short-film "The Communicator" Review

short-film "The Communicator" Review

Its been made without much thinking on the screenplay (same mistake repeated from The Wicked Function).

There are many flaws. Like the guy shows he just woke up but he's not wearing bedtime cloths and his hair are also not unkempt, his eyes are wide awake.

He deciphers HI from 8.9 but the next message he sends in pure english. He should've coded his message in digits, but the receiver understands the message in english itself.
At the end, the receiver is also an earthling but neither of them reveal their identity. Its not clear if the 2nd guy is playing a prank and if so, why he chose this particular guy.
The whole video doesn't seem to have any point as such. Its a film made just for the sake of it. A much better, more entertaining shortfilm on exactly same concept has been made, named as Inbox.

I understand you guys might be highly inspired by Nolan and trying to follow the same trajectory as he did by somehow recreating his early works (like The Doodlebug), but its much better to be original and making the movies that convey a message rather than making, what I like to call, Item Number movies that are just good to watch once but you neither get any message out of it nor it leaves a mark on your brain. Think about it.

PS: Couldn't hear the music in office so can't provide feedback on the audio. Acting and direction were mediocre. I personally could've done better. Not boasting myself neither degrading your efforts. But when I evaluate, I put myself in the other person's shoes. I am not a professional movie maker, not even an amature. But you guys seem to be making this a profession for yourself. In that case I MUST feel that I can never surpass work of a professional. If I don't get that feeling, that's when I say I could've done better. No offense

The Good:

The idea. I liked the ending where you have to decode the message. Congrats on the effort and keep making more.

The Bad:

1. The small details: Do not under estimate this. For ex: who pours cereal into a milk bowl and microwaves it? You did this because god has a prop to fiddle with when you reveal him. The branding on the microwave could have been avoided. You are diverting the attention of the viewer to where it is not required.

2. Every thing has a meaning: I am a puzzled by the choice of the director on a few things. Why is the colour tone sepia? Why was god made to look such? Why does god communicate with numbers? Clearly he is able to read and understand what 'the guy' is writing. Why does the guy not write in numbers instead of text when it is clear that God chooses to communicate in this fashion? Why is god communicating with him? Above everything else, why does the guy not freak out when he finds the note for the first time.

If the answer to any of the questions above is "it has a deeper meaning. You didn't get it". Then I would hold the director responsible for not making it obvious enough.

3. What is the whole point? Why am I watching this? What is the take away? Where is the conflict? This is something when you have to keep in mind when you make movies of this genre. Make sure you provide people with the right amount of information. There should be enough info to draw reasonable conclusions to the parts that you haven't explained. This actually helps the viewer to connect to the film. But here you give me no info whatsoever nor do you generate interest so that I can look for clues.

4. Technical:
Take this the right way, but it is a big let down. There are certain things that you have to do a certain way else it wont work.

4.1. The edit: Its very raw. There are a lot of jumps and its not helping the film. You have a shot at 50 sec. It is misplaced. You have used fades in a lot of places. It does not suit. Why did you ramp up the footage at 3:35? The music stops abruptly at 3:46.

4.2. Cinematography: I founds the handheld not suitable for some shots esp the ones where he is writing. Please use a tripod. I do not care for the noise when the content is engaging. But yes, avoid them if you can. Lights and proper settings in camera are the answer. There are too many wide shots for my liking.

4.3. The Text: The text is not even. Compare the text for 'Microwave' and others. Also try and place the text in the bottom. The text, although important, should not block the action unless there is a good reason.

4.4. Music: Is overpowering sometimes. Not a fan.

4.5. Foley: You have in some places background sounds and not in some places. The initial part of the film (34sec) does not have the sound of microwave opening. There are other sounds missing as well. You should have kept ambient sounds and not muted them when bgm plays. There is a lot of noise too.

4.6 Acting: A big let down. Sorry bro..

Conclusion:
Congrats for the effort. But needs a lot of improvement. Keep making more. Please see to it that you avoid rookie mistakes.

Cheers!