Cutting Ties
by Sam Powell and Peter Neudel
"Cutting Ties" is the story of a young business executive who, when haunted by his conscience, decides to shed everything in his quest for freedom. As he discards his troubles one by one, his greatest challenge--to love himself--is finally revealed.
Brothers Sam Powell and Peter Neudel founded Realeyez Independent Cinema in 2003. As sons of a professional filmmaker, they have had moviemaking in their genes. They worked collaboratively to produce Cutting Ties in 2007.
Sam received a degree in Communications from UMass Amherst in 2004, and successfully applied his lifelong passion for filmmaking to his work on issues of social justice. Over the course of four years, he has gained experience as a director, cinematographer and editor on several documentary and narrative projects.
Peter has always been drawn to the arts, in particular screenwriting and music. He has extensive experience in all aspects of film production, working as an actor, producer, director and editor for Realeyez. Peter will earn a BA in Community Media and Technology from UMass Boston in December of this year.
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Elegantly done. Ambitious and intriguing. The finest of the bunch for its handling of serious drama, and unique among the others for this reason. This is an unsettling sketch of human frailty and the courage to escape that frailty. Not a crowd-pleaser, but well-acted, and skillfully executed.
I don't get it.
The editing is incredibly tight. This is simply the most slick and polished of all the pieces. The storytelling is very economic and does a lot in three minutes without feeling jumbled. I really like the way the piece moves.
But as a setup for a series, there isn't enough here for me. Guy hates his job, his girlfriend's cheating on him, He feels like a bum. So.... He hugs himself while crying? I was really into the film until those final few seconds. It's nearly impossible to build up to that kind of emotional climax in only three minutes. I'd like to see some of their other work though.
nicely done, but where else can it go from here?
More of a study than a story: the businessman is a sketch and an archetype, not a character. While that helps to direct the piece's underlying message--the valuation of freedom and individuality over corporate and material identity--it does little to interest the viewer in a continuing human story. It reads as melodrama with a potential for comedy.
All the same, very well produced.
I loved the sound track and the outdoor scenes were well shot -- but the three minute short had almost 30 seconds of opening and closing titles --- which suggests there wasn't even enough content for the three minute pilot -- doesn't convince me there is a lot of room for a real story here.
The film flows ok and the music helps the overall feel as well, but as for writing and individuality i think not.....The editing is ok and the cinematography is nothing special I also would like to see something else theyve made.....I entered the contest with my first film ever and think it was to long by 30 sec for the contest please watch and comment im going to redo the dialouge and some other things would like to get some comments please click on the link below and choose to watch in high quality
thanks
Ray
www.myspace.com/mchammerismyhero
Too similar to Sean Penn's Into The Wild and although the ending has a nice twist, it closes the story. Therefore, I find it falls short as an viable original series.