DVC9 - "The Date" Stacy Dudley
 

Stacy,

Couldn't find a feedback thread for you so I started one:

A very poignant theme, one we've seen several times before but you did an especially gentle and poignant version of it. The camera work looked good to me, the music fit, and I especially liked the "withdrawal" and the audio effect that went with it.

(Yeah, how did you do that audio effect)

The acting was pretty good too. Not overdone, came across as sincere.

Bruce....I was just wondering the same thing about his feed back thread. I'll have to go back and look at it again in a quieter area to see if I can find the audio effect your talking about.

Stacy: I thought you did a great job making this one.

Randy

Good film. There some really great shots in this. I especially like the long pull-back at the end for the credits to roll.

The first scene, inside the house, didn't look like it was white-balanced or color corrected. Of course, maybe that was done on purpose - i don't know. That was my only issue was the color temperature didn't match throughout the film.

Good choice of music and nicely edited with the music. The pacing of the storytelling worked well for me.

Tough to get the sound right with almost no crew. I'm not sure if a better mic, or a closer placement, or what exactly would have helped. Or maybe it's the compression and then playing out of my tinny laptop speakers, but it sounds like you're missing the low end. The camera is right next to him when he starts talking, but it doesn't sound like you're that close. (I mean before the pull away, which is actually the best executed of the sound.)

Color feels off. A bit magenta (assuming the calendar is white and the actor is not sunburned). Depending on what you edit with and how much time you left yourself some color correction could have helped. But if it's not something you've done before you could spend days and never get it how you want it (I say having lost weeks myself before I went and took a class).

Smile,
Kris

WOW!

Thanks everyone for the kind words, and thank you Bruce for starting the thread. I was waiting until today to post a feedback thread because I thought I had remembered Dylan mentioning to hold off till Monday.

Anyway, I didn't expect to receive such nice comments and YES everyone is correct about the color. Believe it or not I did color balance. The bathroom is yellow and has orange lamp shades. It is a pleasantly warm room and I had high hopes that I could capture the essence.

Unfortunately, the natural room color just doesn't work for video (at least not with my limited knowledge). I had played around with some color correction in post but it just looked washed out so I ran with what I got. This was a second shooting after replacing the bulbs with "daylight" bulbs to help brighten it up. The original was so bad I was literally orange. I chose not to bring in additional lighting and ended up paying for it in the long run.

It's all good with me because I had fun and am happy just to be a part of this competition.

Thanks everyone, especially DVinfo for making it possible!

Stacy

You certainly proved it doesn’t take long to tell a story. Welcome to the “under two minute movie” club! :)

Someone once asked me about my decision to use dissolves (I call them crossfades)—partly because they weren’t necessary, and partly because they don’t come across that well on the Web. I think that’s why your use of them on the shower scene kind of bothered me. Might not be an issue with anyone else. That said, I did like your pacing. Also, as Bruce pointed out, your acting came across as sincere, allowing me to sympathize with the character.

Fun and learning—that’s what the Challenge is all about. You did a nice job, Stacy.

This was sad. Best shot was the pull away at the end. I kind of wanted a little more before the end. Something showing a little joy for how precious life can be. Maybe instead of spending so much time getting ready in the bathroom, you could put something in that shows the relationship he had with his wife/mother (whoever she was). Maybe tending flowers in a garden, or putting away clothes and noticing a special dress.

Nice music, that fit the mood.

I have to hide this one from my wife, she'll cry the second she sees the cemetery (she's such a sap, lol). Anyway, I liked what you did; it was sad and certainly had a surprise ending. The color looked saturated, but in a nice way, you did pretty decent warming it up. Great short!!!

You did an excellent job with the camera and sound. Very touching and you pulled it off in a very short amount of time. I agree with Lorinda about the acting, very sincere. Thumbs up.

This was quite well done. Touching and well acted. It came across as very sincere and natural, which really sold me on the feel. I felt it. Although personally, I wasn't sure about the music at the beginning because I almost felt that it seemed to hint at something ominous coming up, when it was actually quite natural and tender.

The closing shot was really well done and the fading vocal track under reverb was an especially nice touch that complemented the pull-back very well.

Good job.

-Jon

Stacy,

Nice job! Good idea and story. The only thing I would have changed would be to show the graveyard at the very end, as a twist so to speak.

Thank for a great little story!

Mike