New Film From Escape Films SOTA

[CaptainAmerica]

This is my new film SOTA injoy!

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 3895691590

[britishbulldog]

not bad at all it had a nice proffessional feel to it good actors and a good story one thing though the camera was too shaky which ruined it slightly but i do the same thing

[Indie-Shooter]

CaptainAmerica, I can see through this film that you have high potential and most definitely experience under your belt. But, from the looks of this film I can also see that you've yet to find your place in the filmmaking spectrum. Therefore, I'll be providing some feedback, a variety of reasons why I didn't like the film, some particular elements I enjoyed and finally some advice for your next project. Take it, or leave it.

Reasons why I disliked this film:

First, the story: I sensed a variety of plot holes in the script. Simply placed on the fact that in the end, I didn't care. This often comes from a lack of character developement, which can be blamed on either the writer who forget to scratch that down, or the director or forgot the concentrate on... directing. The strongest problem in this film was that I felt the basis to the structure of the story was the blood. The film wasn't based on someone struggling to find his place in this world, the film wasn't following a couple of investigaters through their lives, the film was actually based on the sight of blood. This is what I got out of this film. That the filmmakers liked gore, and so that's what they went with. I'm okay with violence and blood, but not when it's there to just be there. There needs to be a reason, there needs to be a motive. And that's the basis of a story. You need a motive, something else I saw a significant lack of in this film.

Second, the acting: Essentially poor. Some particular scenes stand out in my mind. The lady cops death scene. She was laughing. The two characters in the old home making out. I sensed actually no acting whatsoever on their behalf. Simply reciting lines, if they were written down. The only credit I'll hand to in the acting world is the main cop guy, the one with the red tie. Some of his lines were given quite well, but I feel some necessary direction was what was lacking on his behalf. Acting is obviously one of the most important elements of a film and thus should be treasured as one. The director shouldn't have to worry about anything else except getting the necessary performance out of the actor as he/she wants. Think about that when you're shooting your next project.

Third, the sound: The second worst part of the film came out as the sound, music, effects, dialogue, all of it together was atrocious. Whether it was compressed or not for Google Video, it was still bad. Record on an external mic! It doesn't matter how much of a hassle it is, you will be more and more satisfied in the end. Various parts on the film, I heard talking from behind the cam, I assume that wasn't meant to be there. An easy fix in post production. Music, stolen I assume, seemed out of place in a variety of scenes and thoroughly contributed poorly to the cinematic experience of the film. All of the sound effects added in post production were way too loud, and again, out of place, despite the obvious attempt at a Tony Scott style of sound design. When the cop was talking to the other cop on the walkie talkie? What happened? Moving on.

Fourth, the cinematography: Without a doubt, the worst element of this film. I apologize for the harsh words, but it definitely needs improvement. All of the coloring looks as though it was shot without any idea of how you wanted it to look in the end. High end cameras, like the dvx100 or the xl1 or the xl2 are meant to be used and adapted to knowing how you want your film to look in the end. Meaning mass amounts of post production color correcting is seemingly useless based on these cameras elements. Your dead body, park scenes had a high contrasted sky and body. Meaning all of the light was coming from the bright blue sky and the kids bright white shirt, drawing my attention towards the light and away from the subjects whom I was suppose to be paying attention to. Opening credits reminded me of Man on Fire. If you're interested in improving in this field, pm me and I'll talk with it with you more. It's my favorite part, and hopefully major in filmmaking. Also, use a tripod!

Improvements: I have two suggestions, which are ironically jobs to be filled in the filmmaking world.

First, get a sound designer: Could be your boom operator, could be the person who sits and listens to the headphones. But, you need someone on set and possibly in post production to do NOTHING but concentrate on sound. Listen in, play with the levels and make sure that all sounds that are meant to be on film are there, and all sounds that aren't, aren't. Remember that sound is 50% of a film and should not be left in the dust for some blood shots.

Second, get a cinematographer: Could be your camera operator, but you need to have someone who is solely and completely concentrating on how things look on screen. Setting up the camera for you, using tripods, being concerned about the lighting. Yes, its up to you how you want your film to look as a director, but wasting all of your time to do it yourself takes away from the spare time you have for your other important jobs, like directing your actors. So, let someone else set up how you want it to look for you.

I promise you that if you take my two suggestions and actually use them, your next film will be thoroughly improved. Hopefully this has helped, and hopefully it wasn't too harsh for you.

But remember the importance of filmmaking is the art, and art takes work.

Syonara!

[Kentertainment]

Snuffy.

*inside joke

Matt there is one thing I didn't get with this film. At minute mark 9:42, why is there a random scream that eventually turns into a bat dying? Just wondering...

[Clarence]

This reminded me alot of the TV shows "Dexter" , "Criminal Minds" and"CSI."

The music was really varied...was it put together from a bunch of different soundtracks? It would be much better if one general theme was used for the music.

One of the scenes went from day to night in a matter of seconds. Not that it was your fault, but it just looked funny. Some of the scenes were really drawn out (e.g: from about minute mark 10:00 to 12:00). It got boring. I don't really like the title.

Don't get me wrong, this was a good film. It looked like you had some cool locations too.

Good job.

[CaptainAmerica]

Thanks for the comments.