Mutineer
10-May-2007, 12:30 AM
I have officially had a chance to see Deadlands and here are my thoughts ...
First and foremost, it is incredible the undertaking you have pulled off. This film has scale. This film takes us from the woods to the home to the community emergency center but even better, into the streets during a traffic jam. Very impressive.
There are zombies and a lot of them. The scale felt real and I did feel like I was let into a special world that I cannot experience anywhere else. There are some true scary moments in this film, the zombies attacking the automobile drivers and the zombies attacking the community center. That was creepy.
The film has some decent gore with the intestines being shredded about and the score is great. Although repetative at times, I loved it. It felt very Carpenteresque with a touch of Day of the Dead. It worked, but suffers from a lack of variety in the arrangement.
The story left me a bit distracted, starting off with the two dudes. I was immediately in a hurry to get on with the story after the punch lines and not to clever dialouge. I felt they tried to be natural but the lines were just to 'Whatever-ish' (for lack of a better word). It just didn't work for me. Either too much of nothing going on (showing dude pull up in car, showing dudes drive around in car, showing dudes sitting in lawn chairs ....
Another problem I had was that we were introduced to our two leads only to have them dissapear for over a half an hour. By the time they do show up I wasn't to concerned about them. I was more concerned with the supporting players (in the commmuntiy center) as this was a main focus leading up the the attack.
The lead woman was okay; not a great performer but not the worst ever. I am sure DJ knows that these weren't a SAG bunch and it does show. It's was like grabbing 'your bor, your sister, mom and Uncle and neighbors and friends' and making a movie starring them.
The technical side of the project left a lot to be desired; I found it very rudiment in terms of camera compostion and framing and overall execution. I'd love to see this project remixed with ambient and foley sounds to accomodate the score.
Overall, I'm not impressed with project as a whole but I am inspired by it and I did find some sequences worthwhile; the zombi attacks along with the score had me rivited. The woman's neck wound was great. The woman zombie in the car scratching at the window worked very well.
I liked the actor who locked himself in the community center bathroom; not a good actor, but his enthusiasm showed and I actually cared about him. The mother (young woman lead) was competent enough to keep me watching her survival.
Another scene that meshed well was when the 2 dudes go to their home. I liked that, It was to the point, felt natural and moved the story along (Woman at his bro's survival house). Unlike most of the piece. I think this is important to remember next go around:
Is this dialogue/scene/action moving us along to the next element ?
-
At the end of the day; I found the script a complete mess; not the story arc, but the actual dialogue. Whether it be the 2 hapless heroes or the military guys saying ****! after being assigned their duty, I couldn't help but be impatient wiating for something to happen
I do look forward to DEADLANDS 2 and pray DJ learned something on this feature. I think he can only get better from here. I'd suggest the following on PART 2
Get an experienced DP
Have a sound mix using Foley, Ambient, Score, Dialogue and practical sound FX; layering the AUDIO will create a whole new expereince
Get the best actors you can find cause none of these guys/gals are able to pull it off
Good luck on the next one !!!!!
My .02 (Take it or leave it)
I am a peer, a wannabe filmmkaer, a fan and an average filmgoer. My opinions are nothing but subjective and not personal.
PS
If the fat dude points the pistol at homeboy one more time .... !
First and foremost, it is incredible the undertaking you have pulled off. This film has scale. This film takes us from the woods to the home to the community emergency center but even better, into the streets during a traffic jam. Very impressive.
There are zombies and a lot of them. The scale felt real and I did feel like I was let into a special world that I cannot experience anywhere else. There are some true scary moments in this film, the zombies attacking the automobile drivers and the zombies attacking the community center. That was creepy.
The film has some decent gore with the intestines being shredded about and the score is great. Although repetative at times, I loved it. It felt very Carpenteresque with a touch of Day of the Dead. It worked, but suffers from a lack of variety in the arrangement.
The story left me a bit distracted, starting off with the two dudes. I was immediately in a hurry to get on with the story after the punch lines and not to clever dialouge. I felt they tried to be natural but the lines were just to 'Whatever-ish' (for lack of a better word). It just didn't work for me. Either too much of nothing going on (showing dude pull up in car, showing dudes drive around in car, showing dudes sitting in lawn chairs ....
Another problem I had was that we were introduced to our two leads only to have them dissapear for over a half an hour. By the time they do show up I wasn't to concerned about them. I was more concerned with the supporting players (in the commmuntiy center) as this was a main focus leading up the the attack.
The lead woman was okay; not a great performer but not the worst ever. I am sure DJ knows that these weren't a SAG bunch and it does show. It's was like grabbing 'your bor, your sister, mom and Uncle and neighbors and friends' and making a movie starring them.
The technical side of the project left a lot to be desired; I found it very rudiment in terms of camera compostion and framing and overall execution. I'd love to see this project remixed with ambient and foley sounds to accomodate the score.
Overall, I'm not impressed with project as a whole but I am inspired by it and I did find some sequences worthwhile; the zombi attacks along with the score had me rivited. The woman's neck wound was great. The woman zombie in the car scratching at the window worked very well.
I liked the actor who locked himself in the community center bathroom; not a good actor, but his enthusiasm showed and I actually cared about him. The mother (young woman lead) was competent enough to keep me watching her survival.
Another scene that meshed well was when the 2 dudes go to their home. I liked that, It was to the point, felt natural and moved the story along (Woman at his bro's survival house). Unlike most of the piece. I think this is important to remember next go around:
Is this dialogue/scene/action moving us along to the next element ?
-
At the end of the day; I found the script a complete mess; not the story arc, but the actual dialogue. Whether it be the 2 hapless heroes or the military guys saying ****! after being assigned their duty, I couldn't help but be impatient wiating for something to happen
I do look forward to DEADLANDS 2 and pray DJ learned something on this feature. I think he can only get better from here. I'd suggest the following on PART 2
Get an experienced DP
Have a sound mix using Foley, Ambient, Score, Dialogue and practical sound FX; layering the AUDIO will create a whole new expereince
Get the best actors you can find cause none of these guys/gals are able to pull it off
Good luck on the next one !!!!!
My .02 (Take it or leave it)
I am a peer, a wannabe filmmkaer, a fan and an average filmgoer. My opinions are nothing but subjective and not personal.
PS
If the fat dude points the pistol at homeboy one more time .... !