Evaluation of Peer Reviews

Review 1:

   " In this film, what I enjoyed most was the camera movements. The use of handheld and dolly made you feel as if you were part of their adventure. The tilt up to a fade in to black was a perfect transition. Also using the blurry forest for the title was clever. The dialogue is good as well.

 

What elements I did not like in the film was the lighting. There was a sudden change in natural lighting from day/evening to night that makes no sense as there seems to be no skip in time. The film also lacked background sound that could have been used to add mystery or suspense. The film was quiet with only footsteps and dialogue generally being heard.

 

This was definitely an opening scene. The scene leaves you wondering what creature was hiding behind the tree and what happened to her friend. It keeps the viewer hooked, wanting to know what happens next as they end abruptly after finding a clue. It makes it feel like the adventure just started.

 

The only thing that left me confused is how it suddenly turned night. I get how the darkness adds to the tone, but it was very messy.

 

My suggestion is to fix the lighting issue by either having the first part darker, or the second part lighter (preferably the first option). There also should be a creepy or mystery soundtrack played in the background. Overall it is a great opening, but it definitely still needs work."

 

Review 1 Response:

I deeply value the review this person did on our opening film cut. The recognition of the title that I spent trying to blend out the effects is appreciated as well. I understand that we had an abrupt change from natural light to dark and I agree with that, so we made changes to the clips and reshot some.

 

Review 2:

 

" I see that there is a close up shot of the actors and actress's legs. There is a diegetic sound of their voices while the camera is still filming the legs. There is a tracking shot of the 3 actors walking through the woods. There is a lot of fade in and fade out transitions. Moreover, there is dialogue. There is also a point of view shot of someone looking as of they are hiding. The background music adds to a creepy vibe of the clip. The lighting is natural lighting.

 

One thing I disliked is that there was no establishing shot. The audience may know that it takes place around the woods, but still confused on where exactly. Furthermore, when the actor trips on something and they find the neckless, it seems to be daytime, but when they take a closer look in the same shot, it looks to be completely dark outside and night time. I was a bit confused about that. 

 

Overall, I would say that this is a movie opener. The clip consists of a title, it also leaves the audience on a cliff hanger. Even though they find the coordinates in the neckless, they do not show if they found the missing person. I suggest that an establishing shot to be added to remove the confusion of where exactly this clip is taking place."

 

Review 2 Response:

 

I appreciate the feedback and the notice of detail in our technical elements and production. I am taking into the consideration of the establishing shot but, it may not go in smoothly but the next scene may make it more clear to where we are. I do want to see if we can add a drone shot of the forest to fix this confusion.

 

Review 3:

 

"What specific technical elements of the film opening did you like?

I enjoyed the editing done at 0:48 that implies there's someone watching them and adds a mysterious feeling to the next scenes. Also, the title sequence is very well executed. I like how the camera tilts toward the sky and trees. The soft focus during it is also well done because it helps the title become prominent agaisnt the background. 

 

What specific technical elements of the film opening did you dislike?

I didn't like the medium shot at 0:17 because it didn't add any significant meaning to the scene and looked unnatural. I also disliked the zoom at 0:25 because it adds a "vlogging" style to the shot, whereas it's not utilized anywhere else in the opening scene.

 

Did this look like a movie opener and did it make you want to know what happens next? 

Yes, this does feel like the opening scene to a movie. By puting the title sequence halfway through the opening scene, it gives viewers a chance to become aqquanted with ther protagonists. Also, the chronological order of the events help secure the idea of this opening scene as a mystery about a person who has gone missing. The ending makes me curious as to where the coordinates lead and what the protagonists will find there.

 

Was there anything that left you confused?

Yes, why does it suddenly get dark at 1:06? Additionally, why do the protagonists have better clue-finding abilities than the supoosed detective at the start who told them the missing person might be gone? If one of the characters was set up to appear as a highly intelligent person, the opening scene may be more believable.

 

What suggestions do you have to make this movie opener better?

My suggestion would be to refilm the ending scene where it suddenly gets dark to make the opening scene more cohesive and understandable. Instead of some of the editing like the cut to the medium shot and the zoom, actually moving the camera might look more impressive than what was done post-production."

 

 

Review 3 Response:

 

I appreciate this feedback. I do notice that there is some concern of the zoom on the footsteps so I can try to fix the effects but, I'm not sure there's much I can do for that. In 1:06, we did re-film the darker shots, they were only supposed to be a draft so we know what to film for next time.

 

 Review 4:

 

 

"What specific technical elements of the film opening did you like?

A technical element I like is that there is always some type of movement in the camera, nothing is ever set in one place. This makes the clip have more life to it. Another element I like is the editing for the thing stalking the characters, the darkened sight adds to the menacing feel. 

 

What specific technical elements of the film opening did you dislike?

A technical element I did not like was the sound. The first shot had sound that was hard to hear compared to the rest of the first cut. All it needs is more consistency throughout. Another element was at around 18 seconds with the quick cut to a zoomed in character. This seems out of place. 

 

Did this look like a movie opener and did it make you want to know what happens next? 

It does make me want to know what happens next. Though it does seem to end to abruptly. This is likely because the clip only had around 1 minute and 20 seconds done at the time I am writing this. This is definitely a good movie opener. 

 

Was there anything that left you confused? 

There was one thing that left me confused in this first cut. At around 1:06 the video cuts from the day to night. It is either too big of a time jump without any filler or explanation or just dark because of time constraints. Either way it confuses me, other than that there is nothing that leaves confusion. 

 

What suggestions do you have to make this movie opener better?

I suggest to change the audio levels on certain cuts. This can make it more consistent throughout. Another suggestion is to add an audio threshold, this will help stop the sound of the wind in the background which takes over the dialogue."

 

 

Review 4 Response:

After reading this response, I can tell that the audio is unclear in some of our video. I will take this into consideration and try to put the volume up and adding the auto threshold to cover the background noise. I also appreciate the suggestion of having consistency in the zoomed characters, I will edit it to make it go together.

 

Review 5:

 

"For this film, I appreciated the plot of a girl who went missing and appreciated the twist at the end where her necklace and possible coordinates to follow her location were found. I also felt that the acting was very good. It did come off like a true movie opener to a real film, and I would want to know if they are able to successfully find the missing girl once they receive her coordinates, if she has sustained any injuries, has the same personality, or if she has died. However, I feel that there should have been a wider range of camera shots to truly enhance the film. I also think a suspenseful music soundtrack would have added more depth to the film."

 

Review 5 Response:

I appreciate this feedback but I don't agree with it fully. There were parts of the film that I added that had eerie music but we are working to find a soundtrack for throughout. I do believe we used a wide range of shots and technical elements that our seen through the film.