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Use of Budget
A total cost of £500 (approx $944 US) puts 20,000 Little Reasons at a fairly reasonable price, considering that it was shot with only one camera and two crew members over a pretty short period of time. The budget itself was spent on gas, food, costumes, props, and tapestock.
It is also interesting to note that the audio for the film was done with a £5 cheap microphone attached to a tripod with a vice and covered with a sock. Considering this kind of bottom-of-the-barrel technology, the audio quality that resulted is amazingly good. Still, as noted above, there were several instances in which the audio could stand improvement, so perhaps in this case it might have been better to invest in a better quality microphone at the outset. It might also be beneficial to check out the articles that Microfilmmaker has run on how to make a cheap shotgun pole and mount. In this case, however, it might be a god idea to invest in some ADR in order to fix the audio.
Also, I think a few re-shoots might be in order to fix the few outdoor shots that were too dark. As mentioned before, there are several ways to do outdoor scenes without underexposing them. And given the nature of this movie’s gangster-type genre, night shots are essential to the overall feel, but they will only detract from the film if the audience can’t tell what’s going on.
Lasting Appeal
Though 20,000 Little Reasons is essentially a gangster film, its focus on the betrayal, cruelty, and greed associated with criminal life gives a whole new twist to the genre. This makes for an intriguing, albeit mildly disturbing film. It would be even more interesting to watch, however, were some attention given to correcting a few of the audio and visual issues, namely ADR and correcting the darkened outdoor scenes. This type of movie could definitely find a following among aficionados of Tarantino due to its subject matter. But those of us who are fans of the old-school Hitchcock-type flicks will definitely appreciate the drama and suspense that this movie contains.
Overall Comment
This is not your typical gangster film. While most movies like Ocean’s Eleven, Pulp Fiction, or even the Godfather movies tend to glamorize a life of crime, 20,000 Little Reasons takes a look at the other aspect – the heavy price that all criminals must pay sooner or later.
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Content |
8.6 |
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Visual
Look |
6.8 |
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Use
of Audio |
8.0 |
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Use
of Budget |
7.0 |
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Lasting
Appeal |
7.5 |
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Overall
Score |
7.6
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The
author of half a dozen screen plays, two novels, and a proficient
camera-woman in her own right, Monika
DeLeeuw-Taylor is Microfilmmaker's lead writing analyst and
one of our top film reviewers. When she's not writing a critique for
Microfilmmaker, she's writing screenplays for Viking Productions.
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