watch Never Open The Door - teaser

[Zensteve]

'sup, porkchops o/

Wouldn't mind some feedback & thoughts on this first teaser-trailer for Never Open The Door, a feature film that I'm involved with.

http://vimeo.com/21208706

The story revolves around misdirection and paranoia; at any rate, what does this teaser tell you?

Woooo!

 

[mad_hatter]

Feels to me like a possibly more surreal version of "The Strangers".

Intresting though. Is there any reason for the black and white? It's difficult to tell from a short trailer like this, but i'm unsure as to whether the B+W suits the mood.

 

[Papertwinproductions]

Good to have you back around, Zen.

Anyway, down to business.

I think it could be cut alot finer, the table scene although it's necessity, could allow a few seconds of leighway, as i felt after the very first KNOCK, and the short moment of suspense, that i was waiting for it to explode perhaps too long, for the tempo to rip, and to continue that way until the ending title. However, it seemed to dip, the score partnered this extremely well, it was on cue, but still i felt the flow was perculiar, the terror would subside, an example being the scene in the hallway, where the group are gathered and Tess arrives shaken, personally, i would cut this entirely.

The music is fantastic, and i think the formula works extremely well, it just seems too excessive, and appears to lose its "shock/scare factor" when our moment of utter terror is disturbed with the repetition of panic to terror, rather than happening with a BURST, so we as viewers crap our pants, followed by that classic moment of silence...then BANG. We're left terrified, roll the titles and tell us when we can cram into the cinemas to soil ourselves once more.

 

[AvidDave]

Below is a perfect example of bullshit, I want to see his film first before I can even get the the end of his review. Looks cool, looks like you know what your doing. Money and experinace knocks on the head what the guy below has criticised. Anyone that works in the industry can look past this. COOL TRAILER


I think it could be cut alot finer, the table scene although it's necessity, could allow a few seconds of leighway, as i felt after the very first KNOCK, and the short moment of suspense, that i was waiting for it to explode perhaps too long, for the tempo to rip, and to continue that way until the ending title. However, it seemed to dip, the score partnered this extremely well, it was on cue, but still i felt the flow was perculiar, the terror would subside, an example being the scene in the hallway, where the group are gathered and Tess arrives shaken, personally, i would cut this entirely.

The music is fantastic, and i think the formula works extremely well, it just seems too excessive, and appears to lose its "shock/scare factor" when our moment of utter terror is disturbed with the repetition of panic to terror, rather than happening with a BURST, so we as viewers crap our pants, followed by that classic moment of silence...then BANG. We're left terrified, roll the titles and tell us when we can cram into the cinemas to soil ourselves once more.

 

[Cracker Funk]

Below is a perfect example of bullshit, I want to see his film first before I can even get the the end of his review. Looks cool, looks like you know what your doing. Money and experinace knocks on the head what the guy below has criticised. Anyone that works in the industry can look past this. COOL TRAILER


I think it could be cut alot finer, the table scene although it's necessity, could allow a few seconds of leighway, as i felt after the very first KNOCK, and the short moment of suspense, that i was waiting for it to explode perhaps too long, for the tempo to rip, and to continue that way until the ending title. However, it seemed to dip, the score partnered this extremely well, it was on cue, but still i felt the flow was perculiar, the terror would subside, an example being the scene in the hallway, where the group are gathered and Tess arrives shaken, personally, i would cut this entirely.

The music is fantastic, and i think the formula works extremely well, it just seems too excessive, and appears to lose its "shock/scare factor" when our moment of utter terror is disturbed with the repetition of panic to terror, rather than happening with a BURST, so we as viewers crap our pants, followed by that classic moment of silence...then BANG. We're left terrified, roll the titles and tell us when we can cram into the cinemas to soil ourselves once more.

AvidDave, you really should spend a little more time on this forum before you start blindly tossing out stupid insults. Papertwin is well-known around here, and he is very active in showing us the student films he is involved in (and they're pretty damn good). Plus, I thought his critique was not just well thought-out, but he offered some really good advice, and that's exactly what Zensteve was asking for.

Oh Zen One, it's good to see ya! This movie looks really cool. I agree with a lot of what Daniel mentioned. Particularly, I would make most of those cuts a little faster, and really keep it tightly-paced, moving rapidly forward. I especially think the pacing is slow once we get to all the creepy/scary stuff. The opening, with the dinner party, I actually really like that the way it is, as far as how it's paced, and what we see, etc.

The music works for me in the latter half of the trailer. In the first half of the trailer, during the dinner scene, instead of it being creepy, I found it distracting. I actually think this section would work wonderfully, with no music at all.

This looks fantastic, aesthetically-speaking. I like the B/W. Cheers!

 

[Papertwinproductions]

That's no problem at all, Avid. A friend has just said exactly the same thing upon first viewing the teaser.

"I think it works great as it is, i wouldn't change it"

Horror never was my strong point.

Zen, how long was PP on this?

 

[Zensteve]

surreal version of "The Strangers".

Haven't heard of that flick. Looked it up. Will watch it.

any reason for the black and white?

Two main reasons, actually:

1) Aesthetics: A grandson of a Twilight Zone director is one of the producers. It's a bit of an homage, I 'spose. That was the reason given, anyway.

2) Functionality: Shooting long hours (and during the day) for a film-situation that takes place at night. Windows were all heavily gelled with ND film (including skylights) by an amazing guy , which eliminated the need for much CC in post for day-for-night.

where the group are gathered and Tess arrives shaken, personally, i would cut this entirely.

I'm not the editor on this prod, but I am very interested in opinions on it. It's a hard call, really, having seen the rest of the footage. The entire film's tempo is very slow, building up to a rapid climax.

If anyone has any suggestions for trailers for slow-moving cryptic films to watch, for ideas, lemme know.

The timing for the actual cut has been very difficult. The trailer even more so, 'cos one can't spill the beans.

Looks cool, looks like you know what your doing

Heh, thanks for the vote of confidence. This was a very experimental project, though.

I would make most of those cuts a little faster, and really keep it tightly-paced, moving rapidly forward. I especially think the pacing is slow once we get to all the creepy/scary stuff.

Once again, hard to reconcile. But also, very important 'cos we do want all the teasers & trailers to accurately reflect the product itself.

how long was PP on this?

Still in basic rough-cut, atm. If it all looks fabulous as is, it was our DP.