Gwen Gardiner: First of all, I found it very interesting that Drew Barrymore directed this short film. It seems she is experimenting with becoming an artistic director, by taking on a project that is definitely different from the mainstream. The film is kind of difficult to classify, seeing as it’s mostly set to music with only a few lines of dialog. When they did talk, it seemed a little off, mostly because I wasn’t expecting it. As far as story goes I thought the idea was a very creative on a classic story. The use of camera angles was especially effective when showing the spray painted words on the wall, revealing a pivotal moment in the story. The shaky camera work didn’t seem to over done, and only added to the frantic, uncontrollable setting. However, most things were still in focus so that you could still see what was going on. One interesting note, I’m not sure how this relates to the story but I liked how the fight scene in the end began to look like dancing. For me I guess it seemed less real, almost like it wasn’t a serious issue, so when he falls off the roof it all suddenly seems much more somber.
Kristine Barclay: I like the idea behind the plot-- and all the big names were fun. But this was 100% MTV, and this is why I did not like it. I didn't hate it until I read the supervideo part which made me ill. Over all though, mtv aside, I liked the vision and the shots I think Ms. Barrymore did a great job which is to be expected considering this is not her first time directing. Also; I liked that it was set to music and only the 'good side' talked because we were able to feel for them more. It made me feel like I was watching a silent film-- with some words pop on the screen and Charlie Chaplin does a singing number;; Modern Times. I enjoyed the silhouette of the gang members before the fight-- again distancing us from the bad kids. I understood, or I think I understand, why they did the fight as a dance. But I didn't like it, the first punch, I thought 'oh wow that was so fake and yet she is bleeding'-- then I see it was meant to look like that-- but even when dancing I think it should have looked real.
Jefferson Fabian: I'll admit that I came into this with a bit of bias. I rolled my eyes when I saw Barrymore's name, and I rolled them two more times when I saw the MTV logo in the corner. That being said, I don't think my prejudice was too far off the mark. Firstly, the sound was strange. I think Barrymore was going to shoot this video no matter what band or song she was dealt, because frankly the music doesn't matter at all. The songs fade in and out haphazardly and it sounds lazy. When the first song ends, it's like they just start looping more of the band's material because they realized there were 6 minutes left of the film. There's no real synchronization between the music and the film other than some convenient cuts between scenes when the songs end. Also, the film is 99.99% without spoken lines. Why did they break that silence with ten seconds of awful dialogue? I really don't think I needed those generic lines to fill me in on the plot point anyway, but then again, maybe your average MTV viewer needs that exposition crammed down his throat. The visuals were okay, I guess, and by that I mean there wasn't anything bad. I just watched it again for something to talk about and I still can't think of one image that sticks out. My favorite bits were any time there was a close-up of one of MTV's ludicrously handsome "punks" "acting." These dudes didn't even have lines and they still cracked me up. Do people make these faces in real life?
Josh Berry: It pleases me to see a music video such as this. I do like watching music videos from time to time, but I've started to watch less of them due to the redundant material displayed in most of them. Being that I am a pretty big Hip Hop/R&B fan, the videos now-a-days consists of cars, rims, half-naked women, drug content, etc. Music videos aren't like they used to be a decade ago. Back then, most of them actually conveyed a story. This extended music video intrigued me due to the simple fact that I just like those kinds of music videos. The plot was pretty creative, and I liked the use of muteness to display a different feel to the video. Without words, you're dependent on visuals convey feelings of emotion. I also liked how show incorporated dance into the fight scene. It was quite interesting. I wasn't expecting the ending either. That's what made the video even better. As far as camera use is concerned. I tried to pay attention to the things such as: head room, look room, depth of field, etc. I couldn't catch any flaws, but I did see good use of all of the techniques that were taught in class. Overall, I really enjoyed the video.
I really liked the soundtrack for this film, I felt it enhanced the story. I like how they don't use much dialogue to tell the story but just emotion and sometimes writings on their hands. And for the parts that they do use dialogue, their audio seems to be clipping and wasn't very well done. The lighting and coloring of the shots are well done and in some of the outside shots at the beginning, I like how the colors on their clothes pop out at you. The one thing I don't really care for are the red text transitions, they seem cheesy to me. The camera work with the steadicam was cool in the warehouse scene. In one of the last scenes where they are fighting on the rooftop, I didn't really understand why they chose to fight up there because that seems a little weird that they would be up there as opposed to the streets but I guess they wanted to have the main guy fall off and die so I guess that worked for them.
I'll admit being skeptical at first, seeing that it was directed by Drew Barrymore, but this has been my favorite short film so far. I liked the way it was shot, with all the colors and the use of light and darkness to help develop the plot. Also, the actors were pretty good. The song didn't really seem to mesh together with the video for me until the very end, but I still really enjoyed this film. Great job on timing, setting, and execution.
I'm not really a fan of Romeo and Juliet plots but this film was not that bad. I didn't like how 99% of the movie didn't have dialogue and they decided to put that one scene in there with that girl talking for no reason. I think it screwed up the movie a little because I had gotten used to the characters not talking throughout the entire film, plus it made a huge plot-hole. If they could talk the entire time then why were they writing on their hand and on walls? however the last shot that finally reveals what he wrote on the other side of the wall was genius. I like some rome and juliet stories but i find them really simple to guess how they end but this was on ok film all around.
Gwen Gardiner: First of all, I found it very interesting that Drew Barrymore directed this short film. It seems she is experimenting with becoming an artistic director, by taking on a project that is definitely different from the mainstream. The film is kind of difficult to classify, seeing as it’s mostly set to music with only a few lines of dialog. When they did talk, it seemed a little off, mostly because I wasn’t expecting it. As far as story goes I thought the idea was a very creative on a classic story. The use of camera angles was especially effective when showing the spray painted words on the wall, revealing a pivotal moment in the story. The shaky camera work didn’t seem to over done, and only added to the frantic, uncontrollable setting. However, most things were still in focus so that you could still see what was going on. One interesting note, I’m not sure how this relates to the story but I liked how the fight scene in the end began to look like dancing. For me I guess it seemed less real, almost like it wasn’t a serious issue, so when he falls off the roof it all suddenly seems much more somber.
ReplyDeleteKristine Barclay:
ReplyDeleteI like the idea behind the plot-- and all the big names were fun. But this was 100% MTV, and this is why I did not like it. I didn't hate it until I read the supervideo part which made me ill.
Over all though, mtv aside, I liked the vision and the shots I think Ms. Barrymore did a great job which is to be expected considering this is not her first time directing.
Also; I liked that it was set to music and only the 'good side' talked because we were able to feel for them more. It made me feel like I was watching a silent film-- with some words pop on the screen and Charlie Chaplin does a singing number;; Modern Times.
I enjoyed the silhouette of the gang members before the fight-- again distancing us from the bad kids.
I understood, or I think I understand, why they did the fight as a dance. But I didn't like it, the first punch, I thought 'oh wow that was so fake and yet she is bleeding'-- then I see it was meant to look like that-- but even when dancing I think it should have looked real.
Jefferson Fabian:
ReplyDeleteI'll admit that I came into this with a bit of bias. I rolled my eyes when I saw Barrymore's name, and I rolled them two more times when I saw the MTV logo in the corner. That being said, I don't think my prejudice was too far off the mark.
Firstly, the sound was strange. I think Barrymore was going to shoot this video no matter what band or song she was dealt, because frankly the music doesn't matter at all. The songs fade in and out haphazardly and it sounds lazy. When the first song ends, it's like they just start looping more of the band's material because they realized there were 6 minutes left of the film. There's no real synchronization between the music and the film other than some convenient cuts between scenes when the songs end.
Also, the film is 99.99% without spoken lines. Why did they break that silence with ten seconds of awful dialogue? I really don't think I needed those generic lines to fill me in on the plot point anyway, but then again, maybe your average MTV viewer needs that exposition crammed down his throat.
The visuals were okay, I guess, and by that I mean there wasn't anything bad. I just watched it again for something to talk about and I still can't think of one image that sticks out. My favorite bits were any time there was a close-up of one of MTV's ludicrously handsome "punks" "acting." These dudes didn't even have lines and they still cracked me up. Do people make these faces in real life?
Josh Berry:
ReplyDeleteIt pleases me to see a music video such as this. I do like watching music videos from time to time, but I've started to watch less of them due to the redundant material displayed in most of them. Being that I am a pretty big Hip Hop/R&B fan, the videos now-a-days consists of cars, rims, half-naked women, drug content, etc. Music videos aren't like they used to be a decade ago. Back then, most of them actually conveyed a story. This extended music video intrigued me due to the simple fact that I just like those kinds of music videos. The plot was pretty creative, and I liked the use of muteness to display a different feel to the video. Without words, you're dependent on visuals convey feelings of emotion. I also liked how show incorporated dance into the fight scene. It was quite interesting. I wasn't expecting the ending either. That's what made the video even better. As far as camera use is concerned. I tried to pay attention to the things such as: head room, look room, depth of field, etc. I couldn't catch any flaws, but I did see good use of all of the techniques that were taught in class. Overall, I really enjoyed the video.
I really liked the soundtrack for this film, I felt it enhanced the story. I like how they don't use much dialogue to tell the story but just emotion and sometimes writings on their hands. And for the parts that they do use dialogue, their audio seems to be clipping and wasn't very well done. The lighting and coloring of the shots are well done and in some of the outside shots at the beginning, I like how the colors on their clothes pop out at you. The one thing I don't really care for are the red text transitions, they seem cheesy to me. The camera work with the steadicam was cool in the warehouse scene. In one of the last scenes where they are fighting on the rooftop, I didn't really understand why they chose to fight up there because that seems a little weird that they would be up there as opposed to the streets but I guess they wanted to have the main guy fall off and die so I guess that worked for them.
ReplyDeleteDenorrise Posey:
ReplyDeleteI'll admit being skeptical at first, seeing that it was directed by Drew Barrymore, but this has been my favorite short film so far. I liked the way it was shot, with all the colors and the use of light and darkness to help develop the plot. Also, the actors were pretty good. The song didn't really seem to mesh together with the video for me until the very end, but I still really enjoyed this film. Great job on timing, setting, and execution.
I'm not really a fan of Romeo and Juliet plots but this film was not that bad. I didn't like how 99% of the movie didn't have dialogue and they decided to put that one scene in there with that girl talking for no reason. I think it screwed up the movie a little because I had gotten used to the characters not talking throughout the entire film, plus it made a huge plot-hole. If they could talk the entire time then why were they writing on their hand and on walls? however the last shot that finally reveals what he wrote on the other side of the wall was genius. I like some rome and juliet stories but i find them really simple to guess how they end but this was on ok film all around.
ReplyDelete