The Lord's Work is Up!

[S&Dproductions]

Finaly I managed to get The Lord's Work loaded on youtube.

Here is part (1of2):
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Here is part (2of2):
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The file is low quality which doesn't help the film because I shot it on Hi8. It's not wonderful digital, but the grain adds character. :lol:
This is my first film. It was a slow and tedious process and I learned what not to do when making a film. I'm looking for honest and creative citicism.

[MinionZombie]

Good to see it up on 'tube. :)

You've probably already noted things you'd change or seek to improve upon as you'll have watched it through many more times than us lot have (such things stick out during editing), but the sort of things I would say need improving are/were:

* Pacing. I've found the more shorts I've made, the shorter they've gotten as I've gotten more and more brutal with what gets cut out. It's better to have something shorter that you want more of, than something longer that could be shorter...if that makes sense. TLW could have used a bit of quickening here and there, mainly in the first half.

* When to use, and likewise not use, a tripod. Some moments require the frame to be level and the motion to be smooth (or completely still), while others require hand-held work, so it's all about picking the right thing for each moment, that's just something you can play with more and more when you make more and more short films.

* Sound mix. Some of the effects (such as car not starting) were too loud, so they feel a bit 'tacked on', if that makes sense. The music over-rided the dialogue a bit in the first half I felt. Also, with having the dialogue of the preacher done afterwards and 'pasted over the top' so-to-speak.

...

What I did really like though, was:

* The opening S&D logo, felt very Grindhouse.

* The preacher's sort-of dream part when he was knocked out (had a kinda House of 1000 Corpses vibe to it for me :)).

* The nutter's voice, good performance vocally too.

* The second half, a much swifter pace, it all got a bit in-your-face and kinda maniacal ... you know, in a good way.

* The music was pretty good too.

...

Certainly a good effort, and I'm sure you've already noted the changes you'd wanna make on the next film already, so I usually tend to not focus on those issues so much and instead I like to focus more on what I like about people's shorts and tell them that, as personally I find myself focussing on the flaws of my shorts and I don't focus on what I really like, whereas people telling me what they really like actually really helps me, because then I see what other people like and want more of...

...meanwhile, I myself have already spotted every technical problem or filmmaking thing I wanna change already as I've seen the film through countless times during editing, so that stuff is essentially self-taught a lot of the time just from doing and trying things out.

What I find really helps, is for those who view the short, to tell me what they really liked, cos I tend to get lost in what I don't like about a short film for the year or so immediately after finishing it (it takes a long while to get suitably far enough away from a project you've done, to just enjoy it for what it is) - hence having those who have viewed it once, when it's all pieced together and finished, to tell you what they liked about it.

Anyway, before I ramble on, I'll shaddup and press "submit reply" already. :)

Good stuff, Sir. :thumbsup:

[S&Dproductions]

I had done some small projects before but nothing with a plot. The films before this were just videos and nothing more.
I tend to look at the positives over the negatives. I hate the opening of the film. If it wasn't so short the begining would probably drag the whole film into the ground if it already hasn't. But if you continue on it gets better. Obviously I was going with a slower older style of story telling, and kids today just don't get it. If it's not fast cutting and in your face it's not viable.
The main problem with this film is there was no real script. I outlined the scenes and wrote a few lines down, but for the most part we just winged it. This was probably the worst mistake of the whole shoot. The second worst was not shooting it digital. The cut just looked poor and the tapes ended up self destructing on me. This project was a nightmare from start to finish.
The sound mixing was horrible and was thrown together last minute. The scores weren't properly recorded. All in all, this project was a serious learning experience.
My favourite part of the whole film is the scenes in the house. Although the cut you saw it was probably darker then my full qaulity cut.
The trailer at the beginning was original. It just seemed fitting. It had the feel of cult style exploitation films of the 70's. The question "where is this film taking me?" Tarantino beat me to it, but it was created 2 years ago. He stole his from International. Like him I watch alot of throwback stuff too.

Thanks alot for the input!