"Pursued" - Short Film - Natasha Araneta - 2018 - ID# 287

South Elgin

Division: AA

Dramatic Narrative

Entry Description

Dramatic narrative. Paranoia feeds upon a young man who tries to escape the consequences of his risky actions.

Recent Teacher Comments

• 4/2 11:27 am - Pursued Nice shots at the beginning - interchanging webcam with camcorder Good use of available lighting Confusing plot line Took too long to develop Music/sound effects were not as effective as they could have been due to placement Shots of mural broke storyline
• 3/10 11:41 am - Story: I think this is the right scope in terms of story for a short film. You do a good job of giving us enough info to care and follow, without getting bogged down in unnecessary trivia. And you capture the feeling of a trippy, horror flick. I don’t know that it really pays off as well as it could. I think if you built up the knock on the door as the big reveal of the killer, and then it just turned out to be the brother (or whoever he is), you could play it off like he was getting freaked out over nothing. We’d let our guard down, and then you could jump scare us with an unexpected killing of the brother. Just a thought. Camera: Generally solid work, but also generally a little sloppy. Some focus issues. Sometimes your narrow depth of focus works, sometimes not. Same for your handheld shots. Lighting: I think this could use some polish as well. A lot of it is fine, but you have some low light shots where a little fill would help. And there’s quite a few shots of him in bed, falling asleep, etc. where the light is very bright. This doesn’t help create the creepy mood you’re going for. Sound: Again, solid but not always polished. I like what I think are traffic sounds at the top, but they don’t cut out when he shuts the door. I like your creepy music track, but I think it cuts out abruptly when he’s at the computer. The alarming sound effect works pretty well with the music, but it sounds sort of amateurish when you use it alone. Editing: Basically good work. I think some kind of openingn or closing credits would add a degree of polish. Final Thoughts: This has good bones, but I think it would benefit from a bit more attention to detail.

Judge 1

Positives:

Improvements:

Judge 2

Positives: The use of emails and text messages were used effectively, and I like the effort to keep the story contained to the one evening (the iPhone clock fade was a nice element).

Improvements: The motivations of the main character were unclear - who is he, what did he do, and why was he being stalked? Also, the ending was confusing - both of the characters at the end look pretty similar (male, glasses, short hair) and I had to watch again to determine who was who and what figure out what exactly was happening.

Judge 3

Positives: Sound, overall, was quite effective. Good tracks, well-placed. Some interesting camera work. Not all of it works, but good job getting creative with your shots, perspectives, compositions, etc.

Improvements: Your lighting is fine, but I don't know that you always use it to your advantage. The dorm room was pretty bright the whole time, which is easy to shoot in, but it doesn't do much to enhance the scary vibe.

Judge 4

Positives:

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