Chapter 5 - "The Circle of Death"
A suspenseful production featuring Fat, Rae, Kodie and Eric
Scoring
Judges' Votes
Although none of the submissions hit the mark, this entry came the closest to the suspense genre. Nice music editing; I like the suspenseful sting to close (it's overused, but was well-placed, here). Acting was fair to good and didn't turn me off. The way this scene was shot, I do think that Oliver could have disarmed or killed Annie: I know that wasn't the idea, so points off for execution. Still, a very solid entry.
This week it was also a hard one to select a winner, but I must say NOT for the same high level of quality as the last time. Frankly, you need to go back to some sources and read Hitchcock on "suspense" vs. "surprise." Most of these are simply surprise, with little or no genuine Hitchcockian suspense. Oh, they all build in (in a rather artificial and somewhat forced way) suspense AT THE END. . .but few do so earlier. Hitchcockian suspense is built around, and upon, and with UNRESTRICTED NARRATION: the viewer knows more than characters do. [And in clips this short thatmust occur from the get go and keep happening, especially early on.] I chose "The Circle of Death' primarily because it had the most/the best elements of genuine Hitchcockian suspense in it. How so? We see Oliver come in before any characters do, and we also see the eyeyline match by the one tied-up character to Oliver, before the woman turns and realizes he is there. That is how AH thinks of suspense. Now, it does break down in the rather silly "circle the tied-up guys" sequence--why does Oliver bother to circle with her? Oh, it is sort of a nice effect, but realistic and suspense-generating--not very. Oh, and if they both get hit why do we hear only a single gunshot?
"Midnight Blue" has some nice technical effects/shots. . .but way too many unanswered questions. Too many people just appear, and too many things just happen, and we have NO clue--way more AH surprise than suspense. Which one of all those who appear actually is Oliver? And why does the driver just suddenly fall over? And who is each of these people who make sudden appearances?
"How Kevin Got His Groove back" is okay, i guess. That he is an undercover cop--surprise--NOT suspense. The flashforward to prison shots were a nice idea, but not very convincing. . . what we see shows something for him to be thinkning and then feeling fearful? And who is in the shadows? Suspense is not simply showing us that, give us something(s) to play with and ponder and feel suspenseful about. And make some use of it in the stakeout scene. And for suspense, tell us about the sound man, but maybe show something happen to him since his role seems a key to the safety of the "mark."
"I Told You". . . hmm, what is with the one tied-up guy and his heavy breathing? As soon as they are released he sure has no problem anymore. So? And why does the woman fall down and is she hurt, conscious, whatever? And for suspense we need to know more about the relaitve positions of the "escapees" and the woman and the car chasing them. As it is are they in the same garage? Is the car close but at first not known (to the escapees) to the others?
I still want you all to know that I am verrrrrry impressed with how much you can do and actually do accomplish in such short amounts of time.
Comments
Cody is a natural. Amazing. Also, Fat gets dramatic line of the century award.
..
Good submission guys. Over all it was a good job. I liked some of the camera work. As for suspense wise... you did have some when Oliver was walking in. Al though, I felt like he should have shot her when he was sneaking in. It also looks like you ALL have agreed on the set. haha.
The only few problems I have with this submission was I felt like the suspense was a little bit lacking and what is with looking in the camera at the end!??? It should never be used unless it is crucial and thought about. The very few cases where this technique has work was "Thin Red Line". That really bothered me. It was awesome until then.
But yeah, you guys are a solid contender this week.
Good job, TeamBlackRock!
awesome, simply awesome
...
Way to go team- Like that suit CP- btw-I liked the final camera shot- waiting for the next chapter!
Awesome Cody!!!!! Love the suit... Porkchops would have set it OFF!!!!!!!
Haha, double kill...I guess nearly as ridiculous as a phone that controls human thoughts. The most strait forward piece, so this team gets my vote again. What happened to the other group?
nice job guys
good job continuing the story but starting to wrap it up too.. something that the other videos really lack. i like that you remembered the fact that kevin hurt or made annie bleed at some point mentioned in the previous video and even started to give an explanation of that.. got my vote though audio just a tad low at points. love the music though!
Hey CP- where'd you get those glasses!?- Great job Team Blackrock- let's go to Hollywood-
You got my vote...BABE! haha
I think all the acting will win awards at the emmy's this year...kudos to all the actors...and kudos on all the awesome shots you were able to get...I really like where this is going...i need to see the conclusion.
I believe Cody missed his calling :)
great work
Hmm, that the Halo soundtrack? Someone must be using the sniper riffle, they got a double kill with one shot, yes!
who's awesome silver VW is in the background?
Nice way to bring the story close to a conclusion! Good job
this is the only story that starts to bring the plot to an end. this also is the most normal, straightforward story (i mean weird lasers coming out of some chick, i'm sorry i dont like like cheesy sci fi crap...dusome). this is the only one that makes sense, good acting too. good job guys.
this one sux the least
HAHAHAHA, mind devise...STUPID....Way to try to salvage a semester of work. I hope you guys win to put an end to Dr. Spock and Captain Dingdong's far fetched crap.
Good job kids!
Good job.
wow, i hope your fans' petty insults aren't a reflection of you guys. entertaining clip, nice job, but it wasn't very interesting.
sci-fi don't makes sense... but boring does... LOL
== I took back my vote for this video just because of the fans. They made me realize how ordinary and boring this video was. What risk did you take? NONE = boring.
hey "daJudge" make sure every time you follow the crowd or change your mind you post an insult on this wall... because everybody really really cares what you think. your vote counts the most!
anyway, i haven't voted yet but this video is really good, i like the story and i like the shots. and way to start bringin it to a close.
This is like a Philly-Dallas game. Realize, we are all just college students here, still working on the ol production skills. I love that our 2 min. videos cause some of you to fuss so much. GO JEM 436
Agreed TeamBlackRock. Our rootclips cause more controversy than the BCS format.
all I want to know is where the hell is detective Silas Abernathy?
I can't decide what to vote on. The next comment after mine will have the ability to sway my decision. I am a follower. Someone lead!
If you want to vote for mine, I'll be cool with that.
sci-fi lasers = gay............... cody = awesome
Well last time 4-5 judges saw it how I saw it. So we'll see which one is crap this time. Not everyone can tell what's crap and what's not...
PS you can get as many friends and family of your to vote you want... It really the judges who have the say. So get over yourself and this clip. Just cause your mom loves it, doesn't mean it's good.
daJudge get over yourself. Its Friday night man, go drink some beers and forget about rootclip for a minute
Maybe DuSome should respond but I bet they are probably out at a anime/sci-fi convention dressed in matching Princess Lea outfits.
Good job, Team BlackRock! Enjoy your videos!
Damn, Joel is not in this one. lol I don't why but I thought the whole clip is hilarious. And I really like the shot with the blood off the nose. You guys always good with blood. Good job guys. Nate directed this? -duno
This is good but If I were in it, it would be awesome. Who can beat my strangling/hitman scene??? Nothing Personal...haha, good job with chapter 5
Might have been more suspenseful if you hadn't already shown the end result of the gun fight. Although, Rootclip is suspenseful anyway because of every chapter's endings (never know what will happen next)
I enjoyed this clip. You've done a good job. However, after reviewing comments left on each group's submission page I've noticed the harsh criticisms left for each group. The highest number of verbal assault's is on Dusome's page. I've viewed the profiles for these commentators. The most disparaging comments left on Dusome's page (CCC, wastoass, and gagglegeeses) have only voted for TeamBlackRock each time. In correlation, TeamBlackRock's page has irritable comments left by members that have only voted for Dusome each time. Additionally, these voting members have been exchanging jabs at each other via continuous comments. Some negative commentary has been placed on pages by RenderThis, but they've offered constructive criticism instead of pure insult. Not sure why Dusome and TeamBlackRock's fans or members have felt the need to belittle the other's work, but it reflects poorly on these two groups. A RenderThis sole voter chose to deprecate other entries on the RenderThis page. This is undesirable as well. My belief is that commentary should offer suggestion/constructive criticism. All three team's have accomplished desirable submissions, but unacceptable verbal communication. My vote will only be extended to AgainstTheClock not just because of the decent entry, but for appearing to be the only team that does not have friends/members that demean their competitors.
funny... just because i spend 5 minutes bashing on bad videos doesn't mean I need to "chase" spirit. Do u mean alcohol or girls? Does that really make you cool? LOL I bet you think it makes you cool. Don't bash on the people... the video are on the judging table here. I am sorrie you people, film student, cannot handle harsh criticism. What do you think will be waiting for you out there?
The real world is harsh, they won't give you constructive criticism at all. They will say you movie sucks and not go see it. So learn to deal with it.
Honestly, all these video SUCKS! They are made from students, who have crappy camera and no budget. Yeah they ALL sucks! Now that have been said, I usually try to point out the good things I see in each video and especially the bad things. If you really want to improve then you would really focus on those comments. Instead of getting your friends to come to your help and defend your video by calling people moron and so on. The moron is the one who insult the people comment instead of leaving helpful comments so you can improve. With that said I would like to say again... All these video sucks!
1) Midnight Blue sucks the least... the name bothers me and the close up shot of the face.
2) Circle of Death sucks and lack suspense, come up with something I haven't seen before. The guy obviously could have killed her before the gun pointing...
3) Not even on the same tier with the other two.
4) Not even on the same tier with the other two.
Next week I hope to see some work from all of you guys that are not so predictable and boring...
I still think the camera work is superb! It does not make you dizzy to watch and it's steady. Acting is pretty good for "just" college students.
So I have to say that this is by far the best video. They deserve to win. There was alot of hard work put in it. I agree with amy56 the camera work rocks my socks off. I have never watched anything with such good camera quality. The editing is perfect...no wait..its BETTER than perfect. There is nothing I would change in the editing of this video except maybe next time don't do as good of a job so it doesn't make everyone else feel bad.