19/03/10

the first part of this lesson was used to organise our work into folders such as pre-production work like location sheets and storyboards to send off to the examiners. The second part of this lesson we used to evaluate another groups film, I chose Abi's group with the film Afterlife as I thought their film was the best.

After Life by Jack Crossley
I think this group was trying to achieve an emotionally provoking film. I think in relation to the brief with themes of gothic they succeeded very well, using an old fashioned style of film with no soundtrack and made black and white with only a red dress. I think this was very effective in creating a nostalgic and emotional atmosphere but with more time and funding they could have improved the costume to match the time period intended a bit better.
I think they were trying to achieve a gothic themed storyline in which a ghost who is locked in time cannot find her lover. This is very apparent and is helped by subtitles, I like the way subtitles were used as they helped add too the atmosphere of the film and keep you interested as you were forced to read as well as watch, this is a clever technique to hold the audiences attention. I think to improve there could have been more film shown in relation to type.
The overall mood of the film to me was quite sad and portrayed a tragic love story. I think not having a soundtrack helped this and I particularly liked the black and white theme with just the dress in colour. It all fitted together very nicely the effects used complimented the film such as the cctv effect used at the beginning. The way the camera is slanted in some shots compliments the composition and shows off the surrounding area, which was part of the brief, I think they followed the brief quite well including some really nice shots of the surrounding area.
I like the style of writing in which the subtitles are written, as this fits in with the overall theme of the film and helps bring it all together. The flickering writing also compliments the silent movie theme bringing a nostalgic emotion feel which also makes the movie timeless. I noticed how some of the shots have been slowed down this created a sense of passing time. It almost seemed like the shots of the woman had been slowed down especially com-pared with the passers by who looked like they were moving at normal speed, this enhanced the feeling of time passing.
I particularly like the clever type at the end of the film which includes the title After Life ‘After Life comes only death” This is predominantly striking as it uses the title of the film in a clever way. I think the target audience is very wide as the theme of a tragic love story appeals to most ages I think the use of young actors helps it appeal to a younger audience but the theme of a silent move attracts an older audience.
The narrative of the film is very easy to follow and subtitles help make it more apparent although it would be interesting to see what effect the film has with a soundtrack. The plot was emotionally evoking with a tragic storyline of lost hope and love, overall the film was very smooth and sound with a clear beginning middle and end. I would recommend this film to others as I enjoyed it, I was kept interested throughout with use of titles and effects which made the film overall thoroughly watchable and enjoyable.