A Hollywood Set Where Teens Replace the Pros.
Afterschock
Just finished watching the St. Louis film. I thought it was great and touching. I'm wondering what other people though. My comments:
- The mother standing there at the beginning felt really awkward, and the talking could've been more natural. All in all, though, I felt the return home was all right.
- Blue Dog. Makes you wonder whether the little brother chained him up somewhere or something. I didn't completely get the point of the dog, though, other than it perhaps symbolized the tension between the two brothers.
- I thought the acting was pretty good, especially from Eddie (Kendrick), though there were moments when he was a bit off, like when he asked Parker for her headband instantly or when he said "Wha-What is that?" when he hears the hissing of the gas.
- Could anyone explain the "some of us are trying real hard to do the right thing all of the time." Was Andrew referring to himself? Why did Kendrick flash back to that? Part of my confusion is due to the reason why Kendrick went to his grandfather's place - he became a better fighter somehow? Was his misbehaved? If so, wouldn't that mean that when Andrew said those words, he meant he himself was trying to do the right thing but that no one ever recognized him for it? Explanation please? I'm not very sharp on catching implications.
- The reporter actress bothered me with her moving too much in her second shot. Jordan (Andrew) was pretty forced too. Parker was all right. I think her exit could've been less weird. The hair toss was forced. In general, the chemistry between characters was fairly good.
- The music was good, upbeat where it should be, but the panicky sections when the students start running out of the basement are a bit weird in my opinion. Not totally odd, since it did give a bit of that sense of tension and caution, but it sounded more suitable for a gunman scene. Maybe I'm just used to generic stuff. But aren't we all.
- The "fight, fight, fight," could've been less sparse and mechanic.
- Andy felt a bit too unnatural at times.
- The lighting toward the middle/end of the underground escape sequence was odd. It turned from dark to light, though I can understand that the sudden change was adopted for the close up.
What I loved...
- The flashlights coming on (very pretty), although I didn't get how they all found flashlights so easily in the dark, and all at the same time!
- I can't say this enough, but, really, Eddie did such a great job. Didn't find the extras so great, unfortunately.
- The slamming of the locker blending into the music was FANTASTIC. I loved it.
- The circling shot at the start of the fight scene. Nice entrance there.
- The escape scene was well shot and edited, especially at the end. Great edits between Kendrick and the other students.
Yay, I liked this one! :) Scriptwise, it was fairly focused and didn't involve too much, although I found Kendrick's set up sort of messy with random bits being thrown in about his recent past; the audience I don't think ever really got a true sense of what had happened to him, save for the fighting. I guess we don't really need to, but how does his change play into the main part of the film? I don't know. It seems unnecessary. I think the script could've fleshed out Kendrick in a different way. It's nice that he's come back changed and becomes a hero, but we don't know if he would've acted the same way before he went to the farm. I would've liked to see what Kendrick was like BEFORE the farm experience. Again, in a script or film, EVERYTHING. needs to be vital to the story. Take away the beginning, and I think Aftershock still could've worked.
- The mother standing there at the beginning felt really awkward, and the talking could've been more natural. All in all, though, I felt the return home was all right.
- Blue Dog. Makes you wonder whether the little brother chained him up somewhere or something. I didn't completely get the point of the dog, though, other than it perhaps symbolized the tension between the two brothers.
- I thought the acting was pretty good, especially from Eddie (Kendrick), though there were moments when he was a bit off, like when he asked Parker for her headband instantly or when he said "Wha-What is that?" when he hears the hissing of the gas.
- Could anyone explain the "some of us are trying real hard to do the right thing all of the time." Was Andrew referring to himself? Why did Kendrick flash back to that? Part of my confusion is due to the reason why Kendrick went to his grandfather's place - he became a better fighter somehow? Was his misbehaved? If so, wouldn't that mean that when Andrew said those words, he meant he himself was trying to do the right thing but that no one ever recognized him for it? Explanation please? I'm not very sharp on catching implications.
- The reporter actress bothered me with her moving too much in her second shot. Jordan (Andrew) was pretty forced too. Parker was all right. I think her exit could've been less weird. The hair toss was forced. In general, the chemistry between characters was fairly good.
- The music was good, upbeat where it should be, but the panicky sections when the students start running out of the basement are a bit weird in my opinion. Not totally odd, since it did give a bit of that sense of tension and caution, but it sounded more suitable for a gunman scene. Maybe I'm just used to generic stuff. But aren't we all.
- The "fight, fight, fight," could've been less sparse and mechanic.
- Andy felt a bit too unnatural at times.
- The lighting toward the middle/end of the underground escape sequence was odd. It turned from dark to light, though I can understand that the sudden change was adopted for the close up.
What I loved...
- The flashlights coming on (very pretty), although I didn't get how they all found flashlights so easily in the dark, and all at the same time!
- I can't say this enough, but, really, Eddie did such a great job. Didn't find the extras so great, unfortunately.
- The slamming of the locker blending into the music was FANTASTIC. I loved it.
- The circling shot at the start of the fight scene. Nice entrance there.
- The escape scene was well shot and edited, especially at the end. Great edits between Kendrick and the other students.
Yay, I liked this one! :) Scriptwise, it was fairly focused and didn't involve too much, although I found Kendrick's set up sort of messy with random bits being thrown in about his recent past; the audience I don't think ever really got a true sense of what had happened to him, save for the fighting. I guess we don't really need to, but how does his change play into the main part of the film? I don't know. It seems unnecessary. I think the script could've fleshed out Kendrick in a different way. It's nice that he's come back changed and becomes a hero, but we don't know if he would've acted the same way before he went to the farm. I would've liked to see what Kendrick was like BEFORE the farm experience. Again, in a script or film, EVERYTHING. needs to be vital to the story. Take away the beginning, and I think Aftershock still could've worked.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Noah Berman on -
As a member of the STL team...
-Yeah, the mother was not very willing to listen to direction.
-Blue dog ran away because of the 'quake (apparently).
-We have no idea why the flashback was in there - it wasn't in the script, we never had anything to do with that. I agree - it broke up the flow and was kinda weird. Neither was the reporter, to tell you the truth...
-Dreaming Tree added a lot of music, all we added was the opening credit music and the end stuff (from fresh sounds).
-Hey, as an extra in the fight fight fight scene, I gotta say...you're completely right.
-We came up with a reason for the flashlights but come shoot day it didn't make sense, so they're just...magical. The shot turned out great, though so I guess I can't complain.
-Thanks! :)
We spent like 2 hours coming up with the backstory to Kendrick (seriously we covered a wall with stuff) but the well laid plains of mice and men and all that.
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