Psychosis

[untamed_aggression]

Psychosis is the story of Ryan, a man who is haunted by the memory of his one true love, Meg. However, his dreams about her soon turn to nightmares, as he struggles to comprehend what is real and what is fantasy. Destined to relive a moment in his life that will torment him forever, he must force himself out of his self contained prison to confront her...



YouTube - Psychosis

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This is the first film I've directed that I didn't write, shoot or edit, so obviously I feel quite different about it than everything else I've done. But I'd like to get your thoughts on it before I chime in with my opinions...

Enjoy.

[miker]

It's seven minutes too long and it sounds like there's a puppy under the pillow.

The rule I try to obey: "arrive late and get out early".

I think the premise is flawed, and dull, but executed with some proficiency. I liked the style but the content bored me. A lot.

I mean, can you even describe the premise in words without sending me to sleep?

The main reason I stuck with it was because of the soundtrack (visuals for information - which there wasn't much of - and audio for emotion) but even that got slightly repetitive and flatlined after about the six minute mark.

I didn't stick around to read the end credits, I just wanted to get out of there!

I think you did okay. I'm sure you could find a snippet to include in your showreel to be proud of.

[Generic Skinhead]

Hello, well done.

The good:

Visually a quantum leap from anything you've done before, (not an insult- this is the first time you've had any proper gear). I liked the sound design quite a lot, although as Miker says it does start to get very repetitive. You've created an atmosphere throughout. I'll say the performances were OK.

The bad:

I think the script is weak. There's an idea in there, but thats about it. Stylistically you've done well, but as Miker says, style wont cut it for ten minutes. Guy sees girl, guy sees girl, guy sees girl, yawn. Its all a bit vague.

As with most shorts I am kinda left with a "what was the point of that?" feeling at the end. There's a lot of build up and the climax feels either mishandled or badly written.

[eidde]

I thought it was well lit, I liked the tracking shots.
You created an atmosphere, and stuck with it, and the distinction between real and imaginary was well blurred. Liked the effects in it (fractured faces, glimpses of people) and the unsureness about what was going on.
Liked the titles and thought the music was suitable.
nice editing too.


Bit long though, I didnt stick around for credits either, and I agree with the above 'so what' sort of feeling afterwards (but I get that a lot).
really thats the only criticism I have. I prefer your zombie movies, but think this is more interesting, and shows you have half a brain.

[untamed_aggression]

Okay, I'll post my thoughts on my flick.

Technically, I think it's fucking stonking. We had a great DP, although he took his sweet time. We didn't have any ADs, who probably would've done a better job at kicking his ass into gear. Still, I'm immensely impressed with what he did.

The production design is pretty fucking sweet too. The designer was also the screenwriter, so I pretty much left him to his own devices when it came to decorating the set. I just approved the main layout.

Our editor pretty much saved the project. I cut together my version over Christmas and I was fucking bricking it. It really didn't work at all. She came in and made it (somewhat) interesting. Again, though, she took her sweet time. Even with all she did, I don't think it should take six months to cut a 10 minute flick, especially when we needed to do music and sound design and nobody wanted to start that until it was locked (What's up with THAT?).

We cut quite a lot out of it (about 3 minutes), which included more character motivation and some semblance of a satisfactory conclusion, but I pretty much fucked it up. I didn't shoot enough of the "maguffin," so when it's significance is revealed, you didn't know what it was or why you should care. You pretty much get that feeling anyway, but there was an added element of confusion to go with it.

I was trying to shoot a more emotional film about these characters, but when it became apparent that it wasn't working, it evolved into this, which our tutor described as a "mood piece." Which is all well and good, but not the kind of flick I'm interested in. It just feels far too studenty to me, even if it is pretty to look at.

Back to zombies for me. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[miker]

Just out of interest what was your maguffin?

[untamed_aggression]

The guy he kept seeing macking on his chick was wearing a blue hat. The original ending had him killing Meg, then seeing a picture of himself with her and he's wearing the blue hat.

We realised that it really wasn't prominent enough in some shots or that cutting in inserts really screwed the flow of a scene. So we just cut it and tried to ignore it as much as possible.