"No Signal" Trailer
Neuqua Valley
Movie Trailer
Entry Description
A group of young men find a mysterious VHS tape in the woods. Upon bringing it back to their home to watch it, they find it to be more sinister than they could ever have expected. The trailer poses one question: "What's on the tape?"
Judge 1
Positives: "No Signal" excels in utilizing dramatic SFX hits/rises to effectively build tension. This is a well-edited piece and cleverly uses movie trailer 'tropes' (slams to black, rising momentum with an increasingly dramatic montage) to its advantage. There were a few examples of well composed images, accented by impressive lighting – such as the lateral tracking shot as a young man runs up the staircase, or the edge-lighting on a subject as he cries/puts his hand to his head. These visual elements, in addition to some creative color correction, really help give the piece a suspenseful, grungy aesthetic.
Improvements: Some of the audio work could be polished, particularly at the start of the piece (with dialogue and ambient outdoor sound). This trailer plays more like a teaser in nature – withholding some narrative and using mystery to guide it. While that can be effective, a few extra expositional lines of dialogue, or some striking imagery could have revealed a little more about this mysterious tape that these gentleman find. We need a small glimpse of what they're seeing on the tape to really sell the mystery. There were also a few moments where the lighting felt a little flat, and the piece could have benefitted from additional fluid camera movement to sell suspenseful moments.
Judge 2
Positives: Great edit and storytelling! Was able to tell what the story was about without knowing too much. The shot of the foot hitting the wall as it's dragged is awesome! Well done.
Improvements: Wish it was lit a little better. Picture gets a little grainy and dark in some places. Some sound design on the end title could really help the ending.
Judge 3
Positives:
Improvements:
Judge 4
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