sixgunzloaded wrote:ghostofmyeyes wrote:Excellent!
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it!
I want to elaborate on what I think is so excellent.
It's not just the slow, steady sink from ankles on down (which has been a strength in all of your work), but the dynamic way the dramatic tension is kept taut. A carefully-arranged series of turns for the worse unfolds for poor Sapph, and the payoff is that we are treated to a whole series of reaction shots of her progressively realizing the extent to which her luck has run out. Several times she wavers from being cheeky and blithe, to gaping worriedly down at the quicksand, and back again. Her expressions are priceless.
Various possible directions of salvation are dangled before Sapph, but they evaporate one by one. Struggling doesn't help, but neither does holding still in the struggle-agitated quicksand. Esme turns out to care more about doing evil and getting away with it than about her sister, Hailey could have intervened earlier, but puts mission first, and Susan of course is tied up.
Sapph is plucky and innocent enough to be endearing, for me to care what happens to her. But we see that she can be unprincipled and impatient, and so she struggles, despite knowing better, then does it again, moments after being warned again not to, and a third time, when her brave face dissolves into mortal panic at Esme's betrayal, and it all leads directly to her passing the point of no return before a rescue attempt actually becomes feasible. Blup blup blup!
A great deal of care went into this elaborate weave of tension and release. Perhaps that is why so few quicksand creatives manage to match the tight energy of the MSM quicksand scenes that alerted most of us that we weren't normal. I do wonder, though, if some have unrealized potential just because they mentally lump what they're making in with 'porn', leading them to fixate on 'T&A in the mud' while neglecting cause and effect, stakes and payoffs, pacing and energy, character and context.
But I digress. I'm glad you got into whatever space led to you making this, and I think others should take note!