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Before Keagan


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A portrait of a working teenager during the final stages of her complicated pregnancy. Filmed on 16mm black and white Tri-X reversal.
islek

19 responses // Before Keagan

  • Awesome piece! the film grain adds so much to drama going on with your character
    HenryG
  • i need more info!
    jade_azul16
  • I think this is a beautiful piece.. Great Imagery.
    elnawal
  • great job, i like how it's shot!

    check out some of my work!

    GL
    Wikid1_Productions
  • Powerful piece. I really appreciate how it was just a story and didn't preach about the rise of teen pregnancy

    Good work.
    sarahbelle
  • Islek,

    I think your topic and your tone are great. It looks like the woman you photographed is a teen mom or at least a very young mom. I have to say, though, the way you've structured the film, shot by shot, is often disjointed and difficult to hear clearly. The cuts feel random. Cutting to black is generally used to imply hard breaks in the narrative. Your use of it only adds to the feeling of fragmentation. To add to the fragmentation, the only linear parts of the film -- the mom at work and the mom at the hospital -- are impressionistic at best. Not necessarily a flaw, but assembled without regard to a linear structure.

    But I must say, the last sequence is brilliant! The wristband, cut to long takes of the mom asleep, exhausted in a hospital bed. Before the birth? After? Maybe it doesn't matter.

    Please don't be put off by these comments. The footage is alive. Despite these difficulties, there is a palpable presence in this footage.

    J
    jsburman
  • Through the eyes of a young mother - a touching and powerful story.
    pms
  • a very interesting use of b&w work....very well done short film...keep up the good work!!
    cavies77
  • Okay Islek!! Very nice. Loved it. Nice use of 16mm. and very nice story and you know what I'll say it again nice story. Can't say much more than that! Keep it up!!

    Jade what more do you need? The description is there. The story is there. The audio is there. What more I ask you! :-)
    tharvey
  • Thanks everyone... I really appreciate all of your feedback. While the piece is nonfiction, I opted for a more experimental approach than a narrative one, choosing to share certain aspects of her story and omitting others.

    While I don't expect everyone to approve of my style, I take all comments and criticisms into consideration for future projects. I can't improve in my work without feedback. Thank you again!
    islek
  • Very poetic and I appreciate the experimental approach. The description alludes to a complicated situation... which isn't explored in the film, other than the subject's youth.
    would like to know more.
    bgross
  • Great effect using the black and white. We felt like we knew the subject.
    JimandJean
  • Great Job! All around!
    vendettarwb
  • so obviously i love the film and i am very touched that you made this for my son and me!
    we love you
    kstoehr
  • A beautiful pod. I love the filming (you don't see much 16mm on the site!), and the black and white is stunning. The low music in the background works well, and I think the black frames in between shots give weight to the piece. The shots in the hospital are haunting and beautiful.

    A truly lovely portrait. Greenlight for TV!
    stephenablack
  • Thank you for the comments. I appreciate all feedback!
    islek
  • hey thanks for checking out my film! i really love what you did with the ending sequence here (wristband), and the 16mm adds such a great element. good luck
    bonored13
  • This is a home run!!! you have alot of skills with your editing!! I am sure this was not an easy film to make. and I am sure it took alot of patience with your sister though out this process. needless to say I enjoyed how well it turned out. I really liked the end!
    dside
  • Thanks very much. Someone inquired as to the illness that was alluded to in the piece. I found it more efficient to refer to the young mother's complications vaguely than to spend time explaining and defining endometriosis. It's a fertility disorder that has no cure, but can be treated.
    islek

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