Anonymous Bee

Eisenhower

Seven Day Challenge

Entry Description

A boy is humiliated at the annual spelling bee, harassed by his teacher, and has no one to help him. But that's what he thinks until he meets Coach Max.

Judge 1

Positives: The montage of Carter working hard and studying with the other student worked well. The music worked well to keep the pacing of the shots moving and it worked well to convey how hard he was working to study for the competition. Same goes for the montage after he finds the flash drive. Starting the film with the flashback to the previous year's competition was a quick way to set up Carter's insecurities about this year's competition and also to establish the relationship between him and his teacher. It heightened the stakes for why he wants to do so well now, and also gives him more of a motivation to take the flash drive.

Improvements: There were certain shots that had a different volume of room tone, or lacked it all together. When cutting to these shots from much noisier shots, the cut became much more obvious and a bit jarring. There could have been more of a balance between the volumes or both dialogue and ambient tracks between shots. Certain cuts didn't feel super necessary. In the opening scene, the dolly shot across Carter's torso didn't give us any new information and therefore we didn't need to cut to that. There were also a lot of cuts back and forth during the conversation between Carter and the previous champion that felt a bit too choppy back and forth.

Judge 2

Positives: The filmmakers employ some great shots in the service of the narrative, specifically the close up that opens the film, the wide shot of Carter on the stage, the shot of carter walking down the hall in profile with foreground elements, and the shot circling carter backstage. The lead character is clearly defined as having a goal and wanting to achieve it. The problem is set up effectively at the beginning of the film.

Improvements: The purpose of some of the characters and the conclusion of the narrative could be better articulated to the audience. Specifically the mentor carter meets in the library, the bullies, the role of the teacher in relation to the spelling bee, and the role of the boy backstage. It is unclear to the viewer if Carter will or will not cheat or even if he has the knowledge/looked at the answers to do so. The editing could be improved upon in several ways. The cross dissolves took the viewer out of the story as did the short interruption of music in the library scene. I believe the music works in the montage but not in the other instances. Continuity of spacial sounds could be better blended and some awkward cut ins to close ups, such as the first scene close ups of the feet and hands, could be omitted from the scene without losing meaning. Additionally the sped up camera sections felt at times disorienting

Judge 3

Positives:

Improvements:

Judge 4

Positives: Great opening scene. This does a great job of setting up the story. I thought that the concept of this video was creative. I like how you show the internal struggle that he is going through, when he finds the flashdrive. Very good job editing this piece. It can be very hard to edit when there is so much motion, but you do it very well.

Improvements: Some of the camera motions are very quick, and shaky which makes it tough to follow for me. I can see the story, but I am distracted by the camera movements. I wish that there was a more developed relationship between student and coach, that would have made the story even stronger. Watch your lighting. At times it is a little dark. Minor detail watch the position of your mic. I can see it on the teacher.