A somewhat
less blatant issue came in the form of a party sequence
in which Adam is talking to some friends the night before
he gets sucked into limbo. Whereas most party sequences
in films show people moving in the background or off to
the sides while the main characters are unobstructed, Mr.
Ikimi decided to increase the realism by having people walking
in front of the camera. Once or twice might have worked
out, but, unfortunately, people end up passing in front
of the camera so often that it becomes very distracting
from what's going on in the conversation. While this sequence
isn't tremendously critical to your understanding of the
storyline, it's bothersome because the human mind perceives
gaps in perception and translates that into a nagging feeling
that you just missed something important. (Of course, maybe
that was Mr. Ikimi's intent, to keep you off-balance by
including a sequence that's hard to follow due to visual
obstructions. Hmmmm…. Probably not.)
And
the final issue came in the one sequence in the film that
was shot with a camera that wasn't the XL1-S. The Canon
Optura Xi was used to record a fast forward sequence that
shows all the places Adam Moses has had interactions in
this repeating hour of his life. Unfortunately, this sequence
goes on too long and is accelerated to the point where it
starts to give you a headache. In addition, the acceleration
process is a counter-productive process to the 24 fps process,
causing the footage to look like video again, rather than
film.
Looking
past these last three issues, this is a movie that does
a lot of things very right! It's really got an amazing visual
look in general, which is made even more impressive when
considering the money actually spent on the film!
Use
of Audio
The amazing score that pumps through this film makes you
constantly wonder who is around the corner and what will
actually await the main character when he enters a room.
The music feels very refined and professional yet full of
jazz-inspired emotion, reminding you of the old detective
films of the '30's and '40's. An all-Apple edition solution,
the adrenaline pumping score was composed with Logic by
Andrew David Daniels on his Mac.
One
thing that I have always loved, especially in films that
seem rooted in the "Sam Spade" look, is the use
of narration, because it gets into the main character's
head in a way that nothing else can. Traditional Hollywood
says narration is cheesy, which-considering that many of
the top-rated films in IMDB feature full narration-just
goes to show you how much traditional Hollywood has its
fingers on the pulse of its audience.
What's
especially nice in regards to the narration is the appropriate
amplification of bass in the voice to make it feel like
it really is in the main character's head. This is not something
that many first time directors would think of, so it's very
fortunate that Dan Sable (Apollo 13, Dead Man Walking)
and Bob Chefalas (The Manchurian Candidate, Cinderella
Man) came on board to help out. (Both ended up volunteering
their time when they saw a rough cut of the film.)
Now,
this is not to say that the film is without a few minor
flaws in the audio department. For example, early in the
movie, we see a long shot with Adam Moses being chased after
by his "single serving friend" Vaughn in which
the sync is visibly off. This isn't an issue for any of
the close ups, but it's noticeable at the beginning of the
film by how off it is. (At first I thought it might be to
convey a dreamy feel to the situation, but it's not done
again, so it appears to simply be a mistake.) The other
situation occurs when Adam Moses catches up with a hooded
assailant and tries to make him explain who he is. The voice
that comes out of the man's lips doesn't seem to match his
body structure at all, which is usually a sign that it was
redubbed after the fact with a different person's voice
(or with the same person in the wrong emotional context).
The voice that was used seems entirely too high-pitched
to have come out of the young man's body. A deepening of
the bass in the voice might lessen this disparity.
All
told, however, it is truly impressive how good this film
sounds, especially when you realize that much of the recording
was done with different mics throughout the shoot.
Use
of Budget
Considering how much this film actually does look like film
through both it's shooting style and the Filmlook Process,
it's amazing that Ikami was able to make this film for under
$10,000.
What's
especially cool in this is how many professional people
volunteered their time to help someone making a first-time
film after they became exposed to the script. Scott Brock,
who had assistant edited on Gangs of New York and The Aviator,
got on board as their main editor because of the complexity
of the script and his desire to edit it himself. Then, when
they needed to get some serious audio help down the road,
Scott brought up the fact that he had worked with this guy
named Dan Sable a few years back who was "a bit of
a legend in the sound business." Scott said that he
would show him a rough cut of the film and, if he liked
it, he might help them out. Dan took a look at the rough
cut and liked it enough to volunteer his time. He in turn
recruited the help Bob Chefalas, who Dan knew from earlier
in his career.
In the
end, there were a lot of very talented and experienced people
who ended up volunteering their services, through a very
strange series of networking and word of mouth. It just
goes to show that you that no-budget filmmaking can be a
lot like the story of "Stone Soup."
Lasting
Appeal
With its suspense, noir twists, and darkly complex story
line, this is a film you'll want to watch multiple times.
Even though it doesn't answer all the questions it brings
up, the very act of bringing up the questions makes for
fascinating discussions afterwards.
Overall
Comment
This is a must-own inspiration for low-budget filmmakers.
While its got its flaws, its got a whole lot more strengths
to recommend it. Definitely a must own for any filmmaker,
especially no-budget filmmakers who want to be reminded
of what can be done on virtually no money.
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
Content
|
9.0
|
|
Visual
Look
|
8.0
|
|
Use
of Audio
|
9.0
|
|
Use
of Budget
|
10.0
|
|
Lasting
Appeal
|
9.0
|
|
Overall
Score
|
9.0
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
