Be real. Of course it's great to have your friends vote and say it's the best thing since Obama, but lets be real folks, 'Cool Minnesota,' it is not.
Unstructured Story (Wasted space/time) Horrible Sound No real plots The direction needs some serious direction. The actors were um, mediocre at best. You can't get by with just "Charisma" alone, you need acting talent. It's like someone saw a chance to make some money, got a camera out and then put a couple of their friends in front of it and said: We'll make the story as we go along.
Hustle & Flow was a great movie because it had a great story & great actors.
You might have something if you were to put some true investment into it!
no offense man. but i thought it was terrible. the acting was not there, the camera was shaky, the story i didn't even get the point of. do your research next time.
This flim represents is a different style of storytelling than the glitzy Hollywood acting and manipulative drama. It has the feeling of social realism. I didn't think the acting was terrible as the previous comment said. It is definitely not Tom Cruise and Mission Impossible with all the high effects and slick tricks of acting. Big points for not falling into that trap.
These two actors were creditable in front of the camera and I felt they were real guys from my neighborhood. If your watching Legally Blonde and thinking the chick Ellie Woods (played by Reese Witherspoon) is more convincing as a character or an actor than I am worried about your ability to see reality clearly. Acting was good for the style of this story.
As for the Obama reference and attempt by Movie Critic (should be called poor Movie Critic) to incite division for no good reason, I call that straight up stupidity. That's a moron talking.
I would have liked to see them mic the actors better either with boom of lav microphones. If you are going to do this kind of social realist film than you should bring the viewer closer to the story and the audio needs to be crystal clear and intimate.
And I do think the filmmakers/writers should have worked out a story line with more insight and revelation into these two guys and their bond or code of brotherly love.
The mundane events you do show in the film - sleep, eat breakfast, play hoops, a little tennis, visit the water tower, go for a drink don't add up to a lot of interest. You should think more about building the depth of the characters interactions and given them obstacles, ideas and feelings that might want us to have a feeling for their plight.
There is a lot of room for improvement in this film but its a good first effort. Good job!
I think the movie was a great effort. I gave it my vote. Only improvements I could see would be more music and build a little more into the characters. I like how the movie ended with the brother screaming in agony at the end. Overall great job and I would like to see more!
To be honest I didn't really understand it, it seemed like they were just doing things because they had to do things, do they really play tennis or basketball and the characters didn't seem into it at all, like they were just walking around. And how many locations did you use, because it looked like five instead of four. The house inside, the witch's hat, the road driving, the bar, and the apartment outdoors. Just wondering.
Good film, just a little things to work on. Sound, try a nice shotgun mic with a wind screen that should help. Also try to put a little more into the writting part of it, I'm looking at everybody else films and there just about 11 mins long average, you could of done a little more I thought. Plus music.
Wow you got a lot of comment, hater comments and good comments. Personally your film was just okay to me; probably a 6 out of 10, but none of the other films were that great either. I can tell you worked hard at it, and if you keep doing it all you can get is better.
I was glad to make and be apart of this production with my co-star Lorance A.P. Schardin. I'd also like to thank all of the people who are voting for this film, and all the people who left comments.
ummm. wow. did all your friends vote for this or what? i'm sorry but anyone who actually has a knowledge about film, acting, sound and all that jazz would realize how incredibly amateur this film is. i mean good grief, "reserved" was spelled wrong in the credits. what exactly was the plot here?
Don't you just hate all those anal retentive people who equate all purity and intellect to typographical errors or a misspelled word... well, I know I do.
[Go sooth your anal anxieties and sit on a fence post anon.]
There were moments of opportunity where you could have developed the relationship between the brothers with more depth and insight. For instance, the first guy wakes the second and tells him to get going. When he comes into the kitchen, the first guy says they should go shoot some hoops and he's going to wait in the car. Why? That's not normal. There is some kind of tension, avoidance, push attitude as one guy pushes the other vibe going down here.
Work that angle. Work on the differences between the two characters and why they are in this push/pull dependency. Flesh these things out. Bring their underlying issues to the surface. Show their bond as an earlier commenter suggested.
Most of the events (tennis, basketball, trip to the water tower) they do during the day seem obligatory and don't serve to forward their story or give us a better understanding of the two guys. If we got to know these two guys better, warts, quirks and all and saw how much they mean to each others as friends and even foes, than the tragic event that happens at the end would be more impactful and powerful.
I thought it was good, but unlike the some of the people I'll try and give ya some tips. First know exactly what you’re doing, like when you guys are going through the events to the end of the climax try to make it not so suspecting. Second I seen a lot of comments say stuff about the sound so I’m pretty sure you already know that you’re going to need a shotgun for outdoors and maybe a lav for inside. Third the acting was good (b-acting) make sure you’re putting lines in there for them to actually have meaning, at least for a film like this one.
I like the framing I like the editing (the way it was put together) I like the lighting, and sets.
Big Brother you're right, but if he was cheating then so is "Committed" because both of their films aren't that great to be getting these kind of votes.
I second that. I think "Cool Minnesota" is better than "Committed"; I mean come on how can you just sky rocket in votes, I don't know how their doing it but if one has to win I hope it's this one.
I would say that the way that they may have been cheating is that since blogspot never requires you to log in and verify that you are the actual person voting that someone should be able to vote repeatedly through a series of closing and opening of your Internet window after deleting your cookies each time, though the process would be tedious and could take hours to get numbers in the hundreds it would be possible to do that. Though I suppose that 400+ people really do like the video and have all voted for it though someone's influence would have to be somewhat large to do that. I just don't see that influence with these actors.
To anonymous, the problem with e-mailing Screenlabs and trying to get the individual groups disqualified is that you have to prove that the members of the group are actually initiating the problem by hyper-voting. Again since we have a sense of anonymity to this whole situation you can't prove any one person is actually doing this. The only logical thing to do is set up some sort of log in necessity. The problem with that though is that you would still have people creating false accounts and voting multiple times, and you still can not deny the votes that are already there no matter how suspicious they look.
Big Brother you're right, but look at all the votes, you said it seems like their cheating, well let’s see what ScreenLabs has to say. “Committed” and “Cool Minnesota” have wayyyyyy more votes than anybody else… I know you don't like this video but if they’re not cheating than that’s four hundred people who disagree with you, which they are allowed to. Personal I liked “Out of Time” and “Gutless Wonder”
BTW: I already email ScreenLabs, so if they do decide to disqualify “Cool Minnesota” than they have to disqualify “Committed” not because it was bad, but because it has almost the same votes as “Cool Minnesota” plus when I was watching “Committed” all of the sudden their vote’s sky rocketed. So in conclusion they both lose.
We are able to monitor the voting in a number of different ways without requiring a log in and registration. Big Brother, if you are true to your name, you should know this fact.
If we discover that there is "cheating", we will not disqualify anyone, we will simply not award any prize from the online voting to ANYONE. Please be respectful. Please, do not accuse people because you feel differently or want a different outcome.
This is not 3rd grade playground. OK?
A jury of film experts will be awarding the top prizes for Best Short Film and Best Screenplay so this is simply an online audience popularity award.
So I watched your film, and to be honest I thought, where is this film going throughout almost the entire thing. It seemed just like this lets go here or lets go there type of film and I really didn't get it, but then at the end wow you kill off one of your main characters and you see that this duo has become a solo and you almost feel bad for the guy left there with his dead friend. What a way to go, especially on his birthday. I think one of the things that would have been nicer would have been the audio, but I still enjoyed the piece.
So I was wondering if you saw my film (Committed) and what you thought of it? Comment in my section if you like.
On another note I think this whole cheating business is crazy, I mean the people who are saying it are probably just upset that we have friends who vote for us.
I am another friend of the film maker. It was a really good effort as was most of the other videos. I think the end scene of this film is what made it so good. I don't think there is cheating going on. The people in this film are well known well locally at least. Here is the order in which I would rate best to worst.
1.Cool Minnesota 2.Out of Time 3.Gutless wonder 4.Committed
Look, no matter how "questionable" your video may be. It's actually nice, in a way, to see what's going on here. You seem to be a pair of very eager filmmakers who want to tell a story, and want to get out there and explode on the streets to make their films. That's great. Everyone should embrace you for that, but no one will want to embrace someone with a piss poor attitude. The major criticism you'll find right now is that your film and your attitudes are very sophomoric. Sophomore is latin for sophisticated moron. Whether this is your first film or not, everyone goes through this mind-explosion, of "I'm the first one" kinda take on creating film. The only difference is your doing it right here on ScreenLabs Challenge 2008. Ideally people go through this stage of filmmaking in film school where everyone else is exactly like them in those regards. But that’s ok you may have a different route in mind. The one piece of advise that I can give you and want to give you guys right now is to be mindful of your presence in this community, these aint the streets. Lots of people actually read these comments and get a sense of who you are from them. You might want to keep your friends in check. If they can't stand to see criticisms of your "genius" film project you may be better to ask them to reserve that to more private discussions. The discussion boards here are designed to serve you in respects to growing as a filmmaker, not indulging in the language of the typical Youtube channel. Just know that any ignorance people seem to strongly express in your regards will only be reflected on your own reputations.
Good job, keep with it and don't let the fire burn you on the ass.
I thought the film had a nice look to it and a sense of place. I admired the acting--especially in the last scene.
The one difficulty I had was the story. A film has to be more than one scene. It has to have a story. It needs rising action and emotion. It needs character development. Who were these people? They were brothers, they lived in an urban area, and they cared about one another. If you could have delved more into their relationship and them as people, the loss at the end would have been more intense, get at the pain more.
Keep writing and keep directing!
P.S. Don't worry about all the criticism of your sending friends and family to the site. Just encourage them to see other films besides your own. That way everyone benefits regardless of whether they win or not.
Was this movie about about anything inparticular? There was no story, there was no character development, there was no emotion. Yes, there is the appeal of "real" characters in a "real" setting, but the people, scenarios and interactions in this film are bland and shallow at best. There is no depth or insight into anything. Let me emphasize again, how POINTLESS these daily activities are without any external occurrence that is extraordinary - there is NOTHING OF INTEREST HERE. The final scene, even if there is a subtle point being made, is meaningless because you haven't created any emotional connection between the viewer and the characters. Also, the editing is atrocious; It's painfully obvious that the music changes from shot to shot in the bar. I am embarrassed and I have lost even more faith in humanity seeing that this film is being deemed "awesome" and "hot" and giving congratulatory comments like "good story, good acting." and "two thumbs up!" Again, there was no story. THERE WAS NO STORY. I would label this more as a documentary, but EVEN DOCUMENTARIES HAVE STORIES. So pointless, so so pointless.
The are simple films that try to capture a slice-of-life and those films have minimal plots twists and turns and usually just attempt to establish a a mood and then punctuate it with a unexpected intrusion from another world.
Films in this style that come to mind: SLACKERS by Richard Linklater, STRANGER THAN PARADISE by Jim Jarmusch, CLERKS by Kevin Smith, HIGH HOPES by Mike Leigh. Critics who have high-expectations (and short attention spans) and want quick editing, lots of story and plot twists and turns, and action and adventure usually think these films have nothing going on, no story and not enough action.
I think these filmmakers could have explored the relationship between the brother more but COOL MINNESOTA is definitely within this school of style of filmmaking.
David if your reading all these comments I think you should take what some have said here and use what they told you in your next film. Peeple who say "pointless story" and not giving you an explantion is just stupid talk. There have been other people that said how you could build up the story, listen to them.
One, don't question someone's intelligent and say that we have already been through this, because someone saying that they didn't cheat doesn't mean they didn't, it can just mean that they did and then lied about it, which is more probably.
Second I read the note that said that the people doing this competition had ways of tracking votes and who did them without a log in verification and I know that that isn't true, because unless Google releases the IP addresses of each of the votes, which they wont, because Google is very protective of privacy then there is no way to monitor this voting at all. So I would say the initiators of this competition are bluffing.
Third I'm not saying they are your votes, unless anonymous you are the creator or one of the cast/crew of the project Cool Minnesota, what I am saying is that the likely hood of them getting three hundred votes from three hundred people in twelve hours is slim to none especially since in the past twenty days they only received seven hundred votes. This is why I say they are cheating, also the fact that it happened during night time hours makes it more suspicious.
Fourthly next time when you try to rebuttal, please rebuttal to the actual issues at hand.
John Boy I think you are a cast/crew from another film production on here trying to diss them for getting the votes. I'm not the cast/crew but I'm a friend and what we did was have a voting party... Figure out what that means.
I don’t care if you got your votes up; as a matter of fact have anybody from the cast/crew of Cool Minnesota every posted a bad comment on the other people vids. NO WE HAVEN’T;
Oh I know what a voting party is, it's where people come together, keep deleting their cookies and revoting for a particular person or group if I'm not mistaken.
The visits and voting on this site are not tracked with Google by using client side "cookies" but I am not going to discuss security since you seem to be obsessed with trying to break voting security and these straw-dog accusations and poison the well for all competitors.
This does make one question the goodwill of people in the community and the merits of doing a film challenge like this when people who are suppose to be adults act like unruly children.
This video has gotten around 2,000 votes in the last two days....it is OBVIOUS you are cheating. You will most likely win the vote, but it's hardly even a real victory. I don't understand how you can even feel good about winning.
Don't look at my cast and crew or blame them for what looks like cheating for they have done nothing of the sort. I know who was voting on our side so much and I have asked the producers to rectify the situation by removing those votes from our piece. I feel that if my group is to win then they should win legitimately by having actual people vote for their video and not one or two people voting for hours on end manipulating the voting process.
In the end though I don't even see the point of you boasting your claims that your video is better than ours because that is for a judge to decide and not a click of a mouse which your group so fervently knows how to do. Even within this thread people from your group have made it very clear that you have cheated.
And it is no great thing to lose to cheating men, because what does cheating prove in the end, except that greed has filled your heart so much so that you would do anything to get what you do not deserve.
Listen Erik, Taylor, you guys from the cast/crew of Committed I’m sick of you or whoever was the one voting and been posting those bad comments on my video.
1. I never said your video was worse than mines. If you really want to know the truth about what I thought; your video was okay, I thought the sound could have been better, the sets were lame, the acting was horrible, but the story had potential that you blew in the end.
2. You started this voting raid thing, by your votes skyrocketing through the damn roof a couple months ago. Everybody knew you were cheating. YOU ACCUSING ME!!!! LOOOK AT YOURSELF!!!
3. How dare you post bad comments on my video not giving me any constructive criticism? From the get go you and your casts have been posted bad comments on my video, and I know it because YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE TRYING TO GAIN THE LEAD --- WITH CHEATING!!!
4. AND PLEASE!!!! Save your philosophy for someone who needs it, like yourself.
wudd up! so is this the movie u was talkin about that u left the crib 4! well it pretty ku. u can act a lil buzz u none drinkin ass. butim liken the hair dooo!
68 comments:
Man that was hot! I really like the way you flip the script; very unique approach with the brother story.
Keep it up man!
Nice job! Good story, good acting. A++
DUDE THAT WAS AWESOME!!!
Two thumbs up!
Very, very good film... I like the story.
Wow wasn't expecting that! Good job man.
Could use a little work on the audio but I liked it.
I thought it was the best of them all. Like 612 said the audio wasn't that good, but the acting, framing, and lighting was very good.
Good stuff, I hope you get it!
Be real. Of course it's great to have your friends vote and say it's the best thing since Obama, but lets be real folks, 'Cool Minnesota,' it is not.
Unstructured Story (Wasted space/time)
Horrible Sound
No real plots
The direction needs some serious direction.
The actors were um, mediocre at best. You can't get by with just "Charisma" alone, you need acting talent.
It's like someone saw a chance to make some money, got a camera out and then put a couple of their friends in front of it and said: We'll make the story as we go along.
Hustle & Flow was a great movie because it had a great story & great actors.
You might have something if you were to put some true investment into it!
Don't listen to that guy. "best thing since Obama" someone sounds a little irritated because people of color can make good films.
:-)
no offense man. but i thought it was terrible. the acting was not there, the camera was shaky, the story i didn't even get the point of. do your research next time.
Keep doing ya thing yo...........
the next one will be even greater
I really like this film. The part with the bum at the end was the best LOL I'd like to see more in the future!
This flim represents is a different style of storytelling than the glitzy Hollywood acting and manipulative drama. It has the feeling of social realism. I didn't think the acting was terrible as the previous comment said. It is definitely not Tom Cruise and Mission Impossible with all the high effects and slick tricks of acting. Big points for not falling into that trap.
These two actors were creditable in front of the camera and I felt they were real guys from my neighborhood. If your watching Legally Blonde and thinking the chick Ellie Woods (played by Reese Witherspoon) is more convincing as a character or an actor than I am worried about your ability to see reality clearly. Acting was good for the style of this story.
As for the Obama reference and attempt by Movie Critic (should be called poor Movie Critic) to incite division for no good reason, I call that straight up stupidity. That's a moron talking.
I would have liked to see them mic the actors better either with boom of lav microphones. If you are going to do this kind of social realist film than you should bring the viewer closer to the story and the audio needs to be crystal clear and intimate.
And I do think the filmmakers/writers should have worked out a story line with more insight and revelation into these two guys and their bond or code of brotherly love.
The mundane events you do show in the film - sleep, eat breakfast, play hoops, a little tennis, visit the water tower, go for a drink don't add up to a lot of interest. You should think more about building the depth of the characters interactions and given them obstacles, ideas and feelings that might want us to have a feeling for their plight.
There is a lot of room for improvement in this film but its a good first effort. Good job!
I think the movie was a great effort. I gave it my vote. Only improvements I could see would be more music and build a little more into the characters. I like how the movie ended with the brother screaming in agony at the end. Overall great job and I would like to see more!
To be honest I didn't really understand it, it seemed like they were just doing things because they had to do things, do they really play tennis or basketball and the characters didn't seem into it at all, like they were just walking around. And how many locations did you use, because it looked like five instead of four. The house inside, the witch's hat, the road driving, the bar, and the apartment outdoors. Just wondering.
This was terrible and unscripted. Where is the plot?
Good film, just a little things to work on. Sound, try a nice shotgun mic with a wind screen that should help. Also try to put a little more into the writting part of it, I'm looking at everybody else films and there just about 11 mins long average, you could of done a little more I thought. Plus music.
Good job on it though keep working at it!
You're in the top. I like your's more than most, but that short "Out of Time" was pretty good. I wonder why "Committed" has more votes than you, lol.
Good luck.
This short being in first place is incomprehenisbile.
There is no sense of pace. The acting is at best mediocre.
The story line is intriguing but could be told in a more fluid style.
Don't just listen to your friends comments, listen to everyones. You have the potential to do good work.
I'd like to chime in here and encourage these filmmakers for putting it on the line in the first place.
That said, they got a lot to learn about camera work, acting, scriptwriting, pacing and all that.
But keep at it. Be honest and don't make something that is like everything else....
Wow you got a lot of comment, hater comments and good comments. Personally your film was just okay to me; probably a 6 out of 10, but none of the other films were that great either. I can tell you worked hard at it, and if you keep doing it all you can get is better.
Keep doing your thing best of luck, Jack.
Not bad.
yo that was awsome work on this film hope we when
I was glad to make and be apart of this production with my co-star Lorance A.P. Schardin. I'd also like to thank all of the people who are voting for this film, and all the people who left comments.
Thanks much is appreciated.
ummm. wow. did all your friends vote for this or what? i'm sorry but anyone who actually has a knowledge about film, acting, sound and all that jazz would realize how incredibly amateur this film is. i mean good grief, "reserved" was spelled wrong in the credits. what exactly was the plot here?
Lol, reserved was spelled wrong... What a lame :-P
Don't you just hate all those anal retentive people who equate all purity and intellect to typographical errors or a misspelled word... well, I know I do.
[Go sooth your anal anxieties and sit on a fence post anon.]
There were moments of opportunity where you could have developed the relationship between the brothers with more depth and insight. For instance, the first guy wakes the second and tells him to get going. When he comes into the kitchen, the first guy says they should go shoot some hoops and he's going to wait in the car. Why? That's not normal. There is some kind of tension, avoidance, push attitude as one guy pushes the other vibe going down here.
Work that angle. Work on the differences between the two characters and why they are in this push/pull dependency. Flesh these things out. Bring their underlying issues to the surface. Show their bond as an earlier commenter suggested.
Most of the events (tennis, basketball, trip to the water tower) they do during the day seem obligatory and don't serve to forward their story or give us a better understanding of the two guys. If we got to know these two guys better, warts, quirks and all and saw how much they mean to each others as friends and even foes, than the tragic event that happens at the end would be more impactful and powerful.
I thought it was good, but unlike the some of the people I'll try and give ya some tips. First know exactly what you’re doing, like when you guys are going through the events to the end of the climax try to make it not so suspecting. Second I seen a lot of comments say stuff about the sound so I’m pretty sure you already know that you’re going to need a shotgun for outdoors and maybe a lav for inside. Third the acting was good (b-acting) make sure you’re putting lines in there for them to actually have meaning, at least for a film like this one.
I like the framing
I like the editing (the way it was put together)
I like the lighting, and sets.
P.S. use music, music keeps people intrigued.
Good job and good luck.
I wonder how you are getting all of those votes, I wonder if you are somehow cheating, because personally I don't get the video at all.
Big Brother you're right, but if he was cheating then so is "Committed" because both of their films aren't that great to be getting these kind of votes.
I second that. I think "Cool Minnesota" is better than "Committed"; I mean come on how can you just sky rocket in votes, I don't know how their doing it but if one has to win I hope it's this one.
How can you cheat when you can only post "ONE TIME" on "ONE COMPUTER" fool.
I wonder if you can get disqualified for cheating?
I think I might email ScreenLabs...
I would say that the way that they may have been cheating is that since blogspot never requires you to log in and verify that you are the actual person voting that someone should be able to vote repeatedly through a series of closing and opening of your Internet window after deleting your cookies each time, though the process would be tedious and could take hours to get numbers in the hundreds it would be possible to do that. Though I suppose that 400+ people really do like the video and have all voted for it though someone's influence would have to be somewhat large to do that. I just don't see that influence with these actors.
To anonymous, the problem with e-mailing Screenlabs and trying to get the individual groups disqualified is that you have to prove that the members of the group are actually initiating the problem by hyper-voting. Again since we have a sense of anonymity to this whole situation you can't prove any one person is actually doing this. The only logical thing to do is set up some sort of log in necessity. The problem with that though is that you would still have people creating false accounts and voting multiple times, and you still can not deny the votes that are already there no matter how suspicious they look.
Big Brother you're right, but look at all the votes, you said it seems like their cheating, well let’s see what ScreenLabs has to say. “Committed” and “Cool Minnesota” have wayyyyyy more votes than anybody else… I know you don't like this video but if they’re not cheating than that’s four hundred people who disagree with you, which they are allowed to. Personal I liked “Out of Time” and “Gutless Wonder”
BTW: I already email ScreenLabs, so if they do decide to disqualify “Cool Minnesota” than they have to disqualify “Committed” not because it was bad, but because it has almost the same votes as “Cool Minnesota” plus when I was watching “Committed” all of the sudden their vote’s sky rocketed. So in conclusion they both lose.
Let’s see what happens.
Just because I have a lot of family and friends voting doesn't mean I'm cheating.
We are able to monitor the voting in a number of different ways without requiring a log in and registration. Big Brother, if you are true to your name, you should know this fact.
If we discover that there is "cheating", we will not disqualify anyone, we will simply not award any prize from the online voting to ANYONE. Please be respectful. Please, do not accuse people because you feel differently or want a different outcome.
This is not 3rd grade playground. OK?
A jury of film experts will be awarding the top prizes for Best Short Film and Best Screenplay so this is simply an online audience popularity award.
So I watched your film, and to be honest I thought, where is this film going throughout almost the entire thing. It seemed just like this lets go here or lets go there type of film and I really didn't get it, but then at the end wow you kill off one of your main characters and you see that this duo has become a solo and you almost feel bad for the guy left there with his dead friend. What a way to go, especially on his birthday. I think one of the things that would have been nicer would have been the audio, but I still enjoyed the piece.
So I was wondering if you saw my film (Committed) and what you thought of it? Comment in my section if you like.
On another note I think this whole cheating business is crazy, I mean the people who are saying it are probably just upset that we have friends who vote for us.
I am another friend of the film maker. It was a really good effort as was most of the other videos. I think the end scene of this film is what made it so good. I don't think there is cheating going on. The people in this film are well known well locally at least. Here is the order in which I would rate best to worst.
1.Cool Minnesota
2.Out of Time
3.Gutless wonder
4.Committed
the other films rent worth mentioning.
Look, no matter how "questionable" your video may be. It's actually nice, in a way, to see what's going on here. You seem to be a pair of very eager filmmakers who want to tell a story, and want to get out there and explode on the streets to make their films. That's great. Everyone should embrace you for that, but no one will want to embrace someone with a piss poor attitude. The major criticism you'll find right now is that your film and your attitudes are very sophomoric. Sophomore is latin for sophisticated moron. Whether this is your first film or not, everyone goes through this mind-explosion, of "I'm the first one" kinda take on creating film. The only difference is your doing it right here on ScreenLabs Challenge 2008. Ideally people go through this stage of filmmaking in film school where everyone else is exactly like them in those regards. But that’s ok you may have a different route in mind. The one piece of advise that I can give you and want to give you guys right now is to be mindful of your presence in this community, these aint the streets. Lots of people actually read these comments and get a sense of who you are from them. You might want to keep your friends in check. If they can't stand to see criticisms of your "genius" film project you may be better to ask them to reserve that to more private discussions. The discussion boards here are designed to serve you in respects to growing as a filmmaker, not indulging in the language of the typical Youtube channel. Just know that any ignorance people seem to strongly express in your regards will only be reflected on your own reputations.
Good job, keep with it and don't let the fire burn you on the ass.
I thought the film had a nice look to it and a sense of place. I admired the acting--especially in the last scene.
The one difficulty I had was the story. A film has to be more than one scene. It has to have a story. It needs rising action and emotion. It needs character development. Who were these people? They were brothers, they lived in an urban area, and they cared about one another. If you could have delved more into their relationship and them as people, the loss at the end would have been more intense, get at the pain more.
Keep writing and keep directing!
P.S. Don't worry about all the criticism of your sending friends and family to the site. Just encourage them to see other films besides your own. That way everyone benefits regardless of whether they win or not.
Was this movie about about anything inparticular? There was no story, there was no character development, there was no emotion. Yes, there is the appeal of "real" characters in a "real" setting, but the people, scenarios and interactions in this film are bland and shallow at best. There is no depth or insight into anything. Let me emphasize again, how POINTLESS these daily activities are without any external occurrence that is extraordinary - there is NOTHING OF INTEREST HERE. The final scene, even if there is a subtle point being made, is meaningless because you haven't created any emotional connection between the viewer and the characters. Also, the editing is atrocious; It's painfully obvious that the music changes from shot to shot in the bar. I am embarrassed and I have lost even more faith in humanity seeing that this film is being deemed "awesome" and "hot" and giving congratulatory comments like "good story, good acting." and "two thumbs up!" Again, there was no story. THERE WAS NO STORY. I would label this more as a documentary, but EVEN DOCUMENTARIES HAVE STORIES. So pointless, so so pointless.
The are simple films that try to capture a slice-of-life and those films have minimal plots twists and turns and usually just attempt to establish a a mood and then punctuate it with a unexpected intrusion from another world.
Films in this style that come to mind: SLACKERS by Richard Linklater, STRANGER THAN PARADISE by Jim Jarmusch, CLERKS by Kevin Smith, HIGH HOPES by Mike Leigh. Critics who have high-expectations (and short attention spans) and want quick editing, lots of story and plot twists and turns, and action and adventure usually think these films have nothing going on, no story and not enough action.
I think these filmmakers could have explored the relationship between the brother more but COOL MINNESOTA is definitely within this school of style of filmmaking.
David if your reading all these comments I think you should take what some have said here and use what they told you in your next film. Peeple who say "pointless story" and not giving you an explantion is just stupid talk. There have been other people that said how you could build up the story, listen to them.
nice job good acting
COLDBLOODED!
Hey man so let's be honest how in the world did you swing 300 votes in twelve hours? because that was impressive, unless you did it yourself.
John Boy how did you get a name like Joh Boy?
Parents is what happened, and that still doesn't skirt the issue of your three hundred votes in 12 hours.
It's not my three hundred votes... Haven't they already been through this, or are you just another idiot on the internet? "JOHN BOY"
One, don't question someone's intelligent and say that we have already been through this, because someone saying that they didn't cheat doesn't mean they didn't, it can just mean that they did and then lied about it, which is more probably.
Second I read the note that said that the people doing this competition had ways of tracking votes and who did them without a log in verification and I know that that isn't true, because unless Google releases the IP addresses of each of the votes, which they wont, because Google is very protective of privacy then there is no way to monitor this voting at all. So I would say the initiators of this competition are bluffing.
Third I'm not saying they are your votes, unless anonymous you are the creator or one of the cast/crew of the project Cool Minnesota, what I am saying is that the likely hood of them getting three hundred votes from three hundred people in twelve hours is slim to none especially since in the past twenty days they only received seven hundred votes. This is why I say they are cheating, also the fact that it happened during night time hours makes it more suspicious.
Fourthly next time when you try to rebuttal, please rebuttal to the actual issues at hand.
John Boy I think you are a cast/crew from another film production on here trying to diss them for getting the votes. I'm not the cast/crew but I'm a friend and what we did was have a voting party... Figure out what that means.
I don’t care if you got your votes up; as a matter of fact have anybody from the cast/crew of Cool Minnesota every posted a bad comment on the other people vids. NO WE HAVEN’T;
You’re a jerk off have a nice day.
Oh I know what a voting party is, it's where people come together, keep deleting their cookies and revoting for a particular person or group if I'm not mistaken.
The visits and voting on this site are not tracked with Google by using client side "cookies" but I am not going to discuss security since you seem to be obsessed with trying to break voting security and these straw-dog accusations and poison the well for all competitors.
This does make one question the goodwill of people in the community and the merits of doing a film challenge like this when people who are suppose to be adults act like unruly children.
Stop hating.
Cool film.
This video has gotten around 2,000 votes in the last two days....it is OBVIOUS you are cheating. You will most likely win the vote, but it's hardly even a real victory. I don't understand how you can even feel good about winning.
Taylor I could same the same thing about you!
Don't talk sh*t when you're in it too.
committed sucks dick
Jeez why doesn't Committed just give up... *Sigh*
yo that movie was great
Don't look at my cast and crew or blame them for what looks like cheating for they have done nothing of the sort. I know who was voting on our side so much and I have asked the producers to rectify the situation by removing those votes from our piece. I feel that if my group is to win then they should win legitimately by having actual people vote for their video and not one or two people voting for hours on end manipulating the voting process.
In the end though I don't even see the point of you boasting your claims that your video is better than ours because that is for a judge to decide and not a click of a mouse which your group so fervently knows how to do. Even within this thread people from your group have made it very clear that you have cheated.
And it is no great thing to lose to cheating men, because what does cheating prove in the end, except that greed has filled your heart so much so that you would do anything to get what you do not deserve.
Listen Erik, Taylor, you guys from the cast/crew of Committed I’m sick of you or whoever was the one voting and been posting those bad comments on my video.
1. I never said your video was worse than mines. If you really want to know the truth about what I thought; your video was okay, I thought the sound could have been better, the sets were lame, the acting was horrible, but the story had potential that you blew in the end.
2. You started this voting raid thing, by your votes skyrocketing through the damn roof a couple months ago. Everybody knew you were cheating. YOU ACCUSING ME!!!! LOOOK AT YOURSELF!!!
3. How dare you post bad comments on my video not giving me any constructive criticism? From the get go you and your casts have been posted bad comments on my video, and I know it because YOU’RE THE ONLY ONE TRYING TO GAIN THE LEAD --- WITH CHEATING!!!
4. AND PLEASE!!!! Save your philosophy for someone who needs it, like yourself.
I WON!!!! You lost, get over it.
wudd up! so is this the movie u was talkin about that u left the crib 4! well it pretty ku. u can act a lil buzz u none drinkin ass. butim liken the hair dooo!
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