Josh Howard
70 Reviews
Reviews
Parasite
I feel much along the same lines as the previous reviews. The story was all there, it just didn't 'pop' for me. The acting seemed a bit flat from all three of them until the end, when the android/cyborg actually started acting like an android/cyborg. The little sound effects there were great, as was the overlaid voices in the last shot. I think ultimately it just came down to the characters not feeling natural/believable.
The Last Hand
Ok guys, you know I have to be critical here :P Vic was definitely in conspiracy theory mode, twitching and jumping and talking to fast. Also some great shots with the murder scenes. I still really like the shot at the swimming pool. the framing with the gun was great. I loved the POV shot which then ended in Sam dead on the ground. Probably the best shot of the whole film. I think you needed to keep the colours a bit more with the 2 killers, so we could get the link to the red and black, diamonds and clubs. They also seemed to be working together at the beginning, hard to tell they were in competition. That could have been an element vic introduced through his vl;og, maybe piecing it together over a series of broadcasts. Knowing what the story was upposed to be, it was a little hard to get that through the visuals. And what was with the slide transition? Great effort over all guys. I am sure you have picked up a few things for next years effort.
OCDairy
Great effort. It is fun to see turning such a simple things, like going to the dairy, into an adventure. Did i see the same footage of the car approaching 3 times in a row? I thought your lead character did a good job of staying OCD throughout. Loved the little touches like trying to stay of the grass as he passed the person on the street.
Just Another Bloody Family Christmas
If you hadn't mentioned the difficulties you went through I never would have known that things did not turn out as intended. I liked how you used the window into the backyard to extend the one room concept. I also liked how the zombies? in the backyard came in slowly at first and continued to get more involved through out the film. I think that having christmas dinner with your drunk girl would be horror enough, and then you have the 'other white meat' on the table as well :) Good work guys.
Lullabye
Agreed that I wouldn't consider this film within a film. The feeling created was intense and I got what was going on as soon as we saw the little girl holding the dolls. I did feel that the scenes were taken a little too far though. Beautifully shot. I thought the music you used was terrific. Was this made for the weekend? It may have also been good to have a disclaimer at the start about the sensation of flashing lights within the film as I know a few people who were there got affected by headaches, and could trigger seizures.
The Last Hand
Ok guys, you know I have to be critical here :P Vic was definitely in conspiracy theory mode, twitching and jumping and talking to fast. Also some great shots with the murder scenes. I still really like the shot at the swimming pool. the framing with the gun was great. I loved the POV shot which then ended in Sam dead on the ground. Probably the best shot of the whole film. I think you needed to keep the colours a bit more with the 2 killers, so we could get the link to the red and black, diamonds and clubs. They also seemed to be working together at the beginning, hard to tell they were in competition. That could have been an element vic introduced through his vl;og, maybe piecing it together over a series of broadcasts. Knowing what the story was upposed to be, it was a little hard to get that through the visuals. And what was with the slide transition? Great effort over all guys. I am sure you have picked up a few things for next years effort.
Love in Reflection
Do I review this with my team goggles on or as a unbiased observer? hmmmm. Apart from the glaringly obvious "Kick It" which I am sure is going to get a laugh out of us for the rest of the year, the film came together quite well. A great first entry from a team with, I think more enthusiasm than ability, but a real can do attitude. Good camera work to have the conversations with the girl in the mirror without having to resort to a lot of post-production work. I still think that there should have been at least 1 shot where we see both Bobby in the bathroom with the reflection of the girl in the mirror instead of his. The story arc of him trying to change was good but I think we needed to strengthen the 2 middle incidents a little. Make it clearer what was happening. Vlad's final speech to the girl in the mirror is still moving. And the fact that you guys wrote all original music for the film was awesome. Great work guys. I look forward to doing it all again next year,
The Mis-Adventures of Captain Nicky Brick: Space Pirate
Yar What more need I say. I love the dedication put into creating a stop motion. More then I would tackle. The character was great and the story, though simple, was effective for the medium. A few more lines would have been great. Yar
21.12.12
I guess the team name changed to hashtag? The concept for the found footage was believable. However there were a few problems with it. When the were sleeping at the beginning the camera angle changed a few times with no one to move it. Also what happened at the end, it was a blur and all over. Wanted to know a bit more about what was going on here. It didn't seem to have a third act.
Rosco
Great film guys, and congratulations on the win. 7 years in the making, but worth it :) Very well shot. I loved the POV shots walking through the grass, though at times I felt that roscoe didn't act like a typical dog like not giving that dead rabbit(?) at least a decent sniff. I loved the ending of this film which got a very deserved reaction from the audience. Hopefully we see this in the city finals.
Ace of Hearts
I am so glad we didn't get musical it is a huge challenge to pull off in 2 days. I thought you tackled it well. I like that you had a different style for each of your characters and I could kind of follow a storyline through, when I could make out the lyrics. The end seemed a bit of a cop out though, I wish we had actually seen the resolution play out on screen. I liked the use of real world sounds at the start to make music and the frenetic pace of cutting at the beginning definitely grabbed my attention. I wish these had been recurring elements through the film. Tips for audio next year: work on leveling so that the audio from scene to scene is balanced in relation to each other. Also watch the syncing with the lips,
Morgan and The Moustache
I had some good laughs with this film, though agree that the ADR was distracting at times, particularly when the 2 were sitting beside the river. At times it felt like too much was being explained, and at other times I was left wondering exactly what was happening. I was surprised how well the chase sequence worked. When I first heard the Idea I was very worried. Also I felt the idea of him taking over the world through brainwashing people with music didn't come through clearly enough. Maybe if James had given Morgan some earplugs when they let the building and you had a musical version of Jeremy's song playing in the background?
Tinfoil Hat
The theme of the night for me - sound levels this seemed to be a problem with a lot of films in this heat, and no i do not mean the distortion of the speakers in the venue :( The volume of elements, especially dialogue in relationship to each other was a bit off. I did like the slightly distorted voice of teh guy on the other end of the phone. I thought that worked well, and fitted the theme. There were a few shots that were overused in my opinion. For example, the overhead shot of the umbrellas, followed by reaching out to grab the shoulder. these went on a little too long. Also I seem to recognize the storyline from somewhere?
Admire The Wire
What was the story behind this film. There didn't really seem to be a plot to follow here. I did like the break into the black and white fight, but it looked like the guy in the white singlet was on the ground and then it changed to be the man in the suit. Fad film was the one I would really have loved to have got.
Silverstone
There was some very nice stuff in here, though the genre didn't really follow through for me. This came across more as a shock ending instead of a mistaken identity, unless you say they were mistaken about their own identity. When you showed Morgan Foster with the rubicks cube which started glowing I was wondering if they actually were who they claimed to be, and this was going to go along the sci-fi route. The ending was to familiar for me, possibly because I have been talking about Shutter Island a lot recently. Though I was expecting the nurse giving the tour, to be the patient, especially when she said she was just new here. I loved the comedic moments
Rosco
Great film guys, and congratulations on the win. 7 years in the making, but worth it :) Very well shot. I loved the POV shots walking through the grass, though at times I felt that roscoe didn't act like a typical dog like not giving that dead rabbit(?) at least a decent sniff. I loved the ending of this film which got a very deserved reaction from the audience. Hopefully we see this in the city finals.
OCDairy
Great effort. It is fun to see turning such a simple things, like going to the dairy, into an adventure. Did i see the same footage of the car approaching 3 times in a row? I thought your lead character did a good job of staying OCD throughout. Loved the little touches like trying to stay of the grass as he passed the person on the street.
9.00am BOOM!
Great film, would have been in my top 3 if not DQ'd. The humour was appropriate and timed well. One of the few this heat to have a simple, clear storyline which you could follow throughout. A few tips to improve: Listen back to your audio, there was one clip where you could hear the directors comments "That was a good one" there were a few random sound clips, one was when we first saw the teacher driving to school. Sound needs to continue through the cuts. i.e. the scene with the cows, the sound from inide the car should have continued when we saw the cows. Great effort though and wish you guys had made it in on time. I look forward to next years entry.
Deadline
Title was actually Deadline. Great to see a serious take on the end of the world, especially as I know how much you wanted to do a zombie apocalypse. The three story line ideas were good. I think maybe a line or two of dialogue for the beginning of the Nicky storyline and the druggie would have been good. A few technical issues: 1) The film needed to be deinterlaced so that the lines did not appear through the picture. Also the music levels needed dropping a little overall to allow the dialogue to stand out more., similar to the news report at the beginning. Great work and looking forward to next years production.
Ingenieous
It is a shame about the sound levels. I don't think it was appreciated as much as it would have been had the sound been louder. I liked the idea of exploring the various wishes, and what might go wrong with them, though I stills think there needed to be a bit more of a lead up to that final wish, some sort of comic book, or superman references through the short. I also appreciated that each of the wishes had a different feel to them in how they were filmed. Great work guys.
Morgan and The Moustache
I had some good laughs with this film, though agree that the ADR was distracting at times, particularly when the 2 were sitting beside the river. At times it felt like too much was being explained, and at other times I was left wondering exactly what was happening. I was surprised how well the chase sequence worked. When I first heard the Idea I was very worried. Also I felt the idea of him taking over the world through brainwashing people with music didn't come through clearly enough. Maybe if James had given Morgan some earplugs when they let the building and you had a musical version of Jeremy's song playing in the background?
Ballonian
I agree that this felt too short. Again the animation looked great, though certain things didn't add up. How big was that first planet they blew up? The ship was about the same size as the planet yet they were small enough to be stepped on. I have seen this idea before of misrepresenting the size of the threat, but something about this one just seemed to abrupt. I think it is possibly that we didn't get a chance linger on it for a moment. It was just 1 step and then done. Maybe If it had been drop kicked, or something along those lines? Not sure. Keep up the animation thou. Love to see something different.
Sleep My Pretty
Great job. I can see why you picked up a nomination for editing. It was smooth and you got the repetative nature of each day without having to re-show all scenes, or using the same shots. Lite on horror but great on style. I loved the music throughout. It worked well to help cue us in on what was happening.
Ace of Hearts
I am so glad we didn't get musical it is a huge challenge to pull off in 2 days. I thought you tackled it well. I like that you had a different style for each of your characters and I could kind of follow a storyline through, when I could make out the lyrics. The end seemed a bit of a cop out though, I wish we had actually seen the resolution play out on screen. I liked the use of real world sounds at the start to make music and the frenetic pace of cutting at the beginning definitely grabbed my attention. I wish these had been recurring elements through the film. Tips for audio next year: work on leveling so that the audio from scene to scene is balanced in relation to each other. Also watch the syncing with the lips,
Mine
Knowing what you were trying to go for I can see some things that needed improving. All of the lines needed re-recording back in studio to allow you to play with levels as missed the whole character development of Nicky and her being unlucky. Also needed to play around with the footage a little to help clean up the picture. The pacing and feel of the film was great and the choice of music suited really well.Also the camera work for a one-shot film went really well, especially with no steady cam.
HARDWIRED
Good job putting this all together. Consider how you might get steadier shots during actions/chase sequences. I appreciated the CGI you put into the film and people probably wont even pick all of it up, since it fitted quite well. I will add to this review a bit more in the lighf of day, but first impressions. I liked the twist and there were enough of s hints leading into the revelation that he is a robot doesn't seem forced into the story.
Love in Reflection
Do I review this with my team goggles on or as a unbiased observer? hmmmm. Apart from the glaringly obvious "Kick It" which I am sure is going to get a laugh out of us for the rest of the year, the film came together quite well. A great first entry from a team with, I think more enthusiasm than ability, but a real can do attitude. Good camera work to have the conversations with the girl in the mirror without having to resort to a lot of post-production work. I still think that there should have been at least 1 shot where we see both Bobby in the bathroom with the reflection of the girl in the mirror instead of his. The story arc of him trying to change was good but I think we needed to strengthen the 2 middle incidents a little. Make it clearer what was happening. Vlad's final speech to the girl in the mirror is still moving. And the fact that you guys wrote all original music for the film was awesome. Great work guys. I look forward to doing it all again next year,
Made Maid
I enjoyed the film, liked the way the memories? were all POV. A few sound issues. In particular when the girls started talking in the lounge the background noise stopped. This was very harsh and abrupt. Also was the voice rerecorded? the sync seemed to be out and the levels in relation to each other were a bit off. Similarly when the girls were on the stairs talking about ice cream they were very quite. I liked the story concept. Kind of an android take on the magician apprentice. The end confused me a bit though, why did she feel guilty about what she had done, when she was just following her programming?
Deadline
Title was actually Deadline. Great to see a serious take on the end of the world, especially as I know how much you wanted to do a zombie apocalypse. The three story line ideas were good. I think maybe a line or two of dialogue for the beginning of the Nicky storyline and the druggie would have been good. A few technical issues: 1) The film needed to be deinterlaced so that the lines did not appear through the picture. Also the music levels needed dropping a little overall to allow the dialogue to stand out more., similar to the news report at the beginning. Great work and looking forward to next years production.
Feed
This created a great feel but left many unanswered questions for me. I get that she was working with this thing but I didn't understand why. The jump scare with the face reminded me very much of an internet meme. Great cgi in the last few shots, well done. You created a great tone, and did a very good job of filming in low light. I guess asking for a bit more story is almost counter to this genre anyway.
9.00am BOOM!
Great film, would have been in my top 3 if not DQ'd. The humour was appropriate and timed well. One of the few this heat to have a simple, clear storyline which you could follow throughout. A few tips to improve: Listen back to your audio, there was one clip where you could hear the directors comments "That was a good one" there were a few random sound clips, one was when we first saw the teacher driving to school. Sound needs to continue through the cuts. i.e. the scene with the cows, the sound from inide the car should have continued when we saw the cows. Great effort though and wish you guys had made it in on time. I look forward to next years entry.
Ballonian
I agree that this felt too short. Again the animation looked great, though certain things didn't add up. How big was that first planet they blew up? The ship was about the same size as the planet yet they were small enough to be stepped on. I have seen this idea before of misrepresenting the size of the threat, but something about this one just seemed to abrupt. I think it is possibly that we didn't get a chance linger on it for a moment. It was just 1 step and then done. Maybe If it had been drop kicked, or something along those lines? Not sure. Keep up the animation thou. Love to see something different.
Bobby
It is a shame that there were sound issues throughout this as otherwise it was a really good short film. Some nice camera work, especially in scenes such as the boys sitting together before they find the body. I hope the team stay together next year. Some of the acting was a little wooden or did not fit the mood of the lines being delivered. But the storyline was solid.
Try Hard
Good effort with what was obviously a small team. The highlight of the film for me was the sherlock holmes fight scene. The slow motion worked really well there and the choreography was great. You brought in some great comedic elements there, especially in Nicky's run through of the fight. Make sure you take the time to look at sound levels so that volume is consistent throughout. Also Actors needed to commit more to their roles. I didn't believe that there was really any danger there.
Whiff Drawers
Great movie, got a lot of laughs out of it. Much more comedy than RomCom, but still worked brilliantly. I really liked some of the camera work in hear. The slow smooth pans looked beautiful and the pulling focusing after the phone call worked really well. I liked the product placement with the V :) Only gripe was a few sound issues when they were sitting at the table with the gingernuts.
Wire
Do you get disqualified for using the wire as a character instead of a prop? :) Great film guys, thought the story line was interesting. I was just waiting for Bobby to come save the day at the end. I thought the whole attack sequence was really well done. A few sound issues at the beginning of the film, couldn't hear the lines from in the car well, but overall one of my favorites from the night.
Smoke-lahoma
I enjoyed the musical, i got a few really good laughs out of it and thought you did a great job dealing with the genre. I liked how you tried to use the sounds of the workshop to create music, though I guess it was a health and safety reason why you did not actually use machines like the drill, and just pretended to instead. I liked the variety within the music and thought that a decent story was shared through the lyrics. The end was great. Glad I have never had a boss like this.