For A Day In The Sun

loved it! awesome actors, they suited the parts really well! Filming was well done. Everything just seemed to work with this film! Good job guys! Made me laugh. Really glad i got to see it!

Awesome job! The acting was superb and what a great idea for a fad movie! This film was made really well - great shots, nice awkward moments for the characters and the story was told well. Loved it!

All round excellent film. Laughed out loud several times. Like, really out loud. You would have heard me. Great use of the elements and fantastic clever ending that had us talking about it later. Great job!

see below. tech error.

I saw all the heats last night and this was the best film of them all IMHO. Very well executed doco-style telling of the fad genre, supported with great camera work and well paced edit. Characters were brilliant and spot on, though not sure if Bobby became an ex-bully during film. Spot on integration of the line and prop for this genre and style. I'd think I would see this at the final. (if I was judging I would pick it)

A mockumentry on the fad of "Fad-making". The story profiles two characters, one your average guy; the other a bit slicker who showcase their fad-making history and awards they've received. This all leads to the inivitable "Fad-Making Convention" where the two compete for top spot and an ending that leaves you guessing somewhat. Probably the slickest production values of the whole night, well acted and scripted. I think it could have been a lot shorter though especially with all the show-casing of previous fads, which while funny, became somewhat tedious and didn't really add to the story- I mean we get it! Mirrors the doco film nicely which also gives it a bit of an all too familiar feel. Should make the finals though and was very well received by the audience. Excellent work as always from Burn the Dog. Winner of Audience Award for this Heat.

Team Burn the Dog have again produced a potential city winner if not finalist. A FOTC, Mocumentary approach to two characters preparing for the annual Fad convention. A basic idea that came across well. Seriously funny with two opposite leads, that you can understand from the start. Watchable, and well paced throughout. Two points - I am not sure at the start it is well laid out that the Fad convention is approaching. And the ending could have been better, although it leaves it up to the viewer to decide what the current "Fad" is, I would have actually showed what the current Fad is (Planking) which would leave a bigger impact on the audience.

Don't think the fad created in the end was intended to be planking, Andy. As they'd already mentioned earlier in the film it was formed at a previous convention. I thought it was daringly creative to have such an open endedness.

The cocky, confident Bobby Young (fad-making champion) and his more modest, likable rival fad-maker Teddy explain, doco-interview style, the art of fad-making. Their previous successes include pet rocks and 3/4 pants. We see their fad-making techniques explained - the thinking chair (was this a Blue's Clues reference, or was it just me?) and Bobby Young's fad cabinet. The big annual fad-making contest is approaching - the likable challenger Teddy finds it hard to focus though, distracted by his mum's leprosy. The day of the big contest arrives, and our challenger has his Mum's death to overcome. Bobby Young pulls out all the stops with his creation of paperclip jewellery, but Teddy takes it out with the "fad of today", the audience being told that they merely need to "look around them" to see what his creation was. This was the best film shown on Thursday night, for me. Funny, well-shot, slick technically and two dead-on performances from the actors, who NAILED their archetype cocky-champion and lowly-challenger characters (the film reminded me very much in this respect of the documentary "King of Kong", actually). If I'm picking holes I would say that the film wasn't itself in the fad genre (but then I wonder nationally how many fad films are - I'm guessing very few) and that while the ending was quite clever in one way, as a viewer, I kind of wanted to see what the winning fad was, and really revel in that moment of comeuppance for Bobby Young. Great stuff nonetheless though, and a sure finalist.

This was the opening film of the Christchurch city finals, and it certainly set the bar pretty high for what had to follow. In recent years the mockumentary format seems to have become a bit of a pariah in the 48hours community, largely because of overuse, and because I think it is sometimes viewed as the easy option. Thing is, most teams don't really understand how to do them properly, and consequently most efforts are pretty embarrassing to behold. Happily then, Burn The Dog knew exactly what they were doing when they made this. The sheer invention of some of the fads is great, and the edit is spot-on for the reality TV cuts. The two performances are almost note-perfect (and in mockumentary acting, 'almost perfect' is a rare achievement), with some great gags from the school of Comedy Of The Awkward. The protagonist's mother, not seen but referenced, was introduced seemingly as a throwaway joke, but turned out to be a surprisingly effective emotional motivation for the character. The ending of the film seems to have caused some discussion, and division of opinions. Personally I loved it, thought it was awesome and very satisfying in the context of how fads trickle their way into the world we live in. Incidentally, it seems that some people have misinterpreted the intent of this ending (assuming that I haven't, of course) to be referring specifically to 48Hours filmmaking (which makes sense in the context of watching it in a 48hours screening, but nowhere else) rather than referring to . I would be curious to know if there was much variation in interpretation of this among people who have watched it. Tough one to call, but this film was very possibly my favourite of all the finalists.

You guys seriously rocked it. I wouldn't have felt wronged if you had taken the top spot instead of us. I'm not a big fan of mockumentaries, but it fit with the genre and you guys pushed it. Hats off.

The cocky, confident Bobby Young (fad-making champion) and his more modest, likable rival fad-maker Teddy explain, doco-interview style, the art of fad-making. Their previous successes include pet rocks and 3/4 pants. We see their fad-making techniques explained - the thinking chair (was this a Blue's Clues reference, or was it just me?) and Bobby Young's fad cabinet. The big annual fad-making contest is approaching - the likable challenger Teddy finds it hard to focus though, distracted by his mum's leprosy. The day of the big contest arrives, and our challenger has his Mum's death to overcome. Bobby Young pulls out all the stops with his creation of paperclip jewellery, but Teddy takes it out with the "fad of today", the audience being told that they merely need to "look around them" to see what his creation was. This was the best film shown on Thursday night, for me. Funny, well-shot, slick technically and two dead-on performances from the actors, who NAILED their archetype cocky-champion and lowly-challenger characters (the film reminded me very much in this respect of the documentary "King of Kong", actually). If I'm picking holes I would say that the film wasn't itself in the fad genre (but then I wonder nationally how many fad films are - I'm guessing very few) and that while the ending was quite clever in one way, as a viewer, I kind of wanted to see what the winning fad was, and really revel in that moment of comeuppance for Bobby Young. Great stuff nonetheless though, and a sure finalist.

This was the opening film of the Christchurch city finals, and it certainly set the bar pretty high for what had to follow. In recent years the mockumentary format seems to have become a bit of a pariah in the 48hours community, largely because of overuse, and because I think it is sometimes viewed as the easy option. Thing is, most teams don't really understand how to do them properly, and consequently most efforts are pretty embarrassing to behold. Happily then, Burn The Dog knew exactly what they were doing when they made this. The sheer invention of some of the fads is great, and the edit is spot-on for the reality TV cuts. The two performances are almost note-perfect (and in mockumentary acting, 'almost perfect' is a rare achievement), with some great gags from the school of Comedy Of The Awkward. The protagonist's mother, not seen but referenced, was introduced seemingly as a throwaway joke, but turned out to be a surprisingly effective emotional motivation for the character. The ending of the film seems to have caused some discussion, and division of opinions. Personally I loved it, thought it was awesome and very satisfying in the context of how fads trickle their way into the world we live in. Incidentally, it seems that some people have misinterpreted the intent of this ending (assuming that I haven't, of course) to be referring specifically to 48Hours filmmaking (which makes sense in the context of watching it in a 48hours screening, but nowhere else) rather than referring to . I would be curious to know if there was much variation in interpretation of this among people who have watched it. Tough one to call, but this film was very possibly my favourite of all the finalists.