Bellino's Break-In - ID# 498
Glenbrook South
Seven Day Challenge
Entry Description
Two friends try to figure out how to get an easy A. They decide to put matters into their own hands and to break into their teacher's house to get test answers.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
Judge 1
Positives: This is legitimately funny and paced perfectly for the type of story. I get a strong sense of who these characters are. Even though they are pulling off a heist, I'm still rooting for them. They are lovable in their incompetence. The camera movement amplifies the narrative and matches the mood of the film. Your choices are smart with your cinematography editing-- even lower-lit shots are not underexposed, and your foley is mixed well. Tip: do not mix your foley wearing headphones. Mix on external speakers so you can hear everything out in the open. I laughed out loud on the final shot when the bunny was in the backpack. Excellent stuff.
Improvements: Be careful jumping back and forth on phone conversations when your audio doesn't match. Make sure you are capturing your location audio as consistently as possible or putting a filter on phone conversations if we are only hearing it instead of seeing the speaker. Also, it was unclear in the beginning that this was the ACT. Raise the stakes on how important the test is so stealing the answers is the only option for your plot.
Judge 2
Positives: Nice work!!! and cut to Le Tigre!! 1) really great shooting!! It can be so challenging to shoot in multiple locations at different times of day, and you pulled it off really well! I felt a strong sense of intention in the shooting, which is to say - thinking through how each scene is shot, and how it connects to the prior and next scene. 2) Good sound! Well captured dialogue, SFX, and music - all with good levels - great work.
Improvements: 1) I was caught up a bit at the end, something about maybe a rabbit being in the book bag? This may totally be an inside joke, which is kinda ok!! Just be mindful of your intended audience, and clarity of storytelling. 2) Cut this down!! I think it could be about 30-45 seconds shorter. Part of this note is based on the well understood "heist" genre. The viewer tends to be familiar with the ways the story is carried forward, so trimming all the little bits that don't serve to move the story forward will help you!
Judge 3
Positives: The story was well-paced and engaging to the viewer. The variety of camera shots and angles along with movement in the camera work added to the tone of the piece and helped keep the story moving. The music fit well with the narrative and the dialogue was convincing and strong.
Improvements: The audio and dialogue between phone calls could have benefitted from an effect to make it sound more like a phone call. The sequence during the break-in could have been cut quicker to match the tone of the situation.
Judge 4
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Judge 5
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