Thread: If You Will Then I Will - student film

Hey Guys,



So I just recently finished my year end project. This was my first attempt at flying a camera bigger than a z1u or hvx (used hvx, z1u, t2i, 7d, 5d, canon handycams etc on my glidecam in the past)

There are issues I understand that fully. And Personally I am not 100% happy with how the project turned out. But you live and learn!

It was a fantastic learning experience.

Shot on super16mm/arri SRII

rig: stock stedicam flyer




Hope I can get some constructive criticism! I was dp on this shoot. (only 3 days/3 crew members! so it was a toughie for us)

Okay, here are a few criticisms which are not meant to de-motivate you, rather the opposite. It's a nice little film but is let down on a number of points.

The main one is the acting, mainly "Aaron"s, it's quite wooden in parts. Maybe the actors were worried that each take cost money (on film) or maybe they were under- or over-rehearsed.

Secondly, the lighting. The cameraman should have captured the mood of the restaurant, instead he has gone "safe" and ended up with bland shots and lighting.

Thirdly, as just as importantly, the location sound (ie the protagonists" voices) is not good, sometimes it's awful. The microphone is either too far away or not pointed correctly.

Now little niggles...

There are quite a few focus issues, some are minor, others like the name tag "Cindy" being out of focus, are major.
The steadycam tends to "swoop" ie has a slow bounce in the movements.
The music gets annoying really quickly.
Some lamps appear to be reflected in the windows in the restaurant long-shots.
Too many highlights in the shots, background objects being much lighter than the protagonists directs the viewer's eye away from the action. For example the shots of Aaron have the poster in the background better lit than the actor.
When the V.O. mentions "picking at bottles" we need to see it.
The camera movements are often slightly unsure, ending up "almost" on the subject then hunting slightly for the right framing. The shot at about 1:30 being an example.

Having said all that, the camerawork wasn't as bad as a lot of student films which get posted here. A bit more practice and it'll be good.

I thought it was a clever little movie story wise. As my eye is not as sharp as Robs. I didn't spot a lot of his points until I'd read them and watched it back and saw they are all there. I think the contrast between the VO highlights the talents voice recording issue. The shot at 2:12 shows well what Rob was saying about the lighting, the walls either side of the door are well lit but the couple are very dark. This issue is made worse by the fact they are both wearing black clothes.

I thought you had some good directing moments like the looks between the actors when ordering the wine but this was also one of the wandering camera focus moments that Rob pointed out. I also found the music a little irritating and distractive though I can see why you chose it.

On the whole I enjoyed the movie and thought you did a fairly good job.

Thanks for the comments guys. Noted and appreciated.

hi

I lasted 2.00 mins, sorry but my attention span is shocking, blame youtube.

I loved the focus pull but what did disturb me was I felt the shots of the people sitting at the table needed to be tighter. Ever notice how tight TV and big films is shot when it comes to people. Now if it was tighter those background people who were not eating but just being background would not be such a distraction, as a director you need to make sure your background is as sorted as your foreground.

It's important to make sure the main point of interest in a frame is realized, I was too distracted by that background table.

Then again what would I know, never went to film school.