Safehouse

We counted 23 f-bombs and a lot of guns and shouting. Invercargill must be repository of hard core action film fans judging by the films being made this year. Lots of energy but sound and camera work on the rough side.

I liked the setup of the dystopia, the radio interview pumping into the location that the story takes place in was a good idea and was executed really well but it fell apart after that. There was one particular dolly shot that I really liked, up until you went for a pan on the dolly, your setup couldn't pull that off, it might have even looked better as a hand held shot. The story didn't really tie into the dystopia, the characters weren't likeable and the resolution was not at all satisfying.

Man, I can see something great in this, but every part just falls a bit short. I can appreciate a bottle movie set in a dystopian world, and the radio setup was simple and effective. But the situation itself doesn't say anything about the state of the world. The sound was a bit on the fritz, as mentioned before, but for what camera abilities you had on offer, I thought some of your choices were really on-point - especially the cut to handheld the moment things went haywire. And the acting from the main fellow trying to get the gun back was impressive. The editing wasn't as sturdy as it could have been. The part where he pockets the ammo and drops it was hard to decipher. By the end, I was wishing for the writing, the sound, the editing, and some of the acting to be tighter.

The cinematography was great but that was about it really, sound was here, there and everywhere and I didn't really follow what was happening or why it was happening much less the characters motivations.

This short was a fuck, fuck, fuckerty fuckfest that left me with too many questions - the most pressing being why are they wearing curtains around their heads? I was also somewhat perplexed by the fact that the two young women weren't wearing curtains around their heads since they'd obviously come from outside were conditions, as I understood them, were not the best. And the young ladies were quite assertive to begin with, even hard-arsed, before unconvincingly wimping out of the situation. I did enjoy some of the shot selections which tried hard to create a level of tension to the overall film. A good shot at a tricky genre.

Cinematography had some really good moments and was reasonably strong throughout. I found that the story lacked any substance and din't really go anywhere, even if you had finished with a cliche ending shoot out or something it would have left me feeling a little more satisfied. Yep way too may fucks, yes you could argue that thats what it would be like in a real situation (maybe!) but for the sake of the viewer it was too distracting. Some thoughtful dialogue and a satisfying conclusion and you might have been on to something. Its a hard genre to try come up with something really different and cool. I look forward to seeing what you guys do next year.