Buddy

Spicing Things Up

Such a fun film. Another that I wish I got to see at the heats. A 10/10 for me

Deep

This film FUCKS! Absolutely loved it!! The ambition is extremely inspirational and exactly what I want to see from a 48 hour competition. The ONLY criticism I can think of is a few frames of the greenscreen, and the hands controlling the creature, but I honestly think that adds to the charm of a VFX project like this. 99/100. This sets the bar for me

Office Dispute

had the pleasure of seeing this on the big screen for the first time and i LOVED IT!! I think it really sums up what this competition is all about and manages to balance humor and plot perfectly. Really great use of genre here team. I think the shooting jokes got the strongest laughs from me and my team all night

The Haast and The Furious

Alright meme teme, you asked for it, so heres a brutally honest review.

In a lot of ways, I think this was a good 48 hours short. I think this film would have done really well in earlier years of the competition, but its 2024 and things are different now.

The positives. I think there is a clear step up from your 2022 worm film in terms of storytelling, scope and audio. You set up the characters and premise quickly. Im glad we see the drone guy in the first scene, because that makes for a good set up and pay off. I also like that the bin was acknowledged early on, because its such a huge prop that its hard to ignore. Most of the shots around the bush look really nice, and it seemed like a classic Invercargill grey day, so you did well to pull as much nice lighting as possible. The sequence where they first catch the bird is pretty funny. Love the use of the drone shots here. I also think this leads to my favourite joke in the film, where the Texas Trophy Hunter shows his list of animals hes killed (probably should have held on this shot for longer) I also thought the kick to the head was great. The best shots of the film are right at the end, after the car chase, when they let the bird free. There's some really nice depth of field and the trees are glowing with the last of the daylight. And then theres the big final joke with the foreshadowed drone pilot, which is a great way to finish off the film and I loved the use of sound effects plus the bird feathers (probably should have used the feathers more throughout the film) Overall a really charming little story that fits perfectly into this style of competition. I also think the name is GREAT, but im very biased because I love the Fast movies and Fast related jokes. I also think that you NAILED the genre in a way that other teams didnt. Most teams just made vaguely 'animal' related films, but this felt like a true animal adventure. Theres a lot of be proud of here :)

But then there are the negatives...and theres a few. I didnt like how the opening shot was completely silent, until the characters bump into each other. Then, the sound of the jackets rubbing against the microphone start, and they stick around for the whole movie. Audio is really tough, and I think you got very unlucky here. Speaking of audio, the Texas accent really threw me off and was hard to understand on first watch. Im also surprised by how unsure our main character sounds when she explains whats shes doing "im on a quest to find it?...uuummmm...i need that cash?" and this is always a concerning thing to see in an opening of a short film. You need your actors to bring some energy in a competition like this. I think the 2022 worm film works in this regard because the opening scene with the lady bullying the worm boy is so mean and funny. I also think we should have seen a shot of the drone fly past the characters, because the sound effect on its own was a bit distracting. The match cut was very safe and forgettable, could have been much more creative. The drone shot after the match cut was ROUGH and shouldn't have been included. The net in the face gag was also a bit dull and probably could have been cut. The reaction to finding a dead body was shockingly dull. I think this was a bad choice to include, because it isnt brought up again. We later see that the eagle is easy to catch. Why would they let it free if it was killing people?? also the shot of the foot prints didnt work at all. I could barely see them (check out 'The Hatchling' from Wellington for how to do this effect better) I also couldn't understand what the guy says at this point because his jacket is hitting the microphone (something about big foot???) Again, catching the bird was actually pretty great, but following it up with the world slowest car chase sequence was an odd choice. Was it supposed to be funny? or energetic? The awkwardly long shot of the girl opening the boot threw me off (the music cuts out so i guess it was supposed to be funny?) The stand off with the bin was nice, but the bro fumbled his line so hard at the end "i do wish the, there were a few more big foot that i, that i could get". And then it ends. You really need to work on your audio for next year. The sound effects were all over the place in terms of volume, and the background music wasn't loud enough (and was pretty dull even when it was there) The lav microphones are a tough one when charcterts are moving around, but sound great when characters are still. I think this film lacked some much needed energy from our main actors. I also think the film needed a cheesy CGI bird, or a silly bird prop to help tie it all together. If the worm film didn't have a worm, it wouldn't have worked. Remember, its a 48 hour film. Its supposed to be fun, and a big ugly bird prop would have fit in so nicely (in my opinion). I really think you should watch 'The Hatchling' (it didnt make the short list so its on the screening room) and take some notes from that. Its like if the worm film and this film had a baby.

There's clearly a lot of love for this competition and filmmaking in general in this entry. I appreciate how funny your posts have been in the chch 48 hours page. Clearly you're improving at a fast rate, and I have no doubts you will make it to the city finals and win a ton of awards in the future. Please please please keep making films and entering the competition every year meme teme 🦅🦅🦅

Noise Complaint

Love this!! I fuck with the vision. The blood effect at 2:08 is SO GOOD!!!

Sundown

Loved seeing this on the big screen. Fantastic pace and the fight scene went really hard. Also had some really fantastic humor that worked well within the universe of the film. Great work team ❤️

Inspection

This absolutely FUCKS!!! 10 thumbs up for me!! I wish i could have seen this in the heats🔥well done team

Prank Monster

SO MUCH FUN!!! i fuck with the vision 👁️ best film from Wellington so far for me

Going Solo

Loved everything about this. I remember especially liking how well it was shot and lit. The acting was solid! Felt like it could have been plucked right out of Rick and Morty (in the best way) And I love a good crude ending. Laughed my ass off.
Maybe my only "criticism" is that it did FEEL like some other 48 hour films I have seen in the past, but its so well made that I can overlook that aspect. This film was mint. Certified Fresh

Crimson Snow

Hard to judge this movie purely on story or plot, when the main meat of this film for me was the location. Absolutely stunning and puts almost every other film to shame in some regards. The balls to film in the snow with the last of the daylight definitely pays off. Really inspiring stuff here

Brought back for the Shot

Just wanted to say how much I loved the cinematography for this! Maybe the first time I have ever seen a split diopter shot used in this competition, and it looked SO good!! Well done

Ta Da

What an absolute honor to watch <3 About as close to perfect as you can get from this competition.
Loved the character design, and it almost looked like claymation. The comedic elements were perfect, and added to the charm. I really expected just 5 minutes of funny accents, and I was NOT prepared for the places this film goes.
The buildup and fantastical elements were done so perfectly and paced so fuckin well. I was HOOKED from beginning to end, and I was left stunned. But its also remarkably simple in terms of scope. A great example of 'Less is More' and I mean that in the best possible way. I really can not think of a single negative. Clearly Andrew Todd did not come to fuck around. This is his competition to lose.

Never Ever say Never Ever Ever Again

Mad Scientists you've done it again!! Easily your best work yet, and i loved the team intro. Slightly confused about the space this was filmed in (was this a house, or a hotel, or a casino?) but I was extremely entertained the whole time. I would love to see this up on the big screen at city finals!!

Ta Da

Absolutely devastated that you only got runner up, but thats only because its such a good film!! I cant wait to see what you make next year ❤️

Stage Four Law

Damn. Im baffled by this one.

Some really beautiful cinematography here, which is no surprise. King julian strikes again. Sounds great, looks great, and all the actors are great. The neighbor element was a bit clunky (I could be remembering it wrong, but I think he even says "Hi, its me....your neighbor...how are you holding up?")

Rabid Aunty Jean are kings at setting up a serious situation and creating a dark yet comedic twist at the end. However, this year they have done the opposite.

Making a """comedy""" film about sentient cancer is certainly a choice. I don't even know if you could call it a comedy, but it opens with a comedic reveal and it even has a few jokes, but it quickly starts to play it very straight, so im not really sure what to call it.

As the film goes on, it gets darker and darker until all the comedy is sucked out of it, and it's just a man grieving his dead wife in a real graveyard. I felt like I was losing my mind. I kept expecting some sort of joke or twist, but it never comes. Its a REAL downer of a film. I didn't watch it with a crowd, so I don't know what the reaction was to it.

Practically everyone in the country has had some sort of horrible experience with cancer, be it a loved one or relative. Its a horrible and traumatic thing to go through. And the older you get, the more people you see dealing with the fallout of cancer, the larger that trauma gets. Im sure this will tug at those heart strings and create a strong emotional response. It will probably make some people cry.

Its not the sort of film I would ever think of making for the 48 hours, but im fascinated to see how its recieved. I could be completely wrong here (as usual) and maybe everyone else will love how fresh and bold it is. This feels like a 'jumping the shark' moment for the competition. Im sure this will do well and probably win the city finals.

S I S

How the hell did this make the short list??

Love Machine

I have such a soft spot for stop motion animation, so this hooked me right away. Very cute little film with slick professional lighting and a great musical number. Only criticism is that the animation could have been a bit smother in places, but I also know how difficult and time consuming this art form is. Absolutely the hardest genre in my opinion, so you should be very proud of what you made. Good job team <3

ACAB: All Cops Are Builders

I love this film because its exactly what I wanted to make with my team, but there was just no way we could pull it off. Im so happy that your team did this, and made it 10 times better than we ever could. The opening is a bit slow, but the reveal is amazing and all the jokes are absolutely hilarious. I cant stop thinking about 'I like the cut of this gib'. also the cinematography has no right to be this good! Seriously great stuff here team

Cop Out

What can you make when all of your friends are either busy or working? you make COP OUT!! From the twisted minds of the creators of S.I.S, this "film" will blow you away!! What it lacks in plot or characters, it makes up for in jokes (hopefully) We took AJs notes from last years film ("...perhaps in the end it comes down to more earnestly told stories striking more of a chord with the judging panel"...) and spat all over them. We refuse to tell a good story and maybe we never will. We at Herms Heroes hope you found this both shocking and offensive❤️