I was on VIMEO a couple of weeks ago and stumbled on this story. In my opinion, the team that worked on this project did a wonderful job of translating feelings, both visually and through audio.

The storytelling method they used was well done. When Wood was speaking earlier in the video, I thought that he was talking about a human friend, but throughout the story he slowly revealed who Oden really was, which to me seemed like a big reveal. I loved the comments that were chosen that were added at good timing throughout the documentary. The editor also made sure that you saw what you heard. For example, once he started speaking of Oden, you saw Oden laying there before getting up and walking out of frame.

A few shots that stood out to me included the the close-ups, the focus/out of focus scenes and the crisp shots of the bike riding, through the rain.

The lighting and framing from the beginning of the video were great, as to how he used the natural light and how he angled the camera as Wood was leaving the apartment.  Also, at 00:25-00:26 he had a tight close up shot and used the technique of focusing and out of focusing. We also see this technique used again when he is introducing Oden.

Another shot that grabbed my attention from the beginning was of the cigarette sequence. I immediately remembered Wes’s example in class where the using of sequence is important for the story to look smooth. Yet, those sequences were a bit different from what we saw in class, in this part of the video all of the sequences were tighter shots of the cigarette and his face.

On 00:55-00:57 we see a wide shot, immediately followed by a tilt up shot sequence.  The shots at 1:20 were another example of sequence, framing and focus and he used another great sequence at 1:41, as Wood was opening the door.

Following that sequence was my favorite scene. Wood sitting on the ground, his cigarette in focus as he was speaking on the phone, then it jumps to a cut away of him walking through the rain, again you notice a sequence of a close up on his feet, before it goes to a wider shot and then it’s back to him on the phone.

This video in so many ways can help us in storytelling, but mostly it related so much to our last class about sequences, cut away and jump cuts.