The Hunted

This was a great action film for 48Hours. I enjoyed the fast paced camerawork, there were some decent effects and a fantastically choreographed overhead shot. Those SFX are also very well used and I really feel those punches. I think the low shutter speed actually worked really well for many of the shots, although didn’t work for all of them. Next time definitely spend some time before the weekend working out how to effectively use different camera settings for different types of shots.

Hammer down set pieces were the name of the game here, with small scale nods to the Crazy 88s from KILL BILL via way of RUNNING SCARED, as our lead inventively tried to get away from hitmen who will stop at nothing whether that be ram raiding or dropping down from stories above to take him out by force.

Really appreciated you coming in hard here straight into the action, setting the scene with tension by having an immediate need for the protagonist to be out of sight, and when a quick change resulted in blood shed it was all go.

The pace of the film was manic, almost falling into CRANK territory, with well delivered lines and the utlimate sendup clearly being a nod to the MOST DANGEROUS game, which is genre territory that is almost always a winner (hell, CONFESSIONS OF A PSYCHO CAT is genuinely one of my favourite films of all time).

So absolutely loved the energy, and things were thrilling when a guerilla style approach came in with a hockey stick, probably the NZ equivalent of a mob baseball bat other than a cricket back right?

I do think though that the choreography of the action got a little bit jumbled once the narrative made its way to the inside location, and whilst the frame rate being unusual was no big issue, the blurry shots did take me out of the moment on a fairly regular basis.

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

Loved this film! Just guys being dudes on a Saturday night (though I heard you shot Friday night?!??), making a bare-bones plot action film which, while its has some scrappy moments and blurry shots, is actually surprisingly effective.

The unbroken take of the characters running through the house is incredible, but the real show stopper is the super innovative use of Bird's Eye View which looks down upon a genuinely impressive fight scene, with a neck snap and flash of lightning to really add to the dark mood as the camera slowly pivots around the scene. The music and sound effects really sell it too, A+ for this moment.

I'm not sure what I can say for the remainder of the film, with its low frame rate, inaudible dialogue, kids playing adults and tacked-on Gatekeeper character - but I'm not sure if this matters because there's so much passion and fun on display here that it becomes a lot more infectious.

Challenge for next year: I'd love for you guys to just keep entering every year with these frenetic action-packed romps, and if your filmmaking and storytelling continues to improve, I think you would find yourselves gaining quite the reputation in the competition.

This is a high-octane action flick with extreme chases and lengthy fight scenes. Props too for shooting in the dark. It all mostly works. I liked the casual way the swap was handled and overall the pacing of the short worked really well. The overhead shot to show the massive fight scene that unfolds was a smart choice.

Tighten up your focus, cast everything appropriately, continue to be ambitious and you'll produce something even better in the future. Nice work.