DVC 7 - Mike Horrigan - "THE GIFT"

[Dennis Khaye]

I liked the shots. Very nice. For me though, you could have just opened this film up at 59 seconds. It wouldn't have lost a thing without that first minute. Play on the Christmas lights and the mechanical deer then move into your bedroom telephone scene. This would have afforded you more time on the three wishes flashbacks. Nice job though, very enjoyable.

[Mike Horrigan]

Originally Posted by Dennis Khaye

I liked the shots. Very nice. For me though, you could have just opened this film up at 59 seconds. It wouldn't have lost a thing without that first minute. Play on the Christmas lights and the mechanical deer then move into your bedroom telephone scene. This would have afforded you more time on the three wishes flashbacks. Nice job though, very enjoyable.

Thanks Dennis, I really wanted to have the long drive home coinciding with what was going on in the house. I've shown it to some people who watched the opening scene... they saw "The Gift"... noticed all the lights... someone coming home at Christmas... and they thought "This is going to be a "nice" movie."

Once the shape came up behind her and grabbed her... they were shocked!
I didn't want to throw that at them instantly.

I do agree that I should have cut it down some though... it went on too long. Cutting it out entirely is out of the question for me, but cutting it down is needed. Having more time at the end would have made for a better moment. I totally agree with that.

Thanks again for the advice,

Mike

[Dennis Khaye]

Okay if you're married to the opening driving scene then one quick suggestion for you if it's okay. Might want to cut maybe 3 seconds from it somewhere safe and then give yourself a longer dissolve to show time passage. Right now it looks kind of rushed. Not a dig, just something I noticed.

[Bruce Foreman]

Mike,

Crappy old camera didn't hurt a bit...Except it may be what caused the aspect ratio problem. I have an old Sony Digital8 that has a widescreen mode but video from it must be shown on a widescreen TV otherwise it shows exactly as yours did. That may be a combination camera and NLE issue.

I use Pinnacle Studio and versions previous to 9 couldn't handle widescreen well if at all. Version 9 would edit in widescreen and version 10 will let me mix both on a 4:3 timeline, the widescreen letterboxes.

Your use of visual elements is powerful, and as others have said, your acting portrayed just what you obviously wanted it to. The grief your character shows is very moving.

Your use of sound added much mood setting effect ranging from the deafening silence with the deer bobbing slowly to where you use repeating echoes of the little girls vocal wishes.

And to me, the way you ended it was perfect!

Bruce

[Mike Horrigan]

Originally Posted by Dennis Khaye

Okay if you're married to the opening driving scene then one quick suggestion for you if it's okay. Might want to cut maybe 3 seconds from it somewhere safe and then give yourself a longer dissolve to show time passage. Right now it looks kind of rushed. Not a dig, just something I noticed.

Yup, and I agreed to just that. I wouldn't mind cutting back on the opening one bit. I just wouldn't erase it completely for anything. ;)

You made some great points, and I agree with them. Don't hold back... I need all the help I can get.

Thanks,

Mike

[Mike Horrigan]

Originally Posted by Bruce Foreman

Mike,

Crappy old camera didn't hurt a bit...Except it may be what caused the aspect ratio problem. I have an old Sony Digital8 that has a widescreen mode but video from it must be shown on a widescreen TV otherwise it shows exactly as yours did. That may be a combination camera and NLE issue.

I use Pinnacle Studio and versions previous to 9 couldn't handle widescreen well if at all. Version 9 would edit in widescreen and version 10 will let me mix both on a 4:3 timeline, the widescreen letterboxes.

Your use of visual elements is powerful, and as others have said, your acting portrayed just what you obviously wanted it to. The grief your character shows is very moving.

Your use of sound added much mood setting effect ranging from the deafening silence with the deer bobbing slowly to where you use repeating echoes of the little girls vocal wishes.

And to me, the way you ended it was perfect!

Bruce

Bruce, I think you hit the nail on the head about the aspect ratio issues, thanks. Mine is also a Sony camera.

As for the movie comments... you really "got" what I was trying to portray. I purposely dropped the music out of range during the deer bobbing shot. If you listen closely you can even hear it squeak during the close-up and wide shot. I thought it was a nice touch. ;)

Thanks for the "ending" comment as well! Much appreciated.

Mike

[Chris Barcellos]

I'm predicting this film will do well in the voting, even with that technical difficulty. In fact, that stretched look may have given a bit more of movie feel, because overtime we have been used to having movies shown that way from time to time. I can remebmer watching "Die Hard" stretched like that.

[Brent Graham]

I really liked this film. And I now love Christmas lawn deer!

I always like the ones that make you stretch your brain a bit. And leaving the ending open was a nice touch. I'm guessing you're a Guy Richie fan?

Some really nice edits too.

[Mike Horrigan]

Originally Posted by Chris Barcellos

I'm predicting this film will do well in the voting, even with that technical difficulty. In fact, that stretched look may have given a bit more of movie feel, because overtime we have been used to having movies shown that way from time to time. I can remebmer watching "Die Hard" stretched like that.

Wow... thanks!

I really don't expect to do all that well, there are some really great films in this challenge. I'm just glad that I was able to finish one all by my lonesome. :)

I'm already looking forward to the next one!

[Mike Horrigan]

Originally Posted by Brent Graham

I really liked this film. And I now love Christmas lawn deer!

I always like the ones that make you stretch your brain a bit. And leaving the ending open was a nice touch. I'm guessing you're a Guy Richie fan?

Some really nice edits too.

This is great... I'm so glad that many of you liked it. I never expected this kind of response.

Brent, I loved "Snatch", but I really don't know many of his other movies. I just don't like the cute little wrapped up endings that we constanty get spoonfed all the time. I would rather leave more to the imagination of the audience.

Thanks again, I'm glad that a few of you liked it so much.

Cheers,

Mike

[Brent Graham]

Go rent 'Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels'

You'll love it!

[Mike Horrigan]

Originally Posted by Brent Graham

Go rent 'Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels'

You'll love it!

I've definitely heard of it... never got a chance to see it.
I'll try and rent it soon.

BTW, anyone have any advice on how to improve the recorded sound? All the voice work (and a few other sounds) were recorded via the mic camera. It took me quite a bit of tweaking to get it to sound decent. Is there a quick way around this?

Any advice on this would be helpful.

Edit: I'm using Premiere Pro 1.5
I have Audition 1.5 as well but I didn't use it. I'm not too familiar with it yet.

Thanks,

Mike

[Dennis Khaye]

Have you ever ADR'd dialog before?

I'm assuming you're talking about just the dialog right? Phone effects and car/truck drive by's can all be found and added later.

[Sean McHenry]

Looks like we might be in for a horror/thriller showdown. Hey, that's my genre pal. It's fun to share. Read the comments so far and your answers. You sound a lot like a younger version of me. I am in the same boat and have been since the beginning of these contests. Well, at least since DVC2. If you get the itch, hit my web site and take a look at some of the shorts I have done. You might like one or two. I particularly like "Track 11", one of my latest shorts.

On to the critique - well done.

Being as it is so dark (which is fine) I had to go back and hit it a second time to be sure I saw everything everyone else saw. For added shock, I might have had the killer walking down the hall to the room of the sleeping child but I know folks can get really bent out of shape on something like that. It happens, nobody wants to think about it but it is truly bone chilling evil when it happens.

I too feel the end was a bit rushed but I would have to think about how I could have slowed it down to match the pace of the rest of the story.

Basically, ya did good.

Sean

[Mike Horrigan]

Originally Posted by Sean McHenry

Looks like we might be in for a horror/thriller showdown. Hey, that's my genre pal. It's fun to share. Read the comments so far and your answers. You sound a lot like a younger version of me. I am in the same boat and have been since the beginning of these contests. Well, at least since DVC2. If you get the itch, hit my web site and take a look at some of the shorts I have done. You might like one or two. I particularly like "Track 11", one of my latest shorts.

On to the critique - well done.

Being as it is so dark (which is fine) I had to go back and hit it a second time to be sure I saw everything everyone else saw. For added shock, I might have had the killer walking down the hall to the room of the sleeping child but I know folks can get really bent out of shape on something like that. It happens, nobody wants to think about it but it is truly bone chilling evil when it happens.

I too feel the end was a bit rushed but I would have to think about how I could have slowed it down to match the pace of the rest of the story.

Basically, ya did good.

Sean

Thanks! I actually had a scene worked out that consisted of seeing a child (from the knees down) walking out of her room. She calls out... "Daddy?" Then we see a masked face turn and look towards her. Unfortunately, she was not very cooperative that day. The shots I did shoot came out too dark as well. Of course, I would have filmed the scene with the masked shape looking at her separately and edit it in.

BTW, Did anyone hear her call out "Mommy" as Mom was being strangled? You have to listen closely, but it's there.

Thanks for the great comments.

Mike