Hi,
I haven't posted for a while. Here's my latest short, filmed with a Panasonic GS400. It is a 10 minute Giallo horror thriller (37Mb - takes up to 10 mins to download). I hope you enjoy it. Please let me know what you think.
Here's a Youtube link for those who don't want to download. Comments appreciated.
Was bored by the first time the guy found that the lights wouldn't work. Got interested again though towards the end.
Towards the closing shots there should have been blood evident on the axe, or was it there and I didn't notice it.
The title 'Blade For The Dead' conjures up an image of a knife, should it not be re-titled as ' Axe For The Dead'. (Or how about 'Getting The Chop'. ....:) )
Cheers.
Wow ! Nothing positive eh ? I'm a little taken aback with the "bored" comment. Horses for courses I suppose but I never expected that. I'm guessing you're not a fan of the horror genre. I would be really interested in other people's comments to see if they agree with you.
Anyway, thank you for taking the time to see the film and post comments. It's truly appreciated.
m, may I call you that? I have some little experience with the horror genre and Argento in particular. I've also made a horror/suspense short (bad) but not in this vein.
I think it has a lot of merit. Much of the shooting is excellent as is a lot of the editing. However, it's almost as if it has been edited by two different people. I agree with Fergie that the beginning is slow (although I'm well aware that the same applies with the Italian originals.) In short, I suspect you've tried to be too true to the Giallo originals rather than just catching their essence then subverting it for your own ends.
I have a friend who is an expert in these things (especially Argento) I'll send her the url and see what she thinks.
I also think the music could be better, it's not really 'Goblin' is it?
On t'other hand, this should make it into various festivals with no trouble at all and might even win something. You could try this one for starters:
http://www.eotpfilmfestival.com/submissions.php
I don't know how many of these you've made before, or what your background is but i can see a lot of potential here. The shooting is excellent as is a lot of the editing. There are just pace issues and a fondness for holding shots that should be just a flash.
Hope this is at least vaguely useful.
Hi Rob,
Thanks so much for your comments. They are extremely useful. It is very difficult to be objective about something that you have watched countless times in the edit so I take on board your issues with the pacing. I must say though, the first 3 or so minutes are my favourite and this has been borne out from all the feedback I have received so far. It just shows we all have our different view points on what works and doesn't work in movies.
I agree the music could be better. I'm no musician. Goblin were an important ingredient in Argento films but I wasn't trying to copy Argento or his style. I have my own style and I wanted to transplant this into a Giallo setting, using the recording of a dvd commentary as the framework.
I'm sure once a period of time has elapsed and I look at the film again with fresh eyes I'm sure the points you have raised will be glaringly obvious and I can learn from these mistakes. In the meantime I would really welcome comments from your expert friend.
Oh and thanks for the link to the festival. You are a true gent.
Hi Mark,
I watched it again. It's amazing how much your perception changes on a second viewing at a different time of day.
Now, I think I'd leave it alone bar one or two shots and some blood on the axe at the end. (And it needs some end credits)
It's easy to criticise. When you actually sit down with the material and play with an edit the reasons for a lot of seemingly odd decisions often become much clearer. With this in mind, it may be that even the couple of superfluous shots I think I can see are there for good reasons.
I also think I was unnecessarily unkind about the music. I can hear a couple of joins but then I used to be a dubbing mixer and the sound on the Italian originals was mostly execrable.
I'll post here again if/when I hear from my friend.
Also, on second viewing, I'm even more convinced it is worth submitting to festivals, both here and abroad. (I'd avoid the ones looking for entry fees ;)
It is easy to criticise and that's why I hesitated to post about this piece at first. But I think a few comments might be worth it since you obviously have much talent and are eager to get feedback.
Let me begin by saying that your shooting and editing techniques are excellent!! I wish I could shoot as well as you! However I barely made it through the 10 minutes. I was bored by the third minute. Here's why...
Even though your atmosphere and pacing were solid, for me it quickly became too much style and not enough substance. Suspense needs to be built over time and it is difficult to sustain for 10 minutes.
Most importantly, there was little character develpment. This is the crux: in order to feel the suspense I need to CARE about the person it is happening to and for the first half of the piece the protagonist is a cipher. Every shot was a well constructed exercise in a suspenseful style but the effect quickly wore off, especially on the small screen of Youtube.
Could there have been a way to quickly create for us a character that we would care about in the short space of minutes? I don't know. Maybe the short form isn't suitable for this genre. As an exercise in style I give it an A+. As a riveting horror short...I'm sorry, it falls short.
Hi Mike,
I'm so glad you decided to post your comments. Feedback of all kinds is so important especially negative comments.
You mention style over substance. Absolutely. That is what Giallo's are all about. I've never watched a single Giallo which was an exercise in rivetting horror and I've watched loads. They are all about the style and that's why I love them. In fact your comments have been a general criticism of the genre since it began. They're obviously not everyones cup of tea and I appreciate that but I'm still surprised that some people are bored by the 3rd minute in this piece. As I stated earlier I think the first 3 or so minutes are my favourite.
I must admit of all the short films I've made this one has attracted the most extreme views. I've posted it on other sites and garnered absolute rave reviews. But one can't read the good stuff without reading the bad. It's all a question of taste and this subjectivity is why I love film.
I may have not been the best audience for this piece, having been unfamiliar with the style you were paying homage to and not a huge fan of the genre to begin with, so please read all my comments with that in mind. The first three minutes or so were my favorite too but then I found my self thinking, "Get ON with it already!" Again, I might not be your target audience.
I have since Googled Giallo and found this...
"...the genre does contain many distinctive characteristics that would be instantly familiar to a non-giallo moviegoer. From the faceless black-coated killer with a knife (played out, of course, through a subjective camera point-of-view) to the neurotic heroine/victim who establishes an almost perverse psychic link with her assailant, the giallo genre at its best offered up bizarre serpentine plots, ingenious crime solving from its main characters, and frequent, spectacular violence. At its worst, the genre could be illogical to the point of detachment, contain careless and wooden performances, wallow in cruel and brutal misogyny, and descend into pointlessly cynical violence for the sake of violence. In other words, boredom."
My suggestion is that you might want to use the elements of Giallo that you obviously can do so well and combine them with character development that we would all care about in an attempt to take the genre out of the bargain bin.
Hey, I watched your film purly to see how the Panasonic NV-GS400 shoots pictures, as im thinking of getting one. But I must say, the first 3 minutes are purly amazing editing! They look very professional, and you can see you used a lot great tinting and colour mixing to set the mood....although im afraid to say that after the first 3 mins the tinting goes, and the film has a less professional feel to it, although still good. The story line really wasnt for me, but, compliments to you for the great editing.
P.S. This has really encouraged me to buy a NV-GS400 :D
Thanks for the comments shivinski.
The NV-GS400 is a fantastic camera with a great array of manual controls. I think you might have trouble tracking it down though as it's no longer made. It was replaced by the GS500 which has less manual features.
Just watched Blade for the Dead. Took me back a bit thinking of those movies LOL. Anyway just wanted to say well done not a bad effort at all liked the man coming out of the cupboard a lot. For your next film try to be a bit harder on youself in the edit. I am an editor and i know how hard it can been to cut you favourite shot but you have to think about what your audience is going to see. You could have easily cut a couple of mins out of this film and lost nothing from the story.
Having said that you have made a good little film here well done. Next time try a rom com now that really would be a horror.
Cheers for watching Billy and posting a comment.
This is the first thing I've done for a while that wasn't for a competition and therefore restricted by running time. In the past I've felt some of my films have suffered somewhat due to trying to squeeze a plot into a time frame. As such, the pacing in Blade for the Dead is purely dictated by my taste and the stylistic conventions inherent in Gialli. I take your views on board and I agree that I could have cut a couple of minutes out but my aim was to allow the horror to breathe rather than become action oriented. I'm glad you liked it.