Amtrak: Los Retros - ID# 554
Maine East
Music Video
Entry Description
A boy experiences unrequited love for a girl during a filming project.
Copyright Info
Recent Teacher Comments
- 4/16 10:56 am - STORY: Overall, this video tells a story that is easy to follow and relatable. Your video communicates emotion through action and body language without having to use dialogue. The classic note passing sequence brings in that sense of nostalgia and charm. Great use of the crumpled paper as a transition. It’s stylistic and purposeful, helping to push the story forward. Something to note is that the note-writing scene at the beginning plays out in one long take. To build more visual interest consider adding in a few cutaways, like a close-up of the pencil marking “yes” or a low-angle shot of the paper sliding across the desk. SOUND: Your audio is mixed appropriately. As a bonus, consider adding in the sounds from the clips that you include in your video. This can be very subtle under the music track. Maybe there is a laugh in one of the videos - that would be a nice touch to hear! CAMERA: There’s a mix of different camera shots and angles throughout your music video. I really like your close-up shot at 1:49! Well done! Your shot at 0:04 from the opening sequence is framed from a low angle and includes a lot of extra unneeded headroom above the character. The from below framing gives an unintentional sense of power and authority. If that's the goal, it works. If not, consider reframing at eye level and reducing the headroom for a more neutral and balanced composition. There are a lot of shaky shots like at 0:42 and 1:01 that disrupt the flow of your video These were probably meant to be filmed in the moment, but if a tripod is not readily accessible try tucking your elbows close into your body so that your arms can be a bit more still as you are holding the camera. You have a few shots out of focus like at 1:26 and 1:54. Always double-check your focus and even review footage on set if needed. The shot with the window at 2:40 causes the background to be blown out. Typically you don’t want to film into a window if you are filming indoors. Flipping the entire setup so that that subject faces the window will give you better exposure on the actor’s face and avoid harsh lighting/contrast. LIGHTING: You use most of the available lighting effectively throughout your video. As mentioned above, avoid facing the camera into bright windows when shooting indoors. Use natural light to your advantage by letting it illuminate your subjects rather than wash out the background. EDITING: Your overall pacing is consistent. The aspect ratio shift at 1:49 is interesting but needs clarification. If the girl is associated with the 4:3 aspect ratio, she should remain in that format for consistency. Right now, at 1:49, we see her in both widescreen and 4:3 a frame later, which weakens the potential symbolic meaning. There are moments like at 0:40, 0:53 and 1:49 where you cut to a clip and then a frame later the 4:3 comes in. You should be cutting straight on to the 4:3 so that we don’t see the girls in the widescreen footage. A good example of this in your video is the moment at 0:48. We cut to footage of the girl and it goes straight to 4:3. Overall your video tells a relatable story that includes some solid visual choices. With some more focus on camera work, lighting and final touches in editing your storytelling can become even stronger! Great work!
- 2/18 10:04 am - The video does a solid job of telling a story, effectively using visuals to convey the narrative and emotions behind the song. The storyline is clear and easy to follow, making it relatable and engaging for the viewer. The way the video aligns with the music helps enhance the storytelling, creating a smooth connection between the lyrics and the visuals. It's evident that a lot of thought went into crafting a cohesive narrative, and this is a strong point of the video. However, the video could benefit from a greater variety of camera angles. While the shots are effective, experimenting with different perspectives—such as close-ups, wide shots, and over-the-shoulder views—could add more visual variety and excitement. By using a wider range of angles, the video would feel more dynamic and help maintain the viewer’s interest throughout the entire piece. Additionally, incorporating depth of field could bring more focus to key moments and subjects. Using shallow depth of field in particular can help isolate characters or important objects in the scene, creating more emphasis and guiding the viewer’s eye toward the most relevant elements. This technique could help elevate the video, making each frame feel more intentional and focused. Lighting techniques also present an opportunity for improvement. The video would benefit from more variety in how lighting is used, whether it's through creating dramatic shadows, using softer light for reflective moments, or experimenting with colored lighting to evoke different moods. Lighting can greatly impact the tone and atmosphere of a scene, and varying it throughout the video would help reinforce the emotional journey of the story. Overall, this is a strong music video with a clear and compelling story. By introducing more camera angles, depth of field, and creative lighting techniques, the visual interest could be heightened, making the video even more engaging and immersive. Keep up the great work!
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