"1812" Now Online! Download it now!

windog · Post by **windog** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 8:01 am

no I mean copyright for the music. I could use that clip!

Lawriejaffa · Post by **Lawriejaffa** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 4:49 pm

Hey John ! Well im back, and i have prepared a wee review crit etc

Alright first of all the film's presentation at the start is impressive, very professional. However, there is a point you should bear in mind, and this though raised aleady is worth mention (ill be brief) the legality of music. For educational reasons in the UK for example, you can use it, but never show it to the 'public' and can be used only in the institution. It is very unlikely that in canda, you can copy music, and 'legally' show it to all your mates (cos what would the difference be in copying any copyright material and showing it outwith the original product?) Well none, my suggestion and hope, is that you have kept a soundtrack, with seperate music tracks so that they can be replaced, asap with original, public domain recordings or that with permission.

Another reason is that, when people hear the music from 'shrek' or others, (then they arent concentrating on ur film, their thinking - hey its the music from this or that...)

Right well the film is an epic in time for most attempts here, so i salute you to that, no easy task. The stories basic structure is more or less held together in a cohesive ish structure.

The shots and the editing are in general not too bad at all. Sound however, could have been improved, I suggest if you were not to use a rifle mic, fishpole, shotgun mic etc, i have a tut about sound somewhere in the other forum. Cos voices could have been crystal clear

As regards to the acting, this is ironically one of the films weakest point, you see a dutch film-maker considered a darling in his country, made a critically acclaimed film, with only a mini dv camera, (on auto settings) - this was a bit of an experiment sure, but it was a drama (no MTV fast edit) and relied on the acting. So despite technical limitations acting pulled it up! So if your actors had more time to rehearse, or if they did, then some drama workshops to open em' up etc, then the film could have shined.

So definatley do not underestimate how much acting held the film back BUT thats not me blaming the actors muhahaha (ur the director lol, u cast em' u organise their rehearsals.)

The costumes and props is sheer bravery, to get them, and to make muskets etc, (they were crude but functionable) was impressive. Some props, like a katana? were out of place?

Most totally bizarre was some elements of fight choreography, such as the men shooting each other in lines just 15? 10 yards away? Although men fought in lines and columns in the period, and im not totally familiar with the usa canada war of the period, at no point would they rank up that close to volley each other. So maybe a little more research into the fighting of that period? but just a little

A scene with romance, even done poorly is a step up from the kinda films guys make with just their mates - omg u got a girl!

Overall an incredibly ambitious, and brave attempt to tell a historical drama, set in a unique point of history long forgotten by cinema, with some technical competency, held back a little by sound, and more so with performances (but again im not picking on the actors on this).

Well done my friend, cant wait to see what you do next

windog · Post by **windog** » Wed Aug 31, 2005 6:38 pm

thats what i said! It all about actually getting a girl!

John Groshko · Post by **John Groshko** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 9:05 pm

Well thanks for the feedback, I will take it into consideration.

NoRemorse · Post by **NoRemorse** » Fri Sep 30, 2005 8:45 pm

Everything spot-on with the exception of the acting, which was pretty weak all round. Strangely, there was some great editing and some f*ckin terrible editing ie. jump cuts during the sex scene - not cool. Still, this is the only film I've seen on this site that has held my attention for a full 45 minutes. Well done. 3 outta 5

John Groshko · Post by **John Groshko** » Wed Oct 05, 2005 3:50 am

Well thanks (I guess, lol) for that feedback NoRemorse. Glad you found in entertaining. As pointed out by Lawriejaffa, the film isn't perfect. But all film comprimise. So as long as people were solidly entertainted, I'm happy.

Hope more people (ie, the veterens of this site) get to see it.

Kentertainment · Post by **Kentertainment** » Wed Oct 12, 2005 10:55 pm

Just watched it again and I noticed at 28:00 when the Americans are talking the flag is the standard 50 star flag rather than from the given time period.

windog · Post by **windog** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 10:09 am

School inspector....."49, 50. Ahh Good. Flag is up to date!"

UnkindSky · Post by **UnkindSky** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 4:12 pm

Your making the Americans look like the bad guys lol. Well... i guess they were lol

ProdigyFilmsinc. · Post by **ProdigyFilmsinc.** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 7:49 pm

Hey, Just wachted it and it was actually really good. The acting could have been bettter but they all had some high points. One of the major drawbacks i saw was the smoke effects. They stayed to long and were to solid. Thats all i noticed but overall i really enjoyed it.

SgtPadrino · Post by **SgtPadrino** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 11:13 pm

The Americans were the bad guys? Whenever I learned about the War of 1812, they told me that Britain invaded us...

UFProductions · Post by **UFProductions** » Thu Oct 13, 2005 11:19 pm

We invaded each other, as it turns out. From what I understand it went; Americans invade Canada (British North America, we weren't even a country yet) then we went and burned down your White House. Then everyone had a round of drinks.

John Groshko · Post by **John Groshko** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:07 am

That's pretty much what happen. And American invaded British North American (Canada) FIRST, because they were allies with France (Believe that!). And when Napeoleon invade England, the USA attaked Canada because it was part of it. Very simple if you think about it.

Lawriejaffa · Post by **Lawriejaffa** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 12:13 am

Yup, in essence the war of 1812 was a humiliation for the young USA, however the president of that times policy was incredibly contraversial, as was his plan to invade 'canada'.

There is a famous painting showing the commander who burned down the whitehouse (he had it commissioned) It shows him looking unbelievably smug and regal, with the white house (and new york) burning in the background. To make matters worse, the president had a celebration dinner all lined out in the whitehouse, that british officers ate (yum yum) before burning it and much of new york down...

John Groshko · Post by **John Groshko** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 6:21 am

What's the painting? I'd like to see that. Perhapes one day I'll make a sequel.

UnkindSky · Post by **UnkindSky** » Fri Oct 14, 2005 2:40 pm

Wow... thanks for clearing that up. That was a part of the war of 1812 i didnt know. Thanks

windog · Post by **windog** » Fri Mar 03, 2006 9:01 pm

no , mean for the shrek moosick

Post by **Matt** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 10:26 am

I'm downloading it now. Will post back when I have seen it ...

windog · Post by **windog** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 12:16 pm

no i mean copyright for the music from shrek?

F.F.F. · Post by **F.F.F.** » Sun May 21, 2006 11:25 pm

Wow, That was stupendous! You handled the night scenes very well and the costumes...Holy cr** they were great! But in some places the audio was a little rough. Maybe you could have given the soldier back packs or something. Congratulations on such a great film!

PanicFilms · Post by **PanicFilms** » Mon May 22, 2006 7:24 pm

I almost switched off before your logo had finished, that is one long a** piece of animation.

The crane shot was beautiful, there is no taking that away from you. The rest was pretty dire. From a technical perspective, the editing had no pace. It lacked momentum throughout. Yes, you had costumes, but that lost all effect by placing 13 year olds inside them. For an 18 year old film maker, finding adult actors for adult roles should not be a problem. You tackled a boring subject with little skill nor attention to technical detail, thus making it even more boring.

Sorry if this has p*** on your parade but if you really plan on having a career in this industry you need get your basics sorted before attempting something as complex and accurate as this.

Lawriejaffa · Post by **Lawriejaffa** » Mon May 22, 2006 10:18 pm

That is brutal PanicFilms but it is true. However John Groshko made this film a while ago and i reckon he probably realises that about his work. Next time im sure the film will have all the right looking lads and it will be a cracker. Its important to be honest and having honest reviews that aren't just for slander or for ego-boosting are rare! (thats what i try to do but careful PanicFilms) some guys will try to flame u for being honest...

If you get a chance mate id like an honest review from u too PanicFilms, my film is at www.newagefilm.co.uk/FINALMOVIE5.wmv (in the Chechen film thread)

BlakJakDavy · Post by **BlakJakDavy** » Tue May 23, 2006 12:22 am

Hmm, well, It had its goods and bads in my opinon. There could have been more extensive lighting controls and line learning, and the film got off to a bit of a shaky start, I thought. I did not like the fact that there were black boxes around each letter in the title "1812" that created black overlap patches when they crossed over. Also, the first argument after the commanding officer kills the boy was a little shaky on the cuts, with too much pause in between each response. I'm not sure about canadians having distinct accents at that point, and the Americans would almost certainly still have English accents in 1812 (or some trace). The love scene was missable, as it seemed to take away from the film more than it added to the depth of their relationship. You've heard about the date issues with the flag so I won't touch on those. There were a few cheesy lines between the guys and girls there also. My one last gripe was a few cliched shots, like the moon behind the clouds one and the screaming up into the camera.

Ok, all that aside, there were some things that I really enjoyed about the film. I was a big fan of the crane shots, especially overhead in the swordfight, I wish you'd done more of those. You did an excellent job of portraying the scope of the battles and the world the characters inhabited. I liked the idea of the Canadian flag being developed and uniting behind it regardless of the true facts of the matter. What was also good was that you did manage to get the audience to attatch to Brock emotionally and so it was sad when he was shot, a good use of music enhanced that and made the funeral scene quite moving. The ability to create this kind of reaction was commendable, as I have seen too many scenes where you are supposed to feel sad or scared where you end up laughing. The attention to details and uniforms was also good.

Overall, 3 stars out of 5 from me, to make improvements you should improve cuts and editing, work on better, more realistic line delivery, higher image quality/lighting, and finally, drop the cliches.

Lawriejaffa · Post by **Lawriejaffa** » Tue May 23, 2006 1:00 am

Ya well dropping the cliches is easier said than done, i think i always saw this film as a bit tongue in cheek too tho? In anycase i agree with ya BlakJack, but what is John Groshko working on now anyway? its been a while!

Mr.Anderson · Post by **Mr.Anderson** » Wed May 24, 2006 8:33 pm

Ok, I enjoyed it. The story was good, the music was good, and the crane shots were beautiful, loved them. And I know this has been said already, but.....the acting really pulled this film down for me. Several times I just sat there confused or bored during a dialogue scene. There wasnt much emotion in anyone's tone. Several actors, especially the ones playing the americans, were actually smiling while saying supposedly serious lines. It was something i tried to ignore, but it just kept nagging at me.

On the good side...I love that you did it about a real person thats great. Makes me wanna learn more about the war of 1812. The battle was also well done, and i liked most of the effects. The only strange looking part, was when the canadians and americans were standing across from eachother. They were a bit too close. The Patriot was very good at showing 17-1800's styles of fighting, if you haven't already seen it, that would be a good reference. "1812" was good.....just cast better actors.