Ryan's Movie Blog: Short Film Review: Apart from the Stories in Your Mind (2017)

Hello All,

So before I begin, in the interest of full disclosure, I do have someone to thank for bringing this film to my attention. I want to thank Christopher Mark Rodriguez, Who Co-Wrote, Co-Produced, and Co-Starred in the film. He sent me a message asking me to do a review, and now I’m fulfilling that request. For a little background, this was released in early January and made with a very low budget. In fact they shot the entire film on the iPhone. So how does this low budget film hold up? Let’s find out together shall we?

Plot Summary - When a young actor trying to film an audition tape is constantly interrupted by his superintendent, he takes the matter into his own hands.

Pros - Maximiliano Garcia as Eric, the protagonist, does a really good job in the role. You can really see the intensity evolve as the situation progresses. The rest of the cast also do great in the roles, as you do get pretty good characterization, even from some of the shorter roles. The music really does match the intensity of the situation, and is probably my favourite part of the movie. The cinematography, especially the use of the natural lighting, was really well done also. They also say in the beginning that the film was partially inspired by real events, which feels much more honest than the usual based on a true story thing we usually see. The story itself also feels refreshingly real for what they’re trying to get across.

Cons - Because of the way the film was shot, the audio quality for some scenes is not great. You can still hear everything fine, it’s just kind of low quality. There’s a dump of exposition in the beginning as well when Eric is talking to his agent that feels a touch clunky. The pacing of the film feels a touch off balance, as there’s one scene in particular that’s over edited in an effort to make it longer.

Final Score - 7/10

If you’re not a fan of the low budget look and feel, you’ll not be satisfied here. I also feel like that if they expanded the length of the film, and had some slightly better equipment, it would definitely improve some of the slight technical faults, and allow them to expand their rather interesting idea a touch better. Otherwise, it’s on YouTube, I say take a look, and see for yourself.

Next: Snatched - Admittedly, had to come back and make a very late edit due to a scheduling issue, so this one is next.

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