CMWP – Peers Reviews

HELLO IT’S ME

The digital story ‘Hello it’s me’ by Gemma and Caroline truly attracts my interests, not only by its touching story but also its beautiful production.

The project’s story about the disconnection and largening gap between an international student and their loved ones overseas is profoundly relatable to me. As a person experiencing it myself, I feel that the story is very emotional, touching and real.

The short documentary was beautifully produced, considering the work of only 2 group members. The quality of the shots and camera framing is well-executed. The lighting design is also exceptional that truly elevates the quality of the shots, making them look professional and on the industry level. However, there are some minor flaws in how the documentary is a bit too dragged out in terms of length, and in how a few shots only have a blank white wall, making them look “boring”.

My major concern of the project is in how the story would be promote online and offline. They do not have much content on social media nor diversity or practicability for online promotion. The idea of asking international students to share their stories is an interesting concept, however, they lack an effective promotion strategy to actually encourage people to do so. Their existing content is mainly in Chinese which would require a lot of work translating them to English and would only engage Chinese students, meanwhile any additional content in other languages would cause them problems to translate without the necessary proficiency in those languages.

In overall, the project really stands out in terms of production, however, it would need more work in promotion to become a truly successful project.

RED LIPS

The project Red Lips stands out among others because it is one of the few projects that choose a fiction story. The project is in a slightly more advanced stage compared to others but there are also several areas that can be improved.

The story does not really impress or earn my interests, as I feel it is a bit of a “cliche”. However, in terms of communicating the message (about the adaptability of an international student in Australia), it still can be effective if done right.

The production of the project is very difficult to be reflected upon because we can only see the trailer. However, based on the footages that we see, I feel that the production quality is a slightly underwhelming. The camera work (framing, movement) and lighting are not very successful technically. On the other hand, they have an original piece of music, written specifically for the film that effectively conveys the tone and theme of it.

The promotion of the project is one of the aspects that deserve credits in my personal opinions. Its social media channels have consistent and diverse content, with posters, snapshots, behind the scenes, etc. that makes me (as an audience) can’t wait to watch the final film. In addition to a well-thought-out offline promotion strategy, the project would be much more completed.

In conclusion, I personally feel that the project is going in a right direction. Although it requires a lot of improvements to be considered successful, I believe that the group has the potential to do so.