4 Hour Film Challenge Feedback

4 Hour Film Challenges Feedback 

1) 'Door'

Our first film could have been improved with better lighting, we aimed to use low-key lighting in order to create an eerie atmosphere, but some of our shots turned out being dim and quite underexposed, making them difficult to see. This could have been improved with the use of lighting equipment, rather than trying to use the natural light. This also could have been avoided by maybe using different camera settings, altering the aperture and ISO settings may have improved the picture, however we had to maintain the ISO number in order to avoid 'noise' on the video. We also had to re-shoot a variety of our clips due to our original shots being out of focus, this in turn took up more time and as a result we didn't have time to add any non-diegetic sound to our film. However, it was said that despite the lack of sound, people were still able to follow the narrative and were interested in the film. In future we will make sure that our shots are right first time round in order to be able to add non-diegetic sound to the film in order to help create meaning. On the other hand, our variety of different shots from different angles and fast editing helped to create a feel of desperation in the film. For example, at the point where she is trying to break through the door, quick cuts and fast editing was used to highlight the frenzy. We used various high-angle shots in order to make the protagonist seem inferior and vulnerable; though we also used low-angle shots, which then contradicted this effect by putting the protagonist in a position of power.

2) 'Unusual Perspective'

Our second film could have been improved with less repetition in our shots. The re-use of some shots throughout the film was noticeable due to the short length of the film, in the future we will make sure to obtain a variety of different shots so we have enough footage to fill our film and avoid repetition. During the editing of the film,we included some shots in reverse  in order to contribute to our narrative of the 'unusual perspective', however on some clips - such as the shot of the tap dripping, the reverse effect wasn't that noticeable and seemed as a repeated use of the original shot. Our use of non-diegetic sound throughout the video helped convey the eerie feeling of the narrative. Our 'unusual perspective' aspect was also successful, as every frame was shot through a mirror; however, in some shots the frame of the mirror was not visible and as a result the 'frame within a frame' element wasn't that apparent.

3) Music Video (Leah/Connie/Emily Plan)

Our third film could have been improved with some sort of narrative;  because we focused on including a wide variety of shots, we didn't focus on a particular narrative and therefore some found the video had no meaning or was hard to follow. In the future, we will make sure to make an clear and concise plan beforehand in order to have a better idea of what we are going to do. The location of the gym also may not have been the best option to try and replicate the location of a bar or pub. However, this aesthetic proved to be interesting and provided us with the opportunity to achieve a variety of different shots, such as wide angles and over the shoulder shots. We also used camera techniques such as pull-focus and over the shoulder shots in order to include the skills we have learned.