Oh... and to answer your question Ian.

I use Adobe Premiere Pro (v7.0) and it was rendered in Quicktime format @ no compression... then I took it into Quicktime Player Pro and compressed it to the web with Sorensen 3.

I was amazed at the quality it produced... maybe because there was very little color variance?!

A Note on rhythm
 

I caught the earlier note on rhythm, then watched the movie. The apparant rhythm problems stem from the song, not the movie. You see, Brubeck did this song, and many others in 5/4 and 9/8 time. He was quite an innovator with odd rhythms. I believe this song is from 1961. So... counting to 4 or to 8 won't work when editing to this particular song. Counting to 5 would work. (Ok, I had to ask my high school daughter who plays in an orchestra about the tempo, but I knew about Brubeck, really).

Wow, even after reading about the color change thing, as I watched it, I forgot about it and never even noticed when it turned color. Isn't that strange? I had to go back when I realized I never saw the change, and was suprised that it had changed around the middle, and not in like the last 4 seconds. Must have worked on some level if I didn't notice it. On a concious level, I can't tell why you did it, but on another level, I never even noticed it on the first viewing.

Mabye it is the fact that I like black and white alot, or mabye something else. Just thought I'd share an alternate view to everyone elses.

-Liked it, color thing didnt bother me, and I got the joke :-) - good job

Aside from his shaving against the grain (it's from the chin DOWN if you want a close shave), and wasting water (fill the sink up once, and you're good), it wasn't bad. :)

The thing with his teeth bothered me, though. If it's just supposed to be "guy grooming himself for big date finally remembers condom", okay, but then why bother having dirty teeth? To show he's more concerned about getting some action than looking decent? If so, then why does he bother combing his hair, or shaving?

You have an excellent eye. I would love to see what you would do with a crew and a budget! My question to you is what is your background in film?

Thank you for all your comments and support. I am taking all of your ideas into consideration as I slowly but surely finish up the editing.

To answer your question G. Lee Gordon: I am taking Film 2 at my college... I am an art major, but I love film, so I try to take as many film classes as I can.

In response to Robert's comment:
(1) Well...yeah...against the grain, I got a few comments about that from others; mostly along the line of "ouch...doesn't that hurt?" but if it makes it easier, then consider that scene as me making a second pass on the shaving (first with the grain, and then second time around against).
(2) The point is really that this guy IS preoccupied with his looks, and that he IS pretty dead-set on looking presentable. The audience expects that upon seeing his teeth in such terrible condition he'd brush them (hence the drawer) but instead he takes out the condom. The unexpected is always the essence of humor...but if you really MUST reason it out: He has neglected his teeth for a while now (hence the terrible condition that they are in) and so he no longer really cares about how they look. Because of this, he ignores them.

Hmm...some of what I just said was just a rehash of the plot...but I hope that at least some has helped...

Yes, thinking of it as a second pass makes it much easier, thank you very much. I used to shave like that, without any pain, but stopped when I found going the other way made my neck so smooth and pretty. :)

As for the story, well, your explanation makes sense, but there's something about the movie that still bothers me. Wish I could figure out just what it was...ooh! I know: the length of time between when he smiles, and the cut to the startled expression. The edit could be a little tighter, I think. Seems a little unnatural for the guy to stare at his teeth for so long before reacting.

Something that also bugs me, though not nearly as much, is the way our friend tries to find the condom. If, as you suggest, we're supposed to think he goes in the drawer to find toothpaste, well, why didn't he go there first? There's an entire drawer dedicated to mouth-related hygiene products in his bathroom, I find it hard to believe he'd forget where it was.

In other words, we, the audience, see him open his mouth to look at his teeth. He then gets a look of remembrance on his face, and we think to ourselves "Okay, he has noticed this dead bug in his teeth, and is not happy about it", and we expect him to brush. You could argue that it's good for the audience to find themselves thinking "Why didn't he just go to that drawer in the first place? Oh! 'Cause he wanted the condom!", and you'd be right. It does work, but I think it might be better if he bent down and looked in the toothpaste drawer FIRST, rooted around, and closed it, leaving us to think "What the hell was that? The toothpaste was right there, what's he doing?"

You could implement those suggestions with a little rearranging/creative cutting of scenes (if only so you can better visualize how well they'd work), if you like. But it's really no major calamity. They are just suggestions, after all.

Good stuff nonetheless, and I'd certainly like some more.

Yes...the smile thing...that's DOES hold for too long (one of the problems we picked up on fast...)

Now...onto the drawers:
You hit the nail on the head when you said that the reason he didn't dive straight for the drawer filled with tooth products was that he was actually just looking for the condom...and so...I guess it doesn't really require any explanation on my part...

thanks for all the input and i hope i've got something good here!

I did a final edit for the "shaving" movie... you can take a look at it here...

www.houseofhazard.com/kirill

please also, if you have any suggestions for a title!