SB Cinematography Reel - ID# 282

Downers Grove North

Cinematography

Entry Description

A dynamic DP reel that showcases natural and artificial lighting and dynamic scenes pulled mostly form short original fictional films. MUSIC Last Stand https://www.purple-planet.com/tracks/last-stand

Copyright Info

Recent Teacher Comments

• 4/29 8:42 am - Pros - Composition, framing, balance all top notch. Mis-en-scene creates intrigue and tension in your shots that make for a compelling watch. Use of artificial light is very strong (:42, :58, 1:14) and practical lighting effects were executed well, especially garage door opening at the beginning and trunk opening at the end of your reel; smoke and haze created nice texture. Focus is strong - nice rack focus at :21. Many shots, like :30 and :33, had subtle movement which positively affects the viewing experience and adds a layer for audience to dissect. Cons - Overall a very strong reel. Watch your exposure, especially daytime exterior; the sequence beginning 0:26 has over-cooked highlights that wash out detail. Forest shot at 0:32 has strange shake to it that is distracting. Drone footage was ok; not sure it really adds much to your work, which is impressive.
• 4/6 12:56 pm - Fantastic use of light in a variety of spaces and places that demonstrate your ability to control, but also use artificial light to your advantage. The diverse looks, moods, and genres showed your eye, but also your ability to construct a meaningful reel that engages and inspires the audience- well done.

Judge 1

Positives: Great variety of interior/exterior lighting situations. You demonstrate great control of lighting and color grading Shot compositions look great throughout and appear to be very narrative driven.

Improvements: Because you have some many good looking shots, a few shots that have minor flaws stick out. :26, :28 subject is slightly overexposed. At :31 you have soft focus on your subject

Judge 2

Positives: A very dramatic and good use of the music and visuals. The anxiety laden tone of the music complements the nature of the film... and the visual pacing is really well done. The introduction of the cinematographer's single title card on the downbeat of the music was dramatic and successful. Overall dynamics is set up through a proper and healthy use of lighting and color palette. The editing is well done and the 'ticking time bomb' nature of the visual tapestry builds up to a conclusion that ask for more. The end scene suggests that there is more to come and wants the viewer to view the film (or in this case, the cinematographer's presentation of other works).

Improvements: The opening segment (0-13 sec mark) is well done, but this reviewer would like to have seen the opening credits first and the remainder of the reel in its entirety so that it did not take away from the analysis, or enjoyment, of the reel (it briefly took one out ot the the reel). While the overall pacing is good, some scenes could have use a few more frames. One such segment is the lighting of the candle (54-55 sec mark); it could have used another beat so we could breathe a bit with the last part of the match being lit. Another scene (or scenes) is when the camera is doing the night scene (1:34-1:35 sec mark) when the car starts up. Needs a beat to finish the ignition sequence. This reviewer realizes that the cinematographer relies on the rhythm/pacing of the music (nothing wrong in that) but sacrifices the visual tempo for it. This is not so much a negative comment but an encouragement to prioritize the camera work over the score (as this is a cinematography reel). Having said that, I think the most emotionally satisfying segment is where we take a moment with the young actress looking straight into the camera (1:25-1:29 sec mark) giving us some a visual moment to breathe with her, before the last dramatic part of the reel. I think editing to the slower, more nuanced sections of the music are far more effective than on the downbeats/new-cut-to-a-scene in this case.

Judge 3

Positives: The lighting techniques throughout this piece were strong. There was a great variety of daytime and nighttime shots which really showed a level of skill. The drone shots were clear and steady and were composed well. As a whole, this piece demonstrated a strong level of creativity.

Improvements: I think this piece could have been edited together a bit more quickly as some of the shots felt long. The drone shot at 0:41 was a bit shaky or not rendered. I would have liked to see more creative angles throughout the piece.

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: