So I starred in a short film.

[KevinStorm]

Since last summer I've been working with a local film group just for fun, mostly as an actor, but I've also written and directed a few short things as well. Last fall the guy that basically runs the thing decided to make a horror/thriller type of short film, and it was released "officially" at the end of last month. Now it's been put on youtube since making DVDs takes so long, and I thought I'd post it here for your viewing and/or feedbacking(is that even a word?) pleasure, seeing as I've come to respect EWB's tendency to be brutally honest about everything.

[MalaCloudy Black]

Is.. is it supposed to be funny?

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Black actor = entertaining.

White actor = not so much.

Not really helped by the script though.

[MalaCloudy Black]

White dude's accent makes me want to punch things. I don't know if it's a legit accent or acting, but it still grates on my nerves.

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

I only watched the first couple of minutes but every time it cut to the white guy it looked like he was being prompted to reel off his line rather than actually trying to look like he's involved in conversation.

[LUKIE]

Okay, I watched the first 2 minutes, and couldn't watch anymore. The whole premise at the start of the film, is, there is a black guy, who looks like a street thug, with a guy, dressed like he has walked out of a 1820's English street gang, and talks with a horrid accent. Nothing ties them in together at all.

But what really made me stop watching, was when in the background, you could hear the director telling the lines to the actors, who were just repeating them... wow.

[DFF]

What the hell is that accent?

[Pesci]

Seems to be a cross between English, French and Christopher Walken.

Edited February 10, 2011 by Pesci

[KevinStorm]

You guys are awesome. I've always found the best way to improve is to find out what's wrong with stuff we make, but hardly anyone ever wants to tell us.

EDIT: Wait.

But what really made me stop watching, was when in the background, you could hear the director telling the lines to the actors, who were just repeating them... wow.

Where was that?

Edited February 10, 2011 by KevinStorm

[METALMAN]

Okay, I watched the first 2 minutes, and couldn't watch anymore. The whole premise at the start of the film, is, there is a black guy, who looks like a street thug, with a guy, dressed like he has walked out of a 1820's English street gang, and talks with a horrid accent. Nothing ties them in together at all.

You don't really know what people dressed like in the 1820s, do you?

And your reasons for being unable to watch anymore is because of the juxtaposition of a white guy w/ strange accent and a black guy w/ thuglike tendencies? That just put you off the film? That's a stupid reason.

[LUKIE]

You guys are awesome. I've always found the best way to improve is to find out what's wrong with stuff we make, but hardly anyone ever wants to tell us.

EDIT: Wait.

But what really made me stop watching, was when in the background, you could hear the director telling the lines to the actors, who were just repeating them... wow.

Where was that?

About 1:50 into the film. The black guy goes to talk, and the director is saying the lines in the background, and he's repeating them.

[KevinStorm]

You guys are awesome. I've always found the best way to improve is to find out what's wrong with stuff we make, but hardly anyone ever wants to tell us.

EDIT: Wait.

But what really made me stop watching, was when in the background, you could hear the director telling the lines to the actors, who were just repeating them... wow.

Where was that?

About 1:50 into the film. The black guy goes to talk, and the director is saying the lines in the background, and he's repeating them.

No he isn't. That's my character in the background talking to him. It sounds off because the microphone on the camera was pointing away from me. There actually aren't any lines. We just go with outlines and make up the specifics lines as we're shooting. It's a lot easier than memorizing whole scripts.

[Pesci]

Just out of interest Kev, were you going for an accent or is that just your natural voice?

[KevinStorm]

Just out of interest Kev, were you going for an accent or is that just your natural voice?

It's not my real accent. In another project with the same film group, which is sort of a sketch comedy show, my first appearance was as a character named Corey "CL" Lieberman, who is basically a wannabe-pop star that thinks he's a lot more famous than he actually is, and he pretends to be "gangsta" and "hood." People that have seen the sketches love the character, to the point where in two other sketches I wrote and directed for the show, where I play an FBI agent in one and a health insurance CEO in the other, people that saw them thought I was Corey Lieberman because it's all they'd seen me play. So, the basic idea I went with in this film is that I wanted to play the complete opposite of Corey Lieberman and show some diversity, so I decided to try a British accent.

This is more like what I really sound like, where I play the FBI agent(I wrote and directed this one for a class):

And this is one of the CL episodes, if anyone wants to see that: