Field of Dead Flowers - ID# 492
Barrington
Seven Day Challenge
Entry Description
7 Day Film Challenge MMEA Short Film
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
Judge 1
Positives: The tone is very clear-- something out of David Lynch or a Philip K. Dick novel. I love how the need to go into the VR world is very simplistic and how these two characters want to experience a beautiful place together. Your sound capture was great, considering how windy the field was. The attention to detail with wardrobe and your color grading in the VR world was complimentary.
Improvements: We have some popping in audio that could be fixed with some ADR or including more diagetic sound underneath like a breeze or birds chirping. A score would work here as well-- just something to layer to support your dialogue. I was also left wondering the significance of the dead flower. If your film is only a few minutes long and establishes a dead flower in the first act, pay it off in the third so we know what's happening in the world. Is the VR breaking down? Are the characters addicted to it? Answer the questions that your pose to your audience.
Judge 2
Positives: As a sad 35 yr old gamer and serial internet enjoyer - THIS ONE GOT ME GOOD. Great work! 1) This short is a great example how how sloooowing the moments down can be successful. What I mean by this is in 4 minutes - the essential story is - person 1 forgets they are in VR world with friend/partner - returns to sad reality, but then caves. It's very simple at it's surface, but there are larger, relatable themes and statements being made. Nice work. 2) Shot really beautifully - And sets up a nice, stark contrast with the real world (I mean, who wants to live in THAT dump?) Oh and nice music choice!
Improvements: 1) couple things caught me on the story. It goes unexplained why Theo forgets when he is in VR world. Why!? 2) This is a little more subjective/nitpicky - Most of the shots contain our characters. I would like to have seen visually more little details of what makes the VR place great, and real life stuff boring. You demonstrate rad, ethereal thinking, so it could be more than "aw man, more homework!", and really tap into why else we all escape to a virtual realm.
Judge 3
Positives: The pace was good and worked well with the tone and progression of the story. The twist revealing the VR component worked very well with the story. The shot composition of the field segments were very well done.
Improvements: The running shots could have benefitted from a little more stabilization. The filter and lighting throughout the piece made some shots hard to see. It might have been stronger to have the effect applied to just the VR segment of the video. The ending could have benefited from a little more resolution with the story.
Judge 4
Positives:
Improvements:
Judge 5
Positives:
Improvements: