Elevator Music

That was really awesome! Its nice to see some fiction on here every once and a while. Plus, the video has a good message. Hope this gets on TV. GL!

Serdar,

The acting and the tone are good until the grinning at the end, buddy! Drama is a funny thing to shape. It has to be both plausible and have "character." Conviction and flair. I'd suggest tossing the main title sequence. Keep things simple. And why does everyone shift attitudes when the black guy gets on the elevator? Is he dangerous? I don't see it in his perfomance. Also when you cut to close-ups, I'm assuming you're showing a detail that clarifies a narrative point. I didn't see the intended detail in all of the close-ups.

But the hard part you got right. The first two characters were great!

Wicked film - powerful message, nicely shot...I loved it! Look forward to seeing more stuff like this here...
:)

Well done, man. This deserves airtime. GL

Check out me stuff. It's fictional and induces chuckles much like your piece.

I really like your short. Great set design and I love the variety of characters.

homebisquit says, very pro, nice job. Very similar to my Ghetto Blaster. GPX all tha way.

I love this. It's hip and fun. Great job. It could have been a great cell phone commercial(the first part of it). I do think you could tighten it up a bit.
Big GL

You rocked my boat. GL.

My POD

Pimpin!

Fantastic film! I loved it! Website is great too (www.elevatormusicshort.com). Hope to see more films from you.

Cute!

strong message and we could all learn from this clip, a jokes way 2 get a strong and meaningful topic in the open

Great message with fantastic punchline! Really liked it - it deserves to get on TV. Well done!

Very funny. definitely deserves airtime. Looks fantastic too.

Good Job!!

funny. great choice of characters. visually nice.

Cool video. I absolutely hate it when people play their music through their phones!!! I like the message behind it. For your next video you should have it on a train and then there being a full orchestra playing on the train towards the end or someone singing opera!!

Looks great. What kind of camera did you shoot with? Funny idea and nice execution of it. Greenlight.

nice..GL for the social commentary, showing the story instead of telling the story, and the old school BOOM box..haha! classic.
things i liked: really good video quality, great sound, nice acting
things i didn't like: this production quality is really above my ability, so i couldn't really pick out any flaws...maybe the pacing when you took time for the guy to take the tape out of his pocket..why not just have him press play and put the ear bud in?

This looks really nice. I wonder if you used a real elevator. If so it must have been difficult to light. If you got time Tell me what you think of "Happy Birthday" in my greenlight list. I helped make it. Good Luck.

Good idea, nicely played out. I was a little worried when Boom Box Man was introduced -- that was some tricky terrain you were trodding on -- but you defused that nicely. Good production value, statement gently conveyed -- GL all around.

BTW: Where are they, the Sears Tower? That's some long elevator ride!

Good stuff man, GL ! What camera did you shoot with ? Please check out my V-Cam by clicking this link Thanks !

I really like how this is shot.

Great job..I loved the sound, shots & story. GL

Loved it! great idea and production. GL.

Absolutely wicked man!!!! Great Idea, i love the diferent styles of music clashing in the Elevator!!!!!!!!

So is this a V-CAM or a pod? It works great - more than great, the best I've seen - as a V-CAM for Nokia or some other cell-phone company, but I cant GL it as a pod since its fiction. Dont want to start a debate here on what is or isnt fiction, but I cant see it playing alongside the likes of Racism in Russia..."

N

This is a short film.

It's GREAT!

But it's a short film.

Right...I agree with a lot of other people on here....
Great production value and entertaining.
But this looks like it should be a commercial...actually a commecial that's too long and only somewhat funny.

Again, I really appreciate the work/talent that's gone into this....but this isn't why I check out the Current web site. This looks like it's aimed to sell me something, not a piece that shows me what is going on in the world and is under-represented by mainstream media.

I thought this was genius. Sooooooo capturing the mood of urban britain and turning our prejudices upside down. Love it!

Wow, a lot of comments. Thanks to all who have taken their time to watch, vote and comment.

I would like to answer a few questions and comment on a few issues that were raised.

This is definitely a short film. It is fiction. I made it up.

Though I would like to stress, the seeds for the idea were definitely planted by real life experiences. Many of which were quite frustrating. The issue of people playing loud music on their mobile phones in public is very topical at the moment (in the UK at least) and I felt that a short fiction piece would be a better way to approach the subject, than a documentary. I thought it would be a better way to get through to the people who may actually 'commit' such acts. After all, what is a 15 year old more likely to watch? A documentary or a short film that could work as a viral?

The film is not designed to sell a product. Unless, of course, you consider consideration for others or non-prejudice to be products.

Elevator Music was made on a budget of under $1000 and shot on Standard 16mm film, using an old style Arri SR camera. We only had one reel of film to use (i.e. about 12 minutes worth of raw footage), so I had to be very careful with the shots I used and tried to tell the story as economically as possible.

I hope I have not offended anybody or stepped on anyone's toes by uploading this. I actually have an MA in Documentary Filmmaking and this was my first proper short fiction film. I think filmmakers should be open minded about the mediums and genres they use to tell their stories and not limit themselves to what they are comfortable with ... but rather challenge themselves to tell stories in ways that will engage their desired audiences.

Finally, I will watch any uploaded films from each and every person who has commented just as soon as we get a faster internet connection that doesn't crash so often!

Peace,

Serdar

Brilliant..

To me this has nothing to do with how open or adventurous an artist or director is with the audiences he is trying to reach.

To me it's just a simple question of genre. Is this a documentary site or does it now accept short films? If this is picked by Current, I know at least 3 other people with high quality short films that I would tell them to upload immediately.

Where is the line drawn when it comes to genre? Is there a line here? It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Great work - Amazed that you pulled it off with only 12 minutes of film!

I have to agree with Pllsko, I really like this piece but it isn't a pod. In the very first sentence of Current's description of a pod the specifically state that pods are "non-fiction videos". Of course you can use real world situations to tell a story, but not with actors and a script. If Current decides to change their policy then I totally see this making it on TV.

Anyone who wants to know more about the definition of a pod, can find it here: link

I would have to agree that because this is a fictional story it doesn't fit the description of a pod. I do however believe that it achieves the same things good pods do; it makes a statement about our culture. You also have to look at some "pods" taken for tv in the past by current, they have taken various fictional stories or real stories that have been transformed or spliced into fiction. Also rants on current come in under pods, and those aren't exactly non-fiction, this piece is a bit like a visual rant. Current is very progressive and is always looking for new material, so I blelieve that if they take a fictional pod every once and a while it won't offset the effectivness of documentary pieces. And I'm not saying that everyone should go off and start making fictional pods. oh yeah and GL

Let's not be attached to the definitions :) This piece says something about our everyday life.
I love it. GL!!!!

"Also rants on current come in under pods, and those aren't exactly non-fiction, this piece is a bit like a visual rant."

Posted by semmiecircle

How exactly does a person ranting to a camera not qualify as non fiction? I think a real persons genuine opinions is the definition of non fiction.

How many stories could now fit your definition of a rant if any visual script that makes a statement qualifies?

I'm not going to argue with the greenlighters. This film is awsome. It makes me smile. It diserves a lot more than the chance to be sold outright for $500. I'm just not interested in a dance about what Current's format really is. They seem pretty clear about it.

I think Current should have a fiction Pod category. I don't know why they don't. But I don't think that telling everyone that they have to be funny with non fiction, which is arguably harder, and then letting comic fiction slip through once in a while is the answer to anything.

Hi Serdar!
This is Biktor, from Spain!
Nice to see your film on the web. I feel kinda proud of you, mate.
I hope this place helps to spread your awesome short to the world. I particualry love it, you know it, and I wish you the best of lucks with it.
Keep going and take care!!!!!
Biktor

I guess the message here is to cheat if you want to and you just might get ahead.

I respectfully withdraw my participation from Current TV until I get over the hypocrisy.

I don't know what has happened between some of you guys and Current TV, but I would like to fill you in on the extent of my relationship with the site and how and why I uploaded my film.

Just a week ago, my girlfriend told me about a cool new site called Current TV that allowed people to upload their films and have them critiqued by other members. How exciting, I thought ... and logged on to check it out. The very first film I watched was "Jackass: N.Korea" . Now, as mental as Knoxville and Co are, I presume that this was not an animated reconstruction of real-life events. I invite you to watch it if you haven't seen it already. It is probably still advertised on the home page (which is where it initially caught my eye). This was my first experience of content on Current TV.

So, I swiftly uploaded my film, realising that I may have uploaded it to the wrong section of the site shortly after having done so . But I felt comfortable that all was ok, when I received an email from the Current team saying that my submission had been accepted.

Here we are, a week down the line, and I find that a lot of people have taken to it and it has been selected for TV. Indeed, I am chuffed. My hard work, money, time, begging etc has been appreciated by a progressive, cool, new web-based film society.

And while I am glad that you are voicing your opinions, I am slightly offended at being called a cheat and frankly find your "I'm not playing anymore" attitude pretty immature and negative Plisko. As for IditotWork, well, again, I am not sure comments like that will make the situation any better.

I stand by this, UNLESS, of course, either of you have had a 'current' issue-led fiction piece rejected by Current TV in the past. Because in that case, you would have every right to call this situation a hypocrisy. And I would support you on that.

If not, though, your behaviour resembles that of a grumpy couple of old people who have nothing better to complain about.

I invite your responses. And would be very happy not to have the film televised (and I mean this) if Current TV feel that it was inappropriate for it to have won. Which, looking at the rules and the other competition, it seems like it may have been.

Finally, while I am clearly biased, I must say that I am glad that the Current team were open minded enough to accept Elevator Music and allow for it to be uploaded. I hope they continue to use their discretion as such in the future, as it means that as an audience we will be more likely to see good work. Let's not forget that these guys are experienced producers with an eye for what audiences would probably like to watch.

Kind regards, with no hard feelings.

Serdar

Serdar,

Nice short, as a fellow filmmaker I can appreciate the effort.

As far as the recent comments I feel I should throw my two cents in.

I’ve been working with Current for awhile now and have been submitting pods. Current can be a very competitive place with lots of passionate producers. I think the issue with your piece is simply: Is it in violation of their policy on fiction? I don’t blame you for submitting your piece, you won! But like me, there are a lot of producers that have not submitted fictional shorts because of the policy. Maybe we should. I would like to see Current start to accept them, but I can see why they do not, it’s not what their mission is. When I first saw your short flying through the leaderboard in less than a week I thought it’s a good piece but I wondered if Current would reject it. So when there was an unusual delay in them posting you as the winner I thought they had. What was the delay about? But in the end they did, so congrats.

Please don’t think people at Current are all bad sports, we’re not. But also understand why some producers want a clarification from Current. You only have a limited amount of time to rise to #1 and get on TV, and if producers feel a “fictional short” which is not allowed, took one of their weeks away, they simply want an answer to get things clarified. Although Current is a great place to just participate, at the end of the day there is TV exposure, money, and recognition on the line, and at times that can bring out the worst in people.

But once again congrats, I would like to see Current accept short fiction, I have a few shorts I would like to submit as well…good luck and welcome to Current TV.