Good Fun
Truthfully,
I enjoyed watching this one. A lot of times it can seem
taxing to watch amateur films, but I enjoyed this. The
irony was funny and the actors seemed just right for the
parts, not too serious, but not too carefree either. The
black and white looked nice. I think about what a movie
would look like had it been shot differently, and this
definitely works. The only thing I see as a problem was
the sound- the music mixed in with the sound effects was
a little choppy, but that might be the streaming file
conversion. On the whole, I found myself smiling
throughout. Not much else than a fun time, which is what
most people need. Great job! -- By Scarface789,
Posted on Monday, July 18, 2005
Good story for
no dialogue!
I am not too sure how I feel
about this film. You were able to convey an idea without
dialogue and that is always complicated to do. You also
provided an interesting story idea and a twist with the
who is who in the end.
Your camera shots were
interesting and the lighting was sufficient. The only
other negative that I can think of was that the first
burglar seemed to be dressed pretty casually to be a
thief and it made it harder to visualize what his role
was without first reading the synopsis.
All in all, I
think this was a very effective film in that without one
word you were able to make your ideas known and added
some amount of humor into the mix. -- By
dwinkler, Posted on Saturday, July 2,
2005
Br(a)illiant
Very good!
I was entertained the whole way through. At first I
didn't buy it because a blind man would not use a
walking stick in his own apartment - he would be very
familiar with it and not have to. At the end it made
sense why. The shots you had were pretty good. I would
have liked more close ups, I don't really recall any
except for the opening shot. Your exposure was good. The
lighting made some of the shots seem a bit flat to me,
but overall I found this to be a very good film.
Bathroom scene was great! And, by the way, it says that
this film is in color on the info tab, which it is
not...unless something horrible just happened to my
vision. -- By Totoro, Posted on Thursday, June 2,
2005
Chaplin meets
Tosca...nice
Right off the bat, I have to
give you your propers for shooting this in 16mm film.
Thats a pain-and-a-half. The technical aspects of this
fim are very well executed. I like that you didn't clean
up the edges of the frame. It adds pazzaz. The lighting
is great, the contrast is great. The costuming is great
as well. Three major hits. The acting is remeniscient of
a Charlie Chaplin film with a modern soundtrack. My
biggest problem with the film is that this character is
blind, not deaf. That continuity problem takes a lot
away from the other aspects of the film that are
absolutely commendable. Also, I can't think of any
reason why a blind man would carry his cane in a house
with which he is familiar, nor can I account for why he
would drop a lit match on his own carpet. Good casting,
though. Both actors look the part, to a tea. -- By
angstrumparker, Posted on Wednesday, May 11,
2005
Cool
I liked this. It wasn't
laugh out loud funny, but good for a few chuckles. The
soundtrack was great. The sound effects were strange but
worked. I like that you didn't go for realism there. It
added to the quirkiness of the piece.
You
should know that when the guys hand lit on fire, I
though to myself "Oh my God! How did they do that?" It
worked whatever you did.
I like the twist at the
end. It turned all the "unfortunate bad luck" into
deliberate acts, which makes it better.
Good
piece over all. -- By sebenvenuto, Posted on
Sunday, May 8,
2005
Entertaining
BR(A)ILLIANT i FELT
WAS AN ENTERTAINING SHORT . This was an amusing
short but I felt lacked a few key elements ,one I felt
that the story was too predictable you knew right off
the bat that the blind man was going to be a theif and
the orignal theif was not really established at the
beginning very well , This short could have benefitted
from a few ext. establishing shots instead of going
right into the interior. Another element I felt could
have improved the peice was music I really felt it hurt
the piece alot it seemed to always be out of step with
the action and in my opinion seemed like it was simply a
series of looped instruments. I felt that the editing
was good there were some real good hard cuts right on
the action...well done. The actors may have been in my
opinion over the top but the theifs reactions were well
done . The lighting was a little bit to hot for me but
that may just be because of the difference in in viewing
quicktime on a p.c . I see this was made in film school
and as a current student of film school I can understand
the difficulties of making a short but I enjoyed how you
kept it simple and and went for performance instead of
flashy camera moves or angles .. alll in all a good
atempt . keep shootin bro. -- By phpproductions,
Posted on Monday, April 25, 2005
Great silent
humor
It's amazing how much you can do
without dialogue. I'm a fan of the Jacques Tati movies
so this movie appealed to me very much. You did an
excellent job of setting up a potentially humorous
situation and then getting the action exaggerated enough
for comic effect. -- By EarWorm, Posted on
Monday, March 28, 2005
Funny
Stuff
I really had a good laugh watching
this short film. I thought the camera angles were well
done and directed. For some reason I did not like the
black and white side of the film. The sound effects were
a little overdone, but whatever. I did not get the part
when the blind guy started to dance either. Overall, I
really had a great time watching this short, hope next
time there is some dialogue to give it some fire. -- By **DELETED ACCOUNT**, Posted on Thursday, March
24, 2005
BR(A)ILLIANT
I
really enjoyed this film thought it was funny and also
suspenseful. The little twist was very clever and I
think the suspense already created just made it a
fantastic ending to the film. I liked the way the film
was made and I think the music was great too. -- By
miked86, Posted on Monday, March 7,
2005
Poor Guy
Thought the
story was great and it kept me gripped all the way
through. Really like the music helped the film along. I
thought at times the framing of shots was a little off.
Editing was not fantastic and at times I found it a
little jumpy. Really liked the end credits. -- By
claireallison, Posted on Thursday, January 27,
2005
br(a)illiant
review
the opening music for this piece had
me quite excited to watch.... i liked the feeling being
in black and white gave. when the guy started hiding
behind the couch it reminded me off in scary movie...
the acting was ok, but was adequate for this piece. i
think some dialogue would help keep interest in this
piece for a longer period of time, congrats on your
awards and good luck on future pieces. -- By
dorkymikey, Posted on Monday, January 10,
2005
Good Directing
Good job
on this. This was directed very well, and very
proffesionally. You told the story perfectly through
picture and picture only. The camera angles were very
good -- you managed to fit quite a bit in each shot --
but I felt at times a Tripod would of worked better.
Black and white, good choice; and the score worked well.
What else can I say -- great job and you have some
quality skill as a director. I hope to see more of your
work in the future. -- By JoePoker21, Posted on
Tuesday, December 28, 2004
Br(a)illiant
review
Cute and Clever! I don't know if
this was intentional or not, but the static type noise
that was in the background of your music gave the film a
"silent movie" type of feel. The camerawork in this
movie was very nice. Nice lighting gave your b&w
movie a nice, polished look... again, whether this was
intentional or not, the grainy quality added to the
"silent movie" quality of sound. All frames looked
nicely composed. Camera angles were nice. Editing was
very nice. I liked the way you did the closing credits.
It's nice to see the faces behind the creative efforts!
Thanks for the view! -- By SeaMowse, Posted on
Monday, November 8,
2004
Nice
This was a nice gag on
the thief trying to get away from the blind man. You had
some fun skits in there, I guess you could say he got
away broken handed. The audio was the biggest problem I
had with it, I could hear static as it played. The
camera work did a good job showing what was going to
happen to him. The acting was good for a silent film.
Lastly I enjoyed the sound effect. Overall id give it 6
out of 10. -- By Imaginationmachine, Posted on
Wednesday, November 3, 2004
What
happened?
Good physical comedy! Very good
timing and acting by the 2 guys! Video quality was ok, I
am just always a fan of hi-res myself :) . I was a
little confused at the end, but I think that the blind
man ended up being a thief as well, but am not positive.
The idea was quite neat and the actors definitly held
their own! You could have a new wave of physical comics
here! -- By Metro City Productions, Posted on
Tuesday, October 12,
2004
Interesting
Br(a)illiant
was a rather interesting short to watch. It was well
shot and the lighting was pretty good. The music was
solid. The short looked good even thought compressed for
the web. I liked the cartoon skidding sound effect when
the guy was running to the bathroom. I liked that it was
shot in black and white. -- By Rodenburg, Posted
on Thursday, September 16, 2004
very
nice
An interesting (if not a little slow
moving) short which tells a simple story. The angles
were good for the most part although I would have liked
to have seen a few more dynamic camera moves. The sound
FX were silly, but worked for the genre of the film. The
score was fitting. Felt a little like a British sit-com.
Nice work. -- By Razorneck, Posted on Tuesday,
September 14,
2004
Superb
Congratualtions.
Funny, well thought out, acting was not bad, use of
music was good (and a novel approach to sound design,
kind of took me back to silent movies...) In fact, the
overall use of sound was so good, I forgot that these
characters weren't talking after a while (despite the
fact they wouldn't, much.)I was genuinely impressed with
the whole film, and I liked the ending so very much.
Please, make more films, so I can see them: I can't give
higher praise than that.Just to be complete: editing was
good, light was quite good (though perhaps a little
saturated, but then I guess you were under severe budget
constraints) - good use of cut aways in the edit (the
fact you filmed some is a breathe of fresh air...) To
reiterate, I liked this film a lot. -- By justinb,
Posted on Friday, August 6,
2004
BR(A)ILLIANT
Delivers as
advertised, comedy, mystery and suspense. Filmaker has
talent in all, would love to see a bigger budget effort.
While the sound effects are usually very exaggerated in
silent movies, I found those in the film to be a little
too over the top or maybe not exactly fitting on
occasion.The acting was good, the end credits were well
done. There were no closeups perhaps purposely but I
think the film would have been helped by some closeups
of the thief in precarious situations. Well done! -- By jerryfastcash, Posted on Thursday, July 8,
2004
Stylistically Sound
I found
the film to be done well especially for a school
project. Using 16mm film was a great choice for the
overall feel I think the director was trying to attain.
However, I thought the story was not as strong as the
technical merit and that it was "over scored." Too much
by way of sound. I think it may have been better without
so much overexagerated musical effects. I would like to
again express that it was a well done film as far as how
it was filmed and that the director certainly has
talent. I would like to see the next project. -- By
GiGiProvidence, Posted on Sunday, July 4,
2004
Interesting
Watching the
film I kept asking myself, why would a blind person have
such a nice TV and VCR? Now I know why, good twist. The
acting was good, although I can't comment on it since
there was no dialogue. The cinematography was average,
everything was in a wide shot. You needed more close
up's and inserts. I enjoyed the use of black &
white. I also liked the robber's sweater, that cracked
me up. The music was a little too "on the nose" with the
visual gags for my taste. I think it should have
complimented it more instead of telling the audience
"this is funny". Overall, nice job. Good luck on you
future endeavors. -- By thxlor, Posted on Friday,
June 25, 2004
Black and white is always
sweet.
For some reason I feel that black
and white puts more emphasis on the drama on a film.
That's why I think it was a good choice to make this
film in black and color. It gave it sort of a dark
feeling but the comedy incorporated set it off a bit. It
was unexpected which is what I admire about filmmakers.
I also would maybe fix the sound effects. I might be
more effective if there were no sound effects at all.
Maybe even no music since the characters really don't
make a noise. I guess im saying that because I like
those silent films from the 20's. -- By
thewarmgun, Posted on Wednesday, June 23,
2004
more than just...
its
good to see more than just the average robbery, which
ive seen a lot on this site. im glad you added a twist
or sometyhing to it. the black and white plus 15mm made
this look like it was made in the 60s. if thats what u
were going for, good job. i think it would be funnier if
he actually was blind and he was getting robbed around
him. like completely taking everything. let the bad guys
win. haha -- By jmcfilms, Posted on Friday, June
18, 2004
Catchy Ending
I must
admit....it was hard to see where the film was going
right at first, but the ending did catch me off guard. I
liked it. The lighting was nice as was the shot
selection. I was not a huge fan of the sound effects
choices, although some were better than others.The short
almost lost my interest in the middle but I am glad I
held on to see the end. Good job on the story and good
luck with the film in the future! -- By Seth
Conley, Posted on Thursday, June 10,
2004
Very Good!
Very
entertaining. Very professional staging and even the
silent acting was done properly and well. The lighting
was even acceptable. I wish I could see the uncompressed
version. The compresssion really damaged this one as a
whole, especially the choppy sound. The music was good,
and the sound effects entertaining. -- By
SERFMAN, Posted on Thursday, June 3,
2004
POTENTIAL
I enjoyed this on
many levels, although I can't help but feel that it is
'almost there!'. I watched the video twice to be sure,
but I feel that much of the story could have been
condensed to greater comedic effect. The acting was
fairly good and I loved the lighting and flow of shots,
although occasionally it became a little repetative
(more a problem of sotry?). The ending surprised me,
although it shouldn't have, because I kept thinking
throughout the first viewing "I don't beleive this, the
guy is blind not stupid!". Knowing that the blind man
would have heard and smelt some of the action, I KNEW he
wasn't blind, but still failed to see that this was
intentional (hehe). I liked the music, and felt it gave
an interesting comment on the action. I also liked the
credits. Overall, I feel that I would be interested in
seeing more of the filmmakers work and beleive that
there is a lot of potential here, it simply needs honed
:) -- By ferdi, Posted on Saturday, May 22,
2004
Gags
I thought this was
pretty good. Some nice, funny moments, and I didn't see
the end coming at all - surprises are a rare and
valuable commodity when it comes to short films! I had
some issues with the pacing, particularly in the first
two-thirds: it could have been tightened up to enhance
the comedy. The music was strange, but in a good way,
and i liked the use of quirky sound effects. On another
day I would have found the soundtrack irritating but I
think it combined really well with the action. Good
performances too. This short reminded me a little of
some scenes in the early Pink Panther films. The hand
catching fire was good. This film is definately rough
around the edges but the makers show great promise. -- By mansep, Posted on Thursday, May 20,
2004
Braill
Nice work done on
this short film. I never entertained the idea myself of
a thief coming in at the wrong time into someone else's
home to find out that they're blind!!! This is a comedic
theme that does not seem to be overdone in the slightest
yet it was done perfectly in this case. -- By
efurst, Posted on Tuesday, May 11, 2004
A
comedic masterpiece
There's much to love
about this comedy, starting with it's Chaplin inspired
performance by the lead - which I loved. The whole film
has the feel of a comedy from that era, and the B&W
film enhances that feeling even more. My favorite
element of the film is Dinarte's performance - his
gangly body language reminds me a bit of Jim Carrey
crossed with the aforementioned Chaplin. Nice work
choreographing the comedy, from the crouching by the
side of the couch scene to the stepping on the hand to
the bathroom - by that time a smile was fixated on my
face. The twist at the end is classic. Srikanth does a
great job on the score, another highlight of the film.
All the funny sounds add to the comedy - great work on
sound design. The supporting actor, Mike is actually
quite believable as a blind person and I was fooled
until the end, when you revealed the twist. The scene
where his hand is on fire looks great. Good work on the
edit. This film is fun and entertaining - great job,
Arun. -- By Spodaking, Posted on Wednesday, April
28, 2004
awesome.
how funny that
two thieves would incidently decide to rob the same
apartment at the same time. excellent camera work. i
loved the black-and-white classical feel to the film.
the acting was great, and quite comedic, following the
traditions of chaplin ... very suitable. this film is
quite original, in terms of storyline, plot, and just
the general feel you get when watching it. i was left in
suspense throughout and caught myself biting my lip a
few times in anticipation of what was going to happen. i
LOVED the dolphin shower curtain in the bathroom ...
it's the first real clue that the blind man might not be
blind afterall, because what use would a blind man have
for a picturesque image of dolphins on his shower
curtain. i give huge props for the fire scene. very
impressive. my only criticism is perhaps the sudden
commencement in the beginning, it could perhaps use a
more professional opening. and i can't say i enjoyed the
music very much. but regardless, this film is excellent.
-- By andremartin, Posted on Sunday, April 18,
2004
Br(a)illiant is
brilliant
I thought this short was very
intertaining, Its plot was funny and the ending toped it
off very well. I though that the acting was great and
the lighting and using 16mm worked very well giving it
an almost classic charly chaplin look and feel. I give
it 2 thumbs. -- By indifilm5, Posted on Sunday,
April 11, 2004
Pretty
good.
Overall this was a good short. It was
a little long, but good. My first comment is why is the
thief wearing a plaid sweater vest? Would a thief wear
that? I liked the bathroom gag. Very funny, but I would
have liked some different angles of the scene. I thought
the music was good but I think it needed some real
sounds so that the movie didn't just flow with the
music, it felt like I was watching a long music video.
Make the edit tighter and I think you've got something.
-- By Leber12, Posted on Tuesday, April 6,
2004
Unique
This short had a
very unique feel to it. This short is a perfect example
of why Polanski says short films should not have
narrative. First of all, there is not enough time to
develop narrative, and second of all it allows the
viewer to more openly interpret. Besides, the sound
effects in this short add to the feel. A wonderfully
unique short film. I like it. -- By Waldo3032,
Posted on Saturday, April 3, 2004
Marcello
the Mastermind
I didn't really smile until
the big twist at the end, but right then I grinned like
a drunken madman. Cool concept, a great fit to the 1o
minute format. Your blind man looks eerily like Guido
from 8 1/2. Too bad you couldn't get Buster Keaton for
the bearded fool, but I guess his corpse would've stunk
up the set something vicious. Anyway, the actors are
great, the music is effective, although it could have
been more cartoony. I thought the level of suspension of
disbelief your were asking viewers to achieve was
ridiculous at first; after all, what kind of blind man
could not hear this imbecile flopping around and hissing
in pain and what not, and what kind of man would toss a
used match on his own floor? But of course, it all makes
sense in a very satisfying "Ahhhhh" in that final
revelation. This was fun. -- By IngmarInAComa,
Posted on Wednesday, March 31, 2004
Good
job
This is really good short, be proud.
Good looking piece and great storytelling skills without
any dialogue, good job using visuals to drive the story.
Liked the idea, seems like a blind guy always makes for
good comedy, don't know why. Liked the 16mm black and
white, all in all, good view. Keep up the good work, and
best of luck. -- By EjaEntertainment, Posted on
Saturday, March 13, 2004
good film, and good
film ideas . . .
So yeah, you know what I
liked the best . . . the style. You had some nice shots
in there, elegant, clean shots with a mood to it. It
wasnt the whole straight on full frontal box cut shot
you see alot of time, specially in silent bw 16 mm. The
story was cute, but with our instant society these types
of films tend to drag by nature . . . what to do? trim
the fat. Oh, kudos to music, and foley, and really nice
titles! Cant wait to see more www.proletariatfilm.com -- By inveritas, Posted on Wednesday, March 10,
2004
A great silent
film
Congratulations on your success. The
film was entertaining. I like the twist at the end. I
did not see it coming. My only criticism is that your
synopsis is terrible. It does not begin to convey what
the short is about. The bearded burglar reminds me of
that little Italian actor who won an Oscar a few years
ago. I cannot think of his name, but he is a great
physical comedian like your actor. Great job. -- By
Novel, Posted on Sunday, February 29,
2004
Fun
I liked this short.
It was clever and entertaining; exactly what makes a
good short film. The music fit well with the theme and
mood of the short. I liked how the sounds were added in
post - it gave the short an early "silent" film quality.
I think that it was a bit campy also made this enjoyable
to watch. How did the robber know to act like he was
blind and why was he carrying around a cane? Good stuff!
-- By jonahbuckley, Posted on Thursday, February
26, 2004
Enjoyed it
I liked
the scene to scene it had my attention from the start
and I stayed with you. I think you did well for a film
class and should be quite proud of your work. It's so
nice to see your work going places as well I read your
production notes and hope the best for your future film
making. -- By bunch, Posted on Sunday, February
15, 2004
The Two Stooges
This
short reminded me alot of the old Three Stooges I used
to watch as a kid. The DOP did a great job with slap
stick shots and lighting. It is very hard to do comedy,
it's all about the timeing, and some of theses cences
felt a little long for the joke.I liked the idea of no
dialouge but didn't think the music fit the overall look
of the short a bit distracting to me. All in all a good
short. -- By idrink, Posted on Sunday, February
8, 2004
Sweeeeet
Guys - great
film. Is this not the second film I've seen by you that
has a blind main character with an intruder in the
house? This movie has some nice comedic moments. The
fact that it is filmed on 16mm B/W gives it that
Keystone Cops feel, which really works. The costumes
give it that 60's Italian cinema feel, which ALSO works.
Finally, the music gives it that 70's cop-movie/80's cop
TV feel, which also works. I think my only criticism is
that you shouldn't have held back on sound/foley. You
hit some things really nicely, but totally missed
others. Like - yeah, his cane goes 'BANG' when he holds
it as a gun, but it makes no noise when he's scraping it
across the floor. I think some more time spent on sound
would make this funnier, assuming that's what you are
going for. Nice work... can't wait to see the next one.
Will it also be about a blind person who thinks that
they are alone in a house? Make it a trilogy? -- By
joelsquare, Posted on Sunday, February 1,
2004
Br(a)illiant -- Just That,
Brilliant!
This has to be the best film
I've seen to date on TS.com. Arun Vaidyanathan has
written (maybe we should say staged) and directed a
great and original little movie with an excellent cast.
At first I was a bit set back by the sound affects but
that didn't last long as I saw how well they fit into
the story design. The ending was a total surprise for
me, I never would have guessed it, and that was really a
pleasure. The only thing I can say I would have liked to
have seen done differently is that it would have been
very nice in color. Great film! BRAVO! -- By
jbdean, Posted on Saturday, January 31,
2004
Br(a)illiant
Being a
student I can appreciate how hard it is to make a film
look professional with constraints etc. I really like
this film. It looks good, well shot, and the use of film
over tape always makes a difference to the overall feel
as well as look. It was pacey, which I think some films
on TriggerStreet are lacking in. Although a lot went on,
it was not too much to repeat itself or make you want
the film to hurry up. I also liked the little twist at
the end, it wasnt really something I was expecting. -- By kavstagh, Posted on Tuesday, January 20,
2004
This one worked pretty
well
I always like the audacity of short
films with no dialogue or diagetic sound - and this was
a great example. The performances were great, the
concept was a very amusing one, and the use of music and
sound effects fit the tone of the piece brilliantly. My
only problems were that as well as having the most
unconvincing lock-picking sequence in film history, it
also seemed to ignore the extra emphasis on sound that
the deaf character would have had. But what the hell,
this is a comedy! I'm being churlish. Seriously, this
was great. The final dance sequence was pitch perfect
and made me laugh out loud. Liked the nice final credits
as well - nice to see who was behind the camera for a
change. Nice work indeed. -- By Al80, Posted on
Wednesday, January 14, 2004
Liked
it
This is a nice entertaining little
piece. Well shot and edited, good solid "physical"
acting throughout.I liked the use of no dialogue and
just conveying the story with images and music. It is a
good homage to older movies and you have managed to make
it as entertaining as these were. It is very easy to
make these type of shorts tedious and boring.The only
comment I have is that is may be better suited to a
shorter running time. Just a few cuts if possible as a
couple of scenes were slightly dragged out. (but we al
make those mistakes).Great work and good luck with it
(an future projects). -- By seanryan, Posted on
Saturday, January 10, 2004
Good use of
physical acting
I very much enjoyed the
lack of dialogue in this short. Though I still don't
know quite what it is that the theives wanted to steal,
but that's not the point of the film, I suppose. The
camera work was very well done, good choice in angles,
and the consistent movement from one part to the next
was very good. I somewhat suspected the ending, but it
was still terribly fun to watch. It's not really funny
in the sense of getting laughs, but it is entertaining.
Very strong signs of talent here. -- By Hall E
Woode, Posted on Friday, January 9,
2004
Reasonably entertaining
I
like the idea of the film very much, thought you had a
good script to go on with a nice twist at the end and
that the performances of your acotrs were very good. I
think the film lent itself well to black and white and
think the use of music throughout was its strongest
quality. It kind of reminded me of old Charlie Chaplin,
Buster Keaton sketches and certainly made me smile. I do
think it could maybe of been improved by a greater range
of shots and by an editing style that created a rhytham
building upto the final killer crescendo and punchline.
Overall pretty good. -- By staceynd1, Posted on
Wednesday, January 7, 2004
Sound and
vision
First of all the sound design on
this film is fantastic. Innovative and original, it sets
the tone for this piece perfectly. The way the music/fx
entwine with the action is first rate. Well above your
average student film, and as good as anything I have
seen so far on Triggerstreet. I really think the
soundtrack to your film will stick in my mind. For me
the visuals and story were OK. My main issue was that
the way your acted out your drama pushed the boundaries
of believability too much. It just seemed that there is
no way (blind or not) your first burglar would not have
been discovered within seconds. As such your twist at
the end was not much of a surprise. I am guessing you
were going for the slapstick feel of Blake Edwards'
films - but for me your action did not get anywhere near
these levels. Camerawork was interesting and choice of
black and white added to the unusualness of the piece.
For me the reason for your artistic choices (stock,
style, music, editing pace etc) seem arbitrary, (and as
such from this piece anyway) I do not get any sense of a
clear voice behind the camera. With time I hope you find
this, as there is evidence of talent on display here I
think. Best of luck. -- By neilg117, Posted on
Sunday, January 4, 2004
Br(a)illiant
review
This is the first short I've watched
on triggerstreet and I really enjoyed it. It is a
comedic tale about a theif breaking in to a mans
apartment. A blind man soon enters (the owner) and the
comedy begins as the two interact. Our thief exits and a
clever twist closes the piece. The actor that played the
thief was perfect and the reversal 16mm stock mixed with
black and white and the exagerated acting style
reflected the silent film era and fit the story
perfectly. Almost a Charlie Cahn quality.The soundtrack,
in my opinion, was not as helpful. The music helped
propel the story forward, but the "hanna barbara" style
sound effects that were used were sometimes funny, but
most often reduced the strength of the comic effect
resulting from the strong charactor actors. Some sound
effects, like screaching car tires, when the thief
turned a corner running, were funny in a cartoon-like
fashion, but the vocal expressions when the thief had
his hand stepped on or light on fire confussed me and
left me to wonder if the "blind man" was also deaf.
Perhaps that was part of the twist that I didn't get,
but I felt overall the comedy could have stood on it's
own with such strong story and quality actors. I
definately recomend viewing it. -- By pixelflex, Posted on Saturday, January 3, 2004
Great
job
This was an intriguing short. It was
very original. Also, the chosen scenes were deftly shot
and clear. The music was a real enhancement at all
times. The emphasis on notes always seemed to come at
the opportune time. The sound-work was also well done.
The acting was excellent. The sighted actor was very
expressive and pulled me in. I loved the dance of the
other actor. It was totally unexpected. Great job. My
only reservation was the blind actor, with his
intensified senses, would know someone else was in the
room. -- By beachparty, Posted on Wednesday,
December 24, 2003
well made
This
was a very well made piece to say the least. They did a
decent job at capturing the comedy style of The Pink
Panther type movies. I thought all the camera technque
was very good and went very well with the soundtrack.
However, this snd track didn't really match up with the
style of the piece. Myabe some jangly piano music would
have better suited the piece. Overall, great job. -- By torin006, Posted on Sunday, December 21,
2003
Brailliant Review
Seeing
that this is a student film there may have been some
rules that I'm not aware of so please forgive me if I
make any bad assumptions here. The story itself has a
solid enough premise, but it is so full of believability
issues that it didn't work for me. Obviously any blind
man would have known the intruder was there an at least
four occasions. That being said, the twist falls flat.
The acting combined with the ADR/Foley stuff is way over
the top, but that could be intentional. On the technical
side it wasn't bad, but just bland. The black and white
in a white walled setting and no lighting effects was
very drab. While not impressive as a short film in
general, this is a good effort within the constraints of
student filmmaking. Good luck and keep shooting! -- By DeadRinger, Posted on Sunday, December 21,
2003
Slapstick with a twist
I
recently watched Power Cut by this same filmmaker and
wondered if there is yet another blind angle to be
explored? I thought this film had some funny moments but
I have to say that some of the slapstick was a little
bit streached. Overall a good job though. -- By
pagangod, Posted on Monday, December 15,
2003
FUN
what a great concept.
the execution was pretty damn good as well. i liked the
sound effects. Great twist ending, although, i did see
it coming, it was still very funny. the acting was good,
expecially from the first crook. overall, a good peice.
keep up the good work. -- By RJSPRO, Posted on
Saturday, December 13, 2003
Nice, light
Comedy
I thought this picture was shot
pretty well, nice angles, nice usage of the high
contrast B&W. The story was fun, and entertaining,
hidden surprises and a nice finish. The audio was
interesting, fun sound effects and nice score. Overall,
there were some things that could have been corrected,
some continuity errors, but nothing that effected the
film too much. Good Job. -- By Tristanpr, Posted
on Friday, December 12, 2003
I liked this
alot...
The comedy was good but the ending
was perfect.....I loved the twist at the end....Dialogue
was not nedessary and I think the black and white added
to the film....the acting was good and the stunt (fire)
was very good. But as I said before, the ending was
excellent. -- By dolphiny, Posted on Thursday,
December 11, 2003
Good comedy, suitable
short
The idea behind this film is clever
and simple, perfectly suitable for a short. It's an old
fashioned idea of comedy which works well. The idea
itself is humourous without being forced or
unattainable. Acting is good, the expressions and
movment of the first thief are great. A couple of things
which I thought took away from the effectivness were 1,
the editing: though minimal, I found the editing to be a
bit too fast, too rough to compliment the comedy fully.
2, the music: Though in itself the music is good, I
didn't think it worked with the film- that is, I felt
that it forced the comedy upon the viewer, rather than
allow us to decide when to laugh. This applies to the
cartoon- like sound effects also. Overall though, this
is a well produced and funny film, a nice little idea
and the acting was good. -- By Clockwork, Posted
on Wednesday, December 10, 2003
Nice
film.
The film is shot nicely, and is
amusing. I found the lack of story and the one set/shot
hurt it from an interest point. I know this is a short
film and there is a limitation of what can be done in
this format, but I would rather have more story and
character exploration, but all in all a fine effort. I
liked the music and the editing was done well. -- By
ccharroux, Posted on Monday, December 8,
2003
slapstick fun
I thought the
concept of this film was very good and immediately
created suspense. The slapstick style of the film was
entertaining and reminded me of early silent films such
as the work of Buster Keaton. The direction was good
with the action well blocked out clearly, the burglar
was excellent casting as the manner in which he was
emotive and animated suited the role great. overall a
good concept executed very nicely, made me smile. -- By Fungi, Posted on Sunday, December 7,
2003
Fun Flick
Brailliant
kind of reminds me of Looney Tunes, no money fun that is
both entertaining and amusing.Overall, I liked the film.
The music and sound effects went a long way into
creating a fun, yet suspenseful, mood. The direction was
well done, the first thing I thought of upon watching it
was classical Hollywood style, things flowing seamlessly
together without drawing attention to themselves. Nicely
done.Not much to criticize, the story was both fun and
interesting, and the twist at the end was a great touch.
Perhaps the man could have removed his sunglasses to
further emphasize the point. Nice job, Arun. -- By
prohatchetman, Posted on Sunday, November 30,
2003
I love the idea of no
dialogue.
It reminds me of the old buster
keaton films. Nicely done for a student project. The
film looked especially nice, seeing as how it was film
and all. The music was very nice as well. It's a good
thing you had some good actors as well. You guys seemed
like you maximized your resources as well. -- By
digitalw, Posted on Saturday, November 29,
2003
interesting
I thought the
film was entertaining,although not to beleivable.I didnt
really care for the sound effects but overall i thought
it was a good film.I like the title to "BR(A)ILLIANT" i
didn't get it tell i started watching it.I liked how the
blind guy turned out to be a theif at the end. -- By
rxgoat13, Posted on Wednesday, November 26,
2003
Good job
The overall
production quality was very good. Everything from the
lighting to the costumes was visually interesting. The
no dialouge wasn't a problem, but it was a little
unclear who each of the characters was. I'm pretty sure
the blind guy was a burglar but was the first guy one
too? That’s the only negative thing I could say about
the film. A well done comedic/dramatic short. -- By
wedge78, Posted on Tuesday, November 25,
2003
Good blind comedy...
I
assume that the intruder was a burglar of some sort and
that the blind guy was celebrating the way he got rid of
the intruder in the end. The music went very well with
the story flow. Because of this, this film worked well
as a silent. I can appreciate the work that was involved
in the special effects and the transitions in the
credits. Well done overall. -- By LaptopBomber,
Posted on Sunday, November 23, 2003
well
done
i have to say that telling a story
with no words can be very hard but it was not hard to
follow this at all. It was done very well. We all know
also that black and white is the hardest to light and
that was done very well also. I do wish i knew why that
guy was after him. That still didn't ruin it though for
me. I definatly reccomend this piece! -- By
PictureItFilms, Posted on Saturday, November 22,
2003
I liked this...
I like the
CONCEPT of this. A good idea, but I'm wondering why he
was in the apartment in the first place, and why he
didn't just leave? Minor story points though--maybe I
just missed it as I was watching. No complaints about
the CINEMATOGRAPHY, I'm wondering why it was B&W
though -- that's an artistic decision I guess, I just
didn't catch a compelling reason for it. It's funny,
generally well placed. Maybe a little long. Tighter
EDITING will help. I'm curious about your experience
with NY film academy...was it a good one? The ACTING was
good, too. Generally all around and overall done well
:-) Keep up the good work. -- By justinmc, Posted
on Wednesday, November 19, 2003
I like it
alot.
That was a great film. It's funny,
and the style and whatnot works really well. I like the
music, I like that there's no dialogue, I like the black
and white. The ending is cool, as well, and the acting
is great. The editing is slick too. Nice work. The best
I've seen yet on this site. -- By RobotCaptain,
Posted on Wednesday, November 19,
2003
Br(a)illiantly
entertaining
Well accomplished entertaining
short, that could have been a little shorter…It was
really fun watching this film. I felt a bit long on the
first viewing, but it felt really long on the second.The
sound effects were way over the top, but funny
nonetheless.Choreography was OK, but could have been
more elaborated.I read your comment about loosing some
Close Ups, which could have been very helpful I’m
sure. That’s what happens when you shoot in
reversal… it’s very unforgiving. The look helped the
piece a lot, so I guess it was worth it.You should do
another one before to much time goes by. I’m sure you
will surprise yourself.Congratulations. -- By
Tito, Posted on Monday, November 17,
2003
blind man
walking
Interesting stuff, I really liked
the music, very catchy. I liked the choreography of the
piece and think that it worked very well. I also liked
the bathroom scene, very funny. I must say I didn't
really get the ending but the journey was fun to watch.I
really don't see any technical problems, everything
looks good. -- By boblement, Posted on Tuesday,
November 11, 2003
Now I'm gonna have that
tune in my head for a while
For some
reason, I really liked the music. Definitely the high
point of the movie. The rest is an ok attempt at classic
slapstick, and it misses more often than it hits the
mark. There's some cute stuff in there, like the
cartoonish sound effects and the little dance at the
end, but there are also some serious pacing problems
(people have already mentioned the bathroom shot), some
tired contrived gags which we've seen plenty of times
before, in one way or another, and a lack of close-ups
that do affect the film. The blind man is a stiff
caricature through most of the piece and that, also,
diminishes the comedic potential to be found. Overall,
taken as a student project, it's a good start, I guess.
The problem is you're competing against shorts that aim
at being on a superior level. Keep at it! -- By
Ovnio, Posted on Sunday, November 9,
2003
Charlie Chaplin
Piece
Reminded me a lot of some of
Chaplin's old work,......liked the twist at the
end,....nice touch. A tad too long, a little more
editing perhaps. Music and sfx okay,.....tone the music
done a little bit though. Would like very much to see a
recut , .....good luck, and look forward to other films
-- By Tiger, Posted on Monday, November 3,
2003
Great Film!!
I really
enjoyed this watch. I thought it was very clever and
nicely rehearsed. The shot composition and coverage was
good. I liked the soundtrack and the acting was perfect.
Overall, a very good piece, one of my favourite films on
this site. Nice job. -- By tedthecowboy, Posted
on Wednesday, October 22, 2003
Its a
miracle!
Nice work. nice camera work, good
concept. But i thought the acting was lacking, although
it was a comedic scetch, it seemed to be over acted.
Just thank god for the ending, I think it saved the film
for me otherwise i would have been dissapointed. Music
was well done and a little quircky, which i think added
to this films style. -- By sean23, Posted on
Monday, October 20, 2003
Blind man's
bluff
I thought this was a cool film. i
thought the music was just right with action that was
displayed on the screen. As a New York Film alum, I know
how constraints are used when doing these silent films.
i enjoyed this short and I would look forward to seeing
more from the creative powers behind this short. -- By marleyluvsfilms, Posted on Sunday, October 12,
2003
Entertaining
This was a
pretty clever idea for a short, it would have been nice
to see it develop a little more. The ending was a little
obvious from pretty early on and maybe something a
little more clever could have happened during thier
interaction. At first I thought the soundtrack didn't
quite match the visual style, but it grew on me quickly,
it worked really well. I would have liked some more
andgles though it did come together smoothly... for a
silent film assignment I'm pretty impressed. -- By
evan glodell, Posted on Saturday, October 11,
2003
Comedy sells...
and
"br(a)illiant" is a good example. Okay, the plot had a
few holes - so what? I enjoyed the 2 characters fight it
out for the loot. positives:absurd comedy, camera
angles, well-executed "fire" stunt, music,
editingnegatives:the blind man character looked a lil'
stiff -- By pieceofwork, Posted on Friday,
October 10, 2003
Peter Sellers would love
it.
This is a really interesting and quirky
little film. A very physical bit with the classic
confrontation of the seemingly disadvantaged blind man
vs the man with no other handicap than his mere
exsistence. It's a stumbling, tripping and burning flow
right up to the ending which others have really like,
but I did not really understand all that well. The
soundtrack was a very nice match as was the camerawork
and editing.The production values overshadow the story a
little and it really does not flow as smoothly as it
should .A good effort. -- By Richardwhat, Posted
on Friday, October 10, 2003
Funny and Quirky.
Great Ending!
I thought this wwas a great
idea well excecuted. It may have benefited from slightly
tighter editing here and there to quicken things along.
The thief was played very well as was the blind guy. The
soundtrack was good and matched up well to the action on
screen. The fire effect was good. As I say though, maybe
ever so slightly too long. I'd love to know how the
lighting was done as the images were very crisp and well
exposed.PS -achlam, Zero Minus One was in English, just
witha heavy central Scottish accent!! :) -- By
doonae, Posted on Monday, October 6,
2003
Plot elements worthy of a good short
film
Bri(a)liannt has many elements a good
short film should have - including an interesting setup
and a twist ending. The concept overall is a great idea,
for the most part well executed. Fascinating musical
choices, which at times fit perfectly, but at times seem
oddly incongruent - but always interesting and well
done. The comedic moments are hardest to pull off and
again, at times the comedy doesn't seem to work well. I
question why black and white was chosen, there should be
a good reason, and the thematic content doesn't
necessarily lend itself to a black and white format. The
shooting and editing is adequate....A fun film! -- By
Harley Hay, Posted on Sunday, October 5,
2003
Br(a)illiant
I enjoyed
the "silent movie" approach to this movie and thought
overall the piece was creative. I could not understand,
however, why we heard the screams but the blind man did
not. Was he deaf too? I though the soundtrack was a
little over done and I couldn't understand what it was
trying to achieve - it certainly added to the "is he
deaf too" confusion. I thought theacting was fairly
good, but the pacing of the film was a little too long
and detracted from the story element. Overall, I thought
the movie was a good creative piece and I enjoyed
watching it. -- By prescottc, Posted on Monday,
September 22,
2003
|
