I was willing to give K-12 a chance because it is a unique concept to release a whole film to launch an album, and it could have been a great opportunity to merge people and ideas from different art sectors (writer, directors, cinematographers, with Melanie as the musician). However, I've also heard a lot of horror stories from music video directors about musicians who are super controlling over the video concept and don't let the directors and other creative heads do their thing, and unfortunately that's what happened here. As a writer, the script and plot was super disappointing and cliche.
Just when a cool metaphor is shown through the visuals, Melanie (as a character) must explain it in narration or forced dialogue. While Melanie has some interesting metaphors and concepts, she isn't a scriptwriter and hence most of her writing completely overrules the show-don't-tell rule in cinema. While it's good that she might have wanted to tell a very personal story, there are some techniques in scriptwriting that shouldn't be ignored.
Similarly, Melanie directing a work she is starring in and wrote really messed up some of the shots. You can tell there's some clunkiness in the transitions between shots and that whoever planned the shots/directed the shoot, didn't really have a strong grasp of certain shooting techniques especially regarding choice of shots.
One way she could have improved this is actually really simple: she could have not starred in it. Sometimes what you need is to take a step back and see the film as a whole.
One good thing, however, was the absolutely stunning cinematography, which kudos to Josh McKie on that one! The beautiful cinematography and aesthetic only goes to show how wonderful this movie could have been if it was a collaborative effort rather than just Martinez trying to do everything.
Just when a cool metaphor is shown through the visuals, Melanie (as a character) must explain it in narration or forced dialogue. While Melanie has some interesting metaphors and concepts, she isn't a scriptwriter and hence most of her writing completely overrules the show-don't-tell rule in cinema. While it's good that she might have wanted to tell a very personal story, there are some techniques in scriptwriting that shouldn't be ignored.
Similarly, Melanie directing a work she is starring in and wrote really messed up some of the shots. You can tell there's some clunkiness in the transitions between shots and that whoever planned the shots/directed the shoot, didn't really have a strong grasp of certain shooting techniques especially regarding choice of shots.
One way she could have improved this is actually really simple: she could have not starred in it. Sometimes what you need is to take a step back and see the film as a whole.
One good thing, however, was the absolutely stunning cinematography, which kudos to Josh McKie on that one! The beautiful cinematography and aesthetic only goes to show how wonderful this movie could have been if it was a collaborative effort rather than just Martinez trying to do everything.