Thin – Short Student Documentary
BAD
In this project, the music overpowers the voices of the
girls talking about a very serious subject – eating disorders. The title slides move too fast, giving the
viewer not enough time to read the text.
Some of the angles are correct, in which interviewees on the left side
(on the outer third of the screen) and looking to the right at the
interviewer. But others shots put the
interviewees straight in the middle, making it distracting to the viewer. When the narrator is scrolling through images
on Instagram, she also flashes images with text included. Because of these quick cuts, the viewer
doesn’t have enough time to even comprehend what the text in those images are
(i.e. “make them regret the day you called them fat,” “I want to be so thin
that people whisper how skinny I am behind my back, etc.). I found this combination to be extremely
distracting, as I wasn’t sure whether to look at the phone or the pictures
behind the phone. In addition, the girl
with short brown hair is on the outer third on the right and looking to the
right, when she should be looking to the left. The final text slide at the end isn’t shown
long enough, and I actually had to go back and re-watch it. Overall, the music
overpowers narrator and the interviewees, and her message regarding the
importance of recognizing eating disorders is lost.
NY Times: The Journey of a 9/11 Tree
GOOD
GOOD
The ruffling noise of the trees in the background that
starts off the video adds to the ambiance and importance of its “standing ground”
in the 9/11 attack. I really liked the
close-ups of the branches and flowers blooming on the tree, as it gave the
video a more positive vibe. The framing for the interviews is on the outer
thirds and the interviewees are looking on the correct sides. The captions stating the person’s title aren’t
overpowering, are placed adjacent to the person, and are on the screen long
enough for the viewer to notice and read. The music doesn’t overpower the voices of the
interviewees. As Robert Zappala narrates
the story of the tree sustaining the fire, the pictures allow the viewer to
visualize his words. The only bad
comment I would make about it was that there wasn’t a title for the
construction worker with a beard and glasses.
Taken as a whole, the video does a good job at balancing both natural
sound and the voices of the interviewees, as well as letting the video tell the
story.
No comments:
Post a Comment