Peer Review

Today, we reviewed the foley films from our class and another class. As a class, we provided positive and negative feedback for each group. 

My group's film received generally good feedback. The class agreed that the dialogue was well-written and suits the character. One distinctive attribute of our film was that the static noise produced naturally by the microphone, unlike the other groups, has no negative impact on the film and instead helped with creating a realistic old factory environment. As the film reaches its climax, the pitch of the music also increased and thereby helping with the enhancement of tension in the atmosphere. We paid attention to small details, especially the mechanical sounds such as the turning of the table, the scraping of metal against the plate, and the placement of the bowls.

Scraping of Metal Against the Plate

However, one of my classmates pointed out that certain part of the dialogue was missing or delayed. There was a part where the man in suit did a hand movement and spoke but we did not record / put any dialogue for that. We should have paid even more attention to the details to reduce the errors in the film.

All of the films were unique in their own ways. Many of the groups evidently put in a lot of effort in their production and created remarkable results. Out of the 11 films that we watched, the most unforgettable one in my opinion would be Polar Express. The film consisted of a lot of complex / intricate sounds, with the sound of the old fashioned steam train being the most impressive. There was a long period of silence in the beginning of the film. Some thought it was awkward and that they should have filled some sounds in, but I think that the complete absence of sound plays a crucial role in the film as it helps build up a creepy, mysterious atmosphere, heightening suspense. The strong contrast between the sudden abrupt noise of the train and the silence before that effectively surprises the audience and thereby stimulating their urge to find out what would happen next. The fact that they included the sound of clock ticking reveals the fact that they paid a lot of attention to the minor details, which I think is why their film was so successful as each and every single sound contributes to creating a realistic environment. From what I remember, the only bit that they can improve on is the sound of walking on snow, which they could have used powder / cornstarch to replicate a more realistic sound.