The Boy Who Cried Bear - ID# 334

Mundelein
Comedic Narrative
Entry Description

Two friends go for a walk in the woods. One returns home completely distraught and tells a third friend about what happened. Little to his knowledge, he may have been deceived. Music Source(s) Title and youtube link preferred “Film Noir Background music for videos”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYOvAO1rAM0&t=552s ”Sneaky Background Music for videos”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2m1h0ALpY4 “Suspenseful Epic Killer Horror Chase music”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O45Xo8wBLUI

Copyright Info

Recent Teacher Comments

  • 3/6 4:04 pm - CAMERA: No technical concerns; STORY: Enjoyed first half of story vs second. Over-reliance on dialogue & performance to tell your story; EDITING:Coverage seemed sufficient; no noticeable video editing issues; SOUND: sound mixing needed so tracks are consistent; LIGHTING: no concerns
  • 3/5 10:15 am - You all did a great job creating a humorous tone with all your decisions, from the big ones like the acting to the minor ones like the camera angles, cuts, and music points. The story is solid and keeps a good pace. Comedic narratives are hard, especially short ones, and you all did a really nice job keeping the audience informed while also unfolding a coherent story. My only issue is that the end feels a bit abrupt and the nod to the camera / breaking of the 4th wall feels almost too sudden. Having some kind of hint earlier to a script or might create more cohesion from beginning to end. Your sound work was fantastic almost all the way through, though the outside shots were a bit "airy", that's just a really hard thing to overcome without some professional-grade equipment and sound-mixing Camera work was a lot of fun and set the tone for comedy, though I would have liked for reaction shots of both guys in the living room to bit a bit tighter in on their face, but that's a personal preference. Finally, your editing really showed a nice sense of understanding how to edit a dialogue as well as keep the tension from one scene to the next. Having a bit more of a transition between the living room and the forest using a sound effect would be helpful, and then having a music change when the third person enters the scene at the end would also help hit tonal comedic change as well. Overall, great work, this is a challenging category and you all found a way to create a realistic world in a very short amount of time. Kudos especially to your "dramatic" actor who really sold the "ignorant fool" trope. Nice work team!
  • 2/24 1:24 pm - STORY: A solid, silly storyline. The main character’s melodramatic meltdowns had me chuckling. I liked the format with the flashbacks, and breaking the 4th wall by looking at the script was cleverly employed. CAMERA: Righteous use of a variety of camera angles and shot compositions. Some particularly nice shots included the 2nd exterior flashback with the slow tilt from the sky down to the forest scene. EDITING: Nice pace overall. I felt like your integration of the flashbacks and the “present” of the story was pretty evenly distributed. LIGHTING: Your use of lighting and well-lit locations is great. Your images are crisp. AUDIO: The interior scenes have better, cleaner audio (for the primary dialogue). The exterior in the woods is a bit noisier; I can tell that you put effort into cleaning up the background noise. I like how you used the music bed to create a mood. I feel like you could have gone one step further and used music as a cue for the flashback scenes (which you sort of did…but I think even more consistently would have been better).
Judge 1

Positives: The flashback/forward was structured well - good jumping points in the dialogue. I liked the initial setup - the distraught friend arriving to share his story with the skeptical friend.

Improvements: Hard to tell what happened/didn't happen from their dialogue. The "that isn't in the script" moment at the end.. Ultimately, I'm left not really understanding what happened. The flashback nature of the narrative takes away some of the punch - we know from the opening moments that something bad happened to one of the guys, so it doesn't hit as hard when it actually happens.

Judge 2

Positives: The shots are overall really well framed and the you use the different cuts very effectively. From the establishing shots of the forest to the singles in the house, close ups of bushes, eyes, etc. These shots all serve a purpose and you found really creative ways to visually tell your story. The twists are fun and I'm always a fan of the "That wasn't in the script" line!

Improvements: The sound could use work. Echoy at points and hard to hear especially when outside. The story overall though fun was also a bit one noted and I wish the ending would have more of a payoff, it takes a second to realize he was the bear. In film we always try to show not tell. Though the character says, "Mr. Bear" when addressing Jerry, even a simple shot of Jerry stepping out from the bushes to pick up his backpack and laugh would really help this piece I think.

Judge 3

Positives: Great use of the grounded straight man and the goofy character. Makes for a really entertaining interaction and fun dialogue. I enjoyed the exchange about the newspaper/financial news. I would like to see more dialogue like this.

Improvements: I appreciate the 4th wall breaking, but I think you could have taken that further. It feels a little half baked and took me out of the experience a little. Maybe have another character acknowledge what he said with confusion. I'd suggest injecting a few more funny gags, keeping the amount of time between joke beats consistent. Great work!

Judge 4

Positives:

Improvements: