New Dawn Review
New Dawn is a 2021 Tamil drama short film Written and Directed by Fazeel from BlackHell Productions.
As I sat down with New Dawn one of the first things that stuck out and I found myself enjoying was the solid movement of the camera along with the smart editing choices throughout. I think it added a nice degree of smart pacing to the short film. The editing by Rehan was really well done throughout.
I also enjoyed the way the story takes the time to present two sides of each of the interactions. At first it seems like it might take a more dramatic turn but as we continue watching along, we see where the misunderstanding came from for our protagonist. With the homeless character it was easy to instill instant empathy towards him although the fact that he has any money at all is a story choice that took away this feeling of immediate dread for me. Looking back through I see the point of the “New Dawn,” of this man getting a new lease on life to earn money but seeing him without anything at all to me might have helped punch up the ending just a little bit more.
From a technical side, as I said the camera work was solid throughout. There were a few autofocus issues I spotted as I was watching. I only point this out because I never want it to happen to people in any narrative piece they create. It is just an easy way to pull the audience out of the film which is never good. The cinematography was also well done, although it seemed to mainly utilize natural lighting styles, but nothing was badly overexposed at all.
The score for me was also really good for certain moments, but the transitions were a little jarring at times. That alongside the sound mix, which came through a little hollow sounding especially with any speaking scenes in the short.
With all that in mind though I still think New Dawn tells a nice and touching story, that is worth a watch. Fazeel and his team have some fresh ideas they are bringing to the table and I’m hoping to see more from them soon.
To find them on social media: Facebook, Instagram, and IMDB
Cheers!
Daniel Hess
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