My First Feature Film

Hey, just watched the trailer and read your post.

First i want to say congrats on having the guts to make your first feature that is a big step i am still moving towards.

But my recommendation would be to do some shorts first get used to your new camera and really develop your style and polish your skills before delving into a feature.

My review of trailer, I thought it was weak to be honest, The acting wasnt great the Cinematography wasnt great and the dialogue was kinda bizarre.

I did really like the ending chess scene that caught me off guard and made me chuckle.

I think you just need more experience using your camera (what camera did you buy btw?) and more experience in film making in general before delving into a feature.

And i hope you dont take this as an insult because i put myself in the same boat as you. Its just my honest opinion.

But im sure you wont give up on this project and you will push ahead and finish it. And if thats what you decide to do i wish you luck and i look forward to seeing the finished product.
 
The people in your neighborhood probably watched and it because they know you well, and were pleasantly surprised because they weren't expecting much. It's harder if you're trying to sell it to people who don't know you.

You probably don't need to restrict yourself to this story. I wish you luck in your journey. There's nothing wrong with just doing more of what you have.
 
I definitely agree with the advice of doing shorts first. Do them until you're completely comfortable with every facet of video creation. Doing a feature is a time to be concentrating on organizing and executing it properly, not learning the technical aspects.

Cinematography was relatively poor. Invest in a decent tripod and learn how to use it to improve the quality of your panning shots, and work on composition. Many of the shots didn't have enough head/nose room, had no clear focal point, were overly colour corrected, were from awkward angles, etc. These are all problems than can be rectified with practice and experience.
Audio needs a lot of work. If someone's walking towards the camera and talking, he should be evenly audible throughout his sentence. The on-camera mic should never be used for anything other than reference for later folley work, and dialogue should be the only thing recorded while shooting (not necessary, but will improve your audio quality significantly).

Don't let this discourage you. Again, I'd really recommend doing shorts and getting criticism on those first so you can improve, before you invest huge amounts of time into doing a feature, which will be much more discouraging if it receives a negative response. Keep practicing :thumbup:
 
Great to see you're taking the advice properly. You've got a much better attitude than many others in the past.
 
A general advice (not applicable in all instances) is don't zoom in the middle of a take. It's shaky and it's amateurish if not done right. The key to making your footage looks better is to expose properly, meaning do your best to keep overexposed highlights out of the frame.
 
The zoom that bothered me the most was during the dissolve in the church. Dissolving over a shaky zoom or movement always looks bad.
 
I haven't watched the film yet, as I am at work and have restricted access to youtube, but I think the advice that the other threads have given is good advice. Study as much as you can before you start your next film. Read up on lighting (3 point lighting - the basics) and audio. Definately get a decent boom mic., which will cost a few hundred dollars, but definately a must-have and worth its weight in gold. Play around with different techniques and go from there.

With the acting - just be natural. Put yourself into the character and into the scene. Really become that person and then what you do and say become more real. Acting for the camera is different than it is on stage. On stage you have to project alot more as somebody in the back row may not be able to see something as small as a focused or intense brow. The camera, however, will, so don't be over the top.

Good luck with all of your endeavors and welcome to the film world. It's a blast!
 
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