Check out my new sci-fi short film "Streamline"

[JacksonArcher]

Hello everyone.

A while back I announced my sci-fi short film Streamline on here. It's been in development for over two years but I was finally able to complete it. I released it online this week and you can watch it here.

Thoughts, comments, criticisms, etc would be extremely welcomed. I've spent a lot of the time on this and my cast & crew worked really hard to deliver something that hopefully will entertain you guys.

I'd love to hear what everyone thinks.

 

[Admiral James Kirk]

Well you already know what I think so let me just start the ball rolling with...

 

[Admiral_Young]

A brilliant emotional piece supported by a beautiful score. I still need to collect my full thoughts on this at a later date...but I truly loved "Streamline".

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

Beautiful! Very nicely done. I'm impressed.

 

[Borgminister]

Slick. Now get to work on a Star Trek fan film!

(Seriously, magnificent from acting, writing, production and concept (although well worn) from start to finish...!)

Edit: ...and score (between X-Files and Inception)

 

[JacksonArcher]

Thanks guys! I am glad you all like it.

 

[HaplessCrewman]

You can also view the film at First Showing.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2014/watch-dan-marcus-memory-sci-fi-thriller-short-streamline/

 

[The Nth Doctor]

Very slick production, particularly the directing, editing, music and lighting.

While I'm sure it was unintentional, the "technicians" in the overalls reminded me of the antibodies (I think that's what they were called) in Inception.

A few minor quibbles:

At the 6:28 mark, there's a jump from Max looking away from Artemis to a close-up of Artemis, and then a few seconds later, jumping back to the overall, with Max now looking at Artemis. This shot is a little jarring and I think it would work better if we see Max beginning to turn his head towards Artemis right before the close-up to Artemis.

During the final voice over with Dr. Gettler, before revealing she's speaking at a press conference, the audio of her voice sounds a bit off and disconnected from the narrative (albeit the sound of the voice makes sense when it's revealed to be at a press conference). The recording sounds different from the earlier voice over when she's talking to Max at the house, and the difference is a bit jarring for me. Hopefully what I'm trying to describe makes sense.

The closing credits over the water are a little hard to read (I would recommend a stronger stroke to contrast with the water) and a few of them went by a little too fast.

All in all, great job!

 

[JacksonArcher]

Thanks for the extensive review, Emh. It is really appreciated!

Also, thank you HaplessCrewman for pointing out the link over at FirstShowing. If any of you would want to post a review or comment in the thread, that would be great! Especially if you liked the movie. There are some weird negative comments and it would be great to balance the comments section out with some nice positive comments from you guys.

Thanks again!

 

[RJDiogenes]

I don't have time to watch this at the moment, but I'm looking forward to it. Most likely I'll check it out on Friday, since I'll have the day off.

 

[Argus Skyhawk]

... There are some weird negative comments ...

Weird ...and stupid. It's nice that people are able to have civil conversations here at TrekBBS, but I swear that most websites would be greatly improved by removing the ability to comment on articles. Brainless negativity tends to rule too often.

 

[tharpdevenport]

I don't know. If was well done for what it was, and of course looked very nice, as well as some good pacing in some scenes, but overall I just didn't appreciate it.

I felt it never gave us what too, in my personal view, too long to get to.

The music is terrible. It's this aimless sound design-ish mush that even composer and orchestrator Conrad Pope complained about in an interview from a few days ago. You could litterally just remove the music and replace it with manipulated and under/over emphasized sound design, and have lost nothing.


I felt the plot wasn't helped by the odd middle ground of technology were in. Just like when we view science fiction from the early 1990's set in the future, we know better. A future where you can change people's minds but they're still wheelchair bound? A futuristic world where there are still broadcasts replete with scrolling marque text? Floating orbs with information screens -- who's it telling and why isn't that person more involved in a process changing a person's mind than reading floating spheres? Still using wires in this amazing mind-altering future?


And I felt no emotional connection with the dad, in fact I felt he didn't deliver for the role.


I wish I had better things to say since you put so much effort into it and have been actively engaging in trying to make quality work. I'm fairly confident one day we'll see a movie in theaters with your name as the director.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I thought it was really good. SF that's really SF for a change, which is always a breath of fresh air. And I liked how the surreal, Hitchcockian direction seemed to be leading us to a moment of self-discovery and then took a suddenly ominous turn. Cyberpunk hidden in mainstream trappings. The cast was very nice, too. I can't really comment on the music, because that sort of thing always flies under my radar. I can certainly say that I enjoyed the experience, in the same way I enjoy reading a short story in Analog.

 

[JacksonArcher]

I thought it was really good. SF that's really SF for a change, which is always a breath of fresh air. And I liked how the surreal, Hitchcockian direction seemed to be leading us to a moment of self-discovery and then took a suddenly ominous turn. Cyberpunk hidden in mainstream trappings. The cast was very nice, too. I can't really comment on the music, because that sort of thing always flies under my radar. I can certainly say that I enjoyed the experience, in the same way I enjoy reading a short story in Analog.

Thank you for those wonderful comments. It really is appreciated. I am glad you liked the movie.

Also, thank you Argus Skyhawk for leaving such a nice comment on the article. I can't thank you enough.

 

[RJDiogenes]

No problem. Are you going to be entering your film in any competitions or festivals or anything?

 

[JacksonArcher]

No problem. Are you going to be entering your film in any competitions or festivals or anything?

Yes, I'll be submitting the film to festivals starting next month.

Also, the film is now on YouTube.

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7f1rVMosqmc[/yt]

 

[Borgminister]

Best of luck! Professional, top to bottom.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

I really liked it.

Congratulations on your achievement, which I found to be well conceived and well executed. Besides the concept, I particularly enjoyed Dr. Gettler's voice (Cheryl Graeff), and the ambiance of the garden scenes. It was necessary for me to watch the film twice, before I felt satisfied that I had a handle on what was happening to Max Sylow (Joel Reitsma) and to his father Artemis (Bruce Edwin Moore).

Since this is a Star Trek board, I can't help but point out that there was a guest character named Lethe on TOS.

Once again, congratulations.

 

[RJDiogenes]

Good luck with the festivals. Keep us updated on how well it's received, please.

 

[JacksonArcher]

Thank you guys! I'll absolutely keep everyone up-to-date. I'm actually submitting it to the AFI Film Festival this week, so I'm excited to see what happens.

Also, CorporalCaptain, thank you SO much for that review. I am really glad you liked it. That's great you watched it twice. I had hoped people would watch it multiple times. I tried to make it as dense as I could so if people saw it more than once it would reward them, like peeling back an onion and finding new layers.

Lastly, we actually just wrapped our national tour. We had our premiere on July 16th here in Chicago at the Gene Siskel Film Center, which went fantastic. I'm embedding pictures below. Then, we had another premiere the following Thursday in Chicago for those that couldn't make it to the Gene Siskel premiere. Then, on July 20th, we had our Los Angeles premiere at the Epic Lounge in Downey, California. I just got back from LA and it was a whirlwind experience.