Tomato-nado - ID# 418
Batavia
Comedic Narrative
Entry Description
A small town - ripe for disaster - panics, doubts, and prepares for the worst when a storm of unnatural proportions approaches.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/25 1:47 pm - I'm a sucker for the Shark-nado movies, so this is so fun! Great work on the the graphics. I thought this was written very well and the comedic timing with the music was good. Some of the handheld shots were very shaky. Remember when shooting handheld that you should try to stay as stable as possible.
- 4/24 11:40 am - Clever concept to address fake news. Lots of variety in shots, locations, graphics. Good story structure and good payoff at the end. The music choices felt OK, but not necessarily doing more than adding recognizable songs. Some of this felt a bit too silly and amateur, especially the actors' performances. This may have worked better with all the actors playing serious, but have the situation be absurd to the audience, and that one guy. Overall lots of good stuff here, and fun to watch.
- 4/21 12:25 pm - Music selection works well with the images you recorded. Good variety of different camera angles throughout the video. Editing is well done. Good use of hand-held camera shots. Keep producing more videos.
Judge 1
Positives: Fun take on preposterous disaster movies. Loved the "no wonder the graduation rate is so low" line. Weather forecast graphics and past storm pictures were fun. The family preparedness kits were a nice touch.
Improvements: The song lyrics seemed to be a bit random and did not necessarily advance the storyline. You spent considerable time on his researching. Maybe some shots of what he found like a fake Snopes or Wikipedia page debunking the storm would have filled that sequence out. The interior sheriff interview was a good idea, but the outdoor shots seemed a bit contrived.
Judge 2
Positives: The story is funny before the video even begins because "Tomato-nado" rolls off the tongue and prepares the viewer for a story that can't possibly take itself too seriously. Starting with the news broadcast was the perfect intro. It establishes the story as realistic despite it obviously being absurd. That dynamic sets the tone for the campiness that follows. The Hey Ya line was delivered perfectly. Made me chuckle out loud.
Improvements: The story kinda lost me at 1:37 when we cut to the broadcast featuring the sheriff. The sheriff didn't even look up at the camera! It felt unnecessary when the rest of the story was already revolving around the dude in the blue Champion sweatshirt. And the soundtrack was distracting as well. Using real songs with lyrics detracted from the story in my opinion. But overall, it was fun and kept my interest til the end.
Judge 3
Positives: Impressive job throwing together that weather report in the beginning! Consistently great use of visual gags. Solid, potent ending with the tomato drop and "run". Also, points awarded for "Dancing in the Moonlight" - a personal favorite, Great work all around!
Improvements: I can't offer much here besides some nitpicks, but the sound design suffered a little bit from wind exposure. If possible, you could reduce the natural sound in those places, and augment with additional music as necessary. Really great work all around! Keep making movies!
Judge 4
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Judge 5
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