Review first draft

This is the first draft for our film review, however there are some main points to change for the next draft. The tone of the review is very much negative which we need to change and be able to talk about our own film in a more positive light. The tone of the review also becomes too chatty in places where we tried too hard for it to be like that of a Little White Lies review. These are just a few main points which we will take into consideration when re-drafting the review.


Whilst Michael Bay is off planning his new film, Pain and Gain with his smallest budget yet, amateur directors Dani Hubbard and Charlie Smith are revelling in the success of their first short film. Capturing the suspense of a thriller in what appears to be a casual day like any other, as it focuses on the morning routine of a teen girl, with a sinister twist which turns out to be not so sinister at all; in fact it’s actually pretty anti-climactic if you ask me.

Hubbard and Smith’s piece is about the character becoming lost in a river of confusion, as what started out to be normal day for the character turned out far different from what she expected. With a dark sinister twist that might not seem clear at first; as you may have guessed, you do have to watch it to make any sense of it. Little White Lies as an organisation (as you loyal readers will know) do NOT take kindly to spoilers, so we strongly recommend that you go and see this film for yourself if you want to find out the big ‘SURPRISE.’

There are two key moments in the film, firstly when we went from equilibrium to disruption, the main character was walking to her car when BOOM she was abducted by an anonymous character, the use of enigma to hide his identity works well and really helps build tension, point for the directors there. However his lack of identity might actually go the other way and make the film more confusing for the audience to understand! Perhaps a bold strategy that wasn’t executed in the right way, may not have worked to their advantage this time: better luck next time guys. The other key moment which should have made the whole film was executed poorly by the main actor, she lacks any expression making it hard for the audience to belive there is any surprise and due to the fact that we never actually see the surprise on screen, her face at this moment should have been crucial to the making of the film.

Although the film appears to have been a bit of a success story so far with the, new to the biz directors, it is clear throughout that so is the actor, she shows no acting experience in her amateur style. She shows no real emotion throughout the film, and your right it isn’t really necessary when half the film is of her walking down the street; which is supposed to be emotionless to communicate her normal everyday meaningless tasks. Yet there is one key moment  when the use of facial expression needs to be executed perfectly to make sure the ending is not anti-climactic, which it turns out to be seeing as she cannot seem to act surprise, anyone would think this girl had never been surprised in all her nineteen years.

We go from this casual walking down the street, and driving around for the majority of the film to the quick surprise at the end which is over far too quickly for my liking. Seeing as the film title is called ‘Surprise,’ you would expect more focus on that point in the film, however all big time directors had to start small and they are well on their way to a possible success in the business; just maybe after a bit more practice.