DVC 12 "Guests" at DVinfo.net

Jay Kavi · March 10th, 2008, 01:09 AM

This is an experimental piece showing different guests of a hotel room at the same time of day on different days.

This is my first time entering the DVC, what an experience! It was brutal, but I'm looking forward to DVC 13

Technical specs: Shot on a hd100 using true color V3, Letus adapter with a Nikon 14mm AI lens, Audio technica mic. Cut in FCP 6 with no color correction.

Enjoy!

Jeremy Doyle · March 11th, 2008, 12:51 PM

I really enjoyed this piece. I think it fit with the theme of change perfectly. What could possibly see more change than a hotel room!??

The only thing I would suggest would be to have used one solid lock down shot so that when you cut between all the guests the only thing changing would have been the people not the background. Hard to do with so many people coming in and out of the room.

Jesse Steele · March 11th, 2008, 01:08 PM

I loved the concept. Very artsy. I agree with Jeremy the only thing I would have changed was the lack of a locked down shot.

great job
Best of luck

Robert Martens · March 11th, 2008, 03:32 PM

Not a good day for my computer monitor to be between two windows, I'll tell you that much. Once I pulled the curtains, things got much more viewable, but I'm still having trouble making out the details of the characters involved. Is there a thread that runs through all these different people, or is the lack of same what makes you classify it "experimental"? I still think the experiment was mostly successful. Could have been brighter, but I know what that's like, I've shot plenty of dark footage myself.

The idea was intriguing, and beside the slight jitter, I think you pulled it off. About the hotel room, may I ask how you did it? Real hotel, redressed living room, something else? Looks like the real thing to me. Speaking of which, I wonder how often they 'change' the sheets in these places. But that's another DVC.

Alex Chamberlain · March 11th, 2008, 09:48 PM

Interesting editing (in a good way). It definitely shows that you didn't let yourself get lazy. The picture was well done (though I concur that a locked-down shot would have been better), but, oddly enough, I felt that the sound was the most powerful aspect of this piece. I could almost have watched this with my eyes closed and still had a rewarding experience. Thanks.

Jay Kavi · March 12th, 2008, 12:06 AM

Thanks for the comments guys, they really mean a lot.

We were actually going for a locked down shot, I didnt notice the camera moved until we were in post! Same goes for the white balance. It was also a bit brighter in the LCD/Viewfinder, but the clips are really dark on my mac. They are fine on the DP's PC. Our lens only opened up to f3.4, If i had one of Alex's nifty pieces of change i would've probably sacrificed the wideness of the 14mm lens for a faster lens.

We actually rented a cheap hotel room and just shot for 7 hours without telling the management (definitely not reccomended, but when you only have 10 days.....)

Alex, the picture/sound editor/composer thanks you. this was the third short he's cut and second he's scored.

Keep 'em coming!

Jay

Jay Kavi · March 12th, 2008, 12:07 AM

Heres an higher rez version (and slighly brightened) for the folks that could'nt see much on the youtube link
http://thepegasuscompany.com/vids/guest_h264_480p
http://thepegasuscompany.com/vids/guest_h264_720p

Dick Mays · March 12th, 2008, 06:33 AM

THe brighter high res version makes this much easier to watch. The mood music is good, and I get a creepy feeling watching it like I'm a voyer spying on motel guests. I wanted to jump out with my knife and start slashing...

Seriously, I was expecting a sex scene somewhere in there. It's a motel room... If not a sex scene, maybe a drug deal. See a little extreme behavior we wouldn't normally get to see... That's all I'd add. Beautiful piece though and very original idea.

Robert Martens · March 12th, 2008, 11:20 AM

I saw the 480p file, and Dick's correct, the brighter version is much more pleasant. Nice to see everyone's face, would you mind telling us which part you played?

But seeing sex scenes and drug deals, Dick...are you sure we didn't? I could swear some of that audio suggested more than met the eye. Thought I caught an "oh yeah" and a "baby" in there.

Lee Stokes · March 12th, 2008, 02:32 PM

Hi guys, my name is Lee Stokes and I am the co-producer & co-director of "Guest".

Regarding the sex element, I definitely agree that was one element missing and should have really been in place.
But you know how it is using actors that we couldn't pay, and also, none of the production team had met any of them, so it would be difficult to ask nearly total strangers act out sex scenes!

There is one drug scene, the dude in a white t-shirt with really short hair has just gotten back to his room with a score.

The older fellow with a light blue shirt that keeps looking out the window is waiting for his hooker, thats as close to the sexual element as we could get.

Thanks everyone for watching & taking the time to comment!

Lee

Lorinda Norton · March 12th, 2008, 10:45 PM

Great concept, you guys. I get frustrated, because I wonder about some of the stories going on there and I’m not smart enough to figure out ANY of them! Thanks for explaining a couple of them; now, what’s the story on the guy with the dog? :)

By the way, I get tired of movies including what I call "obligatory" sex scenes in them. I expected one here and am delighted that you left it out, regardless of the reason.

Bruce Broussard · March 13th, 2008, 05:09 AM

I also enjoyed the concept. I think it is difficult to pull this one off in a 3 minute film, because you really want to know more of about the characters. I also would have liked a little more lighting on the scenes. I will have to give the higher res versions a try. Good effort all around.

Joseph Tran · March 13th, 2008, 11:56 AM

I like it -- a bold experimental piece that leaves you wondering about the characters. I enjoyed the fact that not everything is spelled out, and you're left to your own assumptions about each individual. How'd you come up with the idea?

Dick Mays · March 13th, 2008, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lorinda Norton

By the way, I get tired of movies including what I call "obligatory" sex scenes in them. I expected one here and am delighted that you left it out, regardless of the reason.

Yeah, but for every high class person like Lorinda out there, there are five of us gratuitious, leering, um, ...

I missed the drug score first time through. I did sort of get the guy looking out the window. I kept expecting the hooker to show up too.

Jay Kavi · March 16th, 2008, 10:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Joseph Tran

I like it -- a bold experimental piece that leaves you wondering about the characters. I enjoyed the fact that not everything is spelled out, and you're left to your own assumptions about each individual. How'd you come up with the idea?

Thanks Joseph (and everyone else!). We were eating mexican food and shouting out ideas and someone mentioned looking at change from a more abstract perspective. After a while we ended up with this.

Robert, your gonna have to guess which one I am.

Lorinda - the guy with the dog is missing a key portion of the scene, he's audtioning for something. I'll have to persuade the editor to let me show it to you all.

Dick - Next time, all smut! just for you ;)

March 10th, 2008, 01:09 AM	#1
Jay Kavi Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 243	DVC 12 "Guests" This is an experimental piece showing different guests of a hotel room at the same time of day on different days. This is my first time entering the DVC, what an experience! It was brutal, but I'm looking forward to DVC 13 Technical specs: Shot on a hd100 using true color V3, Letus adapter with a Nikon 14mm AI lens, Audio technica mic. Cut in FCP 6 with no color correction. Enjoy!

March 11th, 2008, 01:08 PM	#3
Jesse Steele Regular Crew Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Irvine CA Posts: 98	I loved the concept. Very artsy. I agree with Jeremy the only thing I would have changed was the lack of a locked down shot. great job Best of luck __________________ I like movies.....

March 11th, 2008, 09:48 PM	#5
Alex Chamberlain Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Hurricane, UT Posts: 186	Interesting editing (in a good way). It definitely shows that you didn't let yourself get lazy. The picture was well done (though I concur that a locked-down shot would have been better), but, oddly enough, I felt that the sound was the most powerful aspect of this piece. I could almost have watched this with my eyes closed and still had a rewarding experience. Thanks. __________________ Get rid of the "Aspiring" in "Aspiring Filmmaker." Shoot it; you're a filmmaker. After that you're just negotiating your budget. (James Cameron paraphrased)

March 12th, 2008, 12:07 AM	#7
Jay Kavi Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 243	Heres an higher rez version (and slighly brightened) for the folks that could'nt see much on the youtube link http://thepegasuscompany.com/vids/guest_h264_480p http://thepegasuscompany.com/vids/guest_h264_720p Last edited by Jay Kavi; March 12th, 2008 at 02:52 AM. Reason: added hd version

March 12th, 2008, 02:32 PM	#10
Lee Stokes New Boot Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 22	re "Guest" Hi guys, my name is Lee Stokes and I am the co-producer & co-director of "Guest". Regarding the sex element, I definitely agree that was one element missing and should have really been in place. But you know how it is using actors that we couldn't pay, and also, none of the production team had met any of them, so it would be difficult to ask nearly total strangers act out sex scenes! There is one drug scene, the dude in a white t-shirt with really short hair has just gotten back to his room with a score. The older fellow with a light blue shirt that keeps looking out the window is waiting for his hooker, thats as close to the sexual element as we could get. Thanks everyone for watching & taking the time to comment! Lee

March 11th, 2008, 12:51 PM	#2
Jeremy Doyle Major Player Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Brainerd, MN Posts: 287	I really enjoyed this piece. I think it fit with the theme of change perfectly. What could possibly see more change than a hotel room!?? The only thing I would suggest would be to have used one solid lock down shot so that when you cut between all the guests the only thing changing would have been the people not the background. Hard to do with so many people coming in and out of the room.

March 11th, 2008, 03:32 PM	#4
Robert Martens Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Miller Place, NY Posts: 820	Not a good day for my computer monitor to be between two windows, I'll tell you that much. Once I pulled the curtains, things got much more viewable, but I'm still having trouble making out the details of the characters involved. Is there a thread that runs through all these different people, or is the lack of same what makes you classify it "experimental"? I still think the experiment was mostly successful. Could have been brighter, but I know what that's like, I've shot plenty of dark footage myself. The idea was intriguing, and beside the slight jitter, I think you pulled it off. About the hotel room, may I ask how you did it? Real hotel, redressed living room, something else? Looks like the real thing to me. Speaking of which, I wonder how often they 'change' the sheets in these places. But that's another DVC.

March 12th, 2008, 12:06 AM	#6
Jay Kavi Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: San Francisco, CA Posts: 243	Thanks for the comments guys, they really mean a lot. We were actually going for a locked down shot, I didnt notice the camera moved until we were in post! Same goes for the white balance. It was also a bit brighter in the LCD/Viewfinder, but the clips are really dark on my mac. They are fine on the DP's PC. Our lens only opened up to f3.4, If i had one of Alex's nifty pieces of change i would've probably sacrificed the wideness of the 14mm lens for a faster lens. We actually rented a cheap hotel room and just shot for 7 hours without telling the management (definitely not reccomended, but when you only have 10 days.....) Alex, the picture/sound editor/composer thanks you. this was the third short he's cut and second he's scored. Keep 'em coming! Jay

March 12th, 2008, 06:33 AM	#8
Dick Mays Major Player Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 690	THe brighter high res version makes this much easier to watch. The mood music is good, and I get a creepy feeling watching it like I'm a voyer spying on motel guests. I wanted to jump out with my knife and start slashing... Seriously, I was expecting a sex scene somewhere in there. It's a motel room... If not a sex scene, maybe a drug deal. See a little extreme behavior we wouldn't normally get to see... That's all I'd add. Beautiful piece though and very original idea.

March 12th, 2008, 11:20 AM	#9
Robert Martens Major Player Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Miller Place, NY Posts: 820	I saw the 480p file, and Dick's correct, the brighter version is much more pleasant. Nice to see everyone's face, would you mind telling us which part you played? But seeing sex scenes and drug deals, Dick...are you sure we didn't? I could swear some of that audio suggested more than met the eye. Thought I caught an "oh yeah" and a "baby" in there.

March 12th, 2008, 10:45 PM	#11
Lorinda Norton Wrangler Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Southwest Idaho, USA Posts: 3,066	Great concept, you guys. I get frustrated, because I wonder about some of the stories going on there and I’m not smart enough to figure out ANY of them! Thanks for explaining a couple of them; now, what’s the story on the guy with the dog? :) By the way, I get tired of movies including what I call "obligatory" sex scenes in them. I expected one here and am delighted that you left it out, regardless of the reason. __________________ Lorinda

March 13th, 2008, 05:09 AM	#12
Bruce Broussard Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Houston, TX Posts: 132	I also enjoyed the concept. I think it is difficult to pull this one off in a 3 minute film, because you really want to know more of about the characters. I also would have liked a little more lighting on the scenes. I will have to give the higher res versions a try. Good effort all around.

March 13th, 2008, 11:56 AM	#13
Joseph Tran Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 177	I like it -- a bold experimental piece that leaves you wondering about the characters. I enjoyed the fact that not everything is spelled out, and you're left to your own assumptions about each individual. How'd you come up with the idea?