Student films

When it comes to making my own film, I want it to learn from other student misatkes when it came to making their film. By analysing their films it will allow me to gain insight of what works in a student film and what doesn't.



In this student film I thought the use of non diegetic sound was very good as it fitted well with the genre being a horror/thriller. The use of the knife is a very good idea as it is a key signifier of death and violence. The use of hand held shots are also very effective as it gives off the idea that the is someone mysteriously walking around the house. Combining the hand held camera and eerie music, the atmosphere within the film is very tense and makes the audience intrigued into what happens next. In this student film a wide range of camera angles and shots were used in the opening. This means that the viewer wont get that bored watching it as it has variety.

The weaknesses of this student film is that it contains more features of a trailer instead of an opening. This is because the storyline is given almost straight away and in an opening of a film nothing really significant happens. The only thing that should happen in an opening is introducing the main characters and having opening credits. Even if this was intended to be an opening, no credits were show in the film. The only title that is show in this opening is the name of the film at the end of the opening. This is not a feature of an opening, it is a feature of a trailer.




In this student film I gather that someone is afraid of revealing themselves and the use of makeup used in the first character that was introduced firstly appears to be disfigured and shy. He is holding a photograph of a happy couple and sheds a tear when he looks at it, this could suggest that he is the man in the photograph, but due to his disfigurements he isn't with that girl anymore. As I get to know what the film is about, it means that the narrative is very easy to understand in the opening of the film. Hopefully, this is the same throughout the film. This will allow the audience to follow the narrative correctly. The use of mise in the beginning of the opening is very effective.

The negatives about this composition is that the transitions could be a bit smoother between scenes. especially when there is cross cutting happening, so two things are being shown alternately. If the transitions were improved, then the audience will feel more comfortable watching it as they wouldn't get confused. Also, the use of a handheld shot whilst running isn't effective. It makes the audience confused as they cannot clearly see where they are. I think it would only be effective if it was filmed in a Hollywood studio as they would have the budget to spend on special equipment to make certain things better.





I thought this student film was mostly positive, it was quite hard tor find negative points for it. I thought it was very effective with how the titles were faded in and out in time with the music. The music was suitable for its genre. They incorporated a lot of the generic conventions e.g screaming, low pitch music, sharp.edgy font. By incoporating all those conventions, their target audience will be able to identify that is a horror/psychological thriller. The audience will feel connected with he heavy breathing that is also playing in the background as it feels like the heavy breathing is coming from yourself.

The only negative I could find about this film was how they put the red tint over the footage. I think a bit of tint is effective when its done properly. Also, I would hope I could see the main characters face as I couldn't see her face in the opening.