DVC 22 - Frames - John Kemper

[John Kemper]

Had a great time planning and shooting this. We knew we wanted to do something narrative, really challenge ourselves, and use this as a learning experience. By the end, we had built two rigs (a jib, and an air cannon), had multiple trick shots, and learned Adobe Speedgrade to color the film, so mission accomplished I'd say.

The only real hitches through production were losing what was thought to be a locked location just days before the shoot (thankfully, a friend sprang in to action, went through their entire contacts list, and found us another location, otherwise there would have been no Optometrist's office), and a few heart-in-your-throat takes where the air cannon didn't fire.

Thanks for the awesome month, everyone! Link to the film below.

Frames - YouTube

[Simon Wood]

Wow, John, I can't wait to see what you make with your new BlackMagic camera!

[Simon Wood]

Very well done though. I loved the little effects (the canon, the panning transition, and especially the scene in the bar where the glasses disappear - in-camera effects like that one are brilliant).

Good acting too, and a good sense of comic timing.

[Chris Barcellos]

Great little film John. Story was cool and sweet. Great acting and nice filming. Premise was a bit vague at begiining, leaving some confusion that might frustrate a viewer, but all fell into place at end.

[Mat Thompson]

Hi John

That opening shot was the best shot I've seen so far! - Killer, loved it !!

You really went to town in this on locations and sequences. The piece was well shot and the dramatic bits played out well. The overall story comes to its conclusion really well and the closing shot was very cute! Again I would love to see the screenplay for this film if you could post it or send it through, I'm really interested to see how it translated from paper to screen!?

Great short, well done!
Mat

[Ruth Happel]

I enjoyed the storyline, and the filming was great. Lots of variety in locations, and the actors definitely kept you in the story.

[Andrew Bove]

It's nice to finally see a film with some action! Nice comedy too, and vfx. Enjoyed it!

[Mark Hartopp]

Hi, I have to agree with everyone on this, a nice story and the first shot is great. Well done.

[Mitchell Stookey]

Another piece with huge production values! It's impressive how many cool locations and scenes you had. I agree with Mat that your opening shot is spectacular. I LOVE the framing, it just looks so fantastic.

I guess I did find the story a little confusing and I am hoping you could elaborate on it for me. Was the premise that the main character doesn't think glasses are "cool" so he is envisioning a cooler version of himself without glasses where his life is better? I really liked the trick photography and transitions between real vs. idealized self but it just wasn't perfectly clear what he was thinking. I think part of that comes from him killing the optometrist / detonating the office (it was him that did that, right?). The robbery makes sense (he is a hero) and the bar makes sense (he is suave and charming), but the first scene (which sets the tone) plays as contract killer or something, but I wasn't able to put my finger on what exactly happened / was imagined. I think maybe if the film started small (like robbery) and then worked up to wilder imagination, I might have been able to follow along better. But then again, perhaps I missed something I should have caught too.

Anyway, hopefully that is a helpful comment, and I was really impressed with the quality and skill that this film was made with, really fantastic work!

[Adam Snow]

I really enjoyed watching your film. The air cannon gag was very well done and I'd be interested what exactly went into pulling that off successfully. I was momentarily disappointed when that storyline didn't continue directly from there. I also thought the shot at the bar when your main character took a drink and the shot went to black and white with all of a sudden not wearing his glasses was pretty slick... I had to go back and watch that moment again.

There was a bit too much camera shake for my taste during the short chance scene but as good steadycam is hardly cheap I totally understand why it was shaky.

The storyline was easy to follow and provided for a fun ride. It would have been nice to have been able to go a little bit further with the car crash. It made complete sense what had happened but wasn't as impactful a moment as it could have been. Videocopilot.net has a great tutorial on how to make a pretty decent person getting hit by a car if you're interested as well as a ton of other great After Effects tutorials and is worth checking out.

Also, although I really like the concept for how the credits were done I feel that they actually detracted a bit from the other more professional aspect of the film. And even though they are in a way not part of the film itself they are the last thing the viewer sees and thus the last impression they are left with.

But once again, really enjoyed watching your film. Great job!

[Toni Dolce]

John,

When I saw that opening scene, I thought, wow, how did he do that!!?

Thanks for providing a bit of detail about how you did that! I loved seeing the special effect straight out of the gate. The optometrist did a great job falling against the wall. I freeze-framed it to see his reaction.

The male actor did a great job and I really enjoyed the scene in the bar. The "pretty girl" actress was good, too!

I think that Adam's comment about the end credits was valid. In addition, I would have loved for the credits to go a little slower.

Overall, thoroughly enjoyed the story!

Toni

[John Kemper]

Thanks for all the great comments and critiques everybody! It's nice to finally get to show it off to people after a months hard work, and I'm glad everyone seems to be enjoying it.

@Mat - I'm glad you liked it so much. I'll see what I can do about getting you a copy of the script.

@Mitchell - You're right about the story. Donny feels the glasses are going to ruin his life, so he imagines situations of what he could be doing without him. The first fantasy does start under a different mold though, he is angry and blames the optometrist for having to wear glasses, so he blows him up with a grenade in his fantasy (it's supposed to be a grenade pin that Donny spits out right after the explosion).

Thanks again everybody!

[Joseph Tran]

Great job, John! I'm always more interested in storylines, and this one was a lot of fun to watch! The opening sequence was a great way to start off the film, and I like how you used the glasses as a device to keep the film moving throughout. I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of bookending, and I like how everything comes full circle with the cute girl at the end.

On another note -- nice job with the set decoration for the hospital! I've been in that situation before where the script calls for a hospital location, so I know how much of a pain that is. Unless, you DID get a hospital location, which, in that case, congrats for being able to get a hospital location, haha! Again, great work and great story!

[John Kemper]

Thanks Joseph! No, unfortunately we were not able to get an actual hospital room. We ending up building that set in my living room. We figured that as long as we kept a tight shot, had a lot of white, and included a few hospital room set pieces (tongue depressors and such), that would be enough for the feel of the room.

We also shot the explosion scene in a hallway at my house, not wanting to set off an air cannon full of debris in an Optometrist's office.

[Dick Mays]

John,

Fun story. Love the explosion, looked really, really good. And as Joseph pointed out, great set decoration on the hospital scene. You really put a lot of effort into this one and it shows. That girl at the bar, I knew that wouldn't work out, I swear it is the same girl that threw a drink in my face thirty years ago. Maybe it's her daughter. The nice nurse with glasses, I'm not even going to talk about that. Some fantasies are better kept private...

How did you get the bottle thrown that hit the guy in the back to look that good? You didn't actually throw a bottle and hit the guy, or did you?

Dick