watch Short Film Preview

[brunobb1]

Hi, I'm a 16 student from Portugal with a big love for storytelling and cinema
Me and my girlfriend are making a short film about a man that wakes every night after listening to a voice calling his name while he's sleeping. He suspects that something is lurking under his bed and is trying to reach the surface but at the same time he questions his own sanity. His name is Tiago and he's really a depressed and isolated character.
We've recorded and edited the first 2 minutes of the film, here it is. There is no dialogue, only someone mentioning his name. When we finish the movie we might put on some subtitles.
This is a suspense/horror movie. We are focusing more on atmosphere (with ambient sounds and occasional nightmarish songs).
This was made with a Standard Definition Camera, two people (me and my girlfriend), some light and Sony Vegas. We don't have any budget for now.
After watching it, please leave your opinion and your score from 0 to 10.
Thank you, I hope you like our preview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOcjCR1dTLg

 

[gebo]

It's a start. Not great...not bad....
Has the look of a "home made movie".... because it's a home movie.... but try to avoid that.
It looks like it was lit by a lamp in the ceiling...again the "home made" look.
The room decoration is not interesting visually...too empty.
The pace of things is to slow... not enough things to keep the viewer interested.
And why the cliché scene where the actor (you) wash the face and look at the mirror?...

0 to 10 I give it a 5, because you're a beginner.
Keep it up!

 

[brunobb1]

I mentioned above that we didn't have any budget. We had no light equipment, no good camera,...we just made a fun horror flick with what he had.
I understand your points, but in our defense, well, we are 16 with a standard quality camera and a notebook. No one should expect it to be "good" by real movie standards.
The cliche scene was to show that the strange figure hunts him during the most normal moments of his life and I thought it was kind of effective for what we could afford, this is our first horror movie so of course we didn't make an original masterpiece, we just wanted to make a movie. We only had ourselves, a rather low quality camera, Sony Vegas and two lamps, that's it.
I also didn't think it moved to slow, haha. We were trying to take our time and build suspense, using rain, nightmarish and low key songs and creepy sounds (like the cry) to keep the viewer entertained. Well, a friend of mine also mentioned the things you've told me, but I personally think that you shouldn't come to this movie expecting something great, it's just a home made movie with crappy equipment and some inexperienced actors.
Untill now we have 12 positive reviews (with yours being average, 5 is positive right? xD) and 1 negative, not bad for a start!
Thanks for the opinion though, I'll be waiting for your response and some advises on how to improve

 

[Zensteve]

I personally think that you shouldn't come to this movie expecting something great, it's just a home made movie with crappy equipment and some inexperienced actors.

Noone's going to watch your films if you're going to pass it off as "Oh, it's just some shit that we threw together."

You don't need a massive budget for good lighting. It does need to be the best that you can arrange.

Your actors don't need to be professionals being paid immense salaries. They do need to be the best that you can find.

Your camera doesn't need to be a top-of-the-line model. There are so many other considerations to place ahead of this.

If the effort & planning is put into your project, it will show and shine.

in our defense, well, we are 16

Worst. Excuse. Ever.

How old do you intend to be, before becoming a filmmaker for real?

 

[rayw]

Noone's going to watch your films if you're going to pass it off as "Oh, it's just some shit that we threw together."

You don't need a massive budget for good lighting. It does need to be the best that you can arrange.

Your actors don't need to be professionals being paid immense salaries. They do need to be the best that you can find.

Your camera doesn't need to be a top-of-the-line model. There are so many other considerations to place ahead of this.

If the effort & planning is put into your project, it will show and shine.

LMAO!

+ 1 to "Oh, it's just some shit that we threw together."
+ 1 to It does need to be the best that you can arrange.
+ 1 to Your actors don't need to be professionals being paid immense salaries.
+ 1 to Your camera doesn't need to be a top-of-the-line model.
+ 10 to If the effort & planning is put into your project, it will show and shine.

Just a little givadam goes a long way.

 

[brunobb1]

1) I didn't say it was some shit thrown together, I only said we just wanted to make a simple video for fun.
2) We used the best we had at the moment.
3) I didn't say we needed professional actors, only that they weren't great
4) Yes, it might not be top-of-the-line model but I mentioned it because gebo said that it looked like a home-video (Which of course it did since that's the types of videos that this camera is suposed to record)
5) Well, that's true, but to be honst we spent 2 days shooting just these 2 minutes and we did it with care for the "film" and we are really happy with what we got.

About us being 16 years old: well, we are students, we don't work so we can't afford anything and because of that we needed to use the resources that we had in my father's house.
One thing I'm kind of disappointed with is the way that you guys treat other members here, I honstly thought that you were all about helping each other (like gebo) and not trying to humiliate someone like you did.
Well, I did this with my girlfriend and we did it with all our hearts, even if the video isn't anything special. Generally people liked it, if you don't like it that's fine, but at least give us good criticism, don't make a fool out of us.

Okay, maybe I was wrong. I thought this site was just for people who loved movies and tried to make their own but I see that you guys try to make the most close to professional as it can be (from other videos I've seen in this Forum). Well, sorry, we are just a couple who want to have fun and make a short video. We just want to enjoy ourselves, I didn't know you took this so seriously like you do. Maybe this is just a video for movie fans who appreciate someone trying to do the thing that they love or maybe just our friends and family, who knows. But still, we are proud with what we've made. It's our first video together and the first time we didn't try to make a simple sketch.

Could you at least tell us what to improve please?