Bill's got the right idea, I think, getting these up ahead. I'll be gone right about the time things start posting and I wouldn't want anyone to miss an opportunity to pile heaps of something on me. :)

And I'll be completely off the grid - on a mountain in Mexico shooting butterflies - so I won't be able to comment on anyone else's films either. Doesn't mean I don't love you. I'll do a marathon viewing session when I get back and comment on everyone's all at once. Forgive the redundancy since I won't want to be influenced by what everyone else has written before I comment.

Smile,
Kris

the eponymous "Blue" continues his career trajectory as the rising dog star of the DV Challenge!

i like the concept, that thing of poring over the old ornaments, reminiscing about ancient holiday memories and the attendant distortions and mis-remembrances.

terrific soundtrack, too, where it shifts from cheesy cheery to slightly eerie to fit the surprise ending. and i must say, i didn't see that one coming...

Ahhh here's her thread.

I think this is your best looking DVC, is this a new camera? That dog is way too cute. music fit well to the story. I liked the editing too. The only think i noticed is that you seemed to cut out the audio inbetween lines. Just wondering if there was a reason not to leave the room tone throughout. Nice feel good holiday short with a twist at the end. I didn't see it coming either. It's actually kind of disturbing because i have these conversations with my dog all of the time.

Yay! I got to see the cutest dog in the world again - Blue! (Don't tell my dogs I said that) Yay! Got to see Kris Holodak acting!

"Penguin girl"- that one hit home for me as my mom is known as "The Penguin Lady". In fact, she has an ornament nearly identical to that except it sticks on the fridge. I have memories of several hand made Christmas ornaments and it is interesting how each one comes attached with it's own story.

1982 Ornament kept jumping out at me and I was trying to tie some significance to that date. However, 1977 was brought up in the conversation. Mr. Perkinson: "Have you seen him?" Dead sister has no response and looks directly into the camera. Very interesting and was wondering if Mr. Perkinson had something to do with the dead sister's untimely demise?

Jim, Dan and Mike Holodak - all musicians? Very cool. Please tell us more.

NCC 1701 (must be a Trekkie) :)

Best wishes~
Bradley

Hey, our dogs are the best conversationalists in the world! Not to worry...I hope. :)

Your opening shot/sequence was beautiful, Kris; it set the tone for the rest of the story really well. Like everyone else, I was totally surprised by the ending, and it took my mind off the notion (cool notion!) that I thought I saw a Star Trek shuttlecraft on that tree!!!

EDIT: You saw that too, Brad! LOL! --takes one to know one. ;)

NCC 1701 (must be a Trekkie) :)

I believe that's "Trekker", Brad, be careful. Nerds are very particular about what they're called. Though I think the shuttle is more directly a nod to the last name "Holodak" and less to do with Kris being an actual Star Trek fanatic. It could most certainly be both, of course, so correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm awed at the quality of this entry, it's not only better than your previous films, but great looking in its own right. Has something changed?

This was the most surprising ending to date; caught me totally off guard, and at first I thought you were simply acting as the human interpretation of the dog. Then it hit me (the theme was "Memories", after all), and I loved it even more.

The only thing I wasn't so keen on was the MIDI score. I'm not fervently against MIDI music, believe me, I just think this was a little loud during the opening and closing scenes. The singing was fine, the brass just felt a little "sharp", if you know what I mean.

Never saw it coming, either. Camera work on conversation was great and natural feeling. I know Blue is like Hitcock and appears in every movie, but a suddenly empty couch at the interuption of the spouse would have played better. I think Blue actually took away from the message in this case.

Looked at this a second time with my wife. I have to retract what I said about dog. It worked for me second viewing....

I really liked this one, so much so that I'm going to watch it again.

Very touching moment at the end...

Kris,

Very nice indeed! Good story and a nice twist at the end. One of the best.

Mike

A nice, stylized main title design. Well placed lighting, especially the blue backlight in the other room. Very good closeup inserts. Nice framing. A very polished, professional look.

Say, I just watched this one again full screen so I could read the credits! (Yes, I'm an idiot.) Wow!! I didn't realize this was a family production! Tell us more about the songs, the singer--that sort of thing, okay?

AND, I think you're right up there for the (as yet, non-existent) BEST ACTOR/ACTRESS award, Kris! You did a magnificent job as the "dead sister." :)

Edit: Just re-read Bradley's post, too. (bonks self on head) My only defense is that I got all excited about the ST ornament. LOL!

Kris-

I really liked your movie! Oddly enough one of my original ideas had to do with Christmas ornaments too! Totally different approach though...

Your camera angles and editing were totally natural! Great job!

Very nice twist at the end and I liked how instead of it just being an empty couch the dog was there looking at her like she was a little bit looney...very sad...but very fitting!

Great job!

-Jamey-

A movie after my own heart. My wife and I do that with the ornaments every year. I hope neither of us turns into a dog any time soon though. LOL

Wonderful story concept. Excellent production values. Nice job all around.

Just for fun, Kris and other Trek fans...a special ornament on my tree this year. :)

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a215/ljeanne/ST.jpg

Excellent use of closups and music with the opening sequence. Dialog and acting flowed smoothly, sounded just like a couple of sisters doing a little friendly verbal sparring.

I also was taken by surprise as the "passed" sister became the dog..."Oh just...You know. The dog".

I wanted to reach out and pet Blue. I'm "dogless" and have a lot of love and respect for the critter called "Man's Best Friend". Looks like blue takes direction fairly well.

Bruce

Well I'm back and as a reward for having watched most of the other entries I let myself satisfy my curiosity and read this thread. (I was going to make myself watch all of the others first, but they're starting to blend so it seems more fair to those that are left to watch them tomorrow with fresh eyes.)

Meryem: I'm not allowed to use Blue in any of my work videos, so she gets into all of my fun ones. :)

Michael: Same camera as always, Panny DVX100a stolen/borrowed from work. But you know, the more you use it the better you get. Glad you're seeing an improvement. No room tone throughout because I forgot to get a quiet patch of room tone to lay under. I got the dog so that I wouldn't be wandering around the house talking to myself all the time.

Bradley: I noticed the 1982 being prominent only when I got to the editing and sort of wondered how much of a problem that was. I have about a dozen ornaments from the real Mr. P. and they've all got dates. The one she was holding is from 77 and it was easier to just have her read it. In the story Mr. P is supposed to be dead (the real one is alive) and the question being have you seen him in the afterlife, which you wouldn't realize until later. At first I had scripted a response to that, but someone suggested choosing not to answer would set a better tone.

Bradley/Lorinda/Robert: I've been a trekie since back in the day when trekie was the right thing to say. Though to be honest I didn't put that there on purpose. We had decorated the tree the day before and then I spent a lot of time fussing over the "dead brother" ornaments (it was never supposed to be me) and their placement. It wasn't until editing that I realized it was there. I should really be more observant when I shoot. Lesson learned. BTW, it talks too. Push a button and Spock wishes you a happy holidays.

Chris: I'm glad you changed your mind about the ending. I spend so much time talking to the dog that it never entered my mind to do it any other way. That was how the inspiration for the story started, using the dog as a way to talk to someone you miss.

Mike & Mike: Thanks.

Hugh: the blue backlight in the other room? ...hmm... I hate to admit this, but I didn't light the other room. Though I could have, I'd brought home every light we own at work. But being down half my crew/cast I started taking shortcuts.

Jamey/Bruce: Blue is my best little actress, though mostly I was just trying to get her to sit up enough to be consistent from shot to shot, and visible at all in the wide shot.

Ok, the story of the music. 7 years ago my brother had a friend with some kareoke (sp?) christmas music so he coerced his kids into singing and made us all a CD. It was great in a you-have-to-be-related-to-them-to-think-so kind of way. But after a couple of years dear brother got bored with that and started writing his own christmas songs. And his kids have all been taking music lessons since they were in pre-school so they're pretty good when they're willing to be cooperative (the oldest one declined to sing this year probably because his voice is starting to change, but he still got a credit because he played the bass on a couple of songs.) So when I needed Christmas music I thought, Jim'll give me permission, that'll be easy. His stuff tends to be kind of peppy though and I went through a bunch of tests to find something that fit the mood. That's why I switched to the piano music after the opening bits. I was also trying to signifiy a passage of time, like she's listening to music while she trims the tree and enough time has passed to be on a new song. Not quite sure that worked, but it was a try.

By the way, the piano player, my nephew Mike, is also the artist who did the dog bone that hangs over my couch. I didn't put that there on purpose, but I was pleased when I noticed it showing up.

Smile,
Kris

Kris. Looking good. Lighting was crisp and images were good. I like what you did here. I don't take the end as creepy but more the idea you are projecting a personality on the dog. You see the dog as more than a pet, more like a person in the form of your deceased sister. Perhaps a coping mechanism for the loss?

Overall, nicely done.

Sean

definately much more clarity and pop to you images. And the Colours jumped out, I could smell that tree from here.

definately much more clarity and pop to you images. And the Colours jumped out, I could smell that tree from here.

I was really happy with that opening image, and really happy the compression didn't kill it. Here's what I think I can attribute the image quality to in perceived order of impact (if it helps anyone else to know):

- being in a very controllable environment
- being in only one location
- using softer lights than I recall using in my indoor shots last time
- taking the time to color correct (having those thick white window frames made it really obvious on the couple of shots that didn't exactly match, so I couldn't get lazy and skip that step.)

As happy as I am with that first shot there are others that I look at and think, if only I'd taken more time. So I guess my lesson learned is: take your time.

I think all of those things contributed. but talking with Lorinda, we think it's more to do with your use of close and medium shots. all of the little background details that give it away that it's a small chip camera are not as apparent. Looking forward to your next one.

Don't mean to harp on it, I just like to find out what could be behind such big quality jumps.