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watch Short film - The Machine

T

TimescapeEnt

Hi everyone,

Last year a few friends and I got together and shot this. So far it has received good reaction (and even a film festival award) so I decided to turn it into a webseries. We are currently in production of episode 2. If you like what you see, please feel free to donate: http://www.indiegogo.com/The-Machine-pt-2

Enjoy!!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhxHgp_UWa0
 
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I enjoyed it, but I'm probably biased. I like this sort of thing. It is, however, total exposition. I guess you will get to showing us in future episodes, but I have to admit I was let down by the ending. Total anti-climax.
 
Hi Murdock,

I am glad you liked it. And yes you are right, it was mostly an exposition piece. I had just finished shooting two full length features (which the owners just set on the shelf) so I set out to do a short just to get myself out there. Well, the script went from a simple, easy to shoot 10 page bench scene to 40 pages. However, having no budget, we couldnt shoot the second 20 pages of the story. That explains the anti climax.

To date, reaction has been pretty good, and thus 9 more episodes have been written. The donations are coming in faster than before (thankfully) and we will soon start shooting ep.2.

Additionally, 2 offshoot series are being developed.

Mike
 
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TimescapeEnt said:
Hi Murdock,

I am glad you liked it. And yes you are right, it was mostly an exposition piece. I had just finished shooting two full length features (which the owners just set on the shelf) so I set out to do a short just to get myself out there. Well, the script went from a simple, easy to shoot 10 page bench scene to 40 pages. However, having no budget, we couldnt shoot the second 20 pages of the story. That explains the anti climax.

To date, reaction has been pretty good, and thus 9 more episodes have been written. The donations are coming in faster than before (thankfully) and we will soon start shooting ep.2.

Additionally, 2 offshoot series are being developed.

Mike
Click to expand...

Awsome, good luck with it!!
 
Wow! For a short film that stayed in the same place for a considerable amount of time, you did a great job in keeping me hooked - I tend to find that kind of thing boring, especially when the only thing they're doing is talking. It has a sort of Donnie Darko feel to it, with the whole time-travel angle and teenage protagonist. The actors did a pretty great job too!

The audio quality seems to change a lot, and it's especially noticeable when the shots change from one character to the next - there's a couple of points where their voices cross over to the other character's shots, and it's especially noticeable at 13:40. Were you using a different mic placement, or a shotgun mic? Keeping a boom mic in a location off shot of both of those angles and keeping it stationary between shots would have solved the problem.

Gotta say though, that twist could be seen from a mile away. Looking forward to where you take the story though, nice job! :)

Edit:

Will we ever find out about the creation of the machine? Perhaps having the machine break and the protagonist is forced to create his own and replace it in the time loop (explaining how it could keep it's stability after an eternity of use)? Oh the possibilities!
 
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Hey,
Awesome film! I found the acting to be very good and the camera you used is good too. I think the bit on the bench went on a bit too long, but then again time travel is a confusing subject that probably needed that long to be explained. I have a few questions to ask about some of the effects in your film:

- How did you do the effect at the start where you zoom into the planet? (I want to do something similar for a series of short documentaries).

- What software did you use for the starting and end titles? (and, if possible, could you put any details on how the titles were made?)

All the best,
- Rob.
 
ThatGuyFromThatPlace said:
Wow! For a short film that stayed in the same place for a considerable amount of time, you did a great job in keeping me hooked - I tend to find that kind of thing boring, especially when the only thing they're doing is talking. It has a sort of Donnie Darko feel to it, with the whole time-travel angle and teenage protagonist. The actors did a pretty great job too!

The audio quality seems to change a lot, and it's especially noticeable when the shots change from one character to the next - there's a couple of points where their voices cross over to the other character's shots, and it's especially noticeable at 13:40. Were you using a different mic placement, or a shotgun mic? Keeping a boom mic in a location off shot of both of those angles and keeping it stationary between shots would have solved the problem.

Gotta say though, that twist could be seen from a mile away. Looking forward to where you take the story though, nice job! :)

Edit:

Will we ever find out about the creation of the machine? Perhaps having the machine break and the protagonist is forced to create his own and replace it in the time loop (explaining how it could keep it's stability after an eternity of use)? Oh the possibilities!
Click to expand...

Thank you!!! Yea the audio was kind of quirky because none of us really knew anything about recording sound... but it was a great learning experience. The 13:40 moment was bizarre... one of our H4Ns was recording at bad levels and the other wasnt recording at all, so during editing I was forced to use the audio that the camera recorded.

The other issue was that the lines were so complicated that poor Danny Morris (the Old Time Traveler) couldnt memorize them. Hell to this day I cant even recall them... and I wrote them!!!

As for the next and future episodes... well, I cant really go into it at this time, but I think everyone will like them.
 
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Rob_Page said:
Hey,
Awesome film! I found the acting to be very good and the camera you used is good too. I think the bit on the bench went on a bit too long, but then again time travel is a confusing subject that probably needed that long to be explained. I have a few questions to ask about some of the effects in your film:

- How did you do the effect at the start where you zoom into the planet? (I want to do something similar for a series of short documentaries).

- What software did you use for the starting and end titles? (and, if possible, could you put any details on how the titles were made?)

All the best,
- Rob.
Click to expand...

Thank you, glad you liked it.

The zoom to Earth segment - Hmm, well I knew I wanted that shot but couldnt do it myself, so I found a guy on YouTube who had done it already and asked him if he would do one for me, zooming down to a specific address. He was all about it... thankfully. The ones I tried to make were awful and goofy.

The opening and closing titles - Apart from the gears (stock footage), it was done completely in After Effects. I had some footage of the lead actor in front of a greenscreen, so I decided to do the open door intro kind of like Men in Black style. The text for "The Machine" was done in Vue and altered in AE. The planet sequence at the end were done by another acquaintance, just modified a little for each set of names. The travel through the stars at the end were done with a simple plug-in in AE. The desert at the very end was done in Vue and modified in AE.
 
brettzdamn said:
Hey Great job i really liked it! I was just wondering what kind of camera was used to film this?
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Well... lol... we are pretty much the poster children for Canon products: 5d, (2) 7d, T2i and (2) HV20... all used at various times, or in the instance of the bench scene we used 5 cameras simultaneously.

Hmm, I should contact Canon and see if they will sponsor us. :D
 
TimescapeEnt said:
Thank you!!! Yea the audio was kind of quirky because none of us really knew anything about recording sound... but it was a great learning experience. The 13:40 moment was bizarre... one of our H4Ns was recording at bad levels and the other wasnt recording at all, so during editing I was forced to use the audio that the camera recorded.

The other issue was that the lines were so complicated that poor Danny Morris (the Old Time Traveler) couldnt memorize them. Hell to this day I cant even recall them... and I wrote them!!!

As for the next and future episodes... well, I cant really go into it at this time, but I think everyone will like them.
Click to expand...

In my opinion, him struggling with reciting the lines felt more appropriate - he already stated that he wasn't a scientist. It also adds to the idea that he's just remembering what he told himself all those years ago - after one conversation, I doubt he'd be able to remember it all completely.
 
technical things, needs a disneyish "wonder-intrigue" background tune, something with bells and strings, and the guy's voice should still be loud from far away in that one shot.

also, you could have a sequence with the camera panning over chalkboards with equations and stacks of books and papers while the sailor gives his speech, maybe? Could be done for cheap.
 
Story aside, that was some of the best looking camerawork I've seen in a while.
You need to get off the safety and security of the tripod, but your lighting and color were excellent!

Audio... eh.
A lot of learning curve there, eh?

GL with the series!
 
TimescapeEnt said:
Well... lol... we are pretty much the poster children for Canon products: 5d, (2) 7d, T2i and (2) HV20... all used at various times, or in the instance of the bench scene we used 5 cameras simultaneously.

Hmm, I should contact Canon and see if they will sponsor us. :D
Click to expand...

Wow im surprised that the HV20 footage is able to match up with the DSLR footage!
 
Sidewalkbowling said:
technical things, needs a disneyish "wonder-intrigue" background tune, something with bells and strings, and the guy's voice should still be loud from far away in that one shot.

also, you could have a sequence with the camera panning over chalkboards with equations and stacks of books and papers while the sailor gives his speech, maybe? Could be done for cheap.
Click to expand...

I actually had the guy who did the music for A Team, Magnum PI and Quantum Leap lined up to do the music in a nice orchestrated manner, but due to personal issues he had to back out last minute. He managed to do the trailer music though. Thankfully I found a fantastic musician who could bring an amazing sound (that also had a young feel) to the table.

I like the idea of the chalk boards. Good call.

rayw said:
Story aside, that was some of the best looking camerawork I've seen in a while.
You need to get off the safety and security of the tripod, but your lighting and color were excellent!

Audio... eh.
A lot of learning curve there, eh?

GL with the series!
Click to expand...

Thank you, the camera people who helped were professional photographers wanting more experience with video, so I am more than glad they helped out. I didnt want a shaky cam and we didnt have a jib or dolly... but we have both for ep.2!!!

We also now have a Zoom H4N and an Azden lav mic, not fantastic equipment but I have learned how to use them properly. Now I just need to teach someone else.

brettzdamn said:
Wow im surprised that the HV20 footage is able to match up with the DSLR footage!
Click to expand...

I am sure if you looked hard you could spot the shots, but it is a great little camera. My only issue is its lack of depth of field.
 
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