There were some scenes, especially one in Charlie's kitchen, with really bad echo (or reverb). Kitchens and bathrooms are notoriously bad for this, given the number of hard surfaces for sound to bounce off of. This can be very frustrating, especially for the filmmaker who can't afford top-notch audio equipment. In this case, it's usually best to improvise by covering every spare surface that’s not in the shot with something soft - blankets, pillows, stuffed animals - even a spare pet or expendable crewman will help a little. The more non-hard objects that can be squeezed into the space, the more it will help diffuse the reverb. If all else fails, one might have to expend some cash on better equipment or try to find a knowledgeable operator who can work with what you have. It's an added expense, but beats the painstaking - and expensive - work of ADR. (Be sure to read our article on The Top 10 Audio Tips Every MicroFilmmaker Must Know at: http://www.microfilmmaker.com/tipstrick/Issue2/ten_aud.html )
This film's budget of only $200 was spent only on food for the cast, and its 103-page script was shot in only 32 hours. Considering that the three main actors flew in from California, it's likely that the telescoped shooting schedule was more out of necessity than design. However, that's also probably the reason that there were quite a few technical problems; as they say, "Good, fast, and cheap. Pick two." It's possible that this film could have been much stronger if there was budget enough to hire more crew, rent or buy better equipment, and enough flexibility to make any changes in post or do re-shoots if necessary.
There’s a lot of potential in this film – it’s got three quirky and very different characters that somehow find themselves together, which could make for a pretty funny buddy movie. The biggest problem currently is the lack of structure and rambling nature of the story, which would need to be refined a lot more. At the very least, the present film could be chopped down to something more cohesive; even incorporating shot montages (Three Stooges style, perhaps) would do a whole lot to improve the pacing.
Putting unlikely characters together to create quirky comedy is nothing new to filmmaking, but The Ticket puts its own unique spin on the idea. The audience will assume that the stronger characters are in control, but its actually the character who seems weakest who’s pulling the strings.
*In case you're not up on obscure movie trivia, the character of Ray Elwood was played by Joaquin Phoenix in Buffalo Soldiers, and Patrick Bateman was played by Christian Bale in American Psycho.
