*film* Cashier

[stumpster]

well this is my As Film studies piece of coursework me and four other lads i did all the filming ;D and a fair bit of editing what ya think?

[RydCook]

Just watched it, equal amount of good and bad points about it, i'll start with the bad. The camera moves, and zooms too much. You'd be better off with the camera being still, and cutting from close ups to long shots without zooming out from one to the other. The shot on the steps was very nice because it was the least moving one (thats horribly described i know, but you get me) Steady shots would have suited the film better as well. Basically, don't zoom. and only move the camera if it can be done smoothly. Cut on movement. Now the flashback in black and white worked well with a slightly moving camera, cos it made it feel more real. What didn't make this scene real was the music, The music seemed like it was trying to make the scene "cool" when it really wasn't, and its clear that the moral of the film is that it ended in tragedy. It's bad. Something bad, and real, shouldn't really have such music over it. Look at TIE for example









*TIE SPOILERS* BELOW








The last scene with milkey's beating is very real, and the music only comes in towards the end for emotional effect. But that scene feels real.
*END OF TIE SPOILERS**









Whereas the cashier's flashback scene the music detracted form it.

Other than these small faults (that can be rectified in your next film easily.) its really good! A nice simple story, its clear and straight forward. I loved the swing swinging, representing his friend missing. (although the zoom made it TOO obvious, a wide shot would have been sufficient) It reminded me of....

All About My Mother (if you havn't seen it, i may be about to spoil it, so dont read if you haven't seen it, but rest assured, its a great film to remind me of, one of my faves. watch it)












ALL ABOUT MY MOTHER SPOILERS**
The scene where Manuela returns to the theatre, and it is framed exactly as her last visit, and her son is missing in the empty seat. Very subtle, but very powerful.
END AAMM SPOILERS***











Soooo overall, despite its problems, i really liked this film! I hope your going to make more?

[stumpster]

cheers ryd appreciate the constructive critism and sadly i have watched all about my mother studies peddy almodovar for my exam bit to weird for me personally but was something different

The reason the zoom was bit was because we had to use an old camera cos we were last group to decide on idea and have just finished filming another film for coursework called (spelling will be awful) schizophrenia and im sure you can guess what that is about will upload it when i get a copy the copy is on college macs

[Dave]

Just had a peep at this one...

I agree with all of Ryd's comments, especially the 'cool' music on the flashback. I thought Guy Ritchie must have got his hands on that bit!

I quite liked some of the zooming at the beginning.. well the idea behind it. Obviously the camera being used doesn't lend itself to controlled zooming. I liked the way the first two shots kept pulling out. If that was totally smooth, then I think it could have worked well, because it was kind of odd and unsure.... as the character was feeling....?

[stumpster]

well the 'cool' music was just so that the audience didn't get bored with the scene being to quite won an 'Kgv Oscar' for it lol can't be to bad KGV btw is my college

[Tom]

A simple idea which is always a good thing to work with. A good student film and I hope there is more to come.

[jimmy975]

Hey stumpster, liked the film, I did like the very first camera shot, good use of zoom esp when the bird flew onto the branch. Using the zoom function does have its place in some shots and that's the kind of shot where it was used well.

Try using more sound effects (as in scores) to enhance gritty situations.