DVC8 Jeff Hendricks "Experience Vision"

[Jeff Hendricks]

I can't wait to see everyone's films...I'm a first timer and looking forward learning from your extensive and collective knowledge,

Thanks for your comments,
Jeff

[Josh Johnson]

I really liked this one! It had a documentary feel to it which I thought was a neat approach.


I liked the end as he hunts for the remote as well...

Well done!

[Chris Barcellos]

Hold the presses. Another strong contender !! Very nice feel to this film. Took you through a range of emotions from curiosity and thought provoking introspection, to humorous situational comedy....

I really liked this one a lot.... Great job.

[William Gardner]

Good, interesting modern editing technique for a documentary film like this. Good subject, good use of a variety of visual images and shot selections.

I will say that the "documentary part" had the most impact for me whereas the "finding the remote" part at the end almost reduced the impact of the piece for me. I might suggest that you create an edit which starts with the "finding the remote" part and then ends with the "documentary part" and see if that works better?? For me at least, the finding the remote part is a nice visual introduction to the subject of the piece and the subject while the documentary part is a more powerful discussion of the subject's situation. Just one person's opinion, though.

Nice work overall! Very intelligent portrayal and very good technique,
Bill

[Mugurel Dragusin]

Agree with William on this one :) The end part should not be there as it stands on it's own as is, until that part. Good job for the documentary part! As you know I've taken the blind's vision theme on DVC6 so I certainly enjoyed the twist of this one :)

[Brent Graham]

I also agree with William...

I loved the doc aspect to the beginning. Very nice tempo, nice feel, excellent edits on his thoughts. Wonderful.

But right after you got me all serious and introspective with a doc, I found myself shoved into a situational comedy about a blind guy unable to find his remote! Talk about feeling guilty.


Loved the first doc part, didn't feel the second comedy part.

[Bruce Foreman]

Very powerfully done with extremely strong visuals. The editing set a pace that flowed smoothly, I was really taken with this one and the way it was accomplished.

Now, I don't fully agree with those who felt the "can't find the clicker" sequence would work better to introduce the rest. What the presented sequence did for me was to contrast the way the subject was essentially dealing with his condition and suddenly how one very small complication could create an extreme degree of frustration.

I saw no comedy in the latter sequence and feel like I got the full message the filmmaker was presenting.

I can't "judge" on this one, I didn't get an entry in (See me? I'm one of the ones hanging on the wall.) but I feel this entry is a very strong contender for the winner's circle.

[Hugh DiMauro]

Jeff:

I'm an emotional guy. Time stood still while I watched. Yes, technically, this was a very professional looking movie but I'm not getting into that because content is king. Your cuts and visuals made the emotional impact greater. First rate. I was so moved by this. Powerful stuff.

[Jeff Hendricks]

Thank you all for the kind words and helpful criticism.

My choice for adding the last part was that (well besides I had taken the time to film and edit it) was that I wanted to show Tommy's sense of humor which was missing a bit in the first part. You see Tommy crack jokes often about his blindness. He is the first to offer to drive, will crack jokes about not seeing something, and during the scene when he was reading the book upside down (his idea) he mumbled "the print is always too small to read in these books". It is stuff like that that cracks people up around him all the time and I wanted to convey his willingness to have fun with his own abilities.

I consider myself an advocate for people with disabilities and in my life I try to remove stereotypes (like Tommy removing his sunglasses in the begining) and instead empower the individual. I hope to have conveyed a suggestion of empowerment and inclusion in all aspects of life regardles of ability.

Thanks again
Jeff

[Ruth Happel]

I like the two halves of this, and am not sure if they work best the way they are, or reversed, as others suggested. It felt like a bit of a sad ending to me- for the rest of the film he seemed to be dealing with blindness so well, but then he appeared frustrated by everyday life, almost as if letting his guard down. I can see there was humor in it, but for me it also made me realize how no matter how happy and brave he appears, life is still a huge challenge just in the little things. I liked the way you moved between shots- mirroring some of the actions in both- very nice flow to the film.

[Jeff Hendricks]

Originally Posted by Ruth Happel

It felt like a bit of a sad ending to me- for the rest of the film he seemed to be dealing with blindness so well, but then he appeared frustrated by everyday life, almost as if letting his guard down. I can see there was humor in it, but for me it also made me realize how no matter how happy and brave he appears, life is still a huge challenge just in the little things.

Very good point...but isn't it true as well, that even the sighted have things in "plain view" yet we look right past it?


Jeff

[Bradley L Marlow]

Good job! This was very interesting...

My "feel" on this guy was that in the first part he was actually dealing well with his situation. He had come to a point of acceptance. At the end, he seemed to loose it over a remote. To me, there is a deep reality in that.

Thomas Carlson Lake did a wonderful job. I read what you wrote about his sense of humor and think that is excellent.

[Jamey Hastings]

Hey Jeff -

I really liked your film! It had a very experimental feel which I really enoyed! Your message was great. I love the line about how your character has been blind for a number of years and will be for the rest of his life and that's the way he wants it. I think a lot of people see people who are blind or deaf or in a wheelchair and think, "Oh I feel so sorry for them." When in reality they have no reason to, because the people aren't feeling sorry for themselves...instead they're living their lives! That statement encompassed that and I LOVED it!

I also really liked the bit about the movie channels that come in all fuzzy, but to him they were fine, because he could hear everything. It's something I never thought about, but it's so true!

Visually your film was beautiful too! I loved the imagery of your main character out enjoying nature and of him doing the exact same thing in front of the T.V. screen full of fuzz! It was really wonderful!

I'm going to echo a few of the other people, though and say that the last scene with the remote almost took away from the feel of the rest of the film. Like Bradley said, in the beginning you find out that your character has come to terms with his blindness and likes his life the way it is, but in the end we see his frustration over not being able to find what he's looking for. I could tell you guys were going for comedy here, but in contrast to the rest of the film it just didn't sit quite right...like Brent I felt guilty for wanting to chuckle a bit. Some one suggested bookending the remote search on either side of the beginning of your film, I'd be interested to see how that works...i.e he starts searching in the beginning for the clicker, then we see the part of the film about nature and the T.V. set (the message), then we see the end of the remote search. It's just an idea, though...

I think what the remote search conveys is that even though he's come to terms with his blindness there are still moments of frustration...but then isn't that true for all of us...no matter how comfortable we are with who we are and the way our lives are, there are times when a very simple thing like not being able to find a remote, or car keys, or our cell phone throws us into a temporary state of disarray. That scene demonstrates that state and I think it's important to your film...I'd just think about it's placement maybe and see if there's some way to incorporate it so that it flows better as a whole film instead of two segments.

lol I hope that made sense I feel like I got into a little ramble here....haha I just liked your film and it's message so much!

Jamey*