The Visitors from Caleb McGinnis on Vimeo.
THE VISITORS (nominated by Roxi Khan)I have chosen 'The Visitors' according to the following criteria: 1. Idea (plot/concept); 2. Script (structure, actions, dialogue/narration/onscreen text); 3. Content (actors, interviewees, locations, etc.); 4. Cinematography; 5. Sound (including effects and music); 6. Editing; and 7. Persuasiveness.
My Analysis as follows:
1. I love the idea that there is only one person on the whole planet that has witnessed something huge and devastating - a big plus that he is the only one who can set things right.
2. Script structure was beautiful - the wording between scenes wasn't too much yet it helped you to understand what was going on. Very Don LaFontaine phrases, loved them! e.g. "While the world slept" then the punchline "He awoke". The actions of the actor were superb, everything you could imagine happening in that situation happened with such realism and yet on a dramatic level to draw you into the plot. No dialogue necessary either, this could even work well as a silent film the actions were so good.
3. The actor was BRILLIANT, the beautiful thing about this story is it really required only one actor to describe everything that was happening throughout. No one else to necessarily interact with, well...except for the shadow of the alien to freak the guy out. Actually that would probably be the only small disappointment I had, if you could have a shadow of an alien it should've looked as less human as possible i.e. have tentacles flapping around and eyes above its head or something along those lines - just to make you think 'whoa wait a sec, did an alien just emerge from the upstairs room?'. Otherwise it could've look like a secret military agent. I guess having the alien with almost human qualities helps us to recognise when it's pointing you out/appearing curious at its surroundings. The locations, although average, were simply perfect for this scenario. It made the invasion just that more believable.
4. The lighting was absolutely superb, for all we know they could've used massive garden lights to look like the alien ship outside the window but it still gave the eerie feel of 'something out there which doesn't seem right'. All the lighting effects were so simple but worked very well as plot devices to move the story forward, which I can tell were computer generated in some instances but that's ok given that it's an alien situation - coming across unusual lights that made it even more alieny but were quite natural in appearance too. The dark bluey grey feel of night is brilliant, gives you this wonderful creepy secure
feeling right up until the red blast. The angles...I am all about camera angles and these angles were amazing. Caught the emotions beautifully and all the necessary close up shots to pull you into this guy's traumatic experience.
5. Music and sound fx were ingenious, very cinematic audio track for that extra drama. The boom of the explosion wasn't annoying at all either, some explosions I've seen in films make you think 'whoa that's enough!' but with this it was a beautiful surprise - it was enough to give you an 'uh oh' feeling but not so much to make you stick cotton wool in your ears!
6. As someone who loves editing camera angles and tying sounds/music to scenes...it really is superb editing work. I love the editing nearer the end when he's running through the rain and we keep cutting to the moment he pauses to stare at the sky. We know he'll eventually pause in shock anyway after running, so it's great that the editor keeps giving us a taste of this inevitable moment - just to add that extra suspense to what we will eventually see in the sky.
7. Even though I have seen this type of concept done before, this has been done with such finesse. The story...well, who can resist that sort of story? It makes me curious as to HOW he will solve this crisis and all alone. I'll be ready with a bag of popcorn as soon as it hits cinemas! ;)
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