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watch The Arcane Man

H

HatchiMatchi

Hi I'm new to the forum.
I've been watching a lot of the short films on here and they're all really cool
so I thought maybe I should give it a shot myself to see what everyone would think.
This is a 4 and half minute experimental/horror short I went out and did which
I was also considering expanding to a longer more linear/plot sensible short.

It's about a color blind man who can see color when he paints with blood.
Not the best idea, I know, but it offered me a lot of visual ideas to play around with.

Anyway, hope some one enjoy's it.

http://www.personal.psu.edu/jpm302/arcaneman.mov
 
:welcome:

Well it's definately got the experimental feel to it. Kind of reminded me of a few of the films we watched in my Art of Film course last year... it was an interesting piece to view. I wasn't thrilled with the audio, but the music at the end was nice. Nice work.
 
Will Vincent said:
:welcome:

Well it's definately got the experimental feel to it. Kind of reminded me of a few of the films we watched in my Art of Film course last year... it was an interesting piece to view. I wasn't thrilled with the audio, but the music at the end was nice. Nice work.
Click to expand...

I should've mentioned to listen to it at high volume.
Imovie can only mix you so high.
Thanks though.
 
Oh.. I had it pretty well cranked. Probably was supposed to sound that way, but it sounded like someone just breathing into an overmodulated mic or something. ;)
 
Will Vincent said:
Oh.. I had it pretty well cranked. Probably was supposed to sound that way, but it sounded like someone just breathing into an overmodulated mic or something. ;)
Click to expand...

I captured the sound live and direct from an onboard mic on an old sony dvcam that way the reverb provides itself.
I thought it sounded exactly like the talking you might hear in your head on an acid trip and to me that's always been an unsettling thing to hear.

Did you just think it sounded stupid or was it something else about it?
I really wanna thank you for responding too, I'm guessing by the views this has had so far
the lack of votes and replies probably means no one thought too much of it.
 
I think the sound was cool. Everything sounded fine to me except the interrogation scene. It sounded like you used the onboard mic and it was kinda echoy.

I liked the short because it was very moody. I think you managed to tell a story without much narrative, which is pretty cool. I liked a lot of your shots....like the wide shot of the man dragging the garbage bag with the trees in the foreground. Pretty cool stuff.

I really liked it.
 
Sound was fine for me.

I gotta say... you have an extremely interesting visual style, but the story fell very flat.

I think I was expecting something more chorent, especially as you gave a pretty precise concept in the original post... seeing colours when painting in blood.

That didn't come through at all in the film. I watched it a few times to see what I missed, maybe. That jump is just not there. The closest I could come to was, perhaps, a killer that likes to mix paints with victims' blood. I can't find that relationship between painting in blood, and regaining the ability to see in colour.

To jumble it up even more, the panting/huffing noise in some scenes is done by some mysterious third party that never gets addressed. It was definitely creepy sounding and predatory... but it has no resolution.

Story aside, it was extremely well done. Great shots, angles, colour shifts, music, audio... you definitely have something good going in the prod department. Experimental, arty, whatever... you gave it a unique look and sound that worked. All of that was done with a great eye.

more linear/plot sensible short.
Click to expand...

Well, they need not always be the same. (That is, being both linear & plot-sensible)

Flesh out the story, and you can show it however you like.

You + Story will go places, I am sure. :cool:
 
Thanks for the critique ZenSteve.
I've been reading around on the forum for some time and I think it's great how you always have something useful to say.

I figured I'd hit a snag with some people over the coherency of the story (or lack there of)
I made this short a few years ago and it was orginally 11 minutes long.
11 minutes of nonsense and pretentiousness I'd say.

I re cut it recently and added some things to make it watchable.
Now I can say I'm at least a little satisfied with it since it manages to express a little something.
Thanks again for the criticism.
 
CommanderGoat said:
I think the sound was cool. Everything sounded fine to me except the interrogation scene. It sounded like you used the onboard mic and it was kinda echoy.

I liked the short because it was very moody. I think you managed to tell a story without much narrative, which is pretty cool. I liked a lot of your shots....like the wide shot of the man dragging the garbage bag with the trees in the foreground. Pretty cool stuff.

I really liked it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for enjoying it that much! It's a real boost of confidence.
 
I have to say that i watched it without reading the first post (something I'm starting to do more frequently as it gives me an uninfluenced first viewing), and I'd have to agree with Zensteve. I didn't get the painting in blood thing at all. I think there were a couple of shots that could have rectified this: 1) a shot of the man collected the blood of his victim in bottles or baggies or something, and 2) a shot of said blood being dumped from said bottles or baggies into a paint can.

Over all you have given the short a very distinct visual feel (I loved the slow push in while he painted and the shifting colors).

Good job.

Poke
 
Excellent shooting technique, great experimental style editing and I have to agree with the previous postings, it just needs for the story to be fleshed out.

I liked the breathing sounds too, I think you could have even made it more intense with a few more layers of similar audio or accidental sounds.

Keep working it at, it's these experimental efforts that keep pushing the envelope to make film an ever evolving medium.
 
I liked it. I thought the camerawork was very impressive -- experimental, student-film-y, sure, but it fit the story -- although I wasn't sure about the use of brief dissolves. Seems like either cuts or lengthier dissolves might have suited the pace / theme better. Painting with blood? Not so sure about that either, although the story is vague enough that the entire film could be interpreted a couple different ways -- which I like. If it's going to be filmed as experimental, it should be digested as experimental as well.

Good job. Welcome to the board!
 
I agree with most everything everone said. I have one problem, if I'm wrong than sorry for this comment but the scene with the guys head being cut off is real fooatge of a person being killed in war time. I find it sick that you would use someones real death for a fictional story, thats what special effects are for.


Toxzy
 
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I don't mind raw death when its used in a documentary (like faces of death) or if it was used for a story about that paticular man in the clip. I just think that if it's a fictional short film you could easily create that effect without haveing to propagate a real human life being so brutely taken.


Toxzy
 
You are entitled to your opinions, but with no hostility intended;
As far as any juxtapostions involved I don't have to justify anything to you or anyone.
The film is what it is.
 
No hard feelings here, that's what this forum and art is all about, expression and feedback. It's important as an artist to defend any work you create.


Toxzy
 
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Hey man, this was great. Its avant garde at its best. I think to follow in the traditions of people like Maya Deren or Kenneth Anger you have to make your film and let people judge it. Let them take from it what they are going to and don't make any apologies or concessions. I loved your film. The visuals were stunning, your use of color and the way you changed the color around was really good. I didn't feel like you were doing it just to do it, I thought it had a purpose and meaning...what that meaning is I don't know. I'm not saying your film is Meshes in the Afternoon or Fireworks, but I think it works as an avant garde piece...bravo!

RyGuy

PS
By the way, I'm new around here...I'm part of the Creative Name Filmgroup gang...
 
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