I am Oliver.

York

Documentary

Entry Description

Oliver Chadra, 17, speaks about his experience with coming out as female-to-male transgender in a short personal documentary.

Judge 1

Positives: Beautifully done. Liked the black and white film. Liked the typography. Liked starting tight on the kid in the beginning -- very arresting. Music was a nice complement to this. Very professionally done, very moving. Great choices throughout.

Improvements: There was a sound glitch on the girl's interview -- some white noise when she talked. A minor thing but mars an otherwise excellent film. I could've watched the film even longer. Seems worth more than 2:30. But very well done. Bravo!

Judge 2

Positives: Very compelling and emotional piece! Great story telling. I really like the way you started it with Oliver sitting down. Excellent b-roll of Oliver looking in the mirror. Very "fly-on-the-wall" and intimate. Very nice cut away montage. Excellent use of clips and it gave your piece more credibility and validity. Love the way Oliver's interview was shot - it fit the mood of the piece very well.

Improvements: Michelle's audio was blown out. It would've been better to re-shoot it, if possible. It would not have been usable for an "on-air" piece. It looked as though Oliver was looking away at cue cards, which was very distracting. Rather than having him follow a script, it would've been better to do a pre-interview off camera and then write interview questions that lead to the exact answers you're looking for... and have him answer looking directly into the camera, without looking away.

Judge 3

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Judge 4

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