QUICKENING: a Highlander-Based film by Mar Omega

[ipunchnuns9]

Some day, if there is a re-edit, I will do a from-scratch score to this.. sadly my want to be finished quickly on account of time constraints caused me to simply chop in audio excerpts... One of these days... lol

[MarOmega]

@ipunchnuns9 Hey Josh! Good to see you here. I really like the job you did on my film! But if I re-cut it in hi def and you want to give it another go, you have my full permission!

[MrInstrumentalist]

I think that a more exciting piece of music and more sound effects would've made the fight scene not seem as long. At the part where they were talking before the fight, if you had access to the actors maybe do some panning and add background ambience and footstep effects back in. If you don't have the actors then go back into the dialogue track and splice out the silent parts between dialogue . good film though, I just believe a movie should be a treat for the ears as well as the eyes.

[MarOmega]

@MrInstrumentalist Thanks for the advice! I like the musical score that my friends, Michael S. Waller and Joshua Wilke did for me. I wish I had audio editing equipment at the time so I could have properly modulated it. Sounds ok online, but on DVD it gets really loud in parts. The sound fx definitely needed work, especially the sword klangs. The real ones never sound dramatic, and most stock sounds are way off. Also, there's that dang bird chirping through the dialogue lol. I'm no audio expert.

[MrInstrumentalist]

@MarOmega saw in your movie something with great potential and threw my two cents in on it (for whatever it's worth). I am a huge fan of creativity. It's my philosophy (If you will allow me to ramble on) that film should involve the viewers ears as much as their eyes and that sounds should be kinda larger than life, especially in an action film as good as yours. Anyway I'm inviting you as a friend so your next films can show up on my home page.

[6470N3620]

Both the fight scene and the quickening one are a tad too long. The quickening, too, would have been better served by wider shots, showing the whole of her body (although I suspect that is a technological limitation?).

That said, it is not bad for an amateur film! Like someone has said before, the dialogue is better written than in many commercial flicks, and I like the ending. Keep up the good work -- and show us something more soon!

[MarOmega]

@6470N3620 Thanks! If I ever have time, I definitely want to do an overhauled. I could cut the quickening down a bit too. As for the technical limitations of the quickening, we shot that a different day at a different location, so we had to stick with tight shots. I'm glad most people don't notice that she starts out in front of caves, rocky landscape and fluorescent green trees, to tight shots in front of one big, dark green fir tree.

I have big plans for future projects so stay tuned!

[JlGSajW]

Man this is not bad for a short film! i really like the camera shots and the acting is pretty fluent and i can tell the script is really well written. good job Mar!

[MarOmega]

@JlGSajW Thanks for the good props! I really enjoyed most steps of this production and really look forward to doing another film soon!

[NateSean]

Couple points to make.

1: Good characters, though I agree that a slightly longer backstory would have been nice.

2: A bit cliche. If it isn't Billy Joe Bob Macleod with the extremely rare Japanese sword that all of the other Macleods were able to get a per volume discount on, it's the two random immortals fighting and beheading one another with only a minute's worth of exposition.

Otherwise, it works as a promotional video to showcase what you and your group are able to do. Not bad.

[MarOmega]

@NateSean I can't say I disagree with anything you said. The idea was to create a short film somewhat on the fly. So I came up with a couple characters who could be easily identified and use the basic premise of most Highlander fiction. An I was not about to use a MacLeod or an ivory dragon katana (a diato would suffice) in the flick.

Now that I have a better system, I want to do an HD edit with a much shorter fight scene and better audio.

[noggerflobber]

Wait Wait. This whole thing could have been avoided if this chick just looked across the street at the person that was doing the exact same thing as her... (LOOKING FOR ANOTHER IMMORTAL). Good deal on the fan film... still waiting for another film. hopefully next year.

[MarOmega]

@noggerflobber Yeah, pretty much. Or better yet, DON'T LEAD A MUGGER INTO A SECLUDED PLACE! If she were smart, she would have just walked into the Columbian bodega he was standing in front of and waited for him to leave.

I'm rebuilding my studio in Austin. Hopefully I'll have some more films out soon. I've got a ton of screenplays in my queue.

[Gilgamesh3036]

J'apprécie bcp cette petite vidéo ! continuez les amis ;-) !!

[CloudFreedomFighters]

The editing in the final fight seemed a bit off to be but other than that I freaking loved it!

[MarOmega]

I have to agree. Half of the fight was shot about 5 months later with a stuntwoman in a different location. The season was different, but we graded it to look as close as possible. If I ever go back and do a director's cut, I'm going to take 30 seconds to a minute out of the fight.

All-in-all I'm happy with the film and I'm really glad you and the rest of the fans liked it!

[Gilgamesh3036]

J'apprécie beaucoup cette petite vidéo ! d'autant que c'est un univers que j'ai moi-même porté à l'écran (niveau amateur bien entendu) avec une bande d'amis !! continuez les amis ;-) !!

[MarOmega]

@Gilgamesh3036 I'm really glad you liked it! I'll check out your film if you have it up on your YouTube. And if not, I'd like for you to send me a link.

Je suis vraiment content que vous l'avez aimé ! J'examinerai votre film si vous l'avez en haut sur votre YouTube. Et si non, j'aimerais pour vous m'envoyer un lien.

[mintwithahole]

Bloody women eh!!? Can't take a joke. . .

[TheMadameX]

I really enjoyed it!  Although... I never thought you were the type to lose your head so easily...hehe

It was good to see you you again.

Keep up the good work!

Dark Embraces

Madame X of the Dreaming

[Groovywolfman]

I like the sword fight. Some extra character background would have been nice though. Fun video.

[neodevilbane]

Great fun. Though we know from the series that an Immortal's Quickening is not the same thing as their soul...

[MarOmega]

You are right about the Quickening not being quite the same thing as a soul... however, it is the memories and knowledge of the fallen immortal. They have gone over how a powerful Quickening can taint an immortal when Duncan MacLeod received the "Dark Quickening". This film explores the "What if" factor of Alexander's memories proving dominant over Sylvia's. Would she remember herself as him? Even in internal monologue?

There is so much room for sequels and prequels but I think I'm done