But the truth is, you’re right — for practical reasons, lighting night scenes quickly proved very difficult (and at least one night shoot had to be scrapped entirely due to a very loud house party in the neighborhood). Ah, the joys (and pains) of DIY filmmaking!

The one thing that does throw me sometimes is the time of day – often the characters talk about it being closing time or going out for date, etc, at least some of which I assume happen at night, but then they go outside and it’s still light out… I guess if it’s summer it stays light till 9ish? It still sometimes seems like it’s much earlier in the day than they say it is.

I’m guessing some of that has to do with the practicality of avoiding lighting a night scene, but those are the only moments I’m taken out of the story because for a second I think, “hey, wait, what time did they say it was?”

The dramatic pauses are most definitely my doing. If they seemed too long, that’s because there are certain rhythms in filmmaking that I like to violate whenever possible. The dramatic “beat” that’s a little too pat for my taste.

I hadn’t thought of it seeming soap opera-ish as much as awkward — that “Should I, or shouldn’t I, or should I, wait, I’ve been standing here too long so now I can’t, but I’m still standing here, why am I standing here, this is weird, I’d better go” moment. You know the one!

I’ve seen every episode that’s uploaded as of today, August the 17th, and I’ve enjoyed every single one. I’m really enjoying Morgan Lee’s performance, to me he’s the most natural with his lines, and his facial expressions are fantastic. I like the Mitch character, I kind of relate to him, as I always get asked when I say I write, “do you write screenplays?” and I have to explain that, no I write flash fiction and short stories, they always have the same look the people on the series do, utter boredom, and disinterest. Dirk, I’m glad we finally got to see his episode last week, because before that he was just the creepy guy, now he’s still the creepy guy, but with more depth, and you feel a little for him, and not just because he doesn’t like cake, but because it’s obvious how damaged he is by the loss of his dreams and ambitions. Leif Norby is great at “creepy guy”, I would never want to order coffee from him, he should take that as a compliment.

Now on to the dirt!

I don’t know if it’s deliberate or not, but the Alicia character, as she is a struggling actress, if it’s a choice the actress makes her self, or a direction she’s given to seemingly project almost all of her lines? I know the actress is primarily a stage actress, and un-training your self to project is hard to do, but Alicia appears to be only trying her hand at film and television work, which does not require projecting.

It really bothered me in the “Stacy” episode, the dramatic pause by Mitch’s front door. I just sat there thinking, this is too much, she should shut the door and then pause to have a think, not with the door open, too soap opera-y for me, and I’m a Dawson’s Creek fan!

And stemming from the last critique, I have to add that yes, while each episode is under 15 minutes, there are moments that seem to go on too long for effect, or is it affect? Any way, usually these moments are dialog free, and again, they come off far too soap opera-y. My advice would be to just tighten those moments up a bit, even by only a few seconds.

That’s all I’ve got, sorry I’ve no critique for any other cast members, Lara’s doing very well with the role of ‘bitch with softer hidden side’. Oh, and for Ehren, he needs to just let the lines feel more natural, they feel a little stilted at times.

Okay, now that’s REALLY all I’ve got.