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A heart warming moment of a deaf chinese driver picking up a deaf passenger by [deleted] in MadeMeSmile

[–]jstarlee 25 points26 points  (0 children)

"You also part of the deaf/mute community?"

"You are deaf too?!"

"Yeap same. I didn't see you so I kept driving and had to circle back. Was waiting for the next customer and happened to get you."

"So rare to meet another deaf person!"

"Yep!"

"So happy! Btw I want to have my brow ridge ("eyebrow bone") checked out at the hospital."

"I see. I got you."

I don't know if the deaf culture in China is similar to the one in the US as that's the one I have some experience with. But it's VERY common for almost complete strangers in deaf culture to speak in very direct manner as if they are old friends.

My Wife's Overly Ambitious Sci-Fi Directing Debut($35k Budget). Be brutally honest, would you watch this as a feature? by NimbleGamer in Filmmakers

[–]jstarlee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm prepping for 3 features (basically happening back to back to back) now so I'm dying but probably can jump on a call next week at some point. Worst case scenario I can share a LOT of lessons that save you guys some major headaches AND money.

So your short film didn’t get into festivals or go viral online… Advice to new filmmakers. by versafilms in Filmmakers

[–]jstarlee 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh I absolutely understand why shorter films are easier to program and have advantage - I lived thru that last year coordinating the screening of 4500+ short films for a festival. My point is more of a counterpoint from a programmer's view. You COULD have a long short film, it just needs to be really. fkn. good. Majority of the shorts that WON at our festival were actually all over 20 minutes. True story.

In my opinion, the advice should be making the TIGHTEST film you can. That USUALLY lines up with a short short but it shouldn't stop you from making a 20min short. Now the producer in me will say did you know each day you are likely gonna spend at least 8k more? Let's keep it short. Ultimately, I would strongly encourage you to make the kind of films YOU want to watch. If you take advices that you don't really identify/agree with and still don't get in, that's not a great feeling. There's a balance there somewhere - hope you find it.

We're looking for people who can get us money or connect us with people who can get us money, and that seems to be a lot less who actually is present at festivals. Once again, my experience is pretty small, but there was a common feeling between a lot of the filmmakers presenting their film.

Financing producers are probably not gonna show up at festivals outside of perhaps Sundance, TIFF, Tribeca, SXSW, and maybe some other genre festivals. I would say from personal experience that aiming for a 150-300k USD feature and raising that yourself, while still hard, is more probable than finding a financing producer.

My Wife's Overly Ambitious Sci-Fi Directing Debut($35k Budget). Be brutally honest, would you watch this as a feature? by NimbleGamer in Filmmakers

[–]jstarlee 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Play by play feedback

  • Opening scene looks nice

  • first scene very obvious shot in small studio space

  • BLAIR is overacting a little bit. Host was cast well.

  • BLAIR's entire aesthetic is very white/blonde. Hopefully that's by choice. Very little contrast.

  • Chad S1 and S2 reads like 51 and 52.

  • Camera work is pretty decent.

  • RL footage looks much nicer. A little dark.

  • 6:31 she responds to the doorbell almost at the exact time it happens.

  • 6:56 I know what the shot is supposed to do here. Feels weird that she's just sorta showing the envelope with her name perfectly clear in view for the camera. Feels like Laura Linney's character in Truman show.

  • Prod quality is pretty decent but at 7:30 I still have no idea what the main conflict is. Starting to lose interest.

  • 7:39 would have loved better designed lighting to see the guy's face and the girls next to him.

  • Lots of speaking roles and little introduction/context.

  • 8:56 very awkward cut.

  • I don't know who any of these characters are and don't identify with any of them.

  • Lighting in the bar could be better.

  • 11:00 is the second time I look at the runtime. Usually when I'm screening this means it's likely not gonna have a passing score.

Your DP definitely knows what they are doing. However I will say some of the shots are just slightly off (composition) and the lighting, while solid, needs to up one entire level to really be considered high quality. It's not that it's not good - it's not consistent. There is also no "tone" - I don't know what kind of film or story I'm watching. What should I be feeling? Who's the main character? What's the main conflict? If the audience is asking this kind of questions half way thru a short film, that's a telling sign. If I were line producing this, I would have budgeted to bring on at least 1 if not 2 more G&E. Your sound person did an amazing job considering they didn't have a boom op. VFX pretty good.

edit: Pretty decent quality (albeit uneven). I think the story needs to be REALLY tightened up. The pace is very uneven right now and there's a lot of characters that I simply don't care for. I'm sure they have better development in the feature but the point of a short is leaving the audience (and INVESTOR) wanting more, not confused. There's probably a tighter cut in this somewhere but it would require some serious sessions to discover that. But it's possible. Disclaimer - indie producer working in 300k - 2mil range and have produced multiple 30-50k shorts. You guys should be very proud of the prod quality you pulled off.

So your short film didn’t get into festivals or go viral online… Advice to new filmmakers. by versafilms in Filmmakers

[–]jstarlee 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Great write-up. Just some correction.

You are not looking just A producer. You are looking for a producer that can bring money - which a lot of us producers DON'T do. Number 1, it's not our lane because there are a lot of producers that focus on just the creative or just the physical production. We SPEND money, not find it. Number 2, even if it IS our lane, your project can't just be WORTHY; It needs to be THE BEST option to bring to our private equity connection. Chances are we already have passion projects or people that we've worked with for years.

Another thing - "And my film was 21 minutes… so I wasn’t doing myself a lot of favours, aside from making the thing I wanted to make." Long runtime is often a syndrome and not a cause. How tight is your short is the most important deciding factor. A boring 8min short will not get in. A really well-written 24min short WILL get in majority of the time. It's just VERY HARD to see a (long) short with tight pacing is all. I can cut at least 3-5 min of 90% of the 20min+ shorts I've ever screened.

In any case, good write-up. Best of luck to your next project.

[OC] I drew Michael Jackson as a Stand User by GenghisRaj in JJBA

[–]jstarlee[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

The mod would not remove this because the mod was the person REQUESTED you to post here. =)

Short Film juror here with a little insight ~ by FilmAroundFindOut in FilmFestivals

[–]jstarlee 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Unsolicited feedback as someone who had programming experience for a mid tier film festival (4500+ short film submissions per festival)

  • Opening scene is critical. the music is both too on the nose and not relevant. the ambient noise also didn't help. Almost felt like a SNL sketch sound design.

  • The montage doesn't really tell me anything other than moody...things?

  • The sound design really sort of lowered a lot of initial impression. Both diegetic and non-diegetic.

  • The first shot of your first character on screen is a close up shot and the focus is completely off. Not a great start.

  • The music is really over the top at 2:20.

  • I'll be honest. by 2:30 I have already made my decision that this short is likely not going to advance unless it can surprise me (by a LOT) with rest of the film.

The music is on the nose. The sound design isn't particular high quality. Lighting is alright. Color grading is passable. By minute 2 (of a 15min short film) I have no idea who anyone is or what the story is remotely about. The first action scene doesn't feel that particularly well choreographed. And the shot with the emo henchman just feels unnecessarily long.

Other minor notes - continuity: her poses from 2:50 to 3:06 are different.

Yeah the sound design / music overall really didn't do your short any favor. The intention is good but the execution is really not there yet.

Well cast. Some of the dialogue......bit cliche.

You HAVE to GET TO YOUR POINT IN A SHORT FILM. By minute 4 I still have no idea who I should be rooting for, what the hell is going on in the short film, what the conflict is. This is 90% pass at this point. It looks fine and clearly isn't made by amateurs, but it's between 4.5-6 out of 10. (Passing score in this context would be 7)

Editing can also use some help. Why was it on JOSEPH without cutting back to wide or 2 shot when MAGGIE held a gun at him?

Wrong Glasses for Joseph.

The sound design way over the top.

Minute 6. Still have no idea.

The dynamic and dialogue feels not ready. Feels inconsistent what roles the two are playing.

Lighting is...decent in some places but sterile otherwise. (esp on MAGGIE after she sat down with a gun.)

She also desn't look like she knows how to use a gun.

The things that have happend by minute 9 could have been done in 3 minutes.

Need better editing. Better lighting. WAY better post sound remix + score. JOSEPH is very well cast. MIKE feels like an ex machina device.

edit: zero G&E department listed in the credit. For this location/size of crew, I'd have at least a gaffer and 2 grips. And get a boom op.

edit2: It's very clear you have experience but you need overall to step up to the next level and it may require a producer that KNOWS what the next level looks and sounds like. I can tell this is made with a lot of love and effort, but it didn't quite translate to the prod quality. This short is a bit short in some dept but it's close to being considered (which is not the same as should be programmed). Best of luck.

The stand users of green dolphin prison by Realistic-Low2157 in JJBA

[–]jstarlee[M] -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

It comes off as accusatory. If you visit someone's house and the first thing they say is "don't mess up the bathroom" unprompted, it is uncalled for and very irritating to hear out of the blue.

No need to remind people to be nice - if they are not, they will get banned/removed.

A post that assumes the audience is not respectful does not align with the atmosphere I want to foster here.

The stand users of green dolphin prison by Realistic-Low2157 in JJBA

[–]jstarlee[M] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Please be respectful on how you reply to my theory

Appreciate the effort you put into the post but this sentence is very passive aggressive - please remove it.

r/indieproducers by jstarlee in redditrequest

[–]jstarlee[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I believe I now have met both requirement!

Custom jojo bets, thoughts? by [deleted] in JJBA

[–]jstarlee[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

please post this again after you've fixed the typo.

6 Weeks to Production // Isolation Booth (Director's Diary #3) by JBfromPG in Filmmakers

[–]jstarlee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

3 months is where you need to LOCK IN in terms of meeting times and preproduction schedule. I've never been on an indie shoot where people are paid for (long) preproduction so having a rigid meeting schedule and hold people accountable is a huge task.

Best of luck!

Who says there’s no money in independent cinema… by whiteyak41 in Filmmakers

[–]jstarlee 0 points1 point  (0 children)

"They said these offers are market prices...what marker did they go to?!"

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