This is my first film and was shot mostly in January 2006 using a Panasonic MX500 camcorder and edited on Pinnacle Studio 8. It got into a couple of small NZ film festivals and I've had a good amount of feedback already. General consensus was "not bad for a first effort", but you can make up your own mind.

BTW this is based on a true-life account by an NZ Vietnam veteran.

Cheers

Jeremy

YouTube - Second Chance

When the first lot of shooting started it literally made me jump.
The notion of the key thing was kinda creepy but I liked- understood- the whole way he shelters his family from the truth of what he's really experiencing in the letter.
I enjoyed watching it.

I really enjoyed watching the video. You got a lot into this short film.

I thought it was excellent. A rounded story, well scripted, filmed and edited.

Thanks for all the comments. The film went through a lot of drafts with various scenes spliced in or chopped out. There was originally a scene in the "flash forward" bit where he is actually at home with his wife, but I never felt comfortable with the scene and the feedback I got was that this was the weakest segment, so I've snipped it out for this "latest" version.

BTW, does everyone get the flash forward bit (he sees himself die, but it's really a dream etc), as it confused some people in earlier versions.

I've been thinking of refilming this one day with a decent budget, as I find the source story intriguing and worthy of better treatment.

I really liked that - but I missed the flash forward !

That is an ambitious and complex film - huge cast - but you pulled it off well.

Criticisms are small and focused cos the whole package is good.

Camera work - a bit random at times for me - camera track sort of wandering. I know you aint 'real' actors but the v over could be improved.

I like the green hue and the saturation changes (was it).

Maybe it couls have had a bit out dialogue to contrast his inner voice. Would also have liked to have seen people dieing more painfully.

I got the f forward second time.

__________________
I have two prejudices - I am anti HDV for consumer camcorders, and I eat mooks who claim to be pro wedding vidders and ask dumb questions.

www.zaskarfilms.com You tube channel 'zaskarfilms'
JVC DV5001e (big cam), Sony PC6E (tiny cam), Vinten pro5, PAG light, SM58, Sony ECM50, Sony C-76, 0.5x convertors for sony, Rode video mic, Vegas 7.

You feeling ok this week? ? Changed your medication again ? ?

__________________
I have two prejudices - I am anti HDV for consumer camcorders, and I eat mooks who claim to be pro wedding vidders and ask dumb questions.

www.zaskarfilms.com You tube channel 'zaskarfilms'
JVC DV5001e (big cam), Sony PC6E (tiny cam), Vinten pro5, PAG light, SM58, Sony ECM50, Sony C-76, 0.5x convertors for sony, Rode video mic, Vegas 7.

Thanks for your comments Mark.

I am still learning about camera work, I think I got better as I went along.

Originally the film was in black and white, which I quite liked, then I started experimenting with colours. I referred to actual period (super 8 etc) colour film as a guide, and tried to replicate this.

The problem with messy dying (as much as I like it), I think the limited acting range of my cast would have been too apparent. Another reason was time, I simply couldn't fit that stuff in, easier to have them dropping silently like a sack of spuds. I did dub over a scream in one scene but then removed it, it didn't sound right.

As I mentioned before, I snipped out a scene with some dialogue with George's wife, during the flash forward, but the acting was just too wooden and I never felt comfortable with it.

So, how do you think I could flesh out the flash forward with telegraphing it too much? I've had some discussions with friends about it, but never came up with anything satisfactory. I do realise that a lot of the soldiers look the same, and so adds to the confusion.

Thanks

J.