I am the Director of CRAWL OR DIE, Oklahoma Ward - Crawl or Die (2014) Discussion

[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

Oh and by the way - Yes - I did rate my own film a 10. I do quite like it.

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[–] martylyf 10 years ago

Never seen the movie, will watch it now just because you bothered to post here

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

Thank you. I sincerely do hope you enjoy.

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] WEDisney (8) 2 years ago

Old thread I know but I absolutely love this film. I hate the feelings it gives me because of how claustrophobic I am but you shot it perfectly. The cinematography is great for having such a closed in space. I have watched it 5 times now and each viewing gives me a fresh perspective. Alien is one of my favorite movies so the comparison to Dallas in the air vents makes for a very tense situation. Great job.

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[–] FilmAddict303 10 years ago

Can I ask why you went with making the creature so Alien like?

Personally I think the film could of benefited a lot by using a different style of creature.

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

Sure you can ask - I have no problem at all answering any question that I can ;-)

The creature is a tough one - I'll state my thoughts this way:

I am very proud of the job my creature builders did. I truly am - some people absolutely love the creature - some do not. Just like some like my movie - some not etc - that happens on all movies and I'm truly fine with that.

You'll never see me argue about someones opinion on my film - I firmly believe some people will get it - and some will not and that's the way it should be. I respect that.

Back to the creature - the creatures story goes like this - originally my movie did not contain any monster at all - another words - you never saw the monster - only heard it. ( My distributor per contract is allowing my in five years to release the movie in that cut as a special edition. I was VERY proud of that original cut and the tone of that version of the movie.)

Problem was - every test audience wanted to 'see' a creature. Every potential buyer demanded to be able to 'see' the monster.

I knew that ( a creature) would be very tricky ( visually) - I always knew in the sequel I would have more money to build something really cool - but always figured to start things off - hearing it would be enough.

But - just as I had to change the title of the movie for different countries - as a filmmaker - you have to please the buyers to some extent if you want to have your film purchased for platforms - so - since the test audience and the buyers wanted to see it now in the first of the trilogy movies - I did so.

Why so ALIEN like - well - the drawings I have - it is not so ALIEN like. But creating my drawing - well lol - we did the very best we could ( and am proud-of) what we physically created. The monster is more spider-like with a dash of metallic alien qualities which in the sequel will be more fleshed out via more time and finances.

I was offered some money to have the creature done cgi - but the money offered would have made it really bad IMO - cheap digital effects just look awful in movies IMO. For me - if you're going to do cgi they better be on par with Planet of the Apes ya know lol. So - I went back to movies I love - American Werewolf in London etc and went - let's make it real - no cgi.

As for the ALIEN reference - well - I have no problem that Ridley Scott influences me so much - I love his work. I loved the original tone of the orginal Alien. It should surprise no one that my main influences of my movie was that tunnel scene that Bishop crawled into - I was so unhappy that they did not flesh out that scene longer - that scared the hell outta me - I was like - what would you do in that tunnel if the ALIEN was in front or behind you - but they never explored that. Also - the Great Escape - I loved that movie when they were all digging in that tunnel. I never wanted the film to leave that tunnel lol. Also the Descent to some degree - I loved being underground.

Anyway - point is - the tunnel is the real monster IMO. But - I knew going in - many would focus on the monster and I am very happy with what we came up with. Yes it's influenced by many films - but that's all good I believe. I actually came across so many people whom have never seen ALIEN - I was floored by that actually - I made sure to tell them to watch that movie - it's the Godfather of creature films IMO.

The sequel fleshes out the story behind the creature and gets into more detail about it - and the differences become very noticeable in that film ;-)

But make no mistake - you have a valid point - in that - it does get compared a lot to the creature from ALIEN - and I would never deny that.

I will say this - I am surprised that my film is being judged by 'some' against that type of of budgeted type film. They had millions and VERY experienced crew/sfx people. I had me & me... and well - a few other people with day jobs lol. I figured I would get judged by some of the films on the SCifi channel etc - but hey - if I'm getting judged and to be held to the quality of ALIEN etc - I'll take that any day.

Thank you for the question ;-) I hope I answered your question ;-)

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] FilmAddict303 10 years ago

Thanks for taking the time to answer.

I really loved that you stayed with practical effects, I am a big fan of CG but as you say cheap CG will always look bad. It's a shame you decided to go with showing more of the creature though, I'd be interested to watch the earlier cut. For me the scenes where you only get glimpses of it crawling in the tunnels were far stronger than any of the scenes where you get to see it in full. I'm a firm believer that with horror less is always more as your mind can often make things far scarier than anything that can be put on film.

The creature wasn't in any way badly done especially on such a low budget, I think the problem with it being so similar to Alien means it's going to be compared to it and frankly that's a big pair of boots for anyone to fill as it's one of the most iconic movie monsters of all time and probably always will be.

Creature aside I was expecting you to be a fan of Alien as there was a lot of other similarities which isn't a bad thing, overall the film had a really good tone and atmosphere. One of my favorite scenes is from Aliens when they are being chased through the tunnels with Newt leading them, the beginning of the film really reminded me of that.

With regard to the film ratings, I think most people including myself don't really rate films based on their budget, if I did I would have given it a 10 as most of the low budget films I watch in comparison are complete rubbish.

So don't take it to heart if you get a low rating ;)

Anyway thanks again and good luck with your next film.

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[–] arenagallery 9 years ago

Thank you very much for interacting with me. I appreciate it. I mean that.

I am currently in pre-production on the sequel and we start filming this summer. I hope you enjoy the sequel ;-)

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] croat-hr 9 years ago

Just my humble advice; don't (over)use CGI.
I love movies with practical effects. They look much more real to me. And just plain more fun.
Alien used no CGI, Terminator 1 neither and they both look great, and better than their latest sequel IMHO.

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[–] arenagallery 9 years ago

I agree - I just secured the team for the sequel and my rule before making the deal was no cgi - they finally agreed so work on the practical effects is already underway ;-)

Thank you very much for writing ;-)

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] omendata 8 years ago

Very decent of you to pop in and it gives your movie even more credibility in my eyes that you have bothered to come on here and answer questions.

Personally i found you did a superb job with the budget you had to play with.

Its not Alien but then i have seen a zillion films with higher budget that were way worse than this.

You did copy a bit from other movies - notably the blonde haired lesbian dyke hard nut marine lady which was really a copy of Vasquez from Aliens! lol Her acting was really pants - it wasnt your girlfriend was it? And Tank thats a bit too Matrix could you not have called her wank or something a bit different!

I just read that the movie cost less than 8k - man you are another John Carpenter in the making then - well done for such a small budget you accomplished more than some million pound efforts have - I am truly shocked!

It was actually pretty claustrophobic at the point where she was going up the thin metal pipe - i could feel my pwn claustrophobia and fear of tight spaces rattling lol hard to watch at some points so the title of the most claustrophobic is actually quite true only The Descent gave equal hyperventilation problems lol

Something that i am also looking forward to seeing some day is another Hero who doesnt swear or use the f word - instead of "lets get the *beep* out of here" why not "lets depart from this situation" or something similar - worked for Roddy Piper in John Carpenters "They Live" - Why not try it - the use of profanity whilst realistic is a tad tedious and a bit of a hoary old chesnut! Originality and the alls to go with it is key!

Anyway well done look forward to the sequel!

PS . From your photo you could have played the main role as you look like Vin Diesels younger long lost brother lol

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[–] StepstonefilmsImdb 10 years ago

I think it's simply the smooth head that's drawing the comparisons to Alien, because it's definitely more insect/spider-like. That shot when it emerges from the pipe one leg at a time, pulling itself out, made me think more along the lines that it was an insect type creature. A well done scene by the way, must have taken some time to get right.

What camera(s) and other equipment did you use?

How far away are parts 2 & 3, really looking forward to seeing where you take us next.

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

I used the 5D II - did research via Phillip Bloom and tested many cameras - (back at that time) and it handled the dark the best of all affordable cameras (at that time).
Sound was all on camera and ZOOM recorder.
FCP7 and FCPx and Motion
Lightning was choice of mine that I promised to stick to - no artificial lighting - all done by the flashlights the actors held. My choice on lighting was based on I can't stand when films show underground scenes and you see these big lit background walls - where no light would be. My feelings were - let's stick with what you would really experience inside a dark tunnel - if all you would really see was black at times - that's all you would see. Some love that - some hate it. I personally love that aspect of the film - but understand why it would make some mad too ;-)

We have two other countries we have to go and promote at etc in the coming weeks - then we are back in the U.S. and start pre-production on the sequel in about 4 months - we are shooting to have the film out by around Oct 2015

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] StepstonefilmsImdb 10 years ago

I was thinking you might have used DSLR, very compact, which I'm sure was ideal for the shoot. I thought there might have been a GoPro used for some of those tighter scenes, but I doubt they would have handled such low-light very well.
Great job. Will you be shooting the sequels on the same camera?

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

We actually tried the GOPro at times - but it broke down fast in the dark light - GREAT with full light - not in the heavy dark.

We are testing a few other cameras - Japan and the U.S. want the next one delivered in 4k - so we will have to go that route. I don't actually care all that much for 4k - I'm a bit old school in that I like more blur/film look rather than extreme detail 4k - but - lol - times are a changing - have to adapt lol. I'll have to experiment to find a between look.

The main thing is - you hit it on the head - since I made it a rule to use no side cut tunnels etc - to keep all camera work inside the actual tunnels with the actors - camera size is key. The one metal tunnel at the end - no one other than the actress could fit in the tunnel - that was fun shooting let me tell ya lol.

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] christopher-dallas-113-229541 10 years ago

If you don't have studio producers willing to take the risk, how about setting up a crowd funding account. I would gladly throw in some money.

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

Thank you. I mean that. Deeply. KS is an option - but it seems we have funding solid for the sequel wrapped up. It all comes down to keeping control and not letting the "power-to-be" take over. We are still negotiating the contract/outcome - I've learned so far you can never believe anything until the papers are signed lol.

But - thank you and I am keeping that option in my back pocket if I can't structure a what-I-consider to be a fair deal for the sequel ;-)

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] nomadprog 10 years ago

Is the sequel going to be even more claustrophobic than the first?
I love exploring that element and I like the anxiety that went along with watching Tank explore that underground labyrinth.

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

Yes - the second film really drives home what the tunnel system is and finally I get to include the scenes I could not tackle within the first film. Let's just say live tarantulas by the dozens cost a hella' lot of money due to insurance ;-)

...and while the sequel will follow a tad more of a traditional story arc - still going to shine a light on the main character IMO - the tight spaces/claustrophobia ;-)

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] nomadprog 10 years ago

Looking forward to it!

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

Thank you ;-)

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] carlosgonzocastillo-753-735919 10 years ago

Hello from México City Mr. Ward. I just have finished watching Crawl or Die and it was a great pleasure, i did not know anything about the film until yesterday and as soon as i read the title I knew there was something special about it, and I was right. I believe this kind of movies are what keep the art of story-telling alive and as the true center of movie-making instead of just commercializing a product. Thanks for exploring with so much detail the narrative style exposed in your film.

Now, just a couple of questions:

who or what was your inspiration to create and design the Tank Character, visually and Psychologically?

Who was your most important partner during the production of this movie (besides the actresses and actors))?

And finally considering how hard and complicated is the world wide distribution for an indie film, can you give me your thoughts on the torrents and the streaming so common nowadays?

Thanks again and you can be sure that from now on I will be following your film making career.

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

Hello Carlos!

Thank you for writing me ;-)

Some good news - heading to Mexico in the coming weeks for my film to appear in a theater - in the next three weeks I can officially share where and when. We are subtitling the film at this moment ;-) On my Facebook page I update daily - and I will try to remember to come here and update you the where and when. Hope to maybe meet you in person ;-) Lead actor Nicole/TANK and I will be at the event to shake hands and talk about the and the making of the movie ;-)

Your questions:

TANK - well, I love TANK. Everything about her. My inspiration came from Ripley/ALIEN - Sarah Conner/Linda Hamilton and Lisbeth Salander/Girl With Dragon series and my mother whom is one tough person. I grew up in the 80's and loved the explosion of great characters such as Snake - Rambo - Arnold - Indy Jones - all of them. But as time went on I began to crave seeing something different in leads. A woman. While I can refer to women leads - like the roles above - truly only maybe 12 (give/or/take) great tough women roles. I can name over 70 great male characters in a split second. So, as I sat down to start a trilogy I wanted to create someone - a female - that had the qualities that I love in a person. The 'will' to never give up - no matter what - was top on my list. Maybe not the smartest - not the strongest - but a person steely strong willed as a TANK.

I wanted to with my first film in this trilogy 'show' how tough willed TANK is - not verbally tell people - to set up the next film and what she has to face.

The look of her - I wanted her tough willed - but not ripped with muscles. I wanted her NOT to lose the fact that she is female and not play TANK as a man - like a Rambo. This was all done for a reason - her transformation into the next film and what she will look like after this event in this first film.

Most important partner - Peter Broderick. He started/worked with Christopher Nolan/the Following - worked with so many great films - Blair Witch, CLERKS etc - consulting. I spent years trying to meet him - we finally met - he looked at all my work and took me on as a client. We now work on all my projects together and I am so proud to have him as partner and friend. His advice and guidance has been invaluable.

Distribution is tough for any Indie Filmmaker starting out. Holding onto your film - how it's cut - how it's marketed - title - changes made to the movie itself - percentage splits... on and on. Starting out you pretty much have to give most of that up and fight for one or two things you won't budge on and go with the best deal you can get. It's only if the movie does well (financially) does one gain more power to keep more control over your film. Mind you - not complaining - I am very lucky and happy to have gotten the deal that I did - but now moving forward I'll have more say over more details ;-) It's the price of starting out and a price I was willing to pay. I did win some battles that were most important to me - and for that I am very happy.

Torrents - I don't know. They are never going to stop. Ever. In one way - I see torrent site that have over 20,000 views of my movie and have way more people loving the film with 8 out of 10 stars etc. This one torrent site has pages of people commenting on how they love the movie. ( Make no mistake - some hate it too lol) Now, will I gain any of those fans to follow me onto my next project - sure. Many have joined my pages and wrote me about the love for the movie - and I know because of where they are from - they watched the movie for free. But - I gained a fan. Also - and this is probably about 1 in a 100 - but it sometimes happens - a few send me 5 bucks or ask where they can purchase the movie because they watched it for free and loved the movie and felt I should be paid something. That is cool.

The bad - well - for an Indie - it REALLY hits the pocket book. My distributor has put up money to have dvds made and artwork etc - he should receive that money back IMO. I worked for a long time on the movie and I feel the 3 to 5 bucks to watch it is reasonable etc.

I guess - in the end - I just ignore it because it's not going away. Do I wish at the very least torrent sites would provide a link for people to the filmmakers website - or something. Yes I do. I don't know - it does in fact hurt an indie the most. We deal in very tight budgets - add in lawyer costs - QC reports - cost of creating delivery materials to all platforms etc - and to see that on one torrent site alone 20,000 people watched for free - well, that would have paid for the QC reports alone.

But hey - I stay positive - it's all good. I got the movie out - fans that like the movie are supporting it and myself on many sites and it feels so damned good to have made a movie in the midwest - with no film connections at all - on a budget of lint in my pocket - and it's out to the world to judge and experience. Pretty much a dream come true.

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] macdonald449 10 years ago

Congratulations again on getting the film made, and thanks for taking the time to answer some questions, not everyone would be so obliging.

I was just wondering what size was the crew on the various days? Was it difficult to get people to show up, as I assume they would have to do so for free or for very little?
And I would imagine most of the budget would have gone towards props and the building of the creature. And I've been trying to figure out how you constructed some of the smaller tunnels so as not to risk the lives of your actors, as some of it looks pretty treacherous.

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

Thank You Macdonald

On certain days we had a crew of five people. The whole second half of the movie was a crew of me and the two actors. The days we filmed the creature it bounced around from 3 - 4 people working on the creature - the actors and me handling everything else - lights/camera/sound etc.

You do what you got to do. When you can't afford a crew - you yourself become the crew.

Yes - you are correct - the money went onto the set.

The smaller tunnels were dangerous as far as - they were tight and uncomfortable, hot, real and 50 feet long. The only way out of the tight small dirt tunnels or the smaller metal tunnel - if a problem arouse - was to be cut out - which would take up to 15 minutes if needed.

Risking the lives - well - the actor Nicole believed in the story so much that she was game for being in the smaller tunnel for very long lengths of time - I, well - you do what you have to do, I have no problem putting myself in a situation to get a shot. The only real danger for Nicole or Torey in the smaller tunnels - was a panic attack - or scorpion sting - which neither will kill you and both girls were fine doing the scenes - we were prepared for a panic attack scenario in case that happened.

When the crew or actors were in a place that could have real damage - like the repelling scene - or the actor hanging upside down etc - we hired professional people to secure the actors with training and safety lines.

Thanks ;-)
Oklahoma Ward

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[–] StepstonefilmsImdb 10 years ago

Thanks for the reply Oklahoma.

You should do a making of, your story is inspirational to others out there who share the burning desire to make movies.

"You Do What You Got To Do
When You Can't Afford A Crew"...........You should print off some T-Shirts.

Thanks
Stephen

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

Thank you for the kind words.

We have been making a documentary of the is whole process from day three years ago - in a few months we will start cutting ti together and get that out there - but I LOVE your slogan lol - Pretty much wraps up our whole process here as Indie Filmmaker ;-)

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] sol-o_guest 10 years ago

Congrats for the script, it is original but I think you've lost credibility when the creature is just killing people. For example any predator just will kill if it feels hungry so...
*Other thing is that the monster is obviosly bigger than any human, so if the girls hardly fit on the pipes how can the monster too?
I think you could make a survival movie, then the monster should be just a plus of a lot of things that must pass the main character to get out and have success.

But good try, you made us feel panik and claustrophobia.

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

Thank you for writing.

I hear your points - and I'll never argue with a person's opinion on a film.

Movies are like religion/politics etc- they touch a nerve with people and people feel very strong about their opinions - I respect that.

Me, I love the movie. Some have problems with the movie. Some do not. Some love it - some hate it.

Honest opinions are never a bad thing IMO ;-)

I can share this - for me - the main focus of the movie was claustrophobia and people who never give up.

I see your points and where you are coming from.

The second movie explains the monster - it's motives and how it works - as in a scorpion can flatten itself paper thin etc.

Some people absolutely love the creature - some do not. I get that. Respect that.

Hopefully you will enjoy the sequel much more ;-)

Thank you for writing.

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] jackmeat 10 years ago

I am a huge movie fan, and just finished my review of Crawl or Die (it should be on here shortly, but....) I would like to invite you to my site to read my review (yes I am pimping my own site) http://jackmeat.wix.com/jackmeat
and also my facebook movie group for any comments you may want to make, or questions you may want to field. https://www.facebook.com/groups/jackmeatmovies/

Since I am not using your forum properly, I'll ask something: Were you a spelunker or cave dweller for a hobby, profession, that leads you to be fascinated with the isolation and claustrophobic nature such as portrayed in this movie?

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

Hello, and thank you for the reply.

I wanted to quickly answer you - although I tried to answer this question live on twitter - you may have been cut-off when ads popped up lol.

Actually - no - in fact I have only been in one actual cave ever. No - the inspiration for tunnels and caves came from the movie 'The Great Escape" and from ALIENS - I loved the tunnel in Great Eascape - the texture and the dirt - I just found it awesome watching C. Bronson digging away - in the movie ALIENS when Bishop entered the metal tunnel, I'll never forget how terrified I was - I was like - HOLY HELL what would he do if an ALIEN was in the tunnel with him. My whole kernel for the movie started thinking back on those two movies ;-)

BytheBy - thank you for the review. I found it honest and within context. I thank you deeply for that ;-)

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] arenagallery 9 years ago

Thank you for writing. I mean that.

The sequel explains why the alien is able to contort it's body ;-) Just like the cockroach is able to flatten it's body paper thin - this alien is able to contort it's body ;-)

To answer your question about why the alien is killing - well, while I respect your thoughts on that I have to disagree - respectfully. Some predators are very territorial and since we are on their planet - it is we that much be eradicated. ;-)

Again - a lot of this will be explained somewhat in the sequel which starts filming this summer ;-)

Thank you again for your comment and hope you enjoy the sequel much better ;-)

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] claad167 10 years ago

I have to say for the budget, i enjoyed this movie a lot. I can see where your influences came from and most of the movies are my favourites like Aliens, The Descent and Cube. You dont need a big budget as you have proved and i commend you for what you have achieved for so little. i cant wait to see more of Tank who by the way you can congratulate Nicole for the character as not only was she hot but she held me captivated by the way she captured the atmosphere/mood and the setting of the movie amazingly.

I hope you have some good ideas for the sequels and know it will be hard to follow on from this as the star was the tight spaces and the dark which will be a hard act to follow as movies like this prove, its more about the atmosphere and what you dont see rather than what you do see.

any way i cant wait and any updates on other movies you are working on and sequels etc i cant wait to here about.

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

Thank you VERY much for the reply here!

I would never argue the influences of Aliens/Cube/Descent - they influenced me a lot. As many many movies and stories have. I'm proud of that actually ya know ;-)

I will be sure and let TANK see what you posted here ;-) Will make her day ;-)

I do have some grand ideas for the sequel. A lot of the questions I left open - answers to questions that I felt were not important to delve into in this movie - will be answered and explained in the sequel ;-)

But for a teaser on the sequel - I can share this... I could not afford the insurance to have 200 live tarantula's crawling over the actors in this movie - but on the sequel... ;-)

Thank you very much for the post ;-)

Oklahoma Ward

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[–] ktthool 10 years ago

Hello Sir,
I am surprised that actually "Director" came here to answer the queries. This proves that the you had put your soul in the creating this movie.I haven't seen the movie but I must say you confront the issue very well.
In reality only the originator it dosen't matter what s/he trying to create a program /movie/short movies etc. might faces certain issues that others don't necessarly understand. The end product no matter how best ,originator always felt something should be added.
These reviewers might not judge your movie fully as we don't know who they really are some might be intelligent or just students learning in FX schools or just googling films expoure and trying to avoid it.
I am sure ,you have understood that this is not the failure , you might direct a Oscar winning movie after it, Best of luck in Advance for that.

All the Reviwers please note the "ROME WAS NOT BUILT IN A DAY" and "Once failed dosen't mean a Person is always failure also winning once does not guarantee sucess for a lifetime."

Leave the arguing out side and enjoy fighting performed by female fighter, I don't know any of you know ho difficult it is to co-ordinate the fights.
Ultimately , avoid arguing and Just chill, enjoy the movie and let the Director do the work. Because I want to see the next movie directed by him.

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[–] arenagallery 10 years ago

Thank you ktthool,

I hope you do get to see the movie at some point.
I appreciate all the things you said. I mean that.
I truly have no problem with actual IMDB members expressing their opinions. It's a free world and some people are going to like my film - and some not. It does get upsetting when I see IMDB allow some people to spout racist/gender bashing reviews - allow those reviews to be posted - but - hey - you live with the good and bad IMHO.

I grew up a loyal Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel fan - and I love how passionately - and with intelligence - they would argue the merits of a film. Sometimes I would agree with one - other days I would agree with the other. That is why I actually enjoy reading the pro/con of people's view on my film. It's their take on it - and I respect that.

Again - thank you for writing and hope you enjoy my movie.

Thank you,
Oklahoma Ward

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