Joel_Tempero

Clone Swappers

This was a great sketch. Very funny throughout. I was a bit surprised that the clones were all g with just being cloned for the purpose of dating - one of the clones alluded to that idea briefly...but then just started making out with the other clone lol cOMeDy

Aurora

I'm a bit of a VFX addict, so I spent a lot of time analysing the shots with the shadow man trying to figure out where the masking was to create these effects and tbh I'm still a little confused on how you did it so well done! You got me fooled. The ending wasn't particularly satisfying as it would have been nice to see something different happen, also wondered why the lights kept turning on? You guys have some great skill, look forward to seeing what you can do next year.

Home Invasion

PlanetFoxFilms once again giving us the witty, clever and often ridiculous content they're becoming known for!

I like puppet movies, as a former puppet movie maker, I know the challenge, and you guys used them really well! The opening scene was very strong, their behaviour on screen felt genuine, well done!

The Trade

You guys had a great concept, struggled a little to get some of the details due to the sound and sometimes lack of visuals. I think you bent the rules of your story a little which confused me, with Satan first saying 'get me a soul' and then at the end saying 'get me a soul but not that soul I don't like that specific soul' haha, maybe I missed something. Glad to see so many teams from Motion Design taking on this competition, keep at it guys!

CUT

Boom clap sound of city finals. Some really fantastic jokes in here - particuarlly that direct reference to the genre was just beautiful. A few of the 'B-roll' shots could have done with a bit of extra grading just to line the colours up between the two screens, but besides that, we got a real solid film here folks. Made me very happy.

Cooking with Sea Men: Monsters of Rock Special- Featuring: Kitty Chow.

Bloody brilliant, all I have to say. NEXT YEAR: okay for real, don't ever change. We NEED teams like you guys, while you may not realise it, there will be people who see what you've done and be inspired < I'm not kidding. Inspired to have fun, and put the fun of the weekend before anything else, that's absolutely the most important thing.

'Archive'

Looking forward to seeing more from this team, you guys have growing technical prowess and the chops to tell a good story. Similar to what others have already said, my main suggestion for growth would be just expansion on the details, even in small ways, to shape the characters and create more connections to the audience. Take the time to give your characters a little bit of history and it'll shine through in both performance and driving the story forward.

Inflamed

I figured we'd have no idea what to expect from you guys after last years masterpiece. It could have been anything from trash bag to treasure trove, and within that spectrum, I'd say you've probably landed a placing with this absolute gem of a film. Beautifully shot, incredible commitment to the performances, it was just so damn funny and well written. I only have one question as far as whether it fits the given genre or not...because on reflection I realised that it sort of becomes a 'you and I may seem opposite but we're not actually so different' - I mean I'm pretty sure you guys pass..I think...I'm not sure, maybe I missed something or am just looking into it too hard, but it did get me thinking on what the rules were for this genre. The final moments of this film is what makes it a city finalist no doubt. Total bonkers, knocked it out of the park, oh my god I just love this film.

Ghosted

I also like yoghurt. Some good gags in this film, some advice for when you want low light is to start brighter and then darken it in post, the more light you have to work with the more control you can have over it later on, would have helped in the ritual scene to see you guys a bit clearer.

Timeslingers

Well done guys! This was a great effort for your first ever 48hours. You created some moments of real tension, and the shoot up at the end was very cool. As MistaTeas already noted, next year your big task to work on is your sound! Sound is the trickster you learn about after giving the competition a few gos, it turns out to be probably the most important part of a film! Best of luck for next year I hope you guys keep doing the competition.

Closure

Real solid effort here guys. You had me fooled with that twist at the end which shows the development of the characters relationship was well thought out. It probably could have been a little tighter in the edit overall just to keep the pace up.

We'll just have to do things the long way.

This was hard core man super impressive to pull all of this off in only 2 days. Babies are awesome.

News BITE

It was a dooooogggg It was a doooog we all thought it was a shaaarkkk but it was just a dooooogg I think this film was really sweet and taking advantage of the surfing was a real strength really nicely executed. probably a little bit tooo long overall you could have cut down a fair bit of the discussion just to keep the pace going. Nice job team, it was a doooooggggg

Losing My Edge

This was a great portrayal of a generation gap with a twist of the horrific kind. Your best parts in terms of quality was anything inside, I suppose you just had a bit more control in that environment. Your outside stuff was funny but just a little messy, hard to hear some stuff, some things just didn't seem to be thought much about in terms of framing or making sure your characters were lit, the work needed to make characters clear and easy to hear at night can be difficult sometimes particularlly with the sort of weather we had. Overall a great idea and a lot of potential for future sucess in this competition.

And Good in Everything

One of the most wholesome stories we got this year, showcasing a very relatable stage in life for many people. The 3 leads had fantastic chemistry, the script felt natural and convincing, the visual look was one of the best this year too. I think I missed if it was an obvious 'anniversary reunion' of some kind, but I imagine that was the intent.

Pie Face have a history of getting snubbed come finals selection but this may be your tightest film to date so I'm hopeful you'll get finals and swipe up some nominations as well, nice job team

The First Date

*sigh* if only I could also go back and redo a few of the silly decisions I made in high school :') Cute little story, overall solid performances from all your actors. Maybe it's just my love for edgar wright, but I reckon you guys could have benefited with some sort of montage, suggesting that maybe it took him more than 3 times to get it right, montages are a great way for showing passing of time without lingering on details too much. Well done guys.

Baby On Board

My favourite film from the entire night. Truly brilliant way of incorporating Ultra, also loved how it pointed out some of the things I'm sure the audience was thinking and addressed them. I thought it was amazing how even though using a baby can create limits, you were able to break those limits in such a creative way, using first person shots, voice over etc. Can't wait to see this one again (at reading cinemas June 14th get your tickets noooowwwww :P )

Velociraptor

Some great dialogue in here kept the pace up, thought the singing was pretty great but may have lingered on a little bit too long, liked the ending a lot and I thought the chemistry between the two leads was pretty natural which was refreshing to see.

Nosferatu II: No Sferatus Today

I can't explain what it was that caused this but something inside me just felt like it was my first time ever watching a 48hours film, I felt like I was 17 again (lol) and that joy and admiration of what was possible in this competition overwhelmed me.

I don't know what it is about this film that caused that experience but I'm grateful for it, so that's all I'm going to say :) Thank you guys!

Crimson Snow

One of the best looking films in Chch this year, I imagine Castle Hill was always on the cards for a potential location, choosing to go out in the snow certainly makes this western quite 'pavlova', so well done.

The story itself falls flat a bit for me. The revelation of the girl being the characters granddaughter did not raise the stakes much higher, particularly as we never get to see this child character, that revelation is not resolved. A sweet connection between stranger and child at the end could have been a slam dunk, so was a shame to not have that resolution.

Still, even with my story gripes, it's an overall mastery in film making, with all other technical elements (bar maybe that fun CGI rag doll fall that put the Little Andromeda audience into hysteria) was completely on point, and for that alone I imagine it will be a hot contender for finals, and there will probably be judges that back it to place, so well done!

The Trees Are Alive!

LOVED your team intro. Great design for a tree monster, however leading up to it seemed a little unbalanced, lots of the couple together and then the last 30 seconds BOOM MONSTER SCARY and then sudden ending, maybe that was your plan all along in which I say well done haha.

Student Exchange

oh mannnnn how sad I was when I went to vote for you guys as my #1 pick and your name wasn't there :(

This was absolutely stunning, shocking in fact that it was done in 2 days, an absolute highlight of the heats.

Man, no words, just joy and sadness at once.

Now You See Me, Now You Don't

awh guys, my heart can only take so much. The quality was on point as expected, you kept the pace up enough for us to stay engaged but also took enough time for us to take in the world of the little girl. I had a few questions at the end around the rules of the invisible character, as to at one point did we get out of the little girls head (I assume we were in her head with the ice cream being eaten and the scooter following behind etc), but that doesn't affect the arc of the story that much for me, by the time the other girl was on screen I knew we were about to have a sad reveal and even though I knew that It still got me so damn hard in the feels. This is very special and possibly my favourite film you've done to date. Also I know we've been joking all month about best team intro but I did watch all the team intros and yours is by far the best so if you don't get it then the world is backwards.

Natalie & Gregory

Love love loveeeed this film. This is the most anti-romcom I've seen so far (and I had to make one myself this year haha).

My Boo

I went to vote for you guys at my #1 spot and was gutted to see your film not on the list :( Would have loved to see you guys make finals, can't wait to see what you guys make next year!

Isolation

Stunner performances from all the actors in this film. Fantastic location seemed like a legit film set. My only question is why the robot lady bled. Is it like a Doctor Who cyberman type thing where she's upgraded enough to bleed? haha, easy to overlook that question when you see the full picture of this film though, loved it.

P.S.

This was special, a great take on a difficult genre. Great delivery of the lines, well written and very touching. And my critique has already been said twice above, I enjoyed how subtle this film was the whole way through until that date showed up haha, easy to overlook that when you're reviewing the film as a whole though, well done guys!

Dial 'M' for Killing

Another Crab Crab Crab classic! Loved the escalation as usual, bit hard to hear it but the bits I did hear were spot on - loved the puns finishing off each song, and F*ck you Grandma was my personal favorite song from all the films watched this year, "grandmas gotta goooo!"

I think what maybe fell short for this one compared to some of your other amazing 'dark escalation' films was the lack of understanding around who the character was. In previous years, you've had setups with characters that have a reason for their downfall - the most obvious in my opinion being why the dude from "Wheat Myself and Rye" gets crazier and crazier over time, we understand why, and that's why we love it - so while we loved how this lady goes nuts, what we didn't know was why, and that why is pretty essential to a fully formed tale.

Cabin Fever

I loved this. The interaction between the characters was just brilliant. The shock at the end + the immediate twist was spot on. The middle section got a little draggy in places, probably could have cut the film down a little bit to keep the pace up the whole way through, but besides that a really solid film that I can't wait to show my mum.

Duck Off!

If MistaTeas ends up putting that on a shirt I'll take 50. I think I said this for another team similar to yours, don't ever change. For this competition to be fresh and exciting and enjoyable we need teams like yours that are willing to go the extra mile in 'Not giving any f***s whatsoever'. One day I myself hope to get an opportunity to do what you've done. I'm proud of you, and can't wait to see this film again.

No Bromo

Funny as hell. Well written gags, 3 great characters, sounds coming from the TV were hilarious. I got confused at one point as to whether both characters were misunderstanding eachother or not. It seemed like maybe one of the guys actually was into it (eg. He did straight up oogle at his ass when closed that door) So when the blame game came at the end I was thrown a bit but perhaps that's just me. Nice job guys!

Knight Vlogs

Very impressive to get the shots you did at night, night movies are always a challenge to pull off. It's already been said here, the intensity overall probably needed to go up a bit more at the end, and I'd also add that the beginning when they're walking into the forest seemed to linger on a bit too long, but still a very solid effort from you guys.

The Jacket

Well written, and was beautifully shot. The genre is a film that spans more than 10 years, I understood that it's likely the note was written 10 years prior, it would have been good to see that play out a bit more obviously, maybe you could have had the jacket passed on from person to person to show the passing of time even more obviously?

The Wish (hopefully nobody else picked that title)

I reckon Jesus would have enjoyed this a lot actually.

Hero

Duuuuuudeeee this one hit me haaarddd man I thought last year you guys did incredible but this one just topped that another punch straight to the gut I LOVED it. Beautiful shots, beautiful dialogue, BEAUTIFUL take on the genre. Can't wait to see this one again at reading cinemas June 14th buy your tickets now ;)

The Clock Is Ticking

The beginning of this film was perfect, such a brilliant take off into the problem of the bomb. Sadly, seemed it fell apart after that, the unhelpful characters just weren't moving the story forward - in particular the cross dressing instagram star was quite frustrating. Too many characters creating too much of a distraction from your best character which was the main guy. Still, the bomb exploding at the end was pretty funny.

Stopping World War II

Toot Toot is an angel, a goddess, more beautiful than anything in our galaxy, and galaxies beyond. Legend says if you spend enough time deep in the forest to find your inner peace you will eventually become one with the almighty Toot Toot, and then you too can put together some amazing bullsh*t and make it look easy. It takes years of dedication and practice, but one day I promise you, you too can make an entire audience of people BLOW AT THE GODDAMN SCREEN.

Re-maid

Hey I liked your take on this genre! Some of the things that happened seemed to not have much relevance to the plot (the conversation between the two guys? Maybe it was and I just didn't pick up on it). You had some good shots particularly in the office scene, best tip for next year is to keep the pace up, look at each shot individually to see if you can shave off frames at the start and the end, it helps tighten up your story and gives you room to add in things you may think you can't.

Blackheath Station

A really well shot film with lots of charm. Not a lot of story to hang onto though...looks like you all had a good time anyway!

Wonko

oh boy oh boy oh boy - Nice song, the warping of the film while you were walking down the path was a bit strange but it was a good effort with the song - At first I thought it was a dance movie - I actually think if you had focused in on the clowns ability to make people happy and dancing for the whole time this would have been a really interesting concept - The ending seemed a little out of place, quite shocking, but I mean you got a good laugh from the audience so cudos for going all in with that I suppose There was a surprising amount of clowns in ChCh 48hours this year...

K9 Catastrophe

wwooooooowwwww you're dog is so well behaved!! It yawned, it typed, it turned on your camera, truly fantastic. Man that was awesome.

Two Steps Forward

You guys had a really strong idea and it was well shot for the most part. Thought the bath scene was really impressive, and had a good ending shot. I would have liked to see some more close ups during the looking forward sequence to see the leads face better and draw out a bit more of that emotion, but overall a solid effort from this team, well done!

A Quack's Journey

Oh man you guys are just so so great I have no notes just keep coming back every year and giving us a bloody good time

Dog's Day Out

I guess the tricky thing about reviewing films so late is they're not fresh in my mind and this preview isn't the film, but based on AJs review I do recall there being some stellar slow motion dog running shots that were super slick, very very nice :)

There Was A Way

You guys had some freaking great lines yo I was SHOOK. Great effects with the guts, highlight was probably the baby falling into the river. You guys won best school team last year right? (EDIT: I was mistaken, I must have heard about your guys film another way). Man you guys are a force to be reckoned with and I can't wait to see what you guys do in the future.

Maurice

So this guy is learning a lesson through trials of balloon popping...and once he redeems himself by being nice to the man and returning his water to him, the man sabotages his lesson learning by popping his balloon and killing him? That's rough ahaha. A bit fuzzy in the message being delivered, but your lead (and your invisible voice) gives a solid confident performance so well done there.

Promotion Road

oh my god that shot of the guy throwing up under the legs of the other guy went on for so damn long oh my goooodddd The technical quality of the film was a little off but putting that aside I loved this so much and I was surprised at how well it ended, that nasty kid setting them all up like that, really really good. You guys got some real skill, next year if you can improve on your sound mix and tighten up some of those shots you could make something outstanding.

Space Battle

I can't remember exactly how this all went down but I do remember someone going 'are you dead' and the dead guy going 'yea' and I lost it. lots of fun here - those sticks you fought with brought me back to my childhood when I used those in all my home videos.

U-Knighted

I think you guys are creeping into TBALC levels of scrutiny, so you should be proud of that. We set the bar high (sometimes unfairly) for those we've seen accomplish great things in the past, so remember that when you're reading reviews.

PlanetFox seems to be at a crossroads where they want to stick closely with their goofy nature but also mature into more authentic and sensitive themes, a natural change and one that's very welcome! But also hard to pull off.

There is a tension between the goofy and the serious in this film that didn't quite land in the last act in particular. The take the couch outside gag is great, but felt a bit unusual given how serious everything around it seemed to be, and how reluctant Josh's character seems to be to want to be there in the first place. I think for many of us there was probably the (very biased) assumption that there would be a wacky twist or shock, or that there would be an element that's really taken to the extreme. I look forward to watching this again with a clearer mind and one that isn't filled with 'This is what to expect from these guys'.

The cinematography, sound, animations, and rent-a-crowd was all super clean and with only a few heats to go I assume and hope you'll get some nominations for said things.

please remember to continue to enter every year until you die. It won't be long before the perfect storm comes to you guys and all your strengths will lead you to taking out this whole goddamn competition.

Catman and Robyn

This was so great, so so great. The set up was really clever, there were great moments the whole way through, and such a satisfying ending! Is there any chance the weirdness could have been pushed further? Perhaps if he went to the vet or something...we can only imagine now I guess Well shot, clean sound mix, high quality all round.

Stage Four Law

Pretty good summaries above of the difficulties people have with this. I'd say we probably haven't scrutinised so harshly a film like this since TBALC days, back when they had won a couple of times and we really started to give the screws to them on their stories, perhaps unfairly? But that's part of the burden that comes with being a city winner and national finalist team I suppose! So I'm sure you guys have a thick enough skin to have seen some of this coming and be ready for it.

So with that being said, here is my most upfront take on it as a person in the room at Little A watching it live with about 40-50 other people.

Firstly, I am always in absolute awe of the craft of film making on display by this team, the camera work, the colour and sound, the performers etc. It's genuinely impressive - and expected, which is why the praise stops there for many of us.

Beyond the fact that it is the best film on a technical level, this was (at least from where I was sitting) the most uncomfortable film of the 85 I watched live with an audience. The moment that reveal of the tumor hit, everyone was dead silent, not knowing whether to laugh or not, and hoping to God that great jokes would come flying thick and fast to help us all relax - something that didn't happen. (Perhaps others in the room saw it differently, so if anyone else was there that night, please chime in!)

And then it was over, and I thought something that might sting a little to hear, which was 'huh, I guess that'll win...' so sorry to say it like that, but that's how I experienced it, I need to wash my hands after writing this.

All my love to you guys genuinely, perhaps you achieved exactly what you were hoping to and we've all just missed something - your staggering amount of top teir award noms would suggest that.

Twenty Four Hour Rewind

Montages make me happy and you guys had a great montage, showing the passing of time for the lead and allowing us all to experience a little bit of his frustration while laughing along the way. Look forward to seeing more from you guys in years to come.

Confused

well, as the title points out, I was pretty confused! Chances are you guys were maybe a bit rushed to get it in on time, understandable, but always remember to flick through your rendered product before you leave the house to make sure there's nothing crazy like audio 3 seconds out of sync. That's all I'll say as previous reviewers have already covered the rest, hope you guys are able to nail those glitches next year!

The Good and Righteous Task of Stealing a Chocolate Labradoodle

This was excellent. Great performances and beautifully shot - a hot contender for a best cinematography nomination. The two leads had really great chemistry and a wholesome arc. My only gripe would be by the end of the film it felt like we had only had half the story - would have loved to see a bit more then just them getting away with it, perhaps a sequel one day :) well done!

Ta Da

Another stunning effort from the excellent (and I imagine exhausted) veteran himself.

I think what really makes my heart soar when watching Andrew's films is he takes the time to stretch his creative muscles into just really unique and bizarre thematic territory, whether it be a Russian cat, an empathetic alien, or a possessed Irish fast food sign - he embraces the creative freedom that going down the animation path gives you, and that's always great to watch.

Loved hearing all of the little anecdotes every time you went down to swipe up an award, was the script really inspired by your father!?! trauma breeds art I suppose :')

Pop goes the Weasel

Unsure how I felt about this one, was pretty heavy to say the least. Wouldn't consider it enough to be in the musical genre, as you could have said it's just a splatstick** movie and would have made more sense. Committed acting was good however especially from the lady holding the chainsaw. EDIT: **My mistake, it was monster movie, that actually does help it all make a little more sense.

Zero Mum Game

This was excellent. Really strong performances and a great overall look and tone. Still got a few heats to go but at this stage this is should find it self very comfortably in city finals.

Stanley & Mildred

I loved how you handfisted the plot conveniences on us but then flipped it on it's head and left us with a tragedy my goodness I loved that. Great makeup aswell!

BRAT SWAP

What AJ said really, but I'll say it again.

Performances all round we're pretty great, loved the kids.

I assumed that maybe the reason for the dim lights was it's sort of an underground illegal thing, but I agree with the comments above that a 'game show' style set and lighting probably would have given this more of a lift.

Overall a very solid effort :)

That Time of The Month

This had an amazing script. Your actors crushed it. I loved it all. Can't wait to see it again on July 15th Hoyts Entx get your tickets noooww

Opposite side of the track

A couple of missing pieces in the story made this hard to follow but it was well shot and the lighting was really good. I also thought your actors were all very commited to their rolls, nicely done.

Perceived.

Yea this one was quite clever I liked it a lot ^_^ I guess it must have been pretty windy out at the beach aye? That would explain why it was dubbed, bit distracting, have had that issue myself before..

It's been already said but I'll say it too, the story kicked off great and just needed a bit more exploring of the world to keep us hooked, plenty to build from for next years comp!

A Duck Secret

The Bunnings scene was just beautiful. A little messy in the edit when not in POV, as already mentioned I reckon this would have been super solid if it was perhaps POV the entire time.

Last Day for Stan

Nice little twisting of the genre, making it the last day for one character who is leaving, liked that. I also noticed the writing on your the leads hand can be seen in the bathroom before he goes to work. It's already been said but the check boxes changing throughout the film was pretty distracting, still a very good effort guys!

Trial #37

The editing in this film was slick as, really kept the pace up and tension held. I think in general the whole film was a little under exposed, hard to see, it's always better to start with bright lighting and grade colours off that instead of not having enough light to work with, that would be my main point of improvement for next year. You had a great concept, well acted and a stunning finish will all the bodies lying around everywhere. Really nicely done team.

I'm Gonna

I really really liked this one you guys have some great skills. Well shot, real slick editing, ended a little sooner than I would have liked cause I was really enjoying it.

END

Guys this was awesome! Such a great way to tell a real time story, making the story pointed around game helped push the conversation forward and make it believable. My two notes would be I think the whole 'you cheated on me' part seemed a little out of place in the context of 'the world is about to be fking destroyed'. The overhead shot was really great but got weakend by the fire overlay - I think it would have probably been more effective to just crank up that exposure and make the world ending effect a little more mysterious. Besides those two things, a really awesome effort from you guys, probably your best yet! Nice job.

Free As The Wind

You guys are one of my favourite teams in the competition. When wind appeared from behind the couch I was like 'YES this is exactly where I wanted this team to go' You had some fantastic character moments and I loved some of the unexplained humour with the guy falling off his bike etc. I think the main note of improvement would be there are a lack of plot points in this film. It's sort of like - The guys wants to be free, wind offers him freedom, wind then reveals it's not all that great, the guys changes his mind. I think you guys would have really benifeted from actually seeing Wind doing some crazy things interacting with characters in some weird ways, could have been a great way to keep the pace up. Putting that aside, this was a real fun time, you guys are a team I look forward to every year and you satisfied my fandom once again. That final joke made me loose my s***

Persecution Complex

I'm probably a little biased here :P but I did really enjoy what you guys were able to put together. Talking to you guys after the heat helped me understand a bit better what was going on, it's pretty obvious the biggest thing which I reckon would have helped the story make sense is if you got a close up of the guy sitting on the floor, revealing that what he was drawing was the same symbol as that of the lead. With that in mind, I think you guys did a great job.

Lifeboy

Mad respect for your actors in the water. The editing of this was super tight it created a great tension I really loved that. The effect of the character dissapearing was really awesome. In fact across the board this was a beautiful film. So my gripe is the question of 'Did this guy save a drowning woman but sacrifice a child to do so??' or was that guy the child? or did I miss something else? Perhaps this was a tragedy piece - in which DAMN out of no where No Budget Ninjas hits us with the feels - but I was asking too many questions to sit in that place so I'm wondering whether there is missing information.

The Spares

Glad you guys had a lot of fun making this, we could tell! Great story, brilliant one liners throughout. I could see where it was probably going to go as soon as one of them started talking about how it's just them three left, but was still pretty shocked when it went there. You guys are awesome, have been for a number of years now, and it was great to see you make a film that you wanted to make and that even after being here for so many years you choose not to fall into any pressure to be the best (cause whenever a team does that they tend to end up not liking whatever they end up with). I hope you never leave the competition ever.

The Negotiation!!!!

It was so wonderful to hear from Michael last night about how Toot Toot was formed with the idea of taking out the Incredibly Strange award, and how great to see them take it out last night, congrats!

So yea maybe this years entry was just a littleeee bit beyond it's comprehension, but I think as AJ mentioned, that was less to do with the story and more to do with the audio just being a bit of a distraction. That gripe aside, this was everything I'd want from a Toot Toot film.

You guys are a cornerstone of Chch 48hours culture, you continue to break down the barriers of film making and inspire all of us to make sure that having fun is at the center of our weekends, and by all appearances, you guys had just the best time putting this together, that's all we can ask for at the end of the day.

One day you will actually win Chch by the way, the perfect storm will come and it will knock all our socks off, I'm sure of it. In mean time, just don't stop being who you are.

Artificial Selector

Let it be known that this film deserved to be put on TV and it's a tragedy that it wasn't.

I felt genuinely heartbroken for these characters. And this is one of only a handful of films that used video conferencing in a way that felt meaningful.

This is a testament to the concept that less can be more if you play it right, and you guys played it so right.

The Art of the Deal

Well done for winning the unofficial creepy character smile. I was pretty lost for most of this lol I'm sure you guys know exactly what was happening, perhaps it was just cut a little too short? who knows maybe you were tight for time, shame about the DQ, better luck next year!

Boogie Buddies

This was hilarious. I love it when teams don't get musical but do musical anyway. An overall simple story, totally gross, your reading the lyrics off the paper and out of time was just hilarious. It was a bit under exposed at some points, hard to see what was happening (I know a majority of the film was up someones nose but even then you still gotta make sure it's well lit). Very silly, but very enjoyable, nice job.

The Price

You guys had a pretty slick story and some great moments with how your characters were being controlled. I reckon all you need is some better setup with cameras, lights and a decent mic and you'll be knocking comp films out of the park.

Connection Issues

Man you guys had a great story, especially the ending I thought that was quite strong. Also really enjoyed the duck, thought that was a good little world builder for you guys. NEXT YEAR: Continue to work on your camera skills and sound, some shots were good for the teleportation scenes, but during the conversation it would have done you justice to push the limits of what you were shooting into more interesting angles etc. Keep up the great work team, see you next year. OH! before I forget - I LOVED your team intro hahahaha

Decision day

I think this was quite creative and I thought the use of the green screen was interesting. There was a key element that I think left the whole film a little stuck - WHY was the day looping the way it was? did the character know about this? what influenced his decision in the final scene? These questions probably needed to be answered for the film to be fully whole.

Cushy: A Pull Story

Man I loved how committed you were in getting this couch from place to place, so awesome! Definitely more of an artistic film than one with a complete story, I was hoping the lady at the end would have smiled revealing some sort of odd gap in her teeth (But I understand that would have been pretty silly haha) This is an incredible effort as a first timer team, can't wait to see what you do in the future!

The Run-In

Hilariously awkward. Some fantastic dialogue. A really good crack at the genre.

Birdy Nom Nom

Really impressive stuff from this team. One of the most charming of the night. Great editing, great commitment from the performers, and I'm always a sucker for puppet movies. I look forward to seeing more films from this team!

Utka

Being the only animated film in ChCh I was super keen for this one, I liked the choice of style with the crayon drawings, the murders at the end completely blindsided me but later on I realised the foreshadowing was probably a bit more obvious than I noticed at the time. Solid effort considering your location and I hope this gets recognised in the solo/duo competition.

Potem Immortales

It's already been said, but I also wanted to say how much I appreciate musicals that really go for it in terms of making it MUSICAL. Even if you end up looking pretty silly, it's far more entertaining to see a team dedicate themselves to the genre which you guys clearly did and I'm so glad you did. Nice job!

The Adventures of Shart Boy and Larvae Girl: 3D

Herms Heroes strikes again! Never change who you are.

Would be great to see it again at finals given it's unique elements, and I just really want to see you handing out 3D glasses to everyone in the Entx Theatre.

I've found a nice spot on my shelve for the glasses you gave me last night, they will be forever treasured.

Night Shift

What. Whaaaat. Whhhaaaaaaaat. Are you freaking kidding me man. How. I can't even. No words. Okay a few words - you pulled off a Solo/Duo-Animated-Musical-Ultra. And it WORKS, there is a story! It's a GOOD story! It has a brilliant twist. You've truly broken my brain. City finalist no doubt - probably gonna land top 3 too.

PC High

wAS tHaT MiDdlETon gRAngE SChOoL? Freaking love you guys, clever and well paced the entire way through, great makeup, great dialogue, great great great. UPDATE: So the finals are over now and I felt compelled to say a little more now that I've seen this one on the big screen, I have to say I feel like I enjoyed it even more this time. Because I knew what was coming in terms of story, I focused more on the technical elements, and I just wanted you guys to know that I really thought it was stunning, particularly your editing, but also your techniques when shooting characters from far away - and it's just hit me now why I loved this so much, Modern Family. I binged every episode of that show over about 2 weeks, and you guys have nailed that style down in this film so well. So yea, again, thanks for your awesomeness, can't wait to see what you do next year.

Make Time

Great in concept, a bit confusing in execution. I didn't know who the time travelling lady was until the credits rolled and it said 'future mother', needed to be a bit more obvious. The lines in the song were good, but the performance was rushed and sadly a lot of it was out of time with the song, making it quite distracting. Still a very good effort tackling such a difficult genre, well done!

A Familiar Feeling

Definitely the cringe film that made me cringe the most so that was well executed. Felt like perhaps the scenes leading up to the funeral lingered on a little too long, could have been interesting to see their relationship develop a little further than it did, perhaps a couple of dates maybe even preperations for a proposal considering how 'connected' they were? Audience lapped it up just as it was though so perhaps it's more of a personal taste thing. Production quality was water tight, really great job!

Follow Your Dreams

I have been a fan of Carmen Road Academy Films for a long time. I have no idea who at the school oversees this team year after year, but I want to shout them out for continuing to encourage your students to get involved and give the competition a go.

As far as feedback, given that I'm moderately confident it's a different group of kids involved each year, I think the best thing I can reccomend is to spend time prior to the comp upskilling in your sound control. Good clear sound is more than half of a cohesive story, and does wonders for any film even if the camera work is rough. I look forward to seeing more Carmen Road in the future!

Shank'd

Loved loved looooved this, truly brilliant concept. Fell a little flat at the end, one more gag of somebody getting hurt would have probably been better than the outcome, but still very enjoyable overall, fantastic job guys.

Eggs for Breakfast

Strong lead performance, some clever camera work, just needed a more cohesive structure. I think I got the message, but what I think would have helped the audience would have been to let the main character have a moment to reflect on that idea (as opposed to the voice over at the end explaining the meaning of the film), would have given his character a bit more arc and seeing people learn things help us in turn learn things too.

Close Encounters of the Bird Kind

I've been a fan of you guys ever since my little high school self ended up in an adult heat watching some dude try and fight off a giant bread man in his head, and since then you've never disappointed me. Once again nailing your style down, fantastic songs, and would have been a real shock for those who have never seen one of your films before, brilliant.

Cheernobyl: A Holiday Meltdown

Very Crab Crab Crabby. Amazing costume, that character was so bizzare and creepy. You guys dived into the weird very quickly which I really enjoyed. The final scene seemed a bit dark? like literally, hard to see what was happening, so while still very funny it fell a little flat for me at the end there.

Brought back for the Shot

As always a really solid contribution from PlanetFox! Really slick the whole way through. Conceptually a really great idea, the look and editing was water tight.

Alas, not quite enough to get across the line for finals this year, but the question of why isn't so easy to spot. If I were to guess, it would be something to do with the performances just needing a little bit more of a 'punch'. The acting itself was solid, but perhaps the best feedback I can give is something I don't think I've ever noted on a 48hours review before - the casting itself probably didn't translate to the story you wanted to tell.

If you had at your disposal two crazy old people to play your scientist and cranky neighbour, for example. I think that sort of stretching of the character types is what this story would've needed to be a bit more of a standout.

I realise in saying that, 48hours is all about using what you have, and what you had was a young adult teams all with various amounts of range, so that's what you use. So this feedback is less about what you 'should have done' and more about 'if you had the time, what would have turned this idea up a notch'.

Still a great inclusion to Chch and a another feather in the cap of planetfox! Well done team.

Crumbling City, Tumbling Minds

Strong start here but tapered off a fair bit by the end, mainly due to not being able to hear things very well I'd say, I reckon you guys probably knew exactly what was going on, it's a common trap especially when you only have 5 minutes to get the story across to fill in the blanks yourself and forget that audience doesn't have those blanks to work with. You guys have heaps of potential so keep it up!

In Jest

I just finished writing up a review for another film with a clown in it - damn we had a lot of clown movies this year Great take on the genre, probably my favourite generation gap film - definately the most relatable. My mum would definately do something like this to me. Well shot, no crazy audio issues from what I remember - a solid effort. Perhaps to take the intensity further some more close ups and dramatic music would have given us a bit more tension to work with. I'm really glad you didn't overuse the real clown at the end, a nice creepy touch to finish the film off without having any crazy attack or anything, very well used.

Stages

Musical AND Dance? Dang, solid effort. Already been said but I thought the switching of music styles in the car was very clever. I think the main gripe is the sound mix, the music was just too loud in some points to hear the characters. The ending was sweet although a rather abrupt twist considering that guy came off as sort of abusive at the start, probably needed to be a little clearer whether he was a brute or whether he was just not that interested in the show. Overall a really great effort at a crazy hard genre!

The Interview

I really enjoyed this at the screenings I laughed a lot so thank you very much for a pleasant time :) It was engaging enough that the audience was constantly keen to see what the next gag would be. Keep at it squire!

"ouch"

While there were some distractions with how it was edited and the sound being a bit all over the place, I have to say so far you guys are truly the closest I've seen to a splatstick film. Assuming this genre is suppose to carry similar elements to slapstick, ideally you would have a lot of goofs and gags creating more and more issues along the way and they'd be super obvious, you guys are the first team so far to really nail that, so well done!

Circle Circuit

Your spinning effect was pretty neat. Some good moments with the conversation about time travel, I really enjoyed the last scene I thought it was very clever. The shot set up was a little messy, would have been good if every character was framed the same to have some consistency.

Hannah's Boring Life

Toot Toot's style is always a joy to witness year after year. Brutally fisting the elements into your narrative is an art they've managed to master, and every year we give them a pass on it because it's just so goddamn funny.

The riddle was one hell of a stretch to make sense but by golly if I wasn't choking from fits of laughter when I heard that the first time.

Literally beating the heart was so genius and staring all of us in the face but nobody else thought to present it that way other then the one team that we all expected to do so.

The resolution at the end still baffles me, I still don't get it, but who cares, like seriously who cares. It was so good, you guys are so good.

I reckon the day you hold the Ape trophy will be the day you can hit that sweet spot of your nutty format up against some really nice cinematography and a really satisfying punchy ending, which I believe is completely in your skill set!

I want you to keep competing until you win this whole goddamn thing and then I want to you compete some more.

Cop Out

I could have watched this for hours.

Yes and yes and 1000 times yes please.

Also yes.

much good.

no words.

Hope to see it again at finals.

yes.

Sampson

my god This was a BRILLIANT real time film. Acting was on pooointt I'm expecting a nomination for best performer for that lady. holy hell. I can't believe you pulled into a freaking petrol station, you had the audience all squirming going 'noo nooo just get to the hospital please oh my gosh' Your comittment to the ending was shocking and impressive A well deserved audience favourite

Thirsty

There was a lot going for you guys here, you had some solid dialogue particularly the lead was pretty strong. The whole way through I had a prediction that the 'monster' was the lead guy, metaphorically speaking, like he was being a monster to all these women and I thought that's where it was going to end up, so the ending got me haha, nice job guys.

Instutution

Everything Sticks have for a number of years now been a regular shortlist team so I thought it was great to see you guys make it to top 15 this year, and I reckon it was well deserved, definitely the tightest and strongest story I've seen from this team.

I loved how he got a different hat each reset.

I loved the whisper, the pacing of that performance was stunning.

The twist was chilling.

Hope to see another great film from you next year, and while I'm here big thanks to Stu once again for your tireless effort giving every film feedback, it doesn't go unrecognised! and being someone who makes a half arsed attempt to do that, I respect how much of a slog it can be, thanks so much for your contribution to Chch 48hours culture!

The Getaway

Andrew and Cathasaigh, I have no words. I have been mulling over how to write this for a few days and I just have nothing that sums up how blown away I am. Okay, hold on, maybe a few words:

Your possesion film is great and a worthy finalist - but THIS film, this film proves once and for all that even with an incredibly standard set of tools, and we're talking phone on a stick standard here (and maybe some knowledge of how to light your actor), a team has the power to pull something genuinely excellent off. Yes, Andrew has been around a while, but if there are any teams out there that feel they need sharper equipment to do well in this comp, then look no further than this film to be inspired and realise that story and performance can break through any limitations you have.

There could be a team of 40 people, filled with flecky holders, focus pullers, script supervisors, the people that clap the freaking clappy boards, and they could still fall apart if they don't put their heart and soul into the story and performances - and you two, this monster of a duo, did it twice in one weekend!

Just brilliant, absolutely brilliant. What a film, what a team.

Emily goes to the dairy and buys some milk

You guys had some of the Little Andromeda crowd giving you a standing ovation at the end, I haven't seen that in 8 years of going to heats, so for that alone you get an 11/10

Yes Mother

Dang that alien makeup was killer. A bit hard to hear at times and a few of the scenes could have benifeted from being a bit tighter in the edit but overall a really solid effort!

Thirteen

Nicely done guys. Great performances and well shot - You know it's well shot when you can shoot in the hallways of the design block and make it look like it WASN'T shot in the hallways of the design block :) I want to see what happens next in this story...

Perpetual Pause

*sees a classroom with a couple of kids* okay so we're gonna get some sort of basic awkward romance or something... *sees everybody freeze* Oh boy oh boy here we go kiddies show me whatcha got. Some good lines of dialogue here (skin...her skin). The ending could have been a little more polished than 'She cheats and you could do better' but I like where you went with it overall, nice job!

High Note High

Musical is well known for being the big bad wolf of 48 and is often joked about being super terrifying (or maybe that isn't a joke at all), and I thought you guys took this genre and made the most of it considering your circumstances (having to do your film at school). A solid commitment from your lead (had his head in the game amiright? ) especially in the first scene really brought the film to life. I also LOVED the lyrics being played like a sing-along, a classic trope of a disney styled musical which was a great idea for a musical of this style. Overall I was very impressed with how your team didn't cower away from the genre and gave it a good go. NEXT YEAR: Pacing is always a tricky thing to balance, especially in a musical, but ultimately it'll come down to your editing. It's always good to go through each shot and see how much you can trim on each side without loosing any information, keep practicing guys you've all got heaps of potential for years to come!!

Smiling

Thanks for the new ring tone ^_^ appreciate it

Pain in The Neck

You had some good ideas in here. I thought it was well acted, I really liked the song at the start that was very funny. My main note of improvement would be lighting, just generally having better lit scenes so we can see the characters better would up the quality of the film. The ending was a little jarring but the audience had a good laugh about it. Well done guys!

Gloria al Bravo Pueblo

Can now confirm - "Jessica Anne Stevenson why" was my favourite line from all of Chch this year <3

One day I hope to see who wins, the Dragon, or the Mouse?

FU Finding Unicorns

This was very sweet. Some great night shots, and I thought it was cool how you kept the unicorn very secret the whole way through, no massive reveals of 'omg look we were right it's a unicorn wow' A little messy in places with the audio, and not every scene felt like they were blending exactly, eg. the scenes with the kids talking about unicorns - while very cute - stood out as not really fitting in with the story telling coming from the other outdoor scenes, perhaps some re-arranging would have helped to get a more linear story going on.

Time Saver

Man oh man this was such a beautiful looking film, your set design and cinematography work must be applauded from the roof tops. Honestly Max, you're one of the most gifted camera holders on the entire bloody planet and I adore you.

Light on story? Yes. did it matter to me personally when watching this? not really, I was distracted by how it looked, but obviously the judges have a little more time to get over the dazzle of it and get to the substance, so I guess it wasn't enough this time, but hopefully in the future you'll nail that sweet spot, because the moment you guys get a killer story, with that kind of cinematography, you'll take out the whole comp. Keep at it!

A helping hand

You had some really good moments in this film. My favourite part was that crow bar joke, but not just the joke also how you used that to then introduce the crow bar again later. I can't remember the audio issues but I do remember feeling like there was some shots that went on too long, and some shots that should have been there but weren't (eg. The old lady getting attacked wasn't there, seeing that would have helped a lot I think). Nice little gag at the end with their escape car breaking down like the other cars.

Hard To Do

Gotta be honest, similar to Andrews remarks at the start, it's getting harder each year to review you guys on a level playing field with the rest of the teams. We always have high expectations from TBALC, which ultimately leads us to being pretty nit picky, sometimes in the past maybe too much, but also maybe that's how you want us to be! The more we dish out the better you guys become...

Anyway lets start by just reminding you that you're absolute legends at this comp, a unique tier of impressive every time. You're previous work has inspired many of the teams in the comp today to really go for it (including my own). You're shooting is brilliant, your performances are brilliant, all your technical work, sound editing set design, it's always brilliant and we never expect anything less than that from you guys.

So that leaves us with the script, and I suppose I can't add more then what Andrew has already said, but my thoughts aren't quite as well thought out. It's a great story! But it did feel a bit safe, it felt like there were places you could reaaaallly push her that we didn't get to see. You have your ability to present a fantastic looking and sounding film superglued to your belt and that's not going away, so don't be afraid to push it with us! We will believe it because you guys can convince us of even the most absurd of situations. You've done it before! many times..

Urine Trouble!

Can i get these songs on spotify plz

The Sounds Of Earth

I was concerned we may not get any animated films in chch this year so it was really good to see you save the day on that and make an instant finalist just for being crazy enough to do it, fantastic stuff.

Your sound design was immaculate, a well deserved win there. Great setting, great shots and great character design - always impressed to see how solo competitors design their characters strategically so they can save time in the animation room and still deliver unique characters, you did this really well!

Now we just need a crossover special where this alien duo throws down with Ukta the great and powerful.

Magic in the Sack

Robbed! Robbed I say! You took away so much of the feedback from your last film and ran with it in a great way, and yet the judges say no! How dare they!

By far the best Pie Face story, and given their technical expertise and sharp shooting, I was certain this was a slam dunk finalist.

Hard to give critique when I'm so gutted, but one thought has come to mind in terms of 'turning it up a notch' I suppose. It's in a similar vein to AJ's comment above about 'bigness', I think the first half of this film could've really been aided with some close ups of the face, and opportunity for the leads to really stretch their most absurd expressions to keep the momentum going. This picks up a bit in the final moments with some excellent cuts back in forth of their faces, I think if we had a little bit of that earlier, that would have rounded off a couple sharp edges.

That's it though! That's all I have for you, what else can I say...I guess all that is left to be said is you have evidence in this team of being able to crack into a story that kicks into gear and also equally make it the most beautiful one in the city (oh yeah, did I say robbed of cinematography nom? Robbed!) So with that in mind, perhaps the challenge for next year is to really flex those story muscles and dig deeper into something wild, and you'll have a slam dunk! Surely, surellyyy.

All the love in the world to Pie Face, you have a perfect marriage of professional skill and family vibes and I envy your talent.

#JusticeForSexWizards

1-800-GHOST

This was a hoot.

Some witty dialogue, clever moments and overall a well constructed sketch.

The next step for you guys is to dive deeper into the potential of your technical prowess, you guys have the chops to tell a great story, and your tech work is improving every year, so keep pushing into that and there will be nothing stopping you.

Treble in Paradise

One thing I know for a fact, musical is HARD, and the subversion of the genre in this film made my heart soar. Using the musical requirement as a plot point really played to your teams strengths, a really impressive overall achievement.

Big praise for the way you used the sign & gate keeper elements so seamlessly with the story too, and I thought the absurdity of that final scene was a slam dunk.

This is genuinely the sort of concept that I could see turning into an office style series, where musicals are made for the upper class of a dystopian society or something ridiculous like that. I'm gonna steal that if you don't mind, or you guys can beat me to it, ready set go!

Another great short from a great team, I hope the day you stop entering is the day the world ends.

The Immortal

Yoooo this film looked sickkkkk. Such an awesome style, it's not often that keying out characters on a green screen actually pays off.

Really well performed and confident story although maybe a little fuzzy on the details/motivation behind the characters and the ending had me a bit lost.

DQs are lame but heaaaaps of potential from this team, super excited to see more from you

The Performer

your green screen morph suit key out was bloody brilliant and you should be proud of your work with that :) was so cool

I really liked the song! Will has a really good voice, I think this would have fallen on our ears even better if the capture of the audio was a bit cleaner, but you work with what you have! So well done and might I suggest getting it recorded for my Spotify please and thank you <3

The story was pretty light and I would have loved to see more hints towards the people being invisible throughout to keep it grounded but you know what musical is so gosh darn hard that I'm impressed with this effort regardless of the fact, nice job! Look forward to seeing what you guys do next.

Where's Simon

Definitely this teams best effort so far! Stunning opening, really awesome set up, the characters were convincing and intriguing. As already mentioned in other reviews, you did loose us at the end, which is always the trickiest part of this competition, a satisfying resolution, so definitely your next step is to focus up on how to stick the landing the strongest possible way.

A Brush With Commitment

Sup team, fantastic effort this year, a huge step up from last years film. Drone shots at the start were neat, I was surprised how close you got to those trees. Your script was really awesome, a classic wrong place wrong time mix up, some fantastic lines and Freddie gave a real good performance playing an awkward hunk (oh wait he was just being himself ooohh too far? fight me) My favourite part was definately the reveal of the painting, the audience lost their shit and it was a well deserved moment of praise. So I'm not sure if you'll do this again next year cause you're in your 3rd year right? I think so, I hope you guys continue to do the competition either together or in new teams. My notes of improvement are just two things, camera exposure and sound mix. Some of the shots were just too dark for us to see what was happening, and the audio wasn't particularly clean and unclear audio is always quite distracting, particularly that phone call from the bride - while very clever with the wind - just sounded real awkward haha Really solid effort team, proud of ya'll, best of luck with your future film endeavours.

A Hearts Desire

Boy oh boy oh boy am I excited to finally have time to review films, starting with this absolute beauty.

First off, let my bias be known. These guys have had me hooked since "You Ready For Space" and it's been an honour to be regularly back to back with them in the heat screenings! (surely as soon as rip focus get interdimensional travel as a genre we just stop by your guys film, surely).

PlanetFoxFilms have built a reputation of 2 things (well, maybe more than 2, but in the context of this review I have 2 to point out)
1. giving us something totally bonkers, whackoo, wtf and oh frick me did that just happen
2. regularly getting ripped off come judging time. I'm happy to see some justice pull through this year and these guys finally make it to finals and be awarded for their incredible work!

Anyway, enough gushing over how much I love the team. Let's talk about the film.

This is by far the best looking film you guys have done, by a long shot, it was beautiful. The lighting/smoke combination, your characters hidden in the shadows creating a truly creepy vibe, it was all so so nice.

The setup was on point, you nailed the tone right from that first shot of the hands, holy moly. Your acting was superb, in particular Josh's expressions - you have a good face Josh, hold onto that. And the makeup was brilliant although that didn't surprise me given your reputation for going all out with that every year :)

Now, the bit that I think you've likely had a lot of conversations about by now is your choice of ending. I personally loved it, I thought it was great, I just wished it ended a little later then it did! I wanted to see more! I wanted to see what the motive of the fish monster was, I wanted to understand what he wanted, I wanted to know what part that first initial fish monster had to play in this (why did he want her to bring the light over there before just leaving the scene, returning at the end? I assume that was the same fishy boi), I wanted to see it draw out and develop further before the twist arrived.

Now I'm guessing you may have wanted that too, and were only constrained by your late saturday night shoot (holy smokes what an effort), which makes sense, I've been there, having to make those cuts to get the film out, so take this as less of a criticism and more of a 'it was so good I wanted more to make it even better'.

Ah man, I love this film, I love love love this film, and already can't wait for what you dish out next year.

The Algorithm

Technical hiccups aside, the final moment of this film was a SLAM DUNK at the in-person screening, the crowd lost it.

I reckon, with a little upskilling in the technical area - sound mix, framing etc. A concept like this can be a real strong contender. You guys were certainly onto something! Come back next year with another great idea and some practice on the tools and you could have some real potential in this comp.

When Space Hears You Scream

We had a number of Chch veterans say they would be absent from this years comp which made me sad, but none of them made me sadder than not seeing Aaron's Anal on the lineup, I was devastated.

And then, it happened, from the beginning of the film I thought to myself 'hmm, this feels familiar' and my suspicions were confirmed when we got a split second of silver robot guy! And I tell you what, I could've cried.

Thank you for the lovely surprise, come on back next year and continue to surprise us

Stage Fright

DAMN these guys were firing on all cylinders! Beautiful cinematography, fantastic performers and oof you did the thing my team was too afraid to touch and mashed up both musical and possesion! And you did it in one of the best ways too! Slam dunk with the concept, well done.

I think the only thing that I would have liked to see in terms of cranking it up to 11 would be a shift in the musical tone at some point. It's very much a personal taste thing as far as musicals go, it's a good way to help shift mood and narrative (and also ensure it's definately in the musical as opposed to a music video), but it obviously wasn't as cruicial in this film given the whole environment just soaking in thespian style - where the hell did you guys shoot this!? I was absolutely blown away by the set dressings!

A very comfortable finalist indeed and while I'm here I also wanted to say thank you for giving me a copy of Ratman and also I loved enjoying all the films with you guys over the 3 days! You guys have the spirit of the competition and the community in you and I love that so much.

D.O.C Force: Death Island

In the same way that we got something very Crab Crab Crabby - TBALC have given us something very TBALC-Y Fantastic acting (especially the scene sitting at the fire), AWESOME location, music and editing was on point and the VHS style was really neat too. As MistaTeas has already noted - a little lacklustre in the plot points, with it all ending a lot quicker than I thought it would. Great scenes with the rabbit - not a lot else to really grasp onto. Those shots of the rabbit running around in the grass reminded me of the sonic the hedgehog trailer okay I'll see myself out now

Dice to Meet You 2: No More Mr Dice Guy

yes yes and more yes to the 2 parter, what an achievement! be proud of that.

You guys have some raw technical chops that if you continue to work at will only get better each year, so I encourage you to keep submitting and surprising us, well done!

The Stile

Man this was brave, I'm loving these films that choose to tackle head on real world issues. It was well written, left me questioning for most of the film who the girl was talking to, I'm glad you didn't reveal death in full focus. Regardless of how this film does in the competition, be proud knowing that you've created something that truly does have potential to inspire or encourage a person who may struggle with mental health similar to this. My only suggestion for improvement that I noticed was the voice of death, it seemed like you wanted death to be quite mysterious and abstract, modifying the voice to be lower in tone, and more echoey would have probably brought that character more to life.

Banana Chick and Cat Girl

Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes.

Baking Takes Time

I was super impressed with how you framed your shots to be both acting in frozen time and also be in frozen time, so so clever, definately the strongest part of the film. The rest of the film could have probably been cut down to keep the pace up, but really nicely done overall, nice job!

Versace Flows

Truthfully I can't identify much of a difference between the songs you wrote for this film and todays most famous mumble rappers. Thought it was neat how you got to go to some cool locations. A bit too much writing at the end summing everything up, give the audience time to take in the ending. Loved your team intro :P

Tech Support: Don't Call for Help

You had a very interesting story here, the jacket on the coat hanger completely blindsided me so well done on that. Main thing I can remember needing work was the sound, volume was a little erratic and distracting, solid effort overall!

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Underwater shots always make me smile :) they're a lot of fun to shoot.

I echo what AJ has commented on already, this film had a great setup, would have loved to see an ending that felt more complete, more satisfying. The character may have redeemed his actions by saving a child, on paper that works, in practice it falls a little flat, would have been nice to see him redeem himself through learning to overcome his grief, or learning how to forgive himself for what happened, or something of that sort.

The Ballad of Kiwi Kate

The Jacinda joke may have played better in Dunedin, I don't really have a reason why I think that it's just a gut feeling.

Rest of the film was pretty good tho :)

An Appointment with a Poo

Truly clever way of tackling this genre, the script was brilliant, I tried really hard to see the wires and only caught a glimpse of something at one point so that was very well done.

The Sounds Of Earth

*Utka
Can someone pls give us the ability to edit our reviews.

Viral by Nature

lol worms. Had some good moments in this film especially that abrupt decomposing scene at the end. The pace was a little bit slow, be sure to trim up your shots so that you get all the information in without lingering on too long.

Monday

This was so much fun. Your main character was classic dad turns total ninja and I loved it. The thing that lets this short down is not checking the exposure on the camera enough and I think a lot of your audio was done in post which made it a little distracting, all things to consider for next year, well done!

Dumb Cult

We've had a lot of documentary type films this year and you guys have nailed that better than everyone I've seen so far. Some great dialogue and thought your commitment to the bunker set was great - particularly enjoyed that spit bucket, need to get myself one of those.

My Beast and I

The fact that I'm only the second person to say something about this film so far is insane, time to give some love to the crabs!

I've been a fan of this team since I was like 16 and have always looked forward to their yearly offering of joy. In fact to be perfectly clear about it - I credit this team for a lot of my early formation as a creative in this comp, I watched them and went 'ohhhh so THAT'S how you do 48hours!'

So whenever their delightful opening tune shows up I get strap in and get ready for what I hope will be a wild ride.

This year they did not dissapoint! a really entertaining and wholesome story - yes, even the sacrificing of the dude was wholesome!

Great song, great performances, great fun! Not really sure what to offer as far as a serious critique, but I guess what I would say is I'd be really interested to see a version of this where it isn't cut short by the boss man saying 'make me that' and instead just kept cranking the insane dial up to something trully bizzare, only thing is I don't really know what that would be exactly.

I salute you again for a job well done and I can't wait for more.

Altar

I liked this film a lot for what it is. It's definitely an anti-romance movie, with the sad ending etc. Seemed to be missing the element of comedy a bit, which understandably is the hardest part of this genre.

The Marquis de Sade

Great to see a light, sweet, feel good movie that we could all relate to on an emotional level. lol. 2020 UPDATE I was thinking about this film today and a few years on I've gotten a little older and I have a new deeper appreciation for it that I wanted to express. As a lot of reviews have mentioned here, it's not that this wasn't a great film, it was a case of going 'wow that was kinda crazy, impressively done, but not really my taste' and it's that last point about taste that has stuck with me - It wasn't my taste, nobody goes looking for this sort of thing casually, so it was very confrontational, and for some, exactly the sort of thing we needed to be confronted with, just the fragility of a persons story, how things can change so dramatically for anyone, at any moment. This film still isn't my taste, but I appreciate it way for more for what it is.

Zero Mum Game

I reviewed this film too early in the screenings to give it some proper thought so I've returned with some further thoughts!

This film definitely flew under the radar for me initially, it was one of the first to play in the adult screenings and so it sort of 'set the tone' for what the top end of the comp would be this year and I just didn't think much about it after that, merely comparing the remaining top teir to it subconciously.

It truly does tick off a lot of the judges boxes as other reviews have alluded to. It's clear we have some really competent and advanced users on the tools in this team, the look of the film gave me the vibe we were watching an unskippable youtube ad for a healthy breakfast alternative - not that we were forced to watch it! I just mean it was beautiful and polished :)

What I really love about that style setup is when it blinks, and the reaction to the currant girl joke has this subtle but brilliantly performed moment, that's when you know this film is here to play and shouldn't just be overlooked, it just might creep up on ya and swipe everything up, which it did!

anyway, you know all this already, brilliant performances (a well deserved win) beautifully shot and a good reminder for everyone to never underestimate a newcomer, you never know who's going to rock up and run away with the whole thing.

Final thought from me - I sense based on some of the above feedback that some have missed the point of WHY this is such a crowd pleaser, and no, it has nothing to do with gender roles, it's something I think is much more relatable for everyone - communication and connection can be HARD. It doesn't matter who you are, sometimes there are things that just make relating to other people tricky no matter what you try - THAT is the message of the film, and that is why it was so well recieved, we all understand the feeling at some deep level in our soul.

Well done Chester and team, was lovely to meet you at the finals and see your love for creativity just bursting out of you.