Concatenated

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!!!
The film was disqualified as we simply ran out of time, but I would love to hear the opinion of the story and final, (slightly rushed) product.

I loved your film's titles and how the story came back around to it at the end. The chase scene was pretty exciting as well, and the foreshadowing throughout the film really made the ending pay off.

I really enjoyed this film! Love the opening and tying it up in the end. I think what drags it down a little is slightly cheap feeling action with the very unprofessional looking cop (is he a cop?) who doesn’t handle his gun very safely... I feel that if you can find a way to create the same tension and outcome without a gun, your film will be a lot better, because when not used appropriately, guns just feel like a cop out.

Also, PSA, please call the police ahead of time if you’re ever using a prop gun in public! Don’t want the armed defenders squad showing up (yea that can really happen).

Some very great film work !

A hothead cop determined to solve his latest assignment at all costs lets his wife know he will be home late, despite it only being the middle of the day. With a crime scene opening this threw a few red herrings at viewers before the target was spotted and we were given a stark reminder as to why guns are so abhorred in New Zealand.

Your actor playing the cop had a physical screen presence and presented a man in uniform who fit the ACAB mantra to a tee. If this was designed as both a gun safety warning and criticism of the boys in blue then you hit your marks there.

Now a couple of minor things from a technical POV that I did notice were firstly that were was some distracting wind on that soundtrack. I'd honestly recommend just taking the sound out in editing and dubbing in new sound if you have that happen in future. The next thing was that I felt the chase after the crook was particularly shakey camera work. Handheld cameras can work fantastically well for action (see: BOURNE series) but if there is too much movement it can be distracting, so setup staged shots could have been just as effective. Despite it being shakey though, the chase was well edited and tense.

In terms of the script, it was delivered well, but I just feel that it was a bit blunt and harsh. Even accounting for the cop having anger management issues it did seem sudden and harsh to bust out the gun immediately on the accused and start swearing threats.

Coming back to good things I liked though, I thought your full circle approach that brought us back to the beginning was well done and had some solid emotional impact for the tragedy.

Story: 2.5/5
Technical: 2/5
Elements: 2.5/5
Overall: 2.5/5

Just been pondering this and back to add a retroactive note about my guns comment. I think a possible fix here is that the cop just shouldn't have pulled out the gun until the end. Perhaps he gets the gun in the car and puts it in his pants, then the chase I think would be much more believable, and he pulls it out at the very end to raise the tension.

Sorry for the double comment, I feel my initial review was a little hasty!

A lot of passion and big ideas behind this film, and I really admire that.

A couple of rookie mistakes in the filmmaking though - the camera operator felt like an extra character in your film because I kept bloody seeing them in reflections or in shadows! :P

I've said this to a few teams already, but truly consider whether or not you're capable of nailing a super serious film like this one is - I think almost 90% of 48Hours teams are gonna make a better comedy than they do a drama, and I'm not sure I was completely won over by the drama here.

I hope you told the passing car in the background that you were making a film! Because it must have been pretty terrifying to just see a guy waving a gun around with nothing but a camera crew for context!

Things you got right: A confidently told story, some cool imagery

Things to work on for next time: I think generally your team just needs to practice their respective craft to create a tighter and more effective film.

Enjoyed watching this film, good pace, however questioned the child's motivation for saving someone who was seemingly a stranger. Would have been more believable if the child was a relative to the man, or if the child had dove for the gun and was shot in a struggle. All-in-all, an easy film to follow and watch. Sorry for the DQ!

Definitely had some great things going for this film.

I enjoyed the story, a lot of the shots were great, the section of the chase was well done, locations were used well - didn't feel like we were just 'in the neighbourhood'.
There were a couple of times that I caught the camera man and the equipment - but meh.

The edit was clean, the performers were good and story was well told which kept me as the viewer engaged.

Well done team!