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MicroFilmmaker
by Jessica Creech
Adam Valuckas’ Panzer Corps is set in a fictional, post-World War II era. In his story, Germany emerges from the conflict victorious and wages a new war against Russia. By the end of both German assaults, they have conquered all of Europe to the Russian border. Panzer corps follows two days in the life of a German patrol unit during ambush maneuvers there.
The story begins in 1953 with graphics and stock footage providing critical background information about Valuckas’ post-war world. In his story, America never got involved in either of Germany’s wars; which left it free to advance at will. After their eventual triumph in Russia, Germany signs a non-aggression pact with America and Russia. However, Germany still occupies nearby territories and shells the Russian border. The Panzer Corps’ responsibility is to patrol various areas of the border and destroy whatever they find.
As Panzer Corps searches a wooded area, they come upon a Russian unit doing the same. Immediately, cross-fire ensues. After killing all the Russians, Mueller (Justin Hopkins) searches the body of one of the soldiers and discovers he is an American. He also finds a note that explains the unit’s intentions and destination. They were on their way to launch a defensive missile from a nearby site.
The German patrol’s Lieutenant (Lee Dingman) radios Reich Command and receives orders to destroy the American’s letter and continue clearing the area. The troops also learn that Germany is planning to drop an atomic bomb of its own. Mueller, realizing that this will officially begin the war again, tries to reason with his Lieutenant to abort their mission or at least keep the American’s letter as evidence. The Lieutenant reminds him that the patrol has orders and they must follow them. Around the campfire that night, Mueller tries once again to be heard. His statements are met with aggression and he is ordered away to take the first watch while the others sleep.
Finding that he hasn’t been heard, Mueller must decide whether to take matters into his own hands if he’s to permit more needless bloodshed. In so doing, he has to discover how far he will go to preserve life, even if he has to fight his own team members to do it.
Content
Overall, the content of the film was great. Even though I’m not a huge fan of films depicting war, I enjoyed this one. The acting was appropriate to the genre and the writing was well done. My biggest suggestion in this area is to add slightly more to the dialogue than is presently included.
Throughout the course of the film, I followed the intricacies of the storyline pretty easily. However, some of the story related dialogue would have been helpful to hear earlier in the film. For instance, at the end of the film, Mueller explains more of the content of the letter during a rather chaotic ending scene. He makes some revealing statements that I felt got somewhat lost in the commotion of the scene. The action and the dialogue were competing for my attention and the action won. This is a somewhat minor point, because the script is written rather well and the overall timing is on target.
Another suggestion relates to the acting. Several times throughout the film, I heard the actors voice their lines with a soft delivery. Although there is always a chance of overacting in a film like this, I think the actors were more prone to deliver their lines with a lack of gusto than being “over-the-top.” One example of this is in the scene where the Corps slays the Russian patrol. After killing six men, the Corps sounds as intense as I imagine they would when solving a crossword puzzle. This made the viewer feel as though the troops were generally apathetic, which could have been the intent of the director, but it seems a little unnecessarily strange.
Warning: Spoiler Ahead!
Another example of lack of emotional input in the delivery is the scene in which the Corps is clearing the missile site toward the end. During this scene, Mueller joins the Russians to fight against the Panzer Corps he was a part of. It seems obvious that the PC Lieutenant recognizes Mueller as a traitor. However, even when Mueller’s shooting at him, the Lieutenant doesn’t seem particularly angry with Mueller. I can’t imagine another situation in which a commanding officer should be angrier with his subordinate.
Also, the opening movie slate states that the dialogue is in “German dubbed to English.” Obviously the actors are native English speaking Americans. Tone, inflection and pronunciation all support this theory, plus sync is always off in audio dubs from other languages. The simplest fix is to remove that text from the slate. The best remedy is to reconsider the vocals as they relate to the basics of the story (nationality, geography, etc.) and make broad changes based on that in an ADR studio. (To learn how to create your own home ADR studio, check out our article on that here. )
Finally, the opening historical slates need to be seen longer. Their short duration plus the small fonts make them very hard to read and retain before they fade out. These are very important because they contain essential audience information. If the audience misses the contents of these slates, they will be lost while they watch the rest of the film.
Visual Look
Let’s start with what went well in the “visual look” department. First, the general look of the film was very polished. Creating the film in black and white likely helped cover up some of the issues, like finessing the lighting, that would have had to be addressed if it were in color. The shots were well composed, camera movements were rather fluid, and the set was well dressed. One of the ways the filmmakers got hand-held style footage that wasn’t too shaky was with a Figg Rig. For those of you unfamiliar with this device , a “Figg Rig” (named for Leaving Las Vegas’ director/cinematographer Mike Figgis who developed it) is a circular camera mounting device that is designed help stabilize footage through centralization of mass. (For any filmmakers interested in building one of these from low-cost PVC, check out our tutorial on this here.) All this resulted in very compelling footage.
I couldn’t find a lot of elements that needed significant work. One area that needed a bit of improvement was the gaffing (lighting). Although shooting outdoors and mostly in sunlight helped tremendously, there were some instances where more light (and in some cases less light) was needed.
There were a couple of shots around the campfire that I thought at first were cuts to black. Upon reviewing the film a couple more times, I noticed some movement in the blackness. It seems that these shots were simply underexposed. If there’s no way to salvage them in post, it’s best to omit them.
It also seems that shooting some of the footage at the missile site occurred in very bright sun. On some of the wide shots, nothing more could have been done to offset the overexposure or underexposure. However, for some of the medium shots and close-ups, measures should have been taken to illuminate the faces of the soldiers and diffuse the bright light overhead. This could have been achieved by placing a grip with a reflector near the actors, but out of the camera’s view, to bounce light up onto their faces. In some instances, almost all facial features were lost due to the severe shadows. A diffusion rig could also have been set up overhead to help with overexposure on helmets and other costume elements.
Costuming also didn’t seem realistic enough to me. I realize that the costumes weren’t meant to be authentic for that period, but they still looked too modern…..much like what I’d find at a U.S. Army surplus store today. Considering this piece was set in 1953, the intercoms in the troops’ helmets seem far too futuristic. If there is research that suggests that type of technology was pervasive among Russian-issued uniforms in or around 1953, please ignore this. But for me, it created some cognitive dissonance. It certainly wasn’t what I would imagine I would find in that era. Also, if the actors weren’t using intercoms, it would have forced them to project their voices more which would lend itself to correcting some of the dialogue issues I spoke about in the Content section of this review.
Finally, Valuckas used over one hundred visual effects in his eighteen minute film. Most of these looked very nice. He used several programs that MicroFilmmaker has reviewed in previous issues including: FXHome’s Muzzle Plug, After Effects, Particular, Particle Illusion, and Trapcode’s Shine. These were utilized to create explosions, smoke, bullet hits, and light rays. Valuckas states that he spent a year in post-production. His film really reflects the time and effort spent here.
Use of Audio
I really enjoyed the audio in Panzer Corps. The musical score was wonderful. Congratulations are in order for whoever decided to use Russian born Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s work. It functions incredibly well here.
The sound effects and mixing in post were also pleasing. The sounds of the bullets whizzing by, explosions, etc. added so much in support of the visuals. The location sound was also well captured. The dialogue was always isolated, clear and audible. Great job!
The only audio issues I found have already been mentioned in previous portions of this review. They also stem from the acting as opposed to being technical issues. Other than these, I would consider the audio a shining success.
Use of Budget
Adam Valuckas’ budget totaled $5,000. Here’s the breakdown:
$2,500 – replica guns, surplus uniforms, spray paint and small set dressings.
$1,500 – Post Production: sound effects, stock footage
$500 – food and Porta Potty
$500 – Promotional Materials: posters, mailers, festival entry fees*
(*Technically, promotional materials shouldn’t be included in the film’s budget, as these are considered marketing costs and are never factored into the production budget of a film)
This budget seems on-par for what I’d expect it would be. The items I’m least familiar with are the guns and uniforms, but it doesn’t surprise me that they would cost that much for several cast members. The budget looks appropriately spent and not at all unreasonable. Mr. Valuckas also had the use of a house for his crew and cooking, and the advantage of owning his own camera, lights and editing software. Without those, he’d have had to budget much more.
Lasting Appeal
Interest in films about war has endured for generations. I expect the same for generations to come. War films illustrate the concepts of conquest, victory, defeat and redemption as no other genre can. I definitely recommend this film to viewers who enjoy films about war. I also recommend it to others who, like me, appreciate the aesthetics of a well shot and edited film.
Conclusion
Panzer Corps has a solid foundation on which to move forward. The camera work, shot composition, musical score and editing are all commendable. It’s already very impressive and, with a few small changes, this film will be outstanding. I look forward to seeing a revised version and knowing how it fares in the festivals to which it is submitted.