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watch Disconnected < Film Release

F

FCRabbath

Hey guys, here is the release of the new film DISCONNECTED. Which will be online temporarily for festival reasons. The neat thing about this project is we really didn't think it would work out. Just because of how much it required and how little there was to work with. Flexibility & speed was key in this film, and sometimes just seeing something randomly why driving and filming it too. It was a very interesting shoot and go experience which i hope to release more info on soon. The total, money wise, is actually 35$ dollars. This was almost all gas money. Anyways we do hope you enjoy! Comments and questions are always welcome.

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Film TRT: 30 minutes.

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

Also, the main channel if you'd like to see the other films:
http://www.youtube.com/fcrabbath

- FC

I hope to release a behind the scenes commentary next month!
 
Wow! What a powerhouse opening sequence! (And whole short really.)

So many of the shots and editing and pace and coloring and location use are so big league killer that my minor quibbles are silly and insignificant by comparison (so dismiss them at will please), but… comments:

*The sound is a little harsh to me here and there, but nothing drastic.

*In a few places it’s a bit dark, yet it also works.

*At times the (I presume) handheld nature draws an unwanted intrusive attention to the camera. This is kind of confounding actually, there are really great shots, then oddly shaky ones. It’s a strange mix to me. (But in all fairness, when the hand held style works, it works really well.)

*Mikey’s Mom- I didn’t care for her, seemed like a crucial story element kind of over acted.

*The Girl’s Mom- Great job in the closing scene from her, she really sold it.

Overall: I think your $35 short blows away a film like The Happening, it's pretty frickin' awesome filmmaking.


-Thanks-
 
Your success, in creating such a dynamic short, on a nothing budget, is rather inspiring to me. This short works on many levels. I truly hope that yours and my film get into at least one common festival, so that I can personally high-five you, for making "Disconnected". The gumption, and resource-pulling, required to pull this off are simply astounding. You are currently my favorite low-budget indie filmmaker.

Did you have a jib? Some of those shots are superb.

I'm not going to critique the entire thing, because it's done, and festival-worthy. And, oh man, is it ever festival-worthy. There are, however, two things I'd like to point out, that you can change before sending off submissions.

As Buddy pointed out, some of the dialogue is muddy, sometimes. Most of it is crystal clear. But every now and then, it gets drowned out by musical effects, and I can't hear what somebody is saying (and I listened to this with near-professional-level audio monitors).

The big twist doesn't work for me. Everything works for me, until that point. I understand the theme you were going for, but on a plausibility level, the ending doesn't work. Some of your audience will be pissed off, and some of your audience will laugh, at a moment that isn't supposed to be funny.

In my opinion, the movie should end at EXACTLY the 26:25 mark. By that point, your theme has already been made clear to the audience, and we don't need you to dumb it down to us, with that epilogue in the car. You wanna deliver a message? Punch the audience in the gut, and end the movie with it's most emotionally striking imagery.

That's just my two cents. I think if you just cut off a tiny little bit off the end, the movie becomes not just more plausible, but carries incredibly more of an emotional impact.

Thanks for sharing this. I hope we can high-five someday.
 
Very good work FCRabbath, I thought the sound, editing, camera and visual effects were for the most part at a level far beyond your budget. If I may ask, how did you create this on $35? I see a lot of actors, extras, locations and equipment which could cost a lot of money!

I believe you had some great shots within the film, although the shakiness of a few shots did distract me a little from the narrative. The murky visual style, with your dark lighting for some scenes, actually worked very nicely given the film's subject matter.

The sound was mostly very good and clear, but some of the dialogue seemed a little too abrasive. In the scene with the drunk guy and Mikey in particular, the drunk's shouting comes off a little distorted. This is just personal taste and nitpickery however - for the majority it's very solid.

A great job overall here man, i've shared it on my Facebook! The best of luck to you with this film and every other!
 
Hey thanks for watching guys! We did not have a jib or steadicam. All we did was spread the tripod legs and balance the legs then correct it on after effects. We will have a commentary on it soon too!
 
I liked it. Kinda saw the ending coming. What was with the random shooting?? Very nice, I liked it a lot.
 
Last edited:
Killer.

About half way through i though
Wouldn't it be funny if it cut to the president and his advisers watching a screen and just going 'Yep. We probably didn't need to practise this.'

Anyhow I kind of disagree with Cracker in that i liked the ending, but i would consider making the final radio announcement less whimsical. That had a comedy slant that the rest of the film didn't have.

There may have been one or two other niggles i had, but they're not worth mentioning. So i'll repeat: killer.
 
Cool. Will check this out.

Also, for people wondering how this only cost 35 dollars to make. You have to look at it in proper context. It cost "Him" 35 dollars to make, that doesn't necessarily mean that it really costs 35 dollars to make something like this.

A Mark II cost money.
A computer to edit on.
After effects and editing programs cost money.

If he already owned a Mark II then great. Still cost him 3 grand at one point to purchase the camera. If his parents bought it for him, then it cost them 3 grand to buy. If its a friends then it cost that friend 3 grand and so on. Same goes with the computer and programs, etc.

Like I said, under certain circumstances, it cost him 35 dollars to make. But don't expect to normally make a film from start to finish on just 35 dollars.
 
TheOpusFuller said:
Cool. Will check this out.

Also, for people wondering how this only cost 35 dollars to make. You have to look at it in proper context. It cost "Him" 35 dollars to make, that doesn't necessarily mean that it really costs 35 dollars to make something like this.

A Mark II cost money.
A computer to edit on.
After effects and editing programs cost money.

If he already owned a Mark II then great. Still cost him 3 grand at one point to purchase the camera. If his parents bought it for him, then it cost them 3 grand to buy. If its a friends then it cost that friend 3 grand and so on. Same goes with the computer and programs, etc.

Like I said, under certain circumstances, it cost him 35 dollars to make. But don't expect to normally make a film from start to finish on just 35 dollars.
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I think you're missing the point. I mean one can argue that the clothes on the actors was also paid for by them hence would become part of the budget. When in fact it would've been purchased REGARDLESS of this project or not. So there was no actual spending for the film. In factA we won most our equipment through festivals with gift cards to b&H and amazon with competitions. It's all about using resources and trading off equipment for favors. Outside of the 35, nothing was spent on this film EXTRA as the equipment was there regardless.

I do hope you enjoy the project.
 
TheOpusFuller said:
Cool. Will check this out.

Also, for people wondering how this only cost 35 dollars to make. You have to look at it in proper context. It cost "Him" 35 dollars to make, that doesn't necessarily mean that it really costs 35 dollars to make something like this.

A Mark II cost money.
A computer to edit on.
After effects and editing programs cost money.

If he already owned a Mark II then great. Still cost him 3 grand at one point to purchase the camera. If his parents bought it for him, then it cost them 3 grand to buy. If its a friends then it cost that friend 3 grand and so on. Same goes with the computer and programs, etc.

Like I said, under certain circumstances, it cost him 35 dollars to make. But don't expect to normally make a film from start to finish on just 35 dollars.
Click to expand...

Call me crazy, but I don't think production studios purchase new equipment every time they make a film. That's not production cost -- that's the cost of starting a business.
 
I kind of agree with TheOpusFuller, in that saying it's made for 35 bucks is a little misleading.

If someone was starting from scratch and had nothing more than the script that wouldn't get them very far. Sure if you already own the camera it doesn't meed to be factored into the budget. And if people are willing to let you use locations for free, then that's money saved. And if people are willing to appear in the film for nothing, then, again, that's money that you aren't spending.

But all these things have a value (along with things like costumes and props and cars) so that even if you don't have to pay to use them in your film, that is because you have contacts, friend, volunteers...etc who are all willing to help you out.

I think the more appropriate term would be zero budget, where you can produce a high quality film which looks to have a large budget, but simply relying on what you already have, what you can borrow, which friends can help you out and generally on the kindness of strangers.
 
$35 for the film budget makes perfect sense and is not at all misleading, no debate there tbh.

Great film Rabbath! I have been following your films for some time now and this is the best by far, very well paced with 95% convincing acting and stunning filler shots! Did you use overlays for the sky/smoke etc in some of those wide shots?
 
FCRabbath, this was a very impressive and inspiring effort. I have never seen $35 bucks go so far before, never, heck not even in a 3rd world country where a buck can go a mile or two. To echo C-Funk's admiration I would like to someday meet you and shake your hand, pick your brain and learn a thing or two.

So did I catch that right, you want us to share the link to your site? Yeah total newb asking, if that's the case I will do it in a heart beat. I am sure my friends would love to watch your work.

Thanks for sharing this movie with us. It does have it's problems here and there but if my first efforts could come anywhere close to your level of work I would be most pleased. Great job, FCRabbath, great job.
 
FCRabbath said:
You guys are too nice! THank you! We really do need more viewers. We actually are losing views... :(
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Don't sweat it. This ain't a youtube video. This is a festival video, and that's where it needs to be seen. Just follow through with the submissions -- it'll be seen by plenty of people (and, hopefully, some of the people you want to see it -- those guys with the big-bucks).
 
Accidentally commented on it twice! But still, i guess comments help it get views, so well... :P

I agree though that this deserves a bigger screen, so i wouldn't worry if it's not getting too many hits. Not to mention the fact that people on YouTube tend to have a very short attention span and half an hour seems quite long. Focus on the festivals, whilst everyone else trys to get the hits up on the Tube!
 
NickClapper,

I'm glad you saw and understood my point at least.

I was speaking to the people who are in awe wondering how its possible to make a film for 35 dollars.

Like I said, under the certain circumstances it cost him 35 dollars. But for the people getting into film, don't go expecting to make a film for 35 dollars.

Like rab said, he won most of the equipment, knew people for the rest, had connections, etc.

That's not always going to be the case.

Overall, my point was, it cost HIM 35 to make. Doesn't mean it will cost another person. Its not really that impressive of a mystery. The equipment was already owned and the rest was from connections and networking. There you have it. That's why it cost him 35 bucks to make.

Aside from that. Nice job Rab. I enjoyed it for the most part.
 
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