Manure

[Mei Lewis]

Wow!

 

David, I just looked through your website at a bunch of the stills from your movies and was amazed. I love the sense of colour in them. It's particularly obvious in the shots from Manure and Norfolk but it's there in them all. I would never have guessed from looking at some of the shots from Manure that it was shot on a sound stage. I haven't seen the movie, do you know is it available on DVD outside the US I live in the UK)?

 

I love color and I'm trying to learn as much about it as I can. I'm reading the book "If It's Purple, Someone's Gonna Die" after it was recommended on this forum. It has a lot of information on what the author believes certain colors mean, how they make people feel, but it doesn't help explain how to get those colors. Are there an books you can recommend that do?

 

I'm a stills photographer with no desire to shoot motion. I was drawn to this forum, and movie making in general because there seem to be a lot of things I can learn and apply to stills, I think I've learned a lot already.

[David Mullen ASC]

"Manure" is sort of stuck in limbo until the investor/owner/producer decides what he wants to do with it.

 

Color is created in all sorts of ways, from the color of the objects, the color of the lighting, and the color-correction or color balance of the photography, etc. Mainly it's an issue of overall color bias versus individual color within the frame, and of course, saturation levels, in terms of the combination of methods you choose to control it -- the general rule is to first control what's in front of the camera and then how it is photographed, and then finally how it is color-corrected.

[Mei Lewis]

"Manure" is sort of stuck in limbo until the investor/owner/producer decides what he wants to do with it.

 

Color is created in all sorts of ways, from the color of the objects, the color of the lighting, and the color-correction or color balance of the photography, etc. Mainly it's an issue of overall color bias versus individual color within the frame, and of course, saturation levels, in terms of the combination of methods you choose to control it -- the general rule is to first control what's in front of the camera and then how it is photographed, and then finally how it is color-corrected.

 

 

Thanks. I like the simple three step way you explain that.

[David Mullen ASC]

Looks like the movie, retitled "The Smell of Success" is being dumped to DVD out in Australia in April.

[Guest]

Looks like the movie, retitled "The Smell of Success" is being dumped to DVD out in Australia in April.

 

Ah yes, the whacky whacky world of indie film distribution. :)

 

R,

[K Borowski]

But, not here?!?!?!

[Stuart Brereton]

Ah yes, the whacky whacky world of indie film distribution. :)

 

R,

 

Ah, A feeling I know well.... :(

[Aaron Solomon]

Hey Mr. Mullen,

 

Could you explain what you mean by color bias?

Also, cinematography wise, in terms of what you have in front of the camera, is there anything you look for in the color of the objects that are being photographed? Complementary colors, etc?

 

Thanks :)

[David Mullen ASC]

Hey Mr. Mullen,

 

Could you explain what you mean by color bias?

Also, cinematography wise, in terms of what you have in front of the camera, is there anything you look for in the color of the objects that are being photographed? Complementary colors, etc?

 

Thanks :)

 

I meant "color bias" as opposed to "individual colors" as in the frame having an overall color tone or wash as opposed to individual objects having a color.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "anything you look for in the color of the objects". If you are talking about pleasing color combinations, that's a matter of taste and what the needs of the story are. The main thing is to avoid visual clutter when it comes to color -- even if you want a saturated image, you have to control that... sometimes a red shirt stands out because it's surrounded by grey, or the complementary color, but often if you want the viewer to see a particular color, it's better to surround it with something neutral and not attention-grabbing, which may be the problem with surrounding red with a sea of green, for example -- the red will stand out of course but your eyes may still be noticing all the green as well. Maybe you want that, maybe not.

[Keith Walters]

Looks like the movie, retitled "The Smell of Success" is being dumped to DVD out in Australia in April.

Actually, March 23:

 

http://www.videoezy.com.au/Movies/2a1beecc-5695-4b74-b473-76edbdc8f5f3.aspx

 

Maybe it's a test marketing thing. But why here though? If they wanted an English-Speaking test market, you'd think Canada would be a more logical choice.

[David Mullen ASC]

Actually, March 23:

 

http://www.videoezy.com.au/Movies/2a1beecc-5695-4b74-b473-76edbdc8f5f3.aspx

 

Maybe it's a test marketing thing. But why here though? If they wanted an English-Speaking test market, you'd think Canada would be a more logical choice.

 

Since it has no studio distribution, I think the producers are just selling it market by market and some company in Australia bought it first.

[Adrian Sierkowski]

Here's hoping it eventually gets over here. Ever since reading up on your shoot it's one of the few RED movies I actually really wanted to see!

[Guest]

Since it has no studio distribution, I think the producers are just selling it market by market and some company in Australia bought it first.

 

That surprises me considering the star studded cast. I'm always surprised by the number of movies I see on NetFlix that I have never heard of, but where made in the last 4-5 years, and have a big name A list actor on the front cover.

 

Of course I could write volumes on indie film distribution, it's a long tough road for anyone involved.

 

R,

[K Borowski]

I'm with Richard on this. Seems that a film like this has plenty of star-power to get bums in seats.

[Candice Cardasis]

Since it has no studio distribution, I think the producers are just selling it market by market and some company in Australia bought it first.

 

Distribution models are definitely changing - an indie feature I worked on (and still haven't seen) has made the festival circuit (we were big in Cleveland and Sacramento), been picked up by Netflix already and will be in theaters in March in six of the continental United States, neither of which are New York or LA.

 

Kind of backwards, definitely new.

 

-C.

 

bit.ly/cardasis

[Keith Walters]

Well I went up to my local Video Ezy today.

They have empty DVD cases on the racks with "Smell of Success" lablels and "coming soon" stickers.

 

But three staff members and much keyboard clacking later, nobody can tell me when "soon" actually is, nor does anybody know anything about the movie.

 

I guess we wait...

[Jonathan Bowerbank]

Just checked out the trailer and noticed Michael removed his name as director and now there's an "Alan Smithee" type name, Larry Smith, credited as director. The brothers are writing credit is still there though, so I'm curious what happened during this long process of post-prod and distribution that caused his name to be removed :/

[David Mullen ASC]

Just checked out the trailer and noticed Michael removed his name as director and now there's an "Alan Smithee" type name, Larry Smith, credited as director. The brothers are writing credit is still there though, so I'm curious what happened during this long process of post-prod and distribution that caused his name to be removed :/

 

Basically the investor/producer took away the project after the Sundance screening where the reviews were mixed, I guess as an excuse for recutting the movie the way he wanted to. I think he wanted to show everyone who was in control since it was his money, failing to understand that this wasn't a big studio movie franchise where the known concept is selling the movie, but an indie art house movie that is hard to market if you've kicked the filmmakers off of their own movie.

[Keith Walters]

Basically the investor/producer took away the project after the Sundance screening where the reviews were mixed, I guess as an excuse for recutting the movie the way he wanted to. I think he wanted to show everyone who was in control since it was his money, failing to understand that this wasn't a big studio movie franchise where the known concept is selling the movie, but an indie art house movie that is hard to market if you've kicked the filmmakers off of their own movie.

Well it's finally showed up at my local Video Ezy.

 

Obviously I don't don't know what was in the original cut, but while most of the picture moves along well enough, there are some parts that just seem I don't know, less professionally edited. All it says on the DVD label are copyright notices for "Initiate Productions" and "Layout and Design Sony Home Pictures Entertainment Australia". It doesn't seem to be available for sale anywhere.

 

The post production and DVD mastering are a bit slipshod; the titles and end credits could have been turned out on Windows Movie Maker, there were sound-sync problems in some places, and simply poor sound on some others. David Mullen's name only appears in the opening credits, I actually missed it the first time round. The RED logo is prominently displayed at the end of the credits, though. (Yet another Sony release, shot on RED...)

 

The cinematography came up well; apart from a few blown-out practical lights, (haven't you guys heard of the candle soot on the glass trick?) there was nothing to indicate it wasn't shot of film, although that is admittedly only looking at a DVD copy (there does not appear to be a Bly ray release).

 

The biggest criticism I would have of the film itself is some parts seem unnecessarily drawn-out, like they were trying to get the running time up. (This is a problem I have with a lot of Australian TV productions: They insist on turning what have made a fairly decent one hour show into a TV movie...")

 

Plot-wise, I don't know how this will appear to the general audience. To me it comes up as a bit of a three-way cross between Green Acres, Eraserhead, and the Simpsons. (The synthetic fertilizer salesmen paratrooping into the farmers' fields with crates of their product, is straight out of the Simpsons, for example).

 

For me, the biggest problem with the plot is that the Manure salesmen are not sufficiently serious about their product. That is, while they come across as enthusiastic enough about what they're wanting to sell, I think it would have been more amusing if:

 

A. They didn't keep make jokes about what they were selling; and they really needed to be more readily offended by anybody else making such jokes.

B. They needed to be more oblivious to how gross the general public would find their product and line of work (You know, work the "Too much information" angle a bit more!).

 

The ending at least, was reasonably satisfactory, and not predictable.

[Dean Werner]

Hope it shows up at a store near me or on Netflix soon. I've been waiting to see it mostly for David's work on it.

[Jonathan Bowerbank]

It is now on Netflix.

 

I watched it the other night, and really enjoyed David's work. The backdrops added that surreal dreamy atmosphere that I've come to associate with Polish Bros. films, and I felt the performances were pretty great and real funny.

 

However, it was inexplicably sensored in a few parts. One shot involving "manboobs", where they placed CG "1st Price" blue ribbons over the nipples. And a line from Ed Helms during one of the opening sequences, which was hilarious...had it not been overdubbed with a word that I couldn't even make out.

 

I don't know how much it was butchered in the editing room, but it did seem to lack the pacing of a Polish movie. Much more condensed for distribution.

 

Still, I enjoyed the film, I just hope to see a director's version released in the future.

[Ravi Kiran]

It is now on Netflix.

 

It is called The Smell of Success. I searched for "Manure" and couldn't find it until I remembered the title was changed.

[Oliver Hadlow Martin]

Saw you on some Abelcine video the other day talking about this, really beautiful images David, great job.