As far as the overall look went, I did notice several technical issues. When Ryan first enters the hospital and gets into the elevator, the interiors are far too dark. While shooting in color might have helped to disguise the low lighting, black and white is not so forgiving. And in this case it is glaringly obvious. I also noticed several large continuity errors where objects, arms, and legs moved too quickly or jumped around. I realize these are impossible to avoid most of the time, and every film has them. But these were very glaringly obvious - a good editor should have been able to pick them out and edit around them. The biggest problem by far was the line-crossing - this involves the rule that every scene has one line of action, such as two characters having a conversation, in which case the line would connect them. Wherever the camera is placed, it must stay on its own side of the line (think of it like separating fighting children, except in this scenario you can actually control them). If the camera continuously jumps back and forth across the line, the resulting scene will not look as if two characters are talking to each other, but instead talking in multiple directions. The only way to cross the line of action is to cut to a neutral shot of one or both of the characters first, or by using a moving shot that effectively places the camera on the other side.
In this film it was more subtle - during Ryan's first conversation with the doctor, one exchange had shots over each character's right shoulder. Most people might not have noticed the fact that in each shot both subjects were slightly angled in the same direction. I might be in the minority here, but I still think that the line of action rule is not one that can be bent, and should only be broken for a really, really good reason. This is a basic concept of filmmaking and I'm very surprised it was ignored.
In keeping with the film noir theme, the soundtrack of Ryan's Alibi was amazing. It was very well-composed and wonderfully dramatic. And though it continued throughout a good portion of the film - which I'm generally not too fond of - in this case it was a good choice, since the music did a lot to help enhance the mood.
As far as the dialogue and ambient sound goes, however, there were some issues. There was a lot of room tone that didn't always match, which led to the occasional "fuzzy" sound in the background that would abruptly cut out once the shot changed. This can be avoided by taking the time to record room tone after shooting a scene. Leave your cast and crew where they are and turn on the camera and audio equipment for several minutes to best capture the acoustics of the room. It's also best to stick a sign saying "room tone, scene XYZ" in front of the camera so your editor doesn't trash the big blank spot, thinking that some idiot just forgot to turn the camera off. This audio can be spliced into the final edit later to avoid sudden changes in background noise.
There were also some level issues. The doctor would occasionally lower his voice, and was clearly going for a more dramatic whisper, which is the perfect choice in this kind of film. But it just leaves the audience cupping hands to ears as the microphone did not pick up his dialogue at such a low volume. This was very disappointing, as the actor playing the doctor had a very good grasp of dramatic moment - when to speak louder and when to speak softer - but his talent wasn't showcased well enough because of poor audio quality. The opposite is also true, as some scenes are entirely too loud, particularly the fight between Ryan and his girlfriend; a very important moment in the story, but one doesn't get the full effect as one will likely be scrambling to turn down the speakers. (In one of our early issues of MFM, we covered an in-depth look at how to acquire high quality audio and how to mix it in such a way that it is at one of the industry standards. You can read it here.)
This film’s $7,500 budget was spent on a Mac Book Pro ($3,493), editing suites, stock footage ($1,000), background music ($1,000), and other miscellaneous expenses ($2,000.) The camera (Canon XL2) and lights were owned by the director.
Investing in a Mac Book pro and editing suites is a very good choice. Macs are great for creative things like video and photo editing, and if one plans on making more films it will definitely come in handy. The use of stock footage was also good, and it actually fit quite seamlessly into the film, although the black and white helped a lot. The rest of the budget was also put to good use, as the score was absolutely excellent, and the other expenses are always necessary.
But while the budget costs are expected, the film still has a lot of issues that need to be ironed out before one could say that this money was as well-spent as it could be.
