Time Freeze

Brilliant little piece, loved the special effect of the car being slowed to a halt, and then the perfect "stop" setting as everything was frozen in place. Technically everything was perfect. The seatbelt was a great touch. Only thing missing was more - there was definitely a bigger story to be told here. But nevertheless one very cool scene.

The power team of twins Luke & Kirk Bremner (2010 City Winners) bring a tidy, competent superhero short, in the form of a single frozen moment, that sees the very, very subtle superhero saving a well-breasted young woman from being mown down by a runaway car. And while it appears to be simple, its not. And that is whats being shown here. And while uncomplicated as a narrative, this short has a power that belies its simplicity. Look again. In spite of the tissue thin story, its a very difficult job setting up, and making a special effects set piece like this work. And then you have to get away with it. The special effects, (time ramp, motion blur, etc) were flawed at the background plate, (yes, well did see the 'smear fix' at the lower right of the car shadow) along with untidy keying and colour grading, but they're a good pointers to the skills that this team are capable of producing. While flawed, they are eloquent and very detailed. In terms of production values, these guys are through the roof! The mid air-ness of the ear-bud of the young lady, and the newspaper in the car, are very well crafted. And it would seem that they've planned to take advantage of the near perfect Golden Hour of the location. The voice over of the supehero was, however, tragically dull and uninspiring. But...and I say this with some discomfort, its just not enough. If this one scene was bookended with a set-up of who is who, and then concluded with satisfactory, even wry, resolution then I'd happily call it a triumph. But it stood too alone for my interest to stay beyond its duration. Close, but no cigar.

The scene we see in this film is, quite simply, stunning, but in order to really succeed, this need some extra narrative. With the addition of a few, short surrounding scenes, perhaps setting the characters up slightly more, this scene could have been the centerpiece of a winning film, but unfortunately, as it stands, it is just too slight to become fully invested it. None of that is to diminish what Mosquito has created here: a beautiful scene, with the beauty and comedic poise that we've come to expect from this wonderful team.

Pros: A fantastic demonstration of special effects ability. It was by far the best visual effects we've seen in Dunedin 48Hours this year. Particularly well done was the tidy inclusion of the bent wire in the form of the headphones. To say the audience was impressed by your short would be an understatement. Cons: While visually impressive, the overly nasal narration of this film was rather lackluster. The insertion of the compulsory line also suffered from poor delivery by your lead. Considering the dearth of dialogue, it was important that you got these right, and you didn't quite nail it. Compositing was varied - and was particularly rough at the start with massive colour variance between your actress and the rest of the scene. Not quite the seamless approach you needed. As a technical demonstration, it went well. As a narrative, it was simply insufficient. WRITE. Shoot. Cut. Survive.

The power team of twins Luke & Kirk Bremner (2010 City Winners) bring a tidy, competent superhero short, in the form of a single frozen moment, that sees the very, very subtle superhero saving a well-breasted young woman from being mown down by a runaway car. And while it appears to be simple, its not. And that is whats being shown here. And while uncomplicated as a narrative, this short has a power that belies its simplicity. Look again. In spite of the tissue thin story, its a very difficult job setting up, and making a special effects set piece like this work. And then you have to get away with it. The special effects, (time ramp, motion blur, etc) were flawed at the background plate, (yes, well did see the 'smear fix' at the lower right of the car shadow) along with untidy keying and colour grading, but they're a good pointers to the skills that this team are capable of producing. While flawed, they are eloquent and very detailed. In terms of production values, these guys are through the roof! The mid air-ness of the ear-bud of the young lady, and the newspaper in the car, are very well crafted. And it would seem that they've planned to take advantage of the near perfect Golden Hour of the location. The voice over of the supehero was, however, tragically dull and uninspiring. But...and I say this with some discomfort, its just not enough. If this one scene was bookended with a set-up of who is who, and then concluded with satisfactory, even wry, resolution then I'd happily call it a triumph. But it stood too alone for my interest to stay beyond its duration. Close, but no cigar.

Pros: A fantastic demonstration of special effects ability. It was by far the best visual effects we've seen in Dunedin 48Hours this year. Particularly well done was the tidy inclusion of the bent wire in the form of the headphones. To say the audience was impressed by your short would be an understatement. Cons: While visually impressive, the overly nasal narration of this film was rather lackluster. The insertion of the compulsory line also suffered from poor delivery by your lead. Considering the dearth of dialogue, it was important that you got these right, and you didn't quite nail it. Compositing was varied - and was particularly rough at the start with massive colour variance between your actress and the rest of the scene. Not quite the seamless approach you needed. As a technical demonstration, it went well. As a narrative, it was simply insufficient. WRITE. Shoot. Cut. Survive.