The Pickup

This was such a great concept because it quickly set up a simple premise, then presented a series of obstacles standing in the characters way. The simple plot line allowed you to give space to the action and jokes, both of which worked well. By the end of the story I cared that the characters succeeded, and even believed they had become friends. The production values were excellent, as well as the acting from the main characters (and the brother in particular). The scene where they take the kids bike etc had perfect comic timing. The scene where they flag down the hillbilly's car was the only thing that I stumbled on a little bit- I feel like it needed to feel a little more dangerous- maybe if the car was moving and they couldn't just get out?

One again Pigs Guts comes up with a cracker. Good story, and well shot and sounded. The final scene was well-fore-shadowed and ended up a suitable climax. Good stuff.

The film was well written, the production was amazing and the acting was also brilliant. Definitely deserved to be an audience favourite. keep up the great work!

What I liked: competently shot, good comedic timing, nicely acted, In most of my reviews I've suggested that films could be edited tighter but I think you guys got this spot on. What to think about for next year: with even stronger production values this team could be a regular finalist. (although I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the finals this year)

Haha I love you guys. This film has a such a strong personality, that the sheer fun and enjoyment I know you would have felt making this film really pops off the screen. My favourite part was the little kid half-heartedly skipping. You guys have evert aspect of filmmaking down, from your camera work, to your writing, to your editing and especially your acting, every character in this film is so enjoyable to watch. All I would say is keep honing those skills and creating even better films in the future.

A young man offers to pick up his girlfriend's younger brother and get him to the restaurant on time. Trouble happens... This short was a lot of fun, mostly well-filmed and edited with some convincing performances from the majority of the cast. However, there were some odd choices as well though. I didn't quite buy in to the relationship between the young man/woman who still (I know, I know these guys are all 17/18) seemed a bit to young for the situation portrayed. I therefore also felt (spoiler alert) that the two young men were then too similar in age. The creepy guy in the car (a dead ringer for a young Brad Dourif) was also a little young for that role again due to the youth of the two leads. And with our lead dressing Steve McQueen/Tarantino gangster style, I couldn't help but wonder, why? These sort of things always pull me out of the story. That said, the situations the lads found themselves in were creative and comedic and went down really well with the finals audience. My only quibble is that perhaps there were too many of these situations and as they lacked depth of experience the bonding of the characters into best buds at the end wasn't overly convincing for me. As usual a good effort from Pigs Guts who remain darlings of the 48 in CHCH.