All I want is praise, and acknowledgement that my
films are good.

The last one was HEIST, and I have received some reviews that are outright immature, yet some that were well thought out and delivered.

I guess, Heist was more of an attempt at a technical problem free film, whose sound is does not distort, there is ambience sound, sound efx, and foley to really bring up the production value of the film.

This was my first narrative film at the Academy of Art College for my Motion Picture language class.

I guess what I want to impress the hell out of anyone who says that my past films were not good, or they thought that they were unoriginal, or a "rip-off" of another film.

I am evolving in all my skills and perfecting them to really blow my audience over with the professionalism of my work.

I am just mouthing off. I guess some people on this site do not give the best criticism. I guess some people do not fully comprehend what it means to write, produced, shoot, direct, and edit your own film.

Maybe instead of yapping about what they didn't like, maybe they could think a single thought for a couple of milliseconds longer and actually write an intelligent review which could assist the filmmaker with what should change in the next film.

Story might be an important part of the filmmaking process, and I have seen some good stories, but story doesn't make a film alone. if the sound is not good, or the focus, or any other technical aspects are OFF, then it personally hurts me to see anymore of the work. be aware of these aspects because they are key points that keep the audience "in" the film.

I will soon have another film appearing on the site.
I am hoping that in PORTRAIT, people will begin to see an improvement in being a filmmaker.

All I want is an audience, but who should I please first, them or me? That is a question that should be posed to any filmmaker.

I feel I make films for myself.

Stanley Kubrick once said, "You may one day be as great a filmmaker as myself, if only you oppose utterly and to the limits of you energy every attempt to impose on your work any will but your own."

Ill toss a few things in on this. First off, its good that you are concentrating on a technically sound film. This is one of the most overlooked, and important aspects of film making. Even low budget/no budget/student film making. Talent, you are either born with, or your not. Technical skill on the other hand, can be learned. If you are talented, and you master the technical side, a wonderful thing happens....
You become self reliant. If you know how to D.P., then you dont need a D.P., if you know how to record sound, then youll know, just by where the mic is, if your getting the sound you need. Self reliance is key, and I encourage all of you, who take film making seriously, to learn as much about the technical side as you can.
When I reviewed your film, I dont believe I mentioned the sound. Know why? Because I didnt notice it. That is to say, it was good. Good levels, good foley. If I had noticed it, it would have been because it was distracting. Because it was bad sound.
Now, I have to address your other comments. I mean no offense, or disrespect. So please know going in, I mean this is the kindest way possible. Negative reviews are never fun I dont enjoy when people dis like my work, but hey, to each their own. Imature, un imaginative reviews rarely bother me though. I laugh at them. These people dont know what their talking about. Their lack of education, and complex thinking shines through their reviews, so let it roll off your back. Easier said than done, but once you earn how, it will become increasingly easy.
As for "making films for yourself" I half agree. You can make films for yourself for the rest of your life, and thats fine, but do you want a career in this? If so, you have to take "The audience" into consideration. I always make films that I think, would want to go see. But I also,(as I want to be a commercial film maker) need to consider what others like. When you put a film up, on a site like this, you are asking people to tell you what they like. This is always a risky proposal.
You must, in the end, weed through the bad, and find the common truth. In the end, I believe what folks here are trying to say about "Heist" is, 'Been there, done that. Looked good, but Im tired of the same old thing." You can never please everyone, dont try. Just take every criticisim,well thought out, or immature, with a grain of salt.
BTW. I entered Project Greenlight, and missed making the top 250 because of 2 bad reviews. They made your competitors review your scenes, and the two bad reviews might as well have written, "I am competing here too, and my movies better then anyone elses, so Im gonna give you a bad review in the hopes it makes my chances better" That sucked, but did I let it get to me? No. I concentrated on the good reviews, of which, there were many. The rest said I could handle a feature film, and gave constructive comments. In the end, it was worth it. Take them for what they are, and move on. Thats the best advice I can give. In closeing, I look forward to checking out "Portrait". Good luck.
R. M. McWhorter

And you shall know us by the trail of dead.

tizzy hit the nail on the head.

sorry to hear about the green light project situation. filmmaking is a field that is getting saturated with more and more competitive kids. not only do you need talent, technical savviness and great personality to stand out among the crowd, but you got to have focus, ambition, and competitive streak.

" I won't show you tonight what requires many hours of progressive and
scientific exercises to even begin to make itself visable; besides I
would need space and air, and especially a head of steam -- which I
haven't got."

http://www.lostheadfactory.com