Distraction in Transition - ID# 425

Lake Forest

Division: A

Music Video

Entry Description

What your device really shows you

Recent Teacher Comments

• 3/12 9:55 pm - Nice effort, but I think some of the technical elements were not really excited that well. The shot of the students behind the main character as they were sort of half fading away was confusing. Some students who don't know all of those icons might also not be able to follow what is going on. I get the ending, but the journey there was confusing.
• 3/10 3:44 pm - Creative concept for these lyrics! For the most part, the narrative felt clear...but then a little unclear in spots. However, I do think your overall message was evident at the end. In terms of cinematography, some of your shots felt more engaging than others; though, I think the video was nicely built throughout!

Judge 1

Positives: 1. Nice job building the story. By showing multiple days, you build a progression and story arc to the character. I also enjoyed how the edit became faster as the storyline and the song progressed. 2. I enjoyed your use of VFX to help progress the story and add additional information to the video. I like how you added the social media icons that tracked with the students in the hallways. It was a creative and quick way to show what is occupying their attention.

Improvements: 1. It would be nice to see a greater variety of shots. I feel like a lot of the shots were wide and centered. This is okay, people like Wes Anderson have built a career off this, but the framing should match the emotion of the piece. I think the wide shots actually helped match his emotion of being lonely in the beginning of the piece, but as the piece progressed and as he became interested in the girl (and when he talked to her at the end) this change in the story should motivate a change in the camera shots. An intimate close up at the end would show how the boy and girl are engaged with one another. 2. I would suggest to add some more emotion / mood through your lighting. I feel like your lighting was mostly even and bright, which didn't reflect the stories theme of isolation and loneliness. A lot of the time, good lighting means taking away light and using fewer sources - especially when you are trying to add a mood to your visuals. Try focusing on one light source for emotional pieces. Also, try to have the shadow-side of the actor's face to camera. This way you see more dimensionality and contrast.

Judge 2

Positives: Great use of motion tracking and visual effects. They were the strongest aspect of this piece. The camera work is solid. Exposures are on point. Framing is purposeful and well composed. Tracking shots are smooth.

Improvements: Music levels jumped a few times and that was distracting. The song was already mastered by the recording engineers and there was no competing location sound or dialogue so it is confusing why the jumps occurred. Going through multiple days in quick succession is difficult to pull off without feeling redundant or worn out. Slightly different angles for each pass of the daily routine will help keep these fresh and not feel like we've already been through this for the viewer.

Judge 3

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Judge 4

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