Peer Feedback Improvements

Improvements Based on Peer Feedback

Cleaner Transitions

After receiving peer feedback we learnt we had a couple of things to fix. The first of these was the filter which flashed in between transitions. This is because there was a gap in between the fade in and out effect, and because the transition was placed on the video, it didn't apply to the filter, causing it to flash in between the two transitions.

I sought to fix this by using the blade tool to cut out the parts of the filter from where one transition ended to where the other began. In case this didn't work, I disabled this section rather than deleting it. I did this both in between the fade to colour transition, and for the blinking effect.





However, this succeeded in stopping the filter from flickering on and off in between the transitions. Now, when the shot fades out, it fades to a plain black screen rather than a grainy black screen with the outline of the filter on. 

Overexposure

The other main criticism we received was that when the money was in the briefcase, it was too bright to be able to tell what it was. This was due to the 50s TV black and white effect we applied to the entire film which made a lot of the brighter shots very overexposed. 

To fix the problem, I first removed the 50s TV effect from that particular clip.



Then I completely lowered the global saturation of the clip, making it black and white without needing the 50s TV filter. Despite making this clip a slightly different shade of black and white to the other clips, you can easily tell that it's money in the briefcase where it wasn't as obvious before. 

























I'm pleased with the changes as they were the only rectifiable criticisms we received and were simple to do, yet made a lot of difference to the film opening as it made it look cleaner and made one of the pivotal points in the film less ambiguous. 

Peer Review - 1st Draft

First Draft Peer Feedback

The feedback we received on our first draft, found below, was overwhelmingly positive. 

Some of the features that received the most praise were the sound, particularly the music track and the voiceover, and the typography. Many people said it showed many common conventions of film noir such as the black and white and the typical street setting. There were a few criticisms, some that we will be able to improve and others that we won't as they would involve refilming parts. 

One that can be improved on is our transitions; this was something I picked up on previously and had aimed to fix anyway. As we used a grainy image over the top of the footage rather than a traditional, built in filter, it often flashed in parts where it wasn't meant to in between the fade to black transitions. 

Another thing which needs to be improved is the exposure on the money in the briefcase which I have discussed in this post. I aim to correct this the same way the shot of the face was corrected.

This is an example of an improvement that we will be unable to make. We noticed at the time of filming that the tape recorder said "V-Sensor" on, however as we were lucky to be able to obtain one at all we took no notice of this even though it was not era appropriate. Also, this person picked up on cars flashing past in the background of one shot, something none of us had ever picked up on. However, there is no way for us to fix this. As it was not something we or anyone else noticed we hope it doesn't greatly affect the film. 

Overall, the feedback was positive and we were glad to see people liked some of the small details we added. Although one person said that they were confused by the time period, feedback from others said that the film conformed to the era so we aren't worried and will seek to improve the parts that we can.