Firstly, I want to start the with the biggest positive of this film, and that is Amy Homberg's performance. Student For Pay is low budget, so it's expected that the lighting will not be professional standards, the sound editing will be choppy, and that the film editing will be lacking. However, Student For Pay overcomes these issues with an engaging story, great dialogue, and a rock solid performance by writer/director/star Amy Homberg. I also want to mention that the opening credits and the title screen play out in a creative and imaginative way.
While the sound editing is spotty at times, be it by abruptly cutting in too loudly, or fading into another song oddly, the selection of music is great and fits the mood of nearly every scenes that the music accompanies. The framing is well selected, for the most part, but there is the odd choice here and there. Still, the structure and arrangement of scenes largely compliments the film and composes the action on screen is a pleasing way. The scenery is gorgeous, and the cinematography is well designed and executed; both big highlights for me.
The dialogue is also another aspect that this film does well. Conversations feel natural and flow well, and are generally well performed by all the actors involved. Homberg structures the interactions in a deft and confident manner.
There's a scene where Rose talks with Sarah, and the message of the film is laid out in their conversation. This scene could've easily come off as overbearing and too obvious, but Homberg handles it with tact and grace, leading the moment to play out as a sweet interaction. A good example of Homberg's ability to create engaging dialogue that adds to the film and keeps the viewer interested.
As a side note, the way that Homberg plays the interaction between Matthew and Rose, frames the altercation outside the car, and subsequently shoots the walk home, leads me to believe that Homberg could direct one hell of a horror film. This section of the film stood out to me and shone as a bright spot. These sequences were well paced, edited smoothly, and composed with care and attention.
The green screen pictures at the end are a bit odd and do not fit particularly well with the structure of the film that precedes them, but they are amusing, so some points for that. The film as a whole is a bit long and could stand to have some scenes tightened up. There are a few scenes that linger for a bit too long after dialogue has ended or are just a little bloated and could've been edited down more. This isn't something that derails the film, and Homberg will certainly nail this down as time goes on.
Overall, I have to say that Student For Pay contains more than enough positives to make it a worthwhile viewing. Homberg delivers a great performance, the cinematography is lovely, the dialogue feels real and lived in, and for a low budget film, the technical aspects add to the mood far more than they distract. Homberg shows some great promise, and I do hope the filmmaker decides to venture into making a horror film, as I believe Homberg could do very well in that genre.
