"In my image" my partial review

[S8 Booster]

Strange, "Tanya" used to be Justin??

R

[mattias]

I saw this film at a friends a while back I don't wanna be rude but I am sorry to rain on your parade - the film is crap! There's no other way to put it.

yes there is. we all know that there are plenty of flaws with this film, technically especially, but scot knows this too. keep it interesting. and it's your loss if you didn't get into the story, which *is* actually really good.

if something is bad its bad

i never found that to be very true.

/matt

[JGrube]

The camera work was poor the exposure bad, editing sloppy and the acting was awful.

Hmm, while everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion, we can read plenty of this sort of thing on IMDB, (i.e. "Worst Movie Ever" and so on).

I think the idea was to objectively discuss the ups and downs of the film so that all of us can use Scot's experiences to help us with our own film making projects. Advice along the lines of "don't use awful actors, don't have sloppy editing, don't have poor camerawork" is something that is generally accepted already.

Beyond that, Scot's work certainly beats the heck out of a LOT of low-budget independent projects I've seen, (including some of my own!). For a first feature, this man is starting off ahead of the curve, IMHO.

- so dont go on about it.

Actually, I think we'll go on about it anyway, thank you.

Jason

[steve hyde]

I've not seen the film, yet myself, but I'm sure Scott's - project - is far more interesting than many if the muli-million dollar crap-acts that people are turning out on the south coast and in the rotten apple.

Criticism is important and should be written to encourage a productive discourse in which the artist and audiance can learn something.

I like to keep this in mind.

Cheers,

Steve

[S8W]

Just to clarify - First of all there are a few of us Tanya, Justin, Gabe, Jas, Pav and Pj and a few more as we are growing. We are all filmmakers and make a living making corporate videos which are almost always shot on DVCAM or Betcam SP.

Most of us are trained in traditional film that is 35mm. We are keen to explore the possibilties of using elements of Super 8 in our future work ie documentary work for broadcast.

Comments and criticisms are always important in this medium, infact criticism is always useful. I often hear from all sorts of respected people in the industry that talent is innate, wheras skill can be aquired! We aren't all talented. There are people who can be creative even when telling the weakest story and then there are those who can't tell a good story.

Many here might disagree.

It is an art to tell a story and even a good story is worth scutinising. When we're submitting proposals for TV we get our work ripped to pieces all the time, its heartbreaking but we have learnt from experience if things/projects are bad nobody wants to keep hearing about them unless you have completlety re-done them.

I dont really want to say anymore on this everyone has their opinions as do we (I say we not I as we have all talked about this).

Tanya

[Scotness]

Criticism is important and should be written to encourage a productive discourse in which the artist and audiance can learn something.

That's actually a pretty good way of looking at it Steve. To me the film isn't the greatest film ever made but it's not the worst film ever made either. The truth is somewhere between those extremes. I've actually sought out people's opinions and criticisms and learnt alot from them - this forum has been a wonderful learning tool for all facets of film making. However you can't take everything on board - because often you will get conflicting opinions and you don't really know how much thought some people are putting into their opinions as well - so therefor I pay most attention to the comments which exist somewhere between the two extremes and which are reasonably detailed and constructive in their tone. And also comments which try and factor in what I was trying to achieve not just what I did or didn't achieve - because then the criticism or advice is usually better informed and more practical and useful.

Tanya didn't like the film - that's fair enough - but to dismiss everythng as crap doesn't really tell me much at all. Of course it's not like it's her job too either but it can only mean I'm left guessing as to any deeper or more specific and useful comments about the film. The only good thing about a comment like hers is that it in a heavy-handed way it can help balance the arguement back to the centre - but then anyone who's followed the progress of this film via this board or my web page will know the problems have been discussed at length and are pretty well known and out there! In fact a few months ago I even wrote a list of mistakes I don't want to make in my next films - I haven't typed it up but pehaps I should and post it up here it could be an interesting talking point and might be useful for others. Making a feature film on Super 8 is a deceptively difficult process but one I think which holds you in good stead for other projects.

Scot

[Scotness]

nobody wants to keep hearing about them unless you have completlety re-done them.

I guess the thing is if you don't want to keep hearing about it then skip over the threads that deal with it - anyone who wants to talk about it or any aspect of it are quite welcome to in my opinion

Scot

[DriveIn]

Just to clarify - First of all there are a few of us Tanya, Justin, Gabe, Jas, Pav and Pj and a few more as we are growing......

It wouldn't be too difficult to create your own individual accounts. It would make sure this identity issue is not brought up again. :roll:

nobody wants to keep hearing about them unless you have completlety re-done them.

I guess the thing is if you don't want to keep hearing about it then skip over the threads that deal with it - anyone who wants to talk about it or any aspect of it are quite welcome to in my opinion Scot

Score: Scot one, Tanya zero...

[Nigel]

I have followed the back and forth on this board surrounding "In My Image" and it seems to be an ongoing topic and I just accept it.

I am looking forward to seeing the final product Scot has ready and I am sure comments will follow.

Until then--Good Luck Scot

[scottbobo2]

Its funny,was just reading the reviews from 1962 of Jean luc-Goddard film "breathless' released in 1963. "bad editing,terrible dialogue,continuity is a mess...etc " The film later was so popular they remade it here in America. A footnote*** Scott has given a complete do and not to do when shooting Super 8 from his own mistakes on "IN MY IMAGE"which has helped me alot in my shooting*** Getting K-40 to look good for 1 whole cartridge is hard enough for most people let alone a 90 minutes Feature movie as Scott did. Finally :I thought "Pretty Woman" was crap and everything Julia Roberts has ever done.

[perthskydiver]

I haven't seen your movie yet Scot but i've seen the online preview & it looks pretty good. As for someones rude comments before about your feature, it does seem pretty harsh...

Regardless of how good or bad it is, you got out there, spent the time & money on what resources you had to ACTUALLY MAKE A FEATURE, not just think & talk about doing it. More than I can say for the critics sitting on their lazy arses probably with nothing better to do but make rude comments on an online forum...

Good on ya. Even if this feature isn't a masterpiece, the experience is the best learning tool, better than any book or online source.

Good luck on ya next feature, i'm sure it'll be even better....

[Angus]

really for a first attempt at serious film making it is a strong effort.

Thanks Angus - but there's a multiplicity of things which we did wrong or didn't do which I want to do in my next film....

Oh I don't doubt that, but there are plenty of us who would have produced something inferior to In My Image even after years of using super 8. You made less mistakes than most people would have, and produced something that is genuinely watchable, entertaining and thought provoking.
BTW I still may be able to get it screened in the UK...

[S8 Booster]

Scot, I would not care to much about the puke served. Even though I have not seen your film yet - judging from the well known members of this board of whose capacity I will claim to know well enough and trust I am 100% sure that you made a masterpiece under the very difficult circumstances you faced all the way through this production. If some details may be a little off target it is not important in his context.

I do not want to sense the emotions rised when you discovered the jitterbugs of the time probably half way through the shoot or so. And that was only the beginning?

So, to accomplish this project with the resources you had at hand - besides selecting the the most difficult imaging format available - my hat(s) off all the way. I am going to order the re-mastered vesion soon.


Sidenote.
What I learned early in my days of amateur filming is that you have to trust yourself. In say, contests all sorts of (jury) idiots will pop up and vote like; this aeh. umm,... I don´t like the colour of.... (I - Mind you I)

My short films have scored from No1 to No Last and many of the lower placed films were definately undeserved so. Thew were much more professional than the others. Anyway, long ago I accepted that usually the best film(s) will not win.


Regarding amatur film in general.
As a long time jury member of amateur film contests around here I allways examined what the filmmakers wanted to make and how well they succeded rather than scrutinizing the films for every tiny error occouring.

It is the whole film concept that has to be verified and weighted.
Not get stuck in some bloody tiny detail. I am usually very critical vs PRO movies and since most of them comes from Hollywood it is natural to target them. They are so technically weak that I hardly manage to watch them anymore despite all the DV tech they pump into them or possibly due to so. I do not bother lining up examples anymore - there are far too many.

Bottom line: Can you tell a story? Good. Never mind some tiny details which could be improved with or without more bucks. You have probably proved that you are a capable filmmaker by a long shot anyway. It is half the reason why we struggle with 8mm formats besides having good fun simoultanesly. It is more funny to make films in 8mm. Right? The never ending challenge for perfection!

R

[mattias]

Bottom line: Can you tell a story? Good. Never mind some tiny details which could be improved with or without more bucks.

to be fair to everyone there are problems with the storytelling in scot's film too. he's a first time director, not just a first time feature producer. and the technical problems are not mainly due to lack of funds, there are also beginner's mistakes that could have been worked around had he had more experience. but that's the point: he shows he's got talent, something to say and the determination to go through with it, and now he's got experience too.

/matt

[Scotness]

By the time I make my next feature I'm hoping I can make the kind of jump that Peter Weir made when he went from The Cars That Ate Paris to Picnic at Hanging Rock -- well I can dream can't I!!!! :lol:

Scot