I say "no budget" based on the wiki definition of a "no budget film."
In reality, it cost me $300 to make Thieves. I have been promoting it in this thread for several months now. In there you will find posters, articles, interviews, reviews, trailers etc. if you are so inclined.
Just yesterday, Thieves was screened at the Mitten Movie Project in Royal Oak, MI and it won the audience vote by a landslide of 71%. Second place had 7 votes. We had 57. Today we finally put it online.
Great production nice lighting and the lead actor did a good job. I thought over all it looked real nice. I just had troubles following the story. Not exactly sure what it was about.
I noticed there was something about reprograming personality in there. On second watch I her that it is the sister of the little girl that is reprogramed in to the cyber girl.
I liked how you did your music and sound effects it was well done to give it that sci fi feel. I like the title animations they were well done. I see the girl is a cyber girl took me a little bit to figure out why her voice sounded weird tell I figured it was to make her sound computerized. I just keep thinking there should have been some action scenes in there like a chase sceen of course I realize this is low budget. For some reason I kept thinking of the movie Crank maybe because of the guys accent or maybe the music and title animations. I was thinking combine Crank with sci fi. Just what I thought about while watching your short film.
You did do a great job with the set design from what I could see in the film. The cinematography was well done too. Nice edit job also.
Just yesterday, Thieves was screened at the Mitten Movie Project in Royal Oak, MI and it won the audience vote by a landslide of 71%. Second place had 7 votes. We had 57. Today we finally put it online.
That is great. Good job. I used to live in Detroit Metro so I have been to Royal Oak it is nice. Glad you won the audience award. Nice to see it online. Nice to see that Michigan film makers are doing good projects. I may move back in the Detroit Metro sooner or later. I have worked as a Automotive Engineer in the past mostly in Dearborn.
Thank you so much for watching! This last render I made, I might have tipped it a BIT too far into darker territory. Everything I've watched it on looks fine. I haven't had any other complaints about it until now. If I get enough people mentioning it, I'll try to fix it
Thank you very much. We were fairly particular about the lighting and production design. We wanted it to look as genuine as possible with such little resources and cash.
I just had troubles following the story. Not exactly sure what it was about.
I noticed there was something about reprograming personality in there. On second watch I her that it is the sister of the little girl that is reprogramed in to the cyber girl.
Because it is a short film, I wanted it to have replay value, so to speak, so I only gave the viewers just enough so they had the tools to put the sum of its parts together on their own. One particular viewer completely stunned me and knew exactly what had happened upon his first viewing. I was expecting most to take two or three viewings, but this guy got it the first time through. He even figured out the "tool" Jason Arthur possesses and how exactly it plays into what you put in your spoiler text (thanks for respecting that, by the way).
This kind of story by default belongs to a particular kind of audience, and I felt that trying to appeal to anyone else besides its niche crowd would be disingenuous. In other words, if you're selling jalapenos, sell 'em hot. Don't make them less spicy. It's not like people who hate spicy foods are all of a sudden gonna say, "Hey, less spicy jalapenos! Been waitin my whole life for these!" I like movies that don't give me deliberate answers. I like to add things up myself.
I liked how you did your music and sound effects it was well done to give it that sci fi feel.
Spent a lot of time on the sonic experience. A very long time. Thanks for noticing. It was both the most technical and most fun part about the post-production.
Thank you...uh...I really had no idea what I was doing. I've never done any animation in my life. I knew what it had to look like and I just kept trying until it looked as close as my severe lack of experience would get me.
I see the girl is a cyber girl took me a little bit to figure out why her voice sounded weird tell I figured it was to make her sound computerized.
Jason Arthur mocks her with a few choice words that give away the fact that she is not exactly what she appears to be. Like I said, I gave the viewers just enough.
I just keep thinking there should have been some action scenes in there like a chase sceen of course I realize this is low budget.
Believe me. I WISH! This short is intended to show people what I can do with an extremely low budget, very little resources, and a very tight shooting schedule. We intend to show this to investors so that maybe we can get that chase scene in our next short! Man, I'd love to!
For some reason I kept thinking of the movie Crank maybe because of the guys accent or maybe the music and title animations. I was thinking combine Crank with sci fi. Just what I thought about while watching your short film.
I almost died editing this film. It turned me into a nervous, anxious, delirious wreck. An unhealthy amount of hours were spent staring at a 40" monitor cutting and cutting and cutting.
That is great. Good job. I used to live in Detroit Metro so I have been to Royal Oak it is nice. Glad you won the audience award. Nice to see it online. Nice to see that Michigan film makers are doing good projects. I may move back in the Detroit Metro sooner or later. I have worked as a Automotive Engineer in the past mostly in Dearborn.
It's very tough out here. Very very tough. Work is scarce at best. Morality is at an all time low. But there are some gems like the Mitten Movie Project. Easily the very best thing to be a part of as a Michigan film maker. Connie, the curator, has put together an incredible program for boosting inspiration and encouragement for the no budget film makers and giving them an excellent place to show off their films. She is an absolute blessing to this state and the amateurs who are just trying to get the word out.
Thank you so much for watching and for all of your compliments and inquiries. I'm glad you took the time! =D
I thought it was very much a stage play though. It was mostly a lot of talk, which is OK, but not really harnesing the power of the narative film medium. This could easily be set on a live stage as a comunity theater piece, proably be awsome as such!
I think you tried for too much plot for the short form, though I did mostly follow it, so maybe Im mistaken.
You could have approached this same story from a more visual direction. In short there was a lot of telling, and very little showing.
In the final analysis I enjoyed it, I thought there was an interesting story. And the look was interesting. So thanks for sharing with me.
I thought it was very much a stage play though. It was mostly a lot of talk, which is OK, but not really harnesing the power of the narative film medium. This could easily be set on a live stage as a comunity theater piece, proably be awsome as such!
I think you tried for too much plot for the short form, though I did mostly follow it, so maybe Im mistaken.
You could have approached this same story from a more visual direction. In short there was a lot of telling, and very little showing.
In the final analysis I enjoyed it, I thought there was an interesting story. And the look was interesting. So thanks for sharing with me.
Several people/or fans from facebook have mentioned feeling the need to see it at least twice. Many have watched it multiple times before they said it "clicked" for them. Of course, anyone could say this is all hearsay, so, take it from our critics...
Mikel O.D. from Motor City Blog and MPAD had this to say: "So engrossing you’ll immediately want to watch it again."
I noticed I didn't particularly answer this question. Could one get an idea how many repeat viewings are there through Youtube stats? Without actually stepping aside and really signing in to figure that out right now, I imagine so, if one were so inclined, you could really get some fairly specific stats from that. I've looked around quite a bit in there before and you can find out some rather particular details. So, I would have to say, yes, I think you can find that information.
EDIT: I just took the time to check the analytics for the short and it looks like it hasn't been up long enough to have soaked up any telling stats. As a matter of fact, it's saying it only has 4 views which is clearly false.
CyberpunkReview, One of the biggest and most popular cyberpunk review sites in the world just reviewed Thieves and gave it an 8 / 10, stating, "Thieves is set to garner even bigger accolades (like ours), and possibly become the next Blade Runner, or at least The Matrix."
And no, I have no relationship to the reviewers on the site. This kind of praise is certainly flattering, but it feels a little like hyperbole, I'll even admit that. The point is, possibly the biggest cyberpunk review site in the world liked it. So, I'm very happy about that.
I say "no budget" based on the wiki definition of a "no budget film."
In reality, it cost me $300 to make Thieves. I have been promoting it in this thread for several months now. In there you will find posters, articles, interviews, reviews, trailers etc. if you are so inclined.
Just yesterday, Thieves was screened at the Mitten Movie Project in Royal Oak, MI and it won the audience vote by a landslide of 71%. Second place had 7 votes. We had 57. Today we finally put it online.
as a londoner born and bred, that fake accent he has is annoying, i mean its not that hard to pronounce asshole as arseholes in the london dialect, this is the same problem as green street when a yank tried to be a londoner, doesnt work, never will do...
other than that i liked it
just get a better actor next time who actually can do better accents..
Since its literally the first and only time he's ever acted in his life, I'm quite happy with his performance. This character is someone who has been living in Detroit for a very long time and I didn't want his accent to be 100% pure. There would be a natural degradation of his dialect from being immersed in the culture and society. In fact, I directed him with this and didn't want him to polish the accent.
Otherwise, thank you SO much for watching and I'm glad you liked it!
The 9 track Thieves score is now available for pre-order for $6 and will be released Tuesday August 28th. Yes, the entire album and all bonus content is yours for $6. If you find it in your heart to be extra generous, you actually have the option to PAY MORE for the album when you buy it through PayPal. Please do, if you can afford it.
When you pre-order the album you get an automatic download of the track "This Is Mine" to whet your appetite.
What do you get with your purchase?
- 9 tracks total
- 3 bonus tracks (part of the 9 total)
- Full length HD trailer for Thieves featuring the track "Business & Pleasure" by Jeff Goergen
- Print-ready premier poster in three sizes (jpg)
- Promotional flyer (jpg)
- Front and back CD cover (and variant, jpgs)
- Disc label (jpg)
- A little thank you letter from me!
