Attending Grove City College senior Nathan Mancini's anticipated premiere of Asleep in a Storm, I found myself immersed in excitement. Students were buzzing and Mancini was telling the hive how ecstatic he was about the quality of the film – twelve thousand dollars-worth of quality.
Unfortunately, this "award-winning director" isn't going to be winning any notable awards with this movie. Mancini was given twelve thousand dollars and returned a film that is genuinely un-enjoyable. Viewers can expect sub-par quality. The juvenile plot, poor scripting and technical features push it far below most student independent films. Myself having almost a decade of film experience, Asleep in a Storm nowhere near satisfied me.
Regardless of my credentials, I seemed to have been made the fool. By not finding myself privy to the film's greatness I saw myself as the outcast. The crowd roared. People applauded. I sat there and questioned them, "Why?" But the answer to this was no mystery. Mancini did well. He provided the GCC audience with something they were familiar with and could associate with. Having seen one frame, the students knew the exact location and were completely comfortable there. And who doesn't think it cool to see their friends and peers on screen?
Let us step away – away from the so familiar campus, familiar dorms, familiar faces – and look at this production from a more objective standpoint.
Cinematography. It's important. When watching Asleep in a Storm, you can tell Mancini and Moffett (the credited cinematographer) did not attend Filmmaking 101. The shot placement is extremely awkward. Mancini has this strange affinity for placing his characters up against walls. This establishes no depth of field and is very visually boring. Did I mention camera angles? From confusing establishing shots to awkward close-ups, it was most definitely amateur. You have an expensive and versatile camera, Mancini. Use it. I can get better footage out of a DSLR.
Mancini also loves his montages. (Like I said, he didn't attend 101.) Rob goes about one of his monologues as shots are shown of him awkwardly moving about his dorm. In the chase scene, all of the aerial shots are shown one after the other. When Sam Elmore was discussing his lack of interpersonal skills to a fellow classmate, an over-extended flashback was shown of Sam's past failures. I kept looking at my watch wondering if it was going to make up the entirety of the film. Little did I know at that time that this was only the first extended flashback to come.
Audio. Don't even get me started. I'm a third-generation professional sound technician. I can confidently state that nobody put the appropriate effort into or had enough experience to record, level, or mix the audio. When Sam screamed after brushing his teeth with hot sauce, my ears started to bleed from the clipping audio waves. Hey, the credit music sounded good.
The plot also had a lot to be desired. Firstly, the whole movie revolves around how many times Caesar is stabbed. This – to me – does not justify Rob Connolly going on a maniacal frenzy and exacting his revenge on poor Sam who just asked a simple question. Then Rob and Sam engage in an extremely juvenile prank war that escalates to both parties hating each other. I found very little of the slapstick humor amusing, but I did laugh at parts. Now here's the twist: Sam is found innocent. It was actually Victor – a side character – who was pranking Rob. Yes, poor Sam is dragged into this chaos and confusion. What is Victor's motive? He (paraphrasing) "doesn't want to let Rob win." Win what? Win senior of the year? Win by bringing Sam down? What does Victor have against Rob? Who is Victor, anyway? God doesn't know. Anyway, Rob is put to shame. Now he and Sam are "insta-friends." Sam sets up this climactic inspirational speech for Rob to present. Rob's ex – who he hasn't seen in two years – shows up as a random dramatic reconciliation. Why? Because it's dramatic. She isn't even a side character throughout the movie.
Despite the directing, the casting was fantastic. All of the actors assumed their roles very well and portrayed them fabulously. Bravo. However, there was one character that should not have even existed. Mancini, get out of the shot. I don't care if you're making a movie in a movie. Your whole "movie-ception" was not funny and very unprofessional – an embarrassing cameo.
Mancini gave Grove City College students a movie about Grove City College students. He has undoubtedly proved that you can make a "good" movie with enough marketing and hype. However, from a filmmaking perspective, this movie is worth nowhere near twelve thousand dollars and remains in the category of less-than-amateur quality films. (2/10)
Unfortunately, this "award-winning director" isn't going to be winning any notable awards with this movie. Mancini was given twelve thousand dollars and returned a film that is genuinely un-enjoyable. Viewers can expect sub-par quality. The juvenile plot, poor scripting and technical features push it far below most student independent films. Myself having almost a decade of film experience, Asleep in a Storm nowhere near satisfied me.
Regardless of my credentials, I seemed to have been made the fool. By not finding myself privy to the film's greatness I saw myself as the outcast. The crowd roared. People applauded. I sat there and questioned them, "Why?" But the answer to this was no mystery. Mancini did well. He provided the GCC audience with something they were familiar with and could associate with. Having seen one frame, the students knew the exact location and were completely comfortable there. And who doesn't think it cool to see their friends and peers on screen?
Let us step away – away from the so familiar campus, familiar dorms, familiar faces – and look at this production from a more objective standpoint.
Cinematography. It's important. When watching Asleep in a Storm, you can tell Mancini and Moffett (the credited cinematographer) did not attend Filmmaking 101. The shot placement is extremely awkward. Mancini has this strange affinity for placing his characters up against walls. This establishes no depth of field and is very visually boring. Did I mention camera angles? From confusing establishing shots to awkward close-ups, it was most definitely amateur. You have an expensive and versatile camera, Mancini. Use it. I can get better footage out of a DSLR.
Mancini also loves his montages. (Like I said, he didn't attend 101.) Rob goes about one of his monologues as shots are shown of him awkwardly moving about his dorm. In the chase scene, all of the aerial shots are shown one after the other. When Sam Elmore was discussing his lack of interpersonal skills to a fellow classmate, an over-extended flashback was shown of Sam's past failures. I kept looking at my watch wondering if it was going to make up the entirety of the film. Little did I know at that time that this was only the first extended flashback to come.
Audio. Don't even get me started. I'm a third-generation professional sound technician. I can confidently state that nobody put the appropriate effort into or had enough experience to record, level, or mix the audio. When Sam screamed after brushing his teeth with hot sauce, my ears started to bleed from the clipping audio waves. Hey, the credit music sounded good.
The plot also had a lot to be desired. Firstly, the whole movie revolves around how many times Caesar is stabbed. This – to me – does not justify Rob Connolly going on a maniacal frenzy and exacting his revenge on poor Sam who just asked a simple question. Then Rob and Sam engage in an extremely juvenile prank war that escalates to both parties hating each other. I found very little of the slapstick humor amusing, but I did laugh at parts. Now here's the twist: Sam is found innocent. It was actually Victor – a side character – who was pranking Rob. Yes, poor Sam is dragged into this chaos and confusion. What is Victor's motive? He (paraphrasing) "doesn't want to let Rob win." Win what? Win senior of the year? Win by bringing Sam down? What does Victor have against Rob? Who is Victor, anyway? God doesn't know. Anyway, Rob is put to shame. Now he and Sam are "insta-friends." Sam sets up this climactic inspirational speech for Rob to present. Rob's ex – who he hasn't seen in two years – shows up as a random dramatic reconciliation. Why? Because it's dramatic. She isn't even a side character throughout the movie.
Despite the directing, the casting was fantastic. All of the actors assumed their roles very well and portrayed them fabulously. Bravo. However, there was one character that should not have even existed. Mancini, get out of the shot. I don't care if you're making a movie in a movie. Your whole "movie-ception" was not funny and very unprofessional – an embarrassing cameo.
Mancini gave Grove City College students a movie about Grove City College students. He has undoubtedly proved that you can make a "good" movie with enough marketing and hype. However, from a filmmaking perspective, this movie is worth nowhere near twelve thousand dollars and remains in the category of less-than-amateur quality films. (2/10)