And,
speaking of moving shots, there were several in this film
and they were all quite shakey. Tracking shots will make
a film look great, but only if they don’t shake excessively.
(Unless you’re trying to make another version of The
Blair Witch Project, which I would not recommend.) Last
time I checked, Asbury had a homemade dolly and track available
to film students, which would’ve been a good thing
to try to check out. Otherwise, it may be better to just
forgo the moving shots altogether.
He
has a crush on a
girl named Janet...
...But
is too scared
to ask her out.
Use
of Audio
I
didn’t notice any major audio issues, though there
was some echo and audio dips in certain places. However,
considering that a computer mic was used instead of a film
mic – even the on-camera one – that probably
explains these issues. Once again, I’d suggest trying
to get a hold of Asbury’s equipment in future projects.
It also
would’ve been nice to hear more background music in
this film. As it was shot on a college campus, there were
probably plenty of people with guitars who these filmmakers
could’ve gotten to help out in this area.
Use
of Budget
As these filmmakers were college students, I can definitely
understand their desire to make a film for pocket change,
and they tried very hard to make use of all available equipment.
However, I think they overlooked one thing they could have
taken advantage of. Assbury College is very well known for
its media communications program and they have some great
equipment (i.e. the aforementioned dolly and track) that
media students can check out. It might have been a good
idea to enlist the help of a media comm student to help
with the project and run the equipment. It might have meant
losing a bit of control, but in the end the final project
would have been much better off.
Instead
he
imagines himself ...
...Doing
all the things
he wishes he could.
Lasting
Appeal
I
think a lot of people will be able to identify with the
main character in this movie, as many of us have been in
similar situations. And while there are some truly humorous
points in this movie, it does suffer in terms of technical
quality. It may be a good idea to enlist the help of a student
who has access to Asbury’s video equipment and attempt
a re-shoot of the entire film. As it stands now, the poor
visual quality really detracts from what could be a good
movie.
Overall
Comment
We’ve all been in Fritz’s position. Imagining
ourselves doing something bold in a frustrating or even
possibly dangerous situation. And – in our imagination
– we’ve stood up and said something profound
that has made people applaud, or spouted romantic verses
to a love interest who promptly threw themselves at our
feet. What really happened, however, is that we kept our
mouths shut and shrunk into the background, or when the
opportunity to speak arose, out popped something ridiculous
that made everyone giggle.
The
author of half a dozen screen plays, two novels, and a proficient
camera-woman in her own right, Monika
DeLeeuw-Taylor is Microfilmmaker's lead writing analyst and
one of our top film reviewers. When she's not writing a critique for
Microfilmmaker, she's writing screenplays for Viking Productions.
