Tough time deciding...

Absolutely loving the distressed "grindhouse-edness" of the "super 8" version of "the bet" - how many quotes do i need? but thought the "16mm version" didn't need quite as much scratches/dust/grain/weirdness. so i just made it look fairly realistic. BUT i can't decide which is the easily found (ergo on the menu) version and which is the easter egg. man it looks SO cool, the super 8, grindhouse-y version. Or do I just list them both and only have one easter egg (muwaHAHA, you thought this was the only one!!!).

grrr.

I'm sure you've seen what the film looks like, if only in the trailer, so it should be pretty easy to get an idea of how different (aside from the b&w and ratio change) this looks from the actual film.

Check out a short sampling HERE and PLEEAASSEE!!! tell me what you think.

ALSO!!!!

if you want to get a question answered by the filmmakers to be included on the DVD, EMAIL!!! it to thebetrubbersquare.com and we'll answer it. Gotta get it to us SOON as interviews begin filming on Oct 6!!!

Alternate Ending for "The Bet"

Just got the storyboards back for the alternate/extended ending to be included on the DVD for "The Bet" and I am a-twitter with excitement. Damn I wish we'd been able to shoot it. Would have so rocked. Such an entirely different vibe from the final ending... not that I don't love what we ended up with, just would have loved to actually have shot the other ending. I can't wait to get the audio recorded and cut the thing together. Hopefully it plays as well as it does in my head, cos it's really cool.

Interesting Feedback

The International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival chose not include "The Bet" in their program; however, they did offer to provide feedback from the judges. Here's what they wrote:

After reviewing judging forms from the Viewing Committee and the Program Chairs, I have compiled a list of all the positives and negatives of your film. Your film scored high in cinematography, script, acting, editing, direction. One judge said the ending was "awesome!". I have found no negative critiques of your film. The film made it to the second round of judging. Sometimes a film doesn't fit the program. Please don't be disheartened, keep submitting and keep up the good work!

As Matt Wilkinson, the producer, said, "Well that's the nicest, most non-constructive, rejection I've ever seen." Odd.

Super 8 (16) Update

Yes, the Super 8 (or, technically the Super 16 since that's more of what it looks like) version of "The Bet" will be included on the DVD... twice. After going back through and deciding it didn't really look convincing, I popped in my Eraserhead and Pi DVDs and basically matched the look of those, dulling the whites to a grey and blurring the entire thing just a bit. I also reformatted everything from 2.40:1 ratio to a 1:85:1 ratio.

But that's not all. Liking the high contrast look of the original test (like was shown previously on the blog), I reformatted that look to a 1.33:1 ratio and will include that version as an Easter egg somewhere on the DVD (if it will fit).

No screen caps, sorry. You'll have to buy the DVD to see how it turned out.

And Chinese (?)

I think it's Chinese, anyway: imDb.cn. I'm a 导演 too.

Polish (I think)

"The Bet" is now included on what I think is a Polish IMDB-type site. I am the Reżyseria.

Jeżeli widzisz jakieś błędy bądź braki na tej stronie możesz wysłać do nas aktualizację. Jeśli zostanie ona zaakcepowana przez naszych weryfikatorów pojawi się na tej stronie. Kliknij przycisk 'Aktualizuj' a zostaniesz przeprowadzony przez proces wysyłania aktualizacji.

DVD Release Pushed

"The Bet" DVD will now be released on 12-4, two weeks later than originally planned. This will ensure that all the special features can be included and allow time to get it produced properly. Two weeks isn't bad when you consider how much stuff is being packed onto the disc. Lots and lots and lots of stuff. The original date was meant to coincide with my birthday, but the new date has a meaning more in line with the film itself. If you know what that is, you're awesome.

The George Lucas Syndrome

Before we made "The Bet," I would re-edit commercials we'd shot, or other peoples' films or what-have-you just to have some fun. Now that we've shot "The Bet," I have something original to play with. And play with, I have.
Possibly to be included on the DVD is the "Super 8 Version" of "The Bet." I couldn't help myself. Just a few tweaks and such and it looks like the film was shot on Super 8. Why would I do such a thing when the look of the film has been so widely praised? Because I can. And because I personally love the look of Super 8.
Eraserhead. Pi. Even the photography of Jeff Bridges and Anton Corbjin - it all has that grainy, contrasty, black and white look that reminds me of how I remember my dreams. So I figured, why not play with the filters and such and see what I can come up with to simulate the look. So I did, and, if it will fit without having to go to DVD-9, I think I'll include it, maybe as an easter egg, on the DVD.

Grrr... but, WEEE!

For some unknown reason (maybe Tom knows), the MySpace page for "The Bet Original Motion Picture Soundtrack" has been deleted. Neat. Wutev.

The good news is there's an awesome new mix of the song "Hallway" written by Rachel Bellinsky of Switchyard and performed by Justine Bellinsky of MoonVine. The track (in another form) plays over the credits of "The Bet." The new mix is the full song and is pretty cool. Hoping to be able to get all the various pieces together to shoot a video for it (which, of course, would be an awesome bonus feature on the DVD).

Check it out... HERE. (and if anyone knows how to make the mp3 to be playable here, I'm all ears)

A bad(ish) review of "The Bet"

I'm not going to complain about a bad review. I said from the beginning that as long as they made a valid case, I would not have an issue.

I'm not really sure if Moviebuffs' review is bad or not. They definitely had gripes with just about every element of the film, but there are some parts of it that makes me wonder if they had "got it" if they may have been more positive. Either way, the one bit I thought was just awesome was this: "The men are apparently both impotent since the woman still has her clothes on and other than being rather filthy does not seem to have been violated." I guess had this been more like the films the reviewer suggests aren't very good at the beginning of the review he might have liked it more. "We do not know who the victims are, how they got there or why those two hobos are committing acts of torture and mayhem. We do not know the purpose of the exercise either."

Like I said, fine if you don't like it; some of his points were valid. But it doesn't bother me so much (like I feared a bad review would). Meh. Plenty of good reviews already.

"The Bet" site updated

A few tweaks here and there. Added the Shockerfest Official Selection logo and screening info, a collection of reviews with offsite links, DVD information and a few minor revisions. Bascially getting ready for the DVD release on 11-20-07. Check it out HERE. Wish there was a way to preorder the DVD, but since we aren't going through Amazon (unless someone understands their whole merchant thing - confused the hell outta me - we'll be selling through filmbaby. Anyone know of other online sellers, let me know.