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Critique Picture
   Short Film Critique: 
   Smile Wide for Sunshine Girl

   Director: Tyler Easterbrook
   Expected Rating: PG-13
   Distribution: None
   Budget: $150
   Genre: Experimental

   Running Time: 4 minutes 30 seconds

   Release Dates: October 2009
   Website: http://www.myspace.com/tyler387
   Trailer: None
   Review Date: December 1, 2009
   Reviewed By: Monika DeLeeuw-Taylor

Final Score:
7.2
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"I once had a dream
I was the darkness
And I was the light
I was everything
And I was nothing
I was alive
And I was dead"

Content
Disclaimer: Despite the fact that I am both an artist and filmmaker, I find it very difficult to describe or even critique this movie, as it is very much in the experimental/art film style, and as such does not fall into traditional filmmaker categories.  As our critiques are designed to help filmmakers reach a larger audience, films that are specifically designed to appeal to a very small group of people (in this case, nihilists) are difficult to critique. 

The film starts in a forest during the late fall, as the trees are bare and leaves cover the ground. An introductory sequence of the female protagonist walking through the forest is very well-done and eerily beautiful, in contrast to a series of quick cuts of this same character taking pills and self-destructing. It’s a great ironic contrast and supports the concept of nihilism that is explored throughout this film.

I was
the darkness...
...And I was
the light.

Visual Look
The film was shot in black and white, which is not only much easier for beginners than working in color, but is a favorite choice for art films as well. Though there are less technical issues to worry about than shooting in color, the big thing to be concerned about is contrast, as that is made glaringly obvious in black and white. This was a very evident problem in this film. While the exterior scenes in the woods looked much better – because sunlight is much more consistent – the interiors had far too much variation between too little contrast and too much. This could have been fixed by keeping consistent lighting in each scene, and it would have helped to have a monitor hooked up to the camera while shooting as well.

Multiple cutaway shots that were used throughout the film, at times, seemed to go by too quick, and at times were too dark, to really see what was going on. Though these are supposed to contrast with the exterior scene, the mere fact that they are shot indoors and put together in quick cuts rather than a long take does give them enough of a differentiation so that these scenes don’t need to be so hard to see.

In addition, the filmmaker waited to cut in the main titles until it was almost the middle of the film, and, due to their lateness and the fact that they were on a black card with white text, I at first thought that was the end of the movie. It probably should have been placed near the ending or been intercut with action, so the audience doesn’t think it’s over.   

I was
everything...
...And I
was nothing.

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