Chewforwarda
3 Entries and 59 Reviews
Entries
Reviews
Cut Up
I was helping this team for a good chunk of the weekend (along with the other 7 teams from Newlands!) so I'm biased. Having said that, I do think this is the slickest and most polished school 48HOURS film that I've been a part of (or that I've ever seen come to think of it). The camera people and editors were very stylish and hip in their approaches and I think it really paid off. The dialogue could have been slightly louder a couple of times, otherwise it was technically spot on. The guys were pretty proud of the thing at the end of the weekend (for most of them it was their first venture into short film making). Lots of student talent in the team. A pleasure to be a part of. 5/5
Wish you were here
Phenomenal performance from the young lead made up for some technical missteps such as the soundless montage scene. Great use of framing such as the cups shot to Show that the adults were completely out of sync with the main girl despite their dialogue which suggested otherwise. A rare case of a young team tackling a tricky theme such as grief and nailing it in a mature way with some creative flourishes. Rough around the edges but lots of promise here. Great stuff y’all.
Customer Support
A compelling dialogue free journey. The interior aesthetic feels modern and minimalist which pairs well with your storytelling style. Two thumbs up!
Cut Up
I was helping this team for a good chunk of the weekend (along with the other 7 teams from Newlands!) so I'm biased. Having said that, I do think this is the slickest and most polished school 48HOURS film that I've been a part of (or that I've ever seen come to think of it). The camera people and editors were very stylish and hip in their approaches and I think it really paid off. The dialogue could have been slightly louder a couple of times, otherwise it was technically spot on. The guys were pretty proud of the thing at the end of the weekend (for most of them it was their first venture into short film making). Lots of student talent in the team. A pleasure to be a part of. 5/5
YOLO
Totally biased 'cause I played the beleagured teacher in this short, but I thought it played really well at the heat tonight. Just the right mix of pathos and humour and I actually found the ending quite moving. Well done you guys!!!
The Hitler Effect
Lols ensue as an erstwhile facial hair enthusiast travels back in time to change history when the only thing he can grow is a Hitler ‘stache. A fun concept and a likeable turn from the lead made this a good time. More shot coverage and some more post production work such as colour grading would have added a more cinematic quality, but I still found myself charmed by this film. Good one.
Daylight Horror
Just to set the record straight. After some sleuthing it has become evident that the negative reviewer going by the moniker "Cinefiles" has no association with the Newlands College Cinephiles team or Newlands College for that matter. Unfortunately, this troller has sullied the team's name and obviously earned the ire of several other reviewers. The Cinephiles (note correct spelling) are actually a great bunch of young people who would not stoop to such behaviour. That's the thing about the internet, I guess - anyone can be anyone. I would very much appreciate it if people would edit their reviews of this film to remove any damning criticism that is based on your reaction to reviews posted by "Cinefiles", a rapscallion who should indeed be ashamed. Many thanks.
Be One
Enjoyed the performances. Thought the adherence to genre was a wee bit unclear. Overall though, I liked this. Set a good standard as the 1st film of the heat
Parkour Boys
Simply a fun film from go to whoah. The low budget aesthetitc was embraced and things like the totally obvious ADR became part of the impish joy of it all instead of a negative. The actors really threw caution to the wind and went for broke with public tomfoolery, singing, dancing, rough-housing and screaming. This film totally nailed the spirit of the 48HOUIRS competition - grab a camera and some mates and have a mean time making a film with all your heart and soul. The Dad Song should have won best song. Next time bring some headphones and an external mic so you can monitor the sound recording on location. I actually think a more coherent script may have hindered this film rather than helped, but generally it's a good thing.
Orb Quest
A film that really got into the spirit of the competition. Some of the footage was out of focus and wonkily composed, but that didn't really detract at all because the leads were obviously having so much fun and the quirky, twisty-turny plot was funny from start to finish. The lines delivered to camera, the website made from scratch and the use of several locations made this an energetic film with a playfulness that was really refreshing. Not the most technically adept film of the heat, but the most fun to watch. Really cool work guys.
Nicky
I quite enjoyed this film. The story and acting was strong, in particular I thought the male lead portrayed his somewhat sleazy character to a tee and the girl who got possessed had a certain feline-like quality. The white eyes was a subtle but effective technique. The murder scenes could have been filmed a bit better in terms of shot coverage, but the image of the girl's blood spattered face was pretty effective. While perhaps not an "erotic" thriller, what do they really expect when you're supposed to be aiming for an "M" rating ?!? Kind of an unfair genre in that sense. There was definitely erotic tension, particularly the hallway scene, but I guess you couldn't (and probably shouldn't) really have pushed this any further as a school team in V48 Hours. Overall, I think you did a good job. Well done.
How to Slay a Demon
The "demon slayer" all decked out with his Knights' armour, sword and husky tone lended a kind of authenticity to the ambience. Great comedic efforts. Two thumbs up!
Viktorious
Funniest film of the heat by far. Not only was it a hoot, but it was also very competently made, nailing the B-Grade vibe on purpose as opposed to falling into it through sloppy film making. Best bits: "this is the SD card" and the most memorable head explosion scene since Scanners. Great job guys.
Sleepover
Funniest film of the heat for me. The gags were frequent and varied from the dialogue, particularly from the Dad character to the sight gags such as the sleeping bag montage and the intestines scene. Looked like a lot of fun to make and it was definitely a fun watch. Sound levels were a bit uneven otherwise well edited and some good use of location shooting at the waterfall. Great double twist ending. I loved the film. Awesome work guys.
Case #23
I thought this had some of the best cinematography in the heat with great use of locations and the low key lighting. The story was a good one, with some good acting and well rounded characters. I almost thought it could have gone on a bit longer to wring more out of the climax and coda, but that's V48 - 7 minutes only! A good looking film and great to see students playing it straight with the genre instead of descending into parody.
The Closet Vampire
Luthor: Great acting and make-up! Your suit and dialogue were legit and the red vile in your front pocket was genius. Quirky with a touch or rouge. Gold star!
Time Beyond Time
A misleading exposition about normal domestic discord suddenly descends into a surreal meditation on loss, love and the inability to take back the time you have wasted. I found myself drawn into this narrative as soon as the moody hallway scene began. Several of the images worked quite powerfully symbolically such as the glass - once it's broke, it's broke. Sound (the constant technical bugbear) was problematic in places but didn't detract overall. This is one of the more mature school efforts I've seen as it did actually achieve an art-house sensibility and aesthetic while not being overly pretentious. The narrative has a sense of closure with the final voiceover, but didn't provide any emotional catharsis at the end. I guess that, thematically, this was consistent with the film makers' objective. I've thought about this film since the screening, so that's saying something. 4/5
Nicky Brick and the Funkys Licks
Apparently I was the one laughing the loudest during this film. Lots of great moments: The harness dance, the unexpectedly explicit first song, but my favorite aspect of the film was the overdubbing on the girl: weird, unexpected, inspired. This is a future cult classic. Awesome job guys. I hope you upload it eventually so I can watch it again.
Return Of A Nightmare
Biased because I teach these guys, but for an all-student production I thought this was damn good. The humour and suspense of the slasher film was present, some nice death scenes, particularly the hangings and good use of the notorious Newlands fog. Only complaint would be the conspicuous lack of gore after John's head was repeatedly staved in with a pole. Great work guys. For first-timers you should all be proud!!
Stress
Convincing performances and a cool use of the stress ball prop, particularly the ECU on it at the end while the violence occurs off-screen. I'm a fan of lurid, Argento-like, set piece murder scenes in films like this and felt a bit cheated by the lack of on-screen mayhem. The film made up for it by including a couple of good scares, one with the victim suddenly appearing at the glass door and the other, even better one, with the killer suddenly appearing on the couch next to the final girl character. Overall, a slick effective wee chiller with some stylish shots and edits. Had easily the most professional looking team intro of the heat as well. Good stuff guys.
Zomboy
Just saw in the screening room. Really enjoyed this ZOM-ROM-COM. The guy who played the lead was (literally) the heart and soul behind the success of this film for me. The line between humour and tragedy and horror was handled very well - I felt I was in the safe hands of some confident story-tellers. Great to see the use of DIY practical effects instead of digital. Some were a bit fake looking, but nothing really detracted from the film. Favourite shot: the big spike looming up from the right hand side of the frame - this was a funny parody of horror film tropes, but also just solid storytelling. Great job guys.
1AM
Well acted from all those with speaking parts and there were some very nicely composed shots such as the crane shot outside the cafe and the dutch angle shot of the dangling feet. Not a big fan of the expository voiceover as a storytelling short cut and would have liked a more practical gore effects (only way to go) and a bit more suspense as opposed to the action scene climax. Vic Meyer cut an imposing figure mowing down the foes at the end, which wasn't really consistent with the bookish, timid character from the start of the film. Still, I thought the repetition of the card was a nice way to close the narrative.
Benched
Such a sweet-natured, feel good film. The charismatic lead generated lots of sympathy and laughs through his attempts to find a girl. Throughout the film there was creative shot compositions and great use of iconic Wellington locations, lending this a cinematic feel. The sound mix was generally really good, with ADR mixed in with other diegetic sounds convincingly (I'm assuming a lot of the on location dialogue recording wasn't used due to wind?) The end was satisfying, but I was kind of expecting the new girl to take over the inner monologue and start stalking the lead. Really good work everyone - I loved it.
Little Grey
A few splashes of magic and some wonderful costume changes make this short an enchanting and adventurous backyard tale! Red heart emoji.
Illuminati
One of my favourites of the heat. The ham acting was great, in particular from the lead and from his main scientist adversary. Lots of laughs from the silly circle-to-triangle concept, with the unabashed highlight being when the moon turned triangle. The climactic scene on the beach capped off the humour in ludicrous 48HOURS fashion. A film that was obviously fun to make and fun to watch - nailing the spirit of the competition.
Strike!
Creepy, paranoia fuelled chiller, although I'd probably class this as more of a thriller than a horror. The two leads were convincing in their roles, particularly in the first scene they had together. I did think that the writing and delivery of the dialogue in the living room scene before the climax was kinda clunky and not really realistic, but otherwise they drew me into the story pretty well. With dialogue scenes, I'm a big fan of getting lots of coverage, eg. over the shoulder and various other angles and shot sizes, even if you don't use it, so you can control the pacing and emotion of the scene. I got the impression that you only had your two-shot master shot for those dialogue scenes. Some nice editing flourishes such as the quick montage of "sightings" and the multi-take editing of the match strike. Moody use of low key lighting. The ending was a bit predictable, robbing it of it's power to scare simply because you could see it coming. A (more unexpected) twist ending of some sort could have worked better maybe. The only other scene that didn't really work for me was the murder scene. The burning of the body was a shocking turn of events, but the murder itself was not foreshadowed or given any sort of story logic other than "it happened". I also didn't buy that the sister would simply watch the murder unfold in a state of either obliviousness or abject terror - wouldn't she hear it and run into the fray? Overall, well shot, acted and edited, but let down a little bit by the script. However, I still enjoyed this short and wanted to keep watching to see how it played out. Thanks for uploading!
Time Beyond Time
A misleading exposition about normal domestic discord suddenly descends into a surreal meditation on loss, love and the inability to take back the time you have wasted. I found myself drawn into this narrative as soon as the moody hallway scene began. Several of the images worked quite powerfully symbolically such as the glass - once it's broke, it's broke. Sound (the constant technical bugbear) was problematic in places but didn't detract overall. This is one of the more mature school efforts I've seen as it did actually achieve an art-house sensibility and aesthetic while not being overly pretentious. The narrative has a sense of closure with the final voiceover, but didn't provide any emotional catharsis at the end. I guess that, thematically, this was consistent with the film makers' objective. I've thought about this film since the screening, so that's saying something. 4/5
Parkour Boys
Simply a fun film from go to whoah. The low budget aesthetitc was embraced and things like the totally obvious ADR became part of the impish joy of it all instead of a negative. The actors really threw caution to the wind and went for broke with public tomfoolery, singing, dancing, rough-housing and screaming. This film totally nailed the spirit of the 48HOUIRS competition - grab a camera and some mates and have a mean time making a film with all your heart and soul. The Dad Song should have won best song. Next time bring some headphones and an external mic so you can monitor the sound recording on location. I actually think a more coherent script may have hindered this film rather than helped, but generally it's a good thing.
the rewrite.
Pretty much flawless from a technical standpoint. It's too hard not to compare to last year's effort, so I'm not going to bother avoiding comparisons. I thought this film was a much "straighter" rendering of the material than The Sleeping Plot. Whereas last year's film relied on some really cool "gimmicks" such as the shock ending, the framing of the adult characters and the disarmingly cute performance from the lead for impact, this film simply told the story in an economical, "classic" kind of way, letting the acting (absolutely top class) and the story speak for themselves. While this was a much darker film than last year's one, there were still moments of levity and overall, I think this film hit upon a theme that is a lot more relatable than The Sleeping Plot. Definitely not a feel-good film, but I think you totally nailed it in terms of tone. Some of the other reviewers didn't like the ending, but I think you picked the perfect moment to end on. I wonder how many different takes of that indrawn breath you had the actress run through before you called it a wrap? Overall, another awesome short. Thanks!
Colin
Cool miniature set designs in this slow burning short that builds to a zenith. Party popper emoji and a high five!
Nicky
I quite enjoyed this film. The story and acting was strong, in particular I thought the male lead portrayed his somewhat sleazy character to a tee and the girl who got possessed had a certain feline-like quality. The white eyes was a subtle but effective technique. The murder scenes could have been filmed a bit better in terms of shot coverage, but the image of the girl's blood spattered face was pretty effective. While perhaps not an "erotic" thriller, what do they really expect when you're supposed to be aiming for an "M" rating ?!? Kind of an unfair genre in that sense. There was definitely erotic tension, particularly the hallway scene, but I guess you couldn't (and probably shouldn't) really have pushed this any further as a school team in V48 Hours. Overall, I think you did a good job. Well done.
Daylight Horror
Great setup and probably the coolest location for a horror movie. I feel as though the film was lacking one or two more scenes of suspense involving the final girl. The worst part of any horror film, even good ones like Scream, is when the killer's motive is revealed, robbing him of his power to scare through the act of making him knowable. Some nicely composed shots using objects and building to frame the action. I hate to admit it, but I was craving a bloodbath somewhere in this film. Where were the shooting geysers of red? Quite a few nice little moments in this short film, nonetheless.
Be One
Enjoyed the performances. Thought the adherence to genre was a wee bit unclear. Overall though, I liked this. Set a good standard as the 1st film of the heat
Illuminati
One of my favourites of the heat. The ham acting was great, in particular from the lead and from his main scientist adversary. Lots of laughs from the silly circle-to-triangle concept, with the unabashed highlight being when the moon turned triangle. The climactic scene on the beach capped off the humour in ludicrous 48HOURS fashion. A film that was obviously fun to make and fun to watch - nailing the spirit of the competition.
Tragic
A film with a familiar set up that rose above the tired plot line by a great performance from the awkward, nerd protagonist and some fine DSLR footage that featured some creative angles and generally well lit, exposed and focused shots. The storytelling at the end with the glasses was clever and while the film lacked a clear coda, leaving the plot thread with the bully dangling, the film still satisfied from go to woe. For the challenging musical/dance genre this was a really impressive effort - well done.
Toast
Lots of positives here. The lead was a likeable-loser type who really nailed it. The red, low key lighting during the time machine creation scene was creative and not something that is often attempted in student films - so props for that alone. The plot was promising, but then ended up screwing over our loveable loser hero whereas I was pulling for him to come out on top some how. Still enjoyable overall though - there was clearly a lot of effort put into this short film.
It's A Trap
A non-linear Reservoir Dogsesque heist tale is related from the perspective of one of the crooks who is having his day in court. Great dialogue with some top notch yucks derived from the casting of a male in the role of the sexy gangster’s moll. The big boss Sione had most of the best lines and really chewed the scenery. An ambitious film in terms of characters (eg a judge) and locations (bank) and the low budget analogues let the film down a bit. I’m more a fan of young people adapting genre tropes to fit their age and circumstances than pretending that they are adult bank robbers, but this was still a fun film pretty much from go to whoah. It’s a good case in point of the reduction of the time limit from 7 to 5 minutes improving the pacing of the films. I didn’t once find myself bored by this film.
Case #23
I thought this had some of the best cinematography in the heat with great use of locations and the low key lighting. The story was a good one, with some good acting and well rounded characters. I almost thought it could have gone on a bit longer to wring more out of the climax and coda, but that's V48 - 7 minutes only! A good looking film and great to see students playing it straight with the genre instead of descending into parody.
How About
Just rewatched for third time and still unsure how I feel about this one of a kind film. Great concept, lots of whacky plot twists and you never really knew what was around the corner. The pacing flagged during some of the fights, but otherwise I was engaged for the bulk of the short film. The "skipping" pun got some very big LOLs. Very poor production qualities (bad sound recording at times, out of focus shots, sloppy sound editing) which at times added to the tongue in cheek meta-cinematic fun and at other times was a distraction. I'm not sure if more professional looking cinematography, tighter editing and a cleaner, richer sound mix would have hurt or hindered this film - probably both. Great ham-acting performances from the two leads. A real sense of having fun with cinema in both the story and performances. I wouldn't be surprised if this isn't in the judges minds for best worst film. Very much in the spirit of the competition.