After my critique of his last film, Mr. Williams and his team made sure they stopped using the on-board mic on the camera and, instead, got a boom, a shotgun mic, and an audio editor. These were all the right choices. Unfortunately, as so often happens when we start doing something a completely new way, there are still a number of glitches that need to get straightened out.
Right now, the audio is clear during some sequences (mostly those where Williams’ Det. Lewis is going into a diatribe of some sort), but, at other times, it’s so distorted as to be painful. Sometimes these seemed to be related to the distance that the mic was held from the person speaking, while other times it seemed as though there were actually equipment issues with the mics. (Always test the batteries for the mics at the beginning of each shooting day to make sure that they aren’t low.) We actually wrote an article on the basics of getting the best possible audio on a low-budget which would be very good to read for future movies.
The only way to correct the current number of dialogue issues in the film is through ADR. We have an article on doing that and making it sound like it’s in the right environment here.
Now, while there were issues with the spoken dialogue, the urban rap that was chosen for the soundtrack fit very well within the feel of the piece.
The overall $2,000 budget is certainly not bad for a feature-length film. However, considering the issues with lighting, audio, and camerawork, I would have liked to have seen a little more money invested in these areas. Hopefully, this will be something that can be focused a little more on in Mr. Williams’ future films.
Although The CrossOver definitely has potential, its current number of setbacks makes it one that I’m not terribly interested in rewatching or showing to others. If it’s redubbed and re-edited in a manner that makes more consistent sense, then that would be another matter.
While The CrossOver may have a lower overall score than Mr. Williams last film, it was also much more complicated and more difficult to shoot. As such, I really feel like Williams and team are growing as low-budget filmmakers and I look forward to seeing what they do with their next film as they have time to work on these new elements of their filmmaking game.
