Missing -- DV Challenge 23 - YouTube

Hope you enjoy!

We shot over the course of two days, with a crew of two people. That always has it's challenges, but also lets you move quicker sometimes.

I struggled really hard with cutting this down to the 3-minute time frame, but that is my own fault for going in with a just over 4 page script. I wanted to let the mystery unfold a little slower, but rules are rules! I've put together a "director's cut", that is about 45 seconds longer. Having to cut it down to 3 minutes really made me focus on what was important!

We were lucky that everything came together in the short time period. Two actors were in town for just the weekend, and two of them were leaving town again about an hour after we wrapped!

Hope you enjoy, and if allowed, after the contest is over, I'd like to post the slightly longer version for people to check out!

I liked how fast paced this film was. The driving soundtrack and rapid escalation of events really held my attention. There were some nice details as well, like the hunting focus when the lead was regaining consciousness.

Nice... the racing from scene to scene. And I liked the way you did the voice (which plug-in is that?)

The flashbacks seemed to take me out of the flow, though, and at the end, when the wife is introduced, as I hadn't seen her earlier in the film I was left wondering whether it was the wife, or his mother or someone else, until she said her lines. I also thought that, earlier, when he said "Agatha, I know it's you", that he WAS talking to his wife, that he knew it was her who set up the fake kidnapping. It was only on second viewing I guessed that Agatha was the mistress, not the wife.

But well paced, nice movement.

As the others have said, very nice pacing, you've definitely got a handle on that. Very good cinematography, nicely composed and the color was vibrant. I thought the flashbacks were good, however they may have given away your ending, but it almost doesn't matter because you want to see this guy get his comeuppance by the end. Well done!

Very well paced and engaging. A great effort.

Really good film! For non native english people it was hard to understand the distorted voice, I suppose it was heavily distorted not to tell it was a female's voice.
Nice intriguing argument, too, and well lit shots. Congratulations!

Echoing the same about pacing and feeling as others. That was great. Wife reveal at the end was a bit different in that actress seemed older that husband, but of course that may have been one of their problems. I am thinking that a little more back story could have helped there, but of course we have all experienced the rigors of the 3 minute maximum....

Well done Randy! Upon the second viewing I like the subtle clues that you were able to sprinkle into the mystery such as the abductor's voice saying "What have I done to her?" You did a good job creating a great deal of energy and building up to the eventual climax with the frantic nature of the actor, quick paced edit and soundtrack.

After the first viewing I actually, for whatever reason, thought there was a double twist of sorts. The woman at the end was his first wife [Wife A] and the woman in the chair was his wife we were introduced to in the beginning [Wife B]. So basically when we got to the end we found out he was not only cheating on Wife B with this mistress we see in the flashbacks but he was actually cheating with Wife B on his presumed first wife, Wife A. Obviously I misinterpreted it a bit and that story didn't play out after watching it again, but it also made the actually spin at the end not as twist like. Although that hole spiel isn't a knock on what you did do at all.

On another note, I did catch your reflection a time or two in the car. Just something to watch out for. I worked on a decent size feature over the summer and they had the same issue, so you're not alone!

Anyway, good work!

Thanks for taking the time to watch and comment everyone!

Marc, the voice effect is one in Adobe Premiere, and then adjusting the pitch to hide that it's a female's voice.

Andres, sorry that the effect made things difficult to understand. I didn't even consider the implications of doing so. Something I'll be aware of in the future if I need to use a similar effect!

In the original script before having to cut everything down to fit the 3 minute limit, there were more indications about his wife Sarah, and the mistress Angie. The idea was to make it pretty obvious that Angie had kidnapped his wife, but then twist it that his wife set it all up.

In the original script before having to cut everything down to fit the 3 minute limit, there were more indications about his wife Sarah, and the mistress Angie. The idea was to make it pretty obvious that Angie had kidnapped his wife, but then twist it that his wife set it all up.

That would have been a very cool twist. The big mystery to me was trying to figure out which woman was which... After watching a couple of times, I see you put the photo of the wife in the opening credits (which I missed originally) and the photo on the shelf while the guy reads the first ransom note.

Nice acting by your lead, he really seemed like a jerk!

I really enjoyed the fast pace of the whole thing, and the ending was unexpected and shocking! Liked the bright popped daytime colors, and the engine/tire car sound effects were very nicely done! Did you record the sounds?

Hi Randy,

I enjoyed the film and the opening titles were great! A couple of times the audio seemed to peak, but it wasn't that distracting.

Everyone seems to share the same sentiment about pacing and tone. The music fit well!

The only things that I noticed from an acting point of view were the following:
1. When on a treadmill at the gym, it would be rare to speak so openly about an affair. For me the direction should have been a little more face forward and talking under her breath bitterly.

2. The wife seemed miscast. Perhaps with her hair down she would have appeared younger. At first viewing I didn't understand that was the wife.

However, despite the criticism, I thoroughly enjoyed the film!

Toni

Everyone has said what I was thinking, and so much better than I would have said! Very well done, Randy. Suspense, intrigue, satisfying ending...it doesn't get much better than that. And there's nothing I like better than to see someone tell a story so well with such crisp shot selection and editing.

By the way, Derwin, your "comeuppance" remark made me laugh out loud. It's a word I use on occasion and often get quizzical looks from people who don't know what it means. :)

Andrew, Toni and Lorinda!

Thanks for taking the time to watch and leave feedback. I alway love hearing what other people think and getting other people's perspectives on things. I find I am guilty of getting too close to my projects sometimes, so learn from what others see!

Andrew, some of the sounds were from on-set, but most of the screeching was stock sounds. Thanks for noticing the photo on the shelf when he was reading the first note! I REALLY wanted to rack-focus to the photo after he read the note and ran off, to let the audience know that there was something important about him and his wife in the photo, but alas, precious seconds were taken there. Also, did it look ok? The photo wasn't actually in the frame. We only had access to that actress for about 3 hours one day, so I took a photo of them on set, and the put it in the frame in post. Yay rototscoping!

Toni, yes, I was kicking myself for the peaked audio when the motel guy was speaking. An easily avoidable mistake. :( However, we DID have a clean take of him yelling "F*CK" in the car, but I liked the harshness of the clipped version. Probably should used the proper levelled take so as to not distract people.

Lorinda, glad you enjoyed it! And yes, comeuppance is a great word. :)

Great work Randy. Really impressive how you managed a longer story in a really concise, efficient way

Missing -- A Mystery Short Film - YouTube

Here's the slightly longer non-contest version. I think there is a bit more in there that helps clarify things.