2012 MidKnightly Entries and Eventually Judging...

knightly · Oct 22, 2012

The Room on the Left - Justinisfilming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18KsTT0N4Ow

knightly · Oct 26, 2012

Very Special Agents - Modern Day Myth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldvADyOwB9A

knightly · Oct 30, 2012

The Lake of Death - Ferguson Films
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NbbyNrWGNo

knightly · Oct 31, 2012

Case Study- Dreadylocks
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vc3jr4OZuNw

knightly · Nov 1, 2012

- Cracker Funk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Vs03fNt_BA

knightly · Nov 1, 2012

Loss - Pepper Jack
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6M5YKH4Wrs

knightly · Nov 3, 2012

Justinisfilming - The Room on the Left Total: 18.5

Ernest Worthing said:
A good solo effort. Quite creepy and not showing the actual 'monster' helped tremendously.
Foley was a bit lacking. I understand that you wanted to go for a quite lull before scaring everyone with the louder sound but that can be done without having dead spaces in sound. It detracts attention when we hear the door open but not the footsteps going down the stairs.

Picture
K: 3 EW: 4
Avg: 3.5

Knightly said:
Some jumping of the line stuck out to me (cut to the door knob could have been flopped to cover it up a bit), but the video was processed well for being shot with such a long DoF. The VO up front could have been slightly more specific about not going into the door rather than "not going there" which has a different meaning than just location.

Audio
K: 4 EW: 4.5
Avg: 4.25

Knightly said:
The Audio was actually put together with sound effects, processed dialog and music. Very nice, well timed audio cues and the breathing added to the creepiness making it feel more claustrophobic.

Creepiness
K: 4 EW: 5
Avg 4.5

Knightly said:
I didn't really get a sense of space from the basement (which is generally expected of lower budget filmmaking), but you told quite a bit with the closer shots. I thought the timing was really good on the scares. Enough build time and a good audio hit and cut to something unknown. There was definitely something down there that should have been left alone

Story
K: 6 EW: 6.5
Avg: 6.25

Knightly said:
A little more explanation in the backstory of something happening downstairs may have leant more to the main character's motivation for going downstairs. Perfect premise for something of this length, just missing a little bit of detail in the story telling.

MDM - Very Special Agents Total: 15.25 - 1 = 14.25

Ernest Worthing said:
I like the scope and story you wanted to establish but the acting here was what held the film back for me. I could not suspend my belief when I could see the acting and over acting.

-1 for being an older piece not created directly for this competition
Picture
K: 4 EW: 3.5
Avg: 3.75

Knightly said:
Mature lighting in the scenes. The camera work is shakier than I like, but presented information well. The Flashback cuts were quite hard and didn't lend to keeping me in the story. Perhaps overlapping with the VO could have bridged that gap a bit for me. Obviously heavily compressed, I'm not marking down for that at all.

Audio
K: 3 EW: 4
Avg: 3.5

Knightly said:
Fun 90's straight to VHS vibe to it with the hard audio cuts and the heavily synthesized music. Dialog was missing the lows and some was covered up by the same frequencies in the music at times.

Creepiness
K: 3 EW: 1
Avg: 2

Knightly said:
I don't get the feeling that creepy was the intention of this production. There were some cool moments though. Really liked the coffin scene. Nice atmosphere in the lighting throughout.

Story
K: 7 EW: 5
Avg: 6

Knightly said:
These was a solid premise in there. I'd rather have been presented with the premise rather than having it explained to an audience proxy. I also get the feeling that this is a bigger story that needed longer than 10 minutes to develop. It's never actually stated that Lena is the agent they're talking about. I wanted our proxy to come to that realization and see her reaction to the age/experience/reality of the lady next to her.

Ferguson Films - Lake of Death Total: 13

Ernest Worthing said:
This could have been a very scary and creepy film and I appreciate what you were trying to do here. The audio quality was what kept on distracting me and kept me from getting into the film.

Picture
K: 3 EW: 2
Avg: 2.5

Knightly said:
Not bad for lighting at night (one shot with the light in camera which stands out). Shots were a bit wide for my tastes, didn't lend themselves to me connecting with any of the characters. Camera work otherwise was just about right for the story.

Audio
K: 2 EW: 1
Avg: 1.5

Knightly said:
Dialog was a bit low and thin, especially considering the volume of the chainsaw. The music was creepy throughout, although it didn't seem to punch the key moments.

Creepiness
K: 3 EW: 3
Avg: 3

Knightly said:
The first few shots had me ready for a great deal of creepiness, but the pacing of the first few kills didn't ramp me into the swing of it. A little more time with the characters and letting me know their fears could have helped here. You almost threw too many kills into the 6.5 minutes. I'd rather you have spent 10 minutes just on the camping group. That would have allowed you to really turn the tension up before unleashing the gruesome.

Story
K: 7 EW: 5
Avg: 6

Knightly said:
Borrowed theme, but effective. Again, I'd rather you had had me part of the circle of friends as an audience member before starting to off them. I'd have been more invested… it almost felt like 2 stories with the same villain.

Dreadylocks - Case Study Total: 20.5

Ernest Worthing said:
Make up, props and prosthetics really enhanced this film. The vibe could've been over the top but somehow you managed to keep it from getting there. Kudos for that. Laugh at the end, downright creepy. Chills were felt.

Picture
K: 4 EW: 4
Avg: 4

Knightly said:
The lighting could have used a little bit of finesse, but You really went for it and it worked! The contrast between the real world and the hallucinations was fantastically achieved. Image quality was good and I could feel the sense of place and confinement within her psychosis due to the variety of the shots and the wider establishing shot in the middle.

Audio
K: 4 EW: 4
Avg: 4

Knightly said:
Nothing stood out as "wrong" to me… the dialog (laughter) was slightly hollow, but the levels throughout were good. Well put together.

Creepiness
K: 4 EW: 5
Avg: 4.5

Knightly said:
The setup here was quite good and you actually had me worried that she would drive away. Her malaise was well established early on and the fear of what could happen paid off at the end… I'd have liked to have seen more blood on that last sequence though.

Story
K: 9 EW: 7
Avg: 8

Knightly said:
This was well put together using what I like to call the "Volleyball" method (mostly I apply it to comedy, but works with other forms of storytelling as well). Bump, Set, Spike! Problem established, tension mounted, ending paid off in spades

Crackerfunk - Bloody Mary Total: 18.5 - 1 = 17.5
-1 point for being late

Ernest Worthing said:
I prefer Bloody Maria's. Same thing but tequila instead of vodka. But you would know that.
This was hilarious, unexpected and well timed. As an 'avid drinker,' it hit the sweet spot

Picture
K: 3 EW: 4
Avg: 3.5

Knightly said:
Perfect shot for this, but lighting was a bit "hot". Angle seemed slightly off as well, probably due to trying to avoid getting the camera in the mirror.

Audio
K: 4 EW: 4
Avg: 4

Knightly said:
All that was needed was in there… nothing too loud or soft. A bit of echo due to the environment (and on camera mic?).

Creepiness
K: 4 EW: 1
Avg: 2.5

Knightly said:
Had me waiting for the big scare at the end… creepiness was good.

Story
K: 9 EW: 8
Avg: 8.5

Knightly said:
Pay off was better than I anticipated Well played sir! Short and sweet too - with just enough pepper and tabasco.

Pepper Jack - Loss Total: 15.5 - 1 = 14.5
-1 point for being late

Ernest Worthing said:
I think this was a *valiant attempt at doing a lot with little; something I'm a big fan of. However, it was not timed well. The slow takes and editing made it lag. It needed to be paced much tighter to keep our attention focused.

Picture
K: 3 EW: 3
Avg: 3

Knightly said:
Lighting was a bit harsh, but it was lit - often not done. Good variety of shots, some a bit long for my tastes, but not by much.

Audio
K: 3 EW: 3
Avg: 3

Knightly said:
Much of the sound fx was missing the bottom end. The knocking also seemed a touch to rapid, not letting me grasp onto them as individual knocks… the missing lows on them also had them sounding a little less woody than I'd have expected. Music was wonderfully creepy throughout, but it felt a bit out of place until he was making the sandwich.

Creepiness
K: 4 EW: 2
Avg: 3

Knightly said:
Well done with the knocking and the symbolism, although it started creepy and may have been stronger if we came from a place of sorrow and worked into the creepiness. Emotional journeys from one place to another are often stronger than staying the course throughout a story. Most of this was just the music, so would have been a case of having the music start somewhere else emotionally, then move into what you had going on. At the door, a splash of light on the background would have helped your actor stand out in the doorway as a silhouette as well… or at least a rimlight on his shoulders from inside the room.

Story
K: 9 EW: 4
Avg: 6.5

Knightly said:
Fully developed story beginning to end. Good use of symbolism. I liked the picture going missing and ending up elsewhere. Some of it was a touch cliche, but we have to use shortcuts to communicate to our audience, especially in this short a form.

knightly · Nov 3, 2012

And the winners are...

1. Dreadylocks: 20.5
2. Justinisfilming: 18.5
3. Crackerfunk: 17.5
4. Pepper Jack: 14.5
5. MDM: 14.25
6. Ferguson Films: 13

Great showing this year all

well done!

Ferguson Films · Nov 3, 2012

Thanks for the comments, filmed in a frantic panic!!
our main drawback was that sound (and running out of time during the camp scene),
A few notes regarding the sound,

1) we managed to get our hands on a two stroke generator to run the lighting as we were filming in the middle of no-where, I could hear it during editing and tried to loose it by turning everything down,

2) during the second half, I had the microphone facing the camper van which was running and all I could hear was the camper over the actors, so I called Colin back to over dub his lines in the scene....

3) during recording Colin's lines to make the film sound better.... I forgot to plug the Mic into the camera and there for recorded it with the on board mic... which wasnt great.

But still lots of fun and I hope you guys all enjoyed it!

Dreadylocks · Nov 3, 2012

Wow thanks guys! I'm really stoked that you liked it.
The make-up artist is a co-worker at the spa where I work and we've been trying to come up with something to work on together for ages, this was the perfect opportunity. I'll pass the compliments along to her, I agree the make-up/sfx sold the film.

Thanks for holding the contest again this year

pepper jack · Nov 3, 2012

Thanks for the critique, will really help me out to improve! Awesome competition and thanks for holding it. Congrats to everyone.

knightly · Nov 4, 2012

I'm happy to give folks a reason to make something... I often find myself just needing a little nudge (or time) to get going. Last year, I saw lots of members not making films at this time, so I setup the challenge to let them produce something for no reason other than to produce something. I also hope that the detailed feedback gives y'all somethings to consider for your next projects. I feel there's too much glossy and/or non-constructive feedback elsewhere that doesn't help us get better, so I started giving folks the same kind of feedback my crew gives our own productions... good, bad, and indifferent.

Can't wait to see what happens next year

Thanks for participating to all of you - and thank you Ernest for throwing down with me this year on the judging!

pepper jack · Nov 4, 2012

Yeah the constructive feedback is what I'm really looking for because even when I ask family and friends to give me their honest opinion all they really ever say is it's good I liked it and what not. Which is nice to hear and all but I really liked your critique and I plan to take it into account during my next project.

justinisfilming · Nov 4, 2012

I knew Dready would take home the bacon! Good job!

And I agree with the review. I was gonna record the footsteps of me going downstairs with creaks and stuff but I never got the chance to do it for some reason. And thanks for bringing the 180 line to my attention. I knew something was a little iffy there. And yes, I should've at least got a wide shot of the basement itself. A lot of people was put off by not knowing really where to look or what I'm looking at.

Thanks for the feedback you guys! Looking forward to next year!

Cracker Funk · Nov 6, 2012

Good times! Dready, the win is very deserved. Knightly and Ernest, thanks for the comments. I think all of your critiques were very far.

Ernest Worthing · Nov 6, 2012

Congrats everyone. I was actually feeling a little weird judging and awarding points. I mean who am I to judge the work of others? Hope I was helpful and not pompous.

Btw, see if you can enter your videos here and win $500.
http://www.indietalk.com/showthread.php?t=44149

I'm not affiliated with the competition, just saw the thread on IT.

knightly · Nov 6, 2012

I used to feel that way EW, but then I did a horror competition here a few years ago as a judge... and found that my detailed reviews were welcomed as I gave constructive criticism with recommendations along with from my personal experience. When I started this one last year, I asked if the filmmakers would mind if I showed the critiques publicly to help others learn along with us. It was met well, so I just decided to do it flat out this year. I never try to make my judging judgmental - it seems to go over well... and it's not something that you can get from showing your work to friends and family for the most part.

pepper jack · Nov 6, 2012

knightly said:
and it's not something that you can get from showing your work to friends and family for the most part.

Best thing about it because even when I asked for critique on here in the screening room I didn't get much feedback.

knightly · Nov 6, 2012

real Feedback takes chunks of contiguous time to do... most of us don't have it. With these competitions, The judges have committed the time to watch the films critically (as have the audiences generally - so there's another possible source of feedback). I generally can't watch most of the stuff posted in the screening rooms... simply not enough time, much as I'd love to. These competitions (specifically this one) is geared toward improvement (as is most of what I do/pursue/endorse in my endeavors).