EMT
30 Reviews
Reviews
Burnt Out
Hi Team Great story setup, some wonderful gags with heaps and heaps of toast. The middle part of the story let you down, was feeling a little rinse and repeat and story wise, empty. A wonderful ending that was not expected. Just watch you technical stuff, background audio on loop was noticeable. Editing was a little slow and made the film feel fat, especially at the start. Also watch you colour balancing, overall blue/purple tone did not suit the style of the film.
The Devine Dragon
I have not laughed this hard for some time! And its such a shame that the film was disqualified. I was not really sure if the film ADR was purposly left completely out of time, but the story was still able to be followed. Some great subtle humor moments that come across well. Good luck for the best disqualified short!
The Deal
Great short, sharp story, with a great twist that had me laughing properly. Well done. Story wise you had some things going for you, dialogue was pretty much spot on. The him and us thing worked well for the story. And you stayed due to your genre very well. Great stuff. A couple of things let you down. - A couple of microphone bumps where heard. - The lighting, I agree with the idea, however you can 'light for dark' better than just using one key/back light. Dump the ISO and Shutter Speed and bring up blacks when editing. Use a few more lights, not to see characters but to see outlines, shapes better. Film Riot has a good video on "lighting for dark" - My last point is a pet peve of mine, voice overs. If you dont know why then have a look at Robert McKees stuff on screen writing or watch the scene in Adaptation where Cage does a voice over while attending a Mckee leacture. Remember film is about character interations. Voice overs work in story and theatre, not so well in film.
Day 6
A well shot film. Day 6 has a great feel to the whole film, some great work creating a dull and grey world of a fictional world where the outside world is considered to be an infectious place. Probably the best use of the leaf prop so far. And the moment of realisation is a great plot moment for the film. Lets just hope in a apocalyptic world, we dont have to eat dog food!
Modern Romance
Good film team, awkwardly funny in a good way. Genuine laughs. I though your film was the best of the heat (excluding ours obviously). Genre nailed. There was one thing at the start that bothered me, nothing big, but I could hear the slider when you did the slide shot. Would be good to see your film in the final.
Good Until the Last Drop
Difficult genre to work with. The film had an intact story, so well done there. Was a little cheesy at times. Watch your generator noise in the background. Lighting was kinda over done, less is more here. It noticeable outdoors. Just one obvious continuity error. Im keen to see what you can produce next year.
Day 6
A well shot film. Day 6 has a great feel to the whole film, some great work creating a dull and grey world of a fictional world where the outside world is considered to be an infectious place. Probably the best use of the leaf prop so far. And the moment of realisation is a great plot moment for the film. Lets just hope in a apocalyptic world, we dont have to eat dog food!
Special Delivery
An interesting story presented here that was quirky and different. I loved the use of stereo challenging characters so big ups there. Acting was rather bland and generic. Story was rather expected (no pun intended) Funniest (and weirdest) part was the ending
Harper's Curiosity
You had an interesting twist so you were thinking about your story so kudos here. You are on the correct path when it comes to filming a chase sequence Audio was variable, something to work on for next year. We have found that its works easier to do purposely funny films rather than awkwardly funny films such as this. Also try and avoid filming in the place that you edit (e.g. in this instance a school) it does tend to drop production value.
Insidious Pleasures
Well done for sticking to the genre. A difficult one to achieve. This film sticks in my mind for some weird reason, not sure if thats a good or bad thing.
Repute
You had very generic story being told here, I am glad you twisted the story towards the end. A difficult genre but you made it your own. Great production work. Dialogue seamed to flow realtivley well, the use of the line was well intergrated. The story was a little too generic and unfortunatly you did not have me hooked.
Periodic Elements
Some wickedly sharp editing in this film was only let down by the occasional obvious editing SNAFU, (http://tiny.cc/SNAFU). Genuinely funny, in particular the scene in the shower, well done to the actor and actress who played that scene. The color balancing was rich and vivid, however the night scenes were let down by some overall darkness in tone, which did not make it easy to see the protagonists reactions. I was not convinced that the film required so much swearing, I can understand having the character who played the antagonist to swear as it came across from a Guy Ritchie type character, however it seams that everyone else swears, and with that, there is a lot of character blending that goes on. However overall the film stood out (in both good and not so great ways) and with its wicked sense of humor, this film has a good chance of progressing through.
Breaking Bread
A somewhat funny buddy film, there was comedy to your film, but it was not quiet in the right spot. Some good acting by "the captured one" did help add to the comedic aspect. Sound was just a little off in places, nothing major though. Watch your saturation of the video, the start and end were highly saturated and blown out. Otherwise you had everything else intact and in place.
Wheat, Myself and Rye
Well done team, you certainly made a weirdly funny film here. Great cinematography both at the production and post production ends. Characters had the quirky element in spades Production design team worked to create some very weird characters Story - I know less is more (and vice versa) in film making, the lack of dialogue in the dream sequences didnt really help further much in the way of story. At least you didnt have any "loosing the USB disk under the dash" moments like last year. Hoping you get a nod for "bad taste" or "so bad its good" category.
Another Day, Another Dance
Boys, your film hit the mark for me. You had a charater we could feel and relate to, and he had some character development. Im also glad you didnt show the convict/doctor in the interests of telling a short story. I completly understood your into too being that I would do excatly the same thing if we recieved Musical/Dance. Great job.
For A Day In The Sun
Team Burn the Dog have again produced a potential city winner if not finalist. A FOTC, Mocumentary approach to two characters preparing for the annual Fad convention. A basic idea that came across well. Seriously funny with two opposite leads, that you can understand from the start. Watchable, and well paced throughout. Two points - I am not sure at the start it is well laid out that the Fad convention is approaching. And the ending could have been better, although it leaves it up to the viewer to decide what the current "Fad" is, I would have actually showed what the current Fad is (Planking) which would leave a bigger impact on the audience.
Morg
Credit where credit is due. You told a story that made sense and you explained the reason for why your charatcer did what he did. The acting, well, its was acting. I cant act, so I cant call it there. Mabey some less stilted dialogue might have helped. Got half the way through and unforunatly I ended up laughing, not sure if thats good or not. Some tighter editing would have helped the pace of the film, and the production design could have made the police station a little more real looking. Thanks though for making me laugh. It was enjoyable in that sense.
Trollied
Hi Team Good concept, opening montage created a good setup which worked well in the juxtaposition of then walking down the road. It was a shame that the flow you started didnt continue. Its was good that you didnt let the story wonder on for too much longer. Not so good, middle part was bloated and was not as interesting when the other character did very little. Ending was O.K and I didnt expect it, but having said that, it would have been very very very unlikely to ever occur. Suspension of disbelief? Technically, you kept to one side of the line well and when you did cross the line it was done mostly correct. Watch your background (with the crew in it). And just a tad bit of colour correction/balancing would have gone down a treat. Be good to see what you can produce next year.
With Sympathy
An interesting idea for a reunion after the death of 'Vic' an insomniac who mistakes sleeping pills for vermin control. Funny in its self, ensure a reunion of family with a variety of characters. Unfortunatly the family and friends characters have an eclectic mix that comes across in a more serious mannor. Sound comes across well, some continuinty errors with lighting, luckly are only noticed on close inspection. Could do with some more variety to shots with a little tigher editing. You kept my attention to the end.
Grey Falling
You told what appears to be a great back story, And I like that you kept it simple and short. You probably have in your mind the story, but the translation from story to screen is where it didnt meet. I can see you are trying to tell a story, I just didnt see it as having enough impact to care. Be keen to see what else you can deliver.