Ghost Town: The Movie

I agree with Lawrence. I saw this at AOF. The editing was extremely difficult to digest, very D grade and amateur editing. The scenes drug on, very painful at times. They almost had a story and characters were just lost. It's a shame cause some of the shots were really, really nice and this movie could of been OK with some proper, professional, post talent. Rating this a ten is very humorous, very few ten professional movies exists, and it is very obvious that these must be people from this production rating it. That's OK, everyone wants their movie to be the best ;) but this film is far from a ten but a very good try for real amateur film makers. It looks like a first film but apparently it's not the companies first attempt. They are really going to have to step it up and make QUALITY projects if they want to compete and play with the big boys. It's a bummer to see the director also commenting on this page defending the movie, that will surely loses the integrity of the project fast. Directors should step back and let the film speak for itself and let the peoples honest judgment take play, people are smart they will tell you what they like and don't like. :) On a good note the setting was nice and the costumes looked great and some of the characters were really fun but should of been given a little more time to develop, seems like some characters had too much of the screen and others needed more. Very Confusing. Needs serious tightening and attention. Hope this is constructive criticism not to be taken to heart. Good luck on the next project! JBerg

Having watched Dean Teaster's Ghost Town several times and carefully read the comments here I have come to several conclusions. First of all as someone else has pointed out Teaster's name is all over the movie. Yedt when you check the database here the credits have changed to Dean West. Hmmm? I wonder why? Changing your name will not hide you from the truth. The truth is this story had potential, but not with you. Watching the movie is like looking at something through thick dark glass. You can make out images, ideas, characters, plot, but somehow nothing particular. One commentator said that they were happy the movie wasn't dumbed down. That the confusing editing had something akin to Pulp Fiction in it. Pulp Fiction was never confusing in the least. While it was edited in a non linear manner, one was never confused as to the storyline. To claim that Ghost Town was edited in a like manner is a blatant attempt to give credence and respectability to what is obviously an amateur effort. I would be very surprised to find that Teaster when to film school or for that matter knows even the the basics of editing. The camera angles and shots are first rate for an independent film. The acting, while is spots is marginal, overall is quite good. But beyond this the film lacks a coherent framework that holds the story together. Some have likened it to a jigsaw puzzle put together incorrectly. But I think it goes beyond that. The lack of even a fundamental understanding of film construction points to a basic lack of talent in this area. That is not something that can be learned. You either have it or you don't. Take the critical comments here, by people who know, as overwhelming evidence that your talent does not lie here.

First off let me tell you I worked on this movie in a small capacity. I have worked on quite a few television shows and movies in the North Carolina area over the years. I usually don't comment on these things for obvious reasons. But in this case I feel I should point out a few "behind the scenes" items and let you come to your own conclusions. For an smallish independent movie it was quite well organized and planned out. Usually these things are often disorganized messes due to the lack of experience amongst the producers and crew alike. This was not the case. I could see that this feature was going to turn out quite well. It wasn't going to start any fires, but it should have been a decent little story. But this did not happen. I remember many days and nights on the set were miserably cold and/or wet. I also remember that the "second" director (his first time according to IMDb)was often missing on set for long periods of time. I remember this as it was noticed out by several other members of the crew as well. The bulk of the work was done by the first director and the crew, all of whom were very professional and diligent. Yet the first thing I noticed was that movie title has the "second" director's name prominently displayed above the name Ghost Town. Quite strange. Somewhere along the line what I witnessed on the set was not translated into what I just watched.

If you type in Dean Teaster on IMDb you get the page for Dean West. Mr. West produced, co-wrote the story, co-directed, and acted in Dean Teaster's Ghost Town. Not only that but the major characters in the story are named Teaster as well! So I guess I can assume that this is Mr. Teaster/West's movie. Actually it's his first movie. He had a co- director but his name is not all over the credits like Teaster's. This all leads up to an important question: Does he know anything about film and story structure? Judging by this movie I would have to say no. But don't take my word on it. Check out most of the previous comments. If you do you will notice a very common theme running through all of them. Mr. Teaster/West does not have a clue as to how a film should be assembled. If the flow of individual scenes are not rough and jarring they are too long and vapid. There are cuts in the wrong places, no cuts where there should be, and disturbingly few masters used and when they are they are not in the correct position. Take it form a film school graduate, Mr. Teaster/West and his editor need to go back to film school. This time pay attention to film basics 101. Take notes

I fell in love with the story Heaven's Neighors quite a while ago. So naturally I kept my eyes open for anything Jeff Kennedy is associated with. Heaven's was a beautifully crafted story that tugged at your heart and stayed with you, rumbling around in the back of your mind for weeks. Unfortunately I cannot say the same for Ghost Town. The plot and characters are incredibly hard to follow. The storyline suffers from horrible editing. And it lacked that special touch that brought you in to the world that was created through the lens. To be honest, Heaven's, according to the credits was written and directed by Kennedy. And on Ghost Town he was only co-director. Dean Teaster/West was the other co-director as well as being involved in the story as well as producing. So I cannot say for certain how much of an impact Kennedy had on the movie, but judging by the end product it wasn't much. If Heaven's Neighbors is an example of his film making fingerprint, then Ghost Town was clearly not in his hands.