Hi Guys!

Yeah, been quite a while since the last time I said "been quite a while." Don't know who's still around, but the showcase forum looked so lonely with the one thread, I figured I wasn't harming anyone by posting a shameless plug for this little passion project of mine.

Sorry, don't know how to play this video :(
http://vimeo.com/39256054

Back in summer 2010, I made a short film and posted it here. 18 months later, same camera, but more experience (across the board). It's a one man-cast, starring a good friend of mine I went to high school with. I graduated last May, now I'm in LA pursuing acting and "storytelling" in its many forms, such as filmmaking, in addition to running a web business geared towards helping actors get savvy with marketing themselves online. This December, my friend and I had a couple of days back in the same state and so we filmed this (having prepped for about 6 weeks ahead of time, mind you). If you get deja vu watching this, it's because we filmed within 50 miles of where "Hunger Games" was shot. Western North Carolina is one of the best kept filming locations in the United States (hell, the world), so under-appreciated. "Last of the Mohicans" is possibly the only film before "Hunger Games" to really utilize the epic landscape of the Blue Ridge Mountains. And like both those movies, we also have a waterfall scene, just on a much, much smaller budget, haha.

We wanted to make a longer narrative (script is written, ready to go) but time, money, manpower...weren't in our favor. This is what we pulled together, and I think it's legitimate enough to submit to some festivals. Vimeo is our first venue of online release, next up (before the deadline passes!) I'm going to submit a 1080p version to YouTube's http://www.youtube.com/yourfilmfestival, sponsored by two of my *major* idols in the business. We'll see what happens.

This film is probably not going to be to everyone's tastes. Let me rephrase that: it won't be to everyone's tastes. But if it speaks to anyone, or reminds them of something very close to themselves, maybe something difficult to express in person or online, then ... I'm very pleased.

And technical things, please, feel free to critique. I never went to film school. I taught myself everything by watching, reading, failing, learning, and growing. The best way, in my opinion, but it does leave me vulnerable (and, I hope, keep me humble).

Wish there were some more JK showcases still popping up. I'm a sucker for nostalgia.

Ross

It's nicely done, nice nature and everything, nice font superimposition (not sure how you properly call that when you put letters over video in films), but I guess I'm one of those people to whom this kind of stuff doesn't really appeal much.

I'm a very plot oriented kind of guy, and if the entire plot is of a guy walking in a nice location, that just doesn't qualify for me... I'm not saying you HAVE to have plot to make an awesome short, but if you don't, you better have some exceptional footage to hold my interest.

For example, check out the below vid, which was the winner at SLAMDANCE 2012 of the Special Jury Prize for Experimental Short.
http://vimeo.com/37848135

But the best of luck to you anyway! Two thumbs up for following your passions!

My favourite film at the moment is Once Upon A Time In The West, which is like a cinematic opera - ten minutes can pass without any dialogue, but it's wonderfully shot so you don't seem to care.

For this reason I don't agree that there has to be 'a lot happening' like Koobie in terms of plot (although there's nothing wrong with that - that's his opinion!) but I think you really missed a trick here.

I thought the intro was great (lovely shot) and the camera quality really comes across. In my opinion though you never made the most of the landscape you had at your disposal - you had access to wide panoramic views which we didn't see. I'd have made the mountain look like a giant, and really put across how small the man is in comparison. Shots of him far away, so in the shot he's dwarfed by the landscape. You proved you could do really steady pans and those would have been great, panning and zooming from a distance. I'm genuinely disappointed that I didn't get to see the view at the end. If it was me I'd have had the man in front of the view, and then zoomed out, to show the world in front of him.

I think too that the music should have stopped when he's going over the waterfall, and there was instead the sound of the water. If it was suddenly silent before he crossed the water, it would have created the impression that he was completely alone. Then when he approaches the waterfall, the loud, thunderous sound of the water would be a greater danger as we know that if anything happens there's nobody around to save him (yes, I know it's called Quiet Mountain, but that could be a reference that not many people are around). Music that built to a climax too would have been better. I don't know if you did this intentionally, or I've remembered it wrong, but I liked the fact that you saved the 'reveal' of the man's face till the end.

You may read all that and not agree with any of it, but it's just my truthful thoughts. I'm sorry if you think there's loads of negativity there, but I did like it and just think there's a bit of room for improvement. It's good that you actually got out there and filmed something, and some of your shots were really good.

Who are the two idols sponsoring it? I'd look, but then you can reply with your reasons why, and it'll be more interesting.

Also, I always take every opportunity to thank you when I write to you, for your work on Magrucko Daines. Whether I make another one would always rest on whether you were available to voice him

I grew up hiking & camping in the foot-hills of Appalachia (Eastern Kentucky) & feel right at home with your video. I don't know much about making films but I enjoyed the music & scenery & made me even more nostalgic for my upcoming trip back to the states (hoping to go camping).


http://www.jkhub.massassi.net/

Oy, a whole week gone by (and then some)? Sorry I'm just getting around to responding to your replies, which I very much appreciate!

I wanted to get the film out of my system and "let it rinse and soak" for a bit. Your criticisms/observations are all insightful.

Koobie --> I absolutely hear you on the "plot" aspect. I did want this film to be more narrative than "experimental," but time was not on our side. We shot about 5% of what we wanted and had to completely abandon the 20 page script we have (ready for another shot, someday). It's amazing I managed to edit together a film this coherent. The waterfall scene is actually cut together from 4 different locations. There was a narration originally, taken from a poem by Han Yu (9th century Chinese poet). It fit the film really beautifully, it was quite startling how it lined up with everything (we found the poem after I'd cut the film!) Unfortunately, the sound quality of the narration wasn't quite up to par with everything else and there was a risk of copyright infringement. Even though Han Yu wasn't going to be complaining, the publishing house for the English translation we were going to use sounded a little militant about royalties and ... well, we got no money. :p Thanks for posting that Vimeo link to the Slamdance film - wow, amazing concept!

Goit --> Great to hear from you! Ohhhh, Once Upon a Time in the West.... that opening scene is so inspired. Leone can get away with 10 minutes of no dialogue a lot better than I can, haha! The sound editing is what makes that scene though. Brilliant filmmaking. I hear you on missing a trick, all very good points, and it pains me because .... oh, I'd scouted locations we just never made it to! We had 2 days, it was absurdly ambitious what we wanted to do, just the 2 of us hiking up a VERY steep mountain in winter, not accessible by car at all, and carrying all the camera/sound equipment in addition to character costumes and props. It was quite an adventure, but definitely more than we could logistically handle in such a short time frame. I'm glad we took a stab at it though! Their was a location at the summit of the mountain which was absolutely BREATHTAKING, a wide open grassy plain with 360 degree panorama of the Blue Ridge Mountains, easily 30 mile visibility. But we'd had serious rainfall (and mudslides!), it was between 35 and 50 degrees all day, and the sun was gone by 5pm. We just physically couldn't make it up there in time. That one pan shot to open the film was .... haha, actually a lot harder to get than it might look. I had a **** $20 tripod and was using an old trick with rubber bands to try and get a smooth pan. Did about 10 takes to get it right, because the damn thing was either too stiff or too loose with a horrible deadzone. Once on the mountain, with the exception of that rocky outcrop and the meadow at the summit we never made it to, it was a surprisingly claustrophobic experience, even in winter. The mountain kind of swallows you up, sound included, and it gets very, very "quiet". I wish I could even better convey what an amazing experience it was hiking through that magical place. I think Mentat understands a bit of that from personal experience - nothing beats having been there, but I tried with this film!

The tricky thing with the type of "slow zoom out reveal" shot you are describing at the end is I would LITERALLY have to have a helicopter, or a bad*** zoom lens and be stationed on a mountain on the other side of the valley and wait for Jesse to get up there (or have a 2nd unit .... hmmmm, I wish). I absolutely can see the shot you are describing, and no doubt, it would be absolutely breathtaking. On our budget/schedule/crew of 2, it was just not possible. However, I find it interesting how people have been completely divided on the last shot. Very black and white, love/hate responses - people either love the fact that it cuts away or they detest it, and find it anticlimactic. And I'm a little pleased for having made something so divisive. My idea behind it was "Well, that's the obvious choice - to show the damn view at the end. Every director would do that." It felt too cliche to me, just like I had to spell everything out for the viewer. The audience journey's up the mountain "vicariously" through the protagonist ("the wanderer") over the course of the film. But at the end, when you see "the reveal" (as you correctly observed), we only see his reaction to something we have not and cannot experience. It becomes very personal at that moment, personal to "the wanderer". What does he see? We'll never know, but we do have an opportunity as an audience to create out our own vista in our minds. I wanted to give the audience an opportunity to imagine for themselves. A lot of films are too literal and spell things out - this isn't exactly commercial, and it is niche, but given the footage I had, I decided that was the best choice I could make as a director, even if it might have been a bit of a downer ending for many people. A little bit of a Rorschach test in its own way, if you want to get psychological.

I think you have a great observation about the waterfall being an opportunity for absolute silence, except the natural world "the wanderer" hears. I was trying to go for a bit of a "Leap of Faith" thing there, if you're a fan of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. We don't have John Williams or the London Symphony Orchestra, but I thought the film composer did a pretty remarkable job considering he's not even a senior in undergrad yet (and was working for free!) Still, I see your point, and wouldn't have disliked that decision.

And no apologies for honesty, I asked and I received! Thank you so much for your insight, you really took some time on it and my apologies for taking so long to get back. I love this community for being one of the few places left on the internet where people will actually take the time to say something sincere (and then make a totally nerdy joke, or run off and design a level for a 15 year old computer game!)

I'm glad you liked the cinematography! I did design a movie poster for the film that I think (a little sadly) really captures the kind of ending shot you would have rather liked (and myself as well, secretly) -->

Also, I did get the film submitted on time (in 1080p and slightly improved sound mixing) to the YouTube competition --> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKA3yfmMMY0

The two idols sponsoring are Ridley Scott and Michael Fassbender. I love Ridley for "Alien" and "Blade Runner" another two of my favorite films. I saw "Black Hawk Down" recently and was very impressed, but some of his other recent films have been ... not up to par with his earlier stuff. Saying that, thrilled to see "Prometheus" (Which also star Mr. Fassbender). Michael Fassbender is one of my 3 big idols/"actors to watch" (the others being Tom Hardy and Ryan Gosling - there are tons of other older, distinguished actors, but these guys are the next generation and they inspire me!) Michael blows me away in everything he does, from Hunger to Shame to Inglorious Basterds to X-Men even! He's a real standout, and his future is bright.

I enjoyed doing the voiceover for Magrucko, although can you believe, I still don't thinnk I've played through the whole thing! Need to boot up my JK cd and get on that, haha! Can you send me a link to the latest versions? (Isee you have them in your sig, but wasn't sure if there was a "special edition" kicking around or something?" I need to play your levels, FastGamerr's rather amazing looking Special Edition release, and probably Siege on Derra IV ... been a few years now, and that level never gets old!) Keep in touch man, you know where to find me!

Mentat ---> Really glad this film spoke to you! I get nostalgic every time I see it - I love those mountains. Have you seen "The Hunger Games"? Really beautiful usage of the Appalachian landscape, hope it gets more films being made in NC - an under-utilized diamond in the rough!

Great reply Ross! I enjoyed reading that. Good luck on the competition. I agree with you now about the finale, on reflection. I think what you did was right. I sympathize with you entirely on using rubber bands on a tripod. I've been there myself. Keep us updated on your work, mate!

A guy who posts on jkhub recently did a video commentary of the level if you don't fancy downloading it and playing it. You can then stick to the cutscenes haha. If I were you I'd definitely put 'voice actor' on your resume, considering you did hundreds of recordings with several different takes of each line. That's effort! And it won an award partly because of your work...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWJAKB0NWOQ

http://www.chinese-poems.com/h2.html

It would have been cool if you would've had the time / resources to superimpose the Chinese characters and make them morph into English words. The original's in Chinese anyway, why do a voiceover.

Goit: Thanks for sharing that video review! I haven't watched the whole thing, but was amused by how he praised the voice actor who did Jerec and thought the guy voicing Magrucko sounded tired, bored, and hammy... In all honesty, I do REALLY want to play through the whole level though. Busy times right now, have two acting gigs two weekends in a row so I can't complain there. And I hear you on the voiceover work - if you ever do another one, or need some voices for some other random project, feel free to get in touch (plus, I have a rather better microphone now, lol).

Koobie: I haven't read that poem before! The simplicity of the Chinese poets amazes me - they say more in a few lines than many writers do in pages! The poem we were going to draw from was "Amongst the Cliffs" by Han Yu, translated by Kenneth Rexroth: http://www.bopsecrets.org/rexroth/translations/chinese.htm (scroll down the page about 1/3 of the way).

Here's our modification of it, to fit the action of the story:



No denying it did fit remarkably well, but watching the film again, I'm glad we erred on the side of "less is more."

I'm making another one so I do need you! The deadline is late September though, so plenty of time.

Haha, you crazy *******!

I'm in!

I liked it a lot! I love experimental films, especially personal ones that focus on aesthetics rather than plot.

• The music was perfect, and it was edited very nicely to it... props to whoever scored this.
• I love the font for Quiet Mountain, though the font for the Quaker quote felt out of place for me.
• The ending was great, although the guy's face seemed to get pretty close to the camera. Is there an alternative shot of that?
• I think my biggest thing is that the handheld footage seemed to get redundant by the end. You're right, you don't have a helicopter and you can't get hundred-thousand dollar shots, but you do have a tripod. This trick could've helped the tracking shots feel more professional and breathtaking, and After Effects CS 5.5 has an awesome warp stabilizer plugin than smooths any handheld shot and makes it look like it was on a dolly or crane.

Anyway, keep up the good work... post more of your films here in the future!