D I S C O N N E C T E D - An Eric Manuel Film
- 6 years ago
“DISCONNECTED” 2017 HD
An Eric Manuel Film / KCAI / 1983 – 2017
Stereo – Length 18 minutes
Psychological thriller about a young woman who’s simple life changes dramatically after seeing an old friend. “Sue” (Beth Niebergall), a stylist, encounters supernatural forces which manifest through her telephone. What has happened in her past, will affect her future.
Directed and produced by Eric Manuel. This film mixes aspects of the classic “Twilight Zone” series, with paranormal influences from Art Bell’s “Coast To Coast AM” radio program. Co-Produced with Jim Cook as a Senior Film Project at the Kansas City Art Institute. Feature also stars “Kim” (Gabrielle Weeks) and “Curt” (Curt Coleman).
1983 Project History:
Originally shot in U-matic 3/4” video, and edited linear style to U-matic master. The production for its time (1983) challenged cast, crew and equipment, making it the most complex video project to date for KCAI (Kansas City Art Institute). Locations for the shoot included an abandon grain elevator, a hair salon, Kansas City Plaza, University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC) and multiple street locations. In spite of the technical limitations and resources, the project was finished with great acceptance.
Technical footnote: For those in video / film production, our technical limitations provided for NO special effects, dissolves or character generation (text on screen) in any capacity.
2017 Project History: (The Journey)
The restoration of the project began as a “clean and repair” project. The original concept visualized by Eric Manuel and Jim Cook was challenging, even by today’s standards. After importing the finished (28 minute version) to Adobe Premiere, a determination the quality and color were too poor to repair, the decision was made to give the project a “Film Noir” look and go black & white. In addition to “fixing” many video tape issues and problems, the program’s pacing and length was significantly reduced to the current 18 minutes. Nearly EVERY EDIT was bad from the video tape editing process, causing a “video distortion” at the actual edit. Some scenes were shortened or eliminated completely. Nearly a complete replacement of the original music and sound effects was performed for the 2017 revision. The production now has a multi-layered, dynamic high quality STEREO soundtrack. The original soundtrack during scenes with lip-sync are still there, but the “audio buss/hum” issues have been reduced/removed. Video “Drop Outs” or scratches on the video caused terrible glitches throughout the film. More than 100 had to be “corrected”.
Visual Effects:
Layers of additional effects were added to enhance the dramatic feel of the film. During the production of film, a “fog machine” was used with extremely limited success. In fact, it only made scenes “hazy”. So digital fog was added in the nightmare scenes. Particles and Digital Snow were added to enhance the story. Significant other effects and overlay
An Eric Manuel Film / KCAI / 1983 – 2017
Stereo – Length 18 minutes
Psychological thriller about a young woman who’s simple life changes dramatically after seeing an old friend. “Sue” (Beth Niebergall), a stylist, encounters supernatural forces which manifest through her telephone. What has happened in her past, will affect her future.
Directed and produced by Eric Manuel. This film mixes aspects of the classic “Twilight Zone” series, with paranormal influences from Art Bell’s “Coast To Coast AM” radio program. Co-Produced with Jim Cook as a Senior Film Project at the Kansas City Art Institute. Feature also stars “Kim” (Gabrielle Weeks) and “Curt” (Curt Coleman).
1983 Project History:
Originally shot in U-matic 3/4” video, and edited linear style to U-matic master. The production for its time (1983) challenged cast, crew and equipment, making it the most complex video project to date for KCAI (Kansas City Art Institute). Locations for the shoot included an abandon grain elevator, a hair salon, Kansas City Plaza, University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC) and multiple street locations. In spite of the technical limitations and resources, the project was finished with great acceptance.
Technical footnote: For those in video / film production, our technical limitations provided for NO special effects, dissolves or character generation (text on screen) in any capacity.
2017 Project History: (The Journey)
The restoration of the project began as a “clean and repair” project. The original concept visualized by Eric Manuel and Jim Cook was challenging, even by today’s standards. After importing the finished (28 minute version) to Adobe Premiere, a determination the quality and color were too poor to repair, the decision was made to give the project a “Film Noir” look and go black & white. In addition to “fixing” many video tape issues and problems, the program’s pacing and length was significantly reduced to the current 18 minutes. Nearly EVERY EDIT was bad from the video tape editing process, causing a “video distortion” at the actual edit. Some scenes were shortened or eliminated completely. Nearly a complete replacement of the original music and sound effects was performed for the 2017 revision. The production now has a multi-layered, dynamic high quality STEREO soundtrack. The original soundtrack during scenes with lip-sync are still there, but the “audio buss/hum” issues have been reduced/removed. Video “Drop Outs” or scratches on the video caused terrible glitches throughout the film. More than 100 had to be “corrected”.
Visual Effects:
Layers of additional effects were added to enhance the dramatic feel of the film. During the production of film, a “fog machine” was used with extremely limited success. In fact, it only made scenes “hazy”. So digital fog was added in the nightmare scenes. Particles and Digital Snow were added to enhance the story. Significant other effects and overlay