Sergi's Game - ID# 332

York

Division: A

Comedic Narrative

Entry Description

A lone chess player creatively finds someone to play with.

Recent Teacher Comments

• 4/25 11:08 am - Beautiful composition and lighting at the beginning. Camera in auto focus? so it didn't focus on what should have been in focus. Story not funny.
• 4/24 5:17 pm - Great shot composition. Close-Up shots work well to capture the viewer's attention. Great performance. Editing builds.
• 3/14 7:32 am - I like the opening XCUs of the set-up of the board and you leaning in to the board to transition to the game. Nice pacing of the edits to build excitement. Cutting picks up as the game progresses, but the really nice one is the first break from real time as you walk back to the couch the second time. That really sets up the montage. The French accordion music creates a sad-sack, almost Mime feel that works well. I also enjoyed the allusion to Jedi Mind Tricks in the distraction with the poster. This was well planned, well thought out and well executed.
• 3/5 1:24 pm - I like the cinematography so far. Great variety of shots and angles in the opening montage. You continued to challenge yourself with a variety of shots throughout the piece. We are betting that you shot this by yourself; if that’s the case, we’re even more impressed. At first, the editing pace was slow, but I realized this was intentional. I liked how as their game progressed, the pace of the edits (duration of shots on screen) picked up in speed. Lighting was solid in the opening scene and throughout the piece. Great musical choice - worked well for the introduction and throughout the piece. Clever and funny overall. Well done.

Judge 1

Positives: The camera angles were well done. I liked the money passing scene.

Improvements: It went a little long. Maybe shorter cuts?

Judge 2

Positives: This was a lot of fun! Enjoyed the light-hearted spirit. Story was simple but complete. Acting, special effects and editing -- very nice. One of my favorites! You did a really nice job of setting your story in motion. The goal of your main character was very clear. Though I kinda knew where you were going with the story, I enjoyed the journey and the choices you made along the way. Romantic comedies have this same kind of challenge, narratively speaking. You know the couple will eventually get together and fall madly in love. What you don't know is how they get there. Long story short -- nice job!

Improvements: Character wise, would love to see more of an emotional ramp for each character as the story unfolded. Some of the reactions were too similar and therefore felt redundant. The ending, when player 1 wins and collects his cash, it would've been nice to have one more character beat where he realizes that he had to cheat to beat himself. So, basically, he wins. Celebrates. Collects reward. Gloats. Then realizes what a fool he is. That might've been your intention but it wasn't visible in the wide shot.

Judge 3

Positives: Very well shot and edited, nice choice of bed music, I liked the shot reverse shot as the guy played chess with himself. I loved this one.

Improvements: Nothing. It was awesome.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: