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watch Sci-fi short starring Brian Blessed

Hi everyone,

My sci-fi / fantasy short 'Mr. Bojagi' is now online in full for a limited run.

The film is being hosted at www.dailymotion.com/mrbojagi

Mr. Bojagi stars Brian Blessed (Flash Gordon / Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves) and is a completely independent production. It was funded by me (director) and the DoP. We set out to do something that is very rarely done in the UK - make a short film with a commercial feel that simply seeks to entertain and bring a smile to your face.

There are also a series of short 'making of' features that include interviews with cast & crew.

If you have ten minutes we'd really appreciate if you can watch it and let us know what you think.

Many thanks,

Marco
Director / producer - Mr. Bojagi
 
Fantastic! I will give comments on what I thought could be better, but in all it doesn't matter because this one worked. I must ask, what was the budget because this wasn't small potatoes?

First, I can't believe how small the screen was on your website. If this is suppose to show off your film (which is the highlight) then show the damn thing off. It looks like to me you don't need to hide anything because the film looks professional and well done. So I would go back to your web designer and demand they fix this issue because it's just way to small compared to the rest of the page.

Titles looked good.

Up to 2:55 you have the actors so centered in the frame. You have this incredible set and this unique chair which could have been used as depth of field for a short while but she stands right in front of it. It's an important prop and she blocks it? Something that important should have more focus then you gave it in the beginning, foreshadow it (but be careful not to hit your audience over the head with it). That is why I suggested using it as depth for a short while. She seemed nervous/timid when she came in, she glanced at it and then steps in front of it. I would have made her a little nervous about it, even hide behind it because then it would show its power (and it is powerful). Also, Mr. Bojagi had a desk in front of him and you never used it for depth in the frame during this time. Instead he had a flat background with the top of a chair which blended in the back ground beside him. In fact, once this scene was over I forgotten he had a desk and they used it later as a prop. All I'm saying is you had items for depth up to 2:55 and ended up with a flat image. You don't need the depth the whole time during this time frame but present it first and then move the camera forward to a flatter shot.

I really like the shots, edits, sound and reactions of characters as he slid down the ladder.

Now, at 3:02, great depth of field and rack focus.

Excellent effects @ 4:00

When questioning "Granddaughter is involved with anyone?" she says no, but the graphic shows two girls only walking and talking. Now you don't need to show them kissing but I think a gentle rub of the shoulder would have been a bit more informative/intimate. Yes, yes, I got what you are saying but truly two ladies talking doesn't mean gay. Don't be afraid to show some kind of intimate relation. But again, I guess you did get the point across with dialogue but a small, little bit of action would have stamped it (IMO) and you didn't have to be so graphic.

I liked it when he pulled the lever and stood in front of the chair where she sat. The graphic which highlighted the back of his head was just great, almost angelic.

Also, I didn't mind the center framing of the characters when he was lecturing her @ 7:00 (ish). A. we have been in the space long enough at this moment and B. the lecture allowed it because it was like teacher talking to student/Boss speaking to employee, etc.. Also, perfect music as he was lecturing her.

Sound was great all around and music was great.

Lighting great.

Editing and effects great.

Acting fantastic.

Great continuity.

So all around, a great, professional looking film.

As for story, the beginning with the mystery of the location, Mr. Bojagi (behavior), and props did hook me. Not really the story/action at that time but everything else did. The story worked for me but the MTV generation kids unfortunately might get bored quickly which is a shame because the story does open like a rose. It's rare to get stories like this and hopefully in the future Hollywood will come back to them. I like the message/theme you had and your main character learned a lesson.

A great gem on this board and something everyone should strive for. Let me guess……..48 hour film festival? (Just kidding, jokin' with other posts I had.) ;)
 
Wow, that was impressively good.
+1 on wridingrlm's comments I think he's review just about covers it.
 
I loved it.

Great set, great acting, great lighting.

It's almost hard to believe this isn't a scene from a big budget feature.

Two minor things I felt missing:

1. Characters and set-ups (like how this sturck me) usually have some kind of parrot or
robot or a monkey, or something that punctuates things and adds to the strange atmosphere.

2. I would have liked to see some humor in the Mind Cap machine, like she says the grand daughter is a lounge singer, but we see she is really a stripper. I know if it's reading her mind, then that might not have been possible, but I feel some kind of laugh could have been there.

-Thanks-
 
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Thanks for these responses everyone

Thanks very much everybody, I'm grateful you took the time to watch Mr. Bojagi.

wridingrlm - can I particularly thank you for taking what must have been much more time to put together such clear and concise criticism (which I take on board with no hesitation). If I can add some comments back:

The Dailymotion website has a few different options for viewing. I won't break down the details of these, but I've learned since I posted here that there is one way of viewing that does indeed present the film in a very small window. There is a better option - and a FULL SCREEN option.

Here's a new direct link to the full film - http://tinyurl.com/mrbojagifullfilm - this link takes you to this larger viewer window where you can even select full screen.

If I can just focus on your DOF comments (and what they extend to include) in particular:

We had a very, very tight shoot. We had two days, and not particularly long days at that. About 8 hours shooting each. We also had very little money (the film cost single-digit thousands). So the set got finished late the night before and we had no prep time with the cameras / lights in the room. The upshot of this was that I had to accommodate this in the shooting - ie: I somehow had to get the film in the can, no matter what!

As I saw the set go up around me I was reminded of the work of Douglas Slocombe, the great British DoP that Spielberg used on Raiders of the Lost Ark. I suddenly felt that I'd found the sweet spot in respect to the tone of the film (as you say, old-school in story, so why not old-school in shooting?). So we shot an awful lot on an 18mm lens that had very, very deep focus.

Add this to the time we had to shoot in, I realised I wasn't going to be able to waste setup time experimenting with framings - so I chose to compose distinctive shots on that 18mm that capitalized on the balance of the long, wide set and the even, intersecting lines of the shelves at one end and the back wall.

Don't get me wrong - this is no 'defence', simply explanation. I'm naturally a huge fan of utilizing DoF - but only for narrative reasons. I watch Mr. Bojagi (too often!) and do wonder how I'd shoot it if I'd had the time that you'd think I did based on how much it looks like it cost (if that makes sense).

But as it stands we even ran out of time - don't get me started on how beautiful my title sequence was going to be!

I'd love to talk more about the film in this sort of intelligent detail - please comment more if anybody wants to chat.

I'll stop here though in case I'm becoming boring.

Please continue to watch Mr. Bojagi and do please forward the link on to your friends - even the MTV'ers! ;-
 
"We had two days, and not particularly long days at that. About 8 hours shooting each."

Extremely impressive short for a two day shoot.


"don't get me started on how beautiful my title sequence was going to be!"

Sure, but the title sequence you had was fine, I thought it was clever how you opened the title of the film which was on his door. It was better then any graphic you could have had (IMO).

Good luck on your future shoots.
 
I can't say enough. This was expertly done, with fantastic creativity and production value, and a stellar cast of actors. I loved the concept and execution.

Vundabar!

ps. Never be ashamed of not using shallow DoF...far too few indie directors go that route (especially if they have a choice). Most directors think that shallow DoF will increase the quality of their film...which by your example here, that clearly isn't the case. I love directors that utilize deep DoF, and utilize it well. Cheers.
 
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Mr. Bojagi now on iTunes

Hi again,

I just want to update this threat and announce that this short film Mr. Bojagi has now been released to download on iTunes.

It was released last week (in the UK, US release might have been a bit earlier) and just yesterday it broke into the iTunes Best-Sellers film chart.

This is incredible for us - because to get into this chart Mr. Bojagi has had to out-perform feature films (we beat Ridley Scott's Robin Hood among hundreds of others).

Yes, we were in at a lowly 190... but for a short to break into the main chart at all is something we're really stoked about. We're also in the top 100 in the 'comedy' category... again up against feature films.

If you haven't heard about this film please check out our website - www.mrbojagi.com.

We've also released a host of 'behind the scenes' videos on my youtube channel - http://www.youtube.com/user/MarcovanBelle - these give an insight into how we took a tiny budget and managed to cast a name actor and make an award-winning short.

Thanks as every for all and any support.

If you see the film I very much hope you enjoy it.

Best,
Marco
Director/producer - Mr. Bojagi
 
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