Evaluation of Peer Reviews

 Student 1

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

An element I like in this first cut is the long shot with the zoom in on the face. It is executed very well and makes the audience wonder what is going on inside the character's head. Another element I like is the tilt up when the character is walking through the door. It looks better than a static shot. 

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

An element I dislike was the wide shot in the beginning of the first cut. It lasted a minute total and there was no break in between. This made the scene less engaging and overall dragged on longer than it needed to. Along with this the tracking shot seemed a second longer than it needed to be. 

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

Yes it did seem like a movie opener and made me want to know what happens next. This is best done with split between the two conversations and the whisper in the ear. The final shot long shot helped add a sense that it could continue after it. 

Was there anything that left you confused? 

I was confused on what was said but that is likely due to the intention of the first cut itself, with it being "explained" as the film goes on. The other thing that left me confused was the importance of the first minute and what it was for. One thing that might help is to shorten the clip. 

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

A suggestion I have is to keep the camera orientation the same throughout. At some points it would be in landscape then it would be up-right. This made it seem more messy than it really is. Another suggestion is to shorten some clips, like the first wide shot or the tracking shot. 

Based on this student's evaluation, I feel like the camera work could have been worked on more.  I appreciate the comments and suggestions as they liked the overall acting and technical elements. Moreover, the fact that the audience felt like this was a movie opener was good since that was one of the objectives me and my teammates were aiming for. Another thing I agree with is the fact that the opening scene is a wide clip with no cuts. Some technical elements could have been used, which we will edit and consider adding more technical elements to it. Overall, I appreciate feed back of this student.

Student 2

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

The technical element that I liked was the zoom. While the friends spoke, it zoomed into their face to capture the emotion of them being left out. This technique added depth to the scene and allowed audiences to understand their struggle.

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

I didn't dislike any film elements in particular. A suggestion would be to film the establishing shot of the school horizontally instead of vertical. It would help make the film look better.

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

Their film felt like a movie opener. It started with a scene of the school before switching to a master shot of all the students. I am a little curious about what happens next. The reason for this was it a little chaotic and hard to follow.

Was there anything that left you confused?

What was confusing was what the guy whispered to the friends. Audiences could've been told what they said or hinted at so they could stay informed. Without it, they don't really know whats happening.

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

Some suggestions I have would just be to make the opening horizontal and to inform the audience with some information. They could use an opening sequence as well to show the title.

I agree with the establishing shot being horizontal instead of vertical, which would make the clip more better. We will re-film that particular shot and enhance it. Moreover, we took the suggestion of informing the audience into consideration as it can leave the audience less confused. Moreover, the student felt like this would be a movie opener, which we do appreciate because this was one of the goals we were going for. Overall, we will take each of these suggestion and apply it to our clip.

Student 3

To start off, I love the story of this production. It is pretty interesting and the characters are very colorful. I also like how they start with an establishing shot to give a little background of where they are. This also helps the audience make assumptions such as that they are all schoolfriends. Finally I like the use of focus pull at the end and the handheld camera movement throughout the opening. The focus pull elevates the drama of the friends situation and the handheld camera movement lets the audience be with them in the scene.

Now for the things I dislike... I would say there are slight errors throughout this opening. Starting off, the transitions at the start are very jarring and ruin the immersion. Also, throughout the opening the aspect ratio flops between a normal widescreen to a phone like resolution. Finally, the dialogue at the start sticks to the same camera angle which can be a little boring after a while, but that is helped by the good dialogue.

This film fits the criteria of a movie opening. It is interesting and holds the audiences attention, but since there is no background track it feels a little empty and the dramatic scenes don't have the punch of a movie opener. It gets the audience wanting to know what secret was whispered in each of the friends ears which makes the audience want to continue watching it.

The only confusing part of this opener for me is the facial expressions throughout the film. The character who tells each of the other friends a secret is hard to identify what he is feeling at times. He looks pretty smiley as he is telling them the secrets and then it cuts to him looking serious.

I only have a couple suggestions for this opener. The first being fixing the aspect ratios, as this is a little uncinematic. Also, I feel like the editing can be improved upon a bit, especially for the transitions. It would be cool to see more diverse camera shots and angles at the starting dialogue. Finally, it would be cool to hear some background sound that helps identify the feelings of the characters.

Firstly, we appreciate the feed back. I did go back and catch the errors this student was referring to. The switching from a vertical shot to a horizontal shot makes the clip less engaging. We do plan on making the entire clip landscape. Furthermore, we also feel like the clip is empty according to this student as there is no ,music, so we will be considering that as well. Overall, I appreciate the feed back and will be looking at the clip for adjustments and making it better.

Student 4

For this film, I felt that the acting was amazing. The "duo within the trio" feeling was well-captured by the dialogue, where the two friends were talking about their plans in front of their third friend, who they excluded with the excuse they assumed he has no time to go. The close-up shots of the hurt expression on the third friend's face also added to this storyline. I felt that it looks like a true movie opener and I would want to watch it in theater. I really liked how the third friend/actor was whispering in a way the audience couldn't make out what he was saying, inciting the audience's curiosity. However, I truly believe there should have been music and editing to make the sound of the doors quieter

I appreciate this student's feedback. What I found interesting about this review is that this person actually liked the fact that the audience does not know what the actor whispered about. It does make the audience curious and wanting to watch more to find out. I do agree with this person, but we will still be re-evaluating the clip. Moreover, we will take the suggestion of adding some sort of background music as it would not make the clip bland to the audience. Overall, we appreciate the feedback and will make adjustments to it.

Student 5

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

-One of the first technical elements that stood out to me was the zoom-in at the end of the conversation they were having. During this scene, there is a wide shot happening showing three friends sitting at a table, with two of them chatting and leaving the third one out, later zooming in on his face. The zoom-in captures the emotion and highlighted how lonely and left out he felt in his group. Another element that caught my eye was the tracking shot of the lonely friend as he goes around telling each person something different. With this shot I was able to follow the story and figure out what was happening.

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

- An element in the film opening that I dislike was at the beginning of it where they show the front of the school for their establishing shot. I feel like this could have been left out and did not need to be included as part of the scene, it does not really make sense as it does not relate to anything, so it left me confused. They can maybe change it with an establishing shot of the media center.

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

-It did look like a movie opener to a certain extent, I feel like I can tell what is going to happen next from what I saw. It showed the characters at the start, so it introduced a beginning to something, but the story of the film finished to soon and did not leave nothing to be excited about after in finding out what will happen later on.

4. Was there anything that left you confused? 

-Yes, something that left me confused was the difference of sizes in different scenes. Some clips were filmed vertically while others horizontally having some not fill the whole screen which looked off. This made the film not flow all together and look like straight cuts instead of having a transition that makes all the clips flow together making it difficult for the viewers' eye.

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

-To make the movie opener better I would definitely say to refilm the scenes that are filmed in portrait mode to make it look more professional and have it flow all together. I would also say to remove the first scene and replace it with an establishing shot of the media center since it is the location where the movie is taking place.

This student liked most of our technical elements used in the opening of the film. One thing I will sort of disagree is that this person was confused about the establishing shot of the school, and it should have been left out according to them. However, our goal was to establish as much as possible on where exactly this scene was taking place so it would not leave the audience confused. We did take the suggestion of re filming some of the vertical scenes and instead filming them horizontally. Overall, we appreciate the feedback and comments and will be making adjustments.