This was, well, not what I expected when I clicked on a YouTube video from a guy who normally posts 50 second videos.
This episode is visually stunning, and the CGI blends so well with the entire world creating an expansive world, and I don't understand how this was all done with software I have on my computer right now.
The lack of budget does show at points though, mostly through the real world camera footage, it just feels so out of touch with the absolutely insane Hollywood level vfx. This may be due to the camera being not the best, but I feel nowadays any cameras can create stunning images, so to be honest, the real cinematography (outside of the computer) isn't the best in my opinion.
The script, what little there is of it, was also not the best, for instance, at the start, the lines stated by the actress when her friend was ill, could have been cut down to one sentence, and that would have been a more realistic take to how an actual interaction would have happened in that situation.
The acting also feels a bit blunt, and almost as if it's being read, rather than acted, there's only one emotion essentially, however, the one guy who talks to the main character on the phone call is a way better actor, and some emotion is felt via his tone.
Now the story, damn, I came into it thinking it would make a nice visual piece, and now I'm writing an IMDB review about it comparing it to $30 million budget films in the back of my mind. It starts of pretty basic, and the acting started of as tragic, but I knew that the dude who made it was great at cgi, so I waited for it to ramp up, and it did, more than I expected. The visual effects created a massive scape for this series, and made me smile due just through the visuals. The idea of dropping a mug, which stops a ship from firing at another one as a distraction is perfect, even if slightly cliche. But what I didn't expect was the acting and story to ramp up and become, well actually pretty f$?king insane. A rocket was shot to another camp just so that the main character could talk through the phone, that is such a brilliantly dumb idea which worked too well.
However, the way the tone switched towards the end, was, well, impeccable, maybe the split vision effect added was a bit much, and a rack focus would have sufficed, but after that point. Damn, what in the world was that, I felt like I was watching a Christopher Nolan film, granted, not my favourite director, but, this is free on YouTube, so that makes is bloody insane.
Now, my rating is a 7, but that's when comparing it to everything ever, if I where to state my rating for it at it's specific budget, it would be a 10/10. But as a series in general, that I would watch not as a critic, or a cinematographer, but would switch on like a netflix show, this is my rating.
I can only imagine how insane this would be with a proper screen writer, and some A level actors.
Cinematographer: 8/10
Script: 5/10
Acting: 5/10
Story: 8/10
Character development: 7/10
imdb: 6.6 (rounded up)
This episode is visually stunning, and the CGI blends so well with the entire world creating an expansive world, and I don't understand how this was all done with software I have on my computer right now.
The lack of budget does show at points though, mostly through the real world camera footage, it just feels so out of touch with the absolutely insane Hollywood level vfx. This may be due to the camera being not the best, but I feel nowadays any cameras can create stunning images, so to be honest, the real cinematography (outside of the computer) isn't the best in my opinion.
The script, what little there is of it, was also not the best, for instance, at the start, the lines stated by the actress when her friend was ill, could have been cut down to one sentence, and that would have been a more realistic take to how an actual interaction would have happened in that situation.
The acting also feels a bit blunt, and almost as if it's being read, rather than acted, there's only one emotion essentially, however, the one guy who talks to the main character on the phone call is a way better actor, and some emotion is felt via his tone.
Now the story, damn, I came into it thinking it would make a nice visual piece, and now I'm writing an IMDB review about it comparing it to $30 million budget films in the back of my mind. It starts of pretty basic, and the acting started of as tragic, but I knew that the dude who made it was great at cgi, so I waited for it to ramp up, and it did, more than I expected. The visual effects created a massive scape for this series, and made me smile due just through the visuals. The idea of dropping a mug, which stops a ship from firing at another one as a distraction is perfect, even if slightly cliche. But what I didn't expect was the acting and story to ramp up and become, well actually pretty f$?king insane. A rocket was shot to another camp just so that the main character could talk through the phone, that is such a brilliantly dumb idea which worked too well.
However, the way the tone switched towards the end, was, well, impeccable, maybe the split vision effect added was a bit much, and a rack focus would have sufficed, but after that point. Damn, what in the world was that, I felt like I was watching a Christopher Nolan film, granted, not my favourite director, but, this is free on YouTube, so that makes is bloody insane.
Now, my rating is a 7, but that's when comparing it to everything ever, if I where to state my rating for it at it's specific budget, it would be a 10/10. But as a series in general, that I would watch not as a critic, or a cinematographer, but would switch on like a netflix show, this is my rating.
I can only imagine how insane this would be with a proper screen writer, and some A level actors.
Cinematographer: 8/10
Script: 5/10
Acting: 5/10
Story: 8/10
Character development: 7/10
imdb: 6.6 (rounded up)
