This is my second short film following "Letters from a Madman" (posted a while ago). It is a 4 minute thriller, although at it's heart is a love story, albeit misguided.

I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.savefile.com/files/9777337

'kin 'ell...

Mind-blowing for a second film!

I'm not a fan of single-person dramas but was gripped by "live or die".
Personally, I enjoyed the visuals immensely. I also think it's innovatively made with exciting camerawork, good lighting and slickly edited. Exposure and focus - spot on.

Thanks for sharing it with us, it was a joy to watch.

Cool idea. The thing that got me were the sound effects. The sound effects were unrealistic and made it look unreal. For instance the panting was just repetitive. The visuals were nice but I think some of it could of been pieced together a bit better. I however did like the flashes from scene to scene in the middle with the music. That was nice.

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www.hkfilmproductions.com

Wow, WOW... Cripes!

That was fantastic.... Dont know where to start, as Guru said it was just so wonderfully shot and lit. Lush.

The editing was clever and pacey and used the established language of cinema in a brilliant way, and a great story.

Man you just ooooouuuuuuzzzzeeee talent.

And I enjoyed it !

More please.

Some criticism - the slow down speed up shot in the waves didnt quite work for me, maybe just have the slow, then cut to a shot of normal speed and in a very few shots the orange lighting was maybe a tad strong.

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Lowering the tone of video since 2004.

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.

Just looked at "Live or Die" again and I'm still very impressed.

I liked the recurring use of the amber light, in fact found the lighting generally excellent for the subject (luck or design? I suspect that it was design) and the picture composition added to an "every frame a Rembrandt" look. The moving light source and use of shadows worked very well and wasn't overdone.

The sound was obviously worked on, the levels constant and I think that the balance was just right. The "surprise!" sound effects fitted perfectly and weren't over-dramatic at all.

The only minor fall-down point for me was the acting. I'm not saying that I could act any better (I couldn't) but it occasionally was a wee bit too melodramatic for my taste. But that's just nit-picking, I can see a lot of work has gone into this project and it's one of the technically best "amateur" (hmmmmm) productions I've seen for a long time.

Really, Really nice.

Absolutely captures the attention. Some really wonderful framing and use of light.

Well done!

well. that was very impressive! really good use of light and sound. i dunno what to say.... that was chuffin ace!
nice job!

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K0mat0ast

K0mat0ast on myspace

That was very nice piece of film-making . . . well done, Mark. Really well written, planned and executed.

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I try to make someone happy every day - but it may not be your turn today . . .

Strong stuff. You got that film look you were after some time back, was it from that 'Celluloid' app? From an editing point of view, it’s breathtaking. Looks like you considered every scene for composition & balance, and great credit for that.

Just from a viewer’s point of view, powerful, but a bit disturbing. The shock tactics work a treat. I get the feeling you weren’t sure which direction to go in….? Maybe it’s my own confusion, but I thought the stress on intense love didn’t quite gel with someone who is obsessed or even damaged by it. Full marks, though, everything about it is of a very high standard.

Thanks for all the great comments. They are truly appreciated and in some cases have overwhelmed me. They are particularly welcome considering that a while ago I entered it into a competition and got absolutely nowhere. I put an enormous amount of effort into the production and I was compeletly devastated when it received no recognition, all the more so because I did everything myself on the film. With no feedback from the competition judges, I felt it was a worthless piece of junk and I should quit now. So thank you for restoring my faith.