Mr Fox, a short film

[Max Swinton]

Hi, this is a short film that I recently completed, it's about a strange characters efforts to attain the impossible.

Here's the youtube link, watch it in hd if you can. Hope you enjoy it, and please leave any comments and criticism that you have.

 

 

Thanks very much,

 

Max

Edited April 15, 2009 by Max Swinton

[Daniel Hueque]

My mind is blown away by the fact that no one has replied to this yet.

 

Great film and great editing. One of the best ones I've seen in a while. I will be referring to this short film in the future as I prepare to make my own. I really have no complaints except that the part where the black stuff coming out of the cup was slightly too long and was maybe too repetitive (showing it ooze out multiple times). Other than that, good, weird short.

 

Where did you find most of the sound effects? I've been looking for a good place to find some (sound effects you can't make by yourself I mean).

 

I hope you keep us updated if you make any more movies.

[Nick Evans]

I agree with the previous post.

Great job.

[Marcus Joseph]

That certainly was a strange short.

[Damien Bhatti]

You know this short is a breath of fresh air from ones I have been watching on YouTube of late, no disrespect to them. Such a great use of taxidermy and how taxidermy is so underrepresented these days! I think surprise is often a good tactic for holding my attention, and I was absolutely riveted from beginning to end. That comes from being completely unaware of what I had expected, well I expected something around the lines of "Fight the Ban," or something to the contrary. But this just threw me. I can really sense the enthusiasm and enjoyment in this little project - with a big vulgar gesture to narrative, 5 *'s.

 

p.s. I thought the gloves with the marble eyes first time around felt a little out of place. I think maybe you could push that aesthetic next time as it is already quite "full," in the world it evokes for me. Taxidermy, fox hunting, and marbles are all great avenues for an aesthetic that is good looking, complimentary and organic - appearing to be not too selected from mere choice.

 

What camera/ film / budget etc?

[Matt Read]

Nice. Very weird. It was very well made. The cinematography was simple, but effective and had a very specific style that it kept to. The editing and sound design were effective as well.

 

Normally, I hate opening credits in short films, but I felt yours were short and sweet and fit in with your use of intertitles through the rest of the film.

 

My only complaint is that it wasn't really about anything. There was no story or development. It was just, "Here's some weird stuff revolving around a mounted fox head." I think it would make an interesting opening for a longer film, rather than a film in its own right.

[Tom Jensen]

That was great. It was very well done. I truly enjoyed it. I didn't care for the title cards. I would have liked to have seen you cut to someone delivering the lines. Who or what, I cannot say, that would be your artistic decision. But, that would have increased the budget. The sound was great.

[thisismuzzy]

Why is this not original? Okay the Fox idea was but you've pulled it all, well it's essentially the start of A Clockwork Orange. Even the camera movement

[Steve Wallace]

Ha! I liked it a lot. Very entertaining... :)

[Ashley Wing]

Loved this short. I like how it's captured people's hearts yet they're not entirely sure why. I have shown this to quite a few friends and they liked it a lot.

 

Brilliant example of what the HVX200 can do with a bit of post magic, at first glance I thought it was shot on film. I also like some of your fake trailers/experimentation. I especially liked the cinematography in 'Maze of the blind'. I think you're on your way to creating something very special, as indeed is this.

 

Great stuff!

 

Ash.

[Max Swinton]

Hi, thanks for all the feedback, really appreciate it. Daniel, the sound design was done by my friend Kenneth Jeffrey, and he recorded all of the sounds himself. Damien, agreed about the glove shot, it feels a little bit plain to me. It was filmed on a DVX 100 which I borrowed from my uni, and excluding 300 pounds spent on the academic edition of adobe production suite cs4, the budget was probably about 150 pounds or so. Matt, I can understand your comment, but it does have a story of sorts which is there if you look for it, but it isn't the focus of it. Thisismuzzy, you are bsolutely right, the opening shot is an exact replica of the opening shot from A Clockwork Orange, I had hoped it would be obvious, I was not trying to copy it and pass it off as my own. Again, thanks so much for the comments, I am currently in the process of making another film in a similar style, this time involving a hungry, delusional Pike. I'l put it up as soon as it's done. Thanks very much,

Max

[Andrew Clunie]

wow......so great. Your work reminds me of stuff by the likes of Tony Williams. If you havn't checked out next of kin, i think you would enjoy it. Heres a link to show you what i am talking about:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFq4wgyXQ40

 

I was so sure that was shot on film as well, looked really nice. How did you create the old filmstock like colours? Also where abouts are you based, what uni do you attend? Again, great job man.

Edited May 11, 2009 by Andrew Clunie

[Marcus Joseph]

wow......so great. Your work reminds me of stuff by the likes of Tony Williams. If you havn't checked out next of kin, i think you would enjoy it. Heres a link to show you what i am talking about:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFq4wgyXQ40

 

I was so sure that was shot on film as well, looked really nice. How did you create the old filmstock like colours? Also where abouts are you based, what uni do you attend? Again, great job man.

Yeah, I really liked the feel and colours too, looked very film-like.

 

I was wondering if you could tell me a bit more about how you did it in post and would you recommend CS4 over the other popular prosumer editing software (i.e. Final Cut Pro, Sony Vegas?).

 

Thanks.

[Edgar Dubrovskiy]

This is insane.

Amazing job.

[Max Swinton]

Thanks very much. Andrew, that film looks absolutely brilliant, thanks for that. I go to the Glasgow School of Art, finish in 3 weeks, and I do fine art there, and thankfully that encompasses film. The look of it comes from hours and hours in after effects tweaking it until I liked it. I wanted it to look like something that someone found in an attic, an old reel of film that could be 5 years old or 40 years old. After I had graded it exstensively I made a real film grain overlay and put it over the top to give it some organic texture. Marcus, I had wanted to get after effects for a while, and I did all the grading and effects work in that, but I actually edited it in Sony vegas platinum 9, I have yet to figure out premiere but I will do when I get some time. I have never used Final Cut Pro. I would reccomend CS4 but ultimately it depends on what you need, and how much money you want to spend. Also bear in mind that I purchased it primarily for after effects. Later today I will post up some before and after screen grabs for anyone who is interested in the grading. Thanks very much for the comments everyone,

Max

[Andrew Clunie]

Later today I will post up some before and after screen grabs for anyone who is interested in the grading

 

I would be interested in seeing the before and after grabs ;)