Use of Audio
The overall dialogue audio in this film seemed recorded well, but had a lot of variation in volume and played back too softly for the music in the film. Finer mixing is needed to make the overall audio levels consistent. From here, normal dialogue (or music without dialogue) levels tend to be mixed to –12 Db (digital) while music beds (music played underneath dialogue) tend to be mixed to –18 Db, and special effects audio levels tend to be mixed to –6 Db. (Additionally, to prevent as much dialogue volume variation in future films, try to keep your shotgun mic a consistent distance from the actor’s mouth, usually no farther than 1.5 to 2 feet, depending on the quality of the mic.)
The instrumental music composed for this film fit nicely, reminding me strangely of elements from the original Karate Kid for some reason.
While the long shot for one good-
night scene works quite well...
...Some of the other static shots
don't work as well.
Use of Budget
While nearly $15,000 is not extremely cheap for a 30-minute micro-budget film, it is extremely reasonable when you realize that nearly $6,000 came from expenses directly related to the film stock itself. The rest included the purchase of hard drives and Avid Express software, rental of lighting and equipment, and $1200 in liability insurance. All of this is extremely well thought out and planned, especially for a first film.
Lasting Appeal
Despite some of the rougher areas of Pixel Perfect, it has a lasting appeal that makes me want to watch it again and to show friends. This is difficult to achieve for a suspense mystery, but it does so.
Overall Comment
For his first film, actor/director Mark Kochanowicz did a good job of creating an interesting mystery that you want to figure out. This is especially impressive since he had no film school experience and learned all he knew about filmmaking from being a stand-in on studio sets. I look forward to his future films to see how he continues to grow as a filmmaker and storyteller.
The
director of two feature length films and half a dozen short films,
Jeremy Hanke
founded Microfilmmaker Magazine to help all no-budget filmmakers make
better films. His first book on low-budget special effects techniques, GreenScreen Made Easy, (which he co-wrote with Michele Yamazaki) was released by MWP to very favorable reviews. He's curently working on the sci-fi film franchise, World of Depleted through Depleted: Day 419 and the feature film, Depleted.
