Three Card Monte (d. Matthew Clayfield, 2003)

Heh heh.
I is a director!

Go your hardest.

THREE CARD MONTE (QuickTime, approx. 7MB)

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www.esotericrabbit.com

Very cool...

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Very hip, slick, and smart, Matt. I like the music you chose for the background and the kids that starred in it are very talented. Good use of split screen, easy to follow, and stylish. Two thumbs up mate! I'd give you more, but I haven't got any more...sorry.

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"Today, war is too important to be left to politicians. They have neither the time, the training, nor the inclination for strategic thought. I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids."

Thanks, Slay.

Very neat. The split screen worked well (the multiple takes on the entering-the-office bit went well together). The music added a good overall "classic bank-heist" kind of feel, and your actors delivered well to cameras.

Well....(....the only constructive criticism i'd make is the girl's delivery in her room sounded a bit tinny (tho it could just be the streaming). And perhaps one or two of the lines to camera were a bit mumbled. (again, possibly the streaming).

Aside from that, it was pat. Nice one.

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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here

Damn copy machines!!

Anyway Matt. Thanks for sharing that with us. I enjoyed it. What I liked most, and what stood out to me through the picture, was the creative flair you seem to have with the camera, using images and techniques to move the short story along; it felt longer than it was, and that's good.

Quick edits, jump cuts and narrative seemed to convey the plot nicely without losing any tempo due to plot confusion. I'm not sure that the actors were aware that each of their points-of-view were absolutely essential to tell the story, and that since you were moving the story along through images they could have concentrated more on character than lines, but they're actors, and getting an actor to fully synchronize with the director's vision has been the bane of filmmakers since the start of cinema. I felt that the final shot might have been an attempt by you to show each character's individuality because that is when I "felt" the most for them. I felt that they were responding to the outcome of the mission, and the split-screen effect made it possible to look at them in their personal space long enough to show how each of them felt about the entire thing. I would have liked the betrayal aspect to have been more focused, but that's just me. I'm not sure if you shot this out of sequence, but I felt that the actors playing Rielly, Jack and, Judas (not really his name, but I'm not sure I ever heard it) gave their best performances during the last minutes of the film. (and how did you get Natalie Portman to appear as Rielly ?)

But again Matt, your artistic vision is superb. You incorporated music imagery and technique perfectly to make an intriguing composition. Using black-and-white in some frames of split-screen and color in others is brilliant! Wide angles and close-ups of action on the same screen is so difficult, but you made it look easy!

I look forward to seeing all of your work!

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I have been formatted to fit this screen.

r66-The member who always asks WHY?

I'm a very language-driven filmmaker. I like the sounds of words [and the beauty of images] more than anything else. So, for me, a delivery based on the lines was all that I was after. There's a reason for this, of course, being that this was not a serious film. I wrote it in fifteen minutes and made it in three days, with Jack, Dave and Riley [their real names] in mind. They were playing heightened versions of themselves [and in Jack's case, the real version]. I disagree that they should have focused on fleshing out "a character", because I don't particularly think it's about character. It's about movement, sound and what they're saying [a lot of which is quite ridiculous]. I think you buy into the characters regardless, based on their charisma.


I can't help but feel you've looked at this film in the wrong way, Tim: the typical "Critisism" way. I appreciate your comments and what you have to say, but I also feel the need to point out the following extract from Roger Ebert's 1974 interview with Federico Fellini:
Sometimes, things just exist because they do. I had no intention to make a point of each character's individuality, and no desire to explore the nature of betrayal [it's not a betrayal anyway, it's a pathetic, silly fear].


Thanks. We just went out and shot everything I thought I might need, on the fly and for no money. Even I was sort of suprised by how well it came out [frankly, I think it's the music's doing].

You don't always need to over-analyse, Tim!
Sit back, relax and enjoy!

Pretty nifty...will be looking to see more.

That was on beyond awesome. Here's to hoping for many more shorts from you!

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"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!" - Howard Beale

I've watched this film 5 times now. And I've enjoyed it every time.

Man, I'm flattered.
Really, really, really.

Really?

Yes.