I got Next - ID# 254
Crown Point
Comedic Narrative
Entry Description
A young girl struggles to compete with an older, stronger, more dominant basketball player. As she trains and works to get better, she begins to gain the confidence to hopefully come back and get a win. Music from Audio Network library.
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/22 5:21 pm - Shots were very well composed. Good use of low angle shots. Editing and camera movements were well done. Performers did a very good job throughout the production. Music and sound effects that you selected were very effective.
- 4/22 1:05 pm - When I first viewed this, I didn't feel like it fit into the comedic category because the big "a-ha" or "laugh" is in the reaction of the smallest child at the end. It plays more like a traditional sports genre film with a twist. The narrative idea, "I work really hard in the end, I'll win". The twist though is the comedy and I really appreciated that. It was different than what was expected. That being said, this felt like a long form Gatorade or Nike commercial-- and I mean that in a good way! The lead actor (the young girl) does a great job as a hardworking athlete, the little kids expression at the end is priceless. The areas that were desaturated worked for me only because the end scene (little kid gets challenged) isn't that subdued with color. It's almost like the training and matches against the older kid could have all been imagination in the girl's mind. I'm probably reading way too much into it, but this whole thing worked on different levels for me. Well shot, well edited and overall my favorite piece in the category!
- 4/19 9:05 pm - Very good work in terms of a complete narrative and in terms of production value. The story was simple, the conflict was simple and the payoff was there at the end. Nice work both with cinematography and with sound. The steadicam work was impressive. The editing paced very well with the music and nice work stylistically cutting to the music and effects throughout. My only real issue is that the story wasn't that compelling and it felt rather long. I didn't really connect all that well with the protagonist. In my opinion, this film either needed to be about a minute shorter or it needed an additional story element or conflict. It needed stakes or a better way to hook the audience into caring about the protagonist. Why did she have to beat this guy? What did she stand to lose? Answering those questions in the film would have led to a more compelling narrative without losing the comedic payoff of total domination. I'm assuming you did some color grading on this project, but the grading made everything look rather muted and drab. In my opinion, a more colorful, saturated look would have worked better at least in parts.
Judge 1
Positives: Camera: A real strength of this piece. Creative shot compositions, nice variety of shots and angles, cool rack focus, etc. Story: I like the unexpected outcome and lesson learned in the final VO. I also like the final tag with the little kid. Funny stuff, and a fresh departure from the “hard work pays off” cliche we see too much of.
Improvements: Not too much to harp on here. I suppose your audio could be better. Seems like sometimes you had a lav and sometimes you didn’t. I you might be a tad heavyhanded with your music tracks. I did find myself noticing the frequent changes in the music, which is generally not what you want. (My thought is that if it’s done well, it doesn’t draw attention to itself.) Fairly nit-picky notes. This is good work.
Judge 2
Positives: Really strong camera work and editing. Strong performances by the actors. Nice twist where the Protagonist does *not* prevail and the last bit is a nifty topper.
Improvements: Not much to improve, perhaps cut it down to 4 minutes, mostly by trimming the hoops and training sequences.
Judge 3
Positives: Very well done. Great acting, great action
Improvements: I wouldn't change a thing—very well done
Judge 4
Positives:
Improvements: