RAGE OF SILENCE short film online

Justin Lovell · October 15, 2005

Official web release today.

RAGE OF SILENCE

4 1/2 min samurai/kung fu flic.

tri-x, nizo pro, modified shutter angle, shot in camera, in sequence. No post editing allowed.

www.justinlovell.com > rage of silence > watch film.

lemme know what you think.

Gordon Highland · October 15, 2005

that was pretty neat! it was much more impressive when i found out afterwards it was all in-camera (guess i don't read so good sometimes). i also really liked the sound work, which i assume was all post. flamenco kung fu, huh? ;)

the shaky cam really bugged me in several of the shots where it was unmotivated. during the action sequences and from subjective long distances it worked well, but not during the quieter times when one person was just looking at another.

Justin Lovell · October 16, 2005

that was pretty neat! it was much more impressive when i found out afterwards it was all in-camera (guess i don't read so good sometimes). i also really liked the sound work, which i assume was all post. flamenco kung fu, huh? ;)

the shaky cam really bugged me in several of the shots where it was unmotivated. during the action sequences and from subjective long distances it worked well, but not during the quieter times when one person was just looking at another.

I agree about the shakyness. Live and learn. The film starts out being shot on sticks, but once the action starts it goes all handheld (It ends on sticks too). I think I could have given it a few more beats being locked off in the middle section before some of the action starts.

thanks for the comments,

November 7, 2005

It made me feel something, which is the main idea right? ...considering "the rules" I think you did very well indeed! I liked some of the shots very much.

Justin Lovell · November 7, 2005

It made me feel something, which is the main idea right? ...considering "the rules" I think you did very well indeed! I liked some of the shots very much.

If anyone's in Berlin, you can check out both my films Stuntman and Rage of silence playing at the NOMOS AWARDS. ( www.schmalfilm.de ). Nov 12 @ Babylon Cinema. I'll be there too :D

November 8, 2005

like everyone else said the shakiness is a problem and I reckon this had something to do with your under estimation of how shaky it would end up looking. not only is 'shake' something that requires absolute motivation (and it could be argued your sequences didn't require shake) it can appear even more un-motivated when not handled with care.

does your camera have a selection of lenses cause if it did i would go just a little bit wider (particularly on close-ups) to lessen that movement, but not so wide that you lose your depth of field.

I would be interested in seeing this film with the camera always locked off (just for comparisons sake).

I have to admit I have a bias here because I prefer shots where motion occurs within the frame rather than to the frame.

and on the whole exposure was handled fairly well for such extreme conditions (i.e snow), although the close-ups needed more exposure - did you change your f-stop much after each 'cut'?

Well done for the in camera editing. I can see you have a good eye for continuity and sequencing. did you storyboard by the way? how long did it take you to shoot the whole thing?

Justin Lovell · November 9, 2005

like everyone else said the shakiness is a problem and I reckon this had something to do with your under estimation of how shaky it would end up looking. not only is 'shake' something that requires absolute motivation (and it could be argued your sequences didn't require shake) it can appear even more un-motivated when not handled with care.

does your camera have a selection of lenses cause if it did i would go just a little bit wider (particularly on close-ups) to lessen that movement, but not so wide that you lose your depth of field.

I would be interested in seeing this film with the camera always locked off (just for comparisons sake).

I have to admit I have a bias here because I prefer shots where motion occurs within the frame rather than to the frame.

and on the whole exposure was handled fairly well for such extreme conditions (i.e snow), although the close-ups needed more exposure - did you change your f-stop much after each 'cut'?

Well done for the in camera editing. I can see you have a good eye for continuity and sequencing. did you storyboard by the way? how long did it take you to shoot the whole thing?

1. Yup, turned out more shaky than expected. Would have done the first snap zoom onto the henchman off of sticks of i could redo it.

2. I agree with you about motivation, and choice to go handheld. The film started off on sticks, then moved to handheld and ended on sticks again.

3. Had a nice angineux zoom lens, would defineatly have shot a wider lens and moved in, as the some of the closeups didn't really benefit from and shallower DOF in hindsight.

4. The snow acted as a nice bounce card which helped things out quite a bit.

5. Readjusted exposure and shutter angles for each shot, so there were a few things to consider. A little too dark on some of the shots. Shooting Reversal film isn't as forgiving with slight exposure slips.

6. Shot the whole thing from 6am-7pm. Fully storyboarded with timing VERY specific. Spent about 2 months in pre-production rehersing, writing and choreographing 2 days a week. Shot the film numerous times on DV in a studio to get the timing right. Shot 4 rolls on camera tests with shutter angles, blood squirting tests, speed ramping (which we didn't use, it would have burned through too much film) and in camera cutting tests, credits sequence tests.

7. How long did it take to edit it?..hehe. Just added a few hours splicing the reels together and removing a couple camera malfunctions.

8. Sound design took a lot of time though, had a great crew working on the music and the SFX. By the way, all the music was composed using garage band and recorded through the little MIC built into the LCD screen on one of those IMACs...(?) SFX done in Pro Tools.

thanks for the comments,

Chris Fernando · November 10, 2005

Justin,

I really dug the location. Using S8 and the backwoods location give it an interesting 'eyewitness account/cinema verite' feel. Where'd you shoot this?

Justin Lovell · November 12, 2005

Justin,
I really dug the location. Using S8 and the backwoods location give it an interesting 'eyewitness account/cinema verite' feel. Where'd you shoot this?

I spent about 2 weeks scouting locations, and in the end, my parent's forest was the most feesable location. Shot in a valley to help hide the house in the background. Also was perfect for running power from the house as well as a great location for lunch and keeping the talent/crew warm.

sometimes the best solutions are to rely on the ones you love. keep 'em close at hand :D

SSJR · November 13, 2005

I spent about 2 weeks scouting locations, and in the end, my parent's forest was the most feesable location. Shot in a valley to help hide the house in the background. Also was perfect for running power from the house as well as a great location for lunch and keeping the talent/crew warm.

sometimes the best solutions are to rely on the ones you love. keep 'em close at hand :D

I really thought you did a good job on this, but I agree too, that at times the shaking isn't nessesary. A little more staticness would contrast the shaky movement and give the view time to reflect on a kill. I really like the shot where the man with the cone shaped hat blocks the flare after a couple of seconds.

Evan

Justin Lovell · November 14, 2005

I really thought you did a good job on this, but I agree too, that at times the shaking isn't nessesary. A little more staticness would contrast the shaky movement and give the view time to reflect on a kill. I really like the shot where the man with the cone shaped hat blocks the flare after a couple of seconds.

Evan

yeah, i was alittle worried about how that would turn out with lens flaring, but trusted myself and shot it anyway. happy with the results.

just didn.t really like his balyclava? that he was wearing under the hat.. seems a little out of place. next time i.m not going to let stuff like that .slide. ...

there are static shots at the start to open the film and to end the film, but a few more stable shots, not on sticks, but with less shake could have smoothed out the viewing for the audience.