'Advice' by Thorny Devil Productions
(London, UK/Los Angeles, CA, USA) First Edit
Thorny Devil Productions are a London and L.A.-based production company, formed in 2010. Our 50 Kisses entry was Directed by James Card, from Ross Aitken's script; DoP Daniel D Moses; Executive Producer Jennifer Taylor Lawrence; Original Music by Bart Warshaw. The film was shot on a Nikon DSLR.
Read Advice HERE
First cut: Producers notes for the filmmakers
- Drop line ‘I fell in the Ocean’ by the girl, her performance here is letting the film down
- Of all the bars line over mixed / recorded
- Try finding a film filter with scratches and make the sound crackly so it looks more like a crappy old print form the forties.
- End feels redundant – this is about him facing fear, whether she likes him or not is secondary. Consider ending at 2:04 just before he says hi, then cut to black with punchy music
Write a comment
Stephen Cooper (Tuesday, 06 November 2012)
Great film. Love the style, the transistions, the music. Think you really captured the script well. Few little sound issues on the black and white scene that could be sharpened and the end tracking shot is a bit wobbly, but other than that i think its a fantastic effort. Well done.
Shaun Bond (Tuesday, 06 November 2012 17:10)
Enjoyed this one, especially that first slap! I noticed the same things as above, but they are far from film-destroying issues.
Michael W. Penny (Tuesday, 06 November 2012 17:51)
Agree with the others here. Liked the tone and comedy you added. Really interesting and well made film!
That last dolly-out shot is a little distracting (used a stabilizer filter in post to compensate for an originally rough pull back, yes?). I'd try lowering the filter to see if you can find a balance between the original shot you didn't like, and removing the wobble of the steadied shot. It was unfortunately just too noticeable.
Another alternative COULD be to try doing an artificial zoom-in on the dolly shot. Most of the wobble seems most noticeable to me on the edges of frame. I wonder if you kept the filter rendered as is, but then zoomed in 10% to (just enough so you don't lose resolution on the image). Would it be enough to eliminate the most noticeable elements of the wobble? Framing and head space could then be an issue for you, I don't know, you'll have to give it a try, see what you like best.
Good luck on the second cut. Really liked this so far!
Claire Yeowart (Thursday, 08 November 2012 20:11)
Really like this, fantastic job overall! Though I agree with the producer notes to cut after they say "hi."
Claire Smith (Thursday, 08 November 2012 22:51)
Fantastic job, agree with the idea of putting static over the cassablanca shot, disagree with the producer note about the actress though, this seems like poor writing rather than poor performance and I think she carries it off well. Given that it's all in one shot, I'm also unsure how cutting it out smoothly would be achieved. Great little film though, glad I stumbled across it.
T. J. Green (Thursday, 08 November 2012 23:11)
Having read the script, you definitely made the best of something that didn't jump off the page. I'd cut the dolly shot at the end, but apart from that it works very well. Great level of professionalism (costume and set were very well thought out). The performances from your actors all stand out as being high in standard and I love the change from heightened performances in the dream sequences to natural in the more everyday ones. The two leads (shy boy and girl) were particularly believable. Congratulations on a job well done to all. (I also had particular fun trying to spot the homages to different films in each scene-very funny!)
Andy Robinson (Friday, 09 November 2012 23:39)
A really enjoyable film - nicely shot and performed. I wonder if ADR-ing the dialogue on the fantasy sections (Bond, Casablanca), so the voices feel different to the natural sections would enhance the film?
Nathan Gower (Sunday, 11 November 2012 18:49)
Big fan of this version. I wonder if the face-slap shots could be edited a little faster (less time between them) for comedic effect. Also, I agree that the "feel into the ocean" line is delivered awkwardly (and I don't think it is very good anyway), so cutting it would help. Great work.
Michael Bierman (Monday, 12 November 2012 09:42)
Nicely done! Fun and has a great fast, snappy feel. Conveys a lot in a very short time. The opening scene is lovely. Cut the ocean line. Agree some "dust"/scratches in the B&W segment would be great. Nice transitions throughout. The third similar slap at 1:42-1:44 can be cut. It slows down the progression. End right after she says "Hi" and smiles. A snap to black would match the snappy feel. Nicely acted, and the pop-in friend/"expert" is really great. Enjoyed it very much! This could easily be one of the best!
Monica Kyle (Monday, 12 November 2012)
If possible cut the ocean line, it's badly written and having seen all versions of the script, it doesn't read well in any of the films rather than being the fault of this actor. Great film though, one of the best I've seen in the comp! Well produced and acted.
Zoe (Thursday, 29 November 2012 01:45)
Really liked this version. The guy giving the advice was great - liked the way the actor played that a lot. Very likeable. Main guy was good too.
Agree on cutting out some of the lines but overall well produced and edited.
Naila Marker (Tuesday, 09 July 2013 20:21)
Great little film, have to say I'm surprised by how harsh the producer notes were, having seen the others of this title, this is clearly the best by all accounts, production value, acting, editing etc. Agree that the line about the ocean should be cut but to say that it was the actresses performance 'letting the side down' is redundant and simply wrong-this is just bad writing, as can be seen in all of the films. Slaps and the black and white scene in particular were wonderful.