Box of Love-The Critique

Introduction

This is my film critique for my group with Crystal x2 about our movie Box of Love. This movie is about a homeless man who finds a love interest in an unexpected way after his dreams are crushed by the “perfect” woman. The story was a change from our normal suspense movies and it was really interesting using all of the different techniques based on the romantic comedy Amelie and the genre as a whole.

Script/ Narrative Story

There is a clear 3-act story in this movie, for it sets up a character that watches everyone else and is all alone, but then he sees a girl he is attracted to, thus setting up the maze of trying to please her, then being rejected into ignominy, only to be brought up by a new, better love interest in the end, creating a feeling of fulfillment. This movie really shows the theme of how one needs to look beyond outside appearances to get at the core personality of a person. Appearances are misleading; Frascuello finds love in the form of a grimy homeless person like himself, not a pretty rich girl. This is not to say that love is only found within ones own “kind” or rich people are horrible, but instead that sometimes one finds love where they least expect it. The characters are always in character; Frascuello may seem overly cynical at the beginning, but that just explains his readiness for a change in his life, to feel a true connection to someone else. The other characters are less dynamic, but they show that they are not always as they seem based on appearances. The dialogue is really not an issue, for we use no dialogue; we tried a voice over, but that did not really fit within the narrative arc of the story that shows more than it tells. Dialogue would just weigh down the flow of the story that depends much on the acting of the characters. The climax is reasonably original, for it is perhaps not expected from the beginning that another female character would come in, though it may be expected that the pretty girl would reject Frascuello.

Casting

All of the actors in this film are effective for their roles, especially for the main characters. Martin is always a versatile actor who can handle the fickle mood changes of Frascuello, from cynical to ecstatic. Jennifer’s portrayal of the rich girl works well with her clear confidence and intense facial expressions, as well as her whole look. Savannah is a good Ajuna, the homeless woman, for she is humble enough acting and shy, like the character of Ajuna should be. All the minor characters were fine, but Stephanie’s fat girl was a bit unconvincing, but it was kind of hard to stuff her face like that, so it is somewhat excusable. All of the characters look different enough with different features, like the sharpness of Jen and the softness of Savannah, each matching their respective characters.

Acting

As previously mentioned, most of the actors fit their roles really well, being convincing in both look and action. Frascuello is very endearing, as is Ajuna as far as we experience her presence, so we really care about what happens to them; the coldness of the other characters emphasizes the warmness within these characters, making the viewer like them more. The main characters stay in character the same way throughout the movie. The wardrobe and make up is really convincing and holds up throughout the movie; this movie depends a lot on the wardrobe of the characters. Frascuello and Ajuna are both homeless people and if they were all completely clean, their roles would be unconvincing; the dirt on their faces and their tattered clothing help bring their characters to life. Conversely, the prim and proper clothing of the rich girl and her boyfriend are important to showing their contrast to the other two.

Sound

All of the sounds are appropriately placed for proximity, but this issue rarely comes up. The background music probably calls attention to itself in the way that it is very varied from rap to instrumental music. Also, there is the issue that I may have some randomly placed music, like the water splash, but that is meant to place emphasis on the humiliation of Frascuello when he is pushed down by the boyfriend. The music may not always be the most appropriate for the situation, but that is used to make the situation comical, to various effects at times. The ending music is definitely my favorite part through, for it layers over quite well.

Staging and Props

The set designs really do capture the quirky feeling of the movie, especially in the coffee shop, for it shows the life of young city dwellers, and the field, for it shows a contrast to that city life, the concrete jungle. The park at the end is still a nice area, for it was in a nice position with the sun shining to emphasize the epiphany that Frascuello reached with Ajuna, but it was hard to film in at times because of its small size. Its sparseness does, however, place the emphasis on the relationship between the two. Sometimes there was an issue filming the falling motion in parking lot area around the bank, for there was a pole in the way of the action for the most part. There is enough visual separation between characters in the background for the most part, even in the crowded coffee shop, for the characters are wearing distinct clothes with some different colors. Any issues with time period are essentially null in this case, for the film takes place in the present day.

Lighting

The lighting is generally good; there are no major lapses other than the issues that we had with shadows. The major issue with the shadows was in the field because we had to make sure to maintain the 180 degree line and everything to make the match action transition from the scene by the parking lot. There were shadows of the camera and boom mike due to the position of the sun at the time, so therefore any of the shots that go over to Jen have a lot of mike shadow. It was hard trying to edit around this, so this was the major issue out of any of the lighting. Most of the lighting was outside and it worked relatively well, maybe even quite well. It was reasonably consistent and it produced a nice outline on the characters when the sun shined behind them in the park bench scene and a bit of the running through the meadows scene, emphasizing the feel-good nature of the film in that part of the story, casting the characters in a benign light. The sunset came at a very convenient time in those cases.

Titles and Credits

I think that the titles are reasonably appropriate for the movie; it is a nice and light template with modern sounding opening music. The opening represents the way how nature is a welcome escape to the urban jungle that Frascuello faces everyday of his life, the harsh realities of life. The lake and pasture background of the opener really shows how Frascuello choosing the natural beauty and appeal of Ajuna and the forest will make his life much better. It is support to be a bit cheesy, so it is. I think that it is reasonably legible, but it does go by in small script, so some of the actors’ names may be hard to read. The closing is more legible.

Camera Operation

We do indeed pay attention to the 180 line and how to set up shots, having a few nice foreground, midground and background shots that make the shot more interesting. The one pan that we really have in the movie is well motivated, for it shows a sudden realization in Frascuello that the chocolate box could be of some use to him. The camera movements are rarely noticeable, though the camera is a bit shaky sometimes because we rarely use the tripod.

Sound

There may be some issues in volume between shots, like when I accidentally put the volume down a little bit lower than the other similar tracks, but it is not that noticeable. There are only two lapses in the loops that I was having a lot of trouble trying to get rid of, one less noticeable than the other. The one at the beginning with the drinker was not too bad, but the one at the end where the music is ready to fade into the other track at the right moment, the way I connected the two tracks repeated the same few notes, which provides a discontinuity in the music that otherwise fits the scene well. The audio may be a little too varied, but that is supposed to fit the quirky nature of the film.

Editing

I think that the cuts are quite motivated in most cases, trying the move the story at a watchable pace, like how I used quick cuts in the dream sequence with gradual fades to try and hide the shadow mistakes, but also to make the sequence more dream-like, then using no fade to create a stark sense of being thrown back into the harsh urban reality again. Some of my cuts in general are a bit too long, especially at the beginning, but it is not overly noticeable. We could have had a few more reaction shots to show what the characters were thinking at the time, especially at the time when Frascuello snaps out of his dream, for we don’t see a close up that might have explained the feelings of the rich girl and Frascuello, providing a good contrast in their close-ups. Based on the footage that we shot, I believe that the way I edited the story it tells enough without being too long for the most part; it is only about 4:30 long this time. I also avoided issues like jump cuts and tried to avoid as many continuity errors as possible (that were not intended), which seems to have almost completely worked, but I may have missed a few things. The editing style is reasonably smooth, so it is only noticeable when I planned it to be (like in the part where the perspective of the couple at the end goes from their backs to their fronts to show how they are moving forward), so I think that it is fine for the most part.

Conclusion

Overall, I thought it was interesting to make a movie with a happy ending and overall positive tone. It has its own “quirks” so to speak, but it was interesting to do the sound design for it, but I would like to make a track that is a bit more congruous across the work with better sound layering and possibly some better ambiance.