Jump to content

Looking for some honest feedback on my cinematography in this short film


Recommended Posts

This is a short film I shot earlier this year - Buden (Awake; directed by Simon Moe and Lara Lovrič). I also worked as a 1st AD, editor, producer, sound designer and colorist. The language is Slovene but it has HQ English subtitles. We are enthusiast student filmmakers with aprox. 4 years filmmaking experience. International festival Zoom 11 chose this film as one of the "Top 10" film (503 were submitted).I would be very happy to get some honest feedback, specifically on my cinematography. Majority of the film was shot on Canon EOS cams, the slow-mo sequence was shot on Sony A7s and some internal shots on Nikon D3300.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tg5angkY8Ig&t=72s

 

Thank you and best regards, Martin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just watched the whole thing. First off, great job! It's a good story with a beginning, middle, and end; and you told it in a way that makes sense.

 

My favorite shot is the walking shot at 1:15 where the homeless person asks for change. The camera switches sides, relegating the homeless person to the corner of the frame. I'm sure everyone knows what it's like to look at a homeless person out of the corner of your eye, while trying to avoid a conversation. Great use of camera movement to put the audience in the shoes of your protagonist.

 

Some constructive criticism:

1. The color grade wasn't consistent throughout. For example, the colors at 7:15 and 7:20 don't match. You may have been using the colors to indicate a "return-to-reality," but you should have gone further with it. It's subtle to the point of looking like a mistake.

 

2. The Edgar Wright style quick-morning-routine at 0:48 felt out of place within the context of the rest of the film, but that's just my opinion.

 

3. The only shot that distracted me was the wake-up-bed-shot. It looks like you pushed the colors very blue in post to play for night-time, but the bright light coming from behind the window shade says morning. Also, on a color grading note, the blacks in this shot are very cyan. While it's not necessarily "wrong" to have non-neutral blacks, it's rare to see in professional productions.

 

Once again, great job overall.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you very much for your feedback Frank!

 

The homeless person shot is one of my favourites too :)

Well for the CC...

 

1. Yes, it is indeed a mistake /something I didn't really "finish" in post (festival deadlines). The film wasn't completely shot on one type of camera and some scenes were also shot in various weather conditions (yeah, it sucks, but we had no time), so it was extremely hard to master matching all of those grades. It is something I will have to be more careful on my next shoots and also in post.

 

2. Interesting opinion :) It was the writer/director's idea and I just stuck with it.

 

3. Yeah, I wasn't really satisfied with the looks of "night-morning" scenes, so shooting/lighting/grading those is something I definitely have to improve in.

 

Again, huge thanks for your opinion and CC, Martin

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...