watch Take Care: A 5 Minute Short using the Monomyth Structure

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=http://youtu.be/rGFu252wLFw

In case I used the youtube tag improperly, here is a link to our film Take Care http://youtu.be/rGFu252wLFw

We made this film as part of a short film competition called Campus Moviefestival at our school. The rules were 6 days to shoot and edit a 5 minute film. This year we wanted to use Joseph Campbell's Monomyth as a framework for our story. Due to the time constraints some of the steps are compressed or missing.

I would appreciate any comments/critiques you have about this film. Our team is pretty excited about film making and hope to make several more movies in the future.

How did you find using the Monomyth frame?

Your story seemed to flow very well, though the stakes were extremely low. Not a lot to cheer for, if you know what I mean.

What did you end up skipping?

Zensteve said:

How did you find using the Monomyth frame?

Your story seemed to flow very well, though the stakes were extremely low. Not a lot to cheer for, if you know what I mean.

What did you end up skipping?

Click to expand...

I really like using the monomyth framework. For a five minute short, it really helped me distill the central argument and allowed me to better portray the character. Despite the formulaic structure, I felt like it really afforded me a lot of room to explore.

It is funny that you mention low stakes for the protagonist. I agree. This shortcoming stems from not having the meeting with the goddess. As an audience, I feel that the meeting with the goddess is where we really get a sense of what the stakes are. The character can either stay where he is or risk all that he has achieved so far by continuing on the journey. In our movie, if the character met another woman or found pseudo-happiness without his ex but still felt an obligation to honor her memory, we could have reinforced his internal struggle. By not having this stage or fully fleshing it out, there is nothing to really cement what the character stands to risk/gain by dealing with her ashes.

Thanks for your comments. I appreciate your taking the time to watch our movie.

Well done!

I could not spot all the steps of the monomyth cycle though! , but the story was coherent and effective anyway.

Some sequences stand out IMHO, in particular the "separation scene", where the girlfriend is totally convincing. The "backyard cleaning" scene, is also well edited, well paced, with an effective sprinkling of flashbacks that help connect with the emotional state of the "hero".

I actually felt that the actress (Andrea Kuklenyik) steals the show in terms of the amplitude of her performance and, in a way, gives the impression that the "hero" is a bit inexpressive/numb in comparison, but that might have been intentional and wasn't distracting at all.

In terms of the photography, I think you did a good job: it's to the point, without unnecessary angles and there's quite a range of locations too that add "value" and depth to the story. It's a personal thing, but I just felt that the framing was a little too close on the lead actor and would have appreciated some wider framings at times to create a bit more rhythm and breathing space, especially after the accident and before his "rebound".
That being said it worked well and I liked the ECUs on the objects during the garden cleaning scene.

Best of luck!