GOD BLESS AMERICA

This was a good song that was slightly ruined by its own political message. 'God Bless America' was an up-to-the-minute satire on how American culture influences New Zealand culture, except the whole idea of the film seemed to get lost in the lyrics, and I felt it slightly lost it's way at the end. The shots were slightly too long, and the great location was never really explored. The guy playing Uncle Sam was great, and got an awesome audience response, and the back-up girls were charming in their little parts. But it was a cute little movie, with a good song that is still in my head. Good job guys!

Great sound and music production. However was let down by the lack of interesting shots. The location wasn't very well used.

A tough genre and cute short that put a smile on my face, sound and music were top notch and even though the shots weren't all that amazing, it didn't look bad. Kind of had a Family Guy/South Park musical feel to it and the song was definitely catchy with good performances.

Nailed the Genre. Going on other themes I believe that yeah some of the shots visually were not so inspired but altogether it was VERY ENTERTAINING. The song is stuck in my head....... an ear worm for the ages. Well done guys!

It was fine, and quite witty, but certainly no second coming of the musical genre. The best bits were the cracks in the facade, like Uncle Sam nearly slipping into the fountain and the not quite in synch dancing. It also played a clever line between straight parody and genuine critique. The main problem I had with it was that despite being a muscial it seemed to be severely lacking in energy.

really well-done traditional type musical. kind of in the simpsons satire-on-broadway type way. not really my sort of things in some ways - but i can't really deny it either. i agree that perhaps the film was slightly visually boring at points (we never really leave that park bench), but i feel that this was probably a conscious sacrifice on the part of film-makers in order to focus on the music and lyrics etc? could've been a smaller team in which the musicians we also involved with the filming etc. pretty impressive regardless

I like it when a team draws musical and just throws everything they've got into it. This team had some serious musical talent and made their short a totally sung-through musical with one long song. There wasn't really much plot, but the song had depth and variety. Visually, things were a bit dull. The film could have done with filming in more settings, moving out of the park and into a more populated area. Go on, get the gang triumphantly marching in formation down Cuba Mall. It's something that could have worked with more a music video style than typical short film.

A couple on a park bench discuss how they hate USA, only for a figure in red white and blue coming along to give them a singing lesson as to why they should really love the land of the free. The music was seriously amazing, some of the best I've ever come across in 48hours, and I've still got 'When you sing, you all sound American' stuck in my head. But that's really it, it was amazing wordplay and singing without a plot. Big crowd pleaser, though.

Refreshingly, this film didn't shy away from having an opinion and hit the musical genre while steering clear of the worst clishes. The music and song-writing were hands down fantastic, the whole concept entertaining and the lyrics made me laugh very hard! I also wouldn't go as far as saying that the film didn't have a story. The story was in the subversion of the US-critical Kiwi characters through the, ahem, 'truths' presented to them in Bobby Youngs song. The lack of interesting shots is a fair point to make but I was entertained enough not to mind. My favourite of the night.

Loved It! I wanted to see more of the backup singers though. The one with the dark ahir was great, she had heaps of energy and was charming!

This was not a film, it was a music video. And it didn't even succeed in that regard, due to the uninventive camera work. People saying it nailed the genre, I hope you are joking. Have you ever seen a musical? They have far more substance to them than a stagnant camera angle. The song however was well produced. This is not a song writing contest though, and the other elements of the film let down this marvelous potential they had.

This film made me laugh and had memorable music which is a big win for a musical short, I don't think it's fair to dismiss it as just a music video as it had sections of dialogue punctuating the song. Like someone said, it had a point of view and clear opinion and purpose to convince two America-haters into loving America (in a sarcastic parody sort of a way). I'm not looking for groundbreaking visuals anyway, it enhances a film if they achieve that but I just want to be entertained with a fun five minute film when it's 48hrs. They could have done some more interesting shots, but I directed on a team two years back and it was hard enough getting a regular script ready to shoot let alone a musical. We scripted it with lots of locations and I had no idea what a nightmare it would be chasing people with release forms, we couldn't even hand it in on time. I felt keeping it in a controlled location kept focus on the music, but if the music and lyrics were crap then that would have hurt it but that would be the same for any musical. Did it nail the genre? Probably not. It did take recognisable musical genre conventions and pay tribute to them though so it didn't completely miss the mark.

As before mentioned by others the location could have been explored more or even had the park as the base location and when key corporations were mentioned (e.g Burger King) the singer and other two could have for a split moment been transported to the mentioned location and then so on. I thought it was well formed and entertaining. It got my second vote for the night. And to those who say that it wasn't a musical it was a music video should go watch Monty Python and think about what they said :p Awesome job guys

Two people are sitting at the park bad mouthing the U.S.A when Bobby Young turns up and makes them re-think this negative view of America through song. A very funny song with some clever lyrics which I felt was let down by a lack of plot (it was basically one long song) and generally boring, shaky cinematography.

[watched in screening room] Loved this! One of the best musicals I've seen done in 48 hours... song was very well written and produced (some great little audio gags in there too - like a little Japanese riff when they sing about Japan) and I didn't find the camera work boring like some people on here are commenting. Location could have been a bit more utilised, or changed around a little (I agree with whoever suggested little jump/cutaways to burger king and the like), and it perhaps needed a little more of an ending. Fireworks, maybe? :P But yeah, going to be humming that song to myself for the rest of the week... thanks

A couple on a park bench discuss how they hate USA, only for a figure in red white and blue coming along to give them a singing lesson as to why they should really love the land of the free. The music was seriously amazing, some of the best I've ever come across in 48hours, and I've still got 'When you sing, you all sound American' stuck in my head. But that's really it, it was amazing wordplay and singing without a plot. Big crowd pleaser, though.

This film made me laugh and had memorable music which is a big win for a musical short, I don't think it's fair to dismiss it as just a music video as it had sections of dialogue punctuating the song. Like someone said, it had a point of view and clear opinion and purpose to convince two America-haters into loving America (in a sarcastic parody sort of a way). I'm not looking for groundbreaking visuals anyway, it enhances a film if they achieve that but I just want to be entertained with a fun five minute film when it's 48hrs. They could have done some more interesting shots, but I directed on a team two years back and it was hard enough getting a regular script ready to shoot let alone a musical. We scripted it with lots of locations and I had no idea what a nightmare it would be chasing people with release forms, we couldn't even hand it in on time. I felt keeping it in a controlled location kept focus on the music, but if the music and lyrics were crap then that would have hurt it but that would be the same for any musical. Did it nail the genre? Probably not. It did take recognisable musical genre conventions and pay tribute to them though so it didn't completely miss the mark.

[watched in screening room] Loved this! One of the best musicals I've seen done in 48 hours... song was very well written and produced (some great little audio gags in there too - like a little Japanese riff when they sing about Japan) and I didn't find the camera work boring like some people on here are commenting. Location could have been a bit more utilised, or changed around a little (I agree with whoever suggested little jump/cutaways to burger king and the like), and it perhaps needed a little more of an ending. Fireworks, maybe? :P But yeah, going to be humming that song to myself for the rest of the week... thanks