Great job everyone, too many never start, just go for it and it will get better and better

The scariest thing in this video is the doll in the background which keeps coming in and out of focus

Hey! I'm Colin, the writer, director and editor of PARAGON, and I'm glad overall it sounds like you liked the short.

Defintiltey think you have some valid critiques - so I will be the first to agree with you that honestly up until the end it isn't super scary. The way I describe this film is a sci-fi thriller that has strong horror elements as opposed to a straight up horror film lol. A lot of people have found it scary but yes, I agree with you on that.

However, this film was heavily inspired by lovecraftian horror, and I tried to hide the Craftsman as much as possible because my intention was that whatever you show on screen will not be anywhere near as scary as what you imagine in your own head - plus since this was supposed to be a cosmic kind of larger than life being, I thought trying to define it visually in detail would detract from the point and idea. That definitely doesn't work for everyone obviously, but that was my intention!

A lot of people who have seen the film have actually told me they'd rather the Craftsman (ghost face) not appear at the end at all to completely leave it up to the viewers imagination, so different strokes for different folks haha!

Story wise, if you look at the ID shown on the film in the beginning, an MIT student ID, you will see the characters name and face - Jeremy Wilkins, and with the "Created by Jeremy Wilkins" blurb from the program it is implied he's the creator of PARAGON and it is his program.

Idea was that somehow, his program was able to predict future, something he didn't account or plan for, and the Craftemn - those who control the future - don't like that and don't want that info getting out, hence them breaking into his apartment and taking his computer, and why he died at the end from having the backup disk he forgot about.

Also, my idea was that since it was his program he believed it and in his creation, but in retrospect that probably wasn't clear enough in the actual film for a lot of people.

While all the info is there to piece it together, all that info definitely isn't spelled out for the all audience to grasp immediately and I think you have to really be paying attention to catch all of it the first time watching, so that's definitely something I learned for future projects on what to focus on and change haha.

Pacing wise, I definitely get your concern about the story not starting as quick as it could, but one of the main things I also wanted to focus on was just the aesthetics of the computer and style which was a huge reason I made this film in the first place - I'm a huge fan of 1979's Alien (the Nostromo system was a huge inspiration for the look and sound of the computer) and I really wanted to slow down and appreciate that style which again, isn't for everyone.

I definitely appreciate the critique and will take everything into consideration for my future stuff. Still glad you enjoyed it overall and I appreciate the review!

Hello, Kent! I'm really happy that you took time to review our movie "Our Apartment"! Breno, Andre and our whole crew made it with love! Thank you for your comments, and greetings from Brazil!

Nice to see my short made the cut! Appreciate the feedback!

so nice to see my short alongside leonardo and andre being criticised in the video

your channel inspired us alot on making “Our Apartment” and i am so glad it screened here

thank you so much! greetings from brazil!

So glad to see Our Apartment being broken down here! SSC is a big inspiration for me and my buddy Breno. Greetings from Brazil!

Did you notice that the alarm clock is upsidedown in the final scene of  the fourth film?

I take the ending of "Our Apartment" to have something to do with the monster being a sort of representation of her grief, or a ghost of whoever in her life just passed away/left her. To me, the falling to the floor represents a panic attack because of the memories/fear, with the looping perhaps signifying that she can't break out of this cycle of depression/continuously being haunted by the past. And maybe the clip playing on the TV indicates that she's second guessing her decisions? Or maybe it's the monster trying to sort of poke fun at her -- "look at you, trying to keep me out when I was inside the whole time."
I'm not sure! I feel like there's a lot of deeper meaning behind that particular film, and that it could span more than just horror. Either way, these videos are awesome, keep em coming!

Holy moly this is crazy

Beyond happy that you checked out “Let Me In”. Been watching u for a minute.
appreciate the critique and feedback 👍🏽👍🏽

I was going for a more of a never ending loop in purgatory of him dealing with guilt, with some possible themes of self harm.

‘Deployment’ was trying to be too artsy.

Preferred the last one. Mystery is more scary that a spooky monster in your face from the beginning.

I think the "Our apartment" is a story of the girl diagnosed with schizophrenia, so every time she encounters the creature, she lays back on the sofa calming herself down, so when she gets up, there's nothing there until there is.

Paragon definitely feels like a dry run for a paranoid techno Lovecraftian feature length thriller where the ideas and character can flesh out more.  I do appreciate the Ridley Scott nods with the Alien poster linking to the MUTHER type computer text, and the 1984 setting off to Scott directing the Apple Computer 1984-style commercial.

Omg I didn't know this video existed! I loved your honest take on Dawn of Decay. Camera operating, pulling focus, and running backwards in the heat was brutal, but such a fun experience.

Never stop doing these. Thanks for watching a brazilian film,, I'll submit one of mine some day! 🇧🇷

As someone working on their first short horror film this video was a godsend 🙏🙏

Great video and Interesting films, I especially liked the last one. The photo of the monster that appeared at the end, could be seen on this kid's wall before someone was behind the door. AND I really hope one day to see a review of the first and so far last short film I sent to you!

As a horror fan and wanting to get into shorts my self this was great. Thanks!

Maybe I am reading into the story of Let Me In too much, but I felt like he committed a hit and run and then was haunted by the ghost of the person he killed and was baited into traffic to die themselves in the same way. A ghost back for revenge kinda thing. However, I could be reaching for it. I

Thanks everyone for the shorts. Thanks, Mr. Lamm.