DVC10 "Akurei" - Lorinda Norton & Greg Boston
 

Greg Boston knows why it’s called a “challenge.” Ideally, one shouldn’t be handed what looks like a wet bag of doody on Saturday night and told, “Here—turn this into something good by Sunday;” yet that’s essentially what happened to him! He did a great job of creating sound effects and finding music. Sorry I didn’t give you enough time for creating a score, Greg, but your work kept us off the wall of shame and gave this piece what I couldn’t. Thanks for teaming up with me and also for the help with video effects. Any long-time DVCer knows that effects ain’t my thing.

If I heard it once I heard it a dozen times while looking for actors last week—“If you’ll make a comedy I’ll give it a try.” Everyone around here, including me, shies away from drama; thankfully, my good dad came to the rescue once again and agreed to try something new. My sister, who hates being in front of a camera and seldom acts serious, also sacrificed for this one, and I’m really grateful.

Neither the story nor the technical side of things turned out the way I envisioned, but then, that's usually the case, isn't it? I just hope it proved somewhat interesting, and if nothing else, we finally got Greg out of the wings. Looking forward to your DVC11 movie, GB! :)

Hi Lorinda and Greg!
 

A wet pile of doody? Is that what you received Greg? lol

You are so hard on yourself...you remind me of me at times.

I really liked your film. You set a wonderful mood with the lighting, the fire and the sound was excellent.

Your Dad and sister were fantastic! Very natural and totally believable. I really enjoyed the subtleness. You felt for him and that is key. I didn't feel like they were acting at all and that is hard to do. I was really drawn in. The camera dolly's were excellent to.

How did you do the blur effect Greg? That looked cool. Maybe you can use one in your DVC 11 entry.

Lorinda,

It was very pretty. Nice feel to it, the family story by the fire.
I liked the lighting, and it looked like a blue filter was used (or pushed in post) for the lighting on your Dad.

Best line in DVC 10 thus far: "I think we should sell this place."

Would have liked more on the transition as he felt the spirit approaching. It seemed rather sudden.

Of course, that may be how spirits actually approach. I have limited experience in this sort of thing...

Ah so, Dick Mays-san…blue gel supposed to look like moonlight…

Okay, enough of the fake Japanese accent. Boy, do I agree with you about the part with the spirit swooping in, but I’ll be darned if I could figure out how to make it more chaotic, etc., once the shooting was done.

Lighting is just one of the major nemeses in my video life, so I appreciate the compliment on it, especially coming from you and the Bradster!

Bradley! So happy you liked the movie. I’ll be sure and tell my dad and sister what you said; they won’t believe it’s true (runs in the family) but will still appreciate it.

About that blur, Greg told me from watching the rough cut that maybe a blur would look better than the narrowed focus look I had going, so Vegas and I had another go-round with the cookie cutter and guassian blur effects. He was so right—it looked much more interesting.

it's always a pleasant surprise when the family members step up to our silly little schemes!

i like the whole ghost story 'round the campfire idea. you did a good job of milking that campfire for all the elements of suspense that it could provide.

nice job on the soundtrack, wish i had more speed in scoring tracks, what a great skill to have...

Thanks Meryem. The scariest thing was that my Mac was slowly dying of a hardware failure as I rushed the sound track to completion. Like the victims in slasher movies, I sometimes felt like I was running in quicksand.

I've been trying to watch some of the other movies. I liked yours. Reminded me of one of my all time favorites (you mentioned George Ramero), "Night of the Living Dead". The opening scene in the cemetary. BTW, the blood in that movie was Hershey's chocolate.

-gb-

Lorinda:

That was a very neatly done film. Your Dad and Sister acted their parts very naturally and that helped bring off a very well done tastefully understated feeling of unease.

Having been stationed in Japan and having listened to folks describe much the same sort of thing, your work brought that feeling back to me. I've actually watched and enjoyed the film version of "Kwai Dan", a group of five tales of the supernatural out of Japanese legend.

In addition to what others have said, your entry had a lot of "class" to it.

Why, thank you, Bruce! Most kind.

Too bad it wasn't scary... :)

Your actors did a fine job stepping out of their comfort areas. I know that is something really hard to do. Nearly every time I try to do a short is almost always turns into a comedy no matter what. I really enjoyed how natural they seemed to feel when just sitting and talking. It probably helped that they really have the relation portrayed. And as others have now said, Your dad should get the award for best line in DVC 10! The moonlight really came out nicely. I really enjoyed your film :)

As Usual, Fantastic!
 

I've especially enjoyed watching your movies when your family became involved. Technically, this one was very good. Your shots, pacing and lighting were always motivated and added to the eeriness of the scene. I've paid particular notice to the fact that you are not afraid to move the camera, even slightly, which adds to the emotional impact. You are most definitely not a lazy filmmaker, that's for sure! Your father and sister nailed the acting which is a wonderful testament to your directing skills. I felt a chill up my spine just at the right part.

Great movie!

Well where do i start - the fire looked beautiful. The sound was excellent. And the idea was great! Nice job. I enjoyed it.

Thanks, Hugh, for taking the time to study the little things in these movies. After reading your comments I made myself watch it again. All the parts with the evil spirit seem rushed—like “let’s hurry up and establish that it’s there…and moving forward…and now…there it is! Guess I chose to chew up time establishing uncomfortable silence in the beginning and sacrificed that poor old spirit near the end.

Heh heh…nice way to say what I was thinking a few minutes ago: “Gosh, could you have been more obvious with placing that fire at 1:11?” (lol) Actually, at that point and then again when I brought the spirit back in the middle of the movie there were technical reasons for their placement, as I recall, like a weird place on the timeline that froze the frame and made my dad’s eyes stay shut. No matter how I tried to manipulate the clip it would do that. Spooky. ;)

Oh well, I could have tweaked on it ‘til the deadline but it wouldn’t have made that much difference.

Josh, Hugh, Bruce and Brad—I will be sure to pass along your compliments to my dad and sister. On their behalf….thank you!

Hey Marco,
Yes, the fire was by far my favorite part of the movie. :) Thank you.

Hey Lorinda,

Very nice film. It proves to me that nothing beats a good ghost story. I bet your father told you lot of good stories when you were a kid. He has that story telling kind of air about him. Nice portrait.

I actually found this film "scary", believe it or not. This challenge reminded me of something I knew and forgot; that film can work (like any good story telling) with what is not directly shown, but rather through things that are indicated or suggested. I think that it would have been impossible for you (or any major effects house for that matter) to depict the sinister, creepy, bad-mooded, specter I imagined hovering around your father. Iaaaah! I get the creeps just mentioning it.

All the elements you added to the basic ghost story told by your dad supported that, slow tracking (and crane?) shots, slow zooms, details. Nice. The abrupt ending worked well for me, and set up the punch-line perfectly.

The only things that pulled me out or the story were the sounds of a mysterious cellphone-like ghostly beeping (or was that a lonesome cricket?), and the sound of a dismembered semi in the background. Also that friendly looking dog waging his tail while your pop is explaining how he is about to have a heart attack, kind of broke the spell for me for a sec.. Dogs are classically very sensitive to ghost-like presences. You needed spot to be whimpering, and cowering in fear at your fathers feet - not lollygaging in the background trying remember where he buried that steak bone of his last week. But I'm just nit-picking. And you don't even have to explain how you couldn't have the interstate closed for the two hours of shooting, and that you were lucky enough that the dog gave you permission to film on his premises at all.

And Greg, nice job. I can't even think of anything nit picky to mention.. Why couldn't you filter out that truck noise in the background ;').


Nice Job,

DK

Hi Daniel. Believe it or not, I did make a couple of attempts at removing the truck noise. I just didn't have a lot of time and I wanted to focus more on other elements.

The cellphone like beeping is part of the night ambience track I used from Soundtrack Pro. I had a couple other choices, but this one seemed to fit the visual image I was looking at better than the others.

Thanks for the kind words. I'll give another close listen to the lonely cricket.

-gb-