u/Enough-Jump-7357

Just released my first psychological horror short film, El Callaniños (The Husher), a 2-day no-budget production shot with friends/family (amateurs), and I’d love some cinematography feedback from people more experienced than me.

A lot worked better than I expected, but I also learned a huge amount from the mistakes.

Things I liked:

• The atmosphere in the grandmother/young Glenda sequence
• Some of the silhouette and shade/shadow towards the end
• Production design was fantastic considering budget limitations

Things I struggled with:

• Framing consistency - some shots feel very intentional, others feel more “coverage” as we simply ran out of time.
• Our gels weren’t really working properly, especially in some of the night interiors, meaning we couldn’t light some scenes internally the way we planned, so we ended up relying heavily on exterior key light through windows.
• For the morning scenes, there were inevitable delays, the sun came out and completely changed the room exposure/spill. I definitely learnt the hard way that east-facing rooms are dangerous when shooting over long periods. I'm not a fan of the light in these scenes (frankly they do look flat) but I think production design and costume design saves the scene a bit.
• Some close-ups ended up flatter/more digital-looking than I intended

Would love brutally honest cinematography feedback, especially:

• what feels strongest visually
• what breaks immersion
• where the lighting starts feeling amateur
• whether the visual language feels cohesive or inconsistent

Thanks You!!!

Watch The Short