Peer 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.
Their review mentioned issues with our lighting and its inconsistency. They suggested that we make it one or the other and not a mix of both. Its helpful because it'll make our film opening consistent. This was just a first cut and our final cut will have improvements where the lighting stays the same.
Peer Review 2: 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.
This review mentioned again, how our lighting resulted in them being confused. It mentions how our sound was difficult to hear. We could fix this through editing and enhancing it making the audio clearer. To fix the lighting, as mentioned before, we'll have the final cut with more consistent lighting replace our first cut.
Peer Review 3: 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.
In this review, they mention a variety of things that they liked. For example, the plot, story, and how it looked like a film opening. They suggested that we add more camera shots and more suspenseful music. We could do this in the editing process to make the film more mysterious.
Peer Review 4: 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.
In this review, they provided us with good insight and improvements that we could make. They liked how our film gave a mysterious feeling and made them want to know more. It also suggested that we could make some shots look more natural. Fixing this, and the lighting issue would improve our film and make it easier to understand.
Peer Review 5:The camera shots and movements in this intro are incredibly smooth and well executed. It uses a variety of camera movements such as a tilt, a handheld camera movement, and a zoom. The editing of the title scene is excellent. Also the cuts are edited well creating a smooth proceeding of events in the intro. Finally, I like the diegetic sound of the surrounding wilderness and the footsteps of the characters.
There were only some slight issues with this first cut. These being the lighting, and the sound. The lighting was fine for the most part, until randomly it changes from a clear day to a nighttime, taking me out of the immersion of the intro. For the sound, they need to fix the volume of the characters voices, maybe add some background music, and tweak the background sound of the wilderness a bit. Throughout the whole media text it is hard to understand what the characters are saying and what is being talked about. Also I feel like this film would benefit greatly from an eerie background track or something of the like.
This media text definitely looks like a movie opener but it doesn't feel enough like one. When I think of movie intros I think of the heavy tension they give off. In this opening they definitely introduce events that could have a lot of tension-such as when it looks like something/someone is watching the characters or when they find the coordinates-but these events come off a little flat as there is no background music to amplify the mystery/scariness/drama of the scenes. When they find the coordinates it would be nice to hear a nondiegetic sound that would increase the mystery like in other openings. Finally, they did a great job making me want to know what happens next in the film, with many things left unanswered.
I guess it is a little confusing in some aspects. Like for one who is the person missing? Is she one of their friends? That's what I'm assuming. Also, what led them to look for her in this location? Did some clue lead them to this forest? You could argue these keep the audience wanting to know what is happening and what will happen without giving too much knowledge but it does confuse me a bit.
My only suggestions to make this better is to fix the sound, lighting, maybe give a little background info for the audience, and amplify the scenes that should have more tension/emotion. Besides these changes this is a very well made production and exceeds as a movie opener.
This review gave us good insight on our film and technical elements. They liked how we used different cuts and sounds to give our film its mysterious feeling. Some suggestions they left were to adjust our lighting so it'd be more consistent in the film. We could re-film some shots to make the lighting consistent and adjust sounds in editing.
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