DELTA BOYS: Next Seaon (my 2nd Documentary)

[Almohada]

because the lighting is inconsistent with the rest.

Well, not only that but it was a harsh cut... on action... but they were both facing different ways so the cut wasn't spot on. It just doesn't work well. If you can cut back to the other guy then I'd do that or just hold out that previous shot if you can.


Mal and Al. I like it.

[elmerlang]

Worked for me. The acting was good and natural, they were talking not emoting. Good luck!

[HueyNRolf]

+1 and it sounds good too. Well done, Mark.

[Palmer S.]

How's it coming Mark? Any idea on when it'll be finished? I'm insanely curious to see what you've got cooked up.

[mark84j]

It's going pretty slow, honestly. My classes are giving me a hard time, and I'm way behind on my MBA thesis lol. But I've got about one third of TIMER edited.

[Almohada]

Join the club. School pushed my project back 4 months!

[mark84j]

Semester is coming to an end in less than a month, and my thesis is due at the end of next week. I've come to realize that making TIMER at this point in time was not the best idea. I've got way too much to be more worries about, mainly what I'm going to be doing once I graduate. I'll be moving back home in 4 weeks, and I've been unsuccessful finding a nice internship or job to stick with so I can get my own place. TIMER has taken the very back seat, and I've figured out that this was too soon. After a shitload of thinking, I've come to a conclusion: I'm going to re-do TIMER. Once I gain more experience at how making a movie actually works, I'll do it over again. Do it right.

I've spoken with the actors, and they really didn't care, which was a relief. They had fun, so that's all that mattered to me in the first place. I've still got all this footage from the shoot, and there are too many holes within the story that would make this an incomplete film anyway. So while I've got some sweet segments, it's just not complete. If I was to edit together this footage, there would be gaps that would distract people to the point where the film is disorienting.

That doesn't mean I'll stop uploading vids from the shoot though. I think there are some nice spots that I can still play with. I tried to achieve a look, and I believe I achieved that at least. I wanted to tell a story, and I know I'm onto something in that category as well. It's just too soon. But anyway, I do feel a bit of disappointment in myself for not being as organized as I should have been, though ehh I think I did ok for a guy that was doing literally everything besides acting in the movie.

That aside, here is something that I had fun tweaking. Here's a small portion of TIMER that was my favorite part

[Almohada]

Badass!!!!!!!!!!!!! Amazing camera!!!!! Lovin' the look!!!

[Palmer S.]

I don't think I'm alone in saying that I'm disappointed we'll have to wait to see the full of this. I thought that clip was pretty badass.

[mark84j]

Thanks, guys. I don't know when I'll edit the entire thing, but it'll happen sooner or later.

PS. I saw this and was like... PISS!!! Looper... Timer... time travel... son of a...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=WCNKahG1ksg

[Almohada]

PS. I saw this and was like... PISS!!! Looper... Timer... time travel... son of a...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=WCNKahG1ksg

Shot on film, yet looks like sh!t !!!! Lens flares galore. Footage is all washed out. Everything today looks exactly the same. Ridiculous. What happened to the art and creativity... films like Taxi Driver, etc... Just pisses me off. Wow big deal I could do the same, I could get Bruce in a heartbeat if there was a budget of course.

[Erik Bien]

Here's a small portion of TIMER that was my favorite part

Looks great, mark! Lighting, camera, VFX, SFX and performances are spot-on. I really hope you can find a way to finish it.

[pstan423]

Shot on film, yet looks like sh!t !!!!...Wow big deal I could do the same, I could get Bruce in a heartbeat if there was a budget of course.

I feel so much better about myself knowing that even Rian Johnson, the creator of Brick, couldn't please you, Al. Good job in lowering my opinion about you even further.

[Almohada]

I feel so much better about myself knowing that even Rian Johnson, the creator of Brick, couldn't please you, Al. Good job in lowering my opinion about you even further.

Says who? You know there's someone called the Cinematographer or Director of Photography, right? I was NOT referring to dramatic direction. And by the way, you cut out 60% of my post... you know, the part where I backed up MY OPINION. Which really should be the honest truth about today's garbage.

[pstan423]

Says who? You know there's someone called the Cinematographer or Director of Photography, right? I was NOT referring to dramatic direction. And by the way, you cut out 60% of my post... you know, the part where I backed up MY OPINION. Which really should be the honest truth about today's garbage.

I didn't edit out 60% to make you look bad or to misrepresent your point. Anyone with a grasp on what an ellipses is can just scroll up and read the rest of what you had to say, you friggin weirdo. And anyone who knows what the Director's role is, being the vision of the film, will know that the Director is the most likely person to handpick the DP. God!

[Palmer S.]

...you friggin weirdo.

You're having a temper tantrum because he has different taste in cinematography...and he's the weirdo.

Parker. Please. Just stop. I'm begging you. If you're not here to talk about Mark's work, then just leave. Simple as that.

[pstan423]

You're having a temper tantrum because he has different taste in cinematography...and he's the weirdo.

Parker. Please. Just stop. I'm begging you. If you're not here to talk about Mark's work, then just leave. Simple as that.

Brother, please. Please, please, please. That so called "temper tantrum" you described was in actuality a good laugh on my part. I was not angry at all. If anything, I was happy and like I said previously felt better about my own efforts when I read Al's comment. When I read "shot on film, looks like lalalala" in response to a Rian J trailer, I laughed my ass off. It's like when Kevin Smith bashed Magnolia and its fans, and then when he was bashed by others, he got defensive as if he didn't see it coming.

[Palmer S.]

Parker. I'll say it again. Stop.

[pstan423]

Parker. I'll say it again. Stop.

Then treat me like a brother instead of a sick Tommy Wiseou lovechild punch line, how about that?

[Palmer S.]

Then treat me like a brother instead of a sick Tommy Wiseou lovechild punch line, how about that?

I'll act like that made any kind of sense, and respond that once you start acting like a decent human being, I will.

Seriously. Mal, can you just block him so he's not tempted to keep coming back here?

[Almohada]

I'm saying everything looks exactly the same nowadays. Why is the washed out look so popular? It's washed out!!!!! Doesn't make sense.

[mark84j]

Then treat me like a brother instead of a sick Tommy Wiseou lovechild punch line, how about that?

You're doing it again, bud. Easy now.

[mark84j]

I’m writing this review for the sake of one man named Parker Stanfield. It’s been a long, rocky, and often hilarious journey up until this moment hasn’t it?
We’ve shared tears out of sadness, anger, and hilarity, but now… it’s time. This is my At the Zoo review.

To be honest, I began writing this several days ago, but decided to scrap everything and start over from scratch. And that’s happened about 3 times now.
It took me quite a while to figure out where to start, but I figured I would begin by saying that ATZ is not a good film by any stretch of the imagination.
You clearly took upon this task even though you have no idea what you’re doing. You don’t. You don’t even know how to use your HV40 properly, and
you also have no idea how to maintain your footage. I don’t care if you can’t afford a Diet Coke from Burger King, you never… NEVER EVER… delete your
footage. You keep it with you forever, you hold onto it tight, and you never let it go. Only Parker knows what I’m talking about right now, so I won’t go
into any fine details about that.

This was going to be a 100 page review, but in this moment I barely have the power and mental capacity to be blunt. There are things about ATZ that
range from audio problems, to editing flaws, all the way up to story structure.

Let’s begin with the audio problems, and have no fear – I’m not going to address its horrendousness, because we’ve all been down this road many times
before. The audio is BAD and you know it’s BAD, so let’s leave it at that. When I refer to audio problems, I mean the dialogue synchronization is off. WAY
off. There were far too many times to count where an actor’s voice would be talking well before their mouths started moving. There are moments where
it seemed like the audio was either a full second too soon or too late. It was sloppily done, bud.

Now, let’s move onto the editing flaws. There are many, and they’re very distracting. Your final cut looks like a first draft.

Now… onto the story. And this is where I believe is where the meat resides within this review. Parker, I have no idea what the heck this was about. I don’t.
Yeah, Richard Cory goes on a killing spree because he’s depressed about his girlfriend killing herself. But other than that, there is no conceivable way to follow
this. This isn’t a movie that follows some kind of arc or some sort of new-age structure of plot. Because this isn’t a movie, it’s an hour long video. The entire
thing is a string of shots that have no flow whatsoever, all comprising of somebody standing in front of the camera saying a line. Somebody says a line, CUT,
somebody else says a line, CUT, so on and so forth. There’s absolutely zero cinematography; each scene has camera positioning that any novice could come
up with within the span of 2 seconds.

Also, these characters you were supposed to introduce us to have nothing going for them. I have no idea who these people are; they’re just there. Not
only that, they do things which are just – odd. Like for instance in the beginning, Richard wakes up, talks with his gf, leaves the house, talks with that kid
outside, then goes back inside, and his gf is dead! It’s like – why did he just leave the house, then walk back inside? I’m positive that I’m missing something,
because you’ll have to fill me in… but that’s my point. You shouldn’t HAVE to fill me in!

I could keep going, but I don’t want to have to make a Phantom Menace review video that lasts more than an hour, so here is my verdict: At the Zoo gets
a 1 out of 10. And why does this get a 1 and not a 0? Because I know how hard it is to make a movie. I should know. I tried myself 2 months ago with
TIMER, and I’m not even sure if I succeeded yet myself. Movies are hard to make, people. So Parker’s dedication deserves our respect alone.

With that said, I cannot express how much I pity anybody that spends any sort of cash on this thing, because I can’t imagine anybody watching this and
feeling anything but sheer stupidity. Parker, I don’t understand how you expected this to make film festivals. If you were present during a screening of this,
you would get mobbed, dude.

I’ve already acknowledged your dedication and passion in the past, but that’s what I feel is your own downfall with ATZ. You, and you alone, understand
the story behind this film. You’ve concocted something from your brain, and you’ve managed to put it onto my computer screen, but that still doesn’t mean
ATZ is anything short of an incoherent waste of time. And don’t anyone dare claim that I don’t “get it” because there was nothing TO get.

Long story short, ATZ sucked, but that doesn’t mean you should stop doing what you love. Just make sure you get a clue next time. Take care.

-MJ

[1]

Mark, I've re-opened the AT THE ZOO thread again:
http://www.hv20.com/showthread.php?44961-At-the-Zoo

Feel free to move your review into that thread

[mark84j]

Right-o!