THE CONTENDER | Noir | Short Film

[@jaREIM]

Any feedback would be helpful - thank you!

[@garyinmarz8938]

Good work, big fight ,,,love the lighting.

[@jaREIM]

@@garyinmarz8938 thanks for the comment, we tried to find the balance between modern day cinematography and the classic noir style

[@garyinmarz8938]

@@jaREIM David Lynch is a good example of this when he introduced Twin Peaks on prime time tv 25 years ago. Letting sit an idea for a day or two or more is beneficial.

[@kevinlane1219]

If this guy can read minds and send someone backwards through time, then please establish a kickstarter to raise funds for a series, because I for one would like to know more about his background. Thanl you.

[@fabiofabiano2272]

Great work. The first appeareance of the detective with his shadow the atmosphere of noir movies and the very good fight. Well done!

[@ianchandler4649]

This is great! It’s a real shame that many studios these days are not making any noir films. I wish stuff like this would encourage writers and directors to give it another chance.

[@jaREIM]

I hear ya... I think some good attempts have been made by the studios, such as Guillermo del Toro's NIGHTMARE ALLEY & Steven Soderbergh's NO SUDDEN MOVE. I guess it depends on budget, profit and creativity... maybe NOIR is too niche for big studio backing, but hopefully future filmmakers can innovate new ideas for the genre.

[@stevenbrower-pr1nd]

Very watchable and an interesting short story. Not enough cameras to capture the fight scene without it getting jumpy. Good soundwork. 👍

[@fxmorin439]

I would pay to see a 1h30 version of a good noir movie. Too bad we don't get any these days. Great job on this short film.

[@renaissance1cinema]

Absolutely phenomenal. As someone who is about to direct their first ever film about a noir journalist, this was very inspiring!

[@jaREIM]

looking forward to hearning more about your film, NOIR is a fun genre to work within

[@dhruvgajjar4953]

3 seconds in and I already love this video

[@5mi13y9]

Idk if anyone else caught your joke but I did

[@jacobosborn4802]

This is fr amazing. I'd love to see a whole series based on It. If you haven't pitched it to a studio you definitely should think on it. They'd love it!

[@beyondthereel]

Wow, I like how it started. I like the use of the lighting and how it shows the red lighting as part of the color palette for your ext shots.

[@timothysaenz4105]

Stylish and well done. Loved the lighting and shadows: excellent for a color film. Great mood established. Loved the characters. Loved the fight! Keep on!

[@afg3643]

outstanding cinematography. i am a great admirer of film noir (40s/50s)..this was a cool, modern twist..in video and voice. hollywood is too busy re-making superman #15 or spiderman #11 to make a (full) movie of substance like such..

[@BaeumlerFilm]

wow! Such a great work!

[@FruityMulherno]

Wow outstanding I love noir stuff so I''m really amazed by this. Outstanding hopefully this genre of film can be used more. Its beautiful.

[@jaREIM]

thanks... I agree, the genre has a lot of potential for various stories and styles for contemporary times

[@jacket0519]

Jesus that set is impeccable

[@sivyh]

i liked cinematography and the overall tone of the film. the fight scene was also well-made. also, i think it's quite cool that this is in color and not in black and white (though i love black and white, color looks really fresh in a modern film in style of film noir. good work

[@jaREIM]

thank you for the feedback - we had thought about shooting in b&w. I was influenced by the comic book artist Sean Phillips, and had hoped to achieve a specific style while maintaining realism.

[@Melancholic_Loner]

Amazing!

[@5mi13y9]

This is amazing and we need more.

[@alfredbassDoP]

fabolous! i love the lighting!

[@jaREIM]

thx, we were trying to find a contemporary balance with the old school NOIR style, so lots of fun to try out ideas

[@smokeyschacht2030]

This is amazing

[@cam21333]

So good! Grabs you right away.

[@ch1ckensandwich420]

this looks like something out of an oscar winning film

[@MAL-qr3ht]

Great Short Film!!

[@jaREIM]

thx, the crew at Nu Boyana was a great help in putting this together

[@Paraprax]

Man this hit the spot. Would love to see the rest of the story!

[@CinematicCami]

Great work

[@jaschowdhari3463]

Much better than 80% of Hollywood film out there in recent times filled with bad cgi , wokeism and political correctness. This is the type of films we want !

[@TheGamingNinja505]

I never comment on anything, but damn this was an awesome short.

[@jaREIM]

thank you, i was grateful to have a crew that put in a lot of extra effort

[@reelfilmmaking101]

This film is great! Amazing work!!

[@jaREIM]

thank you, i appreciate the feedback

[@5starubercar698]

Well done

[@jaREIM]

thanks!

[@CassandraBlueskies]

So, admittedly, I’m not a film critic or aficionado, nor would I pretend I have any knowledge of what constitutes good film noir. I’m merely a viewer who approached this short film with curiosity, initially invited in by the mysterious opening street scene with its rich dark tones and punctuating use of red (and some pretty cool motorcycles). That said, I’d like to offer a bit of feedback. As the story, music, dialogue, and alcohol flowed, my mind filled with questions. I became intrigued with wanting to learn more about the characters, especially the lead character (Eddie?), and his reason(s) for approaching this shadowy location with its shady clientele in search of Raven, who turned out to be a badass chick with a ferocious kick and great hair. A smattering of immediate questions: How did the lead defeat this Captain Jupiter, and does it have bearing on why he’s ventured into this locale in search of Raven? Seeing the newspaper headline, is Captain Jupiter now actually stone cold dead/ gone, Shazam!, or is he like “Michael Myers dead”? Who is the lady in the photo, and how is she affiliated with Raven? Beyond her clear proficiency with keeping him in line, how did Raven become acquainted with the lead character? Does Raven likewise have Superpowers, aside from her Super kick and her Super chic fashion sense? Especially with talk of Captain Jupiter’s defeat at the hands of the lead’s Superpowers, I felt it would have been awesome to hear the lead’s thoughts as narration, giving insight into the backstory and his current motive of pursuing Raven’s whereabouts. Hearing his thoughts might have also made the lead feel a little more relatable to the audience. It would allow the viewer to “share a secret” with the lead, as they’ll confidentially know more about the lead’s feelings and history than the other characters know. That would be cool. Similar to how a lead might muse, “She had the kind of legs that went on and on, like a Tolstoy novel, but not as cold”, or “She kept me nipping at her heels like a stray dog, starved for her affections, and her special brand of kibble.” The acting was top notch, including the fight scene that left me feeling internally bruised and wanting to repair some furniture. I watched this scene play out while picturing ambulance rides and lots of cleanup on Aisle 5. Very convincing indeed. I felt that the camera angles and shadows built up the general mystery, tension, and sense of impending chaos. I loved the creative use of red to signal danger, big uh oh, and drama. Plus it just looked really good. In short, I found this short film impressive, intriguing, and cliffhanging. Reading my feedback has now probably taken longer than watching the actual film, so I’ll finally conclude by offering smiling applause and an appreciative nod toward the noir genre, as I truly enjoyed this excellent example. My only question now is one I’m sure other viewers have shared… is there more?

[@jaREIM]

thanks for the feedback and the questions - most of those answers are in a screenplay I had written, and this scene was an attempt to test out some of those ideas.... and I had thought about adding an opening narration, but my writing skills are not top notch and a v/o could be a distraction if not done properly, but it is an important part of the NOIR genre I'd like to try one day.

[@CassandraBlueskies]

@@jaREIM Thanks for your response, and for this helpful explanation of the origin of the scene (as well as for courageously trekking through reading my entire review). I could see how opening narration could be distracting if not well integrated. You mentioned concerns about writing skills. However, your storyline in this scene, while short in duration, is inventive and intriguing to the viewer just as it’s written. I’m therefore confident that should your future Noir work include protagonist narration, you’ll craft creative blends of dry wit, backstory, and musings that will be both captivating and beneficial for the audience. Stellar stuff. An unrelated note: a nostalgic smile came upon me when Raven was introduced in this scene as a character name… as I remember another “Raven” who was also quite a character. Thank you again.

[@gwfilmproduction]

Great short, truly.

[@jaREIM]

thanks for the comment

[@weirdguystiffeler77]

A very tight scene technically. Camera work, editing, stunt choreography and sound design all top notch. My only note would be one of production design...particularly wardrobe. What era are you trying to represent? I'm guessing present day but the protagonist is obviously wearing period piece clothing reminicent of classic film noir. Other elements hark back to that era (60's jukebox, music) but yet everyone else aside from the bartender is dressed in modern day street clothes. Makes it a bit confusing trying to orient myself as a viewer. Also, the giant hat that the protagonist wears is kind of silly to me. I know that having your actor's face in shadow is very noir-esque but it feels too on the nose to me. Have your writer and production designer think about that some more if you get green lit to produce this. Other than that, terrific job. Hope this gets picked up.

[@jar76]

thank you for the specific feedback... your notes are helpful as we look for ways to improve, especially with the production design... our hope with the wardrobe was to create a feeling of the late 1950's ... we'll be sure to pay closer attention to those details to avoid confusion

[@maxcruz15]

Late to this but good short and nice music!

[@nerdCOREwebseries]

Really nice work!

[@jaREIM]

thank you

[@BarBarian-sy5xz]

This is excellent. Will there be more?

[@ChristianVaerum]

Amazing work! I think it's wierd, that this video gets as little attention as it does. It certainly deserves more. You are very talented, and I hope that you will sucess with your project. A little note would be that the fight scene is at least for me, a bit too confusing, this might just be the style you are going for, and if so I understand it. Maybe some longer shots in that scene would make it feel less disorientating. But Them again, maybe that's the style you are going for. All in all, fantastic work, love the lighting and everything, it's just great.

[@jaREIM]

I appreciate your the feedback, it's very helpful to have another opinion… and yes, the fight scene was a bit too fast in my choices. I would have liked to have held on the wide shots a bit more to help orientate the viewer and show the dynamic movements of the stunt work. This was the first 'fight scene' I had filmed and the stunt team came up with a high energy sequence. I was able to learn a lot from them in how to do a better job in the future.

[@ChristianVaerum]

Thank you for the quick response:)

[@beyondthereel]

Cool short. I like how you use red lighting for some of the ext shots.

[@jaREIM]

thank u for the feedback - we chose the red lighting style to give the impression of "danger", and as things get worse for the character of Eddie, the color red becomes dominate.

[@beyondthereel]

@@jaREIM it paid off well. it did create that sense of danger for Eddie. it worked in favor of the character as he was in danger.

[@keshavnittin3828]

MAN THIS IS AWESOME. Did you submit it for any short film festivals ?

[@robertrostad3930]

Nice work, what did you film on?

[@jaREIM]

thanks, we shot on the Alexa, but I can't remember the specific lens we had used.

[@jaymartin8273]

Awesome! I want to see more! Who exactly 'is' Eddie? What's his connection to Raven? Who's the girl in the photo? Inquiring minds want to know! :=) As for the technical aspects, great lighting, great fight choreography, great music! Hope you can make more! :=)

[@jaREIM]

Good questions, I’ll try to answer them: Eddie used to have super powers, but lost them bc of serious injuries he endured in a battle with “Captain Jupiter.” During Eddie’s recovery process he got addicted to narcotics and Raven helped him kick his habit. She’s also involved in low level criminal activity. The girl in the photo is Capt. Jupiter’s daughter. She began to develop her own powers and abilities, but has gone missing. Eddie was hired to find her.

[@jaymartin8273]

@@jaREIM Interesting. Would love see all that play out :=)

[@garyinmarz8938]

I wonder if bad boys would be on horses today if motorbikes were not of this time

[@CycloHexanol]

Is this from a movie?

[@jar76]

hi, its a scene from a script we hope to film.. we did this as a test to see what we could do, and how we could improve