falcon, and I love those films :) The mundaneness of the stolen coffee is a play on the heaviness of most noir films where the subject is about murder, extortion, etc. Thanks for the feedback, glad you enjoyed it!

Chris - Thanks! All this coffee talk makes me want to get some :)

I loved the exaggerated intensity of the opening. Jumping in on such an odd CU without introducing the characters, or letting us get our bearings, really bought me into the action straight away. It was enhanced by your lead's facial expressions during the V.O. Great fun, a little reminiscent of Kevin Smith's Silent Bob. It had me in stitches. I thought both actors did very well with their respective parts.

Did you achieve that look in camera at all or was it done entirely in post? Either way it worked, and the titles fitted the rest of the piece very well. I also loved the oblique camera angles and thought the tight edit was really fun and enhanced the mood (like at 1.42 when the car stops abruptly).

Worth saying that the audio sounded nice throughout too, which is no mean feat.

Henry

Henry - We shot 16mm Black and White, of course ;) JK, It was shot all on a hacked GH2 (exposed normally, no tricks), added RGrain to the top layer, added the black and white plugin, and adjusted exposure and density in Colorista. Many thanks for the comments, you're too kind :)

I really liked this Derwin. The actors really carry the playful tone of the piece and you've done a great job on aping that familiar noirish aesthetic.

Thank you Sean, much appreciated! It was joy to make it :)

Great work Derwin! Your film set a really nice tone and mood right off the bat and took us on a fun ride.

Although after a second viewing I understand where Marc is going with the desire for a fuller story to develop past the coffee I think that the simplicity underscores the theme well. Mystery doesn't have to be some giant, elaborate thing. It can be found everywhere - even around the smallest of things. You were able to take the simplicity of missing coffee and turn it into a question that the audience wants to be answered.

Thanks Adam, exactly what we where thinking! In a 3 minute short, it's tough to make something elaborate and heavy, so we went the exact opposite route :)

I loved it.

The only thing I wanted was "Burgess" quietly as the credits faded. Too cliched perhaps?

Tim, that would have been perfect, I'm a little sad I didn't come up with that, haha! Glad you enjoyed it, thank you :)

You can always add it in for the cinema release or the director's cut DVD!

You'll be the first to get a copy, Tim :)

These guys are too funny. The acting performances were amazing!
Both of them perfectly cast, great facial expressions, great deliveries.
Nice black and white treatment, cool lighting, great job!

Thank you Andrew, very happy that you enjoyed it :)

I showed this to my fifteen year old son. He was very engaged in watching it all the way through. That's an achievement right there.

As Burgess and Stubbs walk off in the last shot, just before the titles, I heard my son say "Burgess" completely unprompted. Maybe it runs in the family?

Hahaha that's awesome Tim! You made my day :)

Thanks Adam, exactly what we where thinking! In a 3 minute short, it's tough to make something elaborate and heavy, so we went the exact opposite route :)

Ultimately, most everything can be boiled down to something simple. Yes, you could make something more elaborate... you can always make something more elaborate. And a lot of times when you try to cram in so much substance into a small space makes it so everything becomes more muddled and you leave your audience with an odd taste in their mouth. By keeping it simple you were able to expand on something simple rather than simplifying something complex. This left your audience knowing what they had tasted by the end of your piece. Yes, we can always improve things and try to brew something better -- no matter how awesome a piece you made you'd be able to say that -- but you made something smooth that was both fun an engaging.
...I carried that coffee metaphor a bit too much, lol.

It's a funny film, and I find the acting really excellent in the mood of the film. Great lighting in some scenes, and camera angles too. Great job!

Adam - What you said is definitely what I try to do: a simple story with complicated emotions. It's so much easier to muck up a complicated story line. Why do I always want a cup of coffee after reading this thread? :p

Andres - I'm glad you enjoyed it! Big ups to my actors (my best friends, haha). Thanks for the lighting comment, for someone like you who has a great eye for cinematography, that is a major compliment :)

Why do I always want a cup of coffee after reading this thread? :p

Some very subtle subliminal messaging. ;-)

"Burgess."

Very entertaining!

Adam - Don Draper would be proud ;)

Andrew - "Sgt. Det. Nick Burgess, Jr.!!!"

Randy - Thank you! I live to entertain :)

Hi Derwin!

Stubbs was perfectly cast! I love the tone, the B&W, the feel of the movie. It is definitely a different type of movie compared to all of the other entries!

My only flinch moment was seeing Burgess wear flipflops. With the costuming such a throwback with the hats and suit jackets, my suspension of disbelief was thrown.

Great job!

I'm really glad you like it Toni, thank you!

The flip flop shot seems to be hit or miss in terms of the comedy. We were actually thinking about him changing to dress shoes for the shot, but it made us laugh so much we just kept it :)

Derwin, you really had me going until the scene with the goofballs emptying the cupboard. I loved the thoughts of Burgess and laughed out loud at "brain tumors." :)

I went back and forth between admiring the tone, camera angles, dialog and acting, to feeling like the gags and expressions were a bit forced. By the end, though, I realized that a dream would be over-the-top silly. If Stubbs could be barefoot in his first scene it only follows the weirdness of dreams that Burgess would be in a suit and flip flops.

Thanks for the fun and interesting entry! Hope to see you back for more.

Thanks Lorinda, very happy you enjoyed it! Had a great time doing this, and hope to do more DV Challenges in the future :)

The Coffee Thief (Colorized Version) - YouTube

For those interested, a trippy "colorized" version of the film that Ted Turner would be proud of. Thanks guys :)