Peer Review Post-Production Project

Peer Reviewed: Kaytlynn R.

Hyperlink: https://youtu.be/bVXToGcucWw

Providing Feedback:

  When looking at Kaytlynn's project, there are multiple aspects of note. To look at the strengths of the film opening at first, the sequence does a very effective job of building tension through the use of short shot duration and utilizes diegetic sound effects well. I've been told that in addition to the diegetic sound, there will be music added. If music is added, I think that would do wonders in ratcheting up the tension built throughout the runtime of the scene. Each frame was composed well and in a way that drew the audience's focus to the more important actions we see taken in each scene. The use of locking doors and closing blinds was a good use of props to create a theme of paranoia and anxiety. Finally, the opening scene demonstrates a good awareness of the relationship between off- and on-screen space, as each action is cut together in a way that makes sense and preserves continuity between actions, it's always clear what's happening at any given time.

    Moving on to discuss what could be improved on throughout the clip, there are a couple cinematic touches that the scene could benefit from. First of all, the brighter lighting clashes with the tones the  subject matter and tension built throughout establish, and I believe that darker, or color-corrected lighting could aid in matching the lighting with the scene's tone. There are many scenes that would benefit from the darker and more unsettling tones of dimmer lighting. However, considering that we are now in the post-production phase of our film opening projects, this is most likely to be solved to color-correction and some desaturation in post. As I mentioned in the first paragraph, the addition of music that helps to build tension would be much appreciated, and would do a lot for developing the tone of the opening sequence. Now that we're in the latter half of our post-production phase, it's integral that crediting and title text is added throughout the sequence. Overall, the weaknesses of Kaytlynn's project are very small, easy-to-fix aesthetic aspects that would boost the tense tone the opening sequence creates. 

Feedback I Recieved on "Blank Shell":

Peer Reviewer: Kaytlynn R.

Feedback Given: 

    "The cinematography was done well in the film. The use of extreme close up allows for the audience to properly read and get context as well as intrigue them to what is happening in the film. The next shot after allowing the audience to read part of the email shows the big missing poster attached to the email. The close ups of the keys turning on the car and the map on the computer also allow the audience to have a clearer understanding of what is happening on screen by emphasizing them by the use of the shots. By doing this the audience can slowly start to understand what is happening in pieces instead of information being thrown at them all at once. Using the black and white filter really fits with the genre as well as give this mystery to what is going on in the surroundings of the character since the character and the computer are the only thing we see. This also brings a focus to the characters and their actions and emphasizes the computer guiding the audience to understand what the character is doing and why they are reacting to the surroundings in a certain way. The sound editing is also well done within the film, at the start of the film the music gives a bit of mystery but is still relatively calm. After the small jumpscare the music quickly changes to be more intense, increasing the tension that the audience feels.

    Leland’s film doesn’t need much to improve on because it has elements of mise en scene, cinematography, sound, and editing that help to tell the story of his film. All of his shots are done very well, and using mise en scene he properly emphasizes what is needed attention. The only thing that can really be improved is the editing, though it is still a rough cut. Currently the credit titles aren’t present, which are needed for the film, there are some shots that could fit credit titles, while other shots are too quick to fit them. Currently without the titles it's a little hard to tell which shots could be cut less, while others more. The shot with the email of the map could be cut to be shorter because enough context is there to understand that the email has the attachment of the map, so cutting the part of clicking the map could be potentially done. The filter could also be edited to be darker because some shots are greyer, making the lights and darks have less contrast. In the shot where the car headlights go on the contrast of the lights to the surroundings are too similar to where the light washes out the shot a bit."

    

Reflecting on The Feedback Given:

    With the feedback Kaytlynn has given me, there are multiple elements of my film's opening sequence that I'd like to reinforce and improve. First of all, there are a couple of things that can be kept the same, such as the background music, the filter (though it will need slight visual tweaks), and the extreme close-ups. Both Kaytlynn's feedback and my own creative vision paint this as the best choice for not only adhering to my genre's conventions, but also developing that mysterious and tense tone I'm looking to create. Now moving on to look at things I can improve on, the lack of a narration and essential crediting text are the most notable things to address at this stage. The most notable flaw of my film project is the color balancing with the harsh black and white filter. The colors must be adjusted to make the film more visually appealing, many shots are much too washed out, and the brightness and exposure levels are terribly inconsistent, and this leads to some scenes that are blinding, and some scenes that are near impossible to see.