Short Film ReviewFilm Info:
Rebecca, a vibrant landlady and ex performer agrees to take part in a documentary focusing on how her life has changed for the better since she gave up her dream of performing on stage. But when she receives an offer of the lead role in a West End Show, she must decide whether to keep her dream buried, or begin the chase again. Written By: Dan Gage Directed By: Dan Gage Genre: Drama 23 Minutes IndyRed.com |
The reality show stylings are very quickly becoming the norm for independent productions. Generally we're seeing two sub categories emerging. You're either making a standard independent film or you're creating a reality series. Generally, feature length productions follow the more standardized filmmaking approach, short films and series follow the reality method. I'm a cinema buff. Old school. I love the magic feeling I get when I watch films created in the old style. There's nothing quite like it! In my opinion, reality based productions lack the "magic" of a classic production. Being "real" takes away the cinema feeling, replacing it with believable shaky camera shots, raw footage and simply no sparkle. When I look at it that way I'm usually left with a bad taste in my mouth. The days of classic cinema seem to be fading.
For reality based productions to be good they had better have great characters and at least a good story. Enter the focus of this opinion piece "This Time Tomorrow." Right off the hop I was a little annoyed to have gotten this title to review. I always make it clear I prefer watching the more standard, cinematic productions. To say I wasn't expecting a lot would be an understatement. Within a few minutes watching This Time tomorrow my tune was changing. As I watched the lead, Rebecca Gage narrate her way into my thoughts I realized this title could be different. Here was a Woman who was also crushing on the magic the entertainment industry can offer it's viewers. A Woman who was forced to make choices that affected her very dreams themselves. The overall story of This time Tomorrow was not that of Hollywood magic per say, but it is of the same type. Singing and entertaining. Productions. Trying to chase a dream... the dream! Immediately I was drawn into her world of compromise and delight as she attempts to live her life, find the road to her dreams and even pass them on to others. Writer Dan Gage has put together a potentially awesome show that has enough appeal to even get to me. Me! A reality show Scrooge to say the least. Technically, we have nothing really exceptional here. It is as they say... what it is. A reality show. There are no amazing shots or effects, and what's seen onscreen is more or less real to life. The editing together of This Time Tomorrow was done with some skill and a real eye for a slick presentation. On the audio front, it's about as good as it gets for this type of series. For what it is, technically, This Time Tomorrow is an above average production in every sense. Still though, it's a reality show. I'll make it clear that It does make up for that fact by actually being entertaining. Which is the point of any production. Right? Now we get into my only real complaint. This Time Tomorrow is set up and presented as a short film. The reality is much different though. This is more like the first episode of a larger production. Through the 20+ minutes we're introduced to the Restaurant, the characters and the main premise. The problem is that it's really hard to tell where things are going because we don't have a wrap up at the end. Is it a show about the Restaurant? Is it about Rebecca? Is it about the children she teaches? There's no clear path to follow. What's more is that nothing is actually resolved or done. Nothing at all. We have a fade to black that seems more like a cliff hanger! The setup was in front of us the whole time but that was all we got. In the end we have the start of a really good show about the choices we make and how they change us. This Time Tomorrow almost made a believer of me in regards to reality style productions. As in real life though so much was left undone. I watch films to escape the cliff hangers in my life. Even on TV a cliff hanger is meant to make me want to tune in again. This Time Tomorrow, as it is has nothing to tune back into. However, this is a show to check out if you want a good start to something and some character driven entertainment. I only hope more is planned. I will be keeping tabs and hoping there is more to come. If and when that happens I would love to be the one to come back to this opinion piece again and fill in the blanks. -MC Other Reviews That May Interest You
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