Though this is a short film, it actually looked a lot to me like a stage play. Certainly a good part of it took place on stage, but the overall feeling of the story, not to mention the lighting, really added to this unique look. Though this seems appropriate as it was made by members of Theater Rice - an Asian-American theatre group based out of the University of California, Berkeley – so it is no surprise that the movie has a very theatre-like quality.
The film starts off with the final scene of a ‘play,’ which is essentially a short dance sequence that the performers are still struggling with. This final sequence is again shown at the end of the film when Karen and Tim perform before an audience. It was a nice piece, but some viewers might believe that this piece is the entire play due to the fact that other elements of the play aren't shown. I think that using a montage sequence would have been a more effective way to show the extent of the play, and then end with the sequence that they're having problems with.
The lighting in this film was very similar to stage lighting. It was very bright with harsh shadows, and would change suddenly to reflect the mood. One particularly nice moment is when Karen and David are left alone and he coaches her on how not to be nervous to kiss Tim onstage. The lighting changes to a bluish hue with very harsh shadows, which makes it seem as though they are the only two people in the world. It’s a very beautiful effect. And while theatrical lighting is usually discouraged in filmmaking, it can be used very effectively.
There were also some very nice soft and rack focus shots; these can be difficult to pull off, but looked very good. The images all had some sort of a tint to them, but it just added to the theatrical and artistic feel; it wasn’t any sort of white balance problem.
