DVC14 "Further Than Distance" by Andris Krastiņš

[Joseph Tran]

I liked how you made a piece about finding comedy in tragedy, and how we as a society have become very disillusioned and desensitized to what is going on in the world. Good camera shots too -- heheh... I would've never thought to use some rope to get a camera up a tree. Necessity is the mother of all invention, right?

[Andris Krastins]

Originally Posted by James Huenergardt

Nice short.

I enjoyed your cinematography for the outside shots of the 'traveler'.

I also liked the progression/reveal of the girl watching him on television. I just thought your shot choices could have been better on the inside. It would have been cool to have a shot down low, a little below table level when you show the girl for the first time reaching for a chip.

I thought the wind noise to be a little excessive myself, but hey, art is subjective.

Great job on your second short.

Thanks for your suggestions. I agree that more time should have been put into shots for the girl, but we had only 1,5h time to shoot them, it was then, or never, so I just set up my camera and shot.
The idea of the first two shots where the girl is not seen is to suggest a little the viewer of the film in the place of the girl, a hint to a subjective point of view.

[Andris Krastins]

Originally Posted by Aaron Fay

Another thing that caught my attention was the amount of camera movement. If you lock off a couple shots in a sequence, then the handheld shots look more intentional. Handheld, in my opinon, is something that is hard to do 'well', so I always keep my tripods with me. If the big one is too heavy, get a cheapie at the mall for $20 bucks, I have a little one here that's probably less than a half pound, and I can sling it over my back.

I liked the effect on the 'satellite' shot, but I would have desaturated it a bit so it wasn't so 'green'.

The first 2 shots of the table with the chips and the bottle didn't help to tell me what was going on, I would have probably just cut right to a shot of the girl in the room, and I didn't get that she was watching him on TV until the announcer came on.

I thought the exaggerated accent of the announcer was hilarious, but I would have used a couple audio filters (low pass and high pass) to narrow the audio frequencies so it sounded more like it was coming out of the TV. Without it, the voiceover sounded like narration.

At about 2:10 he looks up and yells, 'hellllp'. I thought, 'how does he know the satellite is watching him'.

Sorry to be so wordy, I want to give detailed feedback about my experience with your film. All in all, great effort, the more I watch it, the more I like it :)

All the best,
Aaron

Thanks for your suggestions and the time it took you to write them!

Some shots would have been a lot better with a tripod, aye. I think I will just have to get a lightweight monopod or something for situations like this.

The thing that the girl was watching tv was suggested by the tv background noise, which I put there, and also incidentally tv reflection on the pack of chips.
Myself, I wouldn't have cut right to the girl, but that's just style.

Thanks for your audio and other advices, I'll keep them in mind.

Originally Posted by Joseph Tran

I liked how you made a piece about finding comedy in tragedy, and how we as a society have become very disillusioned and desensitized to what is going on in the world. Good camera shots too -- heheh... I would've never thought to use some rope to get a camera up a tree. Necessity is the mother of all invention, right?

Yea. :) I had planned to climb a tree for the "satellite" shot, so I took a rope with me, knowing that I wouldn't be able to climb a tree with camera in one hand. I always take a rope with me on hiking, so it's become a second nature to take it, rope is very useful. :))

[Aaron Fay]

Originally Posted by Andris Krastins

Myself, I wouldn't have cut right to the girl, but that's just style.

That's just it: I know what I like, but that doesn't make it 'right'.

Cheers,
Aaron