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After what had to be one of the shakiest starts to a reality TV show I’ve ever seen, On The Lot has seemingly found its spot in the Fox television line-up. Ratings for the show are by no means fantastic, but the important part is that the show is still chugging along and things are looking promising!

Although, I do have to admit that last weeks episode 6 was a bit lacking, in fact, it wasn’t very good at all, due in large part to the directors short films.

Contestants Andrew Hunt, David May, Shira-Lee Shalit, Marty Martin and Kenny Luby were the “lucky” directors to premiere their films last week and, of all five short film premieres, only two were any good. Those of course were Polished by Andrew Hunt and Dance with the Devil by Marty Martin.

Based on last weeks films, my pick for the next director to get the boot is Kenny Luby. His “film” Edge on the End was more like a poorly made music video than a short film. I liked the cinemetography and how it was filmed, but it just wasn’t a short film.

So, with that being said, lets get down to business.

On The Lot
June 19, 2007
SE01EP07

The extra special guest judge for episode 7 of On The Lot is an old school master of horror. He directed, produced and wrote the Nightmare on Elm Street series, the Scream series, the original Hills Have Eyes series and a number of classic Twilight Zone episodes, Mr. Wes Craven!

The five directors on the chopping block tonight are Andrew Hunt, David May, Shira-Lee Shalit, Marty Martin and Kenny Luby.

The next director eliminated from On The Lot is… Marty Martin!

Wow… Instead of leaving it until the very end this time around, they got it out of the way right out of the gate and they made a terrible decision. Sure Marty copped an attitude last week, defending his work, but his work was a great deal better than most of the other filmmakers works.

The films debuting tonight are:

Glass Eye by Will Bigham
Description: A story about a guy that loses his glasses eye, only to find an entirely new perspective on the world without it.
My Thoughts: Took me a while to get it at first, but once I did it was really funny. Totally original concept for a short film and very well filmed. Great use of color and black and white photography.
Judge’s Thoughts: Carrie thought it was a very sweet film, loved the spirit, but still looking for the dialogue. Wes thought it was really fun, very original and cinematic. Garry said he had a good eye, but be careful of wardrobe (apparently a guy wearing a wife beater means he’s going to stop and slap his wife mid-way through the film, according to Garry).

Blood Born by Jason Epperson
Description: A troubled kid discovers he has a miraculous gift.
My Thoughts: Actors weren’t that great, dialogue seemed akward and forced. Really good idea for a short film, but the main characters inept acting made it hard to focus on the content of the movie. The ending was very good though.
Judge’s Thoughts: Carrie liked it, but was confused by it, message wasn’t clear. Wes thought it was confusing and the moral wasn’t clear. Garry said it was uplifting.

Sunshine Girl by Zach Lipovsky
Description: A little girl is scared of the dark.
My Thoughts: Interesting premise for a drama. Very well filmed and the slight special effects were a great touch. Overall I really liked it, but he has done much better.
Judge’s Thoughts: Carrie thought it was a simply story, told simply, that’s really nice. Wes thought everything was beautiful. Garry said the music was a little sappy, but overall it was very good.

Lost by Mateen Kemet
Description: A story about the most important thing a person can lose, love.
My Thoughts: Shakey photography, very shakey in some scenes. Good job by both leading actors. The story in general; however, was slow and boring, though the end was a good touch.
Judge’s Thoughts: Carrie thought the dialogue and writing was good, but it needed more. Wes thought it was good, but the story was confusing and poorly executed. Garry said he understood the story, but he needs to open the shots more and film from further back.

The Orchard by Jess Brillhart
Description: A horror film taken from a tree’s perspective.
My Thoughts: Good use of mood setting sound effects. Very cool cinematography. However, weird concept for a film with no real storyline.
Judge’s Thoughts: Carrie said it wasn’t scary at all, it was outright terrible. Wes didn’t see it as a horror. Garry said it was a good idea and it was just the beginning, but it needed more to make sense.

Judges Picks:
Carrie Fisher – Sunshine Girl by Zach Lipovsky
Garry Marshall – Sunshine Girl by Zach Lipovsky
Wes Craven – Sunshine Girl by Zach Lipovsky

My Pick:
Sunshine Girl by Zach Lipovsky was very well done and an interesting idea for a movie, but knowing Zach’s work both on an off the show, I don’t feel it was his best effort. My favorite film of all the night’s debuts was Glass Eye by Will Bigham. It was the most original of all the night’s films, it was well filmed and as a whole, was the best short film of the night.

There you have it! Another successful episode of On The Lot comes to an end.

On The Lot episode 8 airs on the Fox Television Network on June 26 at 8/7c. Stay tuned for a full recap of the show right here on dingoRUE.com!

Watch On The Lot Online!

I talked about my favorite On The Lot contestant, special FX guru, director and Vancouver-boy Zach Lipovsky a few weeks ago and I just found out today that things are really starting to look up for Zach.

At this point he doesn’t even need to win On The Lot to prove how talented he is. The two short films he has debuted thus far have gone a long way to prove his worth in the film industry. So much so that his own project, Paradise Redrawn, has been picked up by Chris Ferguson Productions and is scheduled to begin filming in Vancouver in 2008.

Zach Lipovsky himself will be manning the helm on the project as director, while Chris Ferguson will take on the role of producer.

Paradise Redrawn was written by James Dai and is about a Catholic school girl named Sophie who gets bored with her classes and begins to doodle in her notebook. As she doodles, her creations come to life and lift off the page. Two separate nations form in her notebook, both of which consider her to be a god. Both nations end up going to war and Sophie is forced to come to terms and deal with the events and outcome.

Keep an eye out for Paradise Redrawn and more of Zach Lipovsky’s projects. In the meantime, show your support for an incredibly talented special effects wizard and director by voting for Zach to win On The Lot!

On The Lot airs on the Fox Television Network every Tuesday night at 8/7c. Stay tuned for more On The Lot news, recaps and spoilers here at dingoRUE.com!

Watch the Paradise Redrawn Featurette
Watch On The Lot Online!

Tonight’s episode of Fox’s On The Lot is the second in the shows new and improved 1-hour format and brings up another round of eliminations.

Last weeks episode 5 saw indy filmmakers Sam Friedlander, Trever James, Hilary Weisman Graham, Adam Stein and Shalini Kantayya premiere their newest short films and the general consensus was rather bleak.

Shalini’s film, Luaghing Out Loud: A Comic Journey, about a gay south asian comedian finding and accepting himself was certainly the best film of the night, and hopefully enough to save the talentent filmmaker from tonight’s elimination.

My pick to get the boot tonight is Hilary Weisman Graham for her poorly written, terribly filmed and just… weird short film, The First Time I Met The Finkelsteins.

Now enough with the guesses, let’s get down to business and see exactly what went down in On The Lot episode 6.

ON THE LOT
June 12, 2007
SE01EP02

Okay, I just have to say, is it just me, or is the host of the show just terribly? I mean honestly now, she screws up all the time, she’s just generally annoying and she’s trying way to hard to be an even more feminine version of Ryan Seacrest and it just isn’t working for me.

Tonight’s Emmy Award winning guest judge was responsible for directing one of last years best films, The Devil Wears Prada, Mr. David Frankel. Here’s hoping he’ll be as to the point and blunt, if not more so, than last weeks guest judge and Transformers the movie director, Michael Bay.

Tonight’s five contestants on the chopping block: Sam, Trever, Hilary, Adam and Shalini take to the stage and everyone gets a chance to criticize the filmmakers’ works.

Adam, Shalini and Sam are all safe, leaving Hilary and Trever on stage. And the contestant being eliminated is… not going to be revealed until the end of the show, lame! So, with that being said, on to the night’s movie premieres!

Polished by Andrew Hunt (Watch It!)
Description: A story about a janitor that is completely taken for granted.
My Thoughts: The film was actually pretty sad to start off, but being a film by Andrew, I knew there had to be a punchline in there somewhere and sure enough, there was, and it was damn good. Nothing like a poorly treated janitor exacting his revenge to put a smile on your face.
Judges Thoughts: Carrie thought it was sweet, good. David thought he’s done better, but it was slow at the beginning and more likea 30 sec commercial than a film. Garry says revenged works, he loved the leading man and the music made him want to go to church, over all, quite polished.

Love at First Shot by David May (Watch It!)
Description: A short film about a hopeless romantic having a hard time on his date.
My Thoughts: The main character was just outright annoying, luckily the cupid character was actually pretty clever. The ending was okay, cute.
Judges Thoughts: Carrie thought it should be more original, she felt she had seen it before. David didn’t like it, said it mixed genres, ambiguity, not clear enough, needs to do better. Garry thought the pacing was off and it needed to be tightened up.

Beeline by Shira-Lee Shalit (Watch It!)
Description: A sneaky kid plays mind games with his mother to try and score a playstation.
My Thoughts: Funny concept, not filmed that well, seemed to drag on longer than needed and the ending was crap. Casting her own son for the role was a bad idea, she was obviously biased about his talents.
Judges Thoughts: Carrie thought it could have been called “Slut Mom”, it was very good, but not great. David said it made him laugh, it was sweet, funny music, best so far tonight. Garry loved the production values, good one for the girls.

Dance With The Devil by Marty Martin (Watch It!)
Description: A story about a man trying to start a new life with his girlfriend, only it proves to be harder to escape his past then he originally thought.
My Thoughts: The entire film had a very dark look and feel to it, the green hues used in the filming made for an awesome added effect. The writing and production were very good, over all the best ofthe night thus far. My only complaint is some shakey camera work when it isn’t needed for effect.
Judges Thoughts: Carrie thought it was a victory of style over substance, but his style is very distracting. David admires his arrogance, but the film played more like a trailer. Garry thought there wasn’t enough character development.

Edge On The End by Kenny Luby (Watch It!)
Description: A short film describing the pain one feels with the loss of a loved one.
My Thoughts: Very weird. For the most part it looked, sounded and felt like an emo music video more than anything else. Good story for a short film, terrible execution, acting, everything other than the premise was crap.
Judges Thoughts: Carrie thought it was more like a rock video, but he’s cute (um, okay?). David admired his ambition, there was a lot of powerful imagery and it showed a lot of talent. Garry said to stay unique and stay crazy.

And now for the moment we’ve all been waiting for! The contestant eliminated in episode 6 of On The Lot is… Trever James!

Wow, I have to say, I thought Hilary was getting the boot and I’m rather disappointed she didn’t. Oh well, she won’t last much longer.

Judges picks:
Carrie Fisher – Polished by Andrew Hunt
Michael Bay –Beeline by Shira-Lee Shalit
Garry Marshall – Beeline by Shira-Lee Shalit

My pick:
I’d actually have to call it a tie. I really liked both Polished by Andrew Hunt and Dance With The Devil by Marty Martin, and I liked both films for entirely different reasons.

And there you have it, another successful and much better episode of On The Lot.

On The Lot episode 7 airs on the Fox Television Network on June 19 at 8/7c. Stay tuned for a full recap of the show right here on dingoRUE!

Watch On The Lot Online!