Feedback: "Soot Happens"
 

The boys are back!!! Yes, Jeff & Mason made it out of the desert, and by request of a few DVC3 folks they’re back for another go-round. This movie seems like pretty light fare, especially when compared to many of the entries I’ve seen here so far. But it’s just hard for some of us to be very serious—particularly at Christmastime.

As a believer in the *Baby in the Manger,* I was asked why I didn’t do some present-day movie in that direction given the “spirit” theme. Simply put, I didn’t think I could pull it off! Shoot, trying to light the inside of a fake chimney (yeah, I cheated on the motivated lighting thing) had me stressed out enough.

Hopefully, though, this hapless duo struck a friendly chord in reminding us of an age-old truth.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Lorinda,

Are these the same two guys that were stuck in the desert? I liked that one, and I loved this one.

This one has my favorite dialog so far:

"We are idiots, Jeff, one of us anyway."

Followed by...

" You're not an idiot Jeff. Not a big idiot, like everybody thinks..."

I love the understated delivery. Serving it up with nothing on it!

hilarious yet simple/sentimental

I really liked this one, very simple and very funny. The dialogue was good and the lighting was awesome. Where did you film this?

Thumbs up
 

Fun movie. Great tecnique. Good actors....

Yep, fellas...simple is my specialty! LOL! Thank you so much for the nice comments.

Tyler, I am thrilled that you liked the lighting, as that was my obvious concern. To answer your question, upstairs at the music store where I teach there's an unheated, uninsulated storage area where we built a three-sided "chimney" out of chipboard and 2x4s. Jeff wasn't kidding when he said something about it being cold in there. It's good, though, because of the 12 foot ceiling.

That reminds me; I still have to get my lighting gear out of there... :)

another hit for me... i really enjoyed this one and as everyone else commented the writing makes the difference...

one comment, i noticed the santa hats were clean but there faces were dirty, was that on purpose becouse of the low lighting or a production goof?

Robert, I didn't give it a thought until I read your words just now. OOPS!!!! What floors me about that is the fact that I did notice (though too late) we didn't make their hands sooty, either.

"Now...they're just gonna think we're a [bunch] o' idiots..." :)

I'm so glad you take the time to look at these movies and comment. You already know how much I value your opinion. Thank you.

This one is great. The dialog was the best ingredient for me, followed by the look (lighting and all). I thought the two guys were great, like in their previous adventure. And there is something to be said about simplicity.

I do feel the pacing is too slow. There seems to be too many beats in between lines, and the delivery itself is a bit on the slow side. Humor is a thing of rythm, and I think the lines would come out with more impact if it was tightened a bit.

I like the pacing. But then, down here in Georgia, we miss things if it goes too fast.

LOL, Dick!!!! I was just about to say to Jean-Francois, "You don't get around many hicks, do ya?" :)

Actually, I agree that it did drag some, but this was a tough row to hoe. In earlier takes, the guys were too animated--didn't sound dejected/despondent enough. Besides that, I wanted to steer clear of it sounding like one of those typical sit-coms on TV. There was a sweet pace in there somewhere, but we didn't quite find it.

Jean-Francois, I really appreciate your comments. I'll pass them on to the guys!

Lorinda I loved this one. It's so charming. The guys really win you over. My personal favorite line is "Ugh, what'd you have for dinner?" and instead of telling him to shut up or some kind of retort, he just honestly says "Pizza and candy bars." hahha I laughed so hard at that and it made the scene feel very real for me. I enjoyed your last entry alot, and again with this. By the way I also liked the set you built because I believed entirely I was watching two guys in a chimney and was curious about what you did. Awesome!

Well...

Could be that the reason Jeff sounded so honest in his answer is that, um, that's what I did feed them for dinner! :)

Thank you so much, Mitchell. You and I have to keep our streaks going, so I will see you in DVC5!!!!

Yea I know, we missed Jon Jones in this one! I wouldn't miss DVC5 for anything.

I must say that the composition was great in simulating the claustrophobic situation. I really love that moving shot in the beginning.

Wonderful
 

Ok since I voted already now I feel I can make comments on others.
This was nice, Almost a bit to dark for my monitor, so I watched it on a 22 inch cinema display and my home computer with the lights off. Nice lighting and story...

OK I have a question, since I'm from Texas and now living in Rochester NY for the past 5 years, I've noticed this.."Why when people sound stupid, they have to use a southern accent" Can they be stupid with a Yankee/Northern accent or a Boston accent? Just wondered..

Again one of the top 2 videos for me... nicely paced

Thank you for sharing your thoughts, Craig. I'm really glad you liked the movie. There is one bit of feedback I may not share with the boys, though; they weren't putting on accents--they really talk that way!!!! LOL! (Rural Idaho....farm & ranch country....you get the idea...) :)

I will add that using the southern accents is quite often equated with lesser education. For a very long time that was just the truth of things. Most of the south eastern states, and a big part of my own southern ohio are simply too underfunded to make for great school systems. I know a lot has changed over the last 50 or so years and everyone seems to be doing a lot better in the education department but those things stick around a long time.

Also, the slow leisurly delivery of souther dialog lends itself to wondering just how long it takes to process a thought sometimes. I generalized a whole bunch there so nobody get too upset. Frankly I don't think of anyone as dumb, unless they prove it to me. We have a LOT of dumb city folks with decent vocabulary skills around these parts. Most of them are out trying to drive in the snow...

Lorinda, excellent again. These guys have a carrer in shorts. Take that however you want but they have a good delivery together. I'm sure it has to do with good writing too. The stylized chimney, great. We didn't need to see it to get it. reminded me of the Grinch going down the chimney all bent up.

Your in my top 5. I'll be voting at home tonight.

Thanks,
Sean

The Guys
 

I would have to agree about The guys have a carrer in shorts, meaning "Short videos" ha ha ha I watched a few others from your web site and they are great...

Nice!
 

Though not an entrant (this time...), I watched the set of DVC4 entries and this was one of the outstanding entrants, IMHO. The lighting and color looked very professional, the story and acting were very good.

I think the one thing that really made it stand about above many of the others was the moving camera: the whole first half of the piece has the camera in motion the entire time. Was this all done with the dolly MikeT discussed/showed in the video in his thread (I noticed the credit for his dolly at the end of your piece)? Was some of this handheld? Any stabilizer used? I'd like to know more about how you kept the motion shots so slow and smooth.

Great work!
Bill

Oh man, Bill--you just made my year!!! Thank you SO MUCH. I feel like I just won. :)

All the shots you see are a mixture of everything you mentioned. On the roof I had to shoot the gifts blind with my 6' crane from the top of my SUV because I left my little monitor at home. And I've found that my slow pans really stink, so I did it a bit faster than I wanted and slowed down that portion in Vegas. The shot on the outside of the chimney was handheld, simply because none of my blind crane shots worked. You can sure tell the difference!

Indoor moving shot of the fireplace was done with Mike's dolly and my crane. Dear, sweet friend that he is, he surprised me by building one for me at the same time he built his! Mailed it from Florida; I didn't know what it was until I opened the big box.

The scenes of Jeff and Mason in the chimney were done with my crane--that's why the angle is fairly consistent.

I look forward to seeing you for DVC5!!! :)

forgot something
 

Bill,

About that moving camera, that's a technique I really like. Credit the pro DP Charles Papert for that--I've studied his fine work from the links he's kindly provided for us here.

Nice
 

Hi Lorinda,

The charm and the acting of your piece made it my favorite.
The chemistry they had made it feel like they had the "Butch & Sundance Kid"
friendship; they would do anything for each other. Even go down a chimney.
The only problem I had that it was a little to dark in the beginning.

Great job.

Oh dear, Jimmy--you've revealed my "secret." Paul Newman's and Robert Redford's Butch & Sundance are my all-time favorite characters. That is precisely the chemistry/interaction I wanted and tried to achieve beginning in DVC3! Good eye.

You must be watching on an LCD monitor. This was terribly frustrating for me; I would watch on one monitor, then another, then another. What looked good on one was either too dark or too light on the other. Sounds like I never found the middle.

Thank you so much for the compliment to my friends! I will be sure to pass it along to them. (They are brothers-in-law, btw.)

This is definitely my favorite. I watched it several times to observe the camera motions, and I thought the pace was right on. Of course, I'm from Arkansas so that's a normal pace for me :-) The shot I liked the most was the gift with From "Satan" crossed out and changed to Santa. That cracked me up.

Congratulations on winning! This just motivates me more to enter DVC5.

Thanks Sheila; you are the first person to catch that gag about the transposed letters! (Of course, for some it was too dark.) Besides other aspects to the joke, in DVC3 Jeff couldn't even spell "HELP" correctly, so.... :)

Okay, now that you've put in writing your intention to join the fun next time, I'm gonna hold you to it. You'll love it!