"The Gift" a film by Dick Campbell
- Thread starter Dick Campbell
- Start date
Horncastle
Well-known member
I see elsewhere that you ask for critique, so here is a late one, although I did watch and vote in time. The film was a pretty good one and got an above average vote from me. I enjoyed the intro scene with the car although I would like you to have hung on a little longer on the wide shot to let the car get a little nearer. The black and white here was a little flat - a contrast with the rest of the film (hospital interiors) where a lot of the shadow detail was missing: your whites looked good, but your blacks were a bit crushed which also pushed your skin tones a bit dark.
The nurse's first monologue seemed rather unnatural, as though it had been written to set up the story rather than as a natural conversation. Your two male actors did a good job. Near the beginning we see the window shutters closed - it would have been nice to see the nurse open them or at least to have had some sort of light change when the second patient was supposedly looking out of the window. Sorry, correction - you get this at 3:20, but all the more reason for having it earlier from 2:45 onwards when he explains he has a wonderful view out of the window.
OK - that all sounded a bit negative. You had a good solid story with a touching twist at the end, you chose a nice car and a great bit of road for the introductory scene and you actually managed to get hold of a real hospital room (either that or you did a marvelous job in setting one up) which gave us some convincing scenes. Good job all round.
Jason
The nurse's first monologue seemed rather unnatural, as though it had been written to set up the story rather than as a natural conversation. Your two male actors did a good job. Near the beginning we see the window shutters closed - it would have been nice to see the nurse open them or at least to have had some sort of light change when the second patient was supposedly looking out of the window. Sorry, correction - you get this at 3:20, but all the more reason for having it earlier from 2:45 onwards when he explains he has a wonderful view out of the window.
OK - that all sounded a bit negative. You had a good solid story with a touching twist at the end, you chose a nice car and a great bit of road for the introductory scene and you actually managed to get hold of a real hospital room (either that or you did a marvelous job in setting one up) which gave us some convincing scenes. Good job all round.
Jason
Dick Campbell
Veteran
No, not at all. That's the kind of critique I want to hear.
I shot the exteriors and interiors with different scene files and the difference effect was intentional, so your take is interesting input. Good point on the window also. Thanks for taking the time.