I thought one of the best parts of this film was the young actor who played the pastor's son. Finding a watchable, and BELIEVABLE, child actor who can carry so much screen time is a challenge in itself, let alone in a smaller city like Portland where the infrastructure is not yet in place to churn out the hordes of well-trained young stars-aspirant that directors have access to in LA, for instance. So kudos to Elijah Nelson for his performance, and to the filmmakers for casting him.
Not a filmmaker myself, I refuse to really speak to the film's more technical aspects...besides saying that MAKING A GOOD MOVIE IS HARD, why don't YOU try it and then come back and spout opinions! I am proud of our local boys for using the Opif to create something fitting for mainstream cinema, with professional production values all around. I think many of the deficiencies mentioned by our aspiring film critics (like spotty writing, over-scoring, etc.) are typical pitfalls of a film that is written, directed, edited, and produced all by the same team of people. To quote a favorite acting teacher of mine, they "fall in love with their own material," and have a hard time taking the axe to their product to really whittle it into something marketable, concise, and of quality. As the local industry grows, however, I am sure filmmakers will be able to avoid this trap more and more often. Oregon has such a talented and qualified pool of film workers that second and third opinions can't help but start to mean something.
Not a filmmaker myself, I refuse to really speak to the film's more technical aspects...besides saying that MAKING A GOOD MOVIE IS HARD, why don't YOU try it and then come back and spout opinions! I am proud of our local boys for using the Opif to create something fitting for mainstream cinema, with professional production values all around. I think many of the deficiencies mentioned by our aspiring film critics (like spotty writing, over-scoring, etc.) are typical pitfalls of a film that is written, directed, edited, and produced all by the same team of people. To quote a favorite acting teacher of mine, they "fall in love with their own material," and have a hard time taking the axe to their product to really whittle it into something marketable, concise, and of quality. As the local industry grows, however, I am sure filmmakers will be able to avoid this trap more and more often. Oregon has such a talented and qualified pool of film workers that second and third opinions can't help but start to mean something.