Topic: RENO 3: Unlicenced Revenge - Action Short

https://youtu.be/Mz-s6WaGnWo
https://scontent-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/10873387_1013630505317863_3448773005091686609_o.jpg
https://youtu.be/Mz-s6WaGnWo

"After an angry RENO goes rogue and the FIRM turns their back on him, he is forced to seek revenge on his own. As he cuts a path through the enemy, will this be his undoing? The third and final entry into the 80's tribute series, RENO."

This has been a long time in the making. Shot this over the past summer/fall, but I couldn't finish the edit quickly due to school and work commitments. This short film utilizes four locations and principle photography took three days. Much work went into the muzzle flashes and bullet hit effects and I believe they are a vast improvement over my previous work.

This could be my final 'long' short film production so I hope you give it a watch and tell me what you think!

RedBrick1/LegoTrain587 | EXPANSE | A Brickfilm

Re: RENO 3: Unlicenced Revenge - Action Short

Hi.

I watched part of this film last weekend, but I was so busy I didn't get to finish viewing.  I didn't want to comment until watching the whole thing, because I realize that doing so can invite resentment.  But I love it.

I want to say outright that I'm a fan of intrigue but not of graphic violence.  If the violence is implied, the imagination comes up with more vivid imagery than what would be depicted.  The bloody effects were most effective when seen as after-effects (the hand).  I also liked the way the violence in the chess scene was handled.

Opening credits had great exposition with the use of the dossier file imagery.  Great dissolves.

Not sure on which names go with which character, but my favorite is the man with the purple tie.  He was effective as exuding overconfidence (in comedy, Barry Goldberg of "The Goldbergs" does it in a different way.)  Good voice and visual presence.  He'd be a good VA for BIM.

The gun props looked professional; they must've cost a pretty penny.  Some of the impressionistic close-up gun cuts were well-framed and just cool to see!

I liked the intrigue, and also the agent "going rogue". 

Spoiler (click to read)

the one man blew his cover by speaking into his earpiece to question an order, though, didn't he?  And although he didn't make it, (or did he?)

I'd like to see more of Reno!  The only thing that seemed out of place is that everyone appeared young to be so entrenched in their roles.   

The ending credits had some flashy logos, but the opening credits could be improved a bit.  In particular, the logo font didn't look right.  Even a little more boldness or some shadow should give it weight.  Just that since the poster you posted was so professional, I expect the best in that dept.

The complaints were minor ones.  Good story, above average acting for the group you've assembled, and lots of action.  Well-done!

https://vimeo.com/channels/holdingourown      http://holding-our-own.tumblr.com

"None practice tolerance less frequently than those who most loudly preach it."

Re: RENO 3: Unlicenced Revenge - Action Short

HoldingOurOwn wrote:

Hi.

I watched part of this film last weekend, but I was so busy I didn't get to finish viewing.  I didn't want to comment until watching the whole thing, because I realize that doing so can invite resentment.  But I love it.

I want to say outright that I'm a fan of intrigue but not of graphic violence.  If the violence is implied, the imagination comes up with more vivid imagery than what would be depicted.  The bloody effects were most effective when seen as after-effects (the hand).  I also liked the way the violence in the chess scene was handled.

Opening credits had great exposition with the use of the dossier file imagery.  Great dissolves.

Not sure on which names go with which character, but my favorite is the man with the purple tie.  He was effective as exuding overconfidence (in comedy, Barry Goldberg of "The Goldbergs" does it in a different way.)  Good voice and visual presence.  He'd be a good VA for BIM.

The gun props looked professional; they must've cost a pretty penny.  Some of the impressionistic close-up gun cuts were well-framed and just cool to see!

I liked the intrigue, and also the agent "going rogue". 

Spoiler (click to read)

the one man blew his cover by speaking into his earpiece to question an order, though, didn't he?  And although he didn't make it, (or did he?)

I'd like to see more of Reno!  The only thing that seemed out of place is that everyone appeared young to be so entrenched in their roles.   

The ending credits had some flashy logos, but the opening credits could be improved a bit.  In particular, the logo font didn't look right.  Even a little more boldness or some shadow should give it weight.  Just that since the poster you posted was so professional, I expect the best in that dept.

The complaints were minor ones.  Good story, above average acting for the group you've assembled, and lots of action.  Well-done!


Thanks for all the feedback!

For the majority of the film, the blood is either shown after the fact as with the hand, slightly out of focus or mostly off screen. (To make the VFX easier and to not be as graphic.) I wanted to shoot the 'kill' in the first scene in a way that would show that this film was different then the others in the series. This one is darker and the main character is definitely going rogue.

Thanks, I was hoping that the opening would help move the story along. I have to admit, the main reason I did the credits like that, was as a reference to the 70's/80's James Bond films.

That would be the Peter Blake character. I thought he did a good job as well, we really had to rush the last part of his scenes due to his schedule. His voice is definitely distinctive!

I wish they were all mine. LOL I play a good bit of airsoft and my friends do as well. We pooled a bunch of our stuff together for this project. In fact, the original idea was to have RENO go into the gunfight with only his pistol. When we started shooting we decided it didn't make much sense for him to leave a much better gun laying on the ground, so we had him grab the MP9 and go with that.

I am glad that story element stood out enough. Hopefully I can work on my writing and plot more for my future projects.

The opening credits were done in the style of the Bond films. The fonts utilized in those sequences are usually a very simple sans serif font. The film logo is a reference to the Brosnan Bond film Die Another Day. (In font choice and in formatting.) The RENO logo I used for that poster was actually something I threw together real fast specifically for that poster. Looking back, I probably should have utilized that for the actual film as well.

RedBrick1/LegoTrain587 | EXPANSE | A Brickfilm

Re: RENO 3: Unlicenced Revenge - Action Short

I forgot to mention that I see the underlying homage to nostalgic movies of intrigue, something I love.

https://vimeo.com/channels/holdingourown      http://holding-our-own.tumblr.com

"None practice tolerance less frequently than those who most loudly preach it."

Re: RENO 3: Unlicenced Revenge - Action Short

HoldingOurOwn wrote:

I forgot to mention that I see the underlying homage to nostalgic movies of intrigue, something I love.

Glad that part of the film was evident! I put in SO many little 80's/spy movie homages, references and pieces of dialogue that sometimes I can't even remember where I stuck them all. LOL

There are some blink and you miss them references, like using Walthers in the credit sequence. (James Bond of course...) Bullets still in their casing shooting out of them. (80's movies always seem to have some crazy gun related film goof in them...) The one agent's name being Templar, was a reference to Roger Moore's 'The Saint' TV show.

I definitely had fun with this project.

RedBrick1/LegoTrain587 | EXPANSE | A Brickfilm