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[spegan]

Hi, I recently released this short film:

"Waiting for Player"
With the help of a mysterious purple cat, Sebastian tries to overcome procrastination and develop his first video game.
http://vimeo.com/spegan/waitingforplayer

trailer:




Any sort of good/bad/ugly feedback is appreciated.  Please be honest.  I plan to expand the project to a feature so learning anything from thoughts or related experiences is especially helpful... Thanks!

[Irock]

I think the scene in the house full of nerds playing a video game went on too long.

The sound work is interesting and the ambiance of Sebastian's home is great.

[Radix]

didnt watch, how many concentration camp references are there

[poe]

didnt watch, how many concentration camp references are there

didnt watch, i think about nein

[Irock]

didnt watch, how many concentration camp references are there

0

[ANtY]

the trailer seemed awful to me, tho I may still watch the whole thing

[MaximSchoemaker]

That was depressing... But in a really wonderful way! The slow pace of all the scenes adds greatly to the overall feeling of hopelessness and procrastination. Which are very valid feelings in any game developers life. The soundscape is simply magnificent

I gotta say I kind of lost it at the end, like, I suppose it's a stream of creativity or inspiration or something like that, but the ending kindof left me unsatisfied. But this is a short created from a larger piece of work, right? So I'm guessing the full piece might supply a bit more closure :3

[Radix]

didnt watch, how many concentration camp references are there

0

sounds bad

[spegan]

didnt watch, how many concentration camp references are there

0

sounds bad

lol

[spegan]

I think the scene in the house full of nerds playing a video game went on too long.

The sound work is interesting and the ambiance of Sebastian's home is great.

thanks for checking it out.  i can sometimes agree with that.  trying people's attention span was sort of a risky experiment throughout.  also attempting to do more "storytelling" with audio than visuals.

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

the trailer seemed awful to me, tho I may still watch the whole thing

same. just based on the trailer it made me not want to watch it, primarily because you are using an awful computer generated voice, anonymous-style, it makes it seem like you are too lazy to record an actual human voice. even a really bad recording from the worst human voice in the world would be better than computer generated stuff

[spegan]

That was depressing... But in a really wonderful way! The slow pace of all the scenes adds greatly to the overall feeling of hopelessness and procrastination. Which are very valid feelings in any game developers life. The soundscape is simply magnificent

I gotta say I kind of lost it at the end, like, I suppose it's a stream of creativity or inspiration or something like that, but the ending kindof left me unsatisfied. But this is a short created from a larger piece of work, right? So I'm guessing the full piece might supply a bit more closure :3

hey i appreciate you watching it   what you are describing is largely what i was going for.  it can so easily just be too boring/painful for some - which is fine.  some things aren't for everyone. 

at times i think of it like Groundhog Day reliving the same day in a vicious cycle of frustration/depression/creative bursts/research/waste/etc. this is Sebastian breaking down and rebuilding probably over and over again... it is certainly open to interpretation.  for me too still!

you are right, i abridged my larger story to test it in this short version.  while his struggle is in expressing himself through games i am hoping to keep his conflicts universally accessible while still specific/genuine to those of a beginning game developer.

[Udderdude]

Can appreicate what you were trying to do here, I'm sure lots of devs can relate to just lacking any sort of motivation. 

[spegan]

the trailer seemed awful to me, tho I may still watch the whole thing

same. just based on the trailer it made me not want to watch it, primarily because you are using an awful computer generated voice, anonymous-style, it makes it seem like you are too lazy to record an actual human voice. even a really bad recording from the worst human voice in the world would be better than computer generated stuff

interesting.. that is helpful to know!  i've never gotten any comments on the teaser. 

personally, i rarely watch trailers (spoilers) and think they are kind of silly or even pretentious for short films but i do know they make or break a potential viewing for some -- i'm learning right now about underestimating their importance.

i primarily had notes about the film being boring, too slow, unappealing to non-gamers, etc. so i did make this teaser flashy.  i honestly hate most voiceover formula trailers so this was my parody.  i'm not sure a real voice would actually help more than just doing a more straightforward informative trailer with text.  thanks for the feedback

[ANtY]

Can appreicate what you were trying to do here, I'm sure lots of devs can relate to just lacking any sort of motivation. 

Then they should stop trying to make games and start doing something they enjoy and that motivates them.

the trailer seemed awful to me, tho I may still watch the whole thing

same. just based on the trailer it made me not want to watch it, primarily because you are using an awful computer generated voice, anonymous-style, it makes it seem like you are too lazy to record an actual human voice. even a really bad recording from the worst human voice in the world would be better than computer generated stuff

interesting.. that is helpful to know!  i've never gotten any comments on the teaser.  

personally, i rarely watch trailers (spoilers) and think they are kind of silly or even pretentious for short films but i do know they make or break a potential viewing for some -- i'm learning right now about underestimating their importance.

It would be better if you didn't include the short trailer for your movie, as it is short enough to try to watch it without seeing the trailer first.

[ANtY]

I've seen the film, it's too artsy and noisy for me, but I get the point of that

and I agree that the ending was kinda unclear and unsatisfactory

[spegan]

I've seen the film, it's too artsy and noisy for me, but I get the point of that

and I agree that the ending was kinda unclear and unsatisfactory

thanks for taking the time to view it and shoot me your thoughts.  you aren't alone with that outcome.  in the end he finally is "working," for the moment he has overcome his environment - but to me the question is for how long before his willpower is inevitably tested again...

is it unclear because his monitor is blue instead of displaying what he may be working on?  perhaps choosing to keep his screen abstracted/blank wasn't the best

[ANtY]

is his willpower being tested by hanging out with a dickhead? I hope it's something else

[spegan]

is his willpower being tested by hanging out with a dickhead? I hope it's something else

absolutely and especially!  he is his own worst enemy just like you/i could be on any given day

[eiyukabe]

I agree regarding the clarity issues. I'm not sure I would understand this was a movie about overcoming procrastination without reading the description. But I'm not sure how much of that is on me for not "getting" indie films, or cinema in general  .

Interesting nonetheless.