Feedback: Operation Christmas Spirit at DVinfo.net

Mitchell Stookey · December 19th, 2005, 02:15 PM

My friends from previous challenges weren't able to help with this one, one had surgery, one had finals and the other moved away! What do you do when your go to guys are... gone? So I had no actors, no script. So I thought, I've got me... and Christmas Spirit. So this is what I came up with and thankfully Tyler Baptist was able to shoot and even edit for me. This was a really fun challenge for me, looking forward to the next.

Dick Mays · December 19th, 2005, 05:30 PM

This has got to have been the most fun to make of any of the shorts. How can you not like a guy with a mistletoe ball, hung on a pole?

This one made me smile all the way through!

Tyler Baptist · December 19th, 2005, 05:40 PM

This was a lot of fun to shoot, running around the city spreading Christmas Spirit, and getting some angry faces too along the way. Enjoy!

Jean-Francois Robichaud · December 19th, 2005, 08:07 PM

That was really funny! Great concept. It's good you didn't stick only to the mistletoe gag. The short interviews and the commentary on Christmas added content and variety. The super-shaky cam was very annoying though.

Lorinda Norton · December 19th, 2005, 09:32 PM

My FAVORITE scene: The panned shot of you (Mitchell) running down the street with that ball of mistletoe out in front of you. HILARIOUS!!! Thanks for the laughs!

Mitchell Stookey · December 19th, 2005, 09:43 PM

About changing it up, I also wanted to sing kareoke christmas carols, and just cut back to them for a little second or two between other things going on. Unfortunately the bar wouldn't let us film inside. They said it was "illegal" to film inside bars. Glad you guys enjoyed it.

Craig Bellaire · December 20th, 2005, 09:23 AM

Ok this was real fun... reminded me of a high school production but It kept me watching till the end. I liked the gorilla film shooting in the mall.. Not sure why you went wide screen for only one shot though.. Anyway a fun film...

Sean McHenry · December 20th, 2005, 11:22 AM

I enjoyed it too. The shots of the running around with the pole out with nobody around were a nice touch. I might have gone as far as to show the same street a time or two and running both directions up and down the street. But that's me. Good piece overall.

Enough variety and might make an interesting short on the commercialization of all holidays in this country. This doesn't just happen with Christmas as we all know. I dropped a bundle on Halloween and Thanksgiving doo-dads this year as well as food and all the stuff that goes with it.

You might consider doing a half hour piece on this idea and back it up with commentary from psych professionals to see what this is doing to our psyche in this country. The selling of holidays. Sweetest day? one made specifically for sales as I recall.

I would watch it if sociologists were explaining what effect this will have on us as a nation, etc. Teaching our youth everything is money, etc. Training batches of corporate types in retail schools on how to squeeze the unsuspecting public out of every dime, making holiday seasons longer, etc.

As you can tell, this is a big subject for me. Go for it.

Anyway, nice job.

Sean

Tyler Baptist · December 20th, 2005, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Craig Bellaire

Not sure why you went wide screen for only one shot though...

Well, it was a split screen shot, and if I had cropped it, you wouldn't be able to see whats happening in that shot. So I just left each in it's aspect ratio side-by-side.

Craig Bellaire · December 20th, 2005, 01:33 PM

I had to look at that again... it is a split screen.. missed it... sorry

December 19th, 2005, 02:15 PM	#1
Mitchell Stookey Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 196	Feedback: Operation Christmas Spirit My friends from previous challenges weren't able to help with this one, one had surgery, one had finals and the other moved away! What do you do when your go to guys are... gone? So I had no actors, no script. So I thought, I've got me... and Christmas Spirit. So this is what I came up with and thankfully Tyler Baptist was able to shoot and even edit for me. This was a really fun challenge for me, looking forward to the next.

December 19th, 2005, 05:40 PM	#3
Tyler Baptist Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Saskatoon, SK Canada Posts: 71	This was a lot of fun to shoot, running around the city spreading Christmas Spirit, and getting some angry faces too along the way. Enjoy! __________________ Tyler Baptist

December 19th, 2005, 09:32 PM	#5
Lorinda Norton Wrangler Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Southwest Idaho, USA Posts: 3,066	My FAVORITE scene: The panned shot of you (Mitchell) running down the street with that ball of mistletoe out in front of you. HILARIOUS!!! Thanks for the laughs! __________________ Lorinda

December 20th, 2005, 09:23 AM	#7
Craig Bellaire Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 422	Fun Ok this was real fun... reminded me of a high school production but It kept me watching till the end. I liked the gorilla film shooting in the mall.. Not sure why you went wide screen for only one shot though.. Anyway a fun film... __________________ Craig Bellaire www.VerticalVideoSolutions.com

December 20th, 2005, 11:22 AM	#8
Sean McHenry Trustee Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Hilliard, Ohio Posts: 1,193	I enjoyed it too. The shots of the running around with the pole out with nobody around were a nice touch. I might have gone as far as to show the same street a time or two and running both directions up and down the street. But that's me. Good piece overall. Enough variety and might make an interesting short on the commercialization of all holidays in this country. This doesn't just happen with Christmas as we all know. I dropped a bundle on Halloween and Thanksgiving doo-dads this year as well as food and all the stuff that goes with it. You might consider doing a half hour piece on this idea and back it up with commentary from psych professionals to see what this is doing to our psyche in this country. The selling of holidays. Sweetest day? one made specifically for sales as I recall. I would watch it if sociologists were explaining what effect this will have on us as a nation, etc. Teaching our youth everything is money, etc. Training batches of corporate types in retail schools on how to squeeze the unsuspecting public out of every dime, making holiday seasons longer, etc. As you can tell, this is a big subject for me. Go for it. Anyway, nice job. Sean __________________ ‘I don’t know what I’m doing, and I’m shooting on D.V.’ - my hero - David Lynch http://www.DeepBlueEdit.com

December 19th, 2005, 05:30 PM	#2
Dick Mays Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 690	This has got to have been the most fun to make of any of the shorts. How can you not like a guy with a mistletoe ball, hung on a pole? This one made me smile all the way through!

December 19th, 2005, 08:07 PM	#4
Jean-Francois Robichaud Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Montreal, Canada Posts: 142	That was really funny! Great concept. It's good you didn't stick only to the mistletoe gag. The short interviews and the commentary on Christmas added content and variety. The super-shaky cam was very annoying though.

December 19th, 2005, 09:43 PM	#6
Mitchell Stookey Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 196	About changing it up, I also wanted to sing kareoke christmas carols, and just cut back to them for a little second or two between other things going on. Unfortunately the bar wouldn't let us film inside. They said it was "illegal" to film inside bars. Glad you guys enjoyed it.

December 20th, 2005, 01:33 PM	#10
Craig Bellaire Major Player Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Rochester, NY Posts: 422	Wow I had to look at that again... it is a split screen.. missed it... sorry __________________ Craig Bellaire www.VerticalVideoSolutions.com