BRANDON PAQUIN - MUSIC VIDEO - MMEA SUBMISSION 2017 - ID# 56

South Elgin

Music Video

Entry Description

Loss and remembrance is experienced through the tragic passing of a member of the family.

Recent Teacher Comments

• 3/6 7:52 pm - A very compelling story- well thought out and emotional. Would like to have seen more developement of the parts where he thought the dog was still with him- aka the sliding glass door shot. A couple shots were out of focus. Good use of slow motion, and pretty good acting from the dog! Would like to have seen a singer in this music video- could have added to the emotional tone of the whole thing. Overall, it was a good video that touched the hearts of many.
• 2/28 12:57 pm - Well thought out storytelling with a powerful message and tough provoking. Great shot of silhouette of the boy putting down the blanket. Entertaining and good pace througout.

Judge 1

Positives: The narrative was simple and clear. I was able to discern the story quickly. The relationship between the boy and his dog was well developed. Simple but effective snapshots of his memories of time spent with the dog evoked emotion. I'm a dog person and it was very easy to relate to the protagonist. It's not always easy to make a viewer feel something, especially not nostalgic, dread or sadness, but this piece successfully brought those out.

Improvements: Camera work, specifically with respect to focus and stabilization: Some shots appeared out of focus when it seemed the intent was for everything to be sharply in focus. Additionally, some of the shots were shaky to the point where they looked amateurish and not prescriptively handheld or "loose head". Use of a monopod as an alternative to handheld would raise the quality of the camera work and thus the quality of the piece overall. Length: the message of the piece had been conveyed before the halfway point and the piece would have been more effective if it had been more concise. Making purposeful cuts to the song would allow for this. At the current length the point of this painful subject is belabored and serves to reduce the impact of the climactic moment rather than heighten it.

Judge 2

Positives: Overall excellent job on this. You took the time to get all of the necessary shots to show your story. Not everyone takes the time to get the details. The sound quality was excellent.

Improvements: There were times that was a bit confused if the dog was still alive or not. Maybe the "flashback" scenes could be in black and white?

Judge 3

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Judge 4

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