When faced with no actors and less than 48 hours ‘til the deadline, rather than hang on the WOS I did what any rational (read “desperate”) person would do with a theme like “meeting”—I took my camera to the neighbor’s dairy farm.

A friend of mine watched it and offered, “Of course it stinks! It’s a barnyard!”

:)

My wife had a pet chicken, Henny Penny, and trained the dang thing. I never met the hen, but this reminded my wife of that and she laughed. At least no WOS and you did have some good cuts with the dialog. Good job!

Personally my favorite part was whent he dog snagged the bowl. Good wrangling.

Animals, and Kids are the two hardest things to film in a narrative type production. Considering that you had no time for the animatronics, I'd say you damn good job of telling a story.

I admire humor and resourcefulness. You get gold stars in both of those categories... And you avoided using any foul language in your spot ... sorry I couldn't resist.

LOL....great choice of actors. Worked out well I think.

Thanks for staying off the wall.

Randy

I’m going to write a bit now, only because I’m headed off to the end of the world (Wyoming) to help Brad Marlow shoot a wedding and might not get to see today’s and tomorrow’s films until late Saturday night. I know everyone will miss the feedback on their movies. ;)

Thanks, fellas, for the early remarks. I laughed out loud at yours, Daniel. It was like, “Anima-what???” ;)

Seriously, I do appreciate the kind comments. So far, this little movie has only been a hit with the over 60 crowd. One of my friends cut me to the heart by telling me it’s the best one I’ve done yet. Ouch!

Lorinda, you do come up with some unique ideas on some of these. You did pretty good getting dialog to match critters movements, or you shot enough barnyard "talent" to be able to match them to dialog.

Or you paid your acting talent "union" scale (hmmn...For the right price maybe I'd put on feathers and learn to cluck).

The above is a very "smartass" way of saying I like what you did and the way you did it. Pulled it off very well.

Lorinda:

Couldn't find your film in Dylan's listings--maybe I'm looking in the wrong place.

Just wanted to let you know that I tried again to use your hand-me-down 1980's era video camera on another film project where we were doing flashbacks; we went so far as to actually shoot the scene with the camera but also covered ourselves by shooting it again with the Varicam that we used for the rest of the film. Although everyone loved the "awfulness" of the old camera, it was too radical and jarring to cut against the Varicam HD footage for the quick shots that it was in use. Well, we're getting closer! One day this will be just the thing.

I'm still planning a trick film for Youtube that will masquerade as home movie footage from the 80's and eventually reveal itself to be current day...hopefully soon I'll get around to making it.

[QUOTE=Charles Papert;733346]Lorinda:

Couldn't find your film in Dylan's listings--maybe I'm looking in the wrong place.
QUOTE]

Charles,

You can see Lorinda's film here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z0CLpVEjxps

Lorinda,

I bet this was fun to do, dubbng the voices over the animals. It reminds me of that TV show with the monkeys, where one monkey was a spy, and dressed in a trenchcoat. Talking animal's funny stuff.

When I heard the line, "what a bunch of pigs," I half expected to see a PIG talking this way about the chickens.

When I lived in the country (a long time ago) we had chickens, named Dee and Lloyd. A fox got Dee, so we got another chicken and named her Dee Two. Then the fox got Lloyd. We got a replacement for Lloyd but named it R2, so now we had R2 and D2. Then R2 disappeared, and D2 was left alone. Dee 2 made it several years by sleeping on the front porch swing, instead of hanging around the chicken coop. But eventually, the fox got D2 too.

Then a mean neighbor shot the fox. I really liked the fox even though he got my chickens. Only saw the fox twice. I was thinking of that fox when I watched Bruce's bobcat video.

This was neat, and fun to watch. The voice over(s) fits perfect. I liked the "nag, nag, nag".


Stacy

That was really funny. Felt like you got the personality right for all of them. "Nag, nag, nag" And that's so what a cat would call a meeting about too. As a quickie, stay off the wall of shame short it was great.

Smile,
Kris

Bruce, I can’t remember which came first—“the chicken or the egg.” ;) I did shoot quite a bit of footage and the story did change because Bruno (the dog) was supposed to rush in like he usually does and break up the meeting. He got really camera shy.

Hi Charles! Of all the short movies I’ve done this would be the last one I’d want you seeing, so I hope you didn’t follow the link Dick so kindly provided. I smile every time I think about you wielding that old camera setup, and I agree with you that its day is coming. I hope you get the trick film done—would love to see it! Thank you so much for stopping in to say hi.

Dick, Stacy and Kris—thanks for taking time to comment! Dee and Lloyd, R2 and D2…great names. :) We did have a little fun in the recording studio, only because my friend Rich thinks like a chicken. The other two friends just happened to show up so we kind of pressed them into helping.

I knew a voiceover ala Funniest Home Videos wouldn’t play well with a filmmaker crowd, but I don’t do animatronics, and wouldn’t even if I’d had time. Even though it’s an embarrassment here, there’s some consolation in knowing that older people seem to think it’s funny—after the third or fourth viewing. When I tell them it bombs with everyone else they remark that young folks don’t know what’s really funny anymore. LOL! Maybe I should do seniors videos. Is there a niche for that? :)

Lorinda, I suppose if the contest was for the "silliest" film, we would both be right up there at the top. It just goes to show you, if you think long enough you can make a film about anything, a cat talking in a barnyard or a jogger hitting wall! Good job.

Lorinda, I suppose if the contest was for the "silliest" film, we would both be right up there at the top. It just goes to show you, if you think long enough you can make a film about anything, a cat talking in a barnyard or a jogger hitting wall! Good job.

That was pretty funny. Nice to see 'Benji' is still working.

Well, Bruce--I feel like I'm in the most wonderful company! :)

Hi Glenn! Thank you for stopping by and commenting. I'm honored.

Funny timing about your reference to "Benji." I just found out moments ago that his life at that dairy farm is in jeopardy. Apparently, he's helped himself to a few chickens and the farmer has had enough. Benji needs a home ASAP, so if anyone knows of someone within driving distance of Idaho who could love him (and quite possibly make him a star) please let me know!

You got me laughing, Lorinda! Have you made an entry for every single dv challenge?? You had at the point I took my leave of absence. Have you won some kind of lifetime dv challenge achievement award yet?

LOL! Mitchell, I am the self-proclaimed "DVC Diva" (DVC 8). After the last challenge and this entry, however, I have promised myself that if I can't put up something I really like I need to find out what it feels like to be on the wall of shame--or not sign up.

Thanks, though, for the comment. My only hope in these things is to entertain, so the thought of you laughing makes me feel a little better. :)

Okay, flat out...I gotta say this.

When DC flashed the theme, I originally thought, "Okay, most of the entries will be about 'meetings', ie: folks are going to get together for one reason or another.

I even expected most of them to be about group meetings, or boardroom business meetings, etc......

.......this one is the last thing I would ever have expected...

....and for my money, I think it may very well be the most original concept of this DVC (and considering the entries from Bruce, Marco, and Darryl, that says alot.)

Not only did you save yourself from the WOS under the demanding conditions of travel and such, you did it by producing what I thought to be the most entertaining of the bunch.

The antics of barnyard fowl always make me laugh because they're just so slapstick physcially funny (which is why I have made note of them in my presidential plan of action at www.jonjonesforpresident.com )

But you were also able to come up with a complete storyline that embraces the theme and plays out smoothly from beginning to end.

My favorite parts were the rooster voices. They were hysterical...and the lines of dialogue all stacked upon each other went perfectly with their grouped actions.

"nag nag nag"
"I'm not puttin' up with this!"
"Just talks too much !"
"I'm outta here"

That was my favorite part of the movie.

So I know you're kickin' yourself with having this not measure up to your own expectations, etc....but hey, it was skillfully done, tightly edited, and perfectly paced. It was clearly fun and entertaining beyond the telling of it, and I enjoyed it very much.



And I'm not even 60 yet.


Cheers,
-Jon

PS:

Also, the line "Stupid Chickens"

reminded me right away of one of Ze Frank's classic webisodes. (11-1-06)

If you don't know what I'm talking about with that....just ignore this post.

-Jon

Lorinda,

I think you did a great job! Very original and imaginative idea to say the least! It was great and you pulled it off very well.

I liked the part when the chicken eats out of the cats dish and the cats reaction to it! And, where did the dog take the dish?

The film shows how very different cats, dogs and chickens really are. I lived on a farm for years and so I could relate to it all.

Thanks for a fun movie.

Mike

I also liked this movie. It was very fresh and original. It was a little chaotic but with the conditions of shooting you did very well.

In fact, I still don't understand how you managed to do so well. Oh wait, it is a film by Lorinda Norton, The Lorinda! That explains everything.