4 Hour Film Challenge Critique

Four Hour Film Challenge 

Wii 4 Hour Film Challenge

The final product of this four hour film challenge, I found was entertaining and creatively thought out and edited. The Mii channel music used creates the basic narrative for the film, and I feel that the use of sound to inspire a plot and narrative is intelligent and imaginative inside-out thinking, and it is evident within each shot that the music being used in the end product was used to inspire the movement of the compositions in the classroom. The fact that the camera is kept still and at the same angle on a tri-pod throughout the film adds interesting dimension to the film; the movement of only the compositions in time to the music is almost comical in stop-motion style in synchronisation to the music, and whilst the entire film is shot within one room, each shot differs vastly to the last. The direction and framing of the characters in the film also has to be noted for it's avant -garde nature, for instance the piling of objects on Harry, or the movement of people on different chairs in different places. Each movement is well thought out and whilst it is artistic and individual, it fits well within the given brief.  In terms of editing, the use of discontinuity, specifically through montage editing creates an almost chaotic, mischievious and panache sentiment, moving swiftly between short shots creates a stop-motion look as previously mentioned, which could be seen to link to features of many cinematic new waves, including the French, American and British new waves, which all used discontinuity editing heavily to evoke a certain emotional response in their audiences.

If I were to recreate this film, I would try to get some more footage in order to make the film longer, as I feel that although the concept is there, the film is a little short and therefore leaves some to be desired at the end. Further to this, I found that sometimes the footage appeared to be out of focus when watching, this was identified as an issue whilst exporting the film from Premiere pro, and therefore I would ensure that the footage was properly rendered and exported so that it does not negatively affect the final footage.

Unusual Perspectives Film Challenge

This film had evident elements of new wave film incorporated into it's production; for example the use of red and blue filters over the camera lens to create the illusion of a split view on the screen. The use of filters was particularly emphasised in French New Wave Film, also known as 'La Nouvelle Vague'. The split screen effect displaying Alecks and Jazmine in the same shot but in almost differing or contrasting plot lines within the same scene which gives a feeling of mystery and suspense to the film and us almost suggestive of an alterior motive from one of the characters on the screen.

1920's Film Challenge.
This film challenge was done in the style of a 1920's silent film. The plot line that we decided with collectively was a chase scene using two compositions in a Benny Hill style production. There were some very creative angles used in the film; the first scene does not focus on any faces or defining features but rather focuses on the compositions' feet which gives a mysterious aura, almost as if we don't know what is going on, which continues on into the beginning of the chase between the characters. The use of title screens to explain the happenings in the film complies with the given theme and incorporates vintage styled fonts and incorporates the grain and noise that is also edited into the footage to retain the vintage, aged feel. However, I did find that at times the title screens were far too long and left the viewer almost feeling bored waiting for the continuation of footage having read the text, if I were to remake this film I would definitely shorten this. Further to this, I felt that although the plot did follow the theme of silent film, that more context and length could have been given with a few more scenes at either the beginning or at the end of the film either explaining how the item was given back or the aftermath of the film, for example, I might have shot a scene of the characters laughing together.