Surprisingly,
the lighting in the club was good as well. In environments
where lighting changes dramatically (and frequently), it
can be difficult to keep everything balanced properly. For
the most part, the characters were well-lit and well-balanced.
(One exception: there was a brief period where Monica's
face was extremely washed out and overexposed; this was
especially noticeable because it happened in the middle
of the scene.)
There
were other interesting visual effects in the film: in one
scene where Daryl and Selena are on the phone, a split screen
is used to show the conversation. But unlike typical "split
screen" shots, Daryl appeared in only ¼ of the
screen, and in the upper right corner at that! I don't mind
creative or different approaches to visual layout in a movie;
however, it was so different, it ended up being distracting.
(I think that the most distracting part about it was the
fact that Daryl was in just a corner of the screen; if it
was a whole top-to-bottom section, it wouldn't have stood
out as much.)
There
was a very nice "snapshot montage" of Daryl and
Selena on their various outings. For example, it would show
them walking in the park, then the action would freeze (as
though capturing a photo) and the image would fade into
a black and white still. Very nice effect; creative and
different from a typical montage.
As
her relationship with God
improves, her interaction with men...
...and
her relationship with her
son also improves.
Use
of Audio
There were some excellent uses of audio in the film. At
the beginning, when JJ is in the Operating Room, you can
hear the sound of her heartbeat over the commotion and equipment.
It doesn't start out very loud, but slowly rises up, getting
your attention. Very effective technique. Also, JJ's voice-over
comments in the club scene are hilarious and help the audience
understand why she's disillusioned with the way she sees
things. Finally, the overall use of background music was
appropriate and effective.
However,
there are several places where the dialogue tends to be
a little uneven. Several office scenes are echo-y and have
slightly hot dialogue (most noticeable whenever someone
says something with "s" in it). This sticks out
because some scenes have this problem and some don't. Additionally,
there are some scenes where there was some ADR work done;
however, the lip sync is painfully off, and the sound of
the dialogue doesn't match the environment. (I.e. it sounds
like Daryl and Selena are talking in a studio instead of
a park, because the dialogue is far too "clean"
compared to the environment in the park.
Use
of Budget
For a first-out film, Game Night is quite well done.
While it's hard to tell how much went into the different
areas of production, this is a consistent movie; there wasn't
any one area that was drastically better or worse than another.
Audio, lighting, cinematography, post-production, everything
was consistently good. The only thing I'd suggest for the
future is that when any ADR work is done, make sure it matches
the environment it's set in and make double sure the sync
is spot on. While we all get a kick out of those Hong Kong
kung-fu movies with the badly done voice-over dubs, that's
not what most of us are aiming for!
Lasting
Appeal
As stated above, Game Night was made with a specific
audience in mind. However, it is not so limited in its scope
that only Christians would enjoy it or find it meaningful.
In fact, unlike some Christian films I have seen, this is
not heavy-handed in its message. (Which is very important,
no matter what kind of movie you're making; if, as a director,
you have to beat your audience over the head in order for
them to see your point, you've failed.) Although I might
not show it for a general group of my friends, if some of
them were asking the same questions the women in this movie
did (i.e. finding purpose in life, trying to truly understand
love, etc.) I would recommend this film to them.
Overall
Comment
For a debut movie, Game Night is very good. The character
development is believable and the production quality is
fairly even overall. By and large, the audio is well done.
For future reference, dialogue that is too hot or out-of-sync
can be corrected with careful ADR work.
