The Zone

by **pheadx** on Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:33 am

UPDATE:

Hey guys, I've updated this thread for my second feature this year, "ABSCHIEDE - Five Goodbyes",
which you can watch now with English Subtitles:

http://vimeo.com/30898554

During the last four years, and for a total budget of less than 3,000 Euros (around 4,000 $), a group of friends has created a very special DIY feature film experience: Told in five chapters, "ABSCHIEDE - Five Goodbyes" is a unique tale about personal loss, grief and hope, starting with a nine-year-old girl and ending with a man at the end of his life.

Directed by Anil Jacob Kunnel, "ABSCHIEDE - Five Goodbyes" also shows that in these new exciting times, everyone can tell a grander story with limited ressources - and without a real budget or a film school. It's a heads up to everyone out there struggling to get their diy-films done.

If you like this film, please also check out the official site for our film "Pixelschatten - OUR LIFE IS ONLINE." pixelschatten.com.

You can watch a teaser trailer here:

The film originated from the 5GOODBYES project that I have presented in this forum during the last years. The first feature (or "mixtape") this year was "Pixelschatten - OUR LIFE IS ONLINE."

PREVIOUSLY:

Pixelschatten is now online until May 29! Enjoy!

I hope you are all as tired of Pirates of the Carribean as me and check out my film instead : P

Everything you need at http://www.pixelschatten.com!

Pixelschatten is a John Hughes film for a new generation:

Pixel (Ben Gageik) is a 22-year-old small-town blogger: Everyone can read about him and his friends online. His blog "Pixelschatten" used to be the hippest thing in town, but now the local fame has faded away. His friends go to college, have new friends and interests, and his girlfriend Suse (Zora Klostermann) is irritated by the private issues revealed on the blog. When Pixel realizes that everyone but him is moving on, he changes all their lives with just one post...

"Pixelschatten" is a unique cinematic experience, a quirky-melancholic, yet warm and funny portrait of the "generation Internet", mixing the first-person point of you aesthetics of "Enter The Void" with the zeitgeist of "The Social Network". But this time it's not about the greedy entrepreneurs behind a moneymaking machine, it's about the people that spend their everyday life online. It's about you. And the spoilers for your life.

Pheadx

by **so sorry** on Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:37 am

Good for you bud.

Do you have a trailer cut for this?

(unless its in German, in which case...nevermind :roll:

)

by **pheadx** on Wed Mar 16, 2011 11:40 am

Hey sorry,

thanks for the interest. A trailer will be up in a few weeks. Will keep you updated!

Cheers
Pheadx

by **Ribbons** on Wed Mar 16, 2011 1:34 pm

Whoa, you made a movie phead!? :shock:

That's awesome! Congratulations man.

Sounds pretty interesting too.

by **pheadx** on Wed Mar 16, 2011 1:51 pm

Hey Rib, thanks man!

Yeah, I finished it a few weeks ago after a year and half of writing and directing. It's a 85 minute long German debut film and was shot for only 100.000 Euros, so it's really low budget, but you should give it a try once we have a subtitled version! We can need any support :-)

I promise you've never seen anything like it!

by **SilentBobX** on Wed Mar 16, 2011 4:18 pm

I concur. Congratulations, pheadx. And we miss you in the room.

Mahalo

by **Seppuku** on Wed Mar 16, 2011 4:28 pm

Woah, lotta hot women in this movie! I'm sold.

I do recommend you slip in a scene of someone getting attacked by an alien. Even if it's a dream sequence or a flashback. You never know, the right people might be watching and catapult you to the helm of an Alien sequel.

Seriously though, looks cool! Congrats. I should make something, too.

EDIT: It's strangely comforting to see that "Fuck!" really is universal.

by **Ribbons** on Wed Mar 16, 2011 4:35 pm

Also, I did not know you were German.

See you at the premiere!

by **DerLanghaarige** on Wed Mar 16, 2011 5:44 pm

Ha! Das kleine Fernsehspiel is surprising me recently! (They had a Zombie movie last year.)

by **pheadx** on Wed Mar 16, 2011 7:22 pm

@ bob: miss you guys, too. will hopefully be more frequently in the chatroom again

@seppuku: thanks, man... yeah.. fuck is universal. hehe, and the ALIEN sequel... I just got a mail from H.R. Giger's wife and they are really excited to work with Scott again. But dreaming of ALIEN PLANET is just me being a geek.

@ribbon: you never heard my accent, huh :-)

? Seriously, where are you from?

@ Langhaarige: Are you also from Germany? we're presenting our film in Berlin on March 30 at Haus der Kulturen der Welt: http://www.hkw.de/en/programm/2011/body ... _55292.php

And yeah, everybody should watch the zombie film you mentioned, "Rammbock"

by **pheadx** on Sat Mar 26, 2011 4:26 pm

The teaser is online. It was mixed live in real time with the videofile of the complete film on the desktop.

http://vimeo.com/21530036

or here

by **pheadx** on Sat Apr 02, 2011 3:19 pm

/Film's thoughts on the teaser: http://www.slashfilm.com/week-trailers-pixelschatten-tt3d-closer-edge-beautiful-boy-bully-project-shakespeare-high/#more-101229

by **pheadx** on Fri Apr 22, 2011 10:16 am

You can find the Original Score at this URL: listn.to/PIXELSCHATTENScoreSoundtrack . The Original Soundtrack with over an hour of new songs will follow in a few days!

by **tapehead** on Fri Apr 22, 2011 12:53 pm

Looks great - colourful, vibrant, attractive, potentially fun - I want to see a trailer now, maybe with English captions; the marketing angle and subject of growing up in public online both work really well with the short attention span fragmented style of the teaser but I want to get drawn in now with some character or narrative.

by **pheadx** on Sat Apr 23, 2011 6:18 am

Hey tapehead,

thanks for your comments, man. It's highly appreciated. The film is a very character driven dramedy. Its structure and narration are so different from what we're used to, that we still have not decided which angle for a full trailer could work. What we do in the next weeks is to send out the first English-subtitled screeners (of the full film) to get some opinions (does it really work when you're not German?) and maybe some reviews. The first reviews here were pretty good (The film will be also on German TV in a few weeks), we also did a test screening. What's pretty interesting: it seems to be a highly exclusive film, made for a young audience (that's what we also wanted). Those people in the audience that were 40+ had serious problems to follow the film (its 85 minutes long) or understand the way it's told (still they found it entertaining enough to follow it). Everyone else had no problem at all, which is pretty interesting.

Cheers

by **pheadx** on Tue May 03, 2011 6:00 pm

our imdb page is up http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1900955/
more infos soon.
the first reviews have been pretty positive so far.
cheers

by **Ribbons** on Tue May 03, 2011 9:23 pm

pheadx wrote:cheers

Your emoticon doesn't seem too cheerful...

by **pheadx** on Wed May 04, 2011 2:59 am

That's just because I always forget that our Pixel-icon ":P" will convert to the emoticon

by **pheadx** on Sun May 08, 2011 1:38 pm

The whole Score and Soundtrack are online now with 19 additional Songs: http://listn.to/PIXELSCHATTENScoreSoundtrack

The film will premiere on German TV tonight.

Become friends at http://www.facebook.com/pixelschatten or http://www.pixelschatten.de

by **tapehead** on Sun May 08, 2011 5:20 pm

So does that mean you only got to screen it at festivals? I've seen this listed as an upcoming release on a few sites, but it seems like maybe that might be for fest screenings in North America. I'm really interested in how much real Indies get distribution deals these days - features almost never screen on tv before there's a DVD or download release in Australia, but I know it's much more common in European countries.

pheadx wrote:What's pretty interesting: it seems to be a highly exclusive film, made for a young audience (that's what we also wanted). Those people in the audience that were 40+ had serious problems to follow the film (its 85 minutes long) or understand the way it's told (still they found it entertaining enough to follow it). Everyone else had no problem at all, which is pretty interesting.

Now I have to see it to prove that I'm hip and 'with it'

pheadx wrote:Cheers

I really did like the teaser and stuff

by **papalazeru** on Sun May 08, 2011 6:03 pm

tapehead wrote:So does that mean you only got to screen it at festivals? I've seen this listed as an upcoming release on a few sites, but it seems like maybe that might be for fest screenings in North America. I'm really interested in how much real Indies get distribution deals these days - features almost never screen on tv before there's a DVD or download release in Australia, but I know it's much more common in European countries.
pheadx wrote:What's pretty interesting: it seems to be a highly exclusive film, made for a young audience (that's what we also wanted). Those people in the audience that were 40+ had serious problems to follow the film (its 85 minutes long) or understand the way it's told (still they found it entertaining enough to follow it). Everyone else had no problem at all, which is pretty interesting.

Now I have to see it to prove that I'm hip and 'with it'

pheadx wrote:Cheers

I really did like the teaser and stuff

So did I. It's not the usual type of film that I would enjoy but I liked the visual flair of the trailer.

What really sold it to me was this,

Pixel is a Blogger: everybody can follow his life and that of his clique on www.pixelschatten.de . He used to be the in thing but his small-town fame is on the wane: his friends go to college, get jobs or take a year abroad. And what about Pixel? He goes on the offensive, with ever more provocative Blogs – culminating in a panic reaction. “Pixel Shadows“, by young director Anil Kunnel, tells the story of what happens when digital and analog realities drift apart.

That last line makes this sound very interesting.

Oh and that Zombie film, if anyone see's an English subbed version, let me know.

by **pheadx** on Wed May 11, 2011 9:28 am

Thanks tape and papa!

The film will be on TV again on May 23th and then Online for one week (in German). We're trying to get onto some international festivals, but it's a really hard film to market. I either clicks or not. I hope we'll get some film journalists to write on it and if there's a following, there might be a chance that you can watch it. A DVD release is not planned yet, but it's really interesting how the TV channels are pushing multiplatform-broadcasting.

So far the response has been nice. Some people say they were a bit underwhelmed (in the end it really is a micro-budget film made for 100,000 Euros), but most of the response was very positive.

And yeah, you absolutely have to prove that you're hip and 'with it' :-)

!

Cheers
: P

by **papalazeru** on Wed May 11, 2011 10:15 am

pheadx wrote:Thanks tape and papa!

The film will be on TV again on May 23th and then Online for one week (in German). We're trying to get onto some international festivals, but it's a really hard film to market. I either clicks or not. I hope we'll get some film journalists to write on it and if there's a following, there might be a chance that you can watch it. A DVD release is not planned yet, but it's really interesting how the TV channels are pushing multiplatform-broadcasting.

So far the response has been nice. Some people say they were a bit underwhelmed (in the end it really is a micro-budget film made for 100,000 Euros), but most of the response was very positive.

And yeah, you absolutely have to prove that you're hip and 'with it' !

Cheers
: P

Don't forget to add subtitles!!!!!!!

As for pushing multiplatform - they've been trying desperately for years to convince themselves that it's the way forward but none of them actually have the balls to do anything about it. They just dip their feet for a bit. Until the ratings system includes online sources (Which youtube would probably put most TV channels to shame), they won't actually do much about it. They are either dithering because they want to keep their piles of money, or they are stalling because they are too scared to enter a market late and have ratings delivered by the minute when competing with other more established sources.

Just my view on the TV channels, thats all.

by **pheadx** on Thu May 12, 2011 2:37 pm

The Online version will probably without subtitles, but we have a English subtitled version that we sent out to some film bloggers. Hope to get some reviews, would be really cool.

Yeah, I know what you mean. The channels seem a bit clueless, but there might be interesting new ways to broadcast a film. Depends on the film and the marketing, though. But I think we will get a seperate online rating, apart from the TV rating.

What would you suggest? Let's start a discussion and see how we can use the new possibilities to create awareness for a small film like this.

by **pheadx** on Sat May 14, 2011 3:47 pm

Hey guys,

this is really a question to everyone who is reading this.

After the TV screening on May 23rd on ZDF (which is like BBC2 in Germany), the film will be available online for 7 days to German audiences.

We talked about how to present the film and there is the option to do something brave with the distribution.
We might also show the film with English Subs on Youtube in Full HD for the same 7 days.

What do you think? Would you watch the film? Do you think there is a slight chance to make people all over the world to see it in these 7 days?
It will be a pretty hard task, but honestly I prefer this to doing the usual "prestige" film festival circuit. This is a film about the internet, and while I can understand that many directors are protective of their "vision", I like the idea of just setting it free :-)

The major question to me is: Can you get people to write about the film?

What are your suggestions?

Cheers
: P

by **DerLanghaarige** on Sun May 15, 2011 12:17 pm

Cool. I missed it on its initial TV airing, so I hope will be able to watch it somehow on the other occasions.

papalazeru wrote:Oh and that Zombie film, if anyone see's an English subbed version, let me know.

It's on iTunes soon

by **pheadx** on Mon May 16, 2011 6:05 pm

DerLanghaarige wrote:Cool. I missed it on its initial TV airing, so I hope will be able to watch it somehow on the other occasions.

Hey it will be on ZDF in exactly one week.

Do you guys think we could get anyone here at AICN to write about the film?

Btw, the guys who produced this one also produced the first features of directors like Fassbinder, Jarmush, Tykwer or Derek Jarman. They were also nominated for an Academy Award with their co-production AJAMI in the foreign language category last year. I really like the idea of presenting a quality, yet very micro-budget production in a new completely way. This is a real indie-feature, not the Sundance stuff that has well-known actors!

Cheers
: P

by **Ribbons** on Mon May 16, 2011 11:54 pm

pheadx wrote:Do you guys think we could get anyone here at AICN to write about the film?

Do you mean one of us writing about it and sending a review to AICN, or one of the reviewers on AICN writing about it? I would watch it!

by **pheadx** on Tue May 17, 2011 4:52 am

Ribbons wrote:
Do you mean one of us writing about it and sending a review to AICN, or one of the reviewers on AICN writing about it? I would watch it!

The reviewers on AICN. Do you think that's possible? Just to address more people? If anyone wants to write a review, that's also cool :-)

by **Ribbons** on Tue May 17, 2011 10:08 am

pheadx wrote:The reviewers on AICN. Do you think that's possible? Just to address more people? If anyone wants to write a review, that's also cool

I think it's definitely worth a shot. We don't really have any influence over what they do, but you should try contacting guys like Capone and Mr. Beaks and asking if they'd be up for it.

by **papalazeru** on Tue May 17, 2011 3:48 pm

pheadx wrote:Hey guys,

this is really a question to everyone who is reading this.

After the TV screening on May 23rd on ZDF (which is like BBC2 in Germany), the film will be available online for 7 days to German audiences.

We talked about how to present the film and there is the option to do something brave with the distribution.
We might also show the film with English Subs on Youtube in Full HD for the same 7 days.

What do you think? Would you watch the film? Do you think there is a slight chance to make people all over the world to see it in these 7 days?

Ermmmm....A big resounding Yes.

To be honest, I'm speaking for myself but I would certainly post a link on Facebook and wherever I could. I have quite a few friends who work in the TV channel industry in the UK, they would see it.

DerLanghaarige wrote:Cool. I missed it on its initial TV airing, so I hope will be able to watch it somehow on the other occasions.

papalazeru wrote:Oh and that Zombie film, if anyone see's an English subbed version, let me know.

It's on iTunes soon

Fuck iTunes up it's own arse, then past it's own head, and up it's arse again, then past it's head again....hang on, I'm in a vicious circle that keeps getting dirtier and more polluted the more I travel it.

by **pheadx** on Wed May 18, 2011 1:14 pm

guys, it looks good. If we get everything converted and organized, you'll be able to watch Pixelschatten next Tuesday!

by **pheadx** on Sat May 21, 2011 12:07 pm

UPDATE: Pixelschatten will be online for free - from Monday, May 23 to Sunday, May 26!

I hope you are all as tired of Pirates of the Carribean as me and check out my film instead : P

Everything you need at http://www.pixelschatten.com!

by **tapehead** on Sat May 21, 2011 8:20 pm

Thanks Pheadx - I'll definitely be watching man - I'm sure you already have, but make sure HitFix and Slash Film, both of whom who have already mentioned your' movie, know about this as well.

by **pheadx** on Mon May 23, 2011 4:24 am

tapehead wrote:Thanks Pheadx - I'll definitely be watching man - I'm sure you already have, but make sure HitFix and Slash Film, both of whom who have already mentioned your' movie, know about this as well.

Thanks, tape!

I am curious if anyone is watching it tonight. I called Harry, and emailed with the guys at /Film, but it's really hard to get the attention. I also wrote Drew at Hitfix, but haven't gotten any response yet.

A first English review and an interview with me is up at CC2K, and it's quite positive: http://www.cc2k.us/current-reviews-topmenumembers-41/17-movies-current-reviews/2435-i-blog-therefore-i-am-a-review-of-pixelschatten?start=1

by **pheadx** on Mon May 23, 2011 12:22 pm

Pixelschatten is now online until May 29! Enjoy!

I hope you are all as tired of Pirates of the Carribean as me and check out my film instead : P

Everything you need at http://www.pixelschatten.com!

Pixelschatten is a John Hughes film for a new generation:

Pixel (Ben Gageik) is a 22-year-old small-town blogger: Everyone can read about him and his friends online. His blog "Pixelschatten" used to be the hippest thing in town, but now the local fame has faded away. His friends go to college, have new friends and interests, and his girlfriend Suse (Zora Klostermann) is irritated by the private issues revealed on the blog. When Pixel realizes that everyone but him is moving on, he changes all their lives with just one post...

"Pixelschatten" is a unique cinematic experience, a quirky-melancholic, yet warm and funny portrait of the "generation Internet", mixing the first-person point of you aesthetics of "Enter The Void" with the zeitgeist of "The Social Network". But this time it's not about the greedy entrepreneurs behind a moneymaking machine, it's about the people that spend their everyday life online. It's about you. And the spoilers for your life.

Pheadx

by **papalazeru** on Mon May 23, 2011 4:58 pm

Thanks a lot for that. It's bookmarked, will be watching that this week.

by **DerLanghaarige** on Mon May 23, 2011 6:20 pm

It's about to start in 10 minutes on German TV. Can't watch it, but will record it.

by **BuckyO'harre** on Tue May 24, 2011 2:23 am

That was slightly... fantastic.
I don't think you have anything to worry about in regards to how it plays for non-Germans. In fact,the language barrier may have even helped it since poor line delivery is much harder to recognize (for me at least) in a foreign language. That or you just have an excellent cast despite them being unknowns. Either way, I think it's a wonderful film. Major kudos.
If you asked me which film I'd rather rewatch,I'd pick this over The Social Network.

by **DerLanghaarige** on Tue May 24, 2011 9:56 am

Okay man, at first I must say that you are a very talented filmmaker. On a technical level your movie 100% delivered. And I love how you captured the realism of German blog comments. My only real problem is that I realized halfway through the movie, that I didn't care for the story. When he posted the sexvideo, I thought now it would be a huge turning point, but then it was still a movie about of a group of friends who just hang out and don't do anything interesting (for me). And then the twist ending happened and I kept asking myself "So what?". Maybe it was too realistic for me.
I know, I sound very harsh, but I liked PIXELSCHATTEN more than I didn't. I love how the POV gimmick wasn't used as an excuse to make the movie look ugly, the comments of the blog community always injected some good humor to the right places (although the humor mostly came from its realism.), most of the actors did a good job and while the story didn't work for me, nothing of it felt forced.
All in all I definitely recommend it. It's an interesting experiment that offers a lot to like and is defintiely a very impressive directing debut.

by **pheadx** on Tue May 24, 2011 10:19 am

Thanks guys for the very nice feedback.
@Langhaarige
yeah, I wanted to do a sort of mumblecorish naturalistic film, so that might not be everyone's cup. But glad that you're still recommending it. Thanks a lot for watching!

@bucky
wow, good to hear that the film worked for you. I was worried that it might not when you're not german.

The responses on FB and Twitter have been overwhelming so far. Those people that like it seem to love it. Several people have written that they have already watched it a second or third time. We're still wondering, though, if we can get the geekosphere interested. I tried to contact everyone, but people are mostly suspicious of a project like this. What else can we do to gain attention?

Btw, Rutger Hauer tweeted it on Facebook today
Very cool.

by **tapehead** on Tue May 24, 2011 4:48 pm

pheadx wrote:Rutger Hauer tweeted it on Facebook today

That is pretty fucking cool.

by **pheadx** on Wed May 25, 2011 12:24 pm

tapehead wrote:
pheadx wrote:Rutger Hauer tweeted it on Facebook today

That is pretty fucking cool.

hehe, yeah. now we only need people to follow his advice ;-)

by **pheadx** on Thu May 26, 2011 7:19 pm

We just crossed the 20,000 mark. Would love to get even more viewers outside Germany. The response has been very positive so far!
We were global favorite #24 in news and politics on youtube.

by **tapehead** on Fri May 27, 2011 2:17 pm

[*-*] ♥ :P

by **DerLanghaarige** on Fri May 27, 2011 3:30 pm

tapehead wrote:[*-*] ♥ :P

You should put this review on the poster.

by **pheadx** on Fri May 27, 2011 4:17 pm

haha, does that mean tape, that you've seen it?

Unfortunately, no one from Aintitcool replied or watched the film. I even got Harry on the phone but they might be too busy...

by **pheadx** on Fri May 27, 2011 9:46 pm

I've talked briefly to Mr. Beaks on the phone and shot him another mail and spoke on Capones mailbox. Would be awesome if there was any reaction.

by **tapehead** on Fri May 27, 2011 10:08 pm

I watched it drunk on youtube last night, and while I'd still like to have seen it in a theatre, especially a theatre full of the kind of rowdy young suburban hipsters the film's world is populated with, late night and drunk on youtube is also kind of the perfect way to see it. It's great, I was totally taken in by it, and even while I was suspecting these people were pretty self absorbed and somewhat vacant at first I was still entertained by the premise, great use of the 5D or similar most of it was shot on, and attractive looking people having fun times. By the end of the movie, I'd seen just enough thoughtful wonderings and bits and pieces to be reminded that they weren't so much silly as young and on the verge of losing something of their innocence. It's pretty cute stuff, and a fairly slim story, but it encapsulates a time of life most people will be familiar with or be able to remember, and the way that these lives are expressed online seems totally natural to the characters involved. Still, text on screen can be a little distancing, and I would have liked to see more web-cam chats or image gallery stuff (like early in the film) as it might have made the events play more directly for me.

Still thinking about it, I might have more to day later.

by **pheadx** on Sat May 28, 2011 8:07 am

Haha nice. You know, in the screenplay meetings with the producers I always said that I wanted to do a film that people would underestimate first. Do the opposite of showing off. And then, in the second half, they should question the filmmaking itself because obviously, the character interactions stop making real sense until you realize that you just saw a completely different story. I also like, that on the first viewing everyone watches their own film and when they see it for the second time, it becomes more similar to everyone else's experience, but with the memories of the first viewing.