MP 2 Reflection Post

MP 2 Peer Reflection

Zach Baughman - Time Flies

• The timer at the bottom of the screen is not just a static text. He had the colon (:) blinking to keep it as something that adds movement to it. It's a minor detail that adds something to keep attention (even if it's just to a small extent
• The placement of the title into the actual composition looks nice. For me I've always had the title of the film be in it's own composition, but seeing this helps me realize how stylistic having the title in my shot could look.
• The time is staying consistent in the shot with the watch. Nice details to canon/timeline.
• However later on he messes up the time on the computer versus the time on screen. It's important to be careful about the immersion of films with things like time. 

• When at the school, the character being alone along with no music or sounds outside of him walking adds to a sense of isolation. Even at a public setting with hundreds to thousands of people, he is alone.
• During the repetition of scenery (as that is the point of his film), it's important to know if you want to have variations of the same scenery to keep things interesting or to keep everything almost exactly the same. It deals with what kind of figurative meaning you want out of it. If it's completely the same, it drives home that idea of repetition. If it isn't completely the same, it doesn't drive home that idea as well but still keeps things interesting to watch.
• The transition from putting on the hat to after work is well done. It shows me that these kinds of transitions don't always look amateur.
• POV are actually able to communicate a lot with good composition still, something that I have found difficult to implement and have avoided in previous films for that reason. Perhaps I should try to use more POV shots in my films.

Makayla Forbes - Perfection

• I like her focus on composition. Even in her planning phase, she was focusing on sharpening her fundamentals by reinforcing her knowledge of composition and framing. While me and many others were trying to branch out with learning new skills, she made sure not to forget the foundation of what separates professionals from amateurs.

• It's also still important to make sure lighting is good. She seemed to have issues with exposure in a couple shots, specifically this one on the right. It serves as a reminder that even when it seems like a shot is set up perfectly (as in you really like how it looks), lighting is a make-it-or-break-it that can ruin it sometimes. I need to make sure my shots are lit correctly both in the actual setup of the scene but also in my camera's settings, as this can definitely be a problem in the future for me.
• With her title, Makayla elected to have her title be placed at the end of the film, making it what everything leads to and concludes with. She used her title drive home the idea of what she wanted the message of her film to be focused on.

I also like this shot because it accomplishes the idea of it being night out but also the use of that blue and purple colored lighting gives a surreal, dreamy atmosphere which conveys its own sort of meaning.

Noah Josef - Monkey Business 2

• I like the masking jobs done at the beginning and the end of the film. I think it adds a nice sense of professional style to the work that keeps it looking cool as well. Also, using different clips in the masks reminds me of Marvel trailers that get the audience hyped for what's to come.
• I think that this film probably had the best acting out of all of the ones I've seen, and it's helped me realize just how impactful good acting can have on the immersion and overall professionalism of an amateur work such as a student film. It really brings things together a lot better than I thought previously.
• The transition from the main character sleeping to waking up abruptly in a disturbingly lit area is very well done. It goes from a fade out to show him falling asleep, but instead of fading back in we have a sharp cut to the next scene, where he is waking up immediately confused and concerned.
• Also, the cinematography that can be found in one's house is plentiful. When I did a short film in my house last year, I was thinking that I really couldn't find good spaces for nice composition for shots. However, I'm starting to think that maybe I just wasn't looking hard enough. Shots like this one below show me that houses can be great locations for clean cinematography.