Maurice

An intriguing story, mostly well made. It could use some sort of visual cue to make the flashbacks more obvious, as during the first one I thought it was part of the same scene, and was a bit confused geographically.

Also totally thought when he asked for water that he was going to be drenched from a bucket of water falling from the sky or something. The water bottle story worked well though, I only feel the ending could have been communicated a little better. Is this like Mario Kart where you lose/die when all three balloons are popped? A little unclear. Also would have been a great place for a reaction shot of the main character when the balloon is being reached for / popped.

A potty mouthed tradie with a penchant for nasty pranks is stuck in purgatory/limbo and given 3 lives ala JUMANJI: WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE, though his fate is seemingly judged on his previous actions, which put him there?

Your lead actor did a fine job. Their casual bogan attitude such as basically telling God to fuck off was amazing, and the line delivery did have to be on point because sunglasses for a protagonist do rob viewers of access to the eyes which are usually crucial for presenting body language, especially in short films where we do not know the characters at all. But like I said, excellent delivery and attitude by the tradie protagonist.

Sound was strong and the team knew how to frame a memorable landscape from a cinematography point of view.

I also liked the colour palette the team chose, subverting the normal expectations of the in-between of life and death as it has historically been presented in art.

The flashback pranks did break up proceedings a bit, although they all came across as fleeting so our guy losing a life/balloon for each one was suprising to say the least.

Now I did find the ending very confusing, and just for me, this was a stretch to be called an adventure film. Probably my main issue does come back to my opening sentence. It seemed like he was given a chance and yet his fate was already decided making it hard to be engaged when there was no chance of success. But maybe I'm missing the point and this was all about fate and how it is inevitable. I'm genuinely not sure though because was the second walker representing a chance at redemption?

Story: 2.5/5
Technical: 3.5/5
Elements: 2.5/5
Overall: 2.5/5

Sorry forgot to mention the obvious parallels to IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE. Curse this site and not being able to edit reviews! Surely IT'S A BOGAN LIFE would have been a more apt title? :)

Meme Teme have been in the 48HR game for a few years now and I believe "Maurice" might just be the best film they've delivered. Well-acted, some nice cinematography (especially to begin with) and some solid writing that led to a few genuinely funny moments. I am in the camp that suggests the injured walker was a shot at redemption for our protagonist and so it might have been nice to see this actually play out. Or was there actually no coming back?

Overall, the execution of this short is efficient and also shows an emerging degree of confidence by the film-makers.

By all accounts Samantha Robertson wrote, shot, directed and edited this film. It is therefore a bit of headscratcher as to why this, at least, didn't earn her a WIFT nomination when others seem to get it for a lot less creativity & control.

Oh well, great job in cracking the CHCH shortlist this year.

So this guy is learning a lesson through trials of balloon popping...and once he redeems himself by being nice to the man and returning his water to him, the man sabotages his lesson learning by popping his balloon and killing him? That's rough ahaha. A bit fuzzy in the message being delivered, but your lead (and your invisible voice) gives a solid confident performance so well done there.

Meme Teme's best film to date!
A very slick, very well shot looking film with awesome locations and a pretty cool premise.

That premise though, of a man with a balloon health bar, seems to have no idea what to do with itself after its set up. It's a cool idea, but the rest of the story seemed intent on getting rid of balloons at breakneck pace without it fully being clear why.

Foundations of a good story here though, I look forward to seeing Meme Teme's next adventure.

Things you got right: Awesome camerawork, engaging premise

Things to work on for next time: Catching your storytelling up to your technical side - plumbing a premise for all it's worth instead of giving up after creating a cool concept. Reach your full potential!