Looking At Student Films

We were asked to look into different Student Films that have been made before. There task was to create an opening to a horror film, lasting no more than 2 minutes. Watching and analysing these will help me when I'm creating my final piece as i can learn from there mistakes and take on board the things they did well


Film 1

Strength
Good effects, sounds and transitions
There are a wide variety of camera angles


Weakness
Peephole productions, The film is called peephole
Looks like entire film, not the opening
Shots are on for to long, e.g. the tree shot takes to long, its boring
The font of the titles doesn't match, they re more army likeOverall this film was my least favourite as it had a lot of faults. The best positive was the way it used a lot of different camera angles and different shots. There were a lot of faults i just found that this film spent to much time on certain areas and not enough on what was more important. This film was more of a trailer than a opening as it told most of the story in the first 2minutes.


Film 2

Strength
Shows the characters
Font matches well
Jumps look good- the effects are interesting
Camera angles show that someones watching


Weakness
She repeats herself a lot, maybe suggests the shot is to long
The montage at the end makes it seem more trailer like




This film was the best for filming and editing techniques. It showed a wide range of skills and in the end looked really good. The very first bit of this film was the best for me as it showed the characters photos but they were in negatives. This made it seem extremely frightening but yet informative. The only downfall to this piece was the fact it was again more like a trailer rather than an opening.


Film 3

Strength
The title is shown at a really good time, makes it more prominent
Isn't a trailer, its clearly a opening
Introduces the main character well


Weakness
Doesn't make a lot of sense
The font looks to basic
The Bad Apple productions makes the film seem more animated and less of a horror
There are some continuity problems
Overall I found that Film 3 was the best as an opening even though it wasn't the best quality. It was the only film that actually met the objective of creating an opening as it didn't show the whole story but it gave enough to make you want to watch more. There were also some continuity problems. so when i film my film i will check my piece before i make the final cut.


I will keep this in mind when I'm making my opening as I don't want to make a trailer. I think that the best quality film is Film 2 as the effects used are really effective and the titles match the theme really well. In my piece i will use a variety of camera angles as it enhances the Erie theme.