We don't want any. A consumer's worst nightmare -- the salesman that just won't quit.


This was a quick little film taking only a day to shoot and a few more to edit. I tried to concentrate mainly on making the editing as smooth and tight as possible, so I hope it shows!

Quicktime encoded, approx. 17Mb.
No Solicitors (http://www.alextaylor.org/movies/nosolicitors/)
To download, right-click and save as.. (http://www.alextaylor.org/movies/nosolicitors/ns-web.mov)

Enjoy! Any feedback is appreciated.

Pretty entertaining! The salesman looked pretty young for the job, but that's OK. I didn't really have a problem with the editing, though I would have liked to see the shot of the guy under the bed shortened while the salesman is doing his thing in the bathroom. I don't know exactly what to recommend there, but it didn't bother me too much. Not sure how old you guys are but keep it up!

Thanks for your comments, Curtis! We're all 18 years old so a bit on the young side, especially for a salesman job :)

LOL. very funny. How many other shorts have you and your friends done?
I enjoyed the way you composed your shots and the story you told just with the editing of those shots. There are somethings that would make it stronger. The ending shot although it is nice that it comes full circle I don't think it is necessary. I would of liked to be infront of him as he walked to the next house and pressed the doorbell. Something like that.
What it would of also been nice to have an older salesman in the spot with wrinkles and alittle more interesting features. Maybe you can do a sequal. Ask an uncle, dad or friends dad.
Are you able to takethe settings off of auto? It seemed that the Iris of the camera was on auto and so that was alittle annoying.

Maybe also when your man charcter is under the bed you can do a POV looking towards the bathroom and just show the salesman's foot twitching as he is finishing his business. BTW- did he forget to wash his hands?

What were your settings to output this short to the web?

Great job. I would enjoy seeing more.

Rob:D

Robert,

I've done four or five other shorts before this one, they're all on my website (http://www.alextaylor.org).

I have a Canon ZR20 which allows a fair amount of manual control, but not when exposure is concerned. The shot I loathe most in the movie is when he falls through the window, I had to brighten that up a lot (I should have shot to the side more to avoid the bright window but I wasn't thinking!)

Come to think of it, I don't know why I didn't do a POV shot under the bed! It was actually quite an ordeal getting him under there in the first place; if you look closely, there are encyclopedias propping up the legs! We were originally going to have my cat under there with him, but she's too antisocial for that.

I'm always trying to get the best Quicktime compression possible, so I really played around in Cleaner to get this right. If you have Cleaner I can actually just e-mail the settings file to you, otherwise here's what I used:

420x315 @ 12.5 fps using Sorenson 3 Codec
Audio: 11.025 16-bit sample rate in mono using IMA 4:1

And yes, I guess he didn't wash his hands!

I just submitted this and two of my other films to some film festivals that are running this fall and next spring. Here's the hitlist:

Victoria Indepdendent Film & Video Festival
Cinefest Sudbury
TWIST Montreal Film Festival
Manhattan Short Film Festival
IFILM.com

I'll keep my fingers crossed and let you guys know if I get accepted in any of them :)

Interesting idea, nice that it came full circle. I had the same
thoughts on the auto settings. Adding light here might help.

I thought it was great... it told an entire story with out a word of dialog.. i also loved the clever twist in the end.. through out the movie i was wondering how it was going to end, and i was pleasantly surprised...

i think the salesman fit the part very well.. straight up no non sense serious about home security type of guy... a tad older might have worked a bit better, but i know what its like when you have to work with what you've got...

excellent work.. two thumbs up...

Eddie

* bump *

Alex, I really loved this film, it's the perfect short narrative IMO. It tells a simple, concise story with a clever twist at the end (the way Poe said short stories should be written). The direction, camera moves, and staging were all top notch. I especially like the way the camera whips over to the window after the salesman rings the doorbell, and the slow pan later when he thinks twice about jumping over the white picket fence.

I think you have a future in Hollywood, my friend. (You could be the next Michael Bay!!!)

I think you have a future in Hollywood, my friend. (You could be the next Michael Bay!!!)


Haha, thanks! I really appreciate your comments.

My favorite part was when you cut to the business card at the end, and his website was *@housecondom.com

Hehe, maybe I should register that domain name so nobody steals it :P

That was a really well thought out concept. it would be a daring Television commercial, that almost no company would dare to do.

Hello Alex,

I was very impressed by your short video. Great JOB!!!
It inspired me to do short videos :)

This video kept me wanting more and more. I also liked the mistery in what is this salesman doing??? and Why the guy in the house is ALSO hiding??

Also trying to guess how the story was going to end was quite entertaining. and well you got a great ending hehe
who would of thought that the guy was a home security salesman hehe sure made his point.

BTW: I do have an alarm system in my house LOL!!!


Your compression is also outstanding and clear. How did you get the file so small and able to keep the quality?

I know you've mentioned some settings in your post i.e.

[420x315 @ 12.5 fps using Sorenson 3 Codec
Audio: 11.025 16-bit sample rate in mono using IMA 4:1]

but at what data rate?

Care to share your QT and Cleaner output settings? I'm assuming you're using a Mac?

I too am using QT and Cleaner and a Mac. Would love to get file settings for Cleaner if you don't mind sharing it :)

--William

William,
I'm on a PC, actually. Wouldn't mind getting my hands on a G5 though!

I've e-mailed you the settings file for Cleaner 5, I don't know if it will work on a Mac but you can always recreate the settings from my previous post. If anybody else wants the settings file just let me know.

I just realized I never specified a data rate in my settings! Kind of weird..