Hi guys, thought I'd give you a little preview of my new short Soul Mate.

It's based on my short Guardian Angel which can be found here:

http://www.simplyscripts.com/scripts/GuardianAngel2.pdf

It's a very heavily compressed version, I've taken it down from about 17 Gigabytes to about 7 Megabytes so you can imagine the effect that has had. Hopefully it's still passable though. It plays a little dark on my laptop but perfectly on my MAC and Television. I'd appreciate the general consensus on how it looks on all your monitors.

Anyway, the film can be found here:

http://www.scartissue.moonfruit.com/

Just select Soul Mate in the menu.

I look forward to your thoughts.

Rick.

The night vision was a little dark, but hey, it's night vision.  I also think it helps to add to it, since the story is told from the point of view of a creep with a handi-cam.

Cheers Mike.

I'll brighten it up. Colour correction is the most annoying thing about making films IMO. On a calibrated monitor things look perfect but as soon as you watch it on anything else, it's all over the shop.

That was good. I think for the type of story it is, the cinematography works. But were in not told from that perspective I would say definitely try and make it look more professional and smooth. But considering the story, it works.

The voice actor was good. Most of the time it feels like they're reading it from the script, but whoever it was sounded really good.

-Landon

Normally I don't care for camera-through-a-camera films, but I think this worked fairly well.

It's hard to review because the story is very simple and there actually very few elements to it, so there's not much to nitpick, but I liked it, even if I would like to see it in better quality.

Cheers for the reviews.

Quoted Text Chris Harris That was good. I think for the type of story it is, the cinematography works. But were in not told from that perspective I would say definitely try and make it look more professional and smooth. But considering the story, it works.

Quoted Text Death Monkey:Normally I don't care for camera-through-a-camera films, but I think this worked fairly well.

I wanted to get acros a sense of intimacy and being there to try to heighten the emotion in the scene. In such a short space of time there is no opportunity to build character so I was experimenting with using the camera in a way that brought the audience into the scene.

Quoted Text Chris-Harris: The voice actor was good. Most of the time it feels like they're reading it from the script, but whoever it was sounded really good.

That's nice to know. It was me. :P

Quoted Text Death Monkey: It's hard to review because the story is very simple and there actually very few elements to it, so there's not much to nitpick, but I liked it, even if I would like to see it in better quality.

If I could ask, at what point did you realise it wasn't her boyfriend filming her? Is this from the very start or did the twist come across?

I'm thinking of replacing the opening line "you don't know that I do this" with something more intimate.

Quoted Text Death Monkey: but I liked it, even if I would like to see it in better quality.

Yeah, I think the quality and the size take away a lot of the emotion. The final product is a lot stronger IMO. After I've sent it in I'll try and sort out a better version.

Cheers, Rick.

It was quite a good piece. True it was short and not much of a story but what was there worked.  Chris was correct in saying the voice actor (in this case you) sounded good and if script writing or movie making doesn't work out...you can always get a job doing voice overs or something  ;)

Oh and as for the night vision part.  I could see it clearly, it didn't look too dark to me at all.

Quoted Text It was quite a good piece. True it was short and not much of a story but what was there worked.

Cheers.

Quoted Text Chris was correct in saying the voice actor (in this case you) sounded good and if script writing or movie making doesn't work out...you can always get a job doing voice overs or something

I'm a trained actor. That was how I got into making films. I decided that there were so few parts actually worth playing that I'd write my own. Then I realised it was hard to direct and perform so I've concentrated on directing. I love acting though. Directing is such an involved process and incredibly rewarding when it pays off, but acting, particularly theatre acting, is so much fun.  A real rush.

Quoted Text Oh and as for the night vision part.  I could see it clearly, it didn't look too dark to me at all.

I brightened it up a tad after Mike's comments.

Cheers, Rick.

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films Cheers for the reviews. I wanted to get acros a sense of intimacy and being there to try to heighten the emotion in the scene. In such a short space of time there is no opportunity to build character so I was experimenting with using the camera in a way that brought the audience into the scene. That's nice to know. It was me. :P If I could ask, at what point did you realise it wasn't her boyfriend filming her? Is this from the very start or did the twist come across? I'm thinking of replacing the opening line "you don't know that I do this" with something more intimate. Yeah, I think the quality and the size take away a lot of the emotion. The final product is a lot stronger IMO. After I've sent it in I'll try and sort out a better version. Cheers, Rick.

Actually it wasn't something he said, that gave it away for me, it was when he reached out to touch her face, as if he had never touched it before. It was as if he was scared to touch her, or to wake her. That made the alarm bells go off for me and I thought: "stalker!"

I don't think there's anything wrong with "You don't know that I do this". It seems very innocent in the context, as if the boyfriend plans to show her someday.

Looking forward to seeing it in better quality. Good job.

Quoted Text Actually it wasn't something he said, that gave it away for me, it was when he reached out to touch her face, as if he had never touched it before. It was as if he was scared to touch her, or to wake her. That made the alarm bells go off for me and I thought: "stalker!"

Yeah. We had a debate about this ourselves. I was trying to get that balance between the feeling that he loved her so much he wanted to touch her but didn't want to wake her and setting up the ending.

Obviously it's too overtly threatening. I thought that might be the case.

Do you think it would be better without the hand so that the end is more of a surprise or isn't it important?

Decadencefilms,
had trouble with the sound. Maybe it was my computer. Couldn't hear the dialogue. Seemed muffled. Anyhow, I watched the showreel and thought that had some good stuff in it. Some very cinematic scenes. Good DP stuff. Also, good to see some SSers names as "in production". Dogglebe and Tonkatuff, specifically. Interested to see what is produced. Is Glen's Sneaky Snatcher being produced? Good choice, if so. Thanks for sharing with us.

Joseph

Quoted from Scar Tissue Films Yeah. We had a debate about this ourselves. I was trying to get that balance between the feeling that he loved her so much he wanted to touch her but didn't want to wake her and setting up the ending. Obviously it's too overtly threatening. I thought that might be the case. Do you think it would be better without the hand so that the end is more of a surprise or isn't it important?

Now that I think about it, yeah I probably think it would work better without the hand. The way he retracts the hand right now expresses a greater fear than "I might wake her", it's more like "I might get caught". One might say it's a minor detail but it did give it away for me.

And I don't think you need it. If you did use a hand, then it would work better if he actually caressed her gently, and she then smiled, purred in her sleep, thinking it was her boyfriend. That would keep the audience in the dark for longer, I think.

Cheers.

I wouldn't have thought of him actually touching her, that might be quite effective, although it would be very risky.


I think I'll do a reshoot on that scene and try it both ways. Cheers for your input.

SPOILERS!

My only problem with this film (and I may have said this when I reviewed the script) was that the stalker wasn't there long enough before the husband showed up.  By being there longer, it shows him being a greater risk, being he's very comfortable shooting her.

The movie video on your site was very good.  Very visual and high quality.



Phil