Here is my third attempt at filmmaking.

FALLEN

And here are links to my two previous flicks:

Without Hope

Inherited Conspiracies

Any feedback would be great. So give it a look and give it a review.

Enjoy.

We can't stop here, it's bat country!

[This message was edited by Jeff Ray on November 23, 2003 at 12:51 PM.]

I loved the film. The key points thing though... I thought it would have been worlds better just putting the time reference (2 months later...) and keep out the key point number. Also, at the end, at the hostage situation, i don't know if you were trying to do super slow mo, or if my computer was just screwed, but it looked really jerky. But over all one of the greatest films on this site.

By the way, what did you shoot on, and how did you get those pitch black scenes (at the interview) on digital?

Where did you set up for that shot of Dallas at night ?

Also for something I'm working on you might could help me since you were shooting downtown. I'm looking for a street that is industrial dirty looking and has a empty buildings. Then I need an empty building warehouse or office building that I can shoot in. Reason I ask is i'm trying to find someplace that I wont get shot.

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Reason I ask is i'm trying to find someplace that I wont get shot.

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We filmed the entire chase scene downtown on Industrial Blvd......the centerplace for druggies. It's dirty, industrial, and just what you would want.....but we had addicts coming up to us asking for drugs every 15 minutes. And at the end of filming the chase scene, we had a couple cop cars come down upon us.....so you probably don't want to film there. It wasn't smart to film there, seeing as how we were a couple white kids running around with guns that looked very real, but it was the PERFECT location for what I wanted, so we did it, and managed to stay alive.

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Where did you set up for that shot of Dallas at night ?

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We filmed that in one of the high rise buildings downtown. It was a law firm that Brad's (the main actor) dad worked at.

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The key points thing though... I thought it would have been worlds better just putting the time reference (2 months later...) and keep out the key point number.

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I used the Key Point system because with only 17 minutes to show the rise and fall of a human being, I wanted people to realize that these were just the KEY POINTS that led to his downfall. 17 minutes doesn't allow for much character development, so by putting in the key points, I hoped people would see that what they are seeing is just a brief glimpse at what happened to a man who was led down the wrong path.

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i don't know if you were trying to do super slow mo, or if my computer was just screwed, but it looked really jerky.

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The beginning chase, which is also the end chase, was filmed handheld. We wanted the Saving Private Ryan look, but taken up a billion notches. It was a conscience decision to film it like that. You'll notice, all indoor scene are filmed on a dolly or are done with static, still framed shots, where as outside shots are mostly handheld, with a blue tint. But if your talking about frame rate issues, I bet it's your computer, as mine did the same thing when I first downloaded it.

We attempted to match the camera movement as much as possible with the emotion being presented onscreen, so everything you see in FALLEN, was done with that in mind.

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By the way, what did you shoot on, and how did you get those pitch black scenes (at the interview) on digital?

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As with my previous two movies, I filmed on a SonyTRV50, but now that I have access to several Canon GL2's, no more Sony. And everything was shot on digital, we just spent quite a bit of time on lighting.

I hope that answered some questions. Keep the feedback coming, and the reviews as well.

We can't stop here, it's bat country!

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we had a couple cop cars come down upon us.....so you probably don't want to film there. It wasn't smart to film there, seeing as how we were a couple white kids running around with guns that looked very real,

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Same thing happened to me today.

I hate cops. And citizens who wanna be heros and call the police....even when they see cameras. Asses.

AS for your movie. The editing was insanely crazy in a good and interesting way.....some of it was unneccessary but a lot was good. I didn't like the story, but the way it was told was good.

-TacoWagonProductions

"...a woman called crying because she saw two white boys with guns beating up a little negro boy against the wall of an alley." - Mr. Sheriff

Great film.
I was just wondering where the music is from? It sounds familiar...or is it original?

Great film man. Really enjoyed it. I have to agree that the Key Point titles are unneccessary because it seems like it flows without them. Much better than your 2 previous films.

I think that music is from the trailer for Mel Gibson's The Passion. You can hear Jim Caviezal speaking in one part of the film very faintly.

Anyways, I was wondering how long that took you guys to shoot. The cinematography was excellent. Especially the night scene where the main character shoots the cop. Very cool. Your dolly shots are very well done. I suggest for your next film to do some masking to make your film "appear" as widescreen.

Anyway, good job.

Thomas Verrette
tommy21485@earthlink.net
Imperial Pictures

I don't want to be a stickler, and its just personal opinion, but...

The whole key point thing. I understand you are cramming the 17 min. etc. But, this isn't the most crystal clear movie in the first place. I like that the ending is somewhat hidden, that the beginning just picks up. I don't think that you need to key points to show us in the audience anything. I feel it breaks the artistic flow, and that it takes the viewer out of the story. I would follow it just as well without.


I'm not trying to be mean about this, just give you some feed back, plz give me your feelings, so that i can understand where you are comming from, maybe i'll learn something.

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I think that music is from the trailer for Mel Gibson's The Passion. You can hear Jim Caviezal speaking in one part of the film very faintly.

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The music at the end is by Peter Gabriel and is used in the movie Rabbit-Proof Fence. I believe it may have been used in the Passion trailer, but I'm not sure. But I assure you, it's from the soundtrack, so if you hear any voices in the end scene, it's by my character, not Jim Caviezal.

Having said that, glad you enjoyed the flick.

We can't stop here, it's bat country!

You are a great film-maker. Loved the whole thing, loved the key-points system. How come you don't use widescreen? It would make your films look a lot more cinematic... What do you edit on? Cuz i noticed in your first couple of movies, you used imac. You should put it in an ultra-widescreen, and put it through magic bullet. Where do you do all the color correction?

I was privleged enough to play the lead role in Jeff Ray's newest movie "Fallen," and would like to comment on some of the negative feedback I read about the movie's acting. This was my first experience with film and it was a definite challenge. Unlike stage acting, movies are all about repetition. We ended up performing scenes upwards of 10 times for one shot, and when you only have one handheld camera and one lapel mic, it makes inspired acting very difficult. This coupled with a rushed schedule,lack of funds, and a subject matter not condusive to our age added to the challenge. I know many of the critics are probably filmmakers themselves and understand these difficulties and i'm not trying to make excuses, I only want you to realize some of the challenges in acting in a film of this nature and respect the time and effort we invested in this project. Keep your eyes open for future Jeff Ray movie's and expect even greater things . . . because this is only the beginning.

Hey Jeff (Good name BTW, lol)
Great Job! Probably the best film I've seen on studentfilms.com so far...

The only bit of advice I could give, is try and develop a style and then stick with it...

I liked the way you opened the movie as well, with the footage cutting to black and then cutting back to the footage...
I also liked how you decided to use "KEY POINTS"...good idea, better than the typical "2 DAYS later" titles...

I think it would be better if you went ahead and had the sound from the source playing on the black as well during the opening, so the sound is continuous;
Just a suggestion...

I was talking to a friend, and the only complaint he had was that if that was shown on the big screen...then everyone would have seizures. but i know that was the style you wanted your film to be like, and it turned out real good...

At least i thought so...

Well good job again man,
Keep it up,
Later

PLAY ON PLAYA

Jeff you are es muy caliente!!! Is everything really bigger in Texas???

yes

I also would like to know what editing software you used, as I am looking for some new stuff right now.

Great film Jeff, you definitely got talent.

What's next? Do you have any upcoming projects or anything?