This is the feedback thread for the movie I made, called Fruit Pursuit. You can watch it here:

http://www.mumps.ca/fruitpursuit

This was my first DVC entry and one of few short films I've made. I'm more into television production so I took a "documentary" approach to making a movie because I have more experience with projects like this.


Gear used:

Sony Z1
Manfrotto tripod (510 head, not sure which legs but they had a mid-level spreader)
Sennheiser ME66/K6 shotgun
Audio-Technica U100 wireless lav
Home-built mic adapters (to put the shotgun in the camera's mic mount and mount the wireless receiver on the bottom of the camera)
Lowel omni light kit
I bought the banana suit off eBay and rented the gorilla suit from a local theatre place


Criticism is more than welcome!

Thanks,

-Mark

Now that was one slick production! I generally prefer the ability to download the movies I watch, or at least have play controls on the website, but I still had a blast watching this. The deadpan, completely serious documentary approach worked wonders, and made the whole thing even funnier than it already was.

I wish I had more useful opinions to offer, but I don't. I didn't really feel "reflections" the first time through, but I'm guessing the banana is reflecting on the trouble he goes through everyday with this gorilla in town. The music struck me as a bit too loud and distorted in some areas, but otherwise fit nicely onto the video.

And the lighting? I'm jealous.

How can you go wrong with a guy in a banana suit!

This was funny in the off-beat way that was intended. The color and lighting were particularly outstanding. Gotta love that Sony!

I liked it a lot, but wanted to know what happened to them in the end... Maybe add just a final shot of the huge empty peel lying on the sidewalk? :)

Nice!
Bill

Very nicely done. My only comment is that I noticed that the bananas skintone in the interview pieces were kinda pinkish-purple. Was this intentional or just from the compression?

You guys look like you had a lot of fun shooting the punk rock chase sequence at the end. The banana slipping on the banana bit was truly inspired.

it seemed a bit long to me...sight gags happen fast and quick, and i thought this was pretty funny initally, but once a sight gag wears off, it needs to go somewhere, to develop beyond what's obviously funny about it.

so--what are you going to do next, now that you're the proud owner of a banana suit?? hours of fun!

Nice Documentary spoof. Color was spectacular throughout-- and it rendered well in both Media and Quicktime versions. What settings did you use in your render for each ?

Another WOW piece. I think your web page has a nicer attention to detail than what I usually shoot. Slick presentation. I was pondering the mic inside the Ape mask but it actually works for me. Lends that reminder that it's not really a gorilla. I think I knew that anyway.

Looks good. Nice movements. I think the final shot for me would have been the ape with some of that bannana cream on his face and the deflated giant bannana costume at his feet. This worked for me. God attention to quality throughout. Thumbs up.

Sean McHenry

That was funny! The chase scene was great. The close-ups while they were running were really impressive. I can only imagine what sort of attention you got on the street filming this... stares saying "what is WRONG with these people ?" I actually like it more after watching it a couple of times. I do have a criticism, the story is a bit farfetched.

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

Robert, I agree about the reflections theme not being as strong as I would've liked it to be. Basically, the banana and gorilla are reflecting on the ongoing chase. I threw in a couple reflections shots to try to make the theme a bit more present.

Bill, we're talking about doing a couple more of these videos in the summer. A lot of people have asked about a sequel because of the ending.

Robert, I'm not sure how that happened. The raw footage looked fine. Did you watch the Quicktime or Windows version?

Meryem, I tried to keep it fresh with lots of cutaway shots and the chase scene. Which parts did you find boring? As for having the banana suit, I think I might be showing up to a few parties as a 7-foot tall banana. :)

Thanks, Chris. I rendered the Windows version with Windows Media Encoder, a free program available from the Microsoft website. I don't remember the details but I think it was about 540kbps, 30fps, 85% quality or something like that. It turned out pretty well for a 27MB file.


Now, one of the funniest stories I've heard in my life. The night the contest closed, Tyler Baptist and I had a short 'premier party' at Darren (the banana's) house. In his words, this is what happened to him after when trying to walk to a local venue to catch a couple live bands:

real life FRUIT PURSUIT!!!!

ok... well, it looks like my difficulties in finding something to write about in livejournal are long gone.

tonight was the premiere of the short film "FRUIT PURSUIT".
http://www.mumps.ca/fruitpursuit

because i was still in the banana spirit after the premiere, i wore the suit to amigo's for the young and sexy/carbon dating service show. i was a little nervous about walking alone to broadway in a banana suit at midnight on a saturday, but i braved the solo walk anyhow.

about a block past clarence, i spotted a rowdy group of three drunken jocks headed my way. no problem i thought. just keep your head down, and you'll be fine. so i'm walking past the laughing jocks, minding my own business, when out of my peripheral i can sort of see one of them "winding up".

instinctively, i ducked my head down a foot or so, which turned out to be a good idea. as i was sort of crouched over, a...

...i am not making this up...

...BANANA(!!!!!!!) goes flying over my head, and bounces off the van i was walking beside. the jocks are all laughing, and i'm pretty freaked out because the banana really hit the van pretty hard. now, i wasn't totally thinking straight, but when the jock who threw his banana reached over to pick it up, my first instinct was to stomp the shit out of it (keep in mind, i'm wearing a banana suit).

the jock stares at me in disbelief and yells "I WAS GOING TO EAT THAT, ASSHOLE!" and suddenly lunges towards me. i spin and bolt in the direction of broadway, sprinting as fast as i ever have in my entire life.

now, i'm assuming that this guy was pretty shitfaced, because most jocks shouldn't have too much trouble catching someone as out of shape as i am, ESPECIALLY if he is wearing a banana suit. but somehow, even though i can hear him running, breathing, and periodically yelling "f-cking banana!!!" quite clearly, he never seems to catch up.

i make it into the front doors of amigo's, spin, and pull the door shut behind me. the jock stops, seeing that he'd have to follow me into amigo's, and runs back towards clarence.

on the plus side, the doorman who saw the end of the chase granted me free admittance. DFM WINS!!!!

GOLD!

Thanks, Sean and Bruce!

We were shooting from 11am to 5pm on a Sunday afternoon and we had vehicles honking at us all day, kids waving, families getting their pictures taken with us and a few banana jokes being yelled from the distance.

Sean, micing the gorilla was a huge pain. I wanted to redo the audio after but I just didn't have time. The mic was placed outside the mask, which is why it sounds a bit muffled. I fixed what I could in EQ.

Oh come on, Bruce. A gorilla chasing a giant banana through the streets doesn't seem like THAT much of a stretch... :)

Whats yellow and goes "screech"?

A Bannana peeling....

Should have filmed that chase. Who would be the fool there I wonder. I'm betting the ass chasing the giant bannana. Still, good thing you didn't get creamed. (Oh, he shoots, he scores)

Sean

Funny stuff. Especially Darren't facial expressions when working out. That always cracks me up. And The Vertical Struts rule. But yeah, Darren's face does look a bit redish in the interview footage.

That was funny! The chase scene was great. The close-ups while they were running were really impressive. I can only imagine what sort of attention you got on the street filming this... stares saying "what is WRONG with these people ?" I actually like it more after watching it a couple of times. I do have a criticism, the story is a bit farfetched.

I'm like Bruce. I had to watch this one several times to decide whether I liked it or not. I suppose, having watced it three times, being watchable is in itself a strong positive.

As for being far fetched, I'm not sure. The part at the top, the interviews were so honest, so matter of fact, it had an air of realism that clashed with the more "over the top" chase. I LOVED the banana humor, "gave him the slip," and how it foreshadowed the banana slip during the chase.

Maybe you could go the other way. Make the documentary even more spoofed. Have a live audience, chanting JERRY, JERRY, as a sleazy interviewer askes the audience if the two should meet for a reconciliation. You see the panic in the banana's eyes, the gorilla jumps with excitement, and the audience screams its approval.

Very watchable.

I loved it. I was laughing at loud a couple of times. Some of those closeup shots in the chase scene were awesome. Lighting was great. Maybe the chase scene was a little long. but overall I loved it.

Hi Mark-

Great job! A banana in red converse sneakers-Gotta love that!

I enjoyed your documentary approach and felt it worked very well in your film. You had some great lines in here too. "Takes up a lot of my time" - "Just trying to eat me" lol and "A little banana humor" with that long cut where nobody is laughing - and he knows it. Well done.

The acting was very good and believable. It felt like a real interview, which I thought added to the overall effect.

Wasn't completely sure how reflections was tied in, however, reflections means different things to many people. Did they both "die" in the end?

Can you tell me what kind of lights you used behind the canvas muslins? Am curious? I liked the effect you created doing that.

____________________

I just read the REAL Fruit Pursuit- Holy cow! What a story!

Best wishes~
Bradley

PS: Mark- I think you were one of the people who requested a wmv file as the QT was crashing on you about 2/3'rds in. I did get a LoRes up after contacting Dylan and getting his ok. Hope it works.

Go Mark, nice movie. I'll come up with better feedback soon.... gotta take it all in first.

Karen Mak, Saskatoon

When I was watching it I was telling to myself like "hey, looks like those documentaries, nice" and then I've read here that you're actually into it. Well done :)

Mark:

Boy, do you have a set of castagnes on you for running through town with red, Converse high tops and a banana suit! I laughed out loud! I LOVE that kind of humor, that mockumentary stuff. Color and use of backdrops was great. The pursuit ran a bit too long but nonetheless you are a contender. If you can make a full length mockumentary you just might have yourself something. Thank you!

Thanks for all the feedback, everyone.

I agree that the chase scene was a bit long but I wanted it to go with the music and didn't want to edit the song in any way. (by the way, that song was a live recording from the last time the Vertical Struts played in Saskatoon, recorded by my friend Ryan)

Bradley, those lines were all Darren's. The interviews were basically improvised. I'd ask them a question then they'd answer how they thought their character would answer. If it didn't work we'd do it again but for the most part, it all came to them on the spot.

As I mentioned earlier, the reflections theme wasn't as strong as it should've been. I was originally planning on having just an interview of the banana and gorilla reflecting on the chase but decided that a "live" chase would be fun to do. I put in as many reflections shots (water, glass) as I could.

The light kit was a Lowel Omni kit. I didn't even check the wattage or anything, though I wish I did. For each interview, I used a light with some diffusion as a key to light up the actor, hung up a curtain behind him and placed a light with diffusion and coloured gels on the other side of the curtain, directly behind him. You can briefly see the banana's key light when the gorilla enters the room. (both interviews were done in the exact same spot, just facing different directions)

Thanks to everyone who had feedback for me! If I haven't commented on your movies yet, I'll try to very soon.

Bradley, those lines were all Darren's. The interviews were basically improvised. I'd ask them a question then they'd answer how they thought their character would answer. If it didn't work we'd do it again but for the most part, it all came to them on the spot.



Well done Mark! Please tell Darren he did a great job with his improv.

Best wishes~
Bradley

Very funny -- my boss at work saw it and he's rooting for you, I think. I took some TV production classes in college and have done some documentary work on my own, so I had a good time with the spoofness of it.

Go ebay!