The ending was interesting, though it sort of left me hanging. It’s clear that there are far too many loose threads in this film to tie everything up in a neat package at the end. Dr. Steve is no criminal mastermind, and it’s clear he wouldn’t be able to completely escape suspicion, especially when the situation begins to get out of hand, so in that sense the ending is appropriate. However, the movie sort of stops abruptly, and in a rather strange place at that.
Visual Look
The exposure, white balance, and framing of this movie are quite impressive. I especially liked the lighting inside the club, as it wasn’t too dark and had the appropriate amount of shadow and multi-color lighting. The main set – Dr. Steve’s house – was really nice, and made for a lot of interesting visuals, especially with a lot of the art on the walls. I noticed several mirrors on the walls, but didn’t see any kind of reflection from the camera – that can be tricky to manage, and it’s impressive that the director did so well in avoiding this!
There were quite a few shots that looked handheld, and although there was some slight shake, for the most part they were very smooth. I noticed that the filmmakers used a homemade steadicam, and I think that was an excellent choice. Steadily moving shots really enhanced the look of this film by adding some subtle visual interest.
I did notice, however, that in a lot of the darker shots, there were artifacts in the shadows. This is not too difficult to correct – usually it’s a rendering issue or due to the way the footage was imported into an editing program. But it would be a good thing to fix, as it can get slightly distracting to the viewer.
In addition, there were a few big shot inconsistencies that really detract from the visual look. For instance, there is one shot where Richard has his foot on Steve’s chest, holding him on the floor. Then there is a cut of just Richard, then a cut to Steve off of the floor and looking rather relaxed, sitting in a chair. There was not enough time for him to have scrambled off of the floor and gotten into the chair, and in any case that detail should have been shown on film.
Use of Audio
The dialogue in the film was clear and easy to understand, room tone was mostly consistent, and the music made a good background without being too overpowering. I did notice a couple instances of rather obvious dubbing; the volume of the audio seemed off and didn’t match the room tone. This could probably be cleaned up quite easily in post with some good audio software.
The music in this film was good; however, it seemed far too soothing. Although there is a lot of tension within the movie, it seemed tempered by elevator-type music in the background. For example, when Dr. Steve’s golfing buddy is checking the windows of the house, trying to locate his missing friend, the music should have been far more suspenseful as Tippy and Richard are trying to hide both themselves and their hostage. The more comforting tone of the music really detracts from what is quite a dramatic movie, and leaves the viewer rather confused as to how he or she should be feeling. Though later on in the film there is some better-suited music, it still would be a good idea to try to make a few changes and tailor the movie to better match the action on screen.
