<p>Some comments on the film: Overall, it was very good, but I have a few quibbles. I thought the sound quality was good; sound is one of the hardest things to get right. With the HD equipment and editing tools available to everyone now, the thing that really differentiates a quality production is quality sound: off camera mics, shotgun mics, redubbing where needed, sound editing software… it all adds up. Yours was better than most HS productions. The story was good, the acting was good, so it shows your ability to get what you want. Some “constructive” comments: The camera was static in most scenes. It may have changed viewpoints, but went from one static position to another. The EXT shots were handheld and I liked that. Today, handheld seems to be the norm and somehow seems more modern. But I see that you used handheld techniques very well in BROS and MUZZLE. Those were much more interesting, visually, although I think V/END is better overall.</p>
<p>One technique that also seems more professional is to not jar the person with every cut switching both sound and visuals at the same moment. Watch today’s films and you will notice that in many cases, the sound cut is made before the visual edit, so that you hear the following scene before the next visual cuts in. I don’t know why that works, but it does. I wouldn’t overuse it though.</p>
<p>I couldn’t decide whether the lack of an ambient score was good or bad. On the plus side, it does even out the sound transitions, and lessens any background noise. On the negative side, you don’t want to distract from the scene/story. I also wasn’t sure about the ending… the story was building to something (him exploding, maybe?), but just ended, so I’m not sure if that worked or not. Not sure what would have been better.</p>
<p>Anyway, if I were doing a portfolio film, I would make a compilation of many of the films you’ve made (and show off editing skills), and have menu items to see the entire films - V/END, MUZZLE, and BROS. That would be fun.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>ps: Here is a film my son cut which won Best Comedy Film at this year’s Ivy Film Festival. The editing here is amazing (father speaking, so take it with a grain of salt). The amazing thing is that almost no two adjoining cuts were filmed together, but the sound track through the entire film seems seamless. Of course, the sound and visuals were cut separately. It also is sort of the ultimate in handheld camerawork - the Robert Altman technique of moving the camera among the characters so that it almost becomes a character itself. Of course, this is a college film instead of a HS film, but just wanted to show you what creative editing can accomplish. Warning, it’s a college film and would probably be rated PG-13 because of innuendo.</p>
<p>[Arasian</a> | Mediaplayer | Game Night](<a href=“Untitled Document”>Untitled Document)</p>
<p>pps: Since you like making films so much and have demonstrated that, you might really fit in where my son went to school. He worked on over 50 productions in college in a very collaborative environment. (And he’s employed in the film industry, as are many of his friends)</p>