For a film that is supposed to imitate the run-and-gun style of a documentary, it was very well-shot. Though handheld, the shots were smooth, with the right amount of shake that one might expect. In one scene where Sara is interviewing an actor who is so “method” that he has actually become his character, he gets so into his supercop role that he tries to arrest her, at which point she drops the camera. When he finally returns to the interview, the show is at an odd angle so that only the actor's head is seen in the shot. Normally this would be considered a major screw-up, but in this case it's wonderfully funny.
The lighting in the film was quite good as well; of course since it was a production about a production, one could easily get away with having visible lights and props in the scene without having to worry about hiding them. Since most of the scenes took place in a small attic room - which would normally be horribly cramped quarters, especially with seven-plus people in it – there was no attempt to minimize the lights and all the equipment that could be seen out in the open. I was also quite impressed with a scene shot at night while it was raining. It was shot bright enough to be easily seen, but not too much that it looked odd. (It was also pretty hilarious to see one actor wearing a poncho and another holding an umbrella while the scene was being shot.)
There were a few moments that had some lighting difficulties; one scene shot in the back seat of a car and looking toward the front window had a lot of washout coming from outside, and another scene shot inside a garage had washout coming from the open garage door. For future reference, if you’re shooting inside a car on a bright day, always put Neutral Density gels on the outside of the windows of the car to cut down on the excess light from outside. (That, or greenscreen the shot. Takes a bit of work to do it well, but it can be very effective with some creativity.)
I also noticed one shot with a guitar amp in the corner in which the amp’s brand name was blurred out. It’s not completely noticeable, but if one couldn’t get permission for the brand and only realized this mistake afterward, it might not be a bad idea to just re-shoot the scene if at all possible. (Of course, a lot of reality shows use this trick, so it might well have been intentional.) In addition, there are a few times where characters are looking at reels, but they aren’t always shown – the first meeting with the Dentists and later when the director is more closely examining the cinematographer’s demo reel. It would have been nice to at least see a bit of what the characters are looking at, especially when it comes to comparing Tom’s original demo reel with the “new and improved” one that captures the Dentists’ interests.
This film made an excellent choice of only using music when showing clips of the movie in progress. Since it is basically a “making of” film, there would be no good reason to have music in the background – especially when shooting scenes, which Tom seemed to have the good sense to realize – unless of course there was a radio or television on.
I only noticed a few overall issues with audio in the film. Firstly, there is some foul language in the film, but some of it is bleeped out. Whether this was a choice to appeal to a certain audience, an attempt to make the film fit the reality TV model, or just this particular version, I don’t know. But it seems to me that if one is going to use profanity in a film, there’s not much point in bleeping it out. If one is concerned with the target audience, just don’t use it or, if you want to replicate shows like COPS or the TV version of RENO 911, bleep out all profanity, not just part of it. A skillful writer can always find a way to say something without making it obscene. Look at Napolean Dynamite – not a single four-letter word in the whole movie, yet it’s hilarious as they used the natural comedy of the characters (“Gosh!”).
Also – and this is generally a given with this type of film – characters were difficult to hear when their backs were turned to the camera. It was a noticeable issue, but the dialogue wasn’t completely unintelligible, so in some ways it’s acceptable for the film’s style.
