All Reviews

Truly enjoyed your film. There were some pitch issues but totally understandable for first version of movie. The tone, dialogue and structure of story was so inviting. I could actually feel the characters dilemma. I love the passion that Kirby has for art. I love how each character have their own personal view and opinion on art. I also like the diffrent forms of art that were mentioned and displayed throughout the film, from books to movies, to comic books, to marketing, to visual art and writing. In all I enjoyed the film, the only sugguestion I have is work on pacing and pitch.

It just ended too soon. :) Oh, and some explanation about how she turned out black in color with two white looking parents might be hinted at.

Sequential Art

A mesmerizing slideshow
an artistic parade
where quirks change color
age like a shade
sweet words rendered vital
observation made whole
love painted with whimsy
life layered, Art-Full

Watched this last night – thought about it most the day.

You’ve created something quite fine, well wrought, clean design. I look past what takes away from the whole. (namely editing – distracting visual transitions that could be fixed with the proper programs and time) I think you have it all here. Acting and Dialogue are fantastic. I was swept away, enjoyed it all. You have received a number of reviews already so I’ll cut to the chase… (Stuff you probably know -- and maybe?)

Suggested changes to help improve an already great movie:

1) Need a complete Edit to fix all scene transitions which are currently very sloppy, disjointed, distracting, slows the flow. (MOST IMPORTANT)

Check out Marty’s seamless Movie, ask him for the program he used:
http://studios.amazon.com/movies/11934

This will change the entire feel and flow, helps with continuity and emotional cohesion.

2) Scene where Kirby and Calliope hang out for the first time in Kirby’s new apartment, things heat up. Calliope’s asides have worked very well up until this scene – but here it takes too much out of the flow of what needs to be a continuous emotional ride.

Suggest re-cutting the scene: instead of her taking the time to get up and move – freeze frame – cut out her movements -- start again with her already standing to the side and starting her dialogue. I believe this will enable the viewer to stay more in the moment and create a much better dynamic.

3) Final scene in the park starting with Calliope and Frank. It took me a while today to put together exactly what it is that hit me wrong about this interaction and its transition to Kirby sitting on the bench. Frank gives off a strangeness that reminds me of other films where the character is not really present or alive. The scene dynamic suggests that Calliope is fantasizing or talking to herself ( I know you did not intended this and that the conversation is real) This inconsistency throws the scene off as it is right now.

Suggest re-cutting the scene: When Frank comes out from behind the tree ALL SOUND DROPS OFF as she runs to him and then there is a black screen as transition that lasts too long. Need to fix sound – this loss of sound can be taken as a signal that reality has just altered – it did me and the transition strengthens this perception creating an unwanted question in the mind and throwing the scene off. Fix sound and transition.

These are my best suggestions for a truly artistic transformation, and you already have everything here. Just realign the Sequencing!

Thanks for sharing this. What a treat.

Good luck, and may the Art be with You,
Patrick McConnell
generasp@yahoo.com

I liked it. I liked it a lot.
I've done many reviews of movies and scripts that I read or watched, and liked, but none of them were quite like this. This movie has a sort of sense of being outside the character's mind, which has it's questionable uses, but the story was very emotional, so that's probably the best you could do.

I have review so many movies, yet none of them being the same because this story consists of all the characters having to work Themselves out, instead of working out conflicts between others. This type of story is written for totally different people, (most of the time not people like me) so it was hard for me to relate this to many movies I've seen ever. which is good.

The characters evolved slowly, letting the viewer really know EVERYTHING about the character described. a character can sometimes change a story in all, in big good ways, or in small bad ways, or big bad ways and visa versa, this story had many of those changes, most of them being for the good. the character that annoyed me the most was Noah. I felt that his dialogue kept him from being real, if you know what I mean. He talked like a person would talk, not perfect, but he made so many mistakes that it was hard to like him, OR to hate him. He would say words like um, like, or so too many times that he seemed Made For the Movies, i you can see what I'm getting at here.
Calliope was very complex, and her character was great! she ad many, many, MANY levels, and her perspective and thoughts changed throughout the movie, as a real person's would, so her thoughts became more believable.
Frank was my favorite. some would say after watching this something like "Frank is a real hoot!" or "I wish my bookseller was like Frank." and they would be true. Frank was a character that seemed like he was easy to get, but it turned out that he had more feelings than came across. Also he was very funny, though not a character that goofed off throughout the movie, and diffused tension as well as any meaning of story, he was just a person who catches your attention as a human being, and gets a few laughs out of the audience.

The technical aspects were all in line at the beginning, though sound became a problem at the end of the movie. i heard changes in volume between shots, a lot of unneeded background noise, and fumbling with the camera, which i will add onto later. I took away from the viewing of the movie, so as to make the emotion, such an important part, less particular.
Also in the technical genre, the camera fumbling at the end. i noticed that the camera was starting to shake near the end of the movie, and a small bit during, which is not that big of a deal when starting out, but you don't see any accidental camera movement in transformers or any other big movie, so even a tripod that you're not holding would be sufficient, if you don't have it already.

Other than those small problems the movie was something I would recommend to many people, mostly people who like emotional dramas that take your whole brain to watch (which was a great aspect of this movie, the fact that I was thinking the whole time!)

The only reason I didn't give it five stars was that there were those small problems and it's not my kind of movie.

Other than that, Good luck!
, The Reviewist

First, let's talk about title. I get where it comes from but it truely has nothing to do with the story and little to do with the characters. I don't presume to know what it should be titled, just that currently it doesn't represent the film well. While Kirby is the central character - most action revolving around him, Kaliope is really the story's focus. Perhaps something that elucidates that point a bit more would work.

The acting is superb. For a bunch of (I assume) novice or non-professional actors, these folks do a bang-up job. Very believable characters.

Production qualities are excellent. As most others have noted, proper use of a boom mic and control of background noise would enhance the end product tremendously but after all, this is a TEST movie. All's forgiven there.

I think this has great potential, in a finished form.

What I really liked about this film was the cinematography. There were scenes where there was a foreground, middleground, and a background. I liked how the important parts in the scene would be in focus and other parts would be out of focus, then it would switch, especially with who was speaking. At the end of the film I liked how Calliope ran into her father (not expected, but a good feeling because of Norman Newkirk's old man's reaction) and then the out of focus, soon to be in focus Kirby was sitting on the bench. The lighting was really good and the images were very clear. In one scene, I liked the feel of the restaurant Kirby and Sabrina patronized due to the lighting and shadows. Camera angles were good as well. I liked very much the acting. The characters were believable and interesting, and the actors bounced words off each other well. Norman Newkirk reminds me a little bit of Michael Douglas with his slow, gruff, and deliberate voice. The writing was also good. There was always something interesting happening. The part about Calliope breaking the 4th wall reminded me of Ferris Bueller's Day off a little bit, and then when I learned that she talked to invisible friends I felt as though when she did this at the end of the film before she saw her father I got to be one of the imaginary friends she confided in. The dialogues and monologues were expertly written. I liked the varied scenery, from the restaurant to the bookstore to Kirby's home, etc. and wardrobes of the characters seemed to fit them well. Blake with his teardrop sunglasses, firey t-shirt and dress jacket looked very producer-like, Sabrina very professional in her work dress.

All in all I thought this was a great movie that a lot of thought and effort went into. As a test movie the visible mics were somewhat ignorable, although despite this sometimes I couldn't hear (for example, when Sabrina is with Blake what Sabrina says) the dialogue. Still that I can ignore because this is just a test movie but in my opinion otherwise really has the makings of a good Hollywood production.

I came real close to giving this test film five stars. So far, it's the most enjoyable test film I've seen on the Amazon Studios site. The only weak points I can discern seem like just me being picky.

The premise was not real strong, as far as being real catchy or grabbing a mass audience. Not "high-concept" at all. That's okay, I lean more toward character-driven stories these days.

The story structure "hit all the notes" in textbook fashion.

The characters evoked sympathy and their motivation was authentic. I was so wrapped up in the romance that at one point I said out loud, "Oh, just kiss her, damnit!"

The dialog was mostly good, sometimes excellent, and a couple of times it fell a little short. I would have trimmed that some. The first scene with Kirby and Calliope's father seemed a little flat. The next scene with Calliope seemed too talky, although it did provide great insight into Calliope's character.

Some reviewers didn't like Calliope speaking directly to the camera. I loved it. It gave the movie verve and personality that you don't get from a movie that's directed "by the book." Voice-over would have done the job, but sometimes you can get away with breaking down that fourth wall. And in this case, it really worked.

This movie gets really high points from me for the acting. It was an incredible cast, all the more so for being a zero-budget production.

Notes on technical issues: I thought the lighting was great--soft and warm and natural. What I liked at first, that later became a bit annoying, was the shifting focus. The most annoying thing for me, though, was the sound. At times it was crystal clear, sometimes very noisy, and sometimes the levels were very inconsistent. At one point, in a conversation is a restaurant, the background noise level changed a lot between shots. (That could be fixed very easily by going back to the location during a busy time, recording more background noise, and inserting it in on a separate audio track on the movie editing software.)

Overall, though, this movie was very well done. I could see this actually being re-done very easily, winning awards and making some money at the box office.

I hope the cast and crew go on to great future succes.

Besides a few technical errors, it was an excellent first attempt. This film has big potential. You already noted the mics. being visible in some of the shots, but I noticed an obvious error. It won't kill the film, but it's an error that should be addressed before the final cut is made. I noticed that a few of the restaurant scenes, the was background noise of someone leaning dishes, but when the shot changes to another angle, the background noise changes to something else. Then the shot changes back and the dishes are being washed again all of a sudden. It's not a super huge error, but it would give it a more professional look if it was fixed before the final cut. I'm guessing that you only had one camera. Overall, it was still a great movie, and there was one line that really stuck. "As long as you have one wish to cling on to, no matter how big of a sea you are floating in, even if it's just a silly little wish, you won't drown." That was by far the best line of the movie and helped show a big part of that character. Great work, I'm looking forward to seeing it in the box office in the future. :)

Okay, I loved all the characters. They were all believable, especially the leading male. There were a few shaky camera scenes that annoyed me a bit. I loved the thought put into the dialogue, but at times it was delivered so quickly that I could not understand, even after I reviewed the scenes several times.

I'm a sucker so a somewhat happy ending. Blame it on Disney. I am happy that I did not predict the ending. I wish the impact of a child meeting his or her mother after a lifetime of thinking she was dead could have been expressed deeper. I felt that the few scenes dedicated to this development weren't sufficient.

I can say I appreciate art more, and understand artists a little better. The lines at the end over the music were difficult to follow. I knew that it was supposed to be impacting, and the music was, but I could not hear the words clearly.

But, I really liked the story. It was a welcomed distraction in from my writing.

good try all around, but story, dialogue & execution bored me within 2 minutes. Good point: the appealing lead actress. Bad point: boring all around.