Trolley King

You really played into the musical genre excellently, and your humour was on point. The shots of the character zooming around on a trolley (and falling out of it) were hilarious. The concept of the character was great with a lot of potential; I think a stronger story would have made this film really great.

Wow Blood and Bone blew the musical genre out of the metaphorical water! This masterful combination of rap and excellent cinematography make for a NZ short film equivalent of ‘Hamilton’.
What let me down was that I couldn’t get enough 😔

Trolley King ! Such a cool idea - could really see this as a awesome NZ film. Loved the opening and the spectacular use of choreography with the trollies and great filmography. Loved the characteristics of the guy playing trolley king , very clever rap lyric. Very creative team - well done . Also would love to see a music video excerpt from this !

Trolley King ! Such a cool idea - could really see this as a awesome NZ film. Loved the opening and the spectacular use of choreography with the trollies and great filmography. Loved the characteristics of the guy playing trolley king , very clever rap lyric. Very creative team - well done . Also would love to see a music video excerpt from this !

The musical talent on display here was sick, with thumping bass and impressive flowing raps outlining that our protagonist is more than a trolley boy, he sees his wheeled shopping carts as his crew.

Now when a hardline boss gives him 29 minutes to return a wallet to its rightful owner, we get a classic race against the clock scenario and the opportunity for more fantastic music, with the next jam presented in cinemascope. Given a photo of a beautiful woman is also inside and his colleague is at risk of losing his job too, the urgency is profound.

The resolution was suprising but to be honest a refreshing dismantling of thirsty men and a mic drop moment for sure.

Camerawork was absolutely sensational at times and performances assured so it was absolutely a crying shame that you were DQ. Just for me I also don't personally think our protagonist really fit the unlikely or anti or reluctant hero? But this was one cool short.

Story: 4/5
Technical: 4.5/5
Elements: 3/5
Overall: 4/5

Opening song is fantastic! The rest plays out alright, aside from a bit of a weird moment where the aspect ratio was over-squished, and then the final reveal just felt quite anti-climactic. Didn’t really understand the motivation behind wallet guy’s fake photo. Why is he calling the guy an arsehole for returning his wallet? I think it would have been good to focus the story on the trolleys. I want to see the trolley king earn his title.

Enjoyed this. Dynamic camerawork, action and editing featuring fun characters, within a musical format to boot! The songs were sick and slick. All power to the wage slave. Respect!

Blood and Bone out here cementing their legacy as the most technically impressive team to constantly get disqualified! Christchurch's own Disqualified Tim.

The cinematography, audio, acting and of course music in TROLLEY KING is truly a sight to behold, and sets a very high standard for surrounding musicals in the competition this year.

I loved the main actors, I love the crisp footage and the stylistic voice which changed between songs and moments in the narrative. There's such an intoxicating energy to this film and the audience at the heats responded to it so well. Everyone was on board, cheering for Trolley King and joining him on his journey. Some really slick characterization here, and some pretty great stakes for the mood of the film too.

One thing I'm a little underwhelmed on is the story - it feels like we're missing a middle act here, particularly because the beginning and the end are both so good. But the call to adventure is immediately interrupted by our King falling out of the trolley and into the "wallet girl" song, which felt thematically like it needed to come later. There are also only really two songs in this musical, and I'd have loved a third one as that feels like it graduates a film from a movie with songs to a musical lol - I suspect this is all an issue with the five minute time limit - I think the best version of this film is maybe 7 or 8 minutes.

Also a little confused why the King thought the woman in the wallet would be the wallet owner? When he finds the owner I actually immediately assumed it'd be her partner or someone, because who keeps a phot of themselves in their wallet?

Things you got right: Similar to 2019, maybe one of the best looking films in modern 48 history, likable characters, a hilarious premise, great songs.

Things to work on for next time: Getting your goddamn film in on time! Also focus on fleshing out the middle of your story a little more - certainly the hardest part for me anyway.

Loved this film! Hilarious concept, great music. Great cinematography and acting. So sorry about the DQ! Really liked the shot when the trolley king reopened the front door, great tension with a good pay off. The whole movie was paced well and leaves us wanting more. Altogether excellent!

Look, this will be a real crowd favourite and should romp home in the Best Disqualified category. As is standard with this team, it's all technically well-crafted throughout. The music is crisp, well-mixed and the lyrics form a strong part of the narrative - which isn't always the case in 48HRS.

As others have mentioned the story feels like it's missing a few things. What makes him the Trolley-King for example? Just an over-inflated sense of self? There was little evidence at any point. In fact, he was pretty bad at his job by the looks of the stacked up trolleys, lack of attention to safety and the sheer number of trolleys in an empty carpark :)
Unfortunately too his white bitch boss was proven correct about him - he was a thief - making the old switch-a-roo before he made it to the house. So, while poetic justice was somewhat at play on the wallet owner, I could also see him finding the Trolley-King and getting a little payback. And what did our hero learn? Just take the wallet next time and save yourself some trouble. He was/is no hero.

If this was made in just 8 hours it's an incredible effort. I loved the aspect and mood change after he hits his head and imagines the woman. Probably my favourite sequence I've seen this year. Bad luck but great work.

Bruh... with the 8hrs you used to pull this together - well done.

Shots were great, edit was clean, audio was great, the story was easy to follow, your main guy was great - good effort.

The songs could have had a bit more time put into it - but meh.
The ending could have been stretched out and had a bit more depth - but meh.

Love seeing a well executed film. Shot team!