One of the biggest special effects in the film is at the end when the camera turns around to see that a plane has crashed into the house, with wreckage, flames, and smoke everywhere. I was floored by how good it looked. I even paused and scanned through the shot in slow motion… and it still looked great! I looked for some of the more noticeable giveaways (uneven lighting between the background and the top layer, spill from one layer to another, etc.) and could hardly find them. Great job!
Use of Audio
Much like the use of the photographs, there wasn’t a lot of background or ambient audio throughout the film. Instead, sound was used in conjunction with the photographs. For example, when you see the pictures of the painter falling off of the ladder, you hear the rattle of the ladder against the house, a high-pitched male scream, followed by a somewhat squishy thud. This use of sound serves to highlight the dark hilarity of the story, and is very effective.
Baer used the onboard camera mic to record the audio for her dialogue scene. While this is usually a big no-no (because of the inherent low quality of camera mics and the internal sound of the camera), it works perfectly here, because it’s supposed to be a personal videotape recorded in someone’s home. Also, Baer is close enough to the camera that the audio is good. While there is no music in the project, it’s not really necessary due to the nature of the story.
Use of Budget
This film is right on for its budget; $300 is perfect for a five-and-a-half-minute project that uses one basic camera shot, still photographs, the onboard camera mic, and sound clips. Where this film really went up in this category was the fact that Baer was able to get the Visual Effects Artist (Mark Thomas) to do the work on the airplane crash for free. That one shot could’ve hugely increased the budget. But because Baer was able to get the work done for free, this improved the quality of the film without overloading the budget.
Lasting Appeal
This is a great film that is worth watching again and sharing with others; not only is it funny (in an enjoyably twisted way), but it is also thought-provoking and is a great conversation starter.
Overall Comment
It can be difficult to pack a good story into a 5½ minute project. But Baer does an excellent job of giving you a darkly comical story that is well-written, well-acted, and visually creative. It is thought-provoking as well as entertaining, and definitely one to show to others.
