Evaluate Peer Reviews

     The following information reveals insight on our video from students in our own classroom. These students are doing similar projects and it is useful to listen to what they have to say as they follow the same path that my group is traversing through. It is separated into three sections: "What I liked", " What confused me", and "Suggestions". A major comment on the things that people liked about our video dealt with the addition of sound effects and our choice of music for the film. Singular comments also complimented our lighting and acting. For the confused section, the majority of students agreed that the connection between myself and the other actors was unclear as well as the motive of the kidnapper for the film. As for the suggestions, my fellow peers offered very useful tips so that we can edit differently or shoot shots in another manner. These included using a voiceover for the interrogations since the voices were too low, lowering the volume of the music since it was overbearing for many, and create better lighting for the interrogation scenes. 

     All of these comments will no doubt aid me in the editing process as well as any reshoots that we do (although very unlikely because of the Covid-19 issue preventing our group from rejoining). The comments about the soundtrack was reassuring as looking for music was a pain during the editing process in order to not get copyrighted. Although we placed no specific motive on our antagonist, it was purposely done as people would get invested into watching the rest of the film to find that information out. All of the suggestions are very useful including the decision to tone the music down. I thought that an increased volume would increase the drama of the situation but it just made the interrogation scene confusing as we could not hear every word clearly. In order to make our group's video better, we should heed all the advice that we have received from fellow classmates. 

What I liked	What confused me	Sugestions
I loved the sound effects and background music. It set the perfect mysterious mood for the movie opening. Josh’s acting was also really great in the sense that he was a very affirming interrogator.	The dialogue left me confused at times because I couldn’t really hear what was being said. The kidnapping was confusing because it happened all of a sudden and I definitely made this mistake of my own.	Maybe record a voiceover to replace the dialogue happening in the opening and lip sync what is being said. Introduce the kidnapper more in a sense that leads to the kidnapping in an understandable way.
I really liked the music that was used in the background, it helped with the sense of mystery and developed the plot.	I was a little confused at the end why the hoodie was just left on the table where the last person was interviewed.	I think maybe at the end instead of the hoodie just being on the table the last person who was interviewed should get up and say "may I get my things" and the detective says "of course, you're free to go" and the interviewee gets up and gets the hoodie off of a hook or something and leaves, then the film cuts.
I really liked the lighting you chose, between the darkness of the night and the shadows created while Josh is interrogating people, it was very well executed.	I think the purpose of the opener is to cause confusion and raise questions, so in that aspect it was good.	The volume of the interrogations is a little muffled and quiet. Also, some frames are full screen and others are smaller, revealing black frames around the clips.
I really liked the music at the beginning. The interview scenes were also very well done.	I was a little confused when the person in the hoodie was kidnapping Miguel because during the scene right before that, Miguel and the hoodie person seemed to be friends.	I suggest that the volume of the music should be turned down slightly during the interview scenes. I struggled to understand what the people were saying at times. Other than that, I loved this film opening!
I really liked the noises added in. I also think the acting is pretty good and the whole film in general was just well done. The editing was good and I liked the plot too.	I couldn't clearly hear what they were saying because of the music and a little bit of mumbling so I didn't fully know what was happening. I also don't understand the beginning of the film where a character was on the computer.	I just think the audio needs to be fixed a bit. Just turning down the music while the characters speak would probably make it better.
The atmosphere was carried forth extremely well by the lighting, camera work, and mise-en-scene. The title, especially the way it was presented at the end after the scenes, raised questions for me: what is so important about this ordinary article of clothing that there would be a federal case about it? The director revealed exactly what was needed for viewers to understand the plot, while keeping the answer to this question hidden.	Besides the aforementioned question, I am confused about what the criminals' motives are for kidnapping someone. Other than that, nothing really confused me; the director provided everything else I needed to know.	I would suggest that the editor(s) attempt to filter out the slight static noise that is in the background of certain scenes, so that it will be easier to hear the dialogue of the characters. I would also choose a different location for filming, as it was fairly obvious that it was shot in a school, which conflicts with the adult nature of the plot.
I really liked the escalation between Miguel being watched to being taken. I think being in the perspective as the person in the hoodie is really interesting because it gives us this sense of wrong-doing yet we want to see the person survive. I also liked the music choice and the intensity of the interrogations.	I think the interrogation scenes were unhelpful to the plot and were confusing to the story. I also think that the pace between Miguel being friend with the person in the hoodie to then being kidnapped also was confusing, it was very fast and did not give a lot of understanding to what was happening.	I think that maybe having a bit more information or clarity to the plot would help viewers understand it more. I also think the interrogation scenes need to have much brighter lighting. It's really important that you get the gloomy atmosphere, but if you can't see the actors then it defeats the purpose. I also think the acting was a bit stiff, it seemed unnatural and I think would make a big difference in the opening.
The acting and editing were really well executed.	What really happened in the beginning, it was unclear to me as to what happened until the detective announced it as a kidnapping.	Nothing really, I thought It was a really well done first draft, maybe minor tweaks to the shots of the crime itself.