Hmm, was expecting much worse after seeing the other threads.
Yes, there is a lot of stuff that needs fixing. Right now, though, it's more about recognising the current problems and finding the solutions
before your next film starts. It's all about the pre-production.
Just my partial list of things to know about for next time:
1) Use music you have permission to use. What happens if your film gets invited to a legit fest... and can't be shown, due to copyright issues? If you can't find a composer to score it for free (they are a dime a dozen, btw) there is a huge selection of suitable tracks that can be purchased for nominal amounts. Heck, a current member of this forum owns a service that offers tracks for 99 cents... and he's just one of many services.
2) Attention to sound, in general. Probably the weakest part of your film was the atrocious sound. Don't get bent out of shape that I'm mentioning it. Do some research on what you can do to ensure that sound will be better on your next film. Implement it.
3) Camera-work could have used a bit of help. Tbh, I've never seen such blatant jello-effect before (the quick back & forth towards the end). Knowing a camera's limitations can help prevent setting up situations like this. Also, the automatic exposure control is playing havoc with the ambient lighting. You don't need a better camera. You either need your current camera guy to learn from this film, or use someone who is more familiar with that camera.
4) Lighting. God-awful. Slow down and take the time to properly set up each scene. Read a few books. Just wiki basic 3-point lighting techniques online. Even no-budget films can get great lighting, with a bit of patience and knowledge. Be ready for next time.
5) Color Balance - probably could have tossed this into lighting, as well, but a few things stood out. I quite liked the extra-orangey lights when the dude was outside on the street. Gave it a very powerful sodium-lamp look, which I've always found kinda creepy/spacey. I'm betting this was accidental, though. The rest of the time, I thought, it was something ignored that should have been taken care of.
Overall, it's not
that bad a film. Several scenes are an obvious homage to existing horror/slasher flicks, but that's no crime in itself. The story itself plays through well enough. Noone's going to be confused about the story, if they make it to the end. If.
Black dude was the best actor of the lot, btw.
I agree with the rest that it could have been shorter. There's an easy 3 minutes from end credits alone.
If that's your first film, not too shabby. I've seen worse. Heck, my own first film was not as ambitious as yours.
Really think about what you can improve on, and apply that knowledge to the next film... and when you make that film, you'll go through the exact same "what could I have done better?" process all over again!
Whatever you do... just don't stress out over people giving you feedback. Especially on this forum, where the members really like to chime in on the technical details.
There will never be an end to self-improvement.
