A young man relaxes in the peaceful serenity of nature before he heads out for “the biggest date of his life” with his GF. (soon to be fianace’) His two best friends join him in his last moments as a ‘free man’ as they watch on as he agrees to a challenging bet of treading water.
“30 minutes – Hands Above the Water”
“How long can you tread?”
– Official Website –
– Now Sinking –
Download Mirror 1
Download Mirror 2
Download Mirror 3
DOWNLOAD Score:
((BW was shot with a consumer grade Samsung SC-D6550 – Compact DuoCam))
Still 01
Still 02
Still 03
Cast:
Jared Durban
John Stumpf
Seth Moore
CRITIQUES from DVXuser.com users::
“So far this has been one the weakest entry I’ve watched.”
-Noct
Senior Member“…You produced in your story something very difficult to achieve.
You created a credible dilemma for your protagonist, and its
emotional impact was spot-on. And of course, the score was
incredible. That last “hook” is still playing in my mind as I
contemplate his “choice.” Haunting.”“…Of the shorts I’ve viewed so far, this one, above all others,
clearly produced characters that were completely believeable as
real people. Also, unlike any other short I’ve seen so far, I
really cared about your characters, and was affected emotionally
by both your story and your characters.”
-Rezfactor
Senior Member“Great soundtrack and camera work, man!!!”
“You know, this is the ONE film that has sort of fermented and
preyed upon my mind over time. I keep coming back to the final
scene and I’m struck with such a powerful emotion of ineffable
sadness. That says a lot because this was the first film I
watched. After all the others, this one keeps coming back to me.”
-Mark Johnson
Senior Member
“I Liked Lakeside Better …. ”
-MOVIE MASTER
Senior Member“The strongest part of your film is the story.”
-Geoff_R
Senior Member“…when he hits the water with that brick, I got the proverbial
chill down my spine. mission accomplished!”
-FlintMI
Senior Member“STRONG SOLID STORY!!! You pulled of some very dramatic s@@@ and it
worked in perfection! Loved the score!!”
-VersuS
Senior Member“Music: Super, very film like, would love to work with you. Best
for me. What keyboard sound module you using? Blew me away, very
emotional.”
-jpbankesmercer
Director Mod“It was a just a good movie. It made me so sad, and I think that is
the way the character felt as well.”
-msconce
Senior Member“Very subtle direction. And the film got through my defenses. Good
stuff.”
-Paul Coleman
Senior Member“I loved your set-up in this film. An average day turned into a
nightmare. It was so simple and simply told. You didn’t force
anything. It just unfolded at a natural pace.
…The music was soft, subtle and haunting.”
-TheatreGuy
Senior Member“…I loved the torment that you brought into this film. A haunting
horror flick of a different kind! A REAL kind.”
-TheatreGuy
Senior Member“Story had a powerful conclusion and nice score and some nice editing there.”
Jack Daniel Stanley
Mr. Excitable“This was an interesting piece. My friends and I had a lot of fun watching this.
Very offbeat characters. Funny voices, motivaions and relationships.
…The humor at the begining sharply contrasts with the sad, weightiness
at the end. Masterfully done.I think it’ll stay with us for a while. Pretty
memorable and unique tale.”
mentatDUKE
Senior Member“though the score was solid & effective, & didn’t try to rule the film
… a compliment considering the film was made by a composer.”
Envision
Script Wrangler“Some of the best performances in the fest. As Jack pointed out,
they’re very natural. Captured the type of guys perfectly.”
sean90291
Senior Member“…your story kind of lost me.”
“…and why should we care?”
Lingothree
Senior Member“I think this was kind of unfocused. Meaning I wasn’t sure
what was going on. It looked pretty bad as well.
the music was great though.”
conrad_johnson
Senior Member“this had an interesting idea behind it. And a good
moment of suspense.”
EJ Pennypacker
Senior Member“Great quality. The actors did a nice job, too.”
gwmesler
Member“The Score: Worked very well in this film. It was very subtle
during the beginning while he was treading the water which
matched perfectly, and then during the end, it was very powerful,
really helped with the emotion. It was a good match.”
macintosh
Senior Member“I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed this film. I was
looking forward to this ever since I saw the poster and I was not let down.”
griffin
Senior Member“Love the setting and the story ..
…man what a choice to make ..who do you save ?”
arielman
Senior Member
“I really liked the idea of this but it fell short to me”
Michael_Petro
Senior Member“That was very emotional and the music did help it.”
Steve_Arm
Senior Member“good story. sad story…”
kimko
Senior Member“acting was too acted. lighting is key, natural light is fine
but make sure you dont blow out the image…. story
was eh… needed more explaination… lplus the title kinda
doesnt fit…. other that that… we need to get you a dvx dude”
hvxabuser
Senior Member