In our studio I have some insights into the short films created by Pewen Wen and Xinran Wang. The first thing that can be ascertained is that their short films introduce the main technique of film at the beginning – the contrast method. This is a very clever decision, as contrast can quickly catch the eye of the audience. It is also an interesting choice of subject for the film – real roommates and fake roommates. It’s very daily, like a Big Bang Theory episode, funny, lively, and complete. Most of all, their film cost almost nothing, the lighting was all natural, the actors were themselves, and the location was in an apartment building. It can be said that they fully met the requirements for the creation of a low-budget film, but there were some minor problems in the post-production of the film, such as the fact that the recording of the film did not look like it was done with recording equipment, so it was sometime big and sometime small. Secondly, the plot lacks a sense of rhythm, perhaps due to the lack of material. In the end, I think there is still a lot of room for improvement in this short film. The film does a good job in choosing its subject, but it needs more practice in post-production.

Another short film I would like to review is ‘the call’. It’s a micro-horror short film, the overall atmosphere of the film is very good, the images are dark, and the music is well done, in my opinion it’s a smart choice to go for a low-budget horror film as the cost can be reduced to zero. In fact, there were no production costs, the only costs were probably for some of the props in the film, such as the masks and the black coats. In my opinion, the film is more about the music ‘scaring’ the audience and the quick cuts to create a sense of tension. Everyone’s understanding of the story will be different. This film doesn’t have much of a story, although it doesn’t detract from the overall atmosphere, and its normal production practice for horror films to weaken the story, but I would have liked some psychological fear or realistic fear in the story. Overall, the film achieves what is expected of a low-budget film, but the plot and choice of topic are not too surprising and for me I will probably forget it the next day, although there are some bright spots in the music and editing techniques. This film is a contrast to the first film I reviewed, and I think both films can learn from each other’s strengths.

I was more curious about sound futures studio, and I was particularly attracted by the work of the Machine Future group. Their audio production is very interesting, and I think their work conveys the sound futures studio’s production philosophy – innovative, advanced, and professional. Their work reminds me of a game – Detroit – in which one of the main characters has a very artificially intelligent voice but he is not artificially intelligent, he is a bionic human. So, his voice is very ‘twisted’ and at the same time very memorable. This is a good explanation of the importance of voice in projects such as film, television, and games, where the voice can create a memory point, just like the brainwashing music on short video platforms nowadays. Exploring the future of sound is also exploring the future of artwork in film, television, and games, as music is an integral part of these artworks, and great music can bring more streams and value. I even think that the director’s name and the sound production’s name should be put together at the beginning of the film, as they are equally important, but unfortunately the public will not remember the silent sound producer.