My first short film : Metastasis (9.27min)
iView Author:
Danji Thotapalli (Los Angeles, USA)
E-mail:
withheld
Received an email from Danji, a die hard volunteer at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles. It’s due to such devoted volunteers that festivals promoting Indian films in foreign land are able to present so many different movies besides the traditional Bollywood stories. Danji has been volunteering since the last six or more years and is a die hard film fanatic, shuttling between his regular day job (executive in finance industry) and volunteering for non-profit organizations like IFFLA.
Back to the email, Danji mentioned he had just finished making his first short film and wanted to put it on PFC and get a honest opinion… so without much delay, here it is
~ oz
Metastasis (9.27min)
Logline:
This short film, inspired by certain real events and personalities involved in the illicit nuclear trade in South Asia, is purely fictional�…. OR IS IT?
Synopsis
The film begins with a phone conversation between Greg Pekovitch, an expert on South Asian conflict and a covert Indian secret agent. Greg’s wife, a news reporter happens to be located in New Delhi when the story begins. Less than 48 hours prior, dirty bombs have exploded in the city of Mumbai in India killing tens of thousands. Fearing a second-strike by India, Israel under guidance from the US, has bombed out all missile launch facilities in India and Pakistan. The phone conversation, in which the secret agent provides deadly prognosis on how things might metastasize, goes on until a cataclysmic event occurs and Greg realizes that he can do nothing to save his wife.
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Submitted by:
Danji Thotapalli
Clearsoup Creatives
Thanks for the support! Also, can you let me know when this will be posted on PFC? Thanks.
Danji
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
Gr8 stuff !!
wow
wait watchin it again !!!
Danji, This is really edgy, holds attention and conveys the plot (of a complex subject) in clear and crisp manner! Great job!
A very good movie Danji. As far as i could see there were no outlandish claims made and the “third strike “concept is intersting..way to go..
great work.waiting for the next one.
Excellent:
Concept: Very good and futuristic and may unfortunately happen one day. We have so many unscrupulous nuclear dealer who have their hands on the enriched Uranium 235 available due to the fall of USSR.
Titles: They are highlights of the film. Infact watching the titles set the tone and a high expectation of the film. Kudos to the creator.
Very Good:
Name of the Film: Metastasis is a common medical term used to describe a terminal condition of cancer, where the cancerous cells get dislodged from the original malignant tissue and travel to other parts of the body at which point of no surgery, chemotherapy or radiation treatment works.time nothing can be done. In the movie the makers try to relate that whatever nuclear material that was sold ultimately took his wife’s life. Well the name is innovative.
Music and background score: Real good.
Good:
Editing: Is generally good. In some places it could have been better. For instance when showing the chatting by Buddha the duration of this scenes could have been a bit more by a second or two so that the viewer could understand.
Story Narration: is generally good but I feel the movie length could have been increased by 2 or 3 minutes which could have explained a little better the role of LTTE , India and Pak connection.
Average:
Story Line Suggestion: The movie could have been more gripping if instead of the reporter his wife was speaking from say the airport terminal and after the silence they should have told that the device was dropped on the airport itself meaning that she is certainly no more.
Lighting: I am sure the film makers must deliberately lowered lighting, but I feel some parts of the film could have had a better lighting. This better lighting in some parts would make viewer comfortable.
This is good, but I want to see a documentary, that will kindle people’s thought on various what if scenario’s also instead of fiction, if it is based on some truth, that will be great, again this is just my opinion
Otherwise movie is good. One more comment, I would not zoom that much into that guy either,,,,you should stay little away and zoom in …occasionally…Great work though.
Dhanji bhai…hello sir….kaise ho? Liked your work…how long did it take for you to finish this? I liked the graphics in the movie a lot..the google earth, the news room and the breaking news showing up at the bottom…liked the concept very…
But, something that didnt quite go well with …is the guy buddha’s tone being higher than Greg’s when, Buddha is from 2nd person’s POV…and as mentioned by SHiva iyar…too much of zoom in’s sirjee…baaki sab bindaas..good job..:-)
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Nice work, Dhanji.
Considering this is your first short, it was quite ambitious and well conceived. People normally shy away from such premises in their first shorts. Imaginative, courageous and very real and believable. The sound was pretty clear, so was the visuals and the little graphics use. All the best with your future projects.
If you can take some karela with everyone else’s gur –
This was not a film. It was at best a radio play. Two of the most boring things that one can capture on film/video are –
someone talking on the phone
someone reading a pc screen
also, u don’t have a story.
You can’t take a feature length plot and squeeze it into a 9 minute short.
Decent background score. Better luck next time.
Great work
Ambitious premise, not too great execution..
nice if this is your first try.
and especially the closeup-jump cuts, you cant use it and wait for the anticipated effect. it requires a stage to be setup beforehand.
Nice work! Very powerful as well. Your voice over phone is not easy to recognize
I liked the way you could quickly introduce the subject to the viewer. The story moved quickly enough. The music complimented the story and the dialogue was crisp. The editing (and mixing!?)was also pretty good.
I watched the movie and i am amazed how much material you could present within a few minutes. Its amazing how you brought the whole world together and sythesized. The main lead is good. He has the right expressions. The news anchors, the newsclips chosen the sequencing of the scenes are very well done. The flow was continuous with any abrupt editing and kept my interest going all through out. I am having a little difficulty comprehending the whole situation since my bird brain doesn’t hold a lot of information at one time. I will watch it several times to get the whole concept.
your execution is simply outstanding and the idea of being able to cover a global phenomenon inside a person’s living room is exceptional.
Hats off to you for this successful film.
Suresh as usual you have put all your effort for the music. It is very appropriate and original. Kudos to both of you and the entire cast and crew.
Metastasis is a very good film. Powerful subject portrayed very well. I was glad to see Sudeep Ghosh who enacted as Indian diplomat. I know him and his wife paapu personally. Hearty congratulations for your first film. I am sure it will gain popularity with in no time.
Really good movie Dhanu mama. Hard to believe it’s your first one. ^:)^
Don’t know if I’m qualified enough to be a critic, but the story was very interesting.
I really hope you don’t mind, I downloaded it to my desktop.:w;
This is for you dabba – :-@ … lol … sorry, I know you’re just giving your opinion.
You must’ve put in a lot of work on this one. It payed off. +d>
:-h
A good fast moving film. The music was great. Waiting for your next film. Good Luck
hey mammu, got it see it in full. I must say that its a great concept and a good start for more of these gripping short stories to fit the pieces of the puzzle.
Editing is good but there seems to be a clear disconnect in some parts. I literally was lost in the complexity of the plot and the technical jargon.
I agree with gangadhar that it could use atleast another 5 mins
I like the score but I was digging through my music library to find a Nine Inch Nails song called ”Gone Still” which I found to be a terrific match to your content.
Overall, I think you’ve sold Clooney over in getting another Oscar.
GREAT STUFF..KEEP EM COMING!
Fabulous work! It takes a lot of creativity & imagination even for something as short as this. Am sure must have spent quite many hours to make this one. Movie is quite gripping, fast moving, too close to reality (which almost scared me
) & probably a little too complicated to convey in such a short time (so reading the synopsis beforehand helped). Maybe picking a simpler story for a short film might make it easier for the audience to focus on your art of film-making rather than trying to understand the story. So, considering the complicated plot, it was great work -short yet covers a lot. the back & forth time effect was a good way to tell the story. Loved the way the shots are taken – quick zoom-in & out movements, focus on the laptop, tv and facial expressions at the right time to convey the story. maybe a little more light would have helped. but the music was really good and played very well through out to convey the right effects. could have lingered a little more on some scenes such as the shot of laptop in the beginning just when the chat box pings – could have used a sec or two more to read what it said. Although some close-ups appear too zoomed-in to the face, I think the effect of ‘pressure’ or ‘tension’ does get created very well(which hopefully was the intent). overall, a really fantastic job! Good Luck!!! (*)
Just a final observation as I am closing my windows
the disclaimer is quite ironical, so would suggest rewording it a little – the film is based on some real events & personalities – can it be called ‘purely’ fictional then?
Screenplay is superb and of professional quality. Music is good.
Subject is little bit scary as this may really happen to us one day and it shows that India can not depend on anybody for our own protection(Even on US or Isreal) and we are the only responsible for our protection.
I really liked the idea of third strike capability to India, and some one in New Delhi should open their eyes and prepare for the worst.
Over all, Very futuristic and intelligent Idea. Hatsoff!!!!
Danji… are you not the same person who used to write short stories on Sulekha a few years ago? I read your Sum of all Deltas, which I think is the basis for this movie, right? Here is the link to the short story.. http://danji-thotapalli.sulekha.com/blog/post/2004/06/the-sum-of-all-deltas.htm
I just watched it, it was great. I love it, I have to say I did not recognize your voice until I saw the credits and went back to see it. This must have been a lot of fun.
Especially love the music, really liked the piano.
Good Job annayya.I couldn’t recognize ur voice when i saw first time. Keep going and gud luck for ur future films.
My first short film : Metastasis (9.27min)
My first short film ???!!!.. wow ,..Unbelievable !
Its a dynamite packed into a tiny capsule !!
so powerful !! conveyed so much in 9.27 mins !!
It otherwise had all the ingredients and could have easily been transformed into a full length mainstream movie which inturn would have found a sureshot place in many of the cinema awards..ofcourse..
Very proud of you annayya !! keep the fabulous work coming..munni.
Great Stuff. Keep them coming….
Movie rocks – it was a great roller coaster ride. detailed observations later:)
Rocks -
1] Music –
Right from the outset, the music thrills – It was noteworthy that music did not seek to go over the top or loud to scare. It was moderate yet effectively menacing.
2] Story – Its a great story and the premise is entirely plausible. The logic behind the story is conceivable and that brings substance to this movie.
3] Graphics and maps – They really helped to make the story interesting.
Could Improve –
1] Screenplay – I think the story is smart and complex. you have done a great job of breaking it down for a common cinema-goer but still leaves room for improvement. I believe many people may not get the story in its entirety. 9 mins for such a complex story is overwhelming.
2] Tit bits –
a) Voice over the phone is significantly louder than on screen character’s voice in the first few mins.
b) You have done smart editing here but siri’s line – “LTTE is a client of AQ Khan’s” is not clear. I guess these kinds of things are sort of irrreparable damage that cannot be completely improved in post production.
Very promising debut
Looking forward to the next one.