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watch Rate my new movie, Kidnapper

Rate from 1-5

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As a director, you have a solid (and imaginative) concept of which shots are needed, and where to place the camera. You have a script and have been able to tell the story that you want to tell. But this is obviously your first film, and (because you asked), you still have a lot to learn. Over 200 people have read your post but nobody has voted on your film because we don't want to hurt your feelings. Your potential as a filmmaker shows, but your film has a lot of problems...mostly with the camera work. It is shakey, often overexposed, white balance problems, and more. In editing, there are several shots that are unnecessary that can be eliminated that don't add to the story (in the skateboard sequence for example). But the basic stuff is there. You just need a lot more experience. Don't rush the project to get it finished. If there is something wrong with one of your shots or if a scene doesn't work, don't use it. Reshoot it. A college professor once told me "you can't stand in front of your audience to explain why your shot didn't work.". Your final edit is what they see forever. Keep shooting and editing until the camera work, acting, and edit are as perfect as you can get them. That takes time. That takes experience.
 
Pretty cool little film. Watched it all the way through, that takes a lot these days. :)

If your stories have better endings, the films will get better.
 
As a director, you have a solid (and imaginative) concept of which shots are needed, and where to place the camera. You have a script and have been able to tell the story that you want to tell. But this is obviously your first film, and (because you asked), you still have a lot to learn. Over 200 people have read your post but nobody has voted on your film because we don't want to hurt your feelings. Your potential as a filmmaker shows, but your film has a lot of problems...mostly with the camera work. It is shakey, often overexposed, white balance problems, and more. In editing, there are several shots that are unnecessary that can be eliminated that don't add to the story (in the skateboard sequence for example). But the basic stuff is there. You just need a lot more experience. Don't rush the project to get it finished. If there is something wrong with one of your shots or if a scene doesn't work, don't use it. Reshoot it. A college professor once told me "you can't stand in front of your audience to explain why your shot didn't work.". Your final edit is what they see forever. Keep shooting and editing until the camera work, acting, and edit are as perfect as you can get them. That takes time. That takes experience.
Thank you for your advice! I am wondering if reediting would help the project?
 
@indietalk, I was wondering if you would rate this film for me so that I can understand where I am right now. Thank you for your consideration!
 
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You had white balance and color temp issues, you had actors that looked like they were smirking or not into acting (the fall on the skateboard), you had glitchy edits with music starting or being cut off (near where they meet up to hand out flyers), the huge laundry bag of flyers was odd, the ending was not really an ending.
 
You had white balance and color temp issues, you had actors that looked like they were smirking or not into acting (the fall on the skateboard), you had glitchy edits with music starting or being cut off (near where they meet up to hand out flyers), the huge laundry bag of flyers was odd, the ending was not really an ending.
Thank you for the feedback, it was definitely the hardest movie I have ever made because of all of the mistakes I made (highlighted in this video I made on youtube):
 
If you know what to fix go for it. It will be a good exercise w/o having to shoot new material.
 
I was wondering if you would rate this film for me so that I can understand where I am right now. Thank you for your consideration!

I only watched it once, but if I had to rate it, the score would be 2 out of 5 stars. The shots were all over the place, with lots of footage (pun!) of feet. My biggest suggestion would be to use your tripod as much as you can. Make sure you get one with a fluid tripod head, as Christmas is coming up. That head will give you smooth pan and tilt motion. A lot of your pans had jerky movement.

The editing of the shaky shots was also very rough, but the shot selection is decent, such as the chase - cutting from the kid to the car tire and back.

Sound in the first dialogue scene was very hard to hear. It was better in another scene. This can be remedied by getting your mic close to the actor's mouth. Something you can do with closeups. If I have dialogue, I try to get closeups of every line, just so I can get the mic in close. You don't even have to use the closeup shot in the edit. I often use the dialogue from the closeup for wider shots.

It was hard for me to follow your story because of the technical issues. Fix those technical points and your story will be better, right off the bat.

What I give the second star for is the promise you demonstrate with your shot selection, the music mix, the titles,, the kid's decent acting, etc. Heck, just the shot of the man's eyes deserved a star all its own. That could have been straight out of THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, it was that good. You have some good instincts.

 
Agree, it was sprinkled with a few cinematic moments. Also thought. this kid is going to be someone to watch.
 
I only watched it once, but if I had to rate it, the score would be 2 out of 5 stars. The shots were all over the place, with lots of footage (pun!) of feet. My biggest suggestion would be to use your tripod as much as you can. Make sure you get one with a fluid tripod head, as Christmas is coming up. That head will give you smooth pan and tilt motion. A lot of your pans had jerky movement.

The editing of the shaky shots was also very rough, but the shot selection is decent, such as the chase - cutting from the kid to the car tire and back.

Sound in the first dialogue scene was very hard to hear. It was better in another scene. This can be remedied by getting your mic close to the actor's mouth. Something you can do with closeups. If I have dialogue, I try to get closeups of every line, just so I can get the mic in close. You don't even have to use the closeup shot in the edit. I often use the dialogue from the closeup for wider shots.

It was hard for me to follow your story because of the technical issues. Fix those technical points and your story will be better, right off the bat.

What I give the second star for is the promise you demonstrate with your shot selection, the music mix, the titles,, the kid's decent acting, etc. Heck, just the shot of the man's eyes deserved a star all its own. That could have been straight out of THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY, it was that good. You have some good instincts.

Thank you for this! This has a lot of suggestions that I will definitely use in my upcoming films! I also appreciate that you related my film to THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY scene, I am honored.
 
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