A little short horror film I made ...

[_pi_]

Hey guys,

sorry about the shameless self-promotion. I want to boost the view count on this. And, of course, get some comments :) What better crowd than the seasoned horror fans? ;)

This was my first semester project, finished this past January, and I'm getting all geared up for my next one ... and it's pretty much driven me to panic attacks, anxiety and general madness. But hey, that's what I've signed up for I guess ...

I'm hesitant to say 'be kind' because god knows I never am, but still ... be kind! :)

It's called Bumps in the Night (http://vimeo.com/9449640). Enjoy!

[Grim]

Pretty cool man. Much more impressive than my first film project, I must say. :lol:

[Erick H.]

Another good one pi,with a nice jolt at the finale.I liked the lighting too.Was this also shot in Iceland ? Were your actors locals ? Nice work !

[Body Boy]

Nice! Cute, hehe.

I just watched Suspiria tonight, so it had the perfect mood.

[MorallySound]

Great setup and ending! The camera work and lighting were well done, but the on-set audio was a bit low in the overall mix.

Excellent work overall, and look forward to the next short!

[snowbeast323]

I really really enjoyed watching that, the ending seriously made me jump.
Damn! I wish I hadn't dropped outta my filmmaking course now

[_pi_]

Thanks guys!

Yeah, the audio was definitely a problem. I'm going to get a 'real' sound-person to do the next one.

[Shlockjock81]

Nice, dude!! Can I ask what equipment you had access to?

[_pi_]

We shot on the Sony EX1 and then we had a few lights. And a tripod + boom .. Nothing too fancy - just the equipment available to us from school. But I had an awesome DP!

[aoiookami]

pretty nice work man. The audio was a bit of an issue, some parts were a bit too low to hear the dialogue. But the end was great, I expected the 'intruder' to pop up from behind where their 2 bodies were blocking view, as they were positioned to roll over and have him appear, so the knife in the foreground caught me off guard, dunno if you did that on purpose but it worked very nicely.

[Shlockjock81]

Sweet man. I think you made the most of the equipment given. I go to film school and our equipment right now isn't exactly stellar. Our program coordinator is currently fighting to get us more equipment.

I'm actually in the process of editing a 5 min short I just shot a few weeks ago. So far, I'm pretty happy with it. It's a mash-up of Suspiria (we used a TON of red and blue gels) and The Entity. We were allowed to used copyrighted music for this project so I used the scores from both The Entity and The Boogeyman (1980).

Once it's finished I'll post up a link. Keep filmin' dude!

[_pi_]

I expected the 'intruder' to pop up from behind where their 2 bodies were blocking view, as they were positioned to roll over and have him appear, so the knife in the foreground caught me off guard, dunno if you did that on purpose but it worked very nicely.

I never thought of it that way ... but I'll take credit for it anyway! ;)


Once it's finished I'll post up a link. Keep filmin' dude!

Looking forward to see it!

[Anaestheus]

Very nicely put together. On a technical level this is really well done, except some of the audio as others have noticed. Shots are composed and lit very nicely. Editing is pretty tight. And, the performances are rather decent for a student film.

But, I am a dick. With that in mind, you can skip the rest of this if you don't want to hear negative comments. And, of course, these are only the opinions of a self-confessed dick


The script is your only weakness. But, I think it is pretty weak. If you haven't read it yet, I'd really suggest finding a copy of Poe's little essay on horror. He's got some valid points there, some of which I am going to paraphrase here. I'd also suggest reading Lovecraft's essay on supernatural literature. Together they provide some excellent insight in how to structure a scary tale.

There isn't much of a drive to the narrative here. While there are some nicely structured sequences, they don't really build up to anything. The knife coming through the bed, which is a well executed shock sequence, comes off as more of a punchline than any sort of climax of the dread you were building. And while the dialogue exchange about homosexuality and horror films was clever, it came off a bit preachy and a bit too self-conscious. It could have worked better had it been presented in a more throw away manner. If anything, I'd say that as a writer, you need to work a bit more on being leaner and focused in the story you are trying to tell. Short films are difficult in that they really rely on being extremely efficient in establishing your point. Even more so with horror shorts.


That said (or ignored) this is a really nice piece of work and you should be proud of it. It's certainly better than anything I did, or saw, my first year in film school.

[_pi_]

I actually totally agree with what you're saying - in my 'defense' I'll say that this was more an exercise in style than in story (it was for a directing class). Which is a bad excuse, sure, but what the hell. The film is basically a prolonged 'chase' (well, not a chase, but in the vein) divided into a few scenes - the only real story is that Jamie wants to get laid. And yeah, the gays-in-film dialogue came straight from my BA thesis paper.

I did feel, however, that I had enough to keep the film afloat for 5+ minutes. Anything longer than that, and I would have wanted a meatier script. Usually I'm the self-confessed dick who complains about story or lack there of, so I shouldn't try and get away from it myself. ;)

And, in the words of Ed Wood: my next one will be even better!

[Anaestheus]

in my 'defense' ...

Actually, no defense needed. This is a solid piece of work. And I certainly hope that I didn't come off as "attacking." I merely pointed it out as a suggestion of areas to try to focus on for your next piece.

And, in the words of Ed Wood: my next one will be even better!

I have no doubt. Please keep posting them. I am anxious to see what you do next.