Natalie Milidoni

Film Reviews:

Coffee & Pi:

This film is proof that simple ideas are usually the best. The humour that comes from Adrian factoring in the different possible ways he could approach Rebecca taps into the natural awkward and nervous feelings we go through when we want to approach someone we like. I really liked the equation graphics that accompanied the possibilities Adrian was considering and I think they really helped tell the story and add a style to the film. The story is very easy to relate to and funny, the actors performed the characters really well. The only thing that really distracted me was some of the framing (close-ups) could’ve been a bit neater and tidier, particularly in the important conversation between Adrian and Rebecca. I felt like that scene could’ve been covered or edited in a more interesting way to highlight it’s importance.

Shelter:

Wow. This film brought intensity from the get go. The sound production and editing of the entire film, but in particular the beginning when the children are running away, is amazing. The opening scene gets you straight into the suspense and thriller genre of the film and hooks the audience instantly. I loved the clever use of editing and using lens flares to suggest what is outside of the shelter to avoid having to show the outside world. I wouldn’t have thought that a futuristic apocalyptic world could’ve been depicted so well with the constraints that we all had, but this film definitely proved me wrong. However, the story did seem a bit rushed towards the climax. It’s probably more suited to a feature film length as I really would’ve liked to see more interaction between Blair and the siblings, building that tension up and wondering what will happen. I understand the ending of them returning to a better world, but I don’t think it was really necessary and you could’ve ended it on the siblings hugging after Blair is killed. This may have given you more time to build up the suspense between the characters.

A Love Lost:

I was interested to watch this film as the mood and story are both quite similar to our film ‘Getting By’. The pacing of the film was great in that it reflected Graham’s grief and his daily struggle without his wife. The use of voice over was an interesting choice and I think it would be great to see a version without it, because I think the story would come across just as well. With saying that, I did like the insight into Graham’s day, like how he sometimes forgets and makes breakfast for two, or remembers too well. The lighting in the anniversary scene was superb and I loved the candlelight, it really brought the mood of the scene to life. I did find some of the dialogue in this scene a bit confusing though. The stark contrast between the lighting made me think he was daydreaming of what he wishes he said to his wife before she passed away, and it only became clearer that it was a memory further into the dialogue. Catherine’s reaction to Graham answering his phone during dinner kind of goes against what she was saying to him. Overall, the sadness and grief of Graham came through in the way the film was put together.

Sliced:

I was really keen to watch this film as I helped out on it. I really enjoyed it, I thought it was really funny and the suspenseful and intense music just added to the absurd nature of his addiction. The opening scene in the alleyway is really funny. It’s a shame that some of the other scenes had to be cut for technical reasons but I thought it was clever how the transition between the dinner scene was cut to the alleyway. The performances were great, however the only criticism I have is that I think the ending could’ve been exaggerated a lot more – maybe he is lying on his bed covered in white bread and in bread heaven, like you would see with gangstas and cash. I think that the addiction could’ve been pushed even more further, however I still think it’s great and funny.

Tom, Phuoc, Torika, Michael and I’s short film, ‘Getting By’. We had a great time making it and testing our skills as a crew and it paid off in the end. Can’t wait to be out there making another one soon!

Getting By from Mai Tan Phuoc on Vimeo.

Consider Sandra’s lecture “Directing Actors” and describe at least a couple of points that you took away from it (even if you’re not the director).

Director Sandra Schibberas’ lecture on directing actors was insightful and interesting. Having been to theatre and acting school herself, she is confident in working with actors and communicating with them about exactly what she wants for a particular scene.

Her first important piece of advice was to ensure that you cast actors that understand the story of your film. She explained that casting a great actor who has the look you want and has a great voice won’t be the right fit for your film if they don’t understand or grasp the story you are trying to tell. Ensuring that they understand the genre of the film and demonstrating an awareness of changes in their character’s mood or perspective is also very important.

In regards to our film ‘Getting By’, we were very fortunate to cast a fantastic actor, Kostas, as our main character. He immediately understood the genre of the film as being a drama and we knew right from the first audition that he understood his character Arthur’s emotional arc as well as the story of our film.

Her advice was great in that she emphasized the importance of preparation and rehearsals before the shooting of your film. She recommended that when rehearsing with actors, you shouldn’t get bogged down in technicalities or specifics of movement. I brought this advice to our rehearsal with Kostas and when he became flustered with some of the dialogue, both Torika and I encouraged him to find his own way of expressing the same emotion.

Getting any and all questions from the actors prior to the day of shooting is also integral to ensuring that the shoot runs smoothly. Sandra recommended this as on the day of filming, the crew needs to be able to talk to the director at any moment to solve any issues or ensure that they are setting up the shots the way the director wants. This is something that we could’ve done a bit better on our own film as preparing the actors for the following scene took up a lot of the directors time, which did put more pressure on the crew.

Sandra also advised that you should always give encouraging feedback after every take so that the actor/s feel positive about their experience. Being aware of how you are communicating to the actor/s is important and trying to influence them to think that your idea for their delivery is actually theirs will make them even more positive about their performance.

In this clip screened in the lecture from the Coen brothers’ ‘Blood Simple‘ describe what is happening in terms of the edits specifically in terms of the audio and video. Also name the different kinds of audio you can hear.

This excerpt from ‘Blood Simple’ demonstrates that when editing together a conversation between two characters, there are more interesting ways to go about it. Rather than always cutting to vision of the person speaking, showing the other characters’ reaction to the information they are being told can provide an insight into the character’s motivations and emotions. For example; the hitman’s anxiousness to be paid by the man who hired him (Julian Marty) and not be found out that he has faked the photos is highlighted as the camera focuses on his reaction to the Julian’s dialogue and him being sick. This is also used to show Julian’s reaction of being sick after seeing the photographs and hearing from the hitman that the kill has been carried out.

The sounds implemented in this scene are all diegetic, or a part of the story world even if not all of them are onscreen. There is no added music or other nondiegetic sound in the scene. The sound of the fish slapping the table is heard as well as crickets and the fan which are heard constantly throughout the scene. Noises coming from the street including sirens are heard. The chair creaking, envelope rustling, the lighter being used, cigarette being butted out, and footsteps are all included. Sliding the fish across the table, the creaking of the door opening, Julian being sick, flush of the toilet and running water are heard. The fly buzzing, safe being opened, pushing of the money across the table all lead up to the sound of the gun being cocked by the hitman and the subsequent echoed gunshot.

The edit of the vision to show Julian’s knowing and scared reaction to hearing the gun being cocked is well executed as it shows that he has realized that he has been played and is about to die.

Find the keyboard shortcuts for Adobe Premiere and note two or more functions that you’ve never used before that may be invaluable to editing.

One of the keyboard shortcuts for Adobe Premiere that would be really useful in editing is the shortcut for Ripple Delete which on Mac is Shift+Forward Delete, and is Shift+Delete on PC. When you’re adding clips to a sequence or have cut a clip and want it to snap to the previous clip so that you can watch the sequence continuously, this keyboard shortcut eliminates the empty video space between the two clips.

Another shortcut is Cmd+G (Mac) or Ctrl+G (PC) which is used for grouping clips in a layer. This means that if you want to apply the editing techniques to multiple clips you can do so without doing them individually.

Cmd+D (Mac) or Ctrl D (PC) is the keyboard shortcut for applying a video transition for a clip. This makes placing transitions between clips much more simpler and quicker as you can easily add the video transition at the playhead.