17

One of the best films of the night. I sat down, terrified that I would have to sit through another awful heat, and man was I happy when this film started! Felt much better coming into this heat with such a strong opener. It was beautifully shot, had a simple yet great little story and was funny in the right places. Love the use of freeze frame and location. Cool man, very cool, you got my vote.

A solid start to a surprisingly good heat. Really nicely structured film, some good comedy in there, some good acting (and some very shaky acting - which to be fair is part of the charm). Great work.

awesome production value. you guys are a force to be reckon with!!

Solid start to what was a consistently above-average heat. These guys have continued to improve since year one, and this was by far their best effort to date. Acting a bit flat at times but it worked, well shot, and the freeze-frame ending was pitch perfect.

I was gutted to have missed half of this due to a coughing fit that forced me from the cinema, but what I did see looked amazing. Well done Halcyon, we'll see you at the finals one year (Maybe this year?)

It's actually clinically impossible to believe this is the same team that inflicted GRADUATE MASSACRE on the world. Sharp photography, nice structure, good mix of serious moments and laughs, and I loved the dialogue-free establishing of the scenario. With pro actors, this would have had the potential to be a film that could survive outside of the competition, I reckon!

Can't comment on their previous efforts re:improvement, but this team's movie showed a lot of ambition. The beginning was taken pretty much dead seriously, which was good and held the audience, and then the revenge section kicked in with jokes and stuff that seemed to fall pretty flat. It'd be tough to open a heat with anything serious and this team almost did successfully, and then gave up and decided to put in jokes. I would have preferred it keep the tone of the opening.

Looked good, but I found my mind wandering far far away.

I'm very fond of this team and what they represent, which to me is almost the embodiment of the spirit of this competition. To come from Graduate Massacre to this is, simply put, incredible. This team have worked so hard to get to the level they're at now, which is a very, very high standard. The production values were fantastic. Consistently great photography and slick editing. The only shot I found jarring was a running hand-held shot which probably would've benefited from some stablisation of some kind. But who am I kidding - now I am seriously nit-picking. The acting was, as stated above, a bit of a mixed bag. The female lead was really, really good and I'd like to see her in more stuff. The male lead, while he did have his moments, was unfortunately outshined by his on-screen partner. All up, I loved this heaps. I think they nailed it. Always look forward to seeing more from this team :)

My favourite of the night. It had a bit of everything and kept you riveted through the whole 7 minutes.

Awesome camera work, beautifully shot! Loved the outdoor location. Drama with some comedy, ended hinting towards a thriller.

cinematography blew me away, the quality of the visuals was just awesome, good camera work, editing was good but could have been snappier. music was ok, good music should blend with the visuals, but this stood out like a sore thumb, but hey it's 48 hours. what really let this film down was poor acting the acting would have been ok, had this been an awkward comedy but after such an emotional opening and a rape scene the comedy felt useless and out of place. i recognise Cassie baker from the play "Two Fish 'n' a Scoop" which she acted superbly well in but i felt her acting in this film was below par. if you had stuck to the macabre used in the beginning and end, i would have loved this film. ps: I thought that the guy and girl were going to a ball or atleast a fancy dinner the way they were dressed, but they just ended up at a house party which was weird.

[Watched this in the screening room] Well firstly, really slick intro! A bit better then ours haha. Nice location to start, and filter. Reminded me of "In cold blood" an epic playstation game I used to play in 2000. So I freakin loved this film, it was amazing. It throws you right in seeing a dead guy on some train tracks, and the very first scene after the main title (in the house) is mind blowing, I didn't think i was in a Hollywood film.. this went one step further, I thought I was in real life. The music, the actors, everything in this scene is perfect. And the awesomeness continues. There is a story going on here, but it is overshadowed by the good film making (if that is possible). A girl gets raped at a party, and her brother and his mate are out for revenge, the kidnap him in a very creative way! I love the random conversation about vegans! This is what films should be like. And the "fingernails" dialogue, real props to the writer of this. The music fits perfectly, I love it when it stops when she says "Take his pants off:, priceless. And then when she is like awww "Pants!" I honestly think the writer of this deserves an Oscar. So there is a chase and they end up killing him by accident. I like also how the movie doesn't end where it started but gives a little extra. The ending was amazing, completely didn't expect that freeze frame. Everything about this film was amazing, the actors were superb (especially the main actor with the shaved head), the cinematography was very very slick, music and sound spot on, editing spot on, was this produced by a production company? Sure felt like it! literally everything was amazing except one thing.. it wasn't an interesting story! After watching this I just wanted to go tell all my friends about this amazing film about... this guys that beats up a girl and then gets kidnapped and accidentally killed. Yea. I think this film is amazing, the script blew me away, as did everything else. It just needed... to have an interesting story! Even if the same story was used but the whole thing was put in a unique scenario/location (e.g. 1970's New Zealand would have been great), this film is literally 9.9 out of 10, and I think one of the best in my experience with V48. Keep up the good work guys! Looking forward to seeing your future work, and If I had one suggestion it would be this.. next year get one team member who is a little bit crazy and let them pick the plot/theme/tone, then make the best movie, ever.

My favourite of the night. It had a bit of everything and kept you riveted through the whole 7 minutes.

cinematography blew me away, the quality of the visuals was just awesome, good camera work, editing was good but could have been snappier. music was ok, good music should blend with the visuals, but this stood out like a sore thumb, but hey it's 48 hours. what really let this film down was poor acting the acting would have been ok, had this been an awkward comedy but after such an emotional opening and a rape scene the comedy felt useless and out of place. i recognise Cassie baker from the play "Two Fish 'n' a Scoop" which she acted superbly well in but i felt her acting in this film was below par. if you had stuck to the macabre used in the beginning and end, i would have loved this film. ps: I thought that the guy and girl were going to a ball or atleast a fancy dinner the way they were dressed, but they just ended up at a house party which was weird.

[Watched this in the screening room] Well firstly, really slick intro! A bit better then ours haha. Nice location to start, and filter. Reminded me of "In cold blood" an epic playstation game I used to play in 2000. So I freakin loved this film, it was amazing. It throws you right in seeing a dead guy on some train tracks, and the very first scene after the main title (in the house) is mind blowing, I didn't think i was in a Hollywood film.. this went one step further, I thought I was in real life. The music, the actors, everything in this scene is perfect. And the awesomeness continues. There is a story going on here, but it is overshadowed by the good film making (if that is possible). A girl gets raped at a party, and her brother and his mate are out for revenge, the kidnap him in a very creative way! I love the random conversation about vegans! This is what films should be like. And the "fingernails" dialogue, real props to the writer of this. The music fits perfectly, I love it when it stops when she says "Take his pants off:, priceless. And then when she is like awww "Pants!" I honestly think the writer of this deserves an Oscar. So there is a chase and they end up killing him by accident. I like also how the movie doesn't end where it started but gives a little extra. The ending was amazing, completely didn't expect that freeze frame. Everything about this film was amazing, the actors were superb (especially the main actor with the shaved head), the cinematography was very very slick, music and sound spot on, editing spot on, was this produced by a production company? Sure felt like it! literally everything was amazing except one thing.. it wasn't an interesting story! After watching this I just wanted to go tell all my friends about this amazing film about... this guys that beats up a girl and then gets kidnapped and accidentally killed. Yea. I think this film is amazing, the script blew me away, as did everything else. It just needed... to have an interesting story! Even if the same story was used but the whole thing was put in a unique scenario/location (e.g. 1970's New Zealand would have been great), this film is literally 9.9 out of 10, and I think one of the best in my experience with V48. Keep up the good work guys! Looking forward to seeing your future work, and If I had one suggestion it would be this.. next year get one team member who is a little bit crazy and let them pick the plot/theme/tone, then make the best movie, ever.