DVC 10- Blood in the Country- Chris Barcellos

[Chris Barcellos]

Okay, take it easy on me. First time ever in this genre.

Quite a bit of fun filming this. Main actress was a friend who missed the meeting for script writing the night before the shoot, so she got drafted, naturally.

I wish I could have gone back and done some additional shots in places.

I used the FX1 for most shots, except killer on driveway, and car coming down road and into driveway. Had my HV20 on a homemade jib for those shots.

I composed music using loops from various Sony loop libraries I own, using Acid Music Studio.

Screaming was a challenge to record. I kept lowering levels to avoid the distortion, but didn't quite get do the job.

[Bruce Foreman]

Chris:

Very well done. Camera work was all very smooth, editing flowed nicely, music really helped set the mood. Quality of acting held up well and I could detect no distortion in the screaming.

Jennifer McAdam turned in an exceptional performance, man, she projected abject terror and desperation to an incredible depth.

[Meryem Ersoz]

hey chris, i can see the shadow of your camera reflecting on the killer's back in the opening sequence. is that your alfred hitchcock moment, where you're putting yourself in the film?

this is a pretty ambitious piece for 3 minutes--actually, i found the whole horror thing to be a challenge, because of the need to shoehorn both a story and an atmosphere into such a short space.

i'm not sure that i understood the ending, with the blinking light on the phone. was this a dream? was the absent husband calling? was the killer calling to say he had the husband? i guess i need this explained to me, i'm a bit of a dunce when it comes to this genre--i often need endings explained to me!

good-looking film though, all of the effects worked pretty well, i thought the shot where the husband was half out-of-frame and being dragged off was effective. i like suggestive stuff, and i really like it when people use out-of-frame material well...i need to think more about how to shoot using off-screen deliberately (instead of accidentally, which is how it usually happens, with poor framing)...it takes skill!

[Chris Barcellos]

Bruce: Thanks for your kind comments. I will relay your comments to Jennifer.


Meryem: Caught me on that camera shadow. I noticed it, but was thinking it went by so quick, it wouldn't be noticeable-- back to the editing board... I actually cropped that shot in post, because more was showing up than that, but should have cropped a bit more....

[Bradley L Marlow]

Great to "see" you again too.

I liked your film. I really liked your low to the ground, then raised up crane looking shot in the beginning. Nice. The second time watching- I picked up on the fact that it was an arm and hand that the killer dropped. At first I thought it was a bloody rag. Doen't he know that you are supposed to clean your plate prior to getting desert? (lol)

Though hard to see, I think that newspaper says "Cannibal Escapes!" Is that right? Maybe just a tight shot of the headline and the killers hand in there?

Jennifer did a great job in her role! Give her many pats on the back.

[Chris Barcellos]

Originally Posted by Bradley L Marlow

Great to "see" you again too.

I liked your film. I really liked your low to the ground, then raised up crane looking shot in the beginning. Nice. The second time watching- I picked up on the fact that it was an arm and hand that the killer dropped. At first I thought it was a bloody rag. Doen't he know that you are supposed to clean your plate prior to getting desert? (lol)

Though hard to see, I think that newspaper says "Cannibal Escapes!" Is that right? Maybe just a tight shot of the headline and the killers hand in there?

Jennifer did a great job in her role! Give her many pats on the back.

YouTube Definition doesn't show headline well... but the other two renders does. For YouTube, should have done the CU....

[Bradley L Marlow]

I understand completely. I'm not happy with what youtube does to videos either. I will download your higher res file!

[Hugh DiMauro]

Your camera moves looked great. Loved that crane shot just before he drops the severed arm. I also like how you intersperse the titles with the action. Good use of music in that it doesn’t seem out of place. The tempo increases during the more suspenseful segments. Did you add the barking dog sound bite in post? It was a nice touch. Nice golden hour shots and the interiors were lit very well. The phone message was a nice 1970s horror flicks reference. Did this guy escape just after Michael Meyers? <<grin>> Your female actress really did a fabulous job appearing frightened out of her wits. I also noticed some Hitchcock thrown in there as well. You didn't overuse shadows. Your end credits music was eerie as hell. Good job!

[Bradley L Marlow]

Originally Posted by Chris Barcellos

YouTube Definition doesn't show headline well... but the other two renders does. For YouTube, should have done the CU....

Thanks Chris. I downloaded your wmv version and it looks great! Highly recommend others doing the same.

[Chris Barcellos]

Originally Posted by Hugh DiMauro

Your camera moves looked great. Loved that crane shot just before he drops the severed arm. I also like how you intersperse the titles with the action. Good use of music in that it doesn’t seem out of place. The tempo increases during the more suspenseful segments. Did you add the barking dog sound bite in post? It was a nice touch. Nice golden hour shots and the interiors were lit very well. The phone message was a nice 1970s horror flicks reference. Did this guy escape just after Michael Meyers? <<grin>> Your female actress really did a fabulous job appearing frightened out of her wits. I also noticed some Hitchcock thrown in there as well. You didn't overuse shadows. Your end credits music was eerie as hell. Good job!

Hi Hugh:

Thanks for the compliments.

I actually put this music together from a Sony Loops library. Original composition was slow, I sped it up in Acid Music Studio, then for the end excitement as it built, I sped it up more. Final eerie track was also from loops library...

Barking dog was actually recorded exactly as filmed. Can't believe the luck of that one, because I had intend to and a track to the driving in... I didn't even have headphones on. When I heard it first time, I was amazed how it fit the mood so well.

[Lorinda Norton]

Here I was ready to give you all kinds of credit for including the dog barking, and it was happenstance? Even better! Like the barking dog, I appreciated what appeared to be nods to classic horror flicks—the newspaper that the killer removes because he’s the headline, the cool music. Then there’s the woman…NINE screams! Dang, I haven’t screamed that many times in my whole life! She’s sure good at it.

Like Meryem, I’m wondering about the blinking light on the phone. I’m going to assume the whole thing was a nasty dream and she’s just freaked out by a simple missed call.

You do great at horror movies, Chris. I’d have never guessed you for a first-timer. I think this may well be my favorite of all the movies you've entered!

[Marco Wagner]

I like the fact that someone is killed in the opening, straight to carnage, rah!!! Great message left by authorities and a scream!!! yes a scream!!! The noise at the end is spooky to, i like.

[Dick Mays]

Escaped Serial Killer, doesn't get much scarier than that. I definitely got a "Texas Chainsaw Massacare" feel at the top, with dropping the severed hand. I also liked the killing at the top before the credits. Kind of a big movie feel to that. (Except the girl was too young and cute to be the first victim. It always has to be some nubile teenager engaged in promiscious activity. Study the genre! :)

Also loved the screaming and the legs being dragged out of frame. (you could have left a pool of blood behind, but women have a thing about destroying the carpet for a movie).

I also expected the knife to come through the door as she was pressed against it. Again, a little costly to repair, but...

Man, all the really cool effects cost money. But nice job on the shots you did get.

[Daniel Ross]

I liked the style. Didn't really find it scary, more like a slasher film, with a slight edge of parody, mostly the music. Didn't dislike that, though.
The shots of the car in the driveway, which you noted were shot on the HV20 unlike the rest, jumped out at me as "video" rather than film, for some reason, and that isn't a big concern for me. Maybe mixing cameras wasn't the best option.

I think the actress reading the announcement should have practiced a bit more. She's not on camera and can even read from a script, but she still stumbles a couple times? Brought me out of it for a minute. Very doubtful that a real emergency announcer [or whatever she might be called] would be inexperienced like that.

The acting was good, though I thought the edit on the scream was a bit much. Something like parts of Hitchcock films with the closeups, maybe, but then just too long. That part took out any real chance of it being scary. Sorry. But it was amusing as a parody. Win/loss, I guess.

The effect of the spinning didn't really do it for me. Even if you aren't experienced with FX, a couple more filters on that, with some keyframes, could do very well. Zoom in/out a bit, blur softer/sharpen/blur/etc., and it's already a good start.

I'm guessing that the message on the machine is that there is a serial killer loose, that some part of the "nightmare" is actually very true, and it's up to the viewer to determine what happens after that-- and that, if anything, is the scary part in the film.

The focus seemed to go in and out a bit on the shot after she closed the door behind her. Autofocus issue? Or maybe that was youtube acting up.

[Geir Inge]

Hi Chris.
The man wih the knife :)
Always exciting to watch "knife"-movies.
I think your plot is great and you have a way with camera.
Different angles make it look more exciting.
Your editing is just fine and so is your choice of music.
I have to finished work now.

Good luck on DVC.
Geir Inge