THE ATHENRIDES ARE HERE! (2 Viewers)

[mr pharmacist!!!!1]

Monday, July 14, 2008
There’s no such thing as bad publicity!
Current mood:

rebellious
Category: Blogging
YAY!

so it appears that despite the fact that the fine young chaps and chapettes of Thumped.com aren't fans of the documentary that was done about us, they still have helped us reach 1500 views on YouTube.

So... thanks everyone!
As they say... there's no such thing as bad publicity!

 

[Scientician 0.8]

There is no such thing as bad publicity except your own obituary.

 

[Yurn!]

come back cunts

 

[pissypants]

Monday, July 14, 2008
There’s no such thing as bad publicity!
Current mood: rebellious
Category: Blogging YAY!

so it appears that despite the fact that the fine young chaps and chapettes of Thumped.com aren't fans of the documentary that was done about us, they still have helped us reach 1500 views on YouTube.

So... thanks everyone!
As they say... there's no such thing as bad publicity!

teh lulz! That's insane! Why would you blog that!

They're right though. There's no such thing as bad publicity.

 

[mr pharmacist!!!!1]

come back cunts

 

[nlgbbbblth]

As they say... there's no such thing as bad publicity!

"they" are talking shit.

 

[cephalopod]

its funnier the second time u watch it

 

[pissypants]

its funnier the second time u watch it

I'll never know.

 

[sweetoblivion]

is the one who licks her Heelies supposed to have a Cork accent? *raises Corkonian eyebrow*

 

[Froog]

did anything funny happen in the last minute? i was busy gouging out my eyes and burning tricolours.

 

[cephalopod]

By the 3rd time u watch it u begin to get insights into its subtler complexities, like how it draws a narrative parrallel with the Book of Genesis...I'm starting to believe...

 

[jane]

It's not that they hand out funding too easily, it's that not enough people know how to give constructive criticism, or people's responsibilities are too nebulous. The number of people on production staff is so small that everyone is too close to the work to determine if it's any good. Eventually, you're the only one who cares if it's good, and you're made to adjust your priorities so that deadlines and politics come before good work.

So you also end up producing work feverishly and in a vacuum with no feedback from anyone who has time to back up critique with support. So just to get out of doing anything like work, or help, or support, they just go, "That's fine" or, "Wow, you're really shit" (I got a fair bit of that, which is really not great motivation) and leave it at that. Because anything else means more work for everyone, and sher, who cares if it's good, as long as it's done, right?

I had funding for something and I don't think I did a good enough job, and in fact I haven't even heard the finished product. If you take into account the conditions in which it was produced, maybe it sounds fine, but I don't expect listeners to make excuses for me. If it's shit, it's shit, and it sounds nothing like I wanted it to, but they don't know or care about that, nor should they.

If your work can't stand on its own, and it's something to do with money, or personnel, or the process, then it's your job to make sure you solve those problems so you can produce work that stands on its own. It's not the listener's/viewer's job to make excuses for you.

There's nothing sadder than someone whining about how they should get credit for effort. Maybe in school, dudes, but this is the real world. You get credit when you do a good job, and anything less lowers the standard.

Good comedy is really fucking difficult to do, which is why most people shouldn't do it. I'm sure the Athenrides were a funny scenario in the pub, but it's not been thrashed out. Next time, get some constructive critique BEFORE it gets made, instead of freaking out because the post-production critique doesn't seem constructive. It's your job to entertain the viewer/listener.

 

[brixtoncat]

Thanks Jane, that was actually a really well thought out response.

I actually wasn't planning on posting on this thread again as I figured it would have died off by now, but I find myself compelled to post one final time since no one is prepared to let it die just yet. I'm not here to defend The Athenrides or myself, and I'm certainly not "freaking out", but I simply want to say that I find this thread a bit disappointing, not because of the negativity, but the lack of any comprehensive, well-written responses. Out of all 100-some odd replies, only two people seemed to actually put any thought into what they were writing. You are all very tough critics, and I wonder is there any home-grown Irish comedy that any of you actually like? I'd genuinely like to know.

The Athenrides was my first attempt at directing comedy. We all have to start somewhere, and I now know how difficult comedy really is! Most of the people who have felt the need to post on this thread would say it was a failed attempt at comedy, which is fair enough. Like taste in music, what people find funny is completely individual, but I think it's quite a sad thing to comment that most people shouldn't attempt comedy. Not every funny person is funny 100% of the time, we have to fail a few times to get better. The Athenrides is a three minute comedy which doesn't take itself too seriously. This might surprise you, but we've had positive responses elsewhere, so I'm not going to slit my comedy directing wrists just yet - sorry to disappoint you all.

I guess what I'm really trying to explain is that I didn't start this thread to bask in some sort of filmic glory, waiting for praise to be washed over me, I posted because I wanted genuine feedback, to see what people thought, create discussion and then to take away any positives AND negatives to try and do better the next time. Myself and the production crew tried to get as much feedback as possible when we were making the film. Some of the early script and edits were indeed dreadful. I'm not an RTE employee, I'm not a PR person, this certainly wasn't a spam posting, I'm just a green film director who is somewhat involved in the Dublin music scene (why yes, I may have even met you in real life!) who wanted to show the film to a larger audience and get feedback in order to do a better job the next time.

Because of the nature of the sharpened knives who continue to read and post to this thread, I'm sure that I'll now get some kind of backlash from people telling me to never make films again, or to never attempt comedy, at this stage I wouldn't be surprised if I get personal threats! It's just really unfortunate that this thread seemed to fall into some monkey-see monkey-do out-dissing competition from the start, rather than a forum for discussing/critiquing a short film constructively.

 

[Vinnie]

Brixtoncat, I asked you earlier in this thread if your leading man had been in an ad for sausages & you completely ignored me. So before you begin condemning everyone else on this thread for not answering your question about sausages, perhaps you should get your own house in order.

 

[Vinnie]

God this thread is annoying to read.

 

[brixtoncat]

apologies Vinnie, not sure about the Denny sausages ad, but he was in a few HB ice cream ads. For even extra insider info, one of the girls was in the Joe Dolan meteor ad.

 

[Wilbert]

Thanks Jane, that was actually a really well thought out response.

I actually wasn't planning on posting on this thread again as I figured it would have died off by now, but I find myself compelled to post one final time since no one is prepared to let it die just yet. I'm not here to defend The Athenrides or myself, and I'm certainly not "freaking out", but I simply want to say that I find this thread a bit disappointing, not because of the negativity, but the lack of any comprehensive, well-written responses. Out of all 100-some odd replies, only two people seemed to actually put any thought into what they were writing. You are all very tough critics, and I wonder is there any home-grown Irish comedy that any of you actually like? I'd genuinely like to know.

The Athenrides was my first attempt at directing comedy. We all have to start somewhere, and I now know how difficult comedy really is! Most of the people who have felt the need to post on this thread would say it was a failed attempt at comedy, which is fair enough. Like taste in music, what people find funny is completely individual, but I think it's quite a sad thing to comment that most people shouldn't attempt comedy. Not every funny person is funny 100% of the time, we have to fail a few times to get better. The Athenrides is a three minute comedy which doesn't take itself too seriously. This might surprise you, but we've had positive responses elsewhere, so I'm not going to slit my comedy directing wrists just yet - sorry to disappoint you all.

I guess what I'm really trying to explain is that I didn't start this thread to bask in some sort of filmic glory, waiting for praise to be washed over me, I posted because I wanted genuine feedback, to see what people thought, create discussion and then to take away any positives AND negatives to try and do better the next time. Myself and the production crew tried to get as much feedback as possible when we were making the film. Some of the early script and edits were indeed dreadful. I'm not an RTE employee, I'm not a PR person, this certainly wasn't a spam posting, I'm just a green film director who is somewhat involved in the Dublin music scene (why yes, I may have even met you in real life!) who wanted to show the film to a larger audience and get feedback in order to do a better job the next time.

Because of the nature of the sharpened knives who continue to read and post to this thread, I'm sure that I'll now get some kind of backlash from people telling me to never make films again, or to never attempt comedy, at this stage I wouldn't be surprised if I get personal threats! It's just really unfortunate that this thread seemed to fall into some monkey-see monkey-do out-dissing competition from the start, rather than a forum for discussing/critiquing a short film constructively.

True, some people may not have been as constructive as you would like in their assessment of your work but they gave you their opinion.

If everyone had just gushed and said they loved it, you wouldn't be probing for more constructive criticism.

I think you'll need to develop a thicker skin and just let it all bounce off you in future.

Do you think it's good? If you do, there's bound to be other people who do.

I think Jane is right though. Whether this is your first or fiftieth attempt at comedy is irrelevant to the viewer. It's either funny or it's not and I guess it kind of is in a lowest-common-denominator kind of way.

Look, it's difficult to make a good film, it's also just as difficult (in terms of work load) to make a film that isn't good.

I think it's pointless responding to your critics directly though. Every opinion you get back is valid in some way. You can't just believe the good and dismiss the bad as sad, internet losers.

 

[Vinnie]

apologies Vinnie, not sure about the Denny sausages ad, but he was in a few HB ice cream ads. For even extra insider info, one of the girls was in the Joe Dolan meteor ad.

He was! It all came flooding back to me just there like it was only a few months or years ago when I saw the ads

 

[brixtoncat]

Every opinion you get back is valid in some way. You can't just believe the good and dismiss the bad as sad, internet losers.

This is true - although I never called anyone an internet loser! It would be pretty hypocritical if I did considering my own internet-based existence

 

[F. Fred Palakon]

You are all very tough critics, and I wonder is there any home-grown Irish comedy that any of you actually like? I'd genuinely like to know.

Like someone said a few pages back, Soupy Norman is awesome:

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