FINAL FEEDBACK FOR PB3

As we get very close to the due date for Project Brief 3, this week’s workshop was an essential time to get feedback. We were to ask our group questions about our rough cuts that we wanted answers to. I like this method of getting feedback because it makes sure that the feedback you get is specific to your needs.

The questions I asked were:

1. Are the cutaways working? Do they make sense?
2. What other types of cutaways would you recommend?
3. How should I smooth over jump cuts?
4. Do I need music?

For the most part, they told me everything I already knew but this was okay because it made me feel like I wasn’t being too picky and that there were in fact things in the video I could still improve on.

My major issue with the most recent cut I had was the cutaways and the harsh jumps between cuts. The feedback I got was very helpful in this respect. I was told to use cutaway shots over the jump cuts and I agree, this is the easiest way to conceal the jarring jumps in some sections of the video. A piece of advice that I got was ‘don’t use cutaways for the sake of cutaways’. I really liked this advice because I was definitely about to put in cutaway shots just because but also this advice relates to the idea we spoke about in class which is to make creative decisions intentionally. That’s one thing I definitely have to be wary of because I am guilty of doing things in my work just for the sake of it or just because I feel like it should be there but in actuality none of it brings anything to the work.

When it came to having background music there was a general consensus that it worked well without it. There was one person who recommended I try and find an acoustic piece and so I will definitely experiment with that but I hold the opinion that the video is better without. I find that having background music sometimes makes the video feel trashy, particularly when you just throw any kind of upbeat music on it. With my interview video, it doesn’t have a sad or overly happy tone so I’m finding it hard to find suitable music for it.

This feedback exercise was also a good way to view everyone else’s rough cuts. It’s always interesting to find that people have approached the brief in a very different way than you have. I can tell that everyone has their own unique style and it makes viewing and giving feedback a fun experience.

When it comes to giving feedback, though, I definitely need to work on being better. Although I know that constructively critiquing someone’s work will benefit them, I still feel somewhat rude doing it. This is something I still need to improve on for sure.