Preliminary Response to "The Barrier"

I released "The Barrier" last Monday. I have had several people send comments on it so far. I plan to promote the movie more to get more comments.

I was particularity happy with the response from one person who had expressed scepticism when I first told him about my idea. After he watched it, he said that he got caught up in the story. That is the kind of thing I really like to hear. He went on to say that he found the story was a realistic depiction of  what transportation planners do.

A former co-worker said one of the characters reminded him of a mutual acquaintance. That wasn't something I intended, and don't really think there is a resemblance. Nonetheless, I think it is a good sign if the characters are realistic enough to have them compare to real people.

Several people said that they thought the story was something that only transportation planners would be interested in. I certainly hope that isn't the case, although it was a worry I had while I worked on the movie. I didn't think people would have any trouble with the humour, even if they didn't understand other aspects of the story.

One person told me that he stopped watching after five minutes because he objected to the use of a median barrier as a safety measure. He said that modern traffic engineers don't use barriers to separate cars and pedestrians.

I thought that was an odd comment at first, because in the story the barrier isn't used that way. It separates two lanes of traffic in an area where there wouldn't be any pedestrians.

After I pondered his comment a bit, I think that the early part of the movie may mislead viewers about the situation. I think it become more clear later in the movie, but that would have been long after he stopped watching.

In any event, the barrier is what Alfred Hitchcock called a McGuffin. It is what the characters in the story think the story is about. The real story is about how the hero has to struggle with the financial and political constraints to do what he believes is the right thing.

You can watch "The Barrier" on my Website or on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-LOUNSEKac

http://dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/filmlist/the-barrier/

I would really like to hear more comments about the movie.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog