Stealing Thoughts

Neat and unnerving ending to the movie, and good buildup, although maybe a bit on the long side. Nice concept though. Not entirely sure where the other dimension came into it, but that seems a wee bit quibbly.

Liked the set up of the voices in the peoples heads in the squares and think you gained a great reaction when the audience gasped as one as the central character carried out his final act...

The thoughtless characterisation was a very clever part of this story, executed well and... highly innovative. Beautiful cinematography, good sound that added to the darkness of the film. Spooky and unnerving. (reviewed by the Christchurch s59 team members)

I didn't quite understand what was happening in this film but I really liked parts of it. The opening scene was AWESOME. A really cool idea and my favourite part of the film. As we rushed from civilian to civilian (kind of) hearing their thoughts, it was really effective. I'm even glad the audio effect made it difficult to actually decipher the words they were thinking, because it made me wonder if that's what reading people's thoughts would actually sound like, kind of inaudible and hollow. The rest of the film certainly delivers on what was probably a cohesive idea in the minds of the filmmakers, but to the audience, nothing really makes sense. Why is he hearing voices? Why is he typing out that note? Why is he smothering that girl? A bit more explanation could have turned this spooky film into something better. The lead actor was pretty wooden, he didn't really seem like he wanted to be on camera, but maybe that was the intention. Loved your team intro too, it made me laugh. Maybe the rest of the film should have kept that same light heartedness?

A man hears a voice in his head which leads him to carry out certain acts. (I think!) I've watched this a few times and just when I think I've got it...I get confused again! Love the start, love the tunnel shots and the overall creepy feel that this short has. I too think the hearing of voices was very well thought-through. An enjoyable short with high replay value due to the number of questions it raises. Team comment please!

I liked the set up in Civic Square and you really had me at this point. Unfortunately the film took too long to get to the climax for me. It started to create a haunting mood on a couple of occasions, with the figure in the background, but this wasn't built upon.

This film looked awesome and the editing was great. I loved the intro sequence with the people's thoughts and the effects with the film speeding up and slowing down. I think you guys did a great job with the music as it matched the tone of what was going on on screen perfectly in my mind. All of the shots looked really good, and I really like the concept. Like some of the others I found parts a bit confusing like the note on the screen and why he was hearing the voices. It also took me a while to get how he was "thoughtless", but that's probably just me, haha. I did find myself wondering what would happen next, and it might have been nice with maybe on more bit of drama to draw me in before the ending, to help make sense of the story. But this was really well done and I think I'll have to go watch it again a few times to see if I can answer some of my questions. Awesome effort!

I really liked the opening of this film too and some of the locations were really cool like that bit in the tunnel. Thought the editing was well done and the music and tone of the film was cool. I thought it dragged a little in the middle when he was on the computer. I liked the ending with the death but I'm not quite sure if I fully understood it. But yes really thought you nailed look and feel.

There's a lot of great stuff in this short - the cinematography is drop dead gorgeous at points, the music and sound design are on point and the editing has some great tricks up its sleeve (especially the fast forwarding coordination shown at the start). Unfortunately, I just don't think those elements have a lot to work with. It's never nice to say this, but the lead didn't do well to portray a man with a voice in his head - most noticeably when he says "Leave me alone" with no change in expression. The vagueness of the ending works well, adding an extra level of creepiness to the story.