Short film "steal away"

[330ceo]

Any comments on how I can make my next film better?


http://vimeo.com/10829165

[capel]

Hey there. I haven't finished watching it yet. I'm about seven minutes in, but already I'd say there are a few technical issues you may want to look at. I'm sure you're aware of your varying sound levels. This is really distracting to the viewer. Whatever you can to do level these out, either on set or in post, will help a lot.

Some of the camera work is really nice. Then you'll cut to a shot that looks just plain uninspired. Like you couldn't quite find the right angle so you just pointed the camera at your subject. I'd try to really make every shot a dynamic composition. Like I said, you have a little of both.

In a typical conversation between two people, it's good to have 3 or 4 angles total, and to keep them consistent. A closeup of each person, a wide establishing shot, a medium and maybe a few cut away shots. When you keep cutting back to two or three slightly different closeups of the same actor it gets a little distracting. The viewer is expecting to come back to the same angle a lot of the time. Of course there's an exception to every rule. If you really want to accentuate a specific piece of dialogue, etc.

Also, I'd look at the way you go from one scene to the next. Right now it feels a little like one ends and the other just kind of starts. Try to make the transition seamless. For example, the montage after he proposes ends kind of abruptly. I think it's mainly the music. It doesn't completely fade out, or fades out too fast.

But there's a lot of good work in there too. Some nice acting as well. This is quite a short to take on. It's gotta be over ten minutes, right?

Maybe for your next film, take on something a bit shorter so you can really focus on the technical things without feeling overwhelmed by a ten to fifteen minute story. Keep at it!