Finished my 22 minute short film "Red Ribbon". Watch it!

[Marlon Torres]

Originally Posted by Joshua Provost

As for using unlicensed music... posting on an Internet discussion board qualifies as "distribution," so technically it was illegal to post it. My rule of thumb if that if the music isn't licensed, don't post it online, even student projects.
Josh

howabout those countless star wars fanfilms all over the internet? lucasfilm is known to have an ironfist against illegal use of their property but it almost seems as if they encourage fanfilms.

[Cory Cone]

Originally Posted by Joshua Provost

As for the thought that any musician would be proud to have his music in the film, I'd say you should really talk to some more musicians. I am one, and I run a record label, and I know for sure we would like to be asked permission first, perhaps compensated a little (your camera wasn't free, why should your music be?), and if we chose not to be involved, to know that you wouldn't use the music without permission.

I'm a musician as well, but I really wouldn't care if someone took my music and used it for something on the net or even a film festival without asking me. I would be happy that they like what I've done enough to want it in their film. If they were going to distribute it, I'd want them to ask, for obvious reasons. Maybe I just say this because I make bad music but hey that's just a matter of opinion I guess. I like my music and if someone else does, awsome!

Why can't we all just share people?

Sorry, haven't seen the flick yet, it's downloading. Will post after.

[Andreas Rylander]

Marlon, I did love your use of camera and the general direction of cinematography. I did not like the acting nor the script though... the pacing was slow, as was mentioned before, but I do not consider that to be a flaw in this production.

I commend your efforts as a director when it comes to cinematography and editing =)

So I would definitely say thumbs up! =)

[Josh Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Marlon Torres

howabout those countless star wars fanfilms all over the internet? lucasfilm is known to have an ironfist against illegal use of their property but it almost seems as if they encourage fanfilms.

Lucas has said that people are allowed to use Star Wars characters, etc. in fan films online so long as they don't make money, either through sale or pay per view. Yes, he ecnourages fans to make films using his copyrighted material. (I'm not positive about the music but I would guess that counts as well.) But that's for Star Wars Fan Films only. You can't use the Star Wars theme in another film (not that would though).

However, I'm sure he'd have a problem with using his music and characters in a film and then selling it.

[Joshua Provost]

Originally Posted by Marlon Torres

howabout those countless star wars fanfilms all over the internet? lucasfilm is known to have an ironfist against illegal use of their property but it almost seems as if they encourage fanfilms.

If they encourage it, then they are granting permission. You can't use Lucasfilm encouraging people to make Star Wars fan films as an excuse to use music without a license or permission.

As I said before, if you ask for permission from the copyright owners and explain the extent of distribution (personal project posted to the Internet for feedback on directing, editing, cinematography), they may grant you permission. If you wanted to submit to film festivals, they probably also have a reasonable price point for a "festival license."

It's just good practice to get started in licensing music now, because you will have to do it in the future. It could be beneficial to start building those relationships now, so you have better negotiating ability in the future. Plus, if you license the music, and people really respond positively to Red Ribbon, then you can take it to the next level without worrying about getting permission for the music.

Did you check out prodcutiontrax.com (or the scores of other web sites that deal in this stuff)? If you've got $20, you can get a lot of music similar in style to what you used, and use it with a clear conscience.

Josh

[Marlon Torres]

i will definitely use my own music for my upcoming third film, this was just something i worked on to improve on my really embarassing first short film.

[Joshua Provost]

Marlon,

I look forward to your next film. You've got some solid skills. BTW, I liked you actors as well, they had a lot of character.

Josh

[Marlon Torres]

haha...man, film is so subjective...some other folks in this same thread said the acting wasnt too good but some other folks liked it...ugk! which is it?

[Christian Hede Madsen]

Originally Posted by Joshua Provost

Marlon,

I liked the film a lot. I liked the characters, your camera direction, and lighting. I'd say in general it was overly long, just really slow paced. Like most of the film was in slow motion (which I think it was). Also, it's a little offputting to have such a long and elaborate opening credit sequence for such a short film. Better just to get to the point. If this were around 10-12 minutes, it really would have been more effective. Kudos to you for pulling together such an ambitious project, though.

As for using unlicensed music... posting on an Internet discussion board qualifies as "distribution," so technically it was illegal to post it. My rule of thumb if that if the music isn't licensed, don't post it online, even student projects.

As for the thought that any musician would be proud to have his music in the film, I'd say you should really talk to some more musicians. I am one, and I run a record label, and I know for sure we would like to be asked permission first, perhaps compensated a little (your camera wasn't free, why should your music be?), and if we chose not to be involved, to know that you wouldn't use the music without permission.

There's lots of cheap, legal music online. You'd be surprised what you can get for free if you ask for it. And surprised what you can get for $5 over at productiontrax.com, etc.

Josh

I Just visited productiontrax.com and I was amazed...I have found the music for my film( about 30 bucks)...
Fantastic...thanks for the link!

[Marlon Torres]

i think i may have found a few songs for my next movie as well!

[Giuseppe Palumbo]

That was really nice. I was just confused on the main charachter and the brother. they looked alot alike so the stort got a bit confusing to me. haha, thats just me though

[Marlon Torres]

well, if u need some clarification feel free to let me know what exactly you need help understanding...one of my main goals was to challenge the viewer :)

[Derrick A.Jones]

dont listen to dude. the music was great you clearly stated at the beggining that the film was for a school project. this was great i love everything about it. the picture was crips and sharp. that Canon XL2 is awsome i have used it before also. the plot was great. good acting and the cutting of the film was nice. kept things interesting the whole way through the film. great stuff man keep up the work

[Marlon Torres]

Originally Posted by Derrick A.Jones

dont listen to dude. the music was great you clearly stated at the beggining that the film was for a school project. this was great i love everything about it. the picture was crips and sharp. that Canon XL2 is awsome i have used it before also. the plot was great. good acting and the cutting of the film was nice. kept things interesting the whole way through the film. great stuff man keep up the work

glad you liked it derrick :)

[Daniel Stone]

Nice job, Marlon! This is very good for your first film! When I look back on my first films, they weren't nearly as good as this one - and you'll certainly develop your style and learn many things along the way.

Overall, I think the lighting and composition were great! The camera does a great job - as do you!

I agree that the film was a little slow-moving, overall. I love the way you have the telephone segment at the beginning before the intro... but the intro was so long that the film almost lost me before it started up again. No worries, though - I stayed it through (though my girlfriend didn't have the patience).

There were also some distracting elements that made the characters seem strange -- for example, the fact that the girl 'wears the ribbon around her neck all the time because she promised a friend' kind of makes her seem a little weird. Especially since the ribbon was so big. It almost made her seem "special", if you know what I mean.

I don't really think it's fair to critique the acting. I mean yeah, it wasn't the best, but you're working without a budget, here. All in all, I think the fantastic shot compositions made up for the bad acting.

There was something distracting about the audio. My girlfriend thought so, too. It sounded good sometimes, but other times it sounded like a close-proximity studio-mic'd voice over that didn't really match the characters' position.

One thing I do have to say is that stolen music or not, you sure do know how to use it! Action goes right along with it and it was chosen nicely. But I do agree that using music from another film is cheating. Legally, whether you're distributing or not, you need a sync-rights license to even put the music in your film just for fun. Even if you state the source of the music... music rights are a little different than a high-school term paper.

I loved your lighting. I think amateurs tend to overlight scenes, and you can definitely tell. You did a great job!

Take all this for what it's worth. No matter how good or bad it is, you'll always have people who love it and people who hate it.

Overall, I think you did a fantastic job!