Unofficial Tex Murphy

You read right folks! I have finally uploaded The Masque of the
Red Death which I did for Uni last semester!

Even though it is not completely finished, I figured you guys have been waiting so long you all deserve to see it anyway!

Just a quick note, this was the version that I submitted to my uni assessment, and it achieved a High Distinction mark! However, it still needs some more work before we submit it to the festivals. The extra work includes another colour grading pass, rotoscoping (the removal or masking of unwanted things from various shots), additional film effects and a general cutting down of the length.




That said; I would very much appreciate any feedback you can provide so that I can keep it in mind for when we are working on the final version. Treat this as a pre-release private screening, in which case there are some rules you MUST follow:

1. Please DO NOT distribute this and further than your own computers. Any copies you create and distribute invalidates it as a private copy, which will put me in all sorts of trouble if it does get out in the open. You may show it to friends and family, but only if you are not making copies to give to them or sending them via the internet (through e-mail or video networks such as YouTube). i.e. please show them your copy only.

2. I will be password protecting the online directory AND the zip file with passwords only Tex Murphy fans such as you would know. If you are unsure of the answer to one of the password questions, please do NOT ask for it here, or post the answers online! If you are unsure, please PM me and I will tell you. Also, if anyone receives a PM asking for an answer from someone unknown please do not give the answers away.

3. By downloading your copy you are agreeing to the above terms.

These are all steps to ensure we can prevent copies from getting out of control. There we go, that wasn't so hard was it?




Your passwords are:

User Identity: UTMforum (case sensitive)
Online Directory: What is the first name of Chelsee's brother? (all lower case)
Zip File: In Under a Killing Moon, Tex traveled to an off planet lounge called the [?][?] Lounge (two words, no spaces, all lower case).

If you are unsure, please re-read the above rules.

You link is: http://www.provisionaustralia.com.au/Masque (160mb – ZIP file, DivX AVI)

Please note the video uses the DixX video codec. If your video cannot play, please download and install the codec from this website: http://www.divx.com

Important: Because of limited webspace, I have temporarily removed the Tex Murphy soundtracks again. This video will be online for 14 days only starting from now… so if you plan on downloading it please do so within this time. Otherwise you will not get another chance until the final film is released.




As I said above, please feel free to talk about it here and provide your personal feedback… I am looking forward to the discussions! Thanks again to everyone for their amazing support during the film’s progress!

Also, Matt Heider has done a wonderful job with the score, and I am sure he will be able to answer any questions relating to the music, and I am sure we can all remind him what an amazing job he has done! All pieces are original piece of his, bar the first song in the credits... but in a later version of the film this will be replaced with another one of Matt's pieces. The second piece in the credits was the original concept piece for the dance he sent me in the earlier stages of the films' production.


Cheers!

-Cub. =o)

EDIT > James, perhaps it would be wise to sticky this for the 14 day period so that people who want a copy do not miss it?

Beyond awesome... Wow. I wish I could critique well, but I really enjoyed it.
You're a talent, that's for sure.

I loved the setting. I read at the end it was all shot on campus. Man, Sydney Uni must be a lot cooler than old University of Dayton. We don't have any elaborate structures like that!

Stunned,
Keck

My critique of the film:

I think the narrirator's voice needs to have the volume increased in the mixing. (I recall that from UAKM and James Earl Jones did an excelent reading of it in that it was dark, terrifying and outragously loud (having me to turn my volume down on my computer a lot of the time)) EDIT: OH! an echo would be ideal!

The score was excelent, very high standard - it felt like a professional film.

The guy that played death did an excelent job as well, he was my fav character because he killed all them elitist pigs If anything he is the star of the show Reminded me of Emperor Palpatine from Star Wars - zaping people

The prince could have got a bit more angry and a bit more manly (particularly with the whole smashing of the glass bit - he seemed a bit faged up when he did it) kinda made an arse of himself in front of all the ladies.. but I guess they're all dead now so it doesn't matter I think he did alright, he was very smug.

The start.. All I can say is "BRING OUT YE DEAD!" - Monty Python Search For the Holy Grail.

Just a bit of stuff you can work on:
The mood was wrong with the death scene, it should have been very very dark when death arrived. (You could actually colourise that with computer effects still if you have the time - I suggest washing it out with black and white ) It should have felt like all the light and color was being obsorbed by him.. I felt that this had the makings of a good horror peice if it had been much darker at that point. All the darkness goes over the crowd and they all die in a frozen sort of image like death had sucked the colour out of them. This could be done with some editing tools - like Adobe After Effects. That would be really cool seeing as its the big finale to the film.

Its a very nice film and I hope you do well at the festivals. (Are you going to the Adelaide film festival at all cause I think a lot of people would here would like this stuff)

(I love the little plug you gave Tex Murphy in the credits btw)

Good Luck. I'm starting to wish I had doen film at uni

Very nicely done Cub... Very nice indeed. I really enjoyed it.

I cant seem to get to it it. for some reason i dont have the right things to put in or my browser is blocking it

ps im usuing firefox

Try using getright or some other 3rd party downloader. Firefox has a tendancy of screwing up downloads. I downloaded it fine using GetRight because I could resume.

Did you type the password in properly btw.

Well all I can say so far is this is SOME download!

But saying that I already know it's worth it. I still have the last movie you posted with the sultry singer. Really excellent stuff and I wish I had friends who didn't mind being in front of or even behind a camera. It's so much fun.

Can't wait to watch this

Aw shucks Cub....that's very sweet of you to give a shout out to the board!

I thought the short was awesome! The narration was impressive, the sets FANTASTIC. Nice touch with the worms!

And of course, hat's off to Matt for the score, which fit perfectly, and was absolutely necessary for conveying the over-all mood of the piece.

One of the scenes that struck me right away was the dead kid. Dang, not pulling any punches there.

One of the last scenes, when they were dropping like flies, at the 12:00 minute mark, where the young girl in the closeup has the blood pool out her mouth as she hits the floor, whoa! That was a great shot!

You are so fortunate so have had access to all those beautiful, almost camera ready settings. The interior hallways, the expansive "ballroom", gorgeous stuff.

The only things that jarred me a little was the lighting. The interior of the ballroom seemed too bright and festive for what was foreshadowed. You mentioned going back to tone the piece, I'd say that's going to be important.

Acting wise, pretty good, although I think your weakest part of the massacare was 11:43 to 11:53. The purple girl choking, and the striped shirt guy falling.... and the massive domino drop at 11:51, I think didn't carry as much impact as some of the other shots.

But you know, that's just my opinion!!! Worth every cent you paid for it!

The almost topless dancer twirling the ribbons, also very nice, lent just the slightest bit of raciness.

I'd say your future's looking very bright. If that's one of your first professionl pieces, I can't wait to see what you'll be like in a few years!!!!


Thanks for letting us see it, and it goes nowhere but on my laptop.

Jen

Thanks for all your responses so far!

Am taking notes as we speak and plan on making some of the above-mentioned adjustments. Fingers crossed, when my editor gets back from Indonesia we can get cracking and hopefully squeeze some more out of this.

I doo agree though, there is a bit of room to fiddle with the colour and tone of the gilm in general to create more of a macabre mood.

We'll se what we can do!



Also Jen, thanks for the compliments... this is my first big production as a director, and general project manager... and I am very happy to know you like it.

In terms of what the future may bring, I actually have plans to move to Japan in 2 or so years and persue my film dreams there. Something about the Japanese way of telling a story intrigues me enourmously (and they've always been great at horror too!)... so I am learning the language and making plans to hopefully move to Tokyo within the next 2 years. Not only is it a great opportunity to persue my dreams, but I have always wanted to live in Japan and figure why not!


Anyway, keep em coming!

Thanks,

-Cub. =o)

cub can u send me a pm i cant get it to work for me sob cry whine ok im not gone jump out of the windown just jet.

The only things that jarred me a little was the lighting. The interior of the ballroom seemed too bright and festive for what was foreshadowed. You mentioned going back to tone the piece, I'd say that's going to be important.

Acting wise, pretty good, although I think your weakest part of the massacare was 11:43 to 11:53. The purple girl choking, and the striped shirt guy falling.... and the massive domino drop at 11:51, I think didn't carry as much impact as some of the other shots.

I think all of that can be fixed with Adobe After Effects (or its equal editing tools - I have no idea what you are using but I've found most of the time film guys are using that.)

Reguarding the death scene:
I've also liked that sort of old styled movie - throbing effect, there is like a shadow around the lense and it throbs. I've seen it used alot in horror films and in early science fiction films particualrly Metropolis(cough! the Death scene is ideal!) Those old films scare the crap out of me You only have to watch a WW2 documentary to know how freaky filming back then use to be. I don't know if you can use this or not, you might want to at least give it a try.

Metropolis Scene with Death.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0184nJSyZVw
Though I'm guessing you've already seen it given you are a director cub.

mr_cyberpunk wrote:
Metropolis Scene with Death.. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0184nJSyZVw
Though I'm guessing you've already seen it given you are a director cub.

Indeed I have... Fritz Lang. I don't care what anyone says, it is the most innovative film of all time (especially for 1927!). And I totally dig what you are saying with that age clouding effect on the film... I am very interested in trying something along those lines for Masque, perhaps throughout the whole film (not to that extent of course) and perhaps accentuate it during the death parts! Hmmm.... now I am excited!

-Cub. =o)

Firstly can I say, woah, that's really excellent stuff you've done - how do you get so many involved? I liked the family connections under all aspects even catering

As for critique, my only comment as has been mentioned already is the voiceover - it described the prince as sagacious - wise?? That just doesn't seem to fit the visual imagery. I'm not sure if that came from edgar allen poe himself or was adapted but there was no visual evidence to make me think him particularly sagacious. Other things in the dialogue seemed wrong too - the hour was to be stricken - again not proper English - it should really say struck.

But my biggest comment about the voiceover is that generally american accents are used, espeically by heroes. Sadly english voices are used more often than not for bad guys. The exception seems to be english women but then only in period dramas.

But the direction seemed good. There were production parts that varied from good to ok to I had ideas of my own (but then have always wanted to produce myself).

On the whole, extraordinarily good, needed tightening in a few key areas but the CUs were good and effective (actually they were also in your last effort - you're good at them) but definitely change the voiceover. If you kept the english accent put on a deeper, more sinister voice. It's a dark story so I'd suggest listening to that famous english voiceover guy who did dracula stuff and the talking on the thriller song by michael jackson. Gutteral, which in itself put you on edge.

Oh I had this thought today as well. When the clock chimes, make the screen fade to Red, like blood has gone on the screen. Colourization is really key in horror films.

As for critique, my only comment as has been mentioned already is the voiceover - it described the prince as sagacious - wise?? That just doesn't seem to fit the visual imagery.

Espeically when you consider that he charged at Death with a dagger.. lol IDIOT!

I would say he is the oposite of wise. If anything he seemed stuborn and malicious. Like he was the sort of guy that overtaxed his people and just let them all die in the streets.

I look forward to seeing the final cut because this film is going to turn out great.

Thanks guys, this is allgood stuff!

David, in relation to the voiceover dialogue... all the english and grammar used was sourced directly from Poe's writings. I myself had difficulty adhering to his style, but did not want to dumb down his work to a certain extent though. But I agree, some words don't fit, but that's poe for you.


I'm surprised you don't like the voiceover style... that was one of the things aspect of the film folks over here really loved. I am not saying you are wong, I am intrigued by, and appreciative of your perspective. But I suppose being English yourself, you have had exposure to the right type of voice for the these sorts of stories and are able to provide a good insight.

Thansk again guys, all recommendations noted!

-Cub. =o)