I just thought I'd pop in and let you know that I've uploaded "Hello!?" - one of my short films - to iFilm.com. I made it about a year and a half ago and it's the only film I've made in English. Please go easy with the criticism if you think it's crap, because we only had a tiny handycam and a couple of nights to shoot it. There's no budget, no permits and no professional equipment involved at all. The story is pretty lighthearted and the running time is around 12 min.

Anyway, here's the link:

http://www.ifilm.com/ifil...il/2774438

I hope some of you might like it. Feel free to make comments about it on the iFilm website.
[Edited 9/26/06 12:39pm]

hello!

I will watch it tommorrow as Im getting online at home then

susannah said:

Hello sweetie! i'll check it out!

Will check it out this evening when I'm home!

This is totally getting a Lionel Richie song in my head

susannah said:

Hello beautiful one

Thank you for showing interest, everybody!

It's just too bad that not a single one of you has actually watched the movie yet.

.

Mach said:

Who?

retina said:

I will later... I'm at work right now but will have more time later

Natisse said:

Thanks. I guess that's the case with everybody here. It's easy to squeeze in a couple of minutes of silent orging, but not a 12 min movie that needs sound. It's understandable. I'm just a bit impatient.

retina said:

exactly I understand your impatience though I would be too... hang on a little longer

oh my gosh retina!! how exciting!
i love your eye so am looking forward to seeing you work in another medium

i am going to let my "slightly faster than dial up" connection
download this while i get ready
you are so wonderful for sharing!!

retina said:

don't try to mess with the way i see you

Did the middle part of the story really happen, or was it all in her head? Did she ever really leave the tube station? Was she sat there all along?

Justin1972UK said:

Thats what I thought, I think it was like a dreaming sequence and not real and that she was sat at the station all the time because the same guy is walking past at the end.

emm said:

Thank you for all your great comments that you gave me on Skype. You're very attentive. The perfect audience.

Mach said:

LleeLlee said:

Thanks you guys, now I had to add a spoiler alert!

As for your questions/speculation, I would have answered if it had been something that wasn't intentionally ambiguous.

Overall did you like the film? Or was it only confusing? Or just total crap?

Almost 150 views and not a single comment saying if the film was a hit or shite. That can't possibly be a good sign. I bet you're all keeping your mouths shut out of pure politeness.

retina said:

So it wasn't meant to be ambiguous? Okay, now it's confusing!

I thought the night-time exteriors of the house were well-lit. I know that it's hard to film darkness without the lighting looking artificial.

What would you class it as? Magic Realism???

Justin1972UK said:

Read it again...

What I said was that if it wasn't intentionally ambiguous, then I would have answered and explained what I meant. But now that it is intentionally ambiguous, an explanation is not needed.



And it's even harder to film darkness when there's barely any lighting at all! We only used "natural light" (street lights, porch lights, etc) for this shoot since we didn't have access to any real filmmaking equipment at all (except for a boom). It was a real challenge to just get something stuck on film, so I'm really glad that you even thought a few of the shots were well lit.



Now that depends on your interpretation of what you mentioned above, doesn't it?

awww... it's sweet.

And I really like the sound overall.

CarrieMpls said:

Sweet is good. It was meant to be sweet. Thank you!



Really? I'm going to tell that to the poor boom operator. She was really struggling sometimes, the poor thing. But she did a great job.

We had to dub some of the sound afterwards though since we couldn't have any car sounds or background dialogue on the soundtrack in the "empty" shots. I made the boom operator walk with the film showing on a mini screen and try to synch the footsteps in the shots so that I could record the sound of her feet. She was amazing.

retina said:

That's fabulous!
I like the 'story', though I'm not so sure I like the girl. Her voice bugged me. But I liked the ending. And the footage going during the end credits. lol.

CarrieMpls said:

That's her natural voice! I think it was perfect since it sounds kind of girlish and the character in some ways is a girl trapped inside a woman. But I can see that if it starts to get on your nerves, it will keep grating on them all through the movie.



Yay! Endings are important.



Cool! I actually put quite a bit of work into that. Even though the plot was over, I wanted to give a feeling of what her life was like next (i.e. not as alienated). We got stopped and nearly arrested at least five times while shooting it though, lol.

retina said:

I liked it Retina. I think though that when she opened her eyes and found that (spoiler) she might have paniced, she was very calm about the whole thing. But then I guess it was what she wanted. I wasn't too keen on the girl, something about her didn't appeal. But overall Its a nice film and watchable.

...
[Edited 9/26/06 15:13pm]

LleeLlee said:

It's what she thought she wanted, yes, but more important for her reaction was the fact that train platforms do sometimes become naturally empty. Therefore she wasn't sure what had happened until she had checked everywhere.



Interesting. I wonder if it was because of the actress, or the way she acted, or the way her character was written... Either way the film does kind of depend on how much you sympathize with her, so I can see how not liking her must have made it difficult to like the story. I'm glad you did anyway.



Thanks!

haven't we all wanted the world to leave us alone?
i am guessing none of us would really like that reality either
but it made for a whimsical story

i am suitably impressed mister...
when i think of the complexities of creating and bringing a story to life!

i love the shot overhead that follows her down the street and then pans up to the dark and quiet sky. it's interesting to get a glimpse into the technical side with stories like the synching of footsteps.

the scene with the books...